In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

Chapter 425: Legend of Zhen Huan - Nian Shilan 29

In the autumn of the first year of Yongzheng's reign, the new emperor held his first beauty pageant, and all seven of the selected candidates entered the palace. The plot of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" officially begins. The residences of most concubines have not changed, only the heroine Zhen Huan's palace has been changed from Sui Yu Xuan to the west side hall of Chengqian Palace, and Shen Meizhuang's residence has been changed from Chunxi Hall of Xianfu Palace to the east side hall of Chengqian Palace.

Shen Meizhuang's palace was the last one to be changed by the Queen. It was originally arranged in Jingpin's Xianfu Palace, but Concubine Hua did not modify the new palace as the Queen expected. The Queen was afraid of praising Zhen Huan too much, so she had to send Shen Meizhuang to Chengqian Palace to check and balance Zhen Huan.

What the Queen hopes is that Zhen Huan and other newcomers will work together to snatch the favor of Concubine Hua, rather than Zhen Huan alone replacing Concubine Hua and becoming the Emperor's new favorite.

When new people enter the palace, Nian Shilan, as a senior and superior, naturally needs to give them gifts. But in this life, Nian Shilan would never give them good things for nothing just to compete for limelight with the queen. In the end, not only would she not get any good words in return, but she would also be ridiculed by the idiot Xia Dongchun.

In this life, Nian Shilan strictly distributed rewards according to the positions of the people, directly from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The new people received items according to their positions, and no one got a penny more.

Three days later, the newlyweds had an audience in the palace. Naturally, Nian Shilan had to come forward. No matter how the queen tried to provoke her, Nian Shilan ignored her the whole time, clearly showing her disrespect for the queen in front of everyone.

Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang stood at the front, facing the confrontation between the Queen and Concubine Hua. They couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. They watched Concubine Hua ignore the Queen's words the whole time, and couldn't help but steal a glance at Nian Shilan's expression.

Three parts of indifference, three parts of disdain, three parts of boredom and one part of emptiness, it perfectly portrays what it means to be tired of worldly power.

This was what Nian Shilan intended to show to the newcomers like Zhen Huan. She wanted them to know that she was not on the same level as them and told them not to play tricks on her.

It was obvious that Nian Shilan's "superior" attitude had a great impact on intimidating newcomers like Zhen Huan. Even Xia Dongchun, who had a grudge against Nian Shilan, didn't dare to say a word when she saw her. It was because Nian Shilan's aura was too strong and she was frightened.

After paying their respects, Zhen Huan, Shen Meiyu and An Lingrong were blocked by Xia Dongchun at the gate of Jingren Palace. It was still the same lines and the same actions. Nian Shilan, sitting in the sedan chair, was neither angry nor did she go up to give Xia Dongchun a beating as in the plot. She just watched like watching a play, watching An Lingrong sneak a peek at her figure and then deliberately go up to mock Xia Dongchun loudly.

"My lady, they are so unruly. Would you like me to teach them a lesson?"

Now that the power in the palace is in the hands of Nian Shilan, Songzhi feels that Zhen Huan and the others are disregarding their status and quarreling and fighting in the palace, completely disregarding Nian Shilan, the imperial concubine. She wants to step forward to stop them and, by the way, give the newcomers a warning and establish the authority of Imperial Concubine Hua in the hearts of the newcomers.

"This is the gate of Jingren Palace. These newcomers were selected by the Emperor. The rules were taught by the Empress. What does it have to do with us?"

"As for the rules? After they return to the palace, we can go to their respective palaces and tell them."

As soon as Nian Shilan said that, Songzhi immediately understood what her master meant. She would go back and publicize the Queen's dereliction of duty. As for punishing the newcomer, it was totally unnecessary. The Queen was a noble concubine, so there was no need for her to establish her authority by showing off her power. If she punished him, people would laugh at her and think that the Queen was intolerant. But going to the newcomer's palace to "teach" her afterwards would be truly fair and strict.

