Chapter 211 Ru Lan
The group played mahjong until the evening. Due to her status, Zhang Guifen did not go to see them off, so Yu Yanran did it for her.
After saying goodbye, Rulan and Minglan left in a carriage.
"That mahjong is quite fun. The Crown Princess even gave me a set. I'll go back and teach my mother how to play it together." Rulan said with a smile.
"It's really interesting." Minglan rested for a while, woke up and watched for a while, and she roughly understood the rules.
"Oh, right." Rulan suddenly said, "When you went to the pavilion to rest, did the prince go there?"
Minglan was stunned, then calmly said, "No, what nonsense are you talking about, Fifth Sister?"
"It seems that I guessed right." Rulan smiled and said, "If it really wasn't there, you would have said it with a smile, not so calmly."
"Fifth sister, you..." Minglan looked at Rulan in surprise.
Rulan always gave her the impression of being carefree and without any scheming.
However, Rulan seemed like a different person at this moment.
"hehe."
Rulan smiled and said, "The Crown Princess suddenly invited us to the East Palace without saying anything, as if she just wanted us to come and have fun. Do you think that's right?"
"I think about it, and it has something to do with you. When you were poisoned, His Highness took it so seriously that he not only sent two imperial doctors to treat you, but also asked one of them to stay in the Sheng family for several days. And Lin..."
Rulan paused here and said, "The Crown Princess asked us to come. I think Her Highness is worried about you and wants to see you."
Minglan was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Fifth sister has changed so much that I don't recognize her anymore."
"I am still me. I am not as smart as you, not as pretty as Molan, and I have a straightforward personality. My grandmother and mother are worried about me. I can think of these things not because I am smart, but because my mother has been talking about them recently. I heard some of them and then figured them out." Rulan said with a smile.
After Minglan was poisoned, Madam Wang was very worried when she saw that the Crown Prince cared so much about Minglan.
It would be fine if Minglan didn’t wake up, but if she woke up and entered the Eastern Palace in the future, would it affect Rulan?
After Minglan woke up, Madam Wang went to discuss with Mama Liu, hoping to see if there was any way to prevent Minglan from being included in the dowry.
Rulan overheard all of this, including Lin Xiaoniang's death.
In the entire Sheng family, only Old Lady Sheng, Sheng Hong and Madam Wang knew the cause of Lin Xiaoniang's death.
Old Lady Sheng told Minglan, but Madam Wang did not tell Rulan.
Because Sheng Hong had told her not to tell anyone, Madam Wang was also worried that Rulan would spread rumors after knowing the truth, which would displease Sheng Hong.
Today, the Crown Princess suddenly invited the two of them over, and Madam Wang made many guesses and gave her many instructions.
Rulan was filled with trepidation when she came, but the Crown Princess neither targeted them nor said anything in a veiled way.
Rulan was very confused. Later, she remembered that when she went to the garden, Minglan went to the pavilion alone to rest for a while. After she came back, something was wrong. Then she thought of these things.
But she was a little uncertain, and her initial question was just a test.
The two sisters have been together for so long, Minglan understands her. Although she doesn't know Minglan very well, she has some understanding of some of Minglan's habits.
After she asked, Minglan was too calm, so she concluded that Minglan was lying.
Otherwise Minglan should have said it to her while laughing and scolding.
Minglan didn't know what to say for a moment when she heard this.
When she got along with Rulan in the past, she never thought that Rulan was simple-minded or plotted against her.
But Rulan had changed so much suddenly that she didn’t know how to get along with her.
"I have no other intention in telling you this. In fact, my mother doesn't want you to come with my dowry. She is worried that if you are favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I will be neglected." Rulan said.
"What does Fifth Sister think?" Minglan asked.
"When I heard the conversation between my mother and Mother Liu, my first reaction was not to let you marry with me. But when I thought about it, I felt panicked and really wanted you to marry with me." Rulan said.
When she was seven or eight years old, she began to learn etiquette from Old Lady Sheng.
She has been spoiled by her mother since she was a child and has never suffered such hardship.
Old Madam Sheng was very strict, so she didn't dare cry to her. She could only cry to her mother when she saw her.
Her mother would tell her that she would serve the prince in the future, and that the palace was terrible and that if she didn’t learn the rules well, certain things would happen.
At that time, it was actually difficult for her to understand all this, and she had no idea what it meant to enter the palace to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Instead, he is complacent because of this identity.
Rulan still remembers that she proudly told Minglan that Minglan would just be her future dowry maid.
But as time went by, she gradually became more sensible and understood what it meant to enter the palace to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
The words her mother told her since she was a child became a shadow in her heart.
In fact, she herself had not noticed this shadow, but when she heard Madam Wang say that she didn't want Minglan to give her a dowry, she felt inexplicably flustered.
In the deep palace, she had to deal with all the dangers her mother mentioned by herself, and she didn't even have anyone to talk to.
Thinking of this, she felt at a loss.
"Fifth sister, actually when I first heard the news, I was also very unwilling. Ever since I can remember, my mother has been bullied, even by the servants."
