The most beautiful lady in the harem

Now that the late queen and Concubine Dong are both gone, the harem is left without a master.

Because Concubine Ning Shu was pregnant and could not get close to these funeral affairs, Emperor Yongjia asked Concubine Xiao De to take care of the details of Concubine Dong Xian's funeral, and asked Li Chongyuan, who had handled the affairs before, to help her.

The two Empress Dowagers, the East and the West, were both high-ranking officials and would not intervene in this matter.

Despite his busy schedule, Emperor Yongjia took time out to visit his two mothers' palaces and personally talk to them about the matter of Concubine Dong.

When they arrived at the Empress Dowager Cixi's palace, the mother and son talked over a cup of tea and explained the whole matter.

There really isn't much to say. After much guessing, Emperor Yongjia could guess in his heart who was behind this.

But this matter is not good at all. First of all, there is no evidence. Secondly, that person is in a high position, the empress dowager of a country. Even if she kills people and breaks the law, Emperor Yongjia can do nothing to her.

It’s not that I don’t dare to touch her, but that I can’t touch her.

Not for his own sake, but for the sake of the royal family's reputation, this matter had to be covered up.

Of course, Emperor Yongjia was not someone who could be bullied. He had his own plans for the restless person in the Cining Palace.

Although the Empress Dowager Cixi was not close to Emperor Yongjia, she was his biological son after all, so she could say many things that were difficult to say to the Empress Dowager Dong.

The mother and son were the only two people left in the palace. The Empress Dowager sighed and said, "The one in the east is almost twenty years younger than me. When your father was old, he spoiled her in every way and made her this kind of person. Sigh..."

"This is a matter of royal dignity, so we should keep it low-key if possible, but I don't know when it will end."

Emperor Yongjia listened to the Empress Dowager's sigh and smiled faintly, "Mother, don't worry. I'm not afraid of her tossing and turning. I'm afraid she'll be secretly holding it in."

This is indeed the case. The influence of Empress Dowager Dong's harem is greater than that of Emperor Yongjia. Emperor Yongjia is not afraid of her showing her power. If she shows a little, he can eradicate her completely.

The Empress Dowager Dong had been in power in the harem for more than 30 years. When Emperor Yongjia came of age, he left the palace, married and established a royal palace. Even though he grew up in the harem as a child, he was rootless and helpless at that time, and the power of the harem was naturally not comparable to that of her.

The Empress Dowager Cixi also knew this. Her son had been on the throne for less than a year, and the emperor had changed. The harem was served by the same old people, so it naturally took her a lot of effort to keep the harem under her control.

Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager Cixi felt a little sorry for her son. He had a lot of things to deal with in the previous dynasty, and now he had to worry about the affairs of the women in the harem.

"Oh, right." The Empress Dowager asked, "You must have seen the young lady Wei who stayed in the palace. But, in my opinion, she really looks like the young Empress Dowager."

After all, the mother and son did not spend much time together, and Emperor Yongjia did not grow up with her, so he still spoke with some unfamiliarity.

For example, in this matter, the Empress Dowager Cixi did not ask directly, but tried to test her in a roundabout way.

Emperor Yongjia was much more straightforward. He understood that the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to ask him whether he wanted to marry Wei Lanxin. "Mother, you know that the women in the harem are just for me to expand the royal family. As long as she is a complete woman with clean hands and feet, what other differences are there?"

"It's not impossible if you want to. When I look at her, I will think of the late queen." The Empress Dowager sighed.

When the late queen entered the palace, although she was not in good health, she was frail and fragile. She did not have the vigor and grace of Wei Lanxin at all, but was deeply devoted to her son.

Later, the late queen tried hard to give birth to a son for the Ninth Prince, and she did well enough to give birth to a son. However, her health deteriorated rapidly after that.

At that time, Xiao Yan also advised her not to have children, saying that she should let her concubine give birth to a child and bring it to her to raise.

But the former queen was only weak in body, but she had a very independent character, otherwise she would not have gone against her family's wishes and married the unpopular Ninth Prince.

Xiao Yan had someone give her contraceptive soup to drink after every sexual intercourse, but the Ninth Princess secretly asked someone to change the soup, and she got pregnant.

Since she was already pregnant, having an abortion would be even more harmful to her body. Xiao Yan had no choice but to let her give birth to the child.

Emperor Yongjia laughed and said, "I know what he is thinking. He wants to annoy me for the rest of my life by finding someone like him."

Although Emperor Yongjia said that the person he wanted to have children with could be a woman, she had to be someone he could trust.

When the Empress Dowager Cixi heard Emperor Yongjia change the subject, she knew that he had his own plans and did not ask any more questions.

But he also had a clue in his mind that the plan of the man in the Cining Palace might not work.

Speaking of which, the Empress Dowager Dong did not understand Emperor Yongjia. She thought that all men were like this. They could be like you, they could be reminded of you by seeing things, and naturally they could be reminded of people by seeing people. She thought that her move was a sure thing to work.

Little did they know that although Xiao Yan was a hot-tempered man, not every woman could fool him.

The Empress Dowager Dong thought that since Emperor Yongjia had lost his late empress, he would definitely think of this young couple.

As for men, who doesn't like to pick flowers more and more as they get older? The fresher and more tender the better. It would be best if the flowers can make them feel like they are back in their youth and make up for the regrets of their youth.

The Queen Mother Dong believed that it was their regret that the Ninth Princess was not in good health when she was young.

The Empress Dowager Dong is really judging others by her own standards. The late emperor was the same.

