Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1114 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 40

The news that Concubine Nian was suspected to be pregnant spread throughout the Old Summer Palace in an instant, and even reached the previous dynasty and the palace at an extremely fast speed.

All the old ladies in the harem knew that Concubine Nian's infertility must be due to someone's behind-the-scenes trickery. The first person to be blamed was the former Concubine Consort and now the Empress Dowager. But no one dared to think about other people, and Concubine Duan, the only outsider who knew the inside story, did not dare to reveal even a bit to anyone.

Therefore, when Concubine Duan ascended to the position of imperial concubine, even if some people thought that the bowl of safflower soup that Concubine Duan served to Concubine Nian might have been the result of someone else's scheme, they only dared to think about Yixiu and did not dare to continue to wonder whether the Empress Dowager was also involved.

Almost all the concubines were gnashing their teeth over Concubine Nian's pregnancy, especially the elderly people in the palace. They were truly persecuted by Concubine Nian, so they deeply hated the injustice of God.

On the day when the news of Concubine Nian's pregnancy reached the cold palace, the former Noble Lady Fang cried out to the sky, accusing God of injustice, and then hit her head against the wall and died. When Shen Meiyu heard the noise and went to check, she couldn't help but feel sad. She took out her only remaining savings and bought a thin coffin for Noble Lady Fang, so that she wouldn't have to be wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave.

Caixing and Caiyue both felt sorry for the money, but because their masters Shen Meizhuang and Concubine Fang were in the same boat, they could not utter any complaints.

Shen Meizhuang was not really indifferent to worldly affairs and was ignorant of human suffering. She advised Caixing and Caiyue, "Even if I am reduced to the cold palace, at least I have Huan'er and Rouchang to help me. I will get more money sooner or later after I spend it. Concubine Fang is different. She has been dead for four or five days and no one has come to take care of her funeral. It shows that even if she has relatives, they have given up on her."

As Shen Meizhuang spoke, she couldn't help but feel more depressed. "Don't be so unconvinced. I was also harmed by Nian Shilan. If I didn't have Huan'er and Rou Chang to help me, I would have ended up like Concubine Fang."

In this case, Caixing and Caiyue had nothing more to say, and they joined Shen Meizhuang in criticizing Concubine Nian. The slight rift between the three masters and servants soon disappeared.

But while lying in bed, Shen Meizhuang couldn't help but think of the fact that Concubine Wan gave birth to a princess but did not get promoted. She was very worried about Concubine Wan's safety, and even more worried that Concubine Wan would fall out of favor and end up being bullied by Concubine Nian.

Shen Meizhuang was still extremely anxious about the matter of Concubine Wan. Rou Changzai took the risk of going to the cold palace and brought some supplies and twenty taels of silver to Shen Meizhuang.

This was the first time that Concubine Rou came to the cold palace. In fact, the predecessor of this cold palace was an abandoned palace. There were not many people housed in it. Now there were only Shen Meizhuang and the commoner Fei.

No one deliberately instigated anything around Rou Changzai, even though Rou Changzai was sensitive and inevitably felt resentment towards Wan Guiren, Shen Meizhuang and Huanbi. However, Shen Meizhuang fell too early, and Huanbi was now dead. Wan Guiren had given birth to a child but had not been promoted, and it was obvious that she was doomed.

That's why Concubine Rou was willing to go to the cold palace. With Shen Meizhuang and Concubine Wan around, her self-confidence was greatly boosted.

Rou Changzai had no opinion about the dilapidated and stuffy cold palace, but she couldn't help but vaguely think of the An family in her memory. Since she could remember, the days she lived in the An family were surprisingly similar to those of Shen Meizhuang who was now in the cold palace.

Seeing that Rou Changzai did not show any difference, Shen Meizhuang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she was very grateful for Rou Changzai's help, she had known Rou Changzai for too short a time and could never be as close to her as she was to Wan Guiren.

"Greetings, Concubine Rou." Shen Meizhuang squatted and saluted according to etiquette.

Rou Changzai was startled by Shen Meizhuang's action and quickly reached out to pull her up, "Sister Shen, you are really embarrassing me——"

Seeing that Rou Changzai sincerely believed that they should not be so unfamiliar and polite, Shen Meizhuang felt touched and finally accepted that Rou Changzai was their close friend.

Rou Changzai had lived a hard life, so the things she brought with her were very practical, but there was even a shortage of firewood in the cold palace. Shen Meizhuang blushed and brought Rou Changzai a cup of water soaked with dried osmanthus flowers, but she was too embarrassed to look up.

Rou Changzai became more sincere, "Sister Shen, don't bother me. I came here today because I got the news about Yuanmingyuan. I was worried that Sister Shen might have something on Sister Zhen's mind, so I came here to tell her something."

Shen Meizhuang was indeed worried about Concubine Wan, so she immediately raised her head and asked hurriedly, "I vaguely heard in the cold palace that Huan'er gave birth to a princess, but I don't know why she angered the emperor... Your Majesty, not only did Huan'er fail to advance to a higher position, she even fell out of favor. Lingrong, do you know the inside story?"

Not to mention, Rou Changzai really knew some inside information. "I also heard from Concubine Jing that Huanbi's identity seemed to be different, and the Empress was also involved. I heard that Huanbi offended both the Empress and Concubine Nian in the Old Summer Palace. The Empress directly punished Huanbi to the Ministry of Punishment, and later Huanbi..."

Shen Meizhuang never thought that Huanbi could cause Concubine Wan to fall out of favor. She calculated the time of the princess's birth and couldn't help but want to fly to Concubine Wan in Yuanmingyuan immediately to ask her what was going on.

"Huanbi..."

"When I was dating Huan'er before, Huanbi didn't exist yet. When Huan'er brought Huanbi into the palace, I saw that Huan'er treated Huanbi very differently. I thought she was thinking of Huanbi's kindness in serving her since she was a child. Now it seems that there may be other reasons that we don't know about."

Shen Meizhuang is in the cold palace. Even if the emperor returns to the palace, she cannot go out to see Concubine Wan. Now she can only rely on Concubine Rou.

Thinking of this, Shen Meizhuang felt as if she had always been bothering Rou Changzai. The little bit of protection she had shown her when she first entered the palace was really not worth mentioning.

When Chang Rou saw Shen Meizhuang's embarrassment, she immediately felt a little proud and said directly: "Sister Shen, if you have anything to tell me, please just ask. Lingrong has no other skills, but she can still get information."

In this case, Shen Meizhuang said bluntly, "Lingrong, perhaps Huanbi's life experience must be complicated, but no matter how complicated it is, Huanbi is now..."

"Why don't you write a letter to Huan'er and persuade her to at least take good care of herself and protect the third princess, so that she can wait for the future."

When Rou Chang heard that the matter was not difficult, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately agreed: "Sister Shen is right, I think so too. Sister Zhen now has a princess by her side. Just look at Concubine Cao and Princess Wen Yi and you will know that because the emperor always thinks about Concubine Cao, even if Concubine Cao has fallen out of favor for a long time, the emperor will always think about her."

Shen Meizhuang nodded repeatedly; "That's exactly the reason. I had hoped to conceive an heir to the throne as soon as possible, but I didn't expect to be taken advantage of by someone and end up like this."

Rou Chang hesitated for a moment, but in the end she did not ask Shen Meizhuang what the inside story was. She just turned the topic to Concubine Nian, "Since we entered the palace, we knew that Concubine Nian had been looking forward to having a child for many years, and now Concubine Nian has finally got her wish..."

Shen Meizhuang still gritted her teeth and said, "Yes, God actually let such a person get his wish..."