Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Everyone in the court and the country felt that the enthronement of the empress and Ye Qingzhi was justified.

However, no one expected that the emperor would directly confer the title of concubine on the other three concubines who had children but were not favored by the emperor.

It suddenly makes people feel that the position of concubine is worthless!

There are also many wives of dignitaries or officials who would privately ask their masters an important question:

The emperor had previously dismissed those concubines who had no children and no favor, and after he ascended the throne he conferred the title of concubine on them all at once. Does this mean that there will no longer be any beauty contests, and that he will still favor the Imperial Noble Consort only?

The selection of talents for the new emperor upon his enthronement is basically a traditional event.

There were also many people who were looking forward to the selection of girls and sending their daughters into the palace, thinking that if one of them was favored and gave birth to a prince, they could use this shortcut to bring immense wealth to the family.

However, the emperor's attitude of only favoring the imperial concubine has raised a question mark in everyone's mind.

What can they do if the emperor doesn't hold a beauty contest?

Answer: Nothing can be done.

If Emperor Xie Jin is determined not to hold a beauty pageant, even if the ministers jointly write a letter to request the Emperor to hold a beauty pageant, it will not be able to shake the Emperor's decision.

Of course, there is no rush about whether to be selected or not. It is just a discussion. There is still a long way to go before the specific future happens. Why rush?

However, for Wu Liangdi, Xia Liangyuan and Huo Liangyuan, being directly named a concubine was an unexpected surprise.

At the same time, they all had their own titles. Wu Liangdi was named Shufei, Xia Liangyuan was named Huifei, and Huo Liangyuan was named Jingfei.

Their families also received a lot of rewards, more or less, and the more capable sons and daughters in the family were later given official positions.

It can be said that when one person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Their family achieved a great leap in family class thanks to women.

However, no one has a say on this point as Ye Yongyuan!

Born into a wealthy family in Jiangnan, although he had money, his status was low.

At the beginning, he spent 200,000 taels of silver to send his daughter to the marquis's mansion to be a concubine. He just hoped that his daughter would be more motivated and persuade the marquis to become an imperial merchant, which would mean he could ascend to heaven overnight.

But Ye Yongyuan never expected that the two hundred thousand taels of silver would be so worthwhile. He took advantage of his daughter's pillow talk and was promoted all the way to the rank of Earl of Zhongxin.

As for the fact that his ex-wife married Prince Su and brought him benefits, Lord Zhongxin said that for a man, it's okay to live off his wife, and face is not important at all.

In short, his Ye Mansion is now also a Earl's Mansion!

Given the emperor's love for his daughter, if he didn't want to lose his head, he would brag and say that he is the father-in-law of the emperor. In fact, he deserves the title.

However, he did not show off, because he did not want to die yet. He let him enjoy the glory of being the Earl of Zhongxin for a few years, and when his eldest grandson grew up a little, he would pass the title to him.

Let me get back to the point.

Since Xie Jin became the emperor, his children were naturally princes and princesses.

Although there is a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, illegitimate children are still princes and princesses, and naturally have rank and status. All their treatments are improved, which is different from illegitimate children of ordinary noble families.

The emperor has five children. Mingyu is naturally the eldest prince. The illegitimate son born to Wu Liangdi, the current concubine, is the second prince, named Mingjie, who is already eight years old.

Mingjie is an ordinary child with average qualifications, without any outstanding talents. However, under guidance, he becomes down-to-earth and hardworking.

Although he understands and completes his homework slowly, he does it very seriously. The teachers in his classes comment that he has a commendable character but lacks ability.

Xie Jin was not disappointed by this. He thought that as long as he had a correct attitude towards learning, it was good. If he had talent, he was lucky. If he did not have talent, as long as he had a good attitude, he would not be too bad.

On the girls' side, Mingyan is the eldest princess, and the next is Xia Liangyuan, also known as Xie Mingqian, born to Concubine Hui. She is the second princess and is also seven years old.

Xie Mingqian was considered a smart child since childhood. She had a good memory, spoke early, and could recite the Three Character Classic when she was over two years old.

At the beginning, her biological mother, Concubine Hui, was dissatisfied with her daughter's intelligence and regretted that she was not a boy. She also mocked Mingjie's clumsiness many times.

However, after losing hope of winning favor, Concubine Hui stopped pushing her daughter to study and just let things take their toll. Moreover, as her daughter's education was being taught by a specially hired teacher, she could no longer interfere.

Seeing that Mingqian was intelligent, the prince allowed her to enter Wenhua Palace to study with other princes when she was six years old.

However, perhaps because she was born a concubine's daughter, she is both self-reliant and self-deprecating in her nature, or perhaps because her precocious intelligence was slightly influenced by her biological mother, Mingqian has a particularly strong competitive spirit.

Since she entered the Cultural Hall to study, she wanted to be the best in everything, so she worked very hard for this purpose.

They stay up late to study, regardless of the risk to their bodies, or practice archery, even if their arms are sore and their fingers are bruised, they never stop.

Her biological mother advised her to have a good rest and not to work so hard, and even said that her efforts would be in vain and would be of no use in the future.

But Mingqian is the type of person who refuses to listen to advice and gives people the impression that she is particularly stubborn.

