The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

The ancestor of Marquis of Jingjun made great contributions when the country was founded, so he was granted Jingjun as his fiefdom and was given the title of marquis, becoming one of the few powerful nobles in the Great Sheng Dynasty.

However, times have changed, and after several generations, the current Marquis of Jing County has been almost completely squeezed out of the core position of the court because of this fiefdom. Even though Jing County is their family's fiefdom, the governor and the county magistrate of Jing County are directly appointed by the central court. It is difficult for the Marquis of Jing County to interfere in either political affairs or the military. All they have are 3,000 soldiers and the tax revenue of the county.

The Marquis of Jingjun of this generation was extremely eager to return to Kyoto. He could not go back rashly. Returning to the capital without an imperial edict would be tantamount to treason. The emperor now sitting on the dragon throne was overbearing and self-centered. Not long after he ascended the throne, he stripped the titles of the nobles. Although the Marquis of Jingjun was not stripped of his titles that time, the emperor's attitude made him act more cautiously.

He stayed quietly in his fiefdom, keeping only his eldest son who was to inherit the title in the future by his side. The rest of his children, even his wife and old lady, were sent to the capital to settle down, to show that he had no intention of being restless.

He stayed there quietly for a few years. Suddenly, the Marquis of Jing received a letter from the capital saying that the Emperor intended to select the daughters of officials and common people to enter the palace as concubines. The Marquis of Jing thought of his eldest daughter who had always been outstanding. He and his wife hit it off and sent their eldest daughter to participate in the selection. In order to avoid any eventuality, the Marquis of Jing's wife also sent a valuable gift to the empress dowager for safety.

Then their eldest daughter Liu Luohua, now known as Liu Shuyi, was successfully elected, favored, and pregnant. Just when everyone in the Jingjun Marquis' Mansion was rejoicing.

The news that Liu Shuyi had fallen out of favor spread.

Before they could figure out what had happened to their daughter that had offended the emperor, even worse news arrived: Liu Shuyi had a difficult delivery, and although she gave birth to a princess successfully, her uterus was damaged, making it difficult for her to get pregnant again, and even her life span would be affected.

The wife of the Marquis of Jing was heartbroken, but the Marquis of Jing had his own plans.

His wife was from the Hong family. Although her family had no title, they were a century-old medical family. However, after the establishment of the Dasheng Dynasty, the Hong family began to decline. Otherwise, the Marquis of Jing would not have been able to marry his current wife.

You know, in the early days of the Great Prosperity, the aristocratic families looked down on even the princesses and princes of the royal family, and only married within the aristocratic families of the same class; however, they looked down on the royal family who came from humble origins, while the royal family, who held heavy troops, coveted the lands they had annexed over the years and the population they had kept, and they directly sent troops to beat up those families that jumped the highest.

The old dynasty was extremely glorious, and the aristocratic families that were like local tyrants were defeated and dispersed, and were directly wiped out from the world. The so-called aristocratic families that are left today are actually just the details of the once behemoths that are still surviving.

After the Marquis of Jing County got married, he and Hong had a legitimate son and an eldest daughter in succession. Then, he became restless. He brought the sons of his family, the girls of good families outside, and even the daughters of minor officials in his fiefdom into his mansion one after another, and gave birth to illegitimate sons and daughters one after another.

Even now, he still persisted in taking concubines, but as soon as a concubine became pregnant and gave birth to a child, he would send the concubine and the child to Kyoto to be given to the Marquis's wife Liu Hong to be disciplined and raised.

Liu Shuyi, who only gave birth to a princess and lost favor due to her bad health, was considered useless in the eyes of Marquis of Jingjun.

He planned to send his concubine's daughter into the palace, so that he would at least have a prince or grandson. This way, if the emperor wanted to settle accounts with the princes in the future, his family would have a way out.

However, the news from the Marquis of Jing County's Mansion in Kyoto greatly disappointed the Marquis of Jing County.

