The survival rule of a concubine's daughter 107: Intelligent people do intelligent things.

  The wet nurse fell to the ground, flapping her palms left and right, "It's all because of the slave's ghostly obsession, falling into Yu Niang's sinister plot. Yu Niang secretly told the slave that the king doesn't often come to Huanxiang Institute, it's precisely because Meng Ge takes care of him too well. If anything happens to Meng Ge, the king will take care of him for the sake of his children, and the slave will have something to look forward to..."

  "The concubine was furious, 'You wretched servant girl, how could you be so treacherous and collude with Yuniang to harm me? Mengge is your own flesh and blood, raised by my own milk, can you bear to see him suffer like this?' As she spoke, she slapped herself heavily, overcome with grief and remorse: 'It's all my fault, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been so trusting of you, Mengge wouldn't have suffered such injustice.'"

  With an indifferent expression, she glanced sideways at Li Xuan and said calmly: "Your Highness, how do you think this matter should be settled?" Indeed, the Wang household was not an ordinary family, even the concubines' struggle for favor could bring out such sinister tactics. In comparison, the schemes of Zhou Yiniang and Zhang Yiniang back then were simply not worth mentioning.

  Li Xuan took a deep breath and said to Yu Qingshuo, "You are the mistress, and all matters within the inner courtyard will be handled by you. Whether it's punishment or reward, it's up to you." Then, her cold gaze swept across the women in the room, finally landing on Yuan Ce Fei, her tone gentle yet icy as the ice blocks in the pond outside, "Yuan Ce Fei has indeed worked hard taking care of Meng Ge. From today onwards, Meng Ge will be taken care of by Wang Fei. You can finally relax and take it easy."

  The original concubine's face was dull and expressionless, looking like she couldn't react, until Li Xu left with big strides. Then, she shrieked and hugged Li Xu's leg, "Your Highness, Meng Ge has been raised by me for so long, I've already treated him as my own son. How can you separate us mother and child just because of a dispute with the wet nurse?"

  Li Xiu lowered his head, and as he looked at Qing clearly, there was no anger in his eyes, only a cold indifference. It seemed that the more Li Xiu understood Qing's approach, the more indifferent this man would become when angry.

  Yu Ce Fei saw Li Xiao's calm and indifferent expression, but instead became flustered, stammering: "Wang, Wang Ye... I am really innocent."

  "Whether it's unjust or not, the princess will give you justice." Li Xiang brushed off her hand and strode away.

  After Li Xiu left, there was a moment of silence in the house. The original imperial concubine lost her spirit and fell to the ground, not knowing what she was thinking about. Liu Fu's family came forward to comfort her, but she suddenly opened her eyes wide and stared at him fiercely, shouting: "It's you, it's you who wants to take away my Meng Ge, is it you? Isn't that right?"

  He gazed at her with a sympathetic and compassionate expression, not scolding her in the slightest. Instead, he spoke calmly: "I know you've taken good care of Meng Ge'er, but those despicable slaves have been secretly undermining your efforts. You and Meng Ge'er share a deep mother-son bond; if it weren't absolutely necessary, would I be so heartless as to tear you two apart? Wait until I deal with these despicable slaves one by one, then I'll give you an explanation."

  The concubine's face turned pale and white again, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, but it was just for an instant, and soon disappeared completely.

  Looking at the woman in front of her, she was very young, nearly ten years younger than herself, with a slender figure and not as tall as her. Yet, she stood elegantly in front of her, with a refined and gentle demeanor, without any anger, but with a pitiful gaze that made her heart ache.

  In a daze, she heard the soft voice of the beautiful woman in front of her, "You have raised Meng Ge for many years, without merit but with hard work. Don't worry, I won't wrong a good person, but I also won't let off a bad person. I will clear your name."

  A gentle voice sounds like a warm spring in the mountains, soft and gentle, penetrating to the bone, pleasant to listen to, but in the ears of Yuanyang Fei, it is no different from the death god's fatal summons.

  ……

  As the person in charge of emotions tied up the wet nurse, she had all the people in Huanyangyuan taken care of and then took the wet nurse to Longxianju. At first, the wet nurse only said that she was deceived by Yu Niang and did these things, which had nothing to do with the original imperial concubine.

  As she held the tea bowl, she drank the girl's tea that Yuqin had just brewed, and didn't even look at her, but instead said to He Yiniang, "Mother is really fierce, truly with eyes of fire and a heart of gold."

