Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Beautiful Palace.

This is where Li Zhaoyi once lived. Li Zhaoyi, also known as Lipin, was Yao Yinyin's elder sister. She was promoted to Li Zhaoyi because she gave birth to the youngest of the five princesses.

After Yao Yinyin moved into the East Palace, she often came to visit her sister. After the prince and his entourage went to the Western Regions last year, she even lived permanently at Li Zhaoyi's place.

After the Crown Prince took Ye Qingzhi away this year, she and the Crown Princess applied and went to Concubine Li's palace every day.

"Has something happened in your Eastern Palace? Why didn't you come a few days ago? The Crown Princess even sent someone to question me, asking what you were doing here." When Concubine Li saw Yao Yinyin, she frowned and asked.

Yao Yinyin nodded and asked everyone else to leave before she whispered to Concubine Li about Su Ranran's affair with the eunuch.

Li Zhaoyi was not surprised. She just raised her eyebrows and said calmly, "It's not surprising that this happened."

The palace is lonely. Men have desires, and women are also human beings and women also have desires, but there is only one emperor.

Now that the emperor is old, he seldom stays in the harem. Occasionally, when he wants to favor someone, with so many concubines, it may not necessarily be you.

Even if it happens to you, given the emperor's physical strength, there is no fun in bed. You are the one serving the emperor and coaxing the emperor, but it is not fun for you. It is better not to have it at all.

Every time Li Zhaoyi saw her daughter, she felt very fortunate. Fortunately, she had gotten pregnant a few years ago without being favored by the emperor, and gave birth smoothly.

If she were not accompanied by her daughter, Li Zhaoyi felt that she would go crazy if she stayed in this palace for too long. Maybe one day she could not bear it anymore and would find a eunuch to play with.

As someone who has a daughter like her, Li Zhaoyi sometimes feels lonely when it is late at night and she will relieve herself when she has some thoughts.

Being a widow is definitely not a pleasant feeling.

"What about you? Don't be confused!" Li Zhaoyi looked at this troublesome sister, her face darkened, and she reminded her solemnly,

"That Su Fengyi is an orphan. Her mistakes won't implicate others, but you are different!

When the crown prince ascends the throne, father will most likely be promoted to become the Minister of Rites and join the cabinet. This concerns the fate of our family. If you dare to make the same mistake again, I will not forgive you!"

Yao Yinyin shrank her neck and avoided her eyes when her sister scolded her because she felt guilty.

"Are you already in love with some eunuch?!" Seeing her like this, Concubine Li became anxious immediately. She lowered her voice, glared at her, and yelled at her.

"Of course not!" Yao Yinyin also widened her eyes and said with disgust.

"I hate those eunuchs. I won't hang out with them."

Seeing that what she said did not sound false, Li Zhaoyi felt relieved, but she still emphasized to her that she was not allowed to commit suicide.

Yao Yinyin was indignant, but she still nodded obediently, "I know."

Li Zhaoyi was worried, so she screened the eunuchs in her palace again in her mind, thinking of transferring the young and handsome ones away and bringing in some older eunuchs.

Otherwise my sister might not be able to resist the temptation and make a mistake!

"Sister, Prince Su has already disbanded the harem, and concubines without children and favor can remarry. Why can't the crown prince disband the harem? I regret it too, and I also want to leave the palace and remarry!"

Yao Yinyin couldn't help but speak.

She had long regretted having to become Xie Jin's concubine, and she regretted it especially in recent years.

Whenever she saw Ye Qingzhi now, she would feel pain all over her body. She was afraid of her, but she couldn't bear to see her living so comfortably. She felt very uncomfortable.

Ye Qingzhi followed the prince to the battlefield. During the time she was away from the Eastern Palace, she could temporarily forget the pain Ye Qingzhi had brought her. It was so comfortable.

"What nonsense are you talking about! How can Prince Su and the Crown Prince be the same? When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, everyone in the family will benefit, don't you understand?" Concubine Li pointed at her forehead.

“You and I are just pawns to maintain our family’s status and interests, so don’t expect to live a comfortable life.

In this deep palace, at least we two sisters have someone to take care of us and we can talk to each other without worry. This is much better than most women's life.

Not to mention those beauties of lower status, who could barely survive in the palace. Every time they went out, they had to kneel before this person and that person, trembling with fear for punishment.

Even if Concubine Xian and Concubine Rou have sons who are successful and have status, it’s just that. Their sons are not around, and they only see them a few times a year. Their lives are the same every day, which is very boring. "

When Yao Yinyin heard these words, she felt desperate and suffocated.

She felt that fighting with each other every day, where you beat me today and I slap you in the face tomorrow, was much better than living a stagnant life.

"Sister, is it really impossible?" Yao Yinyin asked desperately.

"Do you think Ye Qingzhi will ask the prince to disband her harem? If she does, I will really thank her."

Li Zhaoyi: "...maybe there is a little possibility."

"I hope that day will come!!" Yao Yinyin said in a strong tone.

Li Zhaoyi once again looked confused and worried.

-

Yao Yinyin came out of Xiuli Palace and returned to the East Palace as usual.

"Master, aren't we going to the cold palace today?" the personal maid asked in a low voice.

"Of course I'm not leaving." Yao Yinyin's face darkened. "This is an emergency period, so be careful. Don't tell anyone about my detour to the cold palace."

"Yes, I obey your command." The maid responded.

-

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed. The emperor received a letter from the prince via carrier pigeon. It contained a very short line of words: I have set off to return to Beijing to celebrate the New Year.

After the emperor saw it, his eyes suddenly lit up. What a surprise!