He had so many concubines' daughters, but few of them lived to see the age of 15. Even if they did, they were married off by Liu Hong at an early age. The better ones married off to branches of the aristocratic families, while the worse ones even married the sons of Hong's servants who were sent out to study or do business!

Upon learning of this, the Marquis of Jing was furious that Liu Hong had married off his daughter like an animal, but he had no other choice but to curse Liu Hong in his letter.

It was at this time that one of the Marquis of Jingjun mentioned a concubine who had served him many years ago. The Marquis of Jingjun had long forgotten the woman, but with the careful reminder of his concubine, he finally remembered that the concubine was given to him by his subordinates shortly after the birth of his eldest daughter. At that time, their whole family still lived in Jingjun. The concubine had offended Liu Hongshi in some way, so she was forced down, had her hair pulled out, and was thrown into a nunnery outside the city.

Seeing that the Marquis of Jing finally remembered that there was such a person, the favorite concubine immediately burst into tears and said that the concubine was her sister. She was already pregnant when she was driven away by the marquis's wife, and she gave birth to a daughter for the Marquis of Jing in a nunnery. The mother and daughter had lived a very hard life over the years, and she was waiting there foolishly, hoping that the Marquis of Jing would remember them.

When the Marquis of Jing County suddenly learned that he had a daughter living outside, he was filled with doubt and surprise. He hurriedly took his favorite concubine to the nunnery, and as expected, he saw the concubine with a weather-beaten face and his daughter who had grown into a beautiful young lady.

The Marquis of Jingjun had no interest in his old and ugly concubines, but when he saw Liu Jindie for the first time, he was sure that she was his biological daughter, and announced to the public that she looked exactly like his deceased sister and the old marquis's wife when she was young.

Just like that, Liu Jindie, who was recognized as the daughter of the Marquis's family, and her mother were packed up and sent directly to Kyoto by the Marquis of Jingjun.

Perhaps the Marquis of Jing County had made special instructions when he sent them away. Although Liu Hong disliked this illegitimate daughter who suddenly appeared, she did not make things difficult for her. She just found someone to teach her every day that she must put her elder sister first in everything after entering the palace. Then, she sent Liu Jindie's biological mother to a nunnery again on the grounds that it was disrespectful to Buddha for a concubine to return to secular life after becoming a nun.

just.

This time's nunnery was different from the previous one, which was poor but peaceful and harmonious.

The day before entering the palace, Liu Jindie was taken by Liu Hong's trusted nanny to visit her biological mother. She was shocked to find that this nunnery was doing such a shameful and shady business. Although her biological mother could no longer escape the disaster due to her old age and beauty after being sent here, Liu Hong ordered the nanny to lock her and her mother together with several strong men for a whole night.

Although she didn't do anything to them, Liu Jindie was very clear that her stepmother was afraid that she was not obedient enough, so she took ruthless action to punish her.

It was also a threat. As the wife of the Marquis, it was too easy for Liu Hong to deal with her biological mother...

For the safety of her biological mother, Liu Jindie gritted her teeth and endured the humiliation.

During the selection period, all the good girls had to live in Chuxiu Palace for at least a month. It was during that month that Liu Jindie tried her best to hook up with Meng Yanshou. She thought that Meng Yanshou's father and brother were high-ranking officials and the Meng family was such a noble family. As long as Meng Yanshou gained favor in the future, he would help her and she would no longer be controlled by Liu Hongshi.

Who would have thought that Meng Yanshou's initial title was not only a mere luxury, but he also caused trouble one after another. He was put under house arrest because he was out of favor, and he couldn't even get along well on his own.

As for the voice that suddenly appeared in her mind and could predict the future, Liu Jindie didn't really trust it, and even had an inexplicable fear. So when Xie Cairen, the most popular person in the palace, took the initiative to talk to her, Liu Jindie's first reaction was to build a good relationship with Xie Cairen...

However, he did not expect that this talented lady was fine at first, and seemed to be very sympathetic to his background, but suddenly changed the subject and began to belittle him so viciously.