Not far from Concubine Yun’s Glazed Palace is Concubine Xue’s Linyue Tower. Unlike the simple and elegant style of the Glazed Palace, the Linyue Tower is the most luxurious palace in the entire palace, and it seems to be glowing with golden light from afar.
Concubine Xue lay on the chaise longue, with two palace maids beside her carefully massaging her legs. She was a few years older than Concubine Yun, and had a few crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, but she was born with a wealthy and noble look, and those wrinkles did not detract from her nobility. She looked like a fairy concubine, just like a big red peony, absolutely beautiful and elegant, a truly wealthy and noble flower in the world.
"Are you really stupid?" The third prince asked in a low voice while standing aside.
He was bending over his desk, slowly painting a landscape painting. He never looked up, and his expression was very calm.
Emperor Qingyuan Fu Qingyan was good-looking, and there was no concubine in the harem who was not good-looking. All the princes were good-looking. Fu Rongye inherited the profound facial features of Concubine Xue, which were gorgeous and unparalleled on women and also very outstanding on men.
He is four years older than Fu Zhiyu and is now twenty years old. There are many things he can do, including placing spies in other palaces.
Things were not going smoothly in the Glazed Palace. Concubine Yun was extremely vigilant. Several of her personal maids had been following her before she entered the palace. Fu Rongye had spent a lot of effort, but could only arrange for a eunuch who was in charge of cleaning the palace to enter.
But it is better to have any news than no news, especially after Concubine Yun returned to the palace, every movement there is very important.
"Really? I heard that even his handwriting has changed. It's not as good as before. The current Ninth Prince can no longer bear the title of 'great talent'."
"He really spent the whole afternoon peeling pine nuts for that woman Yuan Wanyun?" Imperial Concubine Xue propped up her face and interrupted the undercover eunuch, asking, "What's Yuan Wanyun's expression?"
Yuan Wanyun is the real name of Concubine Yun.
The young eunuch thought hard and said, "Empress Yun looks... quite happy? She's been smiling the whole time."
"She thinks everything her son does is good, and Fu Zhiyu is her treasure," Concubine Xue sneered, "She looks like this on the surface, but I don't know how she cries behind her back."
The young eunuch quickly said, "Yes, yes, I see Concubine Yun's eyes are all red, and they haven't gone away."
After hearing this, Concubine Xue became even happier. She covered her mouth and laughed a few times, then said, "You deserve it!"
The third prince frowned, put down the pen in his hand, and asked again: "Where is Fu Zhiyu?"
"The Ninth Prince..." The young eunuch racked his brains to think of some adjectives, "He didn't say much, he was thinner, and quieter than before. That's all. People say the Ninth Prince is stupid, but I don't think he is stupid. No matter what he does, he does it slowly, and nothing seems to make him anxious."
"The stupidity in the world is not limited to those with crooked mouths and squinting eyes. If someone like Fu Zhiyu really has a brain injury, even if he just has a slow reaction, he is stupid," Fu Rongye said. "Go back and keep an eye on him. If there is anything, come back and report in time."
The young eunuch responded and left.
"Yer, why didn't you smile when you heard this?" Concubine Xue turned and looked at him. "This is a great thing."
Fu Rongye glanced at his mother without saying anything. He just lowered his head and finished the last stroke. He picked up the paper and blew dry the ink on it.
This was a well-painted landscape painting, with green mountains and a rising red sun, but Fu Rongye took one look at it and threw it into the trash can beside him.
Concubine Xue didn't understand what he meant. How could the landscape painting she had worked so hard on for the whole morning be lost? She signaled her maid to pick it up and show it to her.
"Isn't this good?" Concubine Xue took a closer look and asked, "Who has offended you again?"
"It's not as good as the one Fu Zhiyu drew when he was thirteen years old. When my father saw it, he praised it several times. It's still hanging in the imperial study," Fu Rongye said, "Throw it away."
After he said that, Concubine Xue also got angry and asked the maid to put the painting aside, saying, "Why did you bring this up?"
Fu Rongye did not reply, but turned around and said to the person guarding him: "Bring the Eighth Prince in."
