Professional Ethics of a Concubine

The Fifth Prince was stunned when his mother questioned him like this.

These two powerful people are both old nobles of the Gulan Kingdom. They hold a large amount of silver and money resources in their hands, and are also the targets he is trying hard to win over.

There was a fight between the sons of two powerful families. If he dealt with it, he could win over one of them to work for him. Isn't that important?

This is how he accumulates power to seize the throne.

However, he could not speak these thoughts openly. After all, the person in front of him was not only his mother, but also the emperor.

The fifth prince explained with a grumble, trying to find other excuses to fill in the gaps, but the empress frowned, and the disappointment in her eyes became even stronger. After listening to a few words, she interrupted him impatiently.

"Don't waste my time on such trivial matters."

The Fifth Prince,

Although the Queen Mother's words were not very hurtful, they were extremely insulting.

The fifth prince was a little defensive.

"This matter is entirely up to you. You can decide on how to punish or appease them," the empress continued.

"...Your son obeys your command." The fifth prince kowtowed.

Although he came to report and also wanted the right to handle the matter, why did he feel so uncomfortable?

Because of my mother's attitude, a faint sense of shame filled my heart.

In addition, there is a strong sense of grievance.

The Fifth Prince knew that his mother was disappointed in him at this moment, but he had not done anything wrong.

The Fifth Prince suppressed all his bad emotions and was about to get up and leave. At this time, several eunuchs came over carrying two large boxes.

The empress put the letter away, then stood up and said to the fifth prince,

"These are all things sent from Da Zhao. They are also the items for future trade between the two countries. Come and take a look."

The Fifth Prince responded, and his frustrated and aggrieved heart felt a little relieved.

The empress walked to the box and the fifth prince followed her. The eunuch had already opened the box, but saw that it was filled with various exquisite boxes. He didn't know which one to take out to show the empress.

The empress didn't need him to take it, she bent down and took the beautiful little box on the top.

When the Fifth Prince saw the various boxes inside, an allusion suddenly popped into his mind: Buying the casket and returning the pearl.

I wonder what kind of treasure is in this exquisite little box, and whether it is worthy of the box.

As the empress opened it, she found a beautiful small ceramic jar inside. It was a painted porcelain, and its exquisiteness made the Fifth Prince's eyes light up.

The exquisite porcelain from the Central Plains has always been sought after and loved by the nobles in the Western Regions because of its scarcity, and the price is indeed expensive.

This porcelain is completely worthy of the exquisite box outside.

Porcelain is fragile, so it is necessary to use exquisite boxes and place various soft linings inside to protect the porcelain during transportation.

The fifth prince thought amusingly that everyone knew the value of porcelain, so no one would do such a stupid thing as buying the box and returning the pearl.

However, something surprising happened next!

The empress took out a beautiful ceramic jar, removed the beeswax on the lid, and saw something snow-white inside.

"What is this?" The fifth prince leaned over and asked curiously.

Isn’t the porcelain jar the most important thing, and the white stuff inside it the real treasure?

The empress knew that it should be sugar or salt. She wanted to dip her finger in it to taste it, but thinking of the safety issue and that this action was not elegant, she ordered the eunuch to get a small spoon.

After a while, the eunuch brought a small spoon and the empress asked him to scoop a little bit to taste it.

This is filled with refined salt. Even a little bit is salty enough that the eunuch's face twisted. He couldn't help but grin and replied,

"Your Majesty, this should be filled with salt. It is very salty, but just salty, without any bitter taste. It is very clean."

"What? Mother, there's salt in this?!" The Fifth Prince was shocked again.

Why isn't salt all lumpy and yellow? Instead, it's so powdery and snow-white.

When the Fifth Prince saw that the eunuch had no problem eating it, out of curiosity he tried it himself.

The salty taste distorted his face, and he drank two cups of tea in a row before the discomfort was finally relieved.

It was only now that the empress discovered that the word "salt" was actually printed on the bottom of the porcelain jar, indicating that it was salt.

The empress raised her eyebrows. Not to mention that this snow-white refined salt is indeed a good thing, even this box and this porcelain are exquisite and precious items.

Using these to hold refined salt can both increase its price and highlight its preciousness.

There are tempting little thoughts everywhere, which completely hit the psychology of those aristocrats who pursue the most expensive, best and most beautiful things.

The fifth prince looked at the beautiful porcelain jar and was in a dilemma.

Although this kind of snow-white refined salt is rare, it is just salt and has no ornamental value at all, but it is placed in such beautiful porcelain.

If it were him, he would definitely pour out the salt, put it into an ordinary pottery jar, and keep this porcelain jar beside him for admiration.

