Chapter 48 Zheng Bao

Since being selected to enter the palace, the path has not been right: she did not even submit her name, but was selected to enter the palace, undoubtedly making people suspect that there was someone behind her, and even causing hatred after gaining attention; When she entered the palace, she thought she could hide herself in the selection process and let the water fall, but couldn't resist the fact that there were too many people who wanted her to enter the palace. Instead, it made people feel that she was not worthy of her moral character and became a thorn in people's eyes; By now, when she truly entered the palace, others had already formed prejudices against her, which eliminated the possibility of her getting along with others.

Tearing off Chen Shuyi's face is not really much of a deal..

It's just pulling the undercurrent onto the surface.

After returning to her own room and pondering for a while, Jiang Xuening clearly realized the dilemma she was currently facing: she still had to stay in the palace for half a year. Although Princess Leyang liked her, the palace was so big, and who knew what would happen in the future?

You should know that harming someone under these heavy palace walls is the simplest thing.

The contradiction has already occurred.

She certainly has no intention of harming others, but how can she know if others are harmful to her heart?

In this life, although she had no intention of getting involved in the court's struggles, she only waited for half a year before packing her bags and flying away. There is also a prerequisite for flying far and wide, which is: "At least I will have to live then..."

Closing the door, Jiang Xuening threw herself onto the couch and lay flat, calmly gazing at the light and shadow projected from the window onto the top of the embroidered tent. Jiang Xuening felt that she had to do something.

Firstly, what advantages does she have compared to those who don't treat her well?

Family background?

She can only be considered average, neither up nor down.

What kind of people do you like?

She certainly has Shen Zhiyi, but Shen Zhiyi is not the only one who can speak in the palace.

Wisdom and intelligence?

She knows how to observe words and expressions, and her actions are much more appropriate than in the previous life. However, compared to people with great wisdom, she can only be considered as quick witted and clever, not much more than others.

So, her true and greatest advantage is actually only one: rebirth, prophetic.

She knows many things that others don't know, as well as many things that haven't happened yet, and even knows many people she hasn't met yet.

This also means that she has more opportunities than others.

Go seek benefits and avoid harm, identify people, and seize opportunities!

So, based on what she knew in her previous life, what are the things and people in the palace that she can use for herself now?

Jiang Xuening broke her fingers and calculated, "The future flower scout Wei Liang should still be studying in Yangzhou now; Xiao Dingfei, a false young master who is a disciple, is still planning to appear in some corner; Sun Shanggong is a trustworthy good person, but where was she in the previous life at this time?"

Yeting?

Or in the uterus of some unpopular concubine?

After calculation, she was a bit confused. For a moment, she couldn't remember who could be useful to her during this period. Human memory is already chaotic and disorganized, and even when reborn, she may not remember all the details of the previous life. She always feels like she missed something important, and in the end, she has no clue and nods in a daze.

It was already afternoon, and Jiang Xuening simply closed her eyes and took a nap.

At the last moment, a palace attendant outside gently knocked on the door and called out to her, "Miss Jiang, it's time to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager's palace."

===Kunning Section 61===

She suddenly woke up from her sleep and sat up.

*

The previous dynasty was ruled by the emperor.

The harem is naturally ruled by the queen.

According to the rules, the accompanying readers should go to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager and Empress on the first day of entering the palace. However, the last time they entered the palace, the schedule was too tight and no one forced them; This time I entered the palace again yesterday afternoon, and the next morning I had to go to the Fengchen Hall. Therefore, the request for peace was postponed until this afternoon.

After combing in her own room, Jiang Xuening arrived at the hall, and almost everyone else came out one after another. However, because of the two rude words she and Chen Shuyi had said earlier, everyone looked at her with somewhat strange eyes, and no one came up to talk to her actively.

Only Fang Miao frowned and winked at her when no one saw her.

You Yue pulled Yao Xi to talk to others, not giving them the opportunity to talk to Jiang Xuening, clearly trying to deliberately exclude her. After dressing up, Chen Shuyi came out with a cold and stern expression towards her. Although she didn't speak, her tense posture was already very obvious.

Even the palace attendants who came to invite them to pay their respects felt that the atmosphere was not right. They didn't dare to look up at them and spoke softly, "The Empress Dowager has been suffering from a cold these past few days. At this moment, the Empress Dowager is serving at the Cining Palace, so it's better to go directly to the Cining Palace to pay her respects. This also saves the time for all the accompanying readers to travel twice. Please come with the maidservants."

