After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 137 Xiuyan Enters the Palace
Rongguo Mansion.

Ping'er returned from outside, lifted the curtain and went into the inner room. Just as she was about to speak with the Second Madam, she saw that the Second Madam was startled and hid the things in her hands behind her back.

Ping'er burst out laughing, covered her mouth with her hand, and turned her head away.

Wang Xifeng blushed, but she was also annoyed that the girl had come in. Her high, arched eyebrows furrowed, and she scolded, "You little hussy, are you trying to make a fool of me by walking so stealthily?"

Ping'er smiled and said, "Grandma, please don't speak loudly, or someone might overhear. It's one thing if Grandma scolds me a few times, but if outsiders suspect that Grandma is embroidering something shameful in the room, wouldn't that be my fault?"

Sister Feng sneered: "What a sharp-tongued girl. She's definitely served the emperor in bed."

Ping'er stopped laughing and complained, "Grandma has been bringing this up these past few days. Those who know say that Grandma is envious and has her own thoughts about it. Those who don't know think that I want to reverse the master-servant relationship and have Grandma serve me instead."

Upon hearing her words, Sister Feng laughed and scolded, "Stop mimicking me. You're not a parrot that just repeats what I say. Saying these things is disgusting."

Ping'er smiled and replied, "I just asked Miss Bao and Miss Lin. They said that we should celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival the same way as before this year. Miss Bao said that there are fewer people this year, so spending half the amount of money as in previous years should be enough."

Wang Xifeng said self-deprecatingly, "This year, there's no need to send gifts to anyone; just two gifts to the palace will suffice."

As she spoke, she took out the things she had hidden earlier and held them in both hands as she continued her needlework.

Ping'er glanced at the bib her grandmother was making, which was exactly the bib that the imperial edict required her to embroider herself. Her grandmother cut a diamond-shaped piece of fabric from the silk. Embroidering words was easier than embroidering patterns. The first character, "phoenix," was about to be embroidered.

"My eyes are getting blurry from embroidering this for the past few days."

Sister Feng said casually, her hands still embroidering.

Ping'er sat down to watch her embroider, and said with a smile, "When I first came in, I saw Grandma sitting in a chair with her head down embroidering something, and I mistakenly thought that Grandma was still unmarried and was doing needlework at home like before."

Sister Feng laughed and said, "Are you complimenting me on how young I am?"

"Grandma was a young wife, wasn't she? She just gave birth to Qiaojie."

"If you're free, come and embroider for me for a while so I can rest."

“That won’t do. If I embroider it for Grandma, it would be disobeying the imperial decree.”

"Pah! If you don't tell and I don't tell, who else will know about this?" Sister Feng looked up at her. "You wouldn't be thinking of secretly reporting me to the Emperor, just to make it seem like you're one of his concubines!"

Just as Ping'er was about to speak, a maid came to the door and said, "Madam, Madam Zhu is here!"

Sister Feng's face changed, and she hurriedly got up and stuffed the unfinished "Feng Nu is Guilty" undergarment into the quilt on the bed. If Li Wan saw this, she would not know where to put her face!

A moment later, Li Wan walked in, and Feng Jie stood up to greet her, smiling and saying, "What brings you here today, sister-in-law?"

Upon seeing her, Li Wan was slightly surprised, but quickly concealed it and smiled, saying, "You're usually busy outside, how come you have time to stay at home today? I've come to see Ping'er about something. We need to add some flowers and plants to the garden, and I'd like to discuss it with you."

Sister Feng laughed and said, "Now that you're in charge of the garden, you can just make the decisions."

Li Wan said, "Although Madam no longer manages the household affairs, you were originally in charge of the flowers and plants. I've come to ask how things were done before. Can I borrow your Ping'er for a while?"

As he spoke, he pulled Ping'er along.

Fengjie saw her off, then turned back to continue embroidering on her undergarment, cursing the emperor in her heart for making her embroider such shameful and naughty things!
Embroidering words was one thing, but what troubled her even more was that since the emperor had favored Ping'er and ordered her to embroider this item for his private quarters, he was afraid that one day he would make her wear it for him to see, which would be truly humiliating!