  The old lady smiled humbly, "Your Highness is overpraising. In the past when I was a servant in the Liao King's palace, the wives and concubines fought more fiercely than this, so it's nothing unusual." If you really want to compare with the Liao King's palace where poisoning, framing, and even hiring assassins were common, these little tricks of the original imperial concubine are truly not worth looking at.

  "As he smiled with great satisfaction, 'This eldest sister is indeed a wonderful person. Fortunately, she sent you to me. Otherwise, it would not be easy to catch this troublemaker in the mansion.'"

  He Yini was praised, and she seemed to be enjoying it, but her mouth humbly said: "The princess can't say that. It's the duty of a slave like me to share the master's worries and troubles." Suddenly hearing a faint humming sound, without turning around, He Yini knew who was being displeased, pretending not to hear, only to respectfully analyze the motive of the wet nurse who had committed the crime for her young master.

  As she gazed at the kneeling figure of her sworn brother's wet nurse, she smiled warmly and asked, "Just now, when the original consort rushed towards you, what did she whisper in your ear?"

  The wet nurse's body shook and she hastily shook her head.

  "You'd better think carefully. Poisoning the royal descendants is a capital offense. Whether you live or die, it's all up to my whim." As she spoke, she shifted her posture, and the armchair in the palace was indeed made a bit too large for her delicate frame, which seemed somewhat strained. However, in order to maintain a dignified appearance in front of the servants, she had to sit up straight.

  "If the Empress can use your child to threaten you, I can too." Then she stared tightly at the wet nurse's face.

  The wet nurse's face turned even paler, cold sweat dripping from her forehead. Upon hearing Ruo Xian's words, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her entire body going limp as if she had been poked in a vital spot. She grasped at the last straw, shrieking and begging incessantly, "Your Highness, I confess to everything! Please spare my child's life! Your Highness, it was not my intention to harm Alliance Brother, but the former consort held my child hostage and threatened me, so I had no choice but to comply!"

  Then she would vomit it all out. The original consort, in order to curry favor, indeed every few days would place jasmine flowers on the bed in front of her brother-in-law. Her brother-in-law was exposed to them day and night, and his body was weak, so he couldn't resist. As soon as the jasmine flowers were placed in front of the bed, and the doors and windows were tightly closed, within half a day, her brother-in-law would faint, feel nauseous or vomit. Even the doctor couldn't find any symptoms. They could only adopt conservative methods to treat him with medicine.

  Of course, using the same trick too many times will also arouse suspicion. So this time Brother Meng vomits, next time he faints, and the next time he has a fever. Anyway, each symptom takes turns coming.

  Of course, the original imperial concubine had never thought of taking her brother's life. She had been in the palace for many years, with no children and not favored by the emperor. Having her brother by her side was a reliance, she just wanted to create some small troubles for him so that Li Xiu would often go to her place.

  Her plan was indeed successful, using the jasmine flower as a prop would not be detected and she wouldn't get caught. The Fourth Master's physique was weak, making him feverish was easy to do, just give him a cold water bath or pour cold water into his nostrils, and he would start burning with fever in no time. Making him vomit was also easy to do, feed him some vomiting-inducing food half a day in advance, or have him eat some incompatible foods, such as beef and millet which can't be eaten together, or eggplant and eggs which also can't be eaten together, these incompatible foods would make his stomach ache and feel unwell. Of course, these symptoms wouldn't fool the skilled doctor, so besides bribing her confidant, the original consort also had to bribe the doctor.

  “……The original imperial concubine, in order to win favor, was willing to spend a lot of money. The empress dowager's rewards and gifts were mostly given to that Hu Daifu. Moreover, when the doctor came to visit the sick, Liu Fu's family would give two to five taels of silver, and secretly slip some gold and silver jewelry, which could be taken from the account room at an exorbitant price, and it was not uncommon for them to charge thirty or fifty taels. And, and...” This wet nurse finally understood that this new empress was not someone to be trifled with, and she didn't dare to deceive her. In order to reduce her own crime, she exposed all the clandestine misdeeds of the original imperial concubine.

  Ru Qing felt a bit ashamed when she thought about it, but what made her feel even more guilty was that the original consort had secretly placed ice blocks on the path that Yu Niang must take, causing Yu Niang to slip and fall, ruining her beautiful new clothes.

  Upon hearing this, Ruo Qing and Ling Long exchanged a glance, both master and servant revealing some guilt in their hearts... it seemed that anyone would have some dark psychology or do some shady things. Ruo Qing acknowledged that she wasn't a person of high moral character, but she had never done anything truly bad; of course, she still did small, harmless bad things from time to time. It's just that she always behaved so obediently and cautiously, so even if she did something wrong, others wouldn't suspect her.

