When Concubine Yi heard that the Queen had sent someone to report it, she knew it was probably because of what happened that day, so she did not delay and went over immediately.
Arriving at Jingning Palace, after greeting each other, the Queen asked directly, "You went to the Imperial Temple to pray, why did you come back so soon?"
Concubine Yi said, "Something happened yesterday, so I came back first."
Seeing that she had no intention of hiding anything, the queen asked her to sit down and asked, "Tell me what happened that day."
Concubine Yi sat down and sighed, "I have been hesitant about this matter all night. I don't know whether I should tell the Queen Mother. After all, I am an outsider. If I say this, I am afraid that it will sow discord between the Queen Mother and the Princess, and even hurt the uncle-nephew relationship between the Crown Prince and the Regent."
The Queen said calmly: "If it is true love, it can't hurt you in any way. If it is false, there is no such thing as hurting or not hurting. If you have something to say, just say it directly."
Concubine Yi raised her eyes and looked at the empress's cold face. A helpless look also appeared on her face. "There was no one else in the imperial temple, except the masters. I am the only witness. The prince arrested a commoner girl and locked her up in the firewood room of the imperial temple that day. However, I heard from the guards that this commoner girl spoke rudely to the prince, so the prince arrested her and locked her up. He just wanted to scare her. I didn't expect that this commoner girl had a big background. Not long after she was locked up, the princess came with people and beat the prince without saying anything. She also killed two guards around the prince. I was so scared at the time. This is also a royal temple after all. How can they kill people casually? Moreover, the princess's arrogance was also very arrogant, which was very different from the past. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe it."
The queen was so angry that her lungs almost exploded. She gritted her teeth and said, "It seems that I really underestimated her that day. No wonder she defeated the prime minister and the old lady. It turns out that she is such a powerful and arrogant character."
Concubine Yi said, "Who says she isn't? When I saw her looking so pitiful that day, I thought she was really being treated coldly. In fact, from the fact that she broke off the engagement with Prince Liang that day, I could see that she is very scheming. If she didn't want to get married, she could have said it earlier. But she chose to embarrass Prince Liang in front of so many guests. Now she is eager to do something to please Prince Liang so that His Highness will change his mind about her. You know, the Regent loves His Highness Prince Liang very much. What happened yesterday was probably a trap. That commoner left the Princess's residence, and the Princess was also there at the time. I heard that the conflict happened in the Princess's residence. That commoner bumped into His Highness the Crown Prince and spoke rudely to him. I'm afraid she was relying on the Princess's support."
After thinking it over, the Queen felt that what Concubine Yi said made sense. Xin'er had said before that he wanted to marry Wang Yi'er, but she strongly opposed it and he had his own problems, so he gave up. Now that he is better, I am afraid that this idea has come up again. No wonder he went to the Lin family to cancel the engagement yesterday.
She remembered that the guards said Wang Yier was defiled, so she asked Concubine Yi, "After that girl was captured and brought to the imperial temple, did the prince really have someone defile her?"
"I didn't see this with my own eyes. His Highness went to the imperial temple, but came to greet me first. He was not in the woodshed, and it is possible that he was afraid that the guards might have any bad thoughts about that girl." Concubine Yi said.
The queen nodded and thought to herself, regardless of whether there was any stain or not, Yi'er would definitely not marry Xin'er. Moreover, the reason why Xia Zian's instigation was so successful was probably because the boy still had feelings for this girl. Only if she died could he stop thinking about it and would not be used by others again.
Thinking of this, she looked at Concubine Yi and said, "Concubine Yi, what happened in the Imperial Temple has always damaged the reputation of the Crown Prince. I hope you won't tell anyone about it."
Concubine Yi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I cannot tell anyone. I cannot say that Your Highness was beaten up by the princess because of a commoner girl. Besides, it would not sound good to tell others about such a thing that happened in the peaceful place of Buddhism."
"Yes, it is the imperial temple after all. What will people think if something like this happens?" The Queen was thinking about it in her heart and did not notice the meaningful look on Concubine Yi's face.
Concubine Yi hated Zi'an to the core, but the most efficient way to kill someone was to use someone else's hand, and it would be more appropriate for the Queen to do it than for her.
"If there is nothing else, I will go back first." Concubine Yi stood up and bowed.
"Okay, you go back first. By the way, I heard that the Seventh Prince was feeling a little unwell a few days ago. Is he feeling better now?" asked the Queen.
"Much better. Your Majesty is still thinking about this? I'd like to thank you on behalf of Qi'er." Concubine Yi said with a smile.
"Of course I am thinking about him. He is also my child. I will bring him to Jingning Palace to play more often when I have time." The Queen said perfunctorily.
"Okay!" said Concubine Yi.
After sending Concubine Yi away, the Queen still couldn't let go of Prince Liang, so she sent someone to the Queen Mother's palace to inquire about the situation. Honghua came back and reported that Prince Liang asked to leave the palace and return home, and the Queen Mother had already ordered people to prepare.
The queen was very angry. "Let him go and save yourself the trouble. Did the imperial physician say anything?"
Honghua hesitated for a moment, "The imperial physician said that my legs may not be saved, and I may not be able to stand up in the future."
Although this was what the Queen had requested, she still felt very sad when she heard Honghua say this. Two lines of tears fell sadly, and she said in shock and pain: "I am afraid he will hate me to death from now on, but does he know my difficulties? I am also doing this for his own good. Although I have lost my legs, I can still live."
Honghua comforted her, "There is no overnight hatred between mother and son. Your Highness will understand the difficulties of the Queen."
The queen gently wiped away her tears and said, "I can only hope so. Go out and ask Pan Dan to go to the palace to take care of him. Among the guards here in the palace, Pan Dan is the only one I can trust."
"Yes!" Honghua took the order and went out.
After leaving the palace, Song Ruiyang went straight to the princess's residence and told Murong Jie and Zi'an what he saw in the queen's palace.
Zi'an said, "Prince Liang had already prepared himself for a beating before he entered the palace."
She was quite relieved, thinking that the Queen would not be too cruel, because she remembered that when she first entered the palace, the Queen wanted to kill her, but finally let her go because she saved Prince Liang. At that time, she saw that Prince Liang was very worried about her.
Song Ruiyang was surprised when he heard Zi'an's words, "What happened? The Queen's attack was not gentle. It seems that Prince Liang's legs are crippled."
Murong Jie stood up suddenly, "Disabled? Beaten so hard?"
"Isn't it? They used a big whipped stick. I heard the guards count it, sixty lashes." Song Ruiyang said.
Murong Jie and Zi'an's faces turned pale. How could sixty strokes of the cane be enough? If he was not careful, he might even lose his life.
Murong Jie said to Song Ruiyang, "I'll take my leave first. If you have nothing to do, please go to the Princess's residence. Excuse me!"
Song Ruiyang said: "I just came here to say a word. I have to go now. I have something else to do."
After saying that, he stood up and said goodbye.
Ordering someone to prepare the carriage, Zi'an hurried in to check the medicine box. Seeing that all the hemostatic and anti-inflammatory drugs were there, he ran out with Murong Jie, carrying the medicine box on his back.
(End of this chapter)