Professional Ethics of a Concubine

More than a month later, the emperor and the prince received the news that the King of Chu would lead a large army to arrive in the capital soon.

"Wen Yuan and his men will arrive in three days. Spread the news and let the people in the city welcome the King of Chu and the army together."

The emperor said with a smile on his face.

The prince naturally responded with a smile, and even joked, "Should we arrange some more beauties to present flowers to the King of Chu?"

The prince heard this from Ye Qingzhi. Modern people would present flowers to express gratitude and welcome.

Of course, in some previous dynasties, there were also cases where when handsome men traveled, women would throw flowers to them to express their admiration, so this is not surprising.

Therefore, when the emperor heard the prince's words and thought about the scene, he couldn't help but laugh heartily, "Hahaha, that's a good idea."

The prince didn't expect that his father would approve of his random idea. It can only be said that his father has become a fool.

-

Prince Chu's Mansion.

When the emperor conferred the title of King of Chu on Xie Wenyuan, he also granted him a mansion and a variety of servants, and various gold and silver utensils as rewards were also sent to the mansion like water.

Two or three months passed, and the renovation of the Prince of Chu's Palace had long been completed.

The former Crown Princess, now Princess of Chu, Chen, also moved into the Prince of Chu's Palace a month ago with her former friends from the East Palace.

"Princess, the Prince of Chu and the little prince are coming back. Should we redecorate the prince's room and study and add some things?"

The nanny beside Chen asked cautiously.

"No need, the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs have made all the arrangements." Chen said coldly.

The nanny shut up and no longer mentioned the King of Chu.

"Have you bought the house I asked you to buy?" Chen asked again, "Father and his family should arrive in the capital next month."

"My princess, the house has been bought. It has three courtyards..."

"Only three entrances? How can this be enough to live in?" Chen frowned angrily, "You are just sending away beggars!"

"Princess, calm down! The courtyard with three entrances is the best one you can buy. The courtyard with four entrances above is not allowed to be bought or sold according to the rules of our Great Zhao. They are all used by the emperor to reward nobles or ministers."

The nanny felt sad and immediately explained in detail to Chen.

The expression on Chen's face became even gloomier, and he laughed at himself.

Back then, her family lived in a large courtyard with five entrances.

But now, although she appears to be the glamorous Princess of Chu, she cannot even let her parents live in a big house.

What Princess Chu is? Compared with the Crown Princess and the Queen, she is just a joke!

"If the princess feels that the three-story courtyard is too small, you can discuss with the prince when he comes back and ask him to ask the emperor for a house. With your achievements, the emperor will definitely meet such a small request."

The nanny looked at Chen's expression and tentatively offered some advice.

"You don't need to teach me how to do anything." Chen said coldly.

Mammy, ...

The princess's temperament has become so changeable, it's really hard for her!

The nanny couldn't help but wonder whether the princess would still be so tough when facing the King of Chu when he returned.

-

Three days later.

"Father, look, Grandpa Huang and the others are here to greet us!"

Xie Hongbao sat on horseback and looked into the distance, pointing excitedly at the gate of the capital city in the distance and shouted.

"Yeah." Xie Wenyuan nodded with a dignified and serious look.

Back home, he felt that he should be careful about his words and actions so as not to ruin the wise and brave image he had re-established.

All those bandit behaviors were changed, and they were a little more restrained in their carelessness, showing their royal style.

As Xie Wenyuan thought about this, he straightened his back a little more. With a serious face and wearing silver armor, he looked really heroic and awe-inspiring.

Seeing his father like this, Xie Hongbao stopped shouting excitedly and showed the dignity of a young prince.

The prince standing on the city wall looked over from afar and couldn't help but smile at Xie Wenyuan's style, thinking that as a general he had quite the aura.

"It's been three years since we last met, and Wenyuan has impressed me with a new perspective!" The emperor looked at Xie Wenyuan, who was familiar yet unfamiliar, and was touched, and said with emotion.

Although he knew that Xie Wenyuan was pretending before and that his personality had changed drastically and his temperament was like two different people, the emperor was still shocked when he actually saw him. He even couldn't help but wonder if this was really his son?

Even the emperor had such an exclamation, and those civil and military officials who thought they were familiar with the former crown prince were shocked even more strongly.

They stared at the heroic King of Chu on horseback, looking left, right, up and down, and no matter how they looked at him, they felt that this was not the former crown prince in their impression.

Even that face seemed different, more resolute. Oh, come to think of it, it seemed to have gained a little weight.

In fact, Xie Wenyuan has lost a lot of weight compared to before the New Year!

After all, it would be strange if you don’t lose weight if you run around every day.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Xie Wenyuan came to the city gate and dismounted. At this time, the emperor, the prince and others had already come down from the city wall.

Xie Wenyuan knelt down and bowed to the emperor, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father."

"Good, good, good! Get up quickly!" The emperor bent down and helped him up himself, saying with red eyes,

"You've suffered a lot outside these years, right?"

"...Actually, it's okay." Xie Wenyuan was stunned for a moment when he saw his father acting out such a sad drama and vaguely replied.

He couldn't say that he was living a very comfortable and wonderful life in Chu.

It doesn't fit in with the current atmosphere and is inappropriate.

