If not abolished

Chapter 215 Find another way out

With the end of the Prince's Palace Banquet and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's birthday, the situation in the East Palace also changed. In the court, because the Prince of Han left the capital, his former cronies naturally no longer dared to act rashly, and some even defected to the Prince, but some continued to help the Prince of Han and became his spies in the capital. When the Prince of Han left the capital, these people were handed over to his son Zhu Zhanqi in the capital, and they often exchanged letters six or seven times a night.

Zhu Zhanqi had just come down from the teahouse, holding a bird cage in his hand. Unexpectedly, he ran into Zhu Zhanji as soon as he reached the door. Zhu Zhanqi was startled for a moment, but quickly recovered and greeted him with a smile, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Xiaoqi is in a good mood." Zhu Zhanji said, looking at the bird in his hand.

"I'm very free now, I just play with birds to kill time, how can I compare to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who is busy with all kinds of affairs and still has time to leave the palace."

"Since you said so, I have to assign you some tasks to do." Zhu Zhanji followed his words.

Zhu Zhanqi was anxious to leave, but seeing that Zhu Zhanji didn't seem to want to end the meeting, he calculated that it was almost the agreed time, so he found an excuse and said, "Well, Your Highness, I've been out for a while, and it's almost time for me to go back, so I'll leave first."

"I was so busy talking to you that I didn't notice the time. In that case, you can go back home. Do you want me to give you a ride?" Zhu Zhanji asked politely.

Zhu Zhanqi was just making up an excuse, he didn't really want to go back, so he naturally refused to let Zhu Zhanji send him off, "Don't bother your Highness the Crown Prince, I still have to go to the snack shop in the south of the city to buy some things for the Princess, I'll leave first." After saying this, Zhu Zhanqi left quickly.

Zhu Zhanji watched him leave without saying anything. After he was gone, he ordered, "Send someone to follow him. Also, notify Hu An to keep an eye on the recent movements of my good brother and report back at any time."

"Yes."

Although Zhu Zhanji knew that his second uncle had failed to seize the throne no matter how he acted in the previous life, it did not mean that he should not be on guard at all.

Although Zhu Di often criticized the crown prince in the court, he had no intention of changing his successor. These actions were just to let the ministers know that he had not done anything yet when the crown prince was not in charge. However, other people might not be able to guess his thoughts except Zhu Di himself.

Besides, in the backyard of the Eastern Palace, since the Mid-Autumn Festival, the concubines have also seen the crown prince's attitude towards Concubine Guo, and most of them think that she must have fallen out of favor, so in recent days, they have been fawning on the crown princess and have been very well behaved. Even Concubine Li, who is on good terms with the crown princess, has seen people coming and going during this period. After all, the crown princess is usually busy and doesn't often have time to see these people. In this case, the second best option is to turn around and establish a good relationship with Concubine Li. This is also a solution.

So Concubine Li is also worried now. She can't kick the person out openly, but she really doesn't like this because of her personality.

Just as she woke up from her nap, someone came to report that several concubines wanted to talk to her.

After this period of time, these people have figured out Concubine Li's personality and will not bother her every day, but they will come every three to five days. Knowing that Concubine Li likes to play chess, some people have specially learned or collected chess manuals from somewhere just to please her.

"Greetings to the Concubine." Several people bowed.

"Sisters, please sit down quickly." Concubine Li looked at the tea.

"Sister, there is something I want to tell you. When I came here just now, the concubine Qingluan suddenly ran out and scared me. To be honest, this person must be crazy. Why is he still living here with you? In my opinion, he should move out. What if he hurts someone in the future?" said a concubine who just came in.

The other people also echoed: "That's right, it was the same when I came last time, she smiled at me, it was creepy, and sometimes she would come over and stop us and say that someone was harming her or something?"

After listening to their descriptions and having been frightened a few times in the past few days, Concubine Li thought that it was time to talk to the Crown Princess. "What the sisters said is true. At the beginning, she was not so crazy. I thought that we were sisters living in the same palace, so I didn't tell the Crown Princess. I didn't expect that she would become like this after a few days. It's really sigh-worthy."

