Professional Ethics of a Concubine

"A few days ago, my father opened the carriage curtain and let my mother look at the scenery outside, which caused a cold wind. My father is strong and healthy, so he was fine, but my mother is weak and got sick."

Mingyu explained seriously, not only stating the facts but also expressing her own views.

Princess,...

Although the viewpoint is in line with the facts, it just sounds weird.

"Oh, what a fool the prince is! What's the point of looking at the scenery in the middle of winter? Qingzhi has always been afraid of the cold. You can't expect men to take care of you. They just care about their own happiness!"

The Crown Princess suppressed her little weirdness and complained immediately.

Mingyan,...

Although I have always known that my mother and my concubine have a good relationship, I didn’t expect it to be so good, and my father also put them at the back.

My mother really blames my father for causing me to catch a cold. It's not just a polite gesture.

Mingyu didn't understand the deeper meaning, but he understood the surface and immediately nodded in agreement.

"Mother, my side mother also said the same thing about my father. In Funing City, my father made my sister and I go out for inspections every day. It was really tiring.

Then, my sister and I both fell ill. We had a fever and a little cough. I missed my mother so much that I asked my father if we could return to Beijing. My father said that he would come back after the New Year and that he didn't want me to be too pampered.

But when I saw my concubine, she hugged me with love and scolded my father, saying that he would not take care of us. She also asked him to give in and take us back to Beijing to celebrate the New Year... Hehe, we are back!"

After hearing these words, the Crown Princess' mood was like a roller coaster. She first scolded the Crown Prince in her heart, and her anger was rising. She regretted again not going with him.

After hearing what Qingzhi did, most of his anger disappeared, and he was left with warmth and gratitude.

No one can be relied upon as her Qingzhi!

"Your concubine mother loves you so much. You must be filial to her in the future, do you know that?" The Crown Princess rubbed her son's head and said.

Mingyu nodded vigorously, "Father said so too, we will!"

Mingyan also nodded.

The Crown Princess loves her children so much that she is very dissatisfied with the way the Crown Prince is educating his two children.

But she also knew that she could only listen to the prince's lecture and had no ability to lecture him.

So, I can only rely on Qingzhi.

"Where is your mother's carriage? Take her there, and we will go back to the East Palace together." The Crown Princess said.

"Your father is busy with government affairs again, and he probably won't have time to return to the East Palace to rest."

"Okay, mother, please follow me." Mingyu said happily.

-

The Crown Princess and others came to the front of the carriage, and Ruyi, who was waiting outside, immediately stood up to greet them.

"No need to be polite." The Crown Princess waved her hand at Ruyi and before getting on the carriage, she instructed Mingyu and Mingyan,

"You go sit in your own carriages. I haven't seen your mother for a long time. Let's have a personal chat."

"You adults always like to talk behind people's backs." Mingyu muttered softly, but then obediently went to sit in her own carriage.

Mingyan also bowed and left.

Although she could understand it, she still felt that the relationships between their family members were a little abnormal.

The core position of this family seems to be with the father, but the concubine's every move can touch everyone's heart.

When Ye Qingzhi heard the Crown Princess' voice outside, she took the initiative to lift the curtain and said to her with a smile,

"Princess, I am not well yet. Why don't you not ride in the same carriage with me? It is stuffy and small, and it is easy for me to infect you with my illness."

"It's okay. It's not that easy to get sick."

The Crown Princess smiled as she got into the warm carriage and carefully closed the curtains to prevent any wind from leaking in.

Then, she took a good look at Ye Qingzhi, looking at her haggard and pale face, and said distressedly,

"How come you've lost so much weight? Are you having problems adapting to the climate in the south? That's it. You have to tighten up those new clothes I made for you."

"It's not that I'm not used to the local climate. I lost weight because of the hassle of traveling. I walked so fast and it was so bumpy that I didn't feel like eating. I was afraid that I would throw up after eating."

Ye Qingzhi smiled and said, "The prince has lost even more weight. He has hardly had any rest in Funing. He has not been seen for ten days or half a month."

The Crown Princess didn't really look carefully to see whether the Crown Prince had lost weight or gained weight. She was just staring at the two children.

"The prince always behaves like this when he's busy. I expected this. When I made the new clothes for the prince, I specifically asked the embroiderer to reduce the size. There should be no need to make any changes."

The Crown Princess spoke up.

Ye Qingzhi couldn't help but laugh and praised the Crown Princess for her foresight!

"Seeing you return safely, I feel relieved." The Crown Princess said with a smile.

"Just now I heard Mingyu say that thanks to your presence, the two children have suffered less. If you hadn't been there, the two children would have been under the control of the prince and would have suffered from a minor illness every ten days or a major illness every month."

"Take good care of Mingyan and Mingyu. This is the task assigned to me by the Crown Princess, so of course I have to complete it." Ye Qingzhi also said with a smile.

"They are all great and have grown a lot along the way. We are so proud of them."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Princess smiled with relief, and praised Ye Qingzhi again, saying that it was all because of her good leadership and her enthusiastic attitude.

Ye Qingzhi was so overwhelmed by the Crown Princess's praise that she thought the Crown Princess had something to ask for, so she asked her,

"Crown Princess, has the Eastern Palace been peaceful in the past six months? Is there anything upsetting?"

"Alas... there is one thing that is really upsetting." The Crown Princess sighed and whispered about Su Ranran's affair with the eunuch.

Ye Qingzhi,...

