When the queen heard the queen mother asking her, she lowered her head in shame. During this period of time, she had been fighting alone in this deep harem.
She was isolated and helpless, and had only the few people left by Prime Minister Gu to protect her children. The women in the harem only knew how to cause trouble for her and were not of any help at all.
What's more, she is the empress dowager's niece. In fact, the empress dowager's niece has been living a good life since entering the palace. I'm afraid that this time someone is deliberately setting a trap for her.
The Queen Mother, who was always shrewd, could not see it. Was she planning to give up on her? Sure enough, there were still some who were close to her and some who were distant from her. Thinking of this, the Queen lowered her head.
There was a flash of grievance in her eyes. Without saying anything, Xiaoman looked at Concubine Chen with some dissatisfaction and smiled: "Concubine Chen's skin is white and tender, you don't look like someone who often doesn't have enough to eat."
Xiaoman's words immediately made the Queen Mother alert. She didn't expect that Ren Yu, her niece, was busy plotting against the Queen as soon as she returned to the palace.
Instead of the favored concubine, she was short-sighted. Looking at the women in the room, the queen mother's smiling face suddenly turned angry: "All of you get out."
"Xiao Man and the Queen stay!"
All the concubines were stunned, even Concubine Chen Ren Yu was dumbfounded. They did not expect that the Queen Mother, who was originally holding the Queen accountable, suddenly ordered her to be driven out.
He looked at the Queen Mother with a little grievance: "Aunt Queen Mother..."
"roll!"
But before she could utter these words, she heard the word "get out". The face of Concubine Chen changed drastically, and she turned around and walked out, still with an indignant look on her face.
The Queen Mother waved her hand and asked the palace maids to leave. Then she sighed, "Alas, I was counting on this niece to take care of the Ren family in the future."
"Who knew he was so short-sighted, so..."
The Queen Mother was already at a loss for words to describe this Concubine Chen, and could only sigh. However, Xiao Man smiled and said, "Don't be anxious, Queen Mother. Concubine Chen is not short-sighted."
"She has a plan in mind! But she is just a little too impatient!"
The Queen and the Queen Mother looked at her in confusion. Xiao Man then snorted coldly: "If you ask me, the Empress Chen's plan is very simple. She wants to force the Queen to death and take the throne herself."
The Queen Mother was shocked. Saying this in front of the Queen, wouldn't this create a deadly feud between the two? She had planned for the two to support each other in the palace in the future.
Xiao Man did not look at the Queen Mother's expression, and continued: "Now that the Queen Mother is disliked by the Emperor, he is counting on you, the Queen Mother, to come back and take charge of the situation."
"She is your niece. If you, the Queen Mother, take charge of the situation and don't protect the Queen, I'm afraid the Queen's situation will be even more difficult."
"To put it mildly, he will be imprisoned for life after being deposed. To put it more seriously, he may not survive. As for the eldest prince born by the queen, his position will be even more embarrassing in the future."
"Although he is a legitimate child, if the queen dies, another queen will take the throne. As for whether the current eldest prince can survive, it is still unknown."
"This Concubine Chen is planning that no matter how far our Queen Queen goes, the Queen's throne will be vacant."
"So the goal of Concubine Chen is to become the next Empress. The Empress Dowager and the ministers will never let the favorite concubine become the Empress."
"So she is the best candidate. As for the other concubines who have not yet served the emperor, they are just pawns used by the emperor to get his favorite concubine into the palace. They have no competitive power at all."
"How can someone with such a plan be unreliable? Even the Queen Mother, you should remind her that if she cannot see the overall situation and makes plans on her own, she will only end up dying a more miserable death!"
The empress dowager was shocked. She always felt that Xiaoman's hostility had become even worse after returning to the palace. She would kill someone if they disagreed with her.
Looking at Xiaoman: "I will teach you privately, Concubine Chen. How dare you use such a trick on me? You are really rebelling against her!"
Then he glanced at the queen and said, "Queen, don't worry, your position as the queen was conferred by the late emperor, and no one can change it."
The Queen looked at the Queen Mother gratefully: "Thank you, Mother."
As he was speaking, he heard the eunuch outside come in to report: "The Empress Dowager, the Queen, and the Imperial Concubine fainted from the shock."
The Queen Mother frowned: "What frightened her?"
The eunuch answered honestly, "She was frightened by the beating. Originally, the imperial concubine was going to collect the body of the palace maid He Ye who was beaten to death, but after seeing He Ye's miserable state, she fainted out of fear."
As he spoke, the eunuch glanced at Xiaoman imperceptibly. This county lady was a ruthless person. Xiaoman could naturally feel the eunuch's gaze and gave him a gloomy look.
"Do you want to be punished with a hundred scars?"
The eunuch immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Please spare my life, my lady, please spare my life."
Xiaoman snorted and ignored the eunuch. The queen mother was speechless. She looked at Xiaoman and then at the eunuch: "Okay, go down."