"Now that you're back, take a good rest." The emperor smiled and patted his shoulder again, "You can finally relax and don't have to worry anymore."

"...Well, okay, thank you father." Xie Wenyuan nodded vigorously.

That’s not the case.

I was really relaxed when I was in Beijing. But when I got home, I couldn't help but become nervous, afraid that I would not be able to control myself and do something out of line.

Alas, although I was happy to return to the capital and see my father, I also felt as if several invisible ropes were entangled around my body and I began to feel uncomfortable.

Xie Wenyuan couldn't help but look at the prince next to him. The prince smiled at him and didn't speak to him. Instead, he said to the emperor,

"Father, let them come up and present flowers to give King Chu a surprise."

"Okay, okay." The emperor nodded with a smile.

Xie Wenyuan looked at the prince with confusion, thinking that he was trying to trick him.

The prince smiled at him again, and Xie Wenyuan felt that his smile was a bit annoying.

After a while, five beautiful ladies came over with flowers in their hands, looked at Xie Wenyuan with admiration, and shyly handed the flowers to him.

Xie Wenyuan,...

What are you doing? What are you doing!

Xie Wenyuan took a step back, alarm bells ringing in his heart. In front of everyone, he was actually rewarded with a beauty in this way?

Is this some new test?

"Beauty and flowers go hand in hand with heroes, King Chu, these are the treatments you deserve." The prince held back his laughter and said seriously.

Xie Wenyuan,...

Prince, I think you are deliberately messing with me!

"A-choo, A-choo! I don't like the smell of these, hold them away."

Xie Wenyuan smelled the fragrance of the flowers, waved his hands, sneezed violently, and took several steps back, looking both embarrassed and funny.

"If the King of Chu doesn't like it, then withdraw immediately." The emperor said quickly, not forgetting to pass on the blame.

"It was the prince's idea to have them present flowers. I nodded because I thought it was festive, but it backfired. Wenyuan, please don't mind."

"...It's okay, it's just a small matter." Xie Wenyuan smiled, but in fact he couldn't bear the strong fatherly love, so he quickly shouted to the back,

"Little, Prince Qi, why don't you come and pay respect to your father?"

The King of Qi stepped forward, kowtowed and knelt before the Emperor, called him "Father", and that was it.

"Second brother, oh, now you are the third brother, why are you becoming more and more like a saw-mouthed gourd? You haven't been back for a few years, and now you come back and call me father. Don't you have anything else to say?"

The emperor looked at the King of Qi and said unhappily.

"No." The King of Qi answered sincerely.

emperor,……

Just choke him to death!

"Where is your upbringing? You'll die if you say one more word!" Xie Wenyuan raised his foot and kicked him.

"Father, look, he is no longer pretending to be polite." The King of Qi spoke.

Xie Wenyuan,...

Get a needle and sew his mouth shut completely!

The Emperor and the Crown Prince,...

Okay, okay, go back to the palace!

Don’t perform family farces in front of civil and military officials and the people, it will only bring shame to the royal family.

-

Xie Wenyuan and Prince Qi followed the emperor back to the palace, while Xie Hongbao went back to Prince Chu's mansion first because he missed his mother.

"Mom! I'm back!" Xie Hongbao saw Chen and shouted to her happily.

Chen also laughed and pulled him to look at it again and again. She was happy at first but then turned to complaining.

"Mother, I haven't seen you for more than half a year. You've grown taller, but you've also become darker and thinner. You can tell from one look that you've suffered a lot!

Mother thought you would return to the capital with the Crown Prince and the others, but was told that you had gone to the capital. You are not afraid of danger, child..."

"Mom, I'll be safe if I follow Dad!" Xie Hongbao said excitedly, "Father is very powerful now."

Chen's expression turned slightly colder. She squeezed his shoulders and then released them, correcting him, "You should change your words and call me father and mother."

"Yes, my father has been named the King of Chu. Is my mother happy?" Xie Hongbao asked her with a smile.

"Mother, were you surprised to hear that father destroyed the State of Chu? Do you think father is very powerful?!"

"Haha." Chen sneered, "Mother is not surprised, but I don't understand. If he is so powerful, why can't he just be a good prince? Why did he raise private soldiers to rebel? Your maternal grandfather's family was exiled because of this!"

Xie Hongbao looked at his mother's resentful expression and stood there in a daze, his mind filled with what his father had told him:

Your mother won't think I'm great, she will only resent and hate me even more.

My father was right!

"Mother, it's not like that. Father has his own reasons. In the past, the Imperial Grandmother always liked to control Father and make decisions for him on everything. Even if Father wanted to be a good Crown Prince, he didn't have a chance."

Xie Hongbao felt a pain in his heart and tried hard to defend his father.

However, this hurt Chen even more, and she shouted even more angrily,

"Your father is my only legitimate son, and I treat him with all my heart, always putting him first and making plans for him. How can that be considered control?!

Your father is an ungrateful person. He has been relying on his aunt and our Chen family since he was a child.

However, in the end, he still listened to the emperor and designed a fake death, which not only killed my aunt, but also eliminated our Chen family. He also ran to the State of Chu to play the game of sleeping on straw and tasting gall, and to build achievements. He was really calculating too shrewdly!"