Harem Daily Life

Chapter 411 Kneeling outside the door and crying for help

Lu Cairen had just become pregnant. She knelt outside the gate of Changle Palace, crying bitterly. Anyone who saw her would have thought she looked pitiful.

When Tao Yanyan came out wearing a cloak, his eyes were filled with ice.

"Please, Imperial Concubine, have mercy on me and persuade His Majesty to release my sister! My sister is weak and she will not be able to bear it in the cold palace. Imperial Concubine, please be magnanimous and don't bother with my sister now that it is the New Year, okay?"

After Lu Cairen finished speaking, she kowtowed three times to Tao Yanyan. In the eyes of outsiders, she was a good sister who sincerely apologized to the imperial concubine and sacrificed herself to save her sister.

Tao Yanyan sneered: "She slandered me for having an affair with a man outside last night, and was banished to the cold palace by His Majesty. Yet you come to ask me to be magnanimous. Where do you get the nerve to do that? No wonder you two can be sisters, you are both equally thick-skinned."

Lu Cairen concealed the resentment in her eyes and said pitifully: "My sister is dazzled and confused by her concern. She didn't mean to slander the imperial concubine. Besides, didn't the imperial concubine suffer any harm?"

Tao Yanyan was shocked by her shameless remarks.

Fortunately, she succeeded in saving herself, otherwise, now she would not be the talented lady Li, but myself staying in the cold palace!

"Just because she didn't harm me doesn't mean that Li Cairen is innocent. She had the intention to harm others, which made His Majesty dislike her. That's why she was sent to the cold palace. If you really want to ask for mercy, you shouldn't come to me, the victim, to ask for mercy. You should go to His Majesty."

After Tao Yanyan finished speaking, she glanced at Lu Cairen's maid and said, "Your mistress is pregnant with the heir to the throne, but you servants didn't persuade her, didn't serve her well, and instead let her make a scene in front of me. This is dereliction of duty. You should be slapped in the face thirty times to teach me a lesson."

The two maids dared not disobey and had to slap themselves on the face.

Seeing that she was as hard as iron and refused to give in, Lu Cairen threatened: "Your Highness knows that I have just been pregnant for a short time and the fetus is not stable yet. If Your Highness does not help me and release my sister, I will kneel down forever! There are so many people coming and going at the gate of Changle Palace. Aren't you afraid of being criticized for mistreating the concubines of lower rank?"

Tao Yanyan couldn't help laughing several times, almost crying with laughter: "You wanted to kneel down, I didn't ask you to kneel down, what am I afraid of? Are you still treating the concubines of lower rank harshly? If you hadn't used such despicable means, with your appearance and figure, how could you enter the palace as a concubine?" Tao Yanyan looked at her with disdain: "Compared with your sister, you are really far behind. No wonder you took that path to be favored."

Concubine Lu was hurt by the disgust in Concubine Tao's eyes and was completely broken.

She was originally a concubine's daughter, and because her aunt was not presentable, she was also inferior to others. In the Lu family, except for eating, wearing, and living a little better than the maids, she was really inferior to her elder sister Lu Jingyi in everything, and her appearance was far inferior.

She bit her lip and wanted to stand up and slap Tao Yanyan hard, but she didn't dare because she was of low rank and not strong enough.

"Your Majesty, please show mercy and release my sister for the sake of my bearing the royal heir!" Cairen Lu cried.

Qingfeng was so angry that he almost wanted to hit her away with a broom. Who would cry at someone's door on the first day of the first lunar month? It was so infuriating!

Tao Yanyan glanced at Lu Cairen and said, "Your child was not easy to come by. Don't blame me for not reminding you. If you kill the child, you will never have the chance to see His Majesty again! Haha, I have said it all. You can do whatever you want. Chang Tai, close the palace gate. If someone wants to kneel, let them kneel."

Tao Yanyan is not a hard-hearted person, but the Lu sisters did refresh her worldview, and she really couldn't empathize with them.

The gate of Changle Palace slowly closed. Lu Cairen looked at it in despair, her heart filled with resentment.

"Empress Tao, just wait, I will make you pay the price!" Concubine Lu slowly stood up, and with the help of her maid, she limped towards Changchun Palace.

Chang Tai took a look through the crack in the door, and seeing the person walking away, he said "Pooh" and went back to report.

Although Tao Yanyan responded to Lu Cairen in a domineering manner, she was still a little unhappy about being offended on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and her mood suddenly became low. Fortunately, the three children were lively and cute, chattering around her, which quickly diluted her negative emotions and she smiled again.

It is said that Lady Lu was also a tough person. After she arrived at Changchun Palace, she asked the eunuch guarding the gate to go in and report that she had an important matter to discuss with the Empress Dowager.

The Queen Mother was chatting with Concubine Hui at this time. The two had not seen each other for many years. They talked a lot last night and still felt that they had a lot to say, so Concubine Hui did not leave the palace today.

After He Linzhang came to pay his respects, he stayed by the side, occasionally saying a few words, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

When He Linzhang heard that Lu Cairen wanted to see him, he narrowed his eyes and felt displeased.

With Concubine Hui here, the Queen Mother couldn't do anything too extreme, lest she leave behind the image of a wicked mother-in-law who mistreats her concubines, so she eventually summoned someone in.

Lu Cairen, with her belly still not showing, put one hand on her waist and bowed deeply: "I pay my respects to the Queen Mother, to Your Majesty, and to Concubine Hui."

The etiquette was quite thorough. The Queen Mother said calmly, "Talented Lady Lu is not in the palace to take care of her pregnancy. Why is she here now?"

Lu Cairen was of low rank, and logically she was not qualified to meet the empress dowager. But today was the first day of the new year, and she was pregnant with the heir, so the empress dowager did not bother with her for the sake of the heir.

Lu Cairen lowered her eyebrows and said weakly, "Your Majesty, if I hadn't been desperate, I wouldn't have come to bother you. Please help me, your Majesty, and release my sister. It's too pitiful for her to stay in the cold palace alone during the New Year holidays!"

The empress dowager glanced at the emperor and raised her eyebrows. She had been chatting so happily with Concubine Hui last night that she didn't pay attention to what happened to Concubine Li. It turned out that she was punished to the cold palace.

That's really satisfying!

The Queen Mother was so happy that she was bubbling with joy, but her face was slightly wrinkled. She said unhappily, "Was it the Emperor who punished her? That must be because Concubine Li committed some unforgivable crime, otherwise how could the Emperor be willing to punish her?"

Concubine Hui also became interested and looked at the emperor. When she left Beijing, she heard that the new Concubine Li was very favored and was as powerful as her aunt, Concubine Li, in the harem. How could such a famous person be punished to the cold palace on New Year's Eve? It was really curious.

He Linzhang glanced at Lu Cairen unhappily and said calmly, "Last night, Li Cairen slandered Concubine Tao for having an affair with a man outside her family. She led me there, but I found out it was a false accusation. I really hate Li Cairen for causing trouble for Concubine Tao so many times, so I was furious and banished her to the cold palace. No one can plead for mercy in this matter. Li Cairen has brought this upon herself."

When Concubine Hui heard that Concubine Tao was having a secret meeting with a man from outside the palace, her hands tightened slightly, and her heart was lifted. She kept thinking about whether Prince Yong had left the table last night. However, because she was too interested in chatting with the Queen Mother at the palace banquet last night, she didn't pay attention to Prince Yong.

Her eyes darkened and her breathing quickened.