Mingqian is too competitive and cares a lot about winning or losing. She cannot accept failure. Once she fails to do something or fails after trying hard, her temper becomes bad and she may even break down and scream like crazy.

As this happened more and more frequently, people began to think that she was too spoiled and willful, and even suspected that she was mentally ill.

As Mingqian's stepmother, Zhang Jingyi had the responsibility to teach her, but she was also troubled by her. She had said everything that needed to be said and punished everyone who needed to be punished, but it seemed to make Mingqian's "illness" even worse.

Later, Ye Qingzhi and Xie Jin returned from Funing City. When they learned about Mingqian's problem, Xie Jin took Ye Qingzhi along to have a good chat with Mingqian.

After an in-depth discussion, Xie Jin and Ye Qingzhi also realized that Mingqian was too competitive, and had fallen into anxiety at a young age and had difficulty dealing with her emotional problems.

This requires intervention. If it continues like this, the child will be ruined.

Xie Jin originally wanted Ye Qingzhi to intervene and provide psychological counseling to Mingqian because she is good at this.

However, Ye Qingzhi told Xie Jin that she could only give some guidance, the key still lay in his attitude as a father.

To Mingqian, her father is not just a father, he is not only her role model, but also an authority and a master. She wants to gain recognition and even power from him.

If he could personally guide Mingqian, tell her how to do things correctly, and give her timely recognition and encouragement, Mingqian's competitive spirit would not ruin her, but would only become her driving force, making her stronger and better.

Xie Jin always guided his brothers carefully so that they could become better people, let alone his own daughter, so he naturally had to correct her with care.

After following Ye Qingzhi's advice, Xie Jin would take out specific time from his busy schedule to talk with Mingqian and guide her.

In just half a year, Mingqian's emotional problems have been basically resolved. Although she still studies hard, she also knows what is moderate and no longer strives to be the first in everything.

However, because of her hard work, she was able to get first place in most of her subjects and received praise from her teachers.

The last of the three princesses was Huo Liangyuan, born to Concubine Jing. Her name was Xie Mingcui. She was just seven years old, half a year younger than Mingqian.

Compared with Mingqian's competitiveness, Mingcui is just a lazy person. She has a very good temper, does things slowly, and is never angry at anyone. It can be said that she is very insensitive.

If you want to argue with her or criticize her, you must say it clearly. If you sound sarcastic, people won't understand you.

Concubine Jing often said that her daughter was stupid, foolish and simple-minded.

However, because she was a daughter, Concubine Jing didn't think it mattered. It didn't matter if she was a little silly. After all, she was a princess. She could marry a gentle prince consort in the future and wouldn't have to suffer bullying in her husband's family.

Generally speaking, the emperor's five children each have their own characteristics, but they are well educated and are all good children who are sensible and know etiquette.

The children are not completely close to each other, but they are united and friendly. Mingyan and Mingyu would not bully the other three siblings by relying on their status as legitimate children.

There is no mention of the three illegitimate children deliberately finding faults or even trying to frame Ming Yan and Ming Yu out of inferiority and jealousy.

Although they are very harmonious now, I don’t know whether they will fight after another ten years when they grow up.

After all, children are no longer under the control of their mothers, and sometimes even their fathers cannot control them.

Without mentioning things that happened too long ago, the top priority for Xie Jin after he ascended the throne is naturally the Yanzhao War.

When an army of 50,000 goes out to battle, there are many things to prepare. The entire court is busy working to ensure the normal supply of food and military supplies.

Xie Jin was busy with the affairs of the previous dynasty, and the Queen and Ye Qingzhi were not idle either.

Because they are moving again.

The retired emperor also moved to the royal villa to recuperate, and the more prestigious concubines also moved there. Those who had sons could choose to live in their sons' palaces.

Some people of lower status stayed in the palace to retire, just to move out of the palace.

Because the concubines had fixed palaces to live in, it was not easy for them to move around freely.

The queen moved to Kunning Palace, Ye Qingzhi moved to Qiwu Palace, and the other three concubines also lived in their own palaces.

In short, the places where people live are much more spacious, so if you want to visit someone on a daily basis, you have to walk a few more steps.

"My lady, the room has become much bigger. I will take out some of the treasures from the storeroom and put them there. Otherwise, the tables and cabinets will be bare and look ugly."

Ruyi looked around the room and excitedly asked Ye Qingzhi for instructions.

"Well, it's up to you." Ye Qingzhi waved her hand and said indifferently.

"Your Majesty, we received quite a few invitations today, all of which are about paying respects to you." Nanny Zhang also came in from outside and reported to Ye Qingzhi.

"I don't have time to meet them tomorrow. I have to go visit my mother and see her off." Ye Qingzhi said, "Let's arrange it for the day after tomorrow."

Nanny Zhang agreed and started to arrange the reply.

When it was time for dinner, Ye Qingzhi was eating when Emperor Xie Jin came to Qiwu Palace.

"Your Majesty, have you finished your government affairs? Is it time to have your meal?" Ye Qingzhi stood up to greet him. When she heard that he hadn't eaten yet, she quickly asked someone to add more bowls, chopsticks and dishes.