  And Yuan Ce Fei's method of dealing with Yu Niang was to make Ruo Xin recall that she had also used similar means to secretly discipline Ruo Shan and Ruo Mei.

  Of course, only Xiang and Ling knew about the evil things that had been done, so the three of them were blushing and winking at each other... But in the eyes of Meng's wet nurse, it seemed as if they were discussing something, frightening her so much that she was crying and begging for mercy.

  "Your Highness, I know that harming the royal family's descendants is a crime that cannot be forgiven. I do not ask for leniency, but only beg of you to spare my poor child. This child has lost its father before it was even born, and my husband's family despises me as an unlucky star, sending me away before the child was even a month old. If it weren't for Her Majesty taking pity on me and taking me in, allowing my brother to nurse the child by her side, perhaps my child and I would have already starved to death on the streets."

  It's really hateful that there must be a pitiful side to the hateful person. Although this wet nurse is white and plump, with a neat body, her words are at most 50% believable, but it's true that she has lost her husband and only has one child who is as old as Mengge.

  "Empress Wang, the wet nurse was also forced to do so. The real culprit is actually that person from Huanxiang Palace."

  She nodded slightly, but said lightly: "Aunt Zhou, you should understand that when the master does something wrong, it's usually the servant who suffers. That's why Princess Qing'an beat Shen Xiang and Li Xu only kicked the woman who hit her - it's all about intimidation and venting."

  Meng Ge's wet nurse's body shook violently, her body swaying as if she was about to collapse, and then she softly fell to the ground.

  Zhou's mother was stunned, but He's mother stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, the original consort is the niece of the Grand Consort and also has the title of consort. Although you have grasped her mistakes, at this time, you still cannot touch her."

  Ru Jing nodded slowly and smiled: "Yes, I just entered the door, and it's just New Year's, can't see blood."

  "What does the queen plan to do with the wet nurse of the crown prince?" asked Empress He.

  "Is it written yet?" asked the lady, turning her head to ask the servant who was writing.

  "The scribe hastily said: 'It's written, it's written. Your Highness, please take a look.'"

  As she took over the letter paper, the crooked and twisted ghost characters on it made her frown, fortunately these words were still recognizable. After carefully reading them, she handed them to the servant, "It's written well. However, if you write the characters a bit more neatly next time, it would be even better."

  The maid's face turned slightly red, and she smiled awkwardly, "My handwriting is ugly, it will make the princess laugh. In the future, I will definitely practice more to bring honor to the princess."

  With a gentle smile, "Very well, the child is teachable too. Give her a token of appreciation."

  "After everything was settled, the wet nurse said to Meng Ge's mother in a calm tone: 'You are fortunate enough to become Meng Ge's wet nurse, so you should take good care of him. If you are clever, you should know that the wet nurses of the young masters and misses are not only superior to ordinary slaves in terms of silver and status, but also three points higher. If you serve Meng Ge well, you will have a bright future ahead of you, and your son will benefit from it for his whole life. Unfortunately, you have ruined this great opportunity.'"

  The son of the knowledgeable and polite, Wen Ge's wet nurse now also receives a monthly salary of three taels of silver rice. In a few years, her child will be with Wen Ge as a companion, playing together, receiving lessons from the teacher together. As long as he is not too stupid, in the future, he will also become an indispensable assistant to Wen Ge. When he gets married and has children, he will naturally be more dignified than ordinary slaves by seven points.

  "Alas, I was blinded by my own foolishness and didn't realize the trap that was set for me. Now, all I can do is secretly seethe with anger and grit my teeth in rage, cursing: 'It's all because of the shallow eyesight of these slaves, who can't withstand intimidation. The original consort said that if I didn't follow her orders, she would cripple or kill my son. I was afraid for my son's safety, so I compromised my conscience and became a pawn for the tiger. Your Highness, I truly didn't mean to, please give me another chance, I beg of you.'"

  Ru Qing shook her head, "You were blackmailed, you should have reported it to the Empress or the Prince. But instead, you did nothing and helped them with their evil deeds. I think the original Consort must have given you quite a few benefits." Just being blackmailed alone is not enough to make someone completely surrender. If there wasn't something sweet to gain, why would they agree?

  Meng Ge's face was a picture of despairing deathly pale, his eyes staring blankly at the ground.

