The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

There are three days left before Marquis Anguo sets out on his expedition.

Xie Yuzhen also heard in the palace that the family was holding a farewell banquet. The emperor also gave some gifts to Marquis Anguo. The eldest princess, as the fiancée of Marquis Anguo's son, naturally expressed her opinion and left the palace early this morning.

The second princess was still very unhappy with that family. After the morning class, she followed Xie Yi to Shouning Palace and complained to Xie Yuzhen: "I really don't understand. It's not like my elder sister has no other choice. If she doesn't want to continue the engagement, my father will definitely make the decision for her. Why is she like she's been bewitched by a male vixen and must be with that softie named Ruan?"

Whenever she thought of Ruan He's actions and her elder sister's stubbornness, Lu Xianqiong became filled with rage. She had completely inherited her talent in this regard from Concubine Li. She could not see at all the purpose and interests that the eldest princess was pursuing behind this marriage, and she only felt sorry for her relatives.

Xie Yuzhen did not dislike Lu Xianqiong's obvious feelings, she even liked them very much. She gently persuaded Lu Xianqiong: "Everyone has their own destiny. I think the eldest princess is not a hopeless person. Maybe she has other plans." She gave a slightly obscure hint.

As expected, Lu Xianqiong didn't hear it, and just continued angrily: "No matter how much you care, it's not as good as living a comfortable life. Alas, Empress Zhao, I didn't mean to bother you, but my mother and I can only sigh at each other. If I say too much, my mother will beat me. It's fortunate that Empress Zhao has a good temper and can listen to my nagging..."

After that, Lu Xianqiong took out a purse from her sleeve a little embarrassedly: "I made this myself. I'm not very good at sewing. I hope Empress Zhao won't dislike it..."

During this period, she would go to Shouning Palace whenever she had free time and had more than one meal there. She almost became familiar with everyone in the Shouning Palace. Although Concubine Li was not very good at dealing with human relationships like her daughter, she was older after all. Not only did she prepare a gift for Xie Yuzhen, she also asked Lu Xianqiong to consider what to give.

Xie Yuzhen took the purse and looked at it, and found that it was embroidered with a round, plush white rabbit, holding a cassia twig and worshiping the moon. The embroidery was indeed a bit rough, but the maker's care could be seen in every stitch and every thread. The purse was made of good material and there were no spices inside.

"I am so happy that you have such a thoughtful thought, how could I bear to despise it?" Xie Yuzhen put away the purse in front of Lu Xianqiong, "Come and try Tongyu's new yogurt. I remember that you like this flavor."

Xie Yuzhen always treated the emperor's children with a gentle and tender attitude. Even when he was met with the cold face of the second prince, he still behaved generously and tolerantly: "If you are really worried that the eldest princess will not live well after marriage, you might as well put more effort on His Majesty and ask him to add more smart and useful servants to the princess's mansion in the future, to guard the princess's mansion for the eldest princess and keep a close eye on her husband..."

When a princess reaches adulthood and gets married, she will leave the palace and live in the princess's mansion. Most of the servants in the mansion are arranged by the palace, but the princesses will also buy or hire people from outside to serve them.

Xie Yu could see clearly that the eldest princess was determined to marry Ruan He, not out of any affection, not out of any engagement, and certainly not out of her "deceased mother's" expectations, but simply because she was eyeing the political capital of the Anguo Marquisate. In that case, it would not be surprising to plant a few more thorns in her mansion.

At present, it seems that the eldest princess’ actions are mostly for the sake of the second prince, but Xie Yuzhen never dares to underestimate a woman’s ambition. Moreover, when his Yuanjun grows up and the princesses see the female officials and generals standing in the court, who knows whether they will have the ambition to compete with the prince for the throne?

It's never wrong to prepare for everything in advance.

Since Yuanjun was born, there have been no newborns in the palace except the sixth prince of Liu Xuanshi. The emperor seemed to be really serious about practicing his ideal of "perfect love". For Xie Yu's sake, the harem was empty and there were no more children born out of wedlock - but this also brought some trouble to Xie Yu. If the queen had not managed the harem very well before, and Xie Yu had not allocated part of the funds to provide entertainment and benefits to the idle concubines after taking over, the concubines who had lost their jobs would have been bored and caused trouble.

However, if the preparations against the royal heir were made too early and too obviously, Xie Yu was not sure whether the emperor would suddenly recover from his love-brain disease. Rather than intervening directly, it would be better to use the second princess's hand to drive the nail in.

A seed was planted in Lu Xianqiong's heart. Xie Yuzhen let her take a nap in Shouning Palace, and then sent the children back to Linzhi Palace for class.

The last time Lin Qiao was summoned, she gave Xie Yuzhen the memorial that she had instructed Zhuqueyin to write. After Xie Yuzhen read the memorial, he handed it over to the emperor.

In addition to praising the court, the memorial only asked for one thing, which was that the Yuewu County Magistrate applied to allow his eldest daughter to succeed to the office according to custom. He then pretended to be very puzzled and asked whether there was something wrong with the wording in the memorial he had previously submitted to the prefecture and state requesting the succession. How could the officials in the court mistakenly think that he wanted to break the old custom agreed upon between the clan and the court and let his youngest son succeed to the office?

After reading the memorial, the emperor first approved the succession request of the Yuewu county magistrate, and then called the Minister of Personnel to give him a sarcastic lecture. Xie Yuzhen heard that after the Minister of Personnel returned to the ministry, he lost his temper with his subordinates, temporarily suspended all the officials of the prefecture for investigation, and also strolled around the Ministry of Rites, asking the Ministry of Rites to send someone to help retrieve the resume of the Yuewu county magistrate's youngest son, Zhuqueyin's younger brother named Ding Shi, and prohibited him from taking the imperial examinations for three years.

It was also through the convenience of handling this matter that Xie Yu found out that Yuewu County bordered the New South Kingdom and that there were female soldiers among the naturalized mountain people. He took the opportunity to ask the emperor to give Jun Yuexin a position of a centurion and put her into the southern expedition team in a legitimate way.

Naturally, some court officials jumped out to criticize Xie Yuzhen's actions and tried to stop him.

Xie Yuzhen directly dragged out the "real man" who could not carry anything on his shoulders or lift anything with his hands - you can send in such a waste to gain military merit, so what's wrong with me sending in a daughter of a general whose mother is a royal family daughter, whose father is a former general who is brave and skilled in fighting, has superb martial arts, and can command the female soldiers of Jimi County more conveniently and efficiently?

You turn a blind eye to a waste like the Prince of Anguo, and instead jump up and down just because the capable person is a woman. Don't you want the army to be filled with waste like Ruan He?

Did you accept benefits from the New South Kingdom and collaborate with the enemy?

Or did he harbor treasonous intentions?

"At a time of war, instead of fighting for the country, you are hindering the army?" Xie Yuzhen sat behind the emperor as a concubine, separated by a pearl curtain, and without hesitation, she made several accusations.