Professional Ethics of a Concubine

After taking the detoxification pills, Xie Hongbao recovered quickly without any side effects.

The emperor was overjoyed and immediately announced that he would grant him the title of prince, fiefdom and salary in accordance with regulations.

At the same time, his mother was pardoned and Chen was allowed to live in the Prince's Mansion.

Although Xie Hongbao had known all this in advance, he was still very excited when he really got it.

Especially since he can live with his mother in the future and won’t have to see her every month.

Xie Hongbao also knew that all this was thanks to his father, and he couldn't help but miss him more and more, not knowing when he would be able to see his father again.

He also heard from the prince's uncle that his father was actually very powerful. After only half a year in Chu, he killed a prince of Chu, controlled a prince of Chu, and had the ability to stir up the government of Chu.

The prince's uncle also encouraged him to study hard and become a great man like his father in the future.

Xie Hongbao was inspired and full of motivation, determined to do great things. Despite his young age, he held his head high and walked with a sense of pride.

As for those gossips and those contemptuous looks, oh, you foolish mortals, what do you know!

After Xie Hongbao left the manor, he went to visit his mother immediately and told her the great news.

-

When Chen heard that her son was conferred the title of Prince for shielding the emperor from poison and that she was pardoned, she was not happy about the news.

She held her son nervously, looking him up and down, touching his face and arms, repeatedly confirming with concern.

"You've been poisoned? Are you really okay?! Is there really no poison left in your body? Will it be harmful to your body in the future?"

"Mom, I'm really fine. I just had a stomachache for a while, and then I passed out. A little while later, I was revived by the prince uncle."

Xie Hongbao smiled and spoke to his mother tirelessly.

Seeing that he seemed to be in good health, Chen couldn't help but smile, but soon she said with a stern face,

"Mother doesn't expect you to be favored by the emperor again. I just hope you can grow up well. Mother has nothing left and cannot live without you."

"Mom, I'll be fine." Xie Hongbao said happily, "When my Prince's Mansion is renovated, we can live together. Aren't you happy?"

"Mother is happy." Chen couldn't help laughing when she thought of this, but she still emphasized,

"But if I knew in advance that this would require you to be poisoned and sacrifice your life, I would rather not be pardoned."

Xie Hongbao was no longer as excited because of his mother's attitude.

Although he knew that his mother was just too concerned about his safety, it was somewhat disappointing to see her constantly emphasizing that he should protect himself.

After hearing the news, couldn't mother jump up with joy, hug him, and praise him, saying, 'My Hongbao has grown up and can protect mother'?

In fact, what he needs most is this, not his mother's excessive care.

He has really grown up. He knows what is right and what is wrong, how to exchange interests, and how to protect himself.

Xie Hongbao was just trying to calm himself down when he heard his mother complaining as usual.

"If your good-for-nothing father hadn't been so audacious as to raise his own soldiers to rebel, you wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable situation.

You used to be the crown prince, and now you have been conferred the title of a prince. We should all be grateful for this.

Your useless father, if he had just been honest and done nothing, and waited for the emperor to die, he could have ascended the throne, and you would have been the honorable prince, but now..."

When Xie Hongbao heard his mother complaining and cursing his father again, his enthusiasm was completely dampened.

He almost couldn't help but tell his mother the truth, tell her that his father was still alive, he was not a waste, he went to the State of Chu to do great things!

But he held back.

It's such a big secret, and his father, the prince and his uncle trust him, so they let him know. He can't tell it out.

Even if mother knew, she would not sympathize with father's choice, let alone understand his choice. She would only think that he was a madman and a fool.

Xie Hongbao couldn't help but recall again the story his father told him before he left, and the words he said not to let his mother control and influence his judgment and his life.

He felt that he gradually understood why his father said that.

"Mom, it's too late. I have to go back to the palace quickly. I will come to visit you next time when I have a rest." Xie Hongbao interrupted his mother's endless complaints and said goodbye.

"Ah? Are you going back to the palace so late? Aren't the palace gates closed at this time?" Chen said in surprise.

"I have to go to class early tomorrow morning. Grandfather Emperor gave me permission when I came here, and I also told the guards guarding the palace gate that I have to go back quickly. It will be too late if I am any later."

As Xie Hongbao spoke, he stood up and bowed to Chen like a little adult.

Chen saw him to the door and looked at his leaving back reluctantly. Only when he was out of sight did she withdraw her gaze and slowly go back to her room.

Life seems to have more hope, but it also seems that there is not much hope.

Chen sighed, not very happy, because what she had now was far from comparable to what she had before.

Xie Hongbao came to visit his mother excitedly to share his joy with her, but he returned disappointed and feeling a little heavy-hearted.