  "As for you, I won't bother to look at you. I'll just say this calmly: 'Originally, I should have punished you severely for harming the prince's descendants, but I couldn't bear to take your life. Besides, it's almost New Year's, and it wouldn't be auspicious to ruin the festive atmosphere. The mother's crime shouldn't affect the child, so I'll spare your son for now and let him continue to serve me well. As for you, you absolutely cannot stay here any longer. First, I'll punish you by making you do menial chores. If you behave well, I might reuse you in the future. But if you still harbor evil intentions and don't change your ways, don't blame me for being ruthless."

  Nor did she glance at the face of this person who was overjoyed and grateful, after letting her go down, she stretched her waist fiercely, let people settle down Meng Geer, and let the people below disperse.

  "Queen Wang, what shall we do with the slaves from Huanxiang Institute?" asked Mrs. Zhou after a moment of stunned silence.

  Yes, and there's still the matter of the slaves in Huanxiangyuan that haven't been dealt with yet.

  "As for these slaves, they are not worth worrying about. There must be some who are involved in this matter, but there are also innocent ones. In any case, they have all been with the original consort for many years and cannot stay in the palace anymore. Nanny Yuan, it's up to you to send them away to various estates. You and Nanny He will personally interrogate them. The ringleader will be beaten twenty times and sent to do hard labor on an estate. As for the others, just drive them out."

  Yuan Fula's home was slightly unexpected, but thinking that this was the first task given to her by Princess Wang, she had to do a good job.

  Zhou's mother calmed down for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Just now, the wet nurse of the Meng family also implicated Yu Niang. Why not get rid of Yu Niang together with the king?"

  As she thought about it, "Yu Niang also isn't a peaceful person, but for now, we can't make a move on her." Firstly, Yu Niang was bestowed by the Empress Dowager, so she had to be careful. Secondly, without solid evidence, they couldn't do anything to her. But precisely this kind of unfounded proof could severely strike at her.

  Thinking of this, she made up her mind and said to Mother Zhou: "Trouble Mother to go to Yu Niang's place for a trip, and have a good scolding. Let her copy 'Nu Jie' a hundred times, so that she can remember the rules." After a pause, she really didn't want to see this face again, so she said: "It's going to be New Year soon, there are many things in the house, let her stay in the room and exempt her from morning and evening duties every day. Let her read 'Nu Jie' thoroughly and memorize it."

  Zhou's mother also thought carefully and felt that this method was perfect, so she went happily.

  Then, as promised, went to see Meng Ge, because it was a hasty decision, so Meng Ge didn't have a decent house yet, but temporarily set up a pear blossom cabinet in the west wing, and after some tidying up, it looked quite decent.

  At this time, Meng Ge had already sobered up and was being held in Li Xiong's arms, who was softly coaxing him. When he looked up and saw Ru Qing, both father and son were shocked. The older one smiled awkwardly and quickly let go of Meng Ge, while the younger one kept shrinking into his father's embrace.

  Li Xiu couldn't help it and had to hug Meng Ge again, but this time she sat up straight and coughed lightly: "Is the matter settled?"

  She sat down on the edge of the bed, took the quilt and covered it over Meng Ge's body again, and said in a gentle voice: "Meng Ge is well-behaved, from now on, you will live with me, okay? Mother has delicious food and fun things here, I'll make sure you like it."

  Meng Geer warily gazed at Ru Qing, not saying a word, and only kept shrinking into Li Xiao's arms.

  Li Xī was somewhat displeased and lightly scolded: "You child, how did I teach you just now?"

  As if smiling lightly, "The child recognizes her, and it's not entirely her fault." She also doesn't expect the child to be overly respectful to her, anyway the child is still young, as long as she educates her carefully, there shouldn't be a big problem.

  "Just thinking about the original imperial concubine, she couldn't help but sigh: 'Heaven is pitiful, such a small child has to be used as a pawn in the struggle for favor by adults. Look at this child, dressed in silk and jade, surrounded by servants, yet still so thin. At first, I thought this child was really weak, but later thinking about my second brother and Zhang's wife, I finally understood the underlying reason.'"

  Li Xuan's expression was cold and stern, he lightly patted the shoulder of his son, saying: "You rest first, I have something to discuss with your mother."

  Meng Ge refused to let go of him and tightly grasped the front of Li Xiucai's dark-patterned jacket.

  "It's all right, anyway this isn't a glorious thing. Let the child know about it too, and also let him distinguish right from wrong."

  Li Xiao leaned back against the bedpost again and asked: "How was the interrogation?"

  "The king thought, 'How could a mere wet nurse have the audacity to plot against her master?'"