Even though he is over fifty, he still chooses young girls like her to prove that he is not old and can regain his vigor.

But Emperor Yongjia was different from his father after all. He and the late empress were married, and it was true that he supported the late empress and entered the palace.

But their marriage was the will of the late emperor. In folk parlance, it was the will of the parents and the matchmaker.

Treating each other with respect and treating each other with dignity can be used to describe the relationship between him and the late empress. Therefore, Emperor Yongjia respected his first wife in his heart.

Naturally, he would not use the method of Wanwan Leiqing, leaving a body by his side to miss his old friends.

In fact, no matter what, it is because Emperor Yongjia is not like his predecessor who likes to be outshined by the beauty of others and wants to regain his youth.

He is not like a hot-blooded and impulsive young man who has ever placed a girl at the top of his heart.

If there really is a girl he must have, and she is the only one who would be gone long ago, then maybe Wanwan Leiqing's trick would work, and the Queen Mother Dong's move would work.

Emperor Yongjia had never met such a woman in his entire life, so in his eyes, as long as the women in the harem were content to do their duty and have many children, that was enough.

The Empress Dowager Cixi took a sip of tea and sighed in her heart that she and her son were not close enough, but there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't protect him before, nor could she keep him by her side. Now that she could inherit the great responsibility and become the Empress Dowager, it was a blessing from God.

On the other hand, he was secretly proud of his son's foresight. It would be bad for a king if everything he did was seen through by others. How could he be the ruler of a country if he did that?

If you give up something, you will gain something. Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager Cixi did not ask any further questions. Saying too much would have the opposite effect. She just wanted to know that he had a chance of success.

"There are indeed fewer concubines in the harem now." The Empress Dowager Cixi changed the subject and said, "As for the concubines, after the funeral of Concubine Xian is over, they can enter the palace."

The Empress Dowager Cixi did not think that her son had too few women just because she was a mother. Compared with the emperors of the previous dynasties, Emperor Yongjia really did not have many women.

The previous emperor and the ancestors of the previous dynasty all had harems filled with women, but Emperor Yongjia had only been on the throne for a year and the harem was not yet full.

Most of them were elderly people brought in from the royal palace. After he ascended the throne, he only selected concubines once, but he took in more than a dozen concubines, which was not a lot.

The emperors of previous dynasties would even take beautiful maids as their own, but Emperor Yongjia had been on the throne for so long, and the Empress Dowager Cixi had never heard of him using any palace maid except Zhang Baolin, who was presented to the emperor by his master.

Emperor Yongjia turned the beads in his hand and said, "It's almost time. After the funeral of Concubine Xian is settled, she will enter the palace."

"That's great." The Empress Dowager nodded and reminded, "The one who served you in the Northwest Garden before should come back now."

When Emperor Yongjia was in his twenties, he was sent to garrison in the northwest by the previous emperor. At that time, the Ninth Princess had just given birth and did not go with him. Instead, he selected several concubines from the palace to serve her.

When he got there, local officials presented him with singing girls and dancers.

At that time, the Ninth Prince was still weak and in a dormant stage. Because he often traveled between the two places for official business, the women did not follow him back and forth. There were women serving him in both mansions.

Later, the previous emperor passed away, and the Ninth Prince returned to ascend the throne. Some concubines came back to attend the coronation ceremony, but some did not come for various reasons.

Although they did not come with her, some of the concubines at that time had already been given titles. In the northwest mansion, there were talented women, beauties, and Zhaoyuan, who was one of the nine concubines.

The Empress Dowager Cixi did not know about those beauties, especially those who were taken in after Emperor Yongjia passed away, but she knew about them from the capital. She only knew that Xin Zhaoyuan

The reason why she did not follow Emperor Yongjia back to ascend the throne was because when the previous emperor passed away, the daughter of the Xin family was about to give birth, so Xiao Yan let her stay there to wait for the birth.

Later, the girl of the Xin family gave birth to a princess. With the ascension of Emperor Yongjia to the throne, the mansion became the emperor's villa, and the girl of the Xin family became Xin Zhaoyuan.

"The little princess is almost one year old now. She can walk long distances and it's time for her to return to the palace," said the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Emperor Yongjia nodded and said, "Mother is right. I will be back in the palace soon. When the time comes, let the princess come to pay her respects to mother."

When people get old, they like to have many children and grandchildren. When the Empress Dowager Cixi heard this, she couldn't stop smiling.

____

Seven days was neither long nor short. It passed in the blink of an eye. The white paper towels were put away, and the harem returned to its original state.

When Concubine Xian was alive, the sisters in the harem would gather in her palace. Now that she is gone and the Queen is gone, they have nowhere to go, so they moved to Concubine Ning Shu's Changxin Palace.

Because there was no master in the harem, they did not have to gather together every time. Those who came were concubines of the rank of talented women or above, but when these people got together, there were about ten of them, and with the servants, the room was full.

As soon as Qin Liuse came in, everyone in the room was looking at her.

"We were just talking about the beauty pageant. I think no matter how young and beautiful the newcomers are, they cannot compare to the status of our Concubine Qin in the emperor's heart." Concubine Xie, who was sitting next to Li Chongyuan, said jokingly.

As she said this, all the women in the room covered their mouths and laughed, but it was hard to tell whether these smiles were a joke or real jealousy.

Qin Liuse smiled, there was nothing she could do, because after seven days, the emperor had called Concubine Dong to sleep with him on the first night.

There were already too many people and too little porridge, and now a new person is coming. Naturally, these people who came to watch the fun were waiting to see Qin Liuse make a fool of himself.