The location of Yangzhi Zhai is closer to the Outer Court, but the Cining Palace is located deep inside the inner palace. Walking through it almost requires passing through half of the harem, and behind the high palace walls along the way is the Six Palaces of East and West.

Kunning Palace is located behind Qianqing Palace and also on the central axis of the entire imperial palace.

Among the eight accompanying readers, Fang Miao, You Yue, and Yao Rongrong have hardly ever entered the palace before, and they dare not wander around since their last visit, so they are still unfamiliar with the palace; Jiang Xuening appeared to have never been to the palace before, but she couldn't resist being reborn. Although this vast palace was complex, for her, she would not take the wrong path even with her eyes closed, so she was not curious.

However, Youyue lowered her voice and curiously asked Yao Xi, who happened to be walking beside her, "Sister Yao Xi, is that the Kunning Palace in front of her?"

After taking a glance in the direction she pointed out, Yao Xi said, "Yes, the Empress Dowagers of all dynasties in this dynasty have lived in Kunning Palace. Today, the Empress Dowager comes from the Zheng family in Henan province and is the first wife of the Holy Emperor when he was hiding. However, she usually stays in seclusion. In the past, we didn't even ask her to pay respects when we entered the palace. She only told us to go to the Empress Dowager's side more often, saying that she loves more excitement."

You Yue nodded and said, "I see."

Jiang Xuening walked at the back, neither fast nor slow, but when she heard Yao Xi's words, she raised her eyebrows and sneered in her heart.

Love to be lively?

That old witch wishes the entire palace could revolve around her.

The late emperor died too early. She hasn't had enough addiction to become an empress yet, so she has to move out of the Kunning Palace and go to the quiet and remote Cining Palace. How can she be content?

The old witch came from the Xiao family and was originally the younger sister of Duke Dingguo Xiao Yuan, also known as Xiao Shu's aunt. Her mother's family was strong and she always spoke well in the harem. Even after the death of the late emperor and becoming the Empress Dowager, she never relaxed her control over the harem.

After the death of Shen Lang in the previous life, he was succeeded by his younger brother Shen Jie.

As the Princess of Linzi, Jiang Xuening was supposed to be granted the title, but the old witch stirred up some trouble and said, "Jiang's virtue is not worthy of her position, her behavior is improper, and she does not have the demeanor of a mother in the world. The emperor should vacate the throne and appoint her as the fourth consort."

She was almost furious when she heard the news.

Fortunately, the old officials of the previous dynasty were sensible.

Where in the world is the reason why a crown prince, after ascending to the throne, does not appoint his first wife as the empress? If this is done, wouldn't it make future generations laugh? The rules of etiquette and law also do not comply.

So they all wrote letters to advise.

And in her previous life, she was like a white lotus, neither making any mistakes nor being pitiful. The more bullied she was, the more she aroused her desire for protection. At least Shen Jie is a man, how can she be bullied like this?

So in the end, let her take the back seat.

However, after the feud, she and Empress Dowager Xiao became enemies.

The royal family also has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Empress Dowager Xiao, who is a mother-in-law, often uses filial piety to oppress her, making her very unhappy.

It wasn't until later that Xiao Shu entered the palace and was granted the title of a noble consort. The grandeur of the ceremony was even greater than hers, and Jiang Xuening finally came to appreciate it: the brave old witch wanted to support the younger generation of her mother's family and make her niece Xiao Shu the empress.

The harem then became a Shura field.

Jiang Xuening's roots are basically thin. In order to avoid being messed up by these two nephews, she can only refuse those who come. Anyone who is willing to be loyal will benefit her. With her ability to observe behavior and please others, she gathered a group of forces and managed to barely stabilize herself.

But using people without distinguishing between loyalty and treachery naturally leads to mud and sand.

In the eyes of outsiders and clear court officials, she is undoubtedly forming cliques for personal gain, like a poison tumor in the court, and has even been accused of meddling in politics in the harem.

When she was later placed under house arrest by anti party officials such as Xie Wei and Yan Lin in the palace, the memorial from the former court ministers forcing her to die for Shen Jie had already flown like snowflakes, resulting in a tragic and somewhat self inflicted outcome.