Thinking of this, the Fifth Prince suddenly realized that what he was doing was just buying the casket and returning the pearl!

Oh, the Fifth Prince’s defense is broken again.

-

Afterwards, the empress opened a porcelain jar containing sugar. This time the eunuch tasted it and the sweet taste made him smile happily.

He had never tasted anything so sweet.

"Your Majesty, there should be sugar in it. It's very sweet!" The eunuch's tone became excited.

The fifth prince also tasted it and smiled with satisfaction, "It is indeed very sweet, and the most important thing is that it is as white as snow, which is very rare."

This time, the empress used another small spoon and tasted a little bit of the sugar. She nodded and re-evaluated the value of the sugar.

"Mother, things from the Central Plains, even ordinary things like sugar and salt, are so exquisite!" The Fifth Prince couldn't help but said enviously.

Now that the two countries have established an alliance, he also wants to visit Da Zhao next year to see the customs and culture of Da Zhao, have in-depth exchanges with the royal family of Da Zhao, and strive to gain some support.

Actually, the Crown Prince of Zhao and he are cousins, so their relationship is very close.

"Are you just envious? Don't you want to grab these good things? If our Gulan Kingdom conquers Da Zhao, the sugar and other things will all be ours, and we won't have to exchange them for horses and spices."

The empress looked at the fifth prince and said.

"...Ah?" The fifth prince's eyes widened. He was so shocked that he stuttered.

"Attack, conquer Da Zhao? Mother, Da Zhao does not border us, and its territory is several times larger than ours. Is it too unrealistic for us to conquer Da Zhao?"

"How can you be an emperor if you don't even have the ambition to expand your territory?" The empress looked unhappy and dissatisfied.

The fifth prince knelt down with a plop and defended himself.

"It's not that I don't have ambitions. I just consider the actual situation and don't want to be a fool... No, I'm not saying that what your mother just said is a foolish dream.

I just think we should be down-to-earth. Blind expansion will only waste people's money and even threaten the country's demise."

The empress responded without comment, "You take after your father."

The Fifth Prince,

Why doesn't it feel like a compliment?

The Fifth Prince thought of his weak and cautious father, and was sadly certain that his mother was indeed dissatisfied with him.

However, it is too unrealistic for Gulan Kingdom to destroy Zhao!

Was he wrong?

He is so cautious and thorough, what could be wrong?

-

After the fifth prince left, the empress took out the letter she had not finished reading, and there was only the last page.

Xie Jin finally wrote that on his mother's birthday next year, he would personally come to Gulan to present her with gifts and celebrate her birthday.

The empress immediately calculated that her birthday was in May, which was still seven months away from now. Well, it wasn’t too far away!

Should I make some arrangements to welcome my son's arrival?

The empress summoned the chief steward and gave instructions on the matter.

Chief Steward: “???”

Your Majesty, should we start preparing for your birthday next May?

Isn't it a bit early?

-

The next day, after the morning court session, the empress met with Prime Minister Xue in the imperial study to discuss trade between the two countries.

After the empress finished this matter, she started to have lunch, took a short nap, and then got up to review memorials.

"Your Majesty, do you want to summon the messenger from Da Zhao?" the chief steward reminded.

The empress looked up from the memorial, thought about it, and realized that it was true. She replied, "Well, see you now."

Half an hour later, the messenger was brought before the empress, handed the letter from the Emperor of Great Zhao to her, said a few polite words, and was taken away again.

The empress opened the letter and saw that the Emperor of Great Zhao said in the letter that he felt guilty towards her, letting her endure the pain of pregnancy and childbirth alone and forcing her to be separated from her child, but he knew nothing about this and did not help her.

He still thought about the past between them and said that this love could be reminisced, but it was too late at that time...

The empress blinked, revealing a confused look.

She remembered that when he left, she left a letter telling him that she was using him to escape the marriage, and that they should go their separate ways from now on and he should no longer worry about her, a liar.

Of course she didn't mention that she was pregnant. Her real purpose in using him was to have a child. She was afraid that if she mentioned the child, he would not give up and might even snatch the child away.

So, after his eyes recovered, he didn't see the letter?

The empress frowned slightly, thought about it for a moment, and was too lazy to think about why he didn't know.

Anyway, it might as well tell him the truth now, so that he wouldn't write her unnecessary letters.

Her son, with his secure position and outstanding character, would not be affected by such a thing at all.

The empress picked up a pen, spread out a piece of paper, and finished writing in a flash. She asked the eunuch to hand it to the messenger from the Great Zhao, and then put the matter behind her and busy herself with other things.