Minglan looked absent-minded, as if lost in memories: "At that time, I was thinking, when I get married in the future, I don't care how good the family is, even if it's an ordinary family, as long as I don't become a concubine, as long as the master treats me well. Even if life is hard, I am willing." "But the dowry is decided by my father, what can I do to change it? My grandmother wanted to plan something for me, and I was full of expectations, but it failed in the end."
"If the lady can really find a way to get me off the dowry, I would be very grateful to her."
Minglan was a little self-deprecating, although Zhao Xing acted like he liked her very much and treated her well.
But how long can this love last?
Whether it is a dowry or a nominal status, it just sounds better. In reality, she is still a concubine and has no control over her own destiny.
Like her grandmother and Madam Wu, they all had bad relationships with their husbands.
Maybe they were sad at that time, but as long as they can let it go, they can live freely.
But what about concubines?
Even if you can gain favor by relying on your beauty, what will happen when you get old and lose your beauty?
Just like Lin Xiaoniang, the concubine even overshadows the wife.
But even if she didn't die, Sheng Hong would lose interest in her after a few years as she grew old and ugly.
There will also be someone younger and more beautiful than her to replace her.
"But these are fate, and they cannot be changed."
"Yes." Rulan nodded and said, "Mother Liu also said that it cannot be changed. But it's okay this way. I know you are smart, but you have never schemed against me. In the future, we will enter the palace together. Even if you are favored and I am neglected, I will have someone to talk to."
"I actually hope not to be favored. Fifth sister, think about it, father only has a few concubines, and the eldest lady and Miss Lin have been fighting for so many years. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has so many women now, and except for Sister Shulan, all of them have higher births than us. Being favored may not be a good thing." Minglan sighed.
The Sheng family is just a microcosm. The Sheng family alone is so dangerous, let alone the Eastern Palace.
She was able to hide her incompetence in the Sheng family because they each had their own rivals.
Lin Xiaoniang and Wang Da Niangzi are rivals, Rulan and Molan are rivals.
As a concubine's daughter, she was not favored, which was why she was able to hide her shortcomings.
Zhao Xing treats her so specially, will he be able to hide his incompetence in the future?
"I don't care. I don't think His Highness would like me like this. You can just worry about it then." Rulan said with a smile.
Minglan smiled slightly when she heard this, perhaps this is the real Rulan.
It's not that she has no brains, it's just that her personality makes her unwilling to use her brain.
…………
The East Palace, inside the Chaoyang Palace bedroom.
Zhao Xing leaned against the head of the bed, closed his eyes and thought.
There was a slight sound of footsteps, but Zhao Xing heard it without opening his eyes.
After a while, a person climbed onto the bed, bringing with him a scent, and went into Zhao Xing's arms.
"Your Highness!"
Zhao Xing opened his eyes. Li Liangdi, dressed in a gauze, was looming in the distance. She was leaning in his arms, looking up at him lovingly.
Zhao Xing skillfully reached his hand through the gauze, grasped the soft thing, and played with it carefully.
"Did you finish your bath?"
"Ah."
Li Liangdi moaned, her face flushed with shame, her eyes half open and half closed, and it was unclear whether she was answering Zhao Xing or something else.
Suddenly, Zhao Xing stopped moving. Li Liangdi opened her eyes and looked at Zhao Xing with some doubt in her eyes.
"I heard that you first went to see Jiang Liangdi today, and then went to see the two beautiful ladies Li and Chen?" Zhao Xing said lightly.
Zhao Xing's plain words sounded like thunder to Li Liangdi's ears.
"I was... bored, so I went to find them..." A trace of panic flashed across Li Liangdi's eyes, and she opened her mouth to explain quickly. Before she could finish her words, her mouth was blocked.
The palace maid serving in the room hurried forward and lowered the curtain.
After a while, some clothes were thrown out from the tent. Among them was a pink bellyband with a broken strap, which showed how impatient she was.
The palace maid listened to the singing and crying voice coming from inside, and blushed as she picked up the clothes and put them in order.
After about half an hour, the sound stopped, and then Zhao Xing's voice was heard from inside the tent. The palace maid hurried forward and opened the tent.
I helped the two of them go to the bathroom to wash up, and changed the bedding for the rest.
When the two of them finished cleaning and came back, the bed had been replaced with a clean one.
Li Liangdi lay down for a while and felt that she had regained some strength.
This was the second time she was favored by Zhao Xing after entering the Eastern Palace, and this time Zhao Xing was even wilder than last time, and he made her suffer a lot.
Thinking of what Zhao Xing had said before, she didn't know whether this was a punishment or a warning, or if Zhao Xing was just like that.
After hesitating for a long time, when she made up her mind to ask, Zhao Xing had already fallen asleep. Listening to his even breathing, she finally did not dare to wake Zhao Xing up.
In fact, this was a warning Zhao Xing gave her. His purpose was to tell her that she couldn't hide her tricks from him and he didn't mind, but she couldn't go too far.
(End of this chapter)