That damned emperor! No wonder he seized power through rebellion; he's come up with these shameful ways to humiliate people. Who knows what kind of suffering the young women will endure if they enter the palace.

Li Wan and Ping'er went straight to the Grand View Garden.

"Which place of flowers and plants is Grandma referring to?" Ping'er asked.

Li Wan hesitated for a moment before smiling and saying, "I had something to ask you, so I lied to your grandmother."

Ping'er smiled and asked, "What is it that Grandma is hiding from our Grandma?"

"It's a matter for the palace."

As Li Wan spoke, Ping'er looked at her with some surprise. Seeing that the eldest mistress's face, which was without makeup, was slightly flushed, she remembered that Su Yun had mentioned that the eldest mistress had once toured the Imperial Garden with the emperor.

She immediately understood and lowered her voice to ask, "Miss Lin and Miss Yun are going to the palace together the day after tomorrow. Would the eldest mistress like to go with them to visit Lan'er?"

It seems that visiting his son was a pretense, and his real purpose was to meet the emperor...

Li Wan knew she couldn't hide it from her, but she still wanted to save face. "I have nothing to do at home. I used to raise Lan'er in the garden, and I didn't have to serve the old lady and the madam. Now that Lan'er is in the palace, how can I not miss him?"

Ping'er nodded and said, "That's right. If Madam wants to go to the palace, she can just go with the young ladies."

Li Wan laughed and said, "I came to ask you, and you're still making excuses and refusing to answer. Now I'm asking you, are you going or not?"

Ping'er blushed, feeling somewhat embarrassed: "Last time I went to the palace to plead guilty on behalf of Second Mistress, what am I going to do here again this time?"

"What to do? Naturally, I'll gain the emperor's favor and become a concubine," Li Wan said with a smile.

Ping'er was speechless for a long time. Seeing that she was too embarrassed to go into the palace, Li Wan had no choice but to let it go. As she was about to leave, Ping'er said, "Madam, please go into the palace. The Emperor is not a heartless and ungrateful person."

Li Wan looked at her, and Ping'er blushed again and said, "I... I received the Emperor's favor last time... He rewarded me with many things and even issued an edict to change my sedan chair. It can be seen that the Emperor remembers the women he has favored. Madam, you can rest assured."

The implication was that she should boldly enter the palace without fear of her wife's questioning, as the emperor would eventually bestow upon her the title of concubine, and her wife would no longer dare to say anything.

Li Wan blushed even with her bare face, and hesitated before saying, "I was afraid before, so I concealed my identity. When the emperor held me in his arms... it's too late to tell him now, and it's too late to regret it."

Ping'er thought for a while, looked at the eldest mistress's face, which was still beautiful even without makeup, and said with a shy smile, "Don't worry, when you serve the emperor, whisper sweet nothings in his ear and beg for mercy. If you satisfy His Majesty, he will definitely forgive you for the crime of deceiving the emperor."

After these intimate words were spoken, Ping'er quickly turned and left, leaving Li Wan with a pounding heart. She thought of that night in the Imperial Garden, when the Emperor held her in his arms and kissed her; her body went limp, and the thoughts in her mind became uncontrollable.
This time, she even went to the palace.

She had been alone in her room for too long, and the emperor's forceful arousal of her desires left her tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

-

The news of Daiyu and Xiangyun entering the palace spread quickly.

Although the girls entered the palace many times, each time they entered, they still stirred the hearts of many people.

In the morning, when the young ladies paid their respects to the old lady, Grandmother Jia looked at Daiyu and Xiangyun and asked, "You two are going to the palace again tomorrow. Are there any other people going with you?"

Xiangyun thought of Li Wan, glanced at her, but didn't say anything, because Li Wan had told her that this time she was going to the palace secretly, so as not to disturb the old lady and the madam.

Daiyu asked, "Are there any other sisters who want to go to the palace?"

