Traveling through ancient times to escape famine, the prince led me to rebel

Chapter 345 Autumn Chapter

In Fukang Palace, Wei An and Xiao Xingzi were both sent away, leaving only Luo Xiaoran and Chen Lingyi standing opposite each other in the palace.

"Miss Luo is about to become the consort of the Prince of Yan, and thus my... aunt. I came to congratulate you, and that servant dared to stop me. How disrespectful!"

Chen Lingyi lied with her eyes open, Luo Xiaoran did not tolerate it and replied calmly:

"I was listening in the palace. Xiao Xingzi just asked the princess to wait for a moment. He came in to pass on the message. Did the princess remember it wrongly?"

Chen Lingyi, who had calmed down, did not get angry because of Luo Xiaoran's retort. In fact, the smile on her face... deepened.

"I came in a hurry, maybe there really is a misunderstanding, so let's just forget about it!"

"The eldest princess is kind and generous, her reputation is well-deserved." Luo Xiaoran also put on a fake smile.

It was you who was looking for trouble just now, and now it is you who is turning the page. You are really fickle!

Chen Lingyi's smile froze, but she quickly concealed it and said with a smile:

“The Qianqiu Festival will be in a few days, it’s a lively event in the palace, and you are among the invited guests.

By then, the Inner Court will also prepare the appropriate palace dress for you. As for the gift...

Considering that you are unable to leave the palace now and probably do not have much savings, I will select a gift from my private storehouse and send it to you. Then it will be considered as the gift you prepared yourself.

You are now holding the title of 'Future Princess of Yan'. If you lose face, it means that the King of Yan loses face. Do you understand?"

The Qianqiu Festival is the Queen’s birthday. She didn’t expect to run into it. What a coincidence.

Most importantly, would Chen Lingyi be kind enough to help her prepare a gift?

This thoughtful gesture made Luo Xiaoran wonder what Chen Lingyi was up to.

……

On the second day, Chen Lingyi brought over the gift she had prepared for Luo Xiaoran. It was a large coral, so red it looked like blood, and it was so big that it would be eye-catching even if placed on the table as a decoration.

"Chen Lingyi is quite generous. She just gave out corals of this quality as she said she would."

Luo Xiaoran circled around the big coral on the table and said with a sigh.

Wei An, who was standing by, said sternly, "Princess, I'm afraid Princess Qingyi is not so kind."

Luo Xiaoran nodded, completely agreeing with Wei An's words.

“Whether she has good intentions or not, once the things are in my hands, I have to find someone to check them.

Go to the Imperial Hospital and tell them that I have caught a cold. Ask Doctor Zhang to come and have him examine this coral."

Doctor Zhang is the apprentice of Du Yannian, the former judge of the Left Court of the Imperial Medical Bureau. Du Yannian's only son is Du Kongqing's father Du Shimu, who is now working for Chen Ji.

Chen Ji told Luo Xiaoran that in the Imperial Medical Bureau, only Doctor Zhang could be trusted.

……

Wei An quickly invited Doctor Zhang over, who carefully examined the coral for Luo Xiaoran and found nothing strange.

"I will prescribe a cold medicine for you and have someone send it to you. To conceal your identity, please have someone boil it and pretend to take it before throwing away the residue."

"Doctor Zhang is very thoughtful."

After Doctor Zhang left, Luo Xiaoran looked around the huge, rosy coral several times, and Wei An followed her closely.

"If Shanhu is fine, Wei An, what do you think Chen Lingyi did?"

Wei An was also puzzled, "Maybe it's just to avoid embarrassing you, Princess?"

Luo Xiaoran stopped and Wei An almost bumped into her back.

"You are right. She did it to save the face of His Royal Highness Prince Yan."

Chen Ji is not in Kyoto, and his every word and action concerns his reputation.

Chen Lingyi has always had an extraordinary passion for Chen Ji. Luo Xiaoran can be sure that Chen Ji occupies an important position in Chen Lingyi's heart. It is also reasonable for her to protect Chen Ji's dignity.

……

The Qianqiu Festival is approaching soon, and Luo Xiaoran, who has packed up, is about to set off. However, Wei An behind her is looking at the big coral, hesitant.

"Princess, I have prepared another gift. Otherwise, shall we return the coral to Princess Qingyi?"

Luo Xiaoran raised her eyebrows, "Why don't you want something that is given to you for free? Take it, let's go to the palace to get a seat!"

……

During the day, there was a complicated process of receiving celebrations and gifts, with members of the royal family, concubines in the harem, and officials from the former dynasty taking turns to wish the empress a happy birthday.

Luo Xiaoran had no official position and stayed at the end of the crowd the whole time, forced to be a spectator for a day.

Of course, Luo Xiaoran did not gain nothing at all.

