The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Before he could even think of "finding another true love", he was suspended from work and fined. While reflecting at home, Tao Er shuddered. He looked up at the bright sky and said, "How come the sun is at its highest point, but there is a chill in this yard? Could it be that there is something... that made my wife suddenly behave strangely?"

Tao Er couldn't help but touch his arm. He planned to go to the Huguo Temple in person to ask for some blessed Buddhist instruments to bring back home for protection after he finished reflecting on himself.

He walked into the room of his son who was only six months old, picked him up and tried to coax him a few times, but ended up making the sleepy child cry.

Chen Peiluan walked in with a gloomy face and heard the child's heart-wrenching cry a few steps away. She immediately trotted into the house and asked, "What are you doing? My son is sleeping well, why do you have to pick him up?"

Because this child was born many years after marriage, Chen Peiluan cares about her son more than her own eyes: "He should be taking a nap now. If you have nothing to do, just read your book and write your words. Don't come here to bother others."

Tao Er was stunned by her fierceness and apologized repeatedly: "It's my fault, I came to comfort him..."

"What good are you?" Chen Peiluan glared at her husband. "Why don't you get closer to him? If you had paid more attention to him, you wouldn't have forgotten when your son took his nap!"

The more she spoke, the more resentful she became.

Between Chen Peiluan and Tao Er, it was indeed the girl chasing the boy.

One of them loves him deeply, and she is willing to frame her rival and beg her parents to marry him; the other one thinks that he is old enough to get married, and he wants to marry a wife who respects him like other noble sons...

"Get out." Chen Peiluan got angry when she saw Tao Er's cowardly look.

Before I married him, I thought he had a good temper and was a gentle person. But after I married him, I realized he was so heartless and hypocritical.

He drove Tao Er away and coaxed his son back to his home.

Chen Peiluan began to calm down and think about what to do next.

Although she had outstanding abilities in her previous life, she only hid behind Tao Er and gave him advice and was his good and virtuous wife. She basically only stayed in the inner house, so she didn't know all the things about the previous dynasty.

She only remembered that Tao Er's "true love" was a woman who risked the world's condemnation and pretended to be a man to take the imperial examination. Not only did that woman participate in the examination, she even won the title of top scorer.

Later, even though her identity as a woman was exposed, her outstanding literary talent deceived many court officials and even great scholars into speaking for her and endorsing her, thus protecting her official status.

Moreover...Empress Xie abused her power and took the opportunity to force court officials to open the imperial examination to women. She also reformed the previous imperial examination system, adding a procedure of covering names and transcribing before marking the papers. This way, the advantages of nobles and children of aristocratic families, who had more connections than children from poor families and could impress the examiners with their good handwriting, were no longer there.

Since then, many heroes have emerged from humble backgrounds, slowly opening up an irreversible gap in the upward path that had been controlled by the nobles and aristocratic families for a hundred years.

Chen Peiluan was not as angry about the reform of the imperial examination as the nobles and the children of aristocratic families. What she hated most was that since that woman, countless women had established connections with men who would have originally only married into the upper class in the name of studying and becoming officials, and had achieved many marriages.

Because of the special status of those female officials, they did not live in their husband's house as usual after marriage. Instead, they moved with their families in small homes specially provided for them by the court.

Many clan leaders have sensed the weakening of their clan's control and are furious about it. However, Chen Peiluan thinks that these women study and become officials just to seduce men more easily. By manipulating men's minds, they can make them fight for the powerful Queen Xie!

Otherwise, why would so many young men prefer to give up their surnames and leave home to follow those female officials, just like marrying into the wife's family? It's really reversing yin and yang and going against the grain!

What Chen Peiluan hated the most was the husband whom she had begged for with all kinds of means, and who was also the one who threw herself at the female official.

Even though the woman had never been married and had never had anything to do with Tao Er alone, Chen Peiluan just felt that she was too cunning and had been keeping Tao Er, the fool, hanging. And Tao Er even dared to argue that they were only dealing with government affairs?

What government affairs!

Do we have to ask a female official to do it?

Empress Xie really did everything she could to win people's hearts and gain power and money. It was obvious that those assignments were the best to accumulate merit and get promoted, so how could she let female officials take the majority of the jobs?

This is clearly a good job that I have picked for Tao Er!

When they sent people, couldn't they take into consideration that Tao Er is a married man? !

It was obvious that the female official was deliberately going against me!

Chen Peiluan became angrier and angrier as she thought about it. Her head began to ache. She leaned over the child's cradle and whispered grimly, "What's her name... I think, it seems her last name is Lin. Yes, someone with the last name Lin. She should be... She should be the top scorer in the next exam!"

"No... I can't let her pass the imperial examination. I can't let her deceive the world!"

"I want to expose her conspiracy!"

"We need to expose her true face!"

Chen Peiluan took a few deep breaths and calmed down: "No, I can't care about them so much. If they want to talk about love, let them talk. I... I am the wife of Duke Shen, the only mistress of this mansion, and I have a legitimate son... Hehe, even if that woman has made contributions to the country, she can't shake the position of my wife!"

"Since Tao Er likes shameless women like her, I will find a few in advance and take them in as concubines... After I expose her identity, I will kindly take her in as a concubine in the mansion and let their true love reunite. However, with so many similar women in front of her, she no longer has the special features that can attract men. How long can this true love last?"

"Let them fight for that cowardly man. I just need to sit on the mountain and watch the fight. After all, I am Tao Er's legal wife, the mistress of the Duke of Shen's mansion, and I have several concubines... What's the harm if I am liked by men?"

Chen Peiluan felt that she had come up with a wonderful idea. She glanced at the sleeping child, returned to her room, and immediately called her trusted nanny, instructing her to find a few women according to her standards.

Seeing the nanny's embarrassed and surprised expression, Chen Peiluan acted aggrieved: "Second Master may have a new lover outside. I must propose to take a concubine for him before he reveals his true colors. In this way, I can avoid damaging the mistress's face. Nanny, take my private room and make sure to find a few more women like this. Just tell them that when they get to the mansion, they only need to serve Second Master well. I can help them with everything else, whether it is their future needs or any difficulties at home."

"There is only one thing. They must remember that they are concubines. Once a concubine, they will always be concubines. They must not have any intention of usurping the throne. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!"

They are just a few toys brought to cause trouble for the woman Tao Er truly loves. I cannot let them become evil-minded just because they are favored by a man and offend the dignity of myself as the mistress.