This cousin Su is really brave!

"Did she try to commit suicide afterwards?" Ye Qingzhi asked again.

"Besides saying a few dirty words, he didn't commit suicide." The Crown Princess shook her head and sighed.

"How could this person change so much in a short time? She used to be such a noble and proud person, but now she has become what she is now. It makes me sigh just thinking about it."

"Ahem, it's a problem if people don't change. Princess, think about yourself. Compared to a few years ago, you have also been reborn! It's just that we are moving towards a higher place, while she is stuck in the mud."

Ye Qingzhi turned sideways and coughed twice before continuing softly.

The Crown Princess nodded in agreement. She also knew that she was where she is today mostly thanks to Qingzhi's help.

So, the Crown Princess praised Ye Qingzhi again, then expressed concern about her illness and complained that the Crown Prince did not know how to take care of people.

Ye Qingzhi,...

Why did she feel that her status in the Crown Princess's heart had risen again, and she had already stepped on the Crown Prince.

"Crown Princess, it seems like you have a lot of resentment towards the Crown Prince. Why is that?" Ye Qingzhi asked with a smile.

"Of course it's because of the children." The Crown Princess sighed.

"I feel bad for them because they are still so young and have to shoulder such heavy responsibilities. However, the prince thinks they should shoulder more and is thinking of ways to train them.

Although they have fine clothes and delicious food, and have many servants, they don't have much time to play, because they are fully scheduled for various courses."

After listening to the Crown Princess's complaints, Ye Qingzhi could only helplessly express her understanding and comfort her that if she wanted her children to succeed, it would not be possible without studying and without enduring hardships.

"I understand. I just want you to persuade the prince to relax a little and not push the children too hard. They are still young."

The Crown Princess said earnestly,

"I don't have much say in front of the prince. If I say too much, the prince will say that I am a kind mother who spoils her children. He might even order me not to interfere in the affairs of the two children anymore."

"That won't happen. You are the Crown Princess and the biological mother of the child. How can the Crown Prince not let you interfere?"

Ye Qingzhi immediately comforted her and then went on to talk about her own difficulties.

"I can only mention it briefly. It's not good if I say too much. If the court officials hear it, they will stop calling me Grand Tutor Ye and think that I, a witch concubine, want to destroy the legitimate next generation of the royal family."

Everything has its limits, too much is as bad as too little.

Especially regarding the education of Mingyu and Mingyan, after the prince ascends the throne, they will be the focus of court officials as candidates for the crown prince.

She'd better stop interfering in the future, lest she get into trouble again.

Because she is not only Master Ye, but also Ye's favorite concubine.

A lot of people are waiting for her baby to be born!

There are also a lot of people who have to be on guard against her.

"That's not necessary!" The Crown Princess immediately shook her head.

"Ahem, is it really that serious?" Ye Qingzhi turned her head and coughed twice, then looked at the Crown Princess with a smile.

"Crown Princess, I understand your thoughts as a mother, but it's not that I don't want to help you in this matter. I have to start avoiding suspicion."

The Crown Princess opened her mouth and then closed it again. Then she shook Ye Qingzhi's hand vigorously and said with a smile,

"Qingzhi, I understand, thank you."

-

The carriage entered the imperial city and went directly to the outside of the East Palace.

Nanny Zhang led the servants out to greet them. Knowing that Ye Qingzhi had fallen ill on the way and had not recovered yet, Nanny Zhang felt extremely distressed.

"Master, what do you think of the temperature in this room? Do you feel hot and stuffy or a little cool?" Nanny Zhang asked Ye Qingzhi carefully about her feelings.

"Very good, just right." Ye Qingzhi lay on her bed, squinting her eyes in enjoyment.

"The bed at home is still more comfortable. Lying here, I feel like my illness is cured immediately."

After coming back this time, I don’t want to travel far anymore!!!

The prince should ascend the throne as soon as possible. After he becomes the emperor, he won't be able to travel far away so casually, and she won't have to follow him around like a personal accessory.

For someone like her who loves to lie down, it would be more comfortable to stay in the deep palace.

Aunt Zhang couldn't help but smile at her comfortable look, and asked standing by the bed,

"Where's the young master? Why can't I see him?"

"Xiaokang followed his father to the capital. He will probably not be back until after the New Year. Don't worry, follow the army. There are many people protecting you. You will be very safe."

"I am not worried about the young master, but I am afraid that some things in the backyard will affect the master again."

Upon hearing this, Nanny Zhang whispered to Ye Qingzhi about Su Ranran's affair with the eunuch.

"The Crown Princess has mentioned this to me." Ye Qingzhi said, "Don't worry, Ma'am. No matter what the Crown Prince's attitude is, this matter has nothing to do with me."

"That's good." Nanny Zhang felt that she might have overthought it.

Nanny Zhang thought that if the prince realized because of Su Ranran’s incident that he couldn’t just ignore the women in the backyard, he would favor her one or two more times to give them hope and keep them hanging.

Although the prince would not focus on other women, if he really did that, the master would probably feel uncomfortable.

Even if it's not that sad, it's still annoying.

"Okay, let's not talk about these unhappy things." Ye Qingzhi waved her hand and asked Aunt Zhang to send out invitations, inviting her good sisters to come to the East Palace to play first, and the beautiful mother would go to visit tomorrow.

The prince would definitely not agree to let her go out due to her sickly body, so she could only let them come to visit him.

I miss you so much after not seeing you for half a year!