When the palace maids called out the names, the people who presented gifts would come out individually to say some prayers for the queen. Luo Xiaoran also took this opportunity to recognize the faces of many people in the royal family, the harem, and the court, including the heads of the five major families.

Moreover, Luo Xiaoran also saw an unexpected person—Zhu Jingxing.

The rank of the prefect was fourth grade, and according to the rules, only officials and ladies of noble birth who were above third grade were eligible to attend the queen's birthday banquet.

After the palace maids called out her name, Luo Xiaoran realized that Zhu Jingxing had been transferred from Changzhou to Kyoto and his official position was promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

In less than two years, he got promoted at such a fast speed, it's so terrifying!

Although Luo Xiaoran was invited to participate in the Qianqiu Festival, she was still a commoner, so her name was not on the list of names called out by the palace servants. Therefore, Zhu Jingxing did not know that Luo Xiaoran was also at the celebration.

The celebration lasted until the evening, and the palace banquet officially began in the evening.

Luo Xiaoran was treated very well this time. She was arranged to sit in the hall. Although it was also the last seat, it was much better than the civil and military officials sitting outside the hall.

With a quick glance, Luo Xiaoran took in everyone present.

In the entire hall, in addition to the protagonist, the Queen, and Emperor Tianqi, there are some concubines with higher ranks in the harem, as well as members of the royal family with greater influence, such as Prince of Qi Chen Xuanjing.

Although Chen Xuanjing was the loser in the battle for the throne, he was still able to appear openly at important royal banquets, which showed that he was indeed powerful.

A big part of what he relied on was Jiang Bin. Thinking of this, Luo Xiaoran, who was staring at him, felt her heart tighten slightly.

At this moment, King Qi's gaze happened to look over and met Luo Xiaoran's gaze unexpectedly.

The King of Qi was wearing a red python robe with gold cloud patterns. At such a grand royal banquet, his expression remained neutral and his demeanor remained calm.

After looking at Luo Xiaoran, a hint of interest flashed across the King of Qi's face, but he quickly turned his head away calmly.

Chen Lingyi and King Qi also sat in the front seats. She kept her eyes on Luo Xiaoran, and Luo Xiaoran also noticed her gaze.

After the red coral was handed over, everything was normal and there was no conspiracy. Luo Xiaoran saved some money for the gift, which was paid by Chen Lingyi, so why not?

"I heard that Miss Luo presented a red coral to the Queen, which is very rare."

Princess Tang, who was dressed in gorgeous attire, suddenly spoke, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall to Luo Xiaoran.

At that time, Luo Xiaoran was drooling at the table full of delicious food and wine.

She didn't even move her chopsticks, so she was extremely hungry and her mind was filled with thoughts about when the banquet would be over so she could go back and have a meal.

Before coming, although Luo Xiaoran said that she was here for a feast, she didn't dare to eat anything that hadn't been tested!

Every day when food was delivered to Fu Kang Palace, she and Wei An would find a bird to feed it. They would only dare to eat if the bird was not dead. They were always cautious.

Now it was in public and there was no bird to help test the poison, so Luo Xiaoran simply didn't eat it and just enjoyed the sight.

Luo Xiaoran was a little surprised by Concubine Tang's sudden call of the name, but after calming down, she was not so surprised anymore.

After all, Concubine Tang loved to find fault with her.

“Your Highness Princess Tang, you may not know that this red coral was given to me by Princess Qingyi.

Seeing that the coral was red all over and extremely rare, I offered it to the Queen as a gift.”

Princess Tang choked. She had wanted to make fun of Luo Xiaoran about this matter, but she didn't expect Luo Xiaoran to tell her the origin of the red coral so generously and openly without any shame.

"The Queen's Centenary Day is a big day celebrated by the whole country. Miss Luo is offering flowers to Buddha. Isn't it a little insincere to ask for help?" Concubine Tang continued.

What Concubine Bai hated most was Concubine Tang's condescending attitude and her use of words to make things difficult for others. She adjusted the phoenix peony hairpin on her head, which was a reward given to her by the Emperor after he knew that the Empress Dowager agreed to make Luo Xiaoran the Princess of Yan.

She knows what she should do!

"What Princess Tang said is true. Princess Qingyi gave the red coral to Miss Luo, so it is Miss Luo's thing. What's wrong with Miss Luo presenting her own thing to the Empress?"

As soon as Concubine Bai finished speaking, Emperor Tianqi glanced at her with admiration and said with a smile:

"My beloved concubine, this makes sense."

Concubine Tang was not favored by Emperor Tianqi to begin with, and as time went by, she became a little discouraged.

After all, she is the legitimate daughter of the Tang family. Her brother made such a mistake, but he was exiled for a while and then came back. Emperor Tianqi could do nothing about him.