"Grandson, are you returning to the palace?" asked the attendant who followed him.

"I'm not going back. Let's find an inn to stay for one night." Xie Hongbao sighed again.

He originally thought that after his Prince's Mansion was built, he would bring his mother over to take care of her and visit her every day. But now, all he could think about was that he needed to keep a certain distance from his mother.

I still have to take care of my mother, but I don't want to hear her complain about the past all the time.

Being a son is so difficult!

-

In the blink of an eye, three days have passed since the Lantern Festival.

The incident involving the poisonous dumplings that day gradually subsided.

The murderer was also found.

It's a spy from Chu!

As the identity of the murderer was announced, hatred towards the State of Chu accumulated again among the court, patriotic scholars, and even some ordinary people.

In schools, bookstores, streets, teahouses and restaurants, there were suddenly many more articles and speeches attacking the State of Chu.

This was naturally within the prince's calculations, and the main purpose was to lay the groundwork for public opinion for a future war between the two countries.

The war between the two countries is essentially nothing more than a fight to seize resources and occupy territory, but you can't say it so openly.

You have to have some fig leaf and a legitimate reason to become the army of justice. Only in this way can you mobilize public opinion and get more people to support you.

Immediately afterwards, people inside and outside the capital took this opportunity to conduct a wave of inspections, and actually caught some spies and eliminated some hidden dangers.

There was also a thorough investigation inside the manor, and all the shameful things that the second princess had done were uncovered.

The emperor was furious again and increased the second princess's sentence from one year to one and a half years. If she showed good repentance, she could be sentenced to reflection in the princess's mansion.

In addition, the things the Second Princess did were used as negative examples and were repeatedly mentioned in front of all the royal children and relatives so that they would learn from them.

Being dragged out and whipped repeatedly like this, the second princess felt angry and aggrieved, but she also gradually understood.

She must have fallen into the trap set by the prince and Ling Yue from the moment she entered the manor, and the poisoned dumplings might have been designed by the prince and others!

This is using her as a target!

Otherwise, why would Ling Yue withdraw from the manor so readily and give all the power to her, without her getting involved at all!

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was the case, and the second princess became more and more unconvinced.

She felt that she was wronged, and that the things she had done were nothing at all!!

Not to mention the royal nobles, even the children of aristocratic families often do this.

She only bullied some minor officials who could not threaten the status of the royal family at all. So what could happen if she bullied them?

Besides, she didn't do anything excessive!

If she doesn't even have this kind of privilege, what's the point of being a princess!

They are just pretending. Do they really have to be kind and generous to the untouchables as royal family members?

The second princess didn't dare to speak nonsense in front of the prince, so she called Ling Yue over and started scolding her.

He said she was hypocritical and pretending, and also talked about how wronged and unwilling to accept it he was.

Faced with the second princess's questioning, Princess Ling Yue didn't even bother to argue with her. She slapped her twice and decided that she needed to continue reflecting.

Then, Ling Yue suggested that her father should not give her any power in the future and should not give her the opportunity to bully others in a noble way.

After listening to the second princess' words as relayed by Ling Yue, the emperor was silent for a long time. He casually picked up the biography of Emperor Gaozu on the desk.

It records the life of the late emperor, who was also his father, tells the story of his hard and painful life in the first half of his life, how he established the Great Zhao Empire, and some of his ancestral teachings.

In fact, the Great Zhao Kingdom has been established for less than 50 years. Fifty years ago, they were just untouchables and peasants.

They were oppressed by the nobles and could not survive, so my father joined the rebel army, experienced countless life and death experiences along the way, and finally overthrew the previous dynasty, ascended the throne himself, and became a member of the royal family.

He had followed his father all the way and knew the hardships involved. After he ascended the throne, he also knew the difficulty of consolidating the Great Zhao dynasty.

In the past two years when Great Zhao grew increasingly powerful, he always kept this biography of his great-grandfather by his side to remind himself not to get lost and not to forget his original intention.

Their original intention of establishing Da Zhao was to allow themselves and more people to live better.

Instead of becoming the aristocrats they hated in the past, oppressing the common people and the innocent and weak.

However, some of his descendants have begun to feel that they are born noble.

She has become the noble they hated before, and still feels so righteous that she deserves her nobility.

The emperor thought again, because the second princess had lost her original intention, he demoted her to a commoner. Was this punishment too severe? Too cruel?

After all, she is his daughter.

The emperor couldn't understand.

So he spread out a piece of paper and wrote down all the confusion and pain in his heart, and asked the empress what she thought and what she would do.

The Empress will give him some good advice.