  Li Xiao fell silent, his voice filled with hatred as he said, "I never expected that this former imperial concubine would also have such a mind."

  "As the cold hum, 'The king should remember one sentence, as long as there is a concubine, there will be struggle.' The original imperial concubine was still good, listening to He's mother's meaning, in those years, the concubines of Prince Liao competed for favor in all sorts of ways, which were more severe than this."

  Li Xiguang glanced at her with a strange expression, seeming to smile but not quite smiling. "According to your meaning, for the sake of family harmony, a husband should only have one wife, guarding only you. But what does this mean?"

  As if she hadn't seen his joke, she said seriously: "It is said that wealth does not last beyond three generations. Have you ever thought about the reason behind this?"

  Li Xiao's smile grew more pronounced, "Never."

  As if suddenly losing interest, she glared at him and said, "The reason why my sister's maternal family has been able to stand upright for three generations without falling is that they have strictly followed the rules of not easily taking concubines. My brother was young when he became a fourth-rank official, also because the inner house was clean and strict, only then could he achieve what he has today. I dare ask, Your Highness, if you had to choose between enjoying yourself below the waist and having a harmonious family, which one would you choose?"

  Li Xī savored it carefully, suddenly crying and laughing, "Enjoyment of the lower body? The girl really knows how to find a description."

  With a charming face, "Be serious, Wang Ye hasn't answered my question yet."

  Li Xiao burst out laughing, causing Meng Ge to look up at him with a blank expression. Li Xiao pointed at Ru Qing and asked, "If the husband chooses the first option, what will the wife do?"

  With a cute nose upturned, she hummed from her nostrils: "Not bad. But I will surely take good care of myself and cultivate my spirit."

  "Nourishing one's spirit and sharpening one's will?" Li Xiao smiled and said: "Compete with me in magic?"

  "No." As she clenched her fists, exuding a fierce aura, "If anyone dares to cross me and get on my bad side, I'll definitely engage in a high-level battle of wits with them."

  One after another, fresh words made Li Xiao burst out laughing again, "You? Are you sure you can win?"

  "I will definitely win." Ruo Xin smiled confidently, "Having seen the open and secret struggles between the madams and Zhang Yiniang in my mother's house, I have already figured out the general idea of these concubines' usual tricks." And she had already thought of a way to deal with them. Seeing Li Xiao wanting to tease her again, Ruo Xin glared at him, "The prince should think about himself first, if it really comes to that point, I...I..."

  "How about you?"

  The little wife's energy was immediately drained, her shoulders slumped, and she muttered: "What can I do? If men are really unreliable, it's just my bad luck." Of course, no matter what situation she is in, she can always find a way of life that suits herself.

  Li Xiu stretched out his hand and poked her forehead, "You little sly thing, why don't you just say it directly if you don't want me to take a concubine? Why make such a big detour?"

  Shaking her head, she said seriously: "No. If I didn't let the king take a concubine, outsiders would say that I am jealous. But if the king is chaste and virtuous, then outsiders will praise him for being loyal and trustworthy, worthy of entrusting his life to." With an expression as if it was all for his own good.

  Li Xiu couldn't help but laugh, knowing that this little girl had set a trap for him and was just waiting for him to jump in. But her serious and proper demeanor made him unable to contain his smile, and he deeply admired the cunning and cleverness hidden beneath her gentle and soft appearance. Li Xiu also enjoyed bantering with her, "Listening to your words is better than reading ten years of books. I dare ask, what do you plan to do with the original imperial concubine?"

  "What else can we do? Just continue to support her then?"

  "Why is this?" Li Xiao was puzzled.

  "As it happens, the king's residence has only one concubine and several maidservants. If we were to deal with the concubine, those who know about it would not say anything, but those who do not know might think I am jealous. Therefore, the original concubine must be kept in the mansion. This way, outsiders will praise me for being wise. If we were to punish the original concubine, it wouldn't be good for her either. The position of concubine would be vacant, and others would have ideas about it. To eliminate this possibility, the best solution is still to keep the original concubine around. A concubine who has committed a crime and been confined is much easier to deal with than a new one with a high background."

  It's also acceptable to say that the queen mother will be impressed by her magnanimity towards the original crown princess, and it will leave a good impression on the queen mother. A fool would not take advantage of such benefits.

  Li Xue finally admitted defeat, and it turned out that this little wife of his was indeed a super slippery one. She could think of things others couldn't, and do things others couldn't do. Clearly, she had been sneaky and cunning, yet instead of being hated, she inspired unexpected surprise and emotion.