NFBE Chapter 139 Kneeling as punishment
Chapter 139 Kneeling as punishment
Abao was just Meiruo's maidservant. Without her master by her side, she couldn't even enter the Yangxin Palace, let alone the emperor.
She hurried to the Yangxin Palace with her skirt lifted up, but was stopped by Jinbao.
Jinbao stretched out his left hand, blocking Abao's way and said, "Which palace are you from? How dare you be so presumptuous?"
A Bao frowned and shouted in a rude tone, "How dare you, a eunuch, even dare to stop people from Xianfu Palace?"
Jin Bao took a closer look and immediately retracted his hand, saying with an apologetic smile, "Oh, I'm so blind that I didn't realize it was Miss Abao from Concubine Ying's side. You left in such a hurry, is there something wrong?"
A Bao: "Get out of here, I want to see the Emperor."
After saying that, Abao wanted to rush in again.
Every time Abao took a step forward, Jinbao took a step back, just to prevent Abao from entering the Yangxin Palace.
Jinbao looked embarrassed and explained, "Miss Abao, it's not that I mean to make things difficult for you. It's just an unfortunate coincidence that the Emperor is discussing government affairs with several ministers today..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Abao raised his hand and hit Jinbao in the face.
Although Jinbao was a servant, he had served the emperor in the Yangxin Palace for many years. He was not as smooth as Jinzhong, so naturally he was not as favored by the emperor, but he was also conscientious in his duties. Any eunuch or palace maid in the Forbidden City who saw him would politely call him "Eunuch".
But this foreign palace maid in front of him not only humiliated him as a eunuch, but also dared to beat him in front of the gate of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. She really follows the master's nature. Does she really treat the Forbidden City as the Mongolian steppe?
"I want to see the emperor, the emperor... the emperor..."
Po shouted while standing on tiptoe.
Meiruo is of noble status, and Duan Bujinbao, a eunuch, cannot afford to offend her.
Po's voice was deafening.
Even the ministers in the Yangxin Palace stopped talking and looked out the door. Hongli was so angry that he threw the memorial in his hand away.
At this time, a minister stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, since you have family matters, why don't you go out and deal with them first? Talking about too much will not lead to any conclusion. Why don't you take a break first?"
Hongli accepted the proposal.
A Bao's voice boomed from outside the door. When Hongli opened it, he saw Jin Bao and A Bao tangled up in a fight. The moment she saw Hongli, A Bao pushed Jin Bao aside, then sleekly knelt before him, crying, "Your Majesty, please save our young lady. For some reason, the Empress Dowager sent a nanny this morning to teach our young lady etiquette. We already learned it all back in the Old Summer Palace. Isn't the Empress Dowager deliberately trying to make things difficult for us? Please, Your Majesty, intercede for our young lady and ask the Empress Dowager to revoke her decision."
Hongli glanced at Abao coldly, and when he saw Jinbao, he found a conspicuous slap mark on his left cheek.
Although I know what's going on.
But I still couldn't help asking, "Jinbao, what's wrong with your face?"
Abao felt guilty, so he looked up at Jinbao with a threatening look, warning him not to talk nonsense.
"This... I just accidentally fell..." Jinbao lowered his head and covered his face.
Jinbao didn't dare to say much, but Hongli was a little annoyed. Putting aside the fact that Meiruo was the daughter of King Bahrain, he did like Meiruo's straightforwardness and casualness, but it was also a fact that she was rude and arrogant. He just wanted her to learn the palace rules, but she asked the servants around her to come to the Yangxin Palace and be aggressive, and even dared to hit people in front of the emperor.
"Go back and tell Yingpin that it was my intention to send Yuhu to Xianfu Palace to teach Yingpin the rules. If she dares to act recklessly again, I will punish her with house arrest."
After saying this, Hongli turned around and returned to the Yangxin Palace.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
No matter how Abao called out, Hongli refused to even look at Abao.
Jinbao: "Miss, please go back."
When Jinbao helped Abao up, Abao did not accept his kindness, but vented Hongli's anger on her on Jinbao. She glared at Jinbao fiercely, shook off Jinbao's hand, and walked away.
The moment Abao turned around, Jinbao stopped pretending. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and a fierce look appeared on his face. He reached out and rubbed the half of his face that had just been hit. He spat on Abao's back and whispered in a voice that only he could hear, "What a joke! Let's see how long Xianfu Palace can continue to bully others."
In fact, Hongli was not in a good mood today.
Not sending Abao to the Ministry of Punishment was already giving Meiruo face.
A big event happened in the palace that day. Zeng Huan got the news from somewhere and took Fu Jia, who had just returned to the Cining Palace, to the Yangxin Palace.
It turned out that there was a civil war in Dawachi, and Zeng Huan received a letter from Heng'er.
In the letter, Heng'er described how she had been struggling in pain for more than six months. Zeng Huan was on pins and needles, unable to wait even a moment, and immediately wanted Hongli to go to Dawaqi to bring Heng'er back.
Heng'er was a daughter of the rich and powerful, while Dawachi was merely a barbarian living on the grasslands. Dawachi's original intention to ask the Qing for Heng'er's hand in marriage was simply to use her to suppress the Dzungar Khanate, not out of genuine love for her. Now, with civil unrest in Dawachi, there's no telling when Heng'er's husband might be killed again. Whenever Zeng Huan closes her eyes, she's haunted by the story of Concubine Zhaojun's journey to the frontier. She doesn't want Heng'er to end up like that, so she goes to the Yangxin Palace to ask Hongli to take Heng'er back.
Unexpectedly, he walked too fast and bumped into Po head-on.
Zeng Huan is no longer young, and she almost fell down after being hit.
Fujia frowned and said, "Who is so rude? How dare they offend the Empress Dowager?"
When Abao saw that it was Zeng Huan, he immediately knelt down and apologized, "I deserve to die. I didn't see the Empress Dowager coming."
Zeng Huan said coldly, "I know Yingpin is favored, but I never thought that even the maids around Yingpin could be so arrogant and rude, and dared to run rampant in the harem. It seems that I was wrong. I shouldn't have let only the maids teach Yingpin alone. I should have sent more maids to teach you the rules of Xianfu Palace, so as not to bring shame to our ancestors."
A Bao didn't dare to breathe in front of Zeng Huan.
Because she was worried about Heng'er, Zeng Huan didn't bother with her. She just let Abao kneel there for two hours and then left in a hurry.
Jin Bao saw Zeng Huan coming from a distance. Unlike A Bao, Zeng Huan was someone he really couldn't afford to offend.
He hurried forward and saluted, saying respectfully, "Your servant greets the Empress Dowager."
Zeng Huan stood up straight and said slowly, "Excuse me, I just want to come and see the emperor. Is he here?"
"Yes, yes, but..." Jinbao hesitated to speak.
Just yesterday he noticed that the relationship between Zeng Huan and Hongli had eased a little. If he said now that Hongli was discussing important matters with the ministers, would Zeng Huan think that Hongli was deliberately avoiding her?
But just as Jinbao was at a loss for words, a violent commotion erupted from the Yangxin Palace. Zeng Huan immediately understood: Hongli was attending to state affairs, and as a mere palace lady, it was difficult to disturb him. Furthermore, Jinbao was only a eunuch, and if she forced her way in, she might harm innocent people.
"Forget it. Since the emperor is busy, I won't bother him. Jinbao, if the emperor has finished dealing with it, please ask him to come to the Cining Palace. I have something to ask him."
"Yes."
Jinbao responded and watched Zeng Huan leave.