The most beautiful lady in the harem

Chapter 44

After the Yongjia Emperor's people left, the maid followed them out of the Yuxiu Palace and came back. Looking at the rewards in the room, she smiled happily, "Talented lady, look how good the emperor is to you. He gave us so many things!"

Zhou Cairen lowered her eyes, not looking particularly happy, and said calmly, "The Emperor is just making up for Concubine Ning Shu."

Thinking of the fact that she had Princess Changle as her own child and Concubine Ning Shu who was currently pregnant with the prince's child, it would be a lie for Zhou Cairen to say that she was not envious.

In this palace, having a child is already a great hope. Now Concubine Ning Shu has two. A mother is honored by her sons. If the baby in her belly is a prince, her fame will be even greater than that of the empress.

It's just that everyone has their own destiny. The queen was lucky enough to give birth to the eldest prince, but she was not lucky enough to enjoy the blessing of this son. Seeing that the queen is now terminally ill, it is really a destiny to give birth but not to enjoy it.

The maid brought the gifts from Emperor Yongjia to Zhou Cairen one by one for her to review, while chatting with her, "I heard that the Empress got sick because she gave birth to the eldest prince. Since giving birth to the eldest prince, she has been lying down and has never served the Emperor again. If the Emperor had not been so kind to her and used top-notch medicinal herbs from all over the world to treat her, I'm afraid this harem would have been ownerless long ago."

Because Zhou Cairen was one of the first batch of beauties selected into the palace after the coronation ceremony this year, she was not familiar with many things that happened in the harem. The maid heard them from other places.

Zhou Cairen was in a bad mood today. He had been in a bad mood since he was stood up last night.

She looked at the jewelry in the box, and for a moment she actually had some vicious thoughts, if only Concubine Ning Shu was also like this, she would be able to give birth but not raise herself, and if something serious happened before or during childbirth.

Otherwise, when the queen passes away, if she gives birth to a prince, and the emperor dotes on her so much, then wouldn't the position of queen be hers?

Realizing what he was thinking, Zhou Cairen was a little scared of his dark thoughts.

She slammed the lid shut, almost pinching her hand, and silently said in her heart, "What a sin."

--

For the next few days, Emperor Yongjia did not come to the harem. A few days later, the first name turned over was Concubine Zhou.

However, after serving for only one day, he gave up again. But no matter what, it did make Zhou Cairen's life a lot better.

I don’t know if it’s because the end of the year is approaching, but Emperor Yongjia has been following the principle of treating everyone equally. In the past half month, after Concubine Zhou, he has also appointed Qin Huaijin to serve him.

This equal treatment indeed made those people in the Shanggong Bureau rush to give more benefits to the women in the harem who were usually not favored, such as food and charcoal fire for the winter.

Qin Huaijin hadn't seen Emperor Yongjia for at least a month, and it was like the long-dry earth coming back to life after a gentle rain.

Since Qin Huaijin learned about the whereabouts of Emperor Yongjia from the Empress Dowager Dong, he loved to stroll around the palace garden whenever he had time.

The Empress Dowager Dong said that when Emperor Yongjia stayed in the study for a long time, he would come out and walk around, and he was not a lazy person.

Qin Huaijin also noticed this. She also heard that even if Emperor Yongjia had to attend court early in the morning, he would get up early and practice boxing.

No wonder. Qin Huaijin blushed a little. No wonder the emperor looked so majestic and heroic.

When she was a girl, she had seen men's bodies when she went out.

Those shirtless men working on the streets, as well as her brothers and elders at home, she only thought that these men were ugly. Some were too strong like bears, some were skinny, and some had bigger bellies than pregnant women.

I have never seen a body like Emperor Yongjia's, neither too fat nor too thin, everything is just right.

My mother often said that men with broad faces and fat on their bodies were good, because they had to have money at home to afford such a body.

But Qin Huaijin felt that was not entirely true, especially after seeing Emperor Yongjia, he felt how ugly those people's bodies were, and there was an indescribable stench.

Although there is still no vitality in the garden at this time of year, the branches are already full of plum blossoms, and in less than a month it will be New Year's Eve.

"Talented lady, look at how beautiful the plum blossoms are. When I return to the palace from Famen Temple in a few days, if the plum blossoms are still in bloom, I will pick some and put them in my house for the New Year." Chuntao knew that Qin Huaijin had not waited for Emperor Yongjia for a few days and was in a bad mood, so she said, "Look, there are still peach trees over there. When the weather gets warmer in a while, the peach blossoms will bloom one after another."

Qin Huaijin looked around and did not answer Chuntao's words. He just wanted to "accidentally meet" Emperor Yongjia here.

After a few days, all the concubines in the palace would go to Famen Temple with Emperor Yongjia to offer sacrifices.

At the end of every year, the court has this tradition of praying for good weather, peace and prosperity in the coming year, which is a major national event.

It would take two or three days to stay at Famen Temple. This time, Qin Huaijin and Qin Liuse were both on the list of accompanying persons.

As a result, what he expected did not come true. Speak of the devil and he appeared. Qin Huaijin turned a corner and did not see Emperor Yongjia, but saw Qin Liuse, the person he least wanted to see.