The eighth prince Fu Rongli was ordered by the emperor to stay in seclusion and study during the grand sacrifice and not go out, but the grand sacrifice had been over for quite some time and he was still staying in seclusion obediently.
When Fu Rongli was brought in, he saw Fu Rongye at first sight and his whole body trembled.
He was really afraid of his biological brother who had the same father and mother as him, even more afraid than meeting the emperor.
At Fu Rongye's signal, all the palace servants in the room left, leaving only the three of them.
Concubine Xue was sensitive to the wrong atmosphere. She waved her hand, signaling her youngest son to come over. She reached out and touched Fu Rongli's face, saying distressedly: "Look at our Li'er, he has lost weight because of studying so hard. Mother will ask the kitchen to stew a pot of nourishing soup later..."
"Tonic soup?" Fu Rongye sneered, "Does he deserve it?"
Concubine Xue was a little angry and said, "Ye'er! Why do you talk like that? Li'er is your brother after all!"
Fu Rongye didn't care what Concubine Xue said, and just said four words to him: "Come here and kneel down."
Fu Rongli didn't dare to resist him at all and immediately knelt down in front of the table.
"Do you know you are wrong?"
Concubine Xue also stood up, her voice getting louder: "Li'er is right! He made the right moves twice, and the final results were also very good. And now the emperor hasn't found out, it's perfect, and it also relieved me of the hatred I've had for so many years. His only omission was that he didn't discuss it with you and me before, but compared to the results, what does that matter? How can there be such a good opportunity to make a move in the future?"
Fu Rongye's eyes were gloomy, and he asked, "Do you also think that things are just as mother said, you really harmed your rival since childhood perfectly, very smart, right?"
Fu Rongli was full of desire to survive and shook his head frantically.
Fu Rongye walked up to him, pinched his chin, and forced him to look at him: "You didn't tell me the first time you made a move, and you didn't tell me the second time. It wasn't until my father realized something was wrong and started investigating that you panicked and knew to show your hand. I could only clean up for you in a hurry. Do you know that there was only one step left? Just one step left! I cleaned up the traces you left in the Imperial Hospital, and the next moment my father's people came. If I miss this step, it will be fine if you are found out, but how should my mother, the concubine, and the entire Xue family deal with it
I have come to this point today, and I have been cautious every time, fearing that if I make a mistake, I will fall from a high place into the abyss. But you are much braver than me, and you are just jealous and resentful at the moment!"
Fu Rongli looked him straight in the eyes. His body stopped shaking now. He just lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I know I was wrong. Please punish me, brother."
Concubine Xue looked at Fu Rongye turning around and taking the whip from the shelf, and she had a bad feeling in her heart.
"Li'er has already admitted her mistake. I can punish her, but isn't this a bit too severe?"
"It's not serious," Fu Rongli said at this time, "Please punish me, brother."
Fu Rongye used all his strength to whip the barbed whip twenty times. Fu Rongli's upper body was covered in blood, but he didn't make a sound.
After the smoke was finished, he used up the last bit of his conscious strength and said, "Fu... Fu Zhiyu is so cunning. I don't believe it, I don't believe it, he would be so easy to..."
Before he could finish, he fainted.
"Wipe your tears," Fu Rongye said to Concubine Xue with a gloomy face without even looking at him, "I have called Doctor Hu, and he won't die. If he doesn't suffer this, he won't learn his lesson.
Fu Zhiyu... I will check again. There is no rush. Let's talk about it after this storm has passed."
No matter what the outside world did or thought, Fu Zhiyu just slept peacefully for a night. He did not wait for the "mutation" that the Lord God had mentioned, but instead waited for an uninvited guest.
"I came to see Xiaojiu," he heard the man's voice as soon as he woke up. He felt goosebumps all over his body, as if he was having a nightmare. "... It's nothing. Xiaojiu just recovered from a serious illness. It's good for him to sleep a little longer. I'll wait here. There's no need to disturb him."
It’s the prince, Fu Lingxiao.
Fu Zhiyu suddenly woke up.