Seeing that Concubine Zhen remained silent for a long time, Hua Manman held her hand, pleadingly.
"You let me go."
Concubine Zhen looked down at the hand she was holding, and slowly uttered two words.
"no."
Hua looked at her puzzledly: "Why?"
Concubine Zhen: "If I let you go, I'm afraid it will be difficult to see you again in the future."
Hua Manman said anxiously: "No, we will meet again in the future, I promise!"
Concubine Zhen's gaze gradually became sharper.
"You don't need to lie to me, I know in my heart that once I let you go, there will only be two results—
Either you follow Li Ji to live in seclusion in the mountains and never show up again.
Or, if Li Ji leads his troops to fight back to Tianjing, no matter whether he succeeds or not, the day you and my sister meet, there will be swords and swords facing each other. "
Hua was speechless.
Concubine Zhen held her hand in turn and said in a deep voice.
"I don't want these two results."
Hua Manman said with difficulty: "I really can't stay here..."
If she stays in the palace all the time, it will definitely make Li Ji and Li Xun worry.
At that time, Li Ji's blood will rise for a while, and he may rush back to Tianjing desperately to save people.
It's not like he hasn't done this kind of thing before.
Concubine Zhen: "Don't you just want to reunite with Li Ji? I can help you."
Hua Manman thought that the other party was going to let her go, she was overjoyed, but then she heard the other party say something else.
"You stay here with peace of mind, I will help you solve the problem."
Hua Manman was at a loss: "How do you solve it?"
Concubine Zhen said unhurriedly.
"The reason why you and Li Ji separated is ultimately because Li Ji was wanted.
As long as Bengong can remove his arrest warrant, erase his charges, and restore his original identity.
Then he can justifiably return to Tianjing to reunite with you. "
The truth is this, but Hua Manman hesitated: "The arrest warrant is issued by the sage and the Ministry of Secretary of State. Even if you are a noble concubine, you are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, right?"
Concubine Zhen pursed her lips and smiled lightly: "That's not necessarily true."
Hua Manman stared at her blankly.
In Hua Manman's impression, Hua Qingqing has always been a gentle and kind girl, and her smile also gives people a warm and comfortable feeling.
But at this time, her smile was full of strength, which could not be rejected.
Hua Manman: "What do you want to do?"
Concubine Zhen: "You will know when the time comes."
A court lady came to report that the empress dowager had summoned the imperial concubine.
Concubine Zhen ordered.
"Bring me that newly made candle in Motomiya's house."
"Here."
The lady-in-waiting soon returned with a beautiful candlestick.
The specially made candles in the palace not only burn without smoke, but also have a faint fragrance.
Concubine Zhen lit the candle herself, and adjusted the position of the wick with a silver clip.
She looked through the candlelight at her younger sister sitting across the table, and exhorted softly.
"I will come back as soon as I go, my sister will wait here, don't run around."
Hua Manman nodded honestly: "En."
She was already planning how to escape in her heart.
Even though Concubine Zhen said she would help her, she still felt unreliable, so let's leave this place of right and wrong first!
Concubine Zhen gave instructions to the people around her.
However-
As soon as Concubine Zhen left, the door was closed from the outside and locked.
Hua Manman just stared dumbfounded.
She was locked up!
How could this make her run away? !
Unwilling to give up, Hua Man ran over and pulled the door.
The door was locked tightly and remained motionless.
She ran to open the window again.
All windows were also locked from the outside.
This room is like an impenetrable prison cell, she cannot fly with her wings.
Hua Manman was out of breath and slammed on the door.
"Open the door! Let me out!"
After shouting for a long time, no one responded.
It looked like no one was out there.
But when Hua Manman got close to the door and looked out through the crack of the door, he could see two guards standing at the door.
There were people outside, but they ignored her.
Presumably this was ordered by Concubine Zhen, not to give her any chance to escape.
Hua Manman is in a hurry.
But she knew that the more this kind of thing happened, the more she couldn't mess it up.
She had to calm down and think about countermeasures.
Hua Manman took a deep breath, got rid of distracting thoughts in her mind, and tried hard to figure out what to do to get out
Thinking about it, she began to feel a little dizzy, and a strong sense of sleepiness surged up.
Eyelids droop uncontrollably.
She sensed something was wrong.
This sleepiness is very abnormal.
Thinking of Concubine Zhen's words and deeds before she left, Hua Manman immediately looked at the candlestick on the table.
There must be something wrong with the candles!
She walked over staggeringly, trying to blow out the candle.
Unfortunately it was too late.
Her brain was quickly occupied by drowsiness, her thoughts became more and more sluggish, and her limbs became weak and weak.
After a while.
She fell limply to the ground and passed out completely.
Inside Biquan Palace.
Concubine Zhen performed a Wanfu ceremony in a graceful manner.
"My concubine pays homage to the empress dowager."
The empress dowager sat at the head of the throne, all of her clothes were exquisite and luxurious, her well-maintained face was painted with exquisite makeup, and the corners of her eyebrows and eyes always carried a condescending arrogance.
Even when she was speaking, she lifted her chin slightly, as if she was looking down at others from a high position.
"Aijia heard that you ordered the palace gates to be closed today, and even mobilized the guards of the palace, but what happened?"
Concubine Zhen: "Actually, it's not a big deal, it's just that the concubine lost some jewelry in the palace.
There must have been thieves sneaking into the palace.
The concubine didn't want to let the thief go, so she could only temporarily close the palace gate and send Habayashi guards to arrest him.
I didn't expect that such a small matter could alarm the empress dowager.
Is it a concubine or not, please punish the empress dowager. "
The queen mother was surprised at first, then she slapped the table and said angrily.
"There are even thieves in the palace, how does Habayashi Wei work as a errand
Such dereliction of duty, what's the use of supporting them
According to the order of Ai's family, the commander of Habayashi Wei will receive a fine salary for one year, and all the left and right deputy commanders will be demoted by half a level as a punishment! "
Concubine Zhen quickly knelt down and begged.
"Habayashi Wei is already trying his best to catch the thief, and I hope the Queen Mother will show her noble hand and spare them this time."
The Queen Mother refused to listen to what she had to say, stood up directly, and left proudly.
After entering the inner room, the expression on the Empress Dowager's face eased down.
Mammy helped her to sit down and asked softly.
"Do you really believe what Concubine Zhen said?"
The queen mother said bitterly: "Even if the Ai family doesn't believe it, so what? Now that the concubine Zhengui's mother is more expensive than her son, and even the guards of the Habayashi are at her disposal, what can the Ai family do with her?"
Her attack just now was obviously to punish Habayashi Wei, but she was actually beating Zhen Guifei, so that Zhen Guifei would remember her identity, and stop mobilizing Habayashi Wei at will.
Mammy comforted: "Don't think so, be careful not to get angry."
(end of this chapter)