Chuntao just said that peach blossoms will bloom in a while, and the plum blossoms are light in color. The garden is very deserted now, but for some reason, when Qin Liuse came towards him, the first thought that came to Qin Huaijin's mind was: peach blossom spirit.

She wasn't wearing anything brightly coloured, but her rosy face made people's attention flickering.

Qin Huaijin was angry about his blindness, and his expression was not good at all when he looked at Qin Liuse.

Qin Liuse was just passing by and had no intention of paying attention to her, so he just walked straight past her.

Qin Huaijin didn't wait for a "sister" and turned around and scolded her from behind with gritted teeth, "Are you blind? Why don't you say hello when you see people?"

Qin Liuse paused, stood still, turned around and looked at Qin Huaijin speechlessly, "It's so cold, what did you eat to make you so angry?"

Qin Liuse took two steps forward and walked in front of Qin Huaijin. Because she was half a head taller than Qin Huaijin, and since the last fight, Qin Liuse didn't want to maintain superficial harmony with someone who wanted to harm her.

Standing like this, Qin Huaijin actually felt a little embarrassed that he was inferior to others.

Qin Liuse said leisurely: "Sister, are you talking to me about etiquette?"

"Say hello? Didn't I tell you last time? Why don't you remember?"

Qin Liuse looked down at Qin Huaijin's eyes and said with a smile, "I will say it again today. It is you who should salute me, not me who should greet you. I don't care about you, why are you blaming me back?"

Although Qin Huaijin's momentum was a little weak, his mentality was not weak. Looking at Qin Liuse like this, he just felt that she was showing off.

She said angrily: "You were the one who set me up during that time."

Although Qin Huaijin had no evidence, he had been thinking about it for some time and there was no other possibility except this one.

During this period, Qin Huaijin became angry as he saw Qin Liuse becoming increasingly favored by Emperor Yongjia. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his guess was correct.

Her dates were so accurate, how could it be possible that they would come early? It must be that bowl of medicine, or some other reason that she didn't know about.

Although the emperor summoned her to sleep with him again later, Qin Huaijin always felt that it was different from before. Before Qin Liuse slept with him, she was obviously very popular.

But now, there are fewer and fewer of them, forcing her to run to the Empress Dowager Dong's palace from time to time to find a solution.

No one can vent their anger, so even if this matter is unfounded, it has to be forced upon Qin Liuse.

Qin Liuse naturally would not admit it. Even if the evidence was right in front of him, he would still try to make excuses, let alone something so groundless.

She smiled brightly: "Sister, have you been cooped up in the house for too long? You should go out for a walk more often. Otherwise, your brain will be damaged."

Qin Huaijin gritted his teeth and said, "There's no one else here, why are you pretending to be so arrogant in front of me? Don't I know what kind of person you are?"

Qin Liuse laughed out of anger. Qin Huaijin was obviously the instigator, but he knew how to throw dirty water on others better than anyone else.

Qin Liuse didn't want to say a few more words to her, "Sister is confused, who said there is no one else here, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Qin Huaijin was about to get angry, but Qin Liuse turned his head and looked diagonally behind him, and immediately his mouth seemed to be sealed.

But it wasn't that someone else blocked her mouth, but she closed her mouth tightly before she could make a sound.

Because she saw Emperor Yongjia walk into the garden.

Unfortunately, Wei Lanxin was following him.

Although they were all Empress Dowager Dong's people, Qin Huaijin's anger, which had not yet subsided, began to rise again.

This place is far away from the entrance of the garden and is blocked by the branches of the rockery. People over there didn't notice this place. Because Wei Lanxin was there, Qin Huaijin also gave up the idea of ​​"encountering by chance" in the past.

Qin Liuse and Qin Huaijin had a rare moment of tacit understanding and neither of them made a sound to disturb the other.

He just watched silently as Emperor Yongjia and Wei Lanxin and their entourage walked in.

Looking through the gaps between the rockery and tree branches, I saw Emperor Yongjia and Wei Lanxin walking towards me.

Wei Lanxin's smile was sweeter than that of a flower. She jumped and danced beside Emperor Yongjia, but she was very polite. She jumped but kept a distance of two people between them.

Qin Huaijin gritted his teeth and pinched his hands, while Qin Liuse was curious. He realized that the feeling of watching secretly was so exciting. No wonder there were so many thieves.

"Pretending!" Qin Huaijin cursed inwardly.

In the blink of an eye, perhaps she was tripped, or the road was uneven, or it was slippery on a snowy day. In short, Wei Lanxin lost her balance and rushed straight towards Emperor Yongjia.

Qin Liuse secretly sighed in her heart that this girl was really brave. What would happen if she fell down? The ground was cold and hard, and there were many broken branches. It would be terrible if she got disfigured. In addition, it was human instinct that made Emperor Yongjia lend a helping hand.

If she had physical contact with Emperor Yongjia, it would give him even more reason to sleep with her.

Seeing Wei Lanxin stretching out her hands as if she was going to pounce on Emperor Yongjia, Qin Huaijin was so angry that his teeth were about to break, and he cursed in his heart: That bitch, she is so shameless.

Who would have thought that Zhu Wanxi, who had been walking two steps back between the two of them, was very agile. He stepped forward and used himself as a cushion under Wei Lanxin. Even from a distance, one could hear him exclaim, "Miss Wei, be careful!"