The emperor smiled heartily, and immediately ordered the chief steward to pass on the news that the prince and others were returning to the capital, and began to make arrangements for the reception as grand as possible.

This year's Spring Festival must be celebrated with a grand banquet!

The Crown Princess got the news first and her face immediately filled with smiles, sweeping away the gloom of the past few days and happily getting busy.

Re-tidy up the yard for the two children, change the decorations in the room, and buy new clothes for the two children... I haven't seen them for half a year, they must have grown taller, so I'd better wait for them to come back and measure their sizes before doing anything. There's still time.

The prince and Qingzhi shouldn't be too different in appearance, so we can prepare new year clothes for them first.

The celebratory dinner in the palace can now be prepared.

Let’s see if there are some new ideas. After all, he has returned victoriously, and the standard of the dinner must be worthy of the prince’s achievements and status.

As the Crown Princess pondered all these things, she felt full of energy, her steps moved with a breeze, and her whole person became brighter.

-

Amid the eager anticipation of the Emperor, the Crown Princess and others, the Crown Prince and others finally returned.

In order to return before the New Year, they didn't rest much along the way and kept on traveling. Finally, they arrived in the capital on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.

The emperor, along with all the civil and military officials, greeted the prince and others at the city gate.

"Greetings, Father! The King of Chu lived up to everyone's expectations and has led his army to capture Shangjing City. He has taken control of the Chu royal family and all the civil and military officials. Here is the Chu State's jade seal and letter of surrender!"

Prince Xie Jin kowtowed to the emperor with a smile and at the same time gave the emperor another surprise!

The prince received the Chu State's jade seal and the letter of surrender before he set out, which was also a surprise for him.

"...Has the State of Chu been destroyed?" The emperor looked at the jade seal and the letter of surrender presented to him. He was so surprised that he asked in a daze.

Xie Jin smiled and nodded, adding,

"During the process of attacking Shangjing City, our Great Zhao army encountered almost no effective resistance, and the people of Chu State even lined the streets to see our Great Zhao army off. Until we attacked Shangjing Imperial City, the army lost no more than a thousand people!"

"...Good, good, good!" The emperor felt that he could not say anything except cheering.

Faced with such great achievements, the civil and military officials behind him were all overwhelmed with emotion. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, shouting "Live a thousand years, a thousand thousand years, a thousand thousand years of live the Crown Prince."

"Hahaha... good job!" Prince Su on the side cheered loudly, his eyes welling with tears.

As a military general, he knew how difficult it would be to do this!

It looks like he can really retire.

The emperor calmed down a little from his excitement, and then was surprised to find that his younger sister, the eldest princess, had also come with him.

Because the prince said he wanted to give his father a surprise, he deliberately asked the messenger to keep the news secret, just so that he could appreciate his father's excitement.

"Imperial sister, hahaha, you are back too... Great!" The emperor looked at the eldest princess and was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

"Second sister!" Prince Su also shouted in great surprise.

When the princess saw them, her eyes were also filled with tears. She grabbed one of them by the arm with one hand, looked at the emperor, then at Prince Su, and said in a choked voice,

"For the sake of this great Zhao country, we three brothers and sisters, one guards the imperial city, one guards the north, and one guards the south. We haven't seen each other for nearly twenty years!"

When the emperor heard this, his eyes turned red and he choked up, "My sister has worked hard these years."

"Look at the gray hair on my brother's temples, and you will know how much he has worked for the Great Zhao over the years. Seeing my brother like this, how can I say that I have worked hard?"

The eldest princess sighed with heartache.

"Royal sister, please don't sympathize with him. Royal brother now has several good sons, and he is so proud every day." Prince Su said.

"Now that the prince is back, my brother can be lazy again. It's true that he worked hard before, but now it's really nothing."

The emperor slapped Prince Su on the head again in annoyance.

All the civil and military officials are here. We can't wait until we return to the palace to talk about family matters.

Where is his majesty as an emperor!

The eldest princess chuckled. Seeing that the two brothers were still as close as before, she was completely relieved.

Afterwards, Mingyan, Mingyu and others also stepped forward to pay their respects to the emperor.

"Good children, I see that you have grown a lot. Are you tired along the way?" The emperor touched their heads lovingly.

"We're not tired." Mingyu and Mingyan both shook their heads.

The Crown Princess was standing far away and couldn't talk to him right away, so she just stared at the two children.

No matter how I looked at him, he seemed to have become darker and thinner. I felt so distressed that my eyes became wet.

The emperor praised again and asked the two children to go find their mother nearby.

The Crown Princess waited for them to come to her side, then squatted down and held each of them tightly in her arms, crying out in love,

"I missed you so much, mother. Fortunately you are back, otherwise mother would have had a miserable year."

"I miss mother too!" Mingyu hugged the Crown Princess and acted coquettishly, "I haven't seen mother for a long time."

The Crown Princess was touched by her son and kissed him directly, then looked at Ming Yan, "Ming Yan, don't you miss your mother?"

"Of course I do." Ming Yan smiled and took out a handkerchief to wipe the Crown Princess' tears. "Don't cry, mother. Your makeup is ruined. It doesn't look good anymore."

The Crown Princess smiled because of her words. She felt warmed, but also disappointed. Her daughter had grown up and no longer acted like a spoiled child to her.

"Huh? Why can't I see your concubine mother? Where is she?" The Crown Princess looked into the crowd but did not see Ye Qingzhi.

"My concubine mother caught a cold two days ago and has been feeling unwell. My father did not allow her to get out of the car and asked her to rest in it," Ming Yan said.

"Oh! Why are you sick? Is it serious?" the Crown Princess asked with concern.