The White-haired Queen

"Take a concubine?" Wen Lanyue was in a state of confusion. What was going on? If you dare to have three wives and four concubines, then we will just say goodbye.

I can accept the fact that children say whatever they want, but I cannot accept the consequences caused by their words. They must be punished or disciplined.

I can accept late marriage and late childbirth or being alone, but I can never accept sharing a husband with someone else.

So she said leisurely: "Since we can't be together for the rest of our lives, it's best not to delay each other. If Your Majesty needs it, I can also host the concubine selection ceremony for you."

Ever since the marriage decree became the empress decree, Gu Changfeng would get irritated and speak without restraint whenever Wen Lanyue or the marriage was mentioned, so he explained: "That's not what I meant, and I have no other thoughts. Hey! What did I say?"

Wen Lanyue pretended to have a headache and said, "I was injured a few days ago, and now my headache is coming back..."

Gu Changfeng said anxiously: "The soul-restoring pill I gave you has the effect of bringing the dead back to life and cleansing the tendons and marrow. Logically speaking, your headache should be fine. Let's call the imperial physician to take a look."

Wen Lanyue said hurriedly: "Maybe he just recovered and his body is weak. He will be fine after a rest."

Gu Changfeng thought it made sense and said, "Then I will not disturb you any more. I will take my leave first and we can discuss our affairs later."

Wen Lanyue held his forehead and said, "Okay, we'll discuss it later."

When Gu Changfeng withdrew, Wen Lanyue summoned Hong He and found out what had happened.

Since the emperor of Wenjing Kingdom and the emperor of Shangxie Kingdom were sworn brothers and often got together, the two sworn brothers arranged a marriage between Wen Lanyue and Gu Changfeng in order to strengthen the relationship.

After Emperor Wen Jing committed suicide by immolation, Emperor Shang Xie arranged for Gu Changfeng to take care of Wen Lanyue and her daughter, so the two met when they were young.

We can’t say that they grew up together as childhood sweethearts, but we understand each other tacitly and can be considered to be people who recognize each other.

The Emperor of Shangxie agreed to let Wen Lanyue be a female official, firstly for the sake of the country, and secondly for the two of them to get to know each other better and cultivate and enhance their feelings. Only in this way can she be worthy of her sworn brother, the Emperor of Wenjing, and help him save the country.

On the throne, the emperor of Shangxie Kingdom originally wanted Gu Changfeng to inherit the throne, but everyone in the court demanded that the young prince take the throne, so the current situation became possible.

Although the national power transitioned smoothly, Shangxie State was still facing internal and external troubles. The agricultural society developed slowly, and there were constant frictions in various places. The young emperor also took on a hot potato.

Hearing this, Wen Lanyue thought: If we use modern advanced industrial civilization to fight against agricultural society, this kind of dimensionality reduction attack will surely be able to capture everything. Although his thoughts are of a certain height, he is definitely a dwarf in action.

It seems that we should concentrate on our work and strive to develop the economy so that we can escape from this suffering as soon as possible.

If you do everything yourself and don't train successors, then even a capable person like Zhuge Liang will not be able to help A Dou!

Thinking of this, Wen Lanyue asked Honghe and Bilian to introduce the situation in the harem to her. Since she wanted to be a hands-off boss, she would start with managing the harem.

Hong He started talking again, "There are two queens dowagers in the harem, one is you, the Eastern Queen Dowager, and the other is the old emperor's first wife, the Western Queen Dowager. She is the young emperor's biological mother. She was born in a peasant family, kind and honest, with a simple mind, without so many twists and turns. She lives in Antai Palace. Usually, she enjoys flowers and grows vegetables in her own palace, and also raises some chickens and ducks. She is the most committed to your frugal system."

"In addition to the two queen dowagers, there are four first-rank concubines in the palace, Concubine Zhang, Concubine Pang, Concubine Wang, and Concubine Li. In addition to these four concubines, there are 32 other concubines. Including the two queen dowagers, there are a total of 38 masters in the harem."

Wen Lanyue thought that the late emperor actually married thirty-eight wives. However, compared with the "three thousand beauties in the harem" written in the book, it was already a small number.

If the rich and powerful have three wives and four concubines, wouldn't there be many bachelors among the common people? It seems that we should practice "monogamy" when we have the chance.

Wen Lanyue asked: "How many palace maids and eunuchs are there in the harem?"

Hong He said, "I don't know about this. You should ask the eunuch and nanny in charge for details."

Bilian added: "This is a dynamic situation. Eunuchs and palace maids have low status. They can be sold at any time. Sometimes the maids of the palace masters will be sent in by their families. It is estimated that there are more than 200 of them."

Wen Lanyue nodded, thinking: Three women make a play. The Empress Dowager Cixi doesn't care about things, so she was asked to take charge. The other 36 women plus more than 200 eunuchs and palace maids can form many troupes and perform countless plays. No wonder there are so many palace fighting dramas.

Hong He went on to say, "Among them, Imperial Concubine Zhang is the most domineering. She is the younger sister of Prime Minister Zhang Jinlin. Since she was born into a good family and has the support of her brother, the Prime Minister, she lives a life of luxury. She is also unruly and willful. When she made a mistake in the past, she was favored by the late emperor and protected by her brother, the Prime Minister. She enjoys everyone's favoritism, but objectively speaking, she is the most capable and has the most power to lead the harem."

"When the late emperor was alive, she managed the harem for a while. She handled matters that had nothing to do with her in an orderly manner, but she handled matters that concerned her based on her likes and dislikes or interests. If her head nanny hadn't gotten into trouble, she would still be in charge of the harem."

Wen Lanyue frowned and asked, "What happened to her head nanny?"

Hong He looked at Wen Lanyue and thought: It seems that the Queen Mother really forgot about it. She said: "This matter was handled by you personally when you were a female official. Because you had an affair with a eunuch, you were finally charged with the crime of 'causing chaos in the palace', and you were punished with 20 strokes of the cane and sent to the Ye Ting Palace. At the same time, you proposed to the late emperor that Concubine Zhang was incompetent in disciplining her children, and took her Phoenix Seal."

Wen Lanyue thought: It is understandable that a person feels lonely and wants to find someone to keep him company. However, in this dynasty, considering the education the original owner received, this might be a crime that is unforgivable and therefore it is understandable that this is the way to deal with it.

Wen Lanyue couldn't help but look at Bilian and asked, "As a female official, am I in charge of the harem?"

Bilian said: "The emperor of Shangxie Kingdom has specially allowed you to participate in the affairs of the court and the trivial matters of the harem."

Hong He interrupted and said, "In my opinion, the emperor of Shangxie Kingdom always asks for your opinion and lets you handle things that bother him."

Bilian couldn't help but shout, "Honghe, the late emperor was training a young lady." Then she changed the subject and continued, "The ladies in the harem all wanted to be 'one of the best', but the royal family wanted 'a garden full of beauty'. Later, the late emperor was ill, and it was inevitable that the ladies would have some undercurrents."

Wen Lanyue then asked: "Who took care of the Phoenix Seal later?"

Bilian said: "The Empress Dowager Cixi was in charge for a period of time, but she was unable to control the other concubines. She repeatedly requested the emperor to hand over the Phoenix Seal, but was unsuccessful. Later, the emperor fell ill and issued an edict to make you the empress, and the Empress Dowager Cixi handed over the Phoenix Seal as she wished."