Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Seeing that Qingzhi really didn't care whether she was the only one favored and wasn't jealous about it, Zhang Jingyi no longer wanted to gossip about it.

Even if Princess Dayan really entered the Eastern Palace, she would probably only be favored a few times and then live as a widow, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

So, Zhang Jingyi turned to talk to Ye Qingzhi about palace affairs.

“In the past, eunuchs did not want to leave the palace, as they felt there was no way out. But since the royal manor was opened, the eunuchs who were released from the palace found that their lives were much more comfortable than in the palace.

When this news reached the palace, it inevitably made some people feel uneasy, and many of them regretted it and hoped that there would be a quota for the next batch to be released from the palace.

This is true for eunuchs, and even more so for palace maids. After leaving the palace, they can get married, have good social status, have the opportunity to work in an estate, and have money and respect, which is better than staying in the palace as a head aunt.

This now results in the palace maids and eunuchs not doing their jobs properly, doing their work perfunctorily, trying to find ways to take advantage of loopholes and make small mistakes in the hope of being released from the palace.

Qingzhi, I think the conditions for being released from the palace need to be changed. If this continues, there will definitely be a big mess in the palace."

"The Crown Princess is right. Changes are indeed necessary." Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.

"This is simple. First, we need to make the palace's promotion path more transparent. Second, we need to improve the palace's welfare benefits accordingly. In addition to the monthly salary, we can also increase the number of family leave and the number of times they can go out of the palace for fresh air.

Second, after leaving the palace, those who want to enter the manor must be eunuchs and palace maids who have passed the daily assessments.

Third, those who refuse to change their ways despite repeated admonitions and who commit more than a certain number of minor mistakes will not be given any compensation when they are released from the palace, and they will not receive any welfare benefits.

Subsequent corresponding rules can be supplemented and adjusted at any time.

Because managing a harem is not about controlling what certain people think. Don't think that you can make them become active by using a few nice words or torture.

Princess, you need to control the general direction. You need to set the goals first, determine how the work processes should go, how to improve efficiency, and reduce expenses. At the same time, you need to formulate corresponding rules and the corresponding incentive and reward system.

The people below want to gain benefits and avoid punishment, so they will naturally follow the rules you designed, and you will achieve the results you want. "

Zhang Jingyi nodded with bright eyes and asked Madam Zhou to bring her a pen and paper so that she could write it down and think about it slowly.

At this moment, a palace maid came hurriedly to report,

"Crown Princess, something happened in the Imperial Garden. Concubine Rou and Concubine De had a conflict. They started fighting by pulling each other's hair!"

"They were pulling each other's hair and fighting?!" Zhang Jingyi frowned immediately, somewhat incredulous.

To be honest, these concubines in the harem have actually entered retirement mode and no longer need to compete for favor, because the emperor is old and a workaholic and does not give them any chance to compete for favor.

Although the past grudges are all piled up in people's hearts, everyone still has to save face, so when they meet, they will just say a few words.

If they are going to take action, they will do it underhandedly, making you take the blame or making you feel unwell. They won't openly pull your hair like a shrew.

But it happened today!

Ye Qingzhi had an expression of watching a show while eating melons. She picked up a piece of dessert and asked with interest,

"How did the fight happen? Do you know what happened? Please tell me in detail."

The palace maid who came to report the news immediately said respectfully to Ye Qingzhi,

"My concubine, I know roughly what happened. This is what happened.

Concubine Rou and Concubine De met in the Imperial Garden, and they sat in the pavilion and talked. I don’t know what they talked about exactly.

Later, I found out something about Prince Duan and the Sixth Prince. I don't know what De Zhaoyi said that made Concubine Rou angry, so she slapped De Zhaoyi in the face.

De Zhaoyi immediately returned it and slapped Concubine Rou twice..."

"Wow, this De Zhaoyi is relying on the recent power of Prince Duan and the emperor's favor, and she doesn't suffer any loss at all, and she doesn't even take Concubine Rou seriously."

