The Virtuous Concubine

These were young girls that Cao Yin and Li Xu had gathered from all over the place, of varying ages.

Apart from their miserable family backgrounds, another thing they have in common is that they are all extremely beautiful.

Cao Yin and Li Xu used the excuse that they were distant relatives and detained these girls in the Cao and Li families, where they learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting every day. They were raised like delicate young ladies, but secretly taught them to follow the rules of thin horses.

When one grows up and has mastered the skills, giving it to others is the best gift.

The most outstanding one among them was a little girl named Wang. According to age, Wang was the seventeenth among the girls, and everyone called her Seventeenth Lady.

Originally, these girls changed their surnames after entering the Cao and Li families. Only Shiqi Niang was different. She relied on her beauty, intelligence, and extraordinary memory to remember her parents' surnames and refused to change it.

Cao Yin actually agreed to her!

After all, such a good seedling is extraordinary and hard to find. Li naturally disliked Cao Yin the most because of her uniqueness.

According to her, having fallen to this point, why should she still be proud? A few lashes would cure all the problems.

What can a woman who is destined to be played with by others do?

Even her own son Cao Yong and adopted son Cao Fu often quarreled for her attention. She was often attentive to her and even contradicted her mother for her.

Thinking of this, Li felt even more heartbroken. Her son! Just gone like that!

Nothing happened to these sluts, but their son is gone.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She didn't consider that these girls were young, well-behaved, and clever. They also had the title of young lady, and they didn't have the ignorant arrogance of her son, or the harm of those with ulterior motives.

Although Li was the mistress, she did not dare to do anything to these girls. With the Cao family in this state, they still expected them to serve the dignitaries well and help the Cao family.

Li had no choice but to keep the matter between them and the bracelet in her heart and return to wait for her husband to discuss it.

She suppressed her grief and anger and returned to her room. She sat on the bed, thinking about many things, and her son's past kept appearing in her mind.

After a while, Cao Yin, who had been running around begging for mercy, came back.

Li hurried over and said with tears in her eyes, "Husband, I found something today and I thought I needed to tell you."

Then she told Cao Yin everything about the missing bracelet.

Cao Yin was also shocked: "How could this bracelet be lost? I will go to ask my mother later."

Li nodded: "It should be so. Another thing... is the maids in Qimengxuan. My husband also knows the current situation at home. It is not suitable to keep such a group of ostentatious maids."

Cao Yin also knew that what his wife said was right, but he still felt a little sorry for the money and energy he spent on these girls: "Then what do you think?"

Li deliberately hesitated for a long time before saying, "My husband, I think we should dismiss these maids first. Just give them some money to send them off. We need to be careful with our expenses now, and we can't be as extravagant as before."

Cao Yin frowned and said hesitantly, "Wouldn't it be inappropriate to do this? After all, those maids have been in the mansion for such a long time. If they are suddenly dismissed, it might cause some gossip."

As he spoke, he thought of an idea: "Why not send it to your brother's house? He is quite smart and shrank back early, so nothing will happen."

This brother refers to Li’s cousin Li Xu.

Li felt sad, but he also understood that what Cao Yin said made sense and he couldn't waste it like this.

It would be better to send her to my brother's house, so that I can out of sight and out of mind, and let my cousin's wife worry about these restless sluts!

She could only nod and said, "Okay, husband, I'll do as you say. I'll contact my cousin and his wife right away."

Cao Yin sighed and said to Li: "Tell your brother to take good care of these girls and don't mistreat them."

Li naturally agreed to all of them. After Cao Yin decided on this matter, he turned around and went to his biological mother Sun to ask about the bracelet.

He arrived at Sun's residence and saw that Sun had just woken up and was asking the maid to cook a bowl of bird's nest to warm her stomach.

Otherwise, why do they say that a broken ship still has 3,000 nails? Even in this situation, Madam Fengsheng still uses bird's nest to warm her stomach.

Cao Yin coughed lightly, walked forward and said respectfully: "Mother, there is something I want to ask you. Xiuniang told me that she saw your purple jade bracelet missing. Do you know?"

Sun's face suddenly turned cold: "You are such a good daughter-in-law, you don't worry about the family affairs, but you keep staring at me to see what's missing or what's missing from me!"

She knew that this Li was not a good person. She was always eyeing the little money in her pocket and repeatedly asked her for things in the name of Yong Ge'er. Today, she even coveted the bracelet given to her by the emperor!

When Cao Yin heard his mother was angry, he quickly explained: "Mother, you misunderstood. Xiuniang never meant that. It's just that the bracelet is of great significance. She was just worried that you might have lost it by accident, so she asked me to ask."

Sun was still somewhat unhappy, and said with a frown, "Give it to the Fourth Prince."

Cao Yin was shocked: "What kind of person is the Fourth Prince? What's the use of giving him such a good thing? Didn't mother go to the emperor to plead for mercy today?"

Sun felt that her son was as stupid as a pig. "In this situation, the Cao family needs to find a reliable support. The emperor only said a few words of comfort. The fourth prince is thoughtful and capable. Giving the bracelet to him means that our Cao family is surrendering to him. Remember this."

Sun's tone was full of warning.

Cao Yin naturally understood what his mother meant, and he also believed in her - thanks to her advice, he had a good relationship with the emperor, and he thought that this time, his mother's judgment would not be wrong.

But he was still a little hesitant. With the Crown Prince and the Eldest Prince in front of him, was it really necessary to bet on the Fourth Prince?

Cao Yin couldn't help but ask, "Mother, I understand. But is this Fourth Prince really worthy of our Cao family's trust?"

Seeing that he still didn't believe it, Sun told Cao Yin in detail what had happened today and what they had planned.

After hearing this, Cao Yin couldn't help but sigh: "My mother has a keen eye."

Seeing her son being taught, Sun felt a little better. "Yin'er, although the crown prince is of a high status, he will lose the emperor's favor sooner or later because of his erratic behavior. The eldest prince is ambitious, but too eager for quick success. He has been imprisoned until now and has not been released. It seems that he will not achieve great things."

"Only the Fourth Prince is thoughtful and steady, and he has the continued favor of Concubine De in the harem, as well as the help of Xiangrui's younger brother. Concubine De is pregnant with another child... Even if he doesn't win the battle for the throne, the next emperor can only take better care of the Yonghe Palace lineage."