"You, you have to be so scary. When you enter the palace in the future, I'm afraid these palace servants will retreat away from you."
Xiao Man laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. I don't come to the palace often anyway. If there is no need, I won't come!"
The empress dowager was even more speechless. In fact, apart from Qian Jiujiu, the daughter-in-law that the empress dowager was most satisfied with was Xiaoman as well.
But now, she dared not let Xiaoman enter the palace, and then changed the subject: "Speaking of which, this favorite concubine is not so bad."
"At least we have our own people to protect."
Xiaoman sneered again: "Empress Dowager, this is not protection, she is just scared. If she really protected us, when we punish the maid."
"She should have jumped out to stop you, but what happened? She didn't dare to speak up because you had revoked her account ban. Do you think she would have really spoken up to stop you?"
"Would you ignore her pleas and beat the maid to death? Even if you don't consider her as the favorite concubine, you still have to consider the emperor. In fact, the maid died because she didn't plead for mercy."
"She is very selfish and is unwilling to sacrifice her own interests to save others. I heard that the palace maid grew up with her and they are like sisters."
"She treats him like this. For a person like this, helping the palace maids collect the bodies is just a formality. If she wants to drag the people around her into a common hatred, you just wait."
"The other person beside her named Lian Zi will kill us if given the chance. The hatred has been transferred to our side by the favored concubine."
"So this favorite concubine just failed to show off this time and ended up embarrassing herself! Only you and the emperor would think she is so kind! She is definitely a big white lotus."
At this point, Xiaoman suddenly laughed: "I was wondering why He Ye's twin sisters were named Lianzi instead of Hehua or Lianhua. It seems that this name is reserved for their master."
The Queen Mother was also an old lady in the palace. How could she not understand such a simple truth? She looked at Xiaoman and said, "You are born to be in the harem."
Xiaoman rolled her eyes: "Yes, but that doesn't mean I like it. I just like to be free and easy. My home is for relaxation, not for fighting."
The Queen Mother looked at Xiaoman and thought, yes, perhaps only a family like that would prevent Xiaoman from becoming more violent if Xiaoman really entered the palace.
There must be people being killed every few days, making the entire harem live in panic. Xiaoman looked at the empress dowager and didn't know what she was thinking.
She couldn't help but cough twice: "Queen Mother, what are you thinking about? Yongxi hasn't seen the eldest prince for a long time. Do you want to go see the eldest prince?"
The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows: "Prime Minister Gu just came, but he has been waiting for you at the door. Do you still want to sit in the palace?"
Xiaoman didn't care: "Let him wait a little longer. After a tour around the palace, Yongxi will go home and live for a long time. Is that okay? Queen Mother!"
The Queen Mother was amused: "Look at you, you are even acting like a spoiled child. Of course you have to do it even if you can't. So after you go to see the eldest prince, will you leave the palace?"
"Aren't you going to come and have dinner with me?"
Xiaoman shook her head: "No, Queen Mother, for dinner, I suggest you bring the Queen, the Emperor, and the Prince to a family dinner, it would be so warm and cozy."
The Queen Mother nodded: "This is a good idea, go ahead."
Xiaoman glanced at the Queen, then at the Queen Mother: "Then Yongxi will leave!"
The queen also knelt and saluted: "I will take my leave!"
After saying that, she walked out with Xiaoman. The Queen Mother was stunned for a long time before she sighed, "The Queen is still too kind, but good people will be rewarded."
"With Xiaoman's help, no one in the harem can touch her."
The nanny beside him frowned: "What the Queen Mother said is true, neither you nor the Emperor can move?"
This was a question she asked subconsciously. After she finished asking, she realized something was wrong and quickly knelt down: "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I spoke out of turn."
The Queen Mother just smiled and said, "Get up. It seems that not only I am a little uncomfortable returning to the palace after relaxing outside for a while, but you are the same."
"Only Xiaoman can switch easily. But the problem is, as long as Xiaoman supports the queen, even Aijia and the emperor can't touch her."
"Forget it, don't think too much about it. Go prepare the Hundred Flowers Banquet. I will treat the emperor to dinner tonight."
The nanny didn't dare to say anything this time, she just turned around to prepare. On the other side, the Queen just came out of the Queen Mother's bedroom and thanked Xiaoman.
"Thank you, County Lord, for your righteous words just now."
Xiaoman looked back at the queen and smiled, then said, "Walls have ears, let's go back to your palace and talk."
The queen could only calm down and took Xiaoman to her palace. After entering, she heard the crying of the eldest prince, who was now more than half a year old.
He was white and chubby and very cute. Xiaoman came to the eldest prince and poked him on the face: "What a cute little guy."
After just a poke, Xiaoman's face changed. She looked at the maid beside the eldest prince and said, "Go and bring the wet nurse who usually feeds the eldest prince."