Therefore, it can be said that in the previous life, Jiang Xuening's hatred towards Empress Dowager Xiao was far greater than her hatred towards Xiao Shu.

Now that I am reborn, I still need to pay my respects to this old witch

Jiang Xuening felt like her back teeth were itching when she remembered it, and she had to bite them tightly to resist the urge to curse out loud.

Yao Xi, who was walking ahead, didn't even know that someone behind her was harboring a deep hatred. She just turned her words to Xiao Shu and smiled, saying, "I also had the privilege of visiting the palace with my parents during the Shangyuan Festival two years ago. I would like to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and her elderly family. It would be a bit nervous to see her again this time. Sister Ashu, you will have to help me then. You are the niece and daughter that Empress Dowager loves the most. If there is anything inappropriate in our etiquette that angers her elderly family, we will have to rely on you to speak to us."

The smile on Xiao Shu's lips faded a little, and she glanced at Yao Xi, only saying: "Now we are only accompanying readers of the Princess Royal Highness Princess. The empress dowager used to like Sister Ah Xi very much, so there is nothing to worry about."

Jiang Xuening knew immediately that Xiao Shu knew the truth of a tall tree catching the wind.

She is certainly the niece and daughter of the Empress Dowager, and even though she is a cousin to Shen Zhiyi, she is not high-profile. She has never mentioned her relationship with the Empress Dowager after entering the palace for so long, so she probably doesn't want to be a target of too much attention from others.

But

How can this kind of thing be kept low-key?

As expected, as soon as Yao Xi's words were spoken and Xiao Shu's words continued, the expressions on everyone's faces changed slightly.

As they spoke, they were getting closer and closer to Kunning Palace, but at the same time, a few strange sounds gradually entered everyone's ears and became clearer.

Pop, pop.

Just a moment, it's clear and crisp.

Others looked up curiously at the source of the sound, but Jiang Xuening, who had been in the palace for several years in her previous life, immediately recognized that it was the sound of slapping her face, and it fell heavily on her face, extremely solid!

Just as she turned around a palace wall, Chen Shuyi's footsteps suddenly stopped as she walked ahead.

Yao Rongrong, who saw the scene ahead, let out a low exclamation of surprise, "Ah."

I didn't realize it was inappropriate until I called out and quickly covered my lips.

Next to the gate of Kunning Palace, there was a eunuch kneeling, with a hat on his head tilted to the ground and only a simple wooden hairpin inserted. He was lifting his hand and slapping his face with force.

No strength left at all!

Surprisingly, he was also ruthless towards himself.

The originally fair face was already marked with finger marks, even the corners of the mouth were broken, and a few strands of blood were oozing out.

Have the accompanying readers who have just entered the palace seen such a scene?

I dare not continue moving forward for a moment.

The footsteps all stopped.

Jiang Xuening's gaze crossed over the people in front and landed on the little eunuch, only able to see a silhouette. But in that moment, she suddenly felt a bit familiar, and something flashed through her mind like lightning. Finally, a resolute and heroic face accompanied by splashing blood finally filled her entire mind.

Zheng Bao!

Later, Zheng Bao, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department who served Shen Jie, was loyal to her in his previous life. Although he was a rootless person, his temperament was extremely strong. When Shen Jie died of poisoning by Yan Lin and Xie Wei, he pointed to their noses and scolded them for rebellious behavior. After laughing three times, he refused to join them and directly drew his sword to commit suicide, sacrificing his life for Shen Jie!

At that time, some people mocked that in the Manchu Dynasty, there were no men in civil and military affairs, but rather a rootless eunuch was the most capable.

Jiang Xuening finally remembered what she had missed when calculating who could be used for her before——

I missed Zheng Bao.

If she remembers correctly, Zheng Bao appears to be a young eunuch serving in the Kunning Palace, but in fact, he has been favored by the current eunuch Wang Xinyi, who wants to be accepted as an apprentice. The reason why he followed Shen Jie was precisely because one year, while kneeling outside the Kunning Palace and being punished, Shen Jie, who was passing by, saw him and begged for mercy, allowing the empress to spare him. From then on, he remained loyal to only Shen Jie and never betrayed her until the end of his life

What if this life was not Shen Jie, but she saved Zheng Bao?

But the problem has also arisen——

Shen Jie is the king of Linzi and speaks effectively; She's just an accompanying reader right now, how can she be saved?