Thinking of this, Concubine Tang felt a little more courageous. Seeing that Emperor Tianqi protected Concubine Bai at the palace banquet tonight and openly slapped her in the face, Concubine Tang's petty nature came up again.

"Giving gifts requires thoughtfulness. Luo Xiaoran used the name of 'rare red coral' to give the gift from the eldest princess to the queen without a second thought, and she didn't even bother to put in the slightest effort.

I see that Luo Xiaoran is not sincere to the Queen, and does not cherish Princess Qingyi's feelings. I wonder if it is because she is about to become the Princess of Yan, and she is relying on her high seniority in the royal family to dare to do this! "

As soon as these words were spoken, Emperor Tianqi's smiling face immediately turned cold.

Luo Xiaoran looked at Concubine Tang's accusations against her coldly, not understanding what benefits Chen Lingyi had promised her that made her be the first to take action again and again.

If Luo Xiaoran knew, Chen Lingyi had only told Concubine Tang that she had kindly prepared a Qianqiu Festival gift for Luo Xiaoran.

Because of the pride struggle in Tang Fei's heart, he couldn't wait to jump out and attack her, which probably made him have a deeper understanding of how stupid Tang Fei was.

Thinking of Concubine Tang's gift, Luo Xiaoran slowly retracted her gaze, smiled, and complimented Concubine Tang:

"I heard that Concubine Tang presented the Empress with a jade ruyi, which has a fine texture, a warm touch, and a pure color. It is the best of the best. This shows how sincere Concubine Tang is to the Empress."

Princess Tang thought that her admonition to Luo Xiaoran had worked, so she spoke flattering words and felt a little proud in her heart.

"Of course! The Queen is the mother of the country. For the Queen's birthday, I will prepare a gift carefully."

"Then I wonder... how did Concubine Tang get this precious jade ruyi?

Did the queen find it among the common people herself? Or did Minister Tang search for it for the queen?

After all... this jade ruyi was not the property of Concubine Tang before. Didn't Concubine Tang get it from someone else and then give it to the Empress? What's the difference between it and the red coral of a commoner?"

"You are making up stories! The jade ruyi was bought by me, but the red coral was given to you by the eldest princess. How can the two be confused?" Princess Tang said angrily.

"Just as Lady Bai Guifei said, Princess Qingyi gave the red coral to me, so it is my property and I have the right to dispose of it.

After purchasing the Jade Ruyi from the Empress, the Jade Ruyi becomes yours and you can dispose of it as you please... that's the truth.

What's more, the jade ruyi that the queen obtained is so luxurious, and the cost must have been quite a lot.

I wonder if the Empress had to save up her monthly allowance for so many years to buy this jade ruyi?

Or did Minister Tang spend all his family wealth to help the empress buy it?

Or maybe the original owner of this jade ruyi admired Tang Shangshu's style as the Minister of Personnel and offered it to him on his own initiative?"

Minister Tang is probably not a good guy, as he forced Tang Yiru, the eldest daughter, to marry an old man and raised children like Tang Tian and Tang Fei!

Luo Xiaoran just didn't believe that he didn't do anything to sell titles and official positions while he was the Minister of Personnel!

She was also angered by Concubine Tang's two consecutive provocations. This time she would not swallow her anger, but struck back hard.

Anyway, there are people in this palace who want to kill her, and there are also people who want to protect her. The situation is very chaotic, and she won't die for a while!

Wei An, who was standing behind Luo Xiaoran, was stunned by her words.

Is this still the princess who told her that “when you live under someone’s roof, you have to bow your head”?

Your current behavior does not show any sign of compromise. What's the difference between this and a head-on confrontation with the enemy on the battlefield?

"you!"

The value of the jade ruyi is no less than ten thousand gold coins. With the monthly salary of Concubine Tang and the salary of Minister Tang, I am afraid that they can't afford it even if they spend all their money~~

No matter how stupid Princess Tang was, she knew that Luo Xiaoran was saying that the jade ruyi had an illegal origin. Either it was bought by her and her father with embezzled money, or it was taken away by taking advantage of her father's power.

You pick on the source of my red coral, and I will attack the origin of your jade ruyi.

Luo Xiaoran really couldn't stand this. What I meant was: don't care about life or death, just fight if you don't accept it!

Luo Xiaoran also thought it through. Anyway, her family and friends were entrusted to Chen Ji. Wei An was good at Qinggong and could run away. At worst, she could kill Chen Lingyi and Concubine Tang first. In the end, she would not suffer any loss even if she died.

The only one who might feel sorry for him is Chen Ji. After all, she came in with the title of his future princess, which would inevitably affect him.

"You are slandering me and my father. You are guilty of this crime!"

"enough!"