Ye Qingzhi commented with great interest.

"You and the Crown Prince promoted Prince Duan. Consort De is too impatient. Prince Duan has just made some achievements, but she has become arrogant and domineering. She is not afraid of implicating Prince Duan and causing the Emperor to dislike her."

Zhang Jingyi frowned slightly. She was very displeased with De Zhaoyi. She thought she was too naive. However, she felt that Concubine Rou also had problems.

"Rou Fei has always had a good temper and rarely had conflicts with others. Why did she start a fight today? She should know that Prince Duan is enjoying a good time recently, so why did she have to provoke De Zhaoyi?"

"De Zhaoyi was demoted from a concubine to a Zhaoyi, and she was very angry. But seeing her son, a prodigal son, transform into a pillar of the country, she couldn't hold back this feeling of satisfaction. When she saw Concubine Rou, she had to show off to her.

They have been competing with each other for their entire lives. When they were young, they competed for the emperor's favor. Now that they are old, they no longer have the favor, so of course they have to compete with their sons to see whose son is more capable.

Although I have not met Concubine Rou's son, the Sixth Prince, I heard that he is not very smart and doesn't talk much. There are many people who say behind his back that the Sixth Prince is a fool.

"Princess Concubine, think about it yourself. Your enemy's son is in power, and your son is invisible and is called a fool. The other party is still sarcastic and showing off in front of you. Do you want to slap her?"

Zhang Jingyi was speechless. She not only wanted to slap her, she wanted to kill her!

De Zhaoyi asked for the beating.

Concubine Rou was one level higher than her. If Concubine De had endured the beating, then today's incident could have been covered up.

However, De Zhaoyi was formerly De Fei and the leader of the Four Concubines, so she had that ambition.

Her son had turned the tables again, and she might be able to use his influence to become Consort De again, so she couldn't just swallow this humiliation.

So, Defei fought back and slapped him twice in a domineering manner.

"Please continue and tell me what happened next?" Ye Qingzhi asked the palace maid.

"Replying to Concubine, Concubine Rou was beaten, so she was naturally furious. She asked all the eunuchs around her to grab Concubine De and beat her up.

De Zhaoyi immediately shouted, "Let's see who dares to take action." For a moment, except for Concubine Rou's two confidants who took action, the rest did not move.

The two confidants were quickly subdued by the four eunuchs on De Zhaoyi's side.

Concubine Rou was furious. De Zhaoyi had the upper hand and said something that Concubine Rou didn't like. Concubine Rou lost her mind and started fighting with De Zhaoyi herself..."

"You told the story well and it's very vivid. Here's a reward for you." Ye Qingzhi was enjoying the melon very much. She took off the bracelet on her wrist and was about to give it to the palace maid as a reward.

"This bracelet is too valuable. It was given to you by the prince. If you give it to her, you will bring disaster upon her. Madam Zhou, give her ten taels of silver."

Zhang Jingyi gently pressed Ye Qingzhi's hand, turned around and gave instructions to Nanny Zhou.

"I didn't think it through. Thank you, Princess, for your advice."

Ye Qingzhi looked at the bracelet carefully, but still couldn't remember when the prince gave it to her, but she still took it back obediently.

The palace maid took the silver, kowtowed and thanked the master profusely, then left.

"The reason I remember this bracelet is that it was sent to me by someone below. I looked at it first and they said it would be more suitable for you, so the prince sent it to you."

Zhang Jingyi knew that she didn't care about these small details. After the palace maids left, she smiled and explained to Ye Qingzhi again.

"Your Highness has good taste. Look, it really looks good on me." Ye Qingzhi immediately said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhang Jingyi smiled and did not mention the bracelet anymore. Instead, she said,

"The Emperor is receiving the envoys from Dayan. I'm going to check out Concubine Rou and Concubine De Zhaoyi. Do you want to join us to see what's going on?"