An Lingrong did see Concubine Hua's troop in the distance, so she deliberately added fuel to the fire by helping Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang talk to anger Xia Dongchun. She thought that Xia Dongchun's rude behavior would definitely be punished by the Concubine, but she didn't expect that until Xia Dongchun really slapped them, the Concubine remained motionless and didn't care at all.

Why didn't the Imperial Concubine punish Concubine Xia?

An Lingrong, Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang couldn't understand how such a rude and vulgar person like Xia Dongchun could be chosen into the palace. Although they were good at talking, when they met a rough man like Xia Dongchun who liked to use violence, they could only leave in frustration after receiving a few slaps in the face.

After "teaching a lesson" to Zhen Huan and the other two, Xia Dongchun was in high spirits and returned to the Yanxi Palace triumphantly. Then the punishment arranged by Nian Shilan came. There was no lashing, but there were kneeling, house arrest, demotion, and copying the palace rules a hundred times. No matter how unwilling Xia Dongchun was, she could not leave the East Side Hall of the Yanxi Palace.

On the other side, the three people who were beaten returned to their respective residences, and the first thing they did was to find a way to reduce the swelling. After all, today was the first night when the Emperor would flip the cards after the newcomers entered the palace, and anyone could be chosen. If they had to meet the Emperor with such a messy and swollen face, the three of them felt it was unacceptable.

The three of them were busy for a long time, applying ice and ointment. As it was getting dark, the marks on her face had not disappeared yet. Zhen Huan was about to send someone to report her illness to the Empress when she heard Huanbi talking to someone outside the door.

"Greetings to Wan Changzai. I am a maid in the Yikun Palace. I am here to deliver a message on the orders of the Imperial Concubine."

Concubine Hua sent a message? Was it to comfort her?

Zhen Huan was a little surprised for a moment. Before, when they were in front of Jingren Palace, Concubine Hua was watching the show on the side and did not step forward to stop it. Why did she come to deliver the message at this time?

"Girl, please tell me."

"Mrs. Xia, the concubine, has behaved inappropriately and committed crimes. She has been demoted to a concubine and confined to her house for three months. She has been punished to copy the palace rules a hundred times. However, Mrs. Zhen, the concubine, did not follow the palace rules. She ignored the rule of "Manchu and Mongolian first, then Han" when she first came to pay her respects. As a newcomer to the palace, she has been punished to copy the palace rules once and hand them in after paying her respects three days later."

"......"

After hearing these words, everyone in the West Side Hall of Chengqian Palace was dumbfounded. But when they thought about it carefully, Concubine Hua's punishment was indeed correct and not severe. It didn't even affect her sleeping with the emperor. Zhen Huan couldn't even cry out that she was wronged.

She could only bow with a blushing face and accept the punishment. Seeing that Zhen Huan had completed her task of accepting the punishment, the palace maid turned and left. Zhen Huan was feeling extremely ashamed when she saw a palace maid also walking out from Shen Meizhuang's residence in the east wing hall. Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang met from a distance, feeling very embarrassed. It was obvious that Shen Meizhuang had also been punished by Concubine Hua.

However, no one came to An Lingrong's residence in the west wing of the Yanx Palace. After all, An Lingrong did not make any mistakes, she was just beaten.

Soon after, the story of Xia Dongchun fighting three people alone spread throughout the entire palace. However, Concubine Hua punished the victims, Wan Changzai and Shen Guiren. The Queen thought she had caught Concubine Hua and immediately went to the Qinzheng Hall to ask for an audience with the Emperor. Coincidentally, at this time, Xu Jinliang, the chief steward of the Jingshifang, was holding the nameplate of the palace concubine and waiting for the Emperor to turn it over.

"Your Majesty, the Queen is here."

Su Peisheng came in to report at this time. The emperor looked up and saw the queen. He asked, "What is the matter with the queen coming here at this time?"

"Is the Emperor just about to flip the cards? That's really unfortunate."

"I have come here for something. It's about Concubine Hua, Concubine Wan and others."