"Who said it wasn't true? Speaking of which, she also contributed to Concubine Guo's fall from favor. Otherwise, if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had always favored Concubine Guo, there would be no chance for us to succeed. Now that Concubine Guo has fallen from favor, don't we have a chance?"

"I don't have the energy anymore, but my sisters are still young and can try harder." Concubine Li encouraged.

After a while, the situation of you flattering me and I flattering you finally came to an end.

Concubine Li was a little tired. Qian'er massaged her shoulders and said, "What's wrong with these people recently? They come to us every other day. Aren't they tired? They are not tired, but the queen is tired of dealing with them every day."

"Okay, stop complaining. After a few days, when they find out that they can't get favor by currying favor with me, they will naturally stop coming so often." Concubine Li had already hinted to them that now that Guo had fallen, they had to rely on their own abilities to get the crown prince's favor. They had to work hard on their own and neither she nor the crown princess would help.

"Your Majesty, what should we do with the madman in our palace?" Qian'er was frightened when she thought of Concubine Qingluan's current appearance. Just think about it, half a month ago, she was so powerful that she could even compete with Concubine Guo, but now she has become neither human nor ghost.

"What else can I do? I have to report to the Crown Princess for her decision." Concubine Li guessed that Qingluan's life was over. She was also pitiful. She was the product of the cold war between the Crown Prince and Guo, and was used by this and that. In the end, she was no longer useful. But she was not innocent. Climbing into bed was her own choice, and now this result was also her own fault...

On the second day, after paying her respects, Concubine Li stayed alone and told the Crown Princess about Qingluan.

"Thank you for your hard work during this period, sister. I have heard about it. Those people have disturbed you a lot. Since Qingluan has gone crazy, let her leave alone. As for the others, it depends on her own fate." The Crown Princess said calmly.

"It's not that I'm working hard. I'm just talking. After a while, they will find that I can't help them, so they will naturally stop coming." Concubine Li thought of something, "By the way, since Qingluan is left to fend for herself, what should we do with the people who serve her?" Left to fend for herself basically means being deposed and banished to the cold palace.

"With her condition, the servants around her must be suffering. But it won't work if no one serves her. Ask the servants whether they want to continue serving or go to another palace. I will arrange it for them." The Crown Princess proposed a solution.

"I understand." Concubine Li thought of the palace maids around Qingluan and suddenly said, "Speaking of which, I also remembered something. I wonder if the Crown Princess noticed that the palace maids around Concubine Qingluan went to the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet with Concubine Guo?"

"If you hadn't mentioned this, I wouldn't have paid much attention to it. Is there anything to say about it?" The Crown Princess naturally didn't pay attention to this matter.

"At first, I was confused too. But later, Qingluan's clothes weren't ruined. There were two people serving her. Logically, both of them should be suspected. And I heard that this palace maid and Concubine Qingluan were good sisters, and they were both in Concubine Guo's palace. I thought maybe she knew about Qingluan's clothes. Coincidentally, Concubine Guo took action against the palace maid during those days and punished her many times. She even called her away during the Mid-Autumn Festival to clear her of suspicion. Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem right no matter how I think about it."

"We don't know what they want to do. It depends on whether she will take into account the sisterly love, or..." The Crown Princess just made this judgment.

"In my opinion, probably not. I'm afraid you'll have to find another way out..." Concubine Li shook her head.

Qian'er went to the side hall and told the Crown Princess about her arrangements: "The Crown Princess meant that Qingluan Concubine is just moving to a new place and still needs someone to take care of her. Logically, you should go with her, but the Queen is kind and will give you a chance to choose. If you don't want to go with the Concubine, you will be reassigned a job."

Wu Yingyue lowered her head and said nothing. In addition, because she was wronged by Qingluan Concubine, she was already resentful in her heart. Now that she heard that there was an opportunity, she naturally spoke first: "I want to go somewhere else."

Qian'er nodded in agreement. Seeing that Wu Yingyue hadn't spoken yet, she asked again, "What about you?"

"I...I also want to go somewhere else." Wu Yingyue thought about her future and decided to leave.