The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

A sigh, as if expressing genuine regret for Qin Ruying's unwise behavior and tragic fate.

After explaining the whole story, Princess Rong Le had no intention of staying in Shouning Palace any longer. Before leaving, she took the initiative to mention Chen Peiluan, who had a dispute with Lin Qiao, to Xie Yuzhen: "Mrs. Chen is an acquaintance of mine. She is always eloquent and reasonable. I wonder if she would be more useful than me if I were to ask her to persuade the prince consort."

"This time, it was thanks to Madam Chen's reminder that we asked Master Lin for help, so we were able to find the Prince Consort in time."

However, Xie Yuzhen and she both knew that since the maid named Yaoyu was the prince consort, there was actually no question of asking Lin Qiao to help find the missing prince consort from the very beginning. Princess Rong Le just took the initiative to contact Lin Qiao for some unknown reason.

Could it be that he has fallen in love with Lin Qiao?

Xie Yuzhen thought with some hesitation, and waited until Princess Rong Le left before Xie's mother and the two children re-entered the palace.

Lu Weiyuan, who had just woken up from a nap, was full of energy. He refused to be carried by the palace maids, and ran towards Xie Yuzhen with his short legs: "Mother, mother! Yuanjun also wants a sedan chair like my aunt that she can lie down in!"

After they came over, because Xie Yuzhen had made arrangements in advance, they did not meet Princess Rong Le head-on, but only saw her leave from afar. Although he had thought about winning over the princess, after contacting her, her various behaviors always made Xie Yuzhen feel that something was wrong, so he temporarily gave up the idea of ​​winning her over and decided to continue observing for a while and add some necessary precautions.

Holding her daughter in her arms, Xie Yuzhen looked at Lin Qiao and said, "Just now, the Princess told me that it was you who helped find the missing Prince Consort?"

Lin Qiao thought for a while before answering: "If the 'prince consort' is found, then I have indeed found him, but... the prince consort has never been lost, so how can we talk about finding him?"

Xie Yuzhen nodded: "I think Princess Rong Le is thinking of changing her husband again. You are the right age, good-looking, and... suitable in terms of status."

Frowning, Lin Qiao was able to infer what happened in Heyi Tower. Naturally, he also realized that Qin Ruying was a woman disguised as a man. He couldn't help but think of himself: "How could His Highness look down on me?"

"For a princess like her, if she doesn't have the ambition to pursue a high position in the court, she doesn't have to worry about anything on a daily basis and can just enjoy herself. But she has been enjoying herself for more than 30 years and has experienced most of the things that can be enjoyed. Naturally, she will be more curious and fond of those unusual things." Xie Yu reminded her meaningfully, "If it is convenient, I think it would be best to arrange your marriage with that girl in advance."

She was not sure whether Princess Rong Le, who had a female prince consort, could also tell Lin Qiao's true gender.

"But the previous agreement between the Empress and His Majesty..." Lin Qiao naturally thought of this point. She has been a little worried since that incident. After all, to put it in a big way, it is deceiving the emperor, but to put it in a small way, as long as the emperor himself does not care, then it will be fine. This time when she entered the palace, she wanted to take the opportunity to discuss with Xie Yuzhen how to deal with it, but she didn't expect to be interrupted by Princess Rong Le.

Xie Yuzhen pondered for a moment and waved his hand: "Your Majesty, I have my own way to deal with it, but you need to be prepared in advance. Madam Chen of the Duke of Shen's Mansion has an inexplicable hostility towards you. She has been very close to the young lady of the He family recently, and the young lady He is friends with Madam Dong Er of the Marquis of Anguo Mansion..."

Zeng Suqiu, Fu Qingsu and Zeng Fu, who are important parts of the "plot" of the main god, are the wife of Zeng Langzhong, their common nominal mother, who is also a lackey clinging to Madam Dong Er.

Xie Yuzhen sorted out the relationships between these characters for Lin Qiao and reminded her, "The Zeng family has been very lively recently. Not only is the young lady in his family making a fuss, but the young master Zeng is also... I heard from the people below that he donated a position of a casual official and got a place in the Imperial College. He will also take the exam in the next spring."

In the imperial examinations of the Great Sheng Dynasty, in addition to the conventional path of tongsheng→xiucai→juren→jinshi, there was also the Imperial Academy's hereditary students. Although they had not gone through the first three stages of the imperial examinations, they could still participate in the spring examinations. This was a shortcut reserved for child prodigies and the children of the powerful. However, except for child prodigies, the Jinshi who passed the examination in this way were always more despised and criticized than those who passed the examinations step by step.

Zeng Fu was eager to take power, so naturally he didn't care about these things.

"If nothing unexpected happens, this person will build up momentum for himself before the Spring Examination." The imperial examination system in those days was not perfect yet, and successive emperors had been checking for deficiencies and filling in the gaps. At the same time, those talented and virtuous people who were famous before the Spring Examination would always receive some preferential treatment because their names were not covered on the test papers.

Even if the policy essay is mediocre, as long as it is not a bunch of nonsense, most of the time one can get the position of Jinshi.

Zeng Fu's original body was a playboy, uneducated and unskillful. Even if he had a new soul, he would not have enough time to thoroughly study the books on the imperial examination. He could only find another way while taking tutoring classes to spread his reputation as much as possible. The more noise he made, the more benefits he would get.

As Xie Yuzhen analyzed, he looked at Lin Qiao with an indifferent and penetrating gaze: "You are my cousin, and you can be considered as the emperor's uncle... You have become famous at a young age, and you have passed the exam step by step. Moreover, I have also seen how you treat people in recent days. Your former friends and classmates have not become estranged from you just because you have become a relative."

"The scholars still recognize you and regard you as a talented leader of the younger generation. Your future is limitless."

"But if those who are interested can defeat a leader like you before the Spring Examination..."

Lin Qiao looked stern: "Even if he can't replace me now, he can still step on me to get what he wants - but, Madam, will he use that reason to attack me? If so, how did he know?"

"I revealed some information." Xie Yuzhen said calmly. Seeing that Lin Qiao did not rush to question him, but remained calm, he nodded and said, "I want to take a risky move, not only to get rid of those poisonous insects lurking in the dark, but also to take this opportunity to let... also enter the Spring Examination Hall openly. After all, there has never been any law that stipulates that only men can take the imperial examination, right?"

"If this plan works, you will be able to stand more firmly and brightly. If not, I will ask you to marry that girl immediately to prove that they are deliberately slandering you and targeting my Xie family!"