There were quite a few young women in the room, including the three sisters Ying, Tan, and Xi, two women Chai and Qin, and Miss Xing.

Yingchun has always been submissive. If Grandmother Jia or Madam Xing summons her to the palace, she will obey and go. If she is not summoned, she will not bring it up herself.

Xichun was the youngest of the sisters. Although she played with them on weekdays, she didn't talk much.

Baochai and Baoqin had just entered the palace.

The only person you can ask is Miss Xing.

Madam Xing was also there. She had seen Yingchun's weakness over the past few days. Despite being among the first batch of girls to enter the palace with Xiangyun, she had gained nothing. She neither managed the household nor received any favor. She stayed at home in Zilingzhou like a block of wood every day. It was better to rely on her family than to expect her to enter the palace and receive favor.

Thinking of this, Madam Xing smiled at Xing Xiuyan and said, "Girl, you've never been to the palace before. Why don't you go in with your Sister Lin and Sister Yun this time?"

Everyone looked over.

Li Wan looked at Miss Xing and saw that she was wearing an old lotus-colored cross-collar long coat. Although she was allowed to sit on a chair because of her status as a young lady, she was very unassuming. She had a beautiful and gentle appearance.

Hearing her aunt's words, Xiuyan hesitated for a moment and said, "Madam, why should I enter the palace for no reason?"

Madam Xing smiled and said, "You probably don't know this, but your second brother Lian has already submitted the names of several young ladies in the mansion to the Emperor, including Miaoyu."

Upon hearing this, the girls were somewhat surprised. They knew that their names had been written down, but they did not know that Xiuyan and Miaoyu had also caught the emperor's eye.
Although Xiuyan was indifferent to fame and fortune, she couldn't help but blush upon hearing this. She glanced at the sisters present and said:

"In terms of talent and looks, I am far inferior to my sisters. Besides, quite a few girls from our families have entered the palace. If I were to enter the palace again, I would probably be criticized for saying that the emperor and empress are all from our families."

Madam Xing fell silent. She had also heard Baochai say that there were many rules in the palace, and not long ago, an official from the Lantai Temple submitted a memorial, which even the Empress had to back down from.

Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "Miss Xing is very thoughtful. If the Emperor had summoned them, that would have been fine, but since he hasn't, it's not appropriate to send the young ladies into the palace." She paused and then said, "The palace isn't necessarily a good place either, and the young ladies are being mistreated."

Tan Chun quickly smiled and said, "Grandma, life in the palace isn't necessarily that difficult. The new dynasty is different from the old Shun dynasty. There are fewer rules in the palace. My eldest sister is doing very well in the palace and is happy."

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "That's good. Now I can rest assured."

Xiangyun looked at Xing Xiuyan: "Sister Xing, would you like to enter the palace? His Majesty once told me that the young ladies in the mansion can enter the palace at any time."

Upon hearing this, Madam Xing felt a renewed sense of anticipation and hurriedly urged her to go to the palace, so that she could at least see the emperor, something others couldn't even dream of!
Xiuyan lowered her head and thought for a while before smiling at Xiangyun and saying, "In that case, I will go to the palace with you."

Xiangyun readily agreed.

Xiuyan then asked, "Has His Majesty mentioned Miaoyu?"

Miaoyu is a nun who practices Buddhism while still keeping her hair, yet she is already on the list of those to be sent to the palace, which makes Xiuyan somewhat worried.

"No, that has not been the case."

As soon as Xiangyun finished speaking, Li Wan smiled and said, "His Majesty once mentioned that Baoling Palace is short of abbot, and Miaoyu from Longcui Nunnery is just right."

Everyone turned to look at her, and Li Wan suddenly realized that she had said the wrong thing.

How did she know what the emperor said in the imperial garden?
Fortunately, no one asked her, otherwise she could only say that she overheard it by chance while serving Yuan Chun and the emperor on a stroll in the imperial garden.

In fact, at that time, she was being held affectionately in Chu Yan's arms when he pointed to Baoling Palace in the Imperial Garden and mentioned it to her in casual conversation.

(End of this chapter)