Professional Ethics of a Concubine

"Mother is telling you, there is no possibility for your sister and Xie Niankang to be together. You are not allowed to mention Xie Niankang in front of your sister anymore!"

The queen made it clear directly, fearing that she would not explain it clearly and her son, who was still not yet enlightened, would not understand.

Mingyu, “???!!”

Even though the Queen pointed it out, Mingyu still had a puzzled look on her face. After a while, she said in surprise,

"Sister wants Brother Kang to be her husband."

Queen,...

Now you know.

Mingyu scratched his head, thought for a while, frowned and said in distress, "It seems that it doesn't work. It feels difficult to talk when the two of them are together."

Seeing her son analyzing the matter seriously, the queen couldn't help but laugh and disparage him, "What do you know? Don't think about it anymore. Just be careful not to mention him in front of your sister in the future."

Mingyu couldn't help but curl her lips when she heard her mother's words.

Just now I was disliking him for not understanding, but now that he understands and wants to think about it, I dislike him for daydreaming again.

Mingyu said that it was too difficult for him.

He really doesn't want to get involved in adult matters.

-

Mingyan's coming-of-age ceremony was very grand, and the court officials and ladies had all expected it, after all, Mingyan's status was there.

It's normal for a coming-of-age ceremony to be any grand one.

However, to everyone's surprise, the emperor actually issued an imperial decree at Mingyan's coming-of-age ceremony, officially naming Mingyan the Crown Princess.

This, this... Although it was expected, but, isn't it too early to decide on the position of crown prince? !

How come the eldest prince below is also the eldest son? He hasn't even grown up yet, but he's already been surpassed by the eldest princess?

After the coming-of-age ceremony, some court officials immediately used this as an excuse to hope that the emperor would revoke his decision, reconsider it, and formally appoint a crown prince after five or six years.

The Emperor is in his prime, strong and wise, but he doesn't have many children. He should wait for the Imperial Concubine to give birth to a few more.

In short, the crown prince has now been determined, and she is a crown princess. Many court officials cannot accept raising the status of women to such a high level.

When the emperor saw such memorials, he would suppress them without approving them or responding, which showed that he did not want to change his attitude.

However, this attitude could not suppress the determination of those conservatives who wanted to fight against the emperor.

When they were asked to serve under the empress in the future, they felt that something was not right.

For a time, the usually peaceful court became turbulent because of the issue of making Mingyan the Crown Princess.

After hearing about the disputes in the court, the queen became very worried, so she ran to Ye Qingzhi to ask her for advice.

"Qingzhi, those old ministers are making a lot of noise. What should we do if Mingyan cannot win the support of the people after she becomes the Crown Princess?"

"My lady, don't worry." Ye Qingzhi smiled and shook her head.

"All of this is within the emperor's expectations. For Mingyan, this is just a small challenge for her."

"Okay then." The queen sighed. Although she had expected this, she was still a little dazed when it really happened.

As a result of all this, the daughter really inherited the throne.

"Mingyan is still young, and the emperor is young too. Why make her the crown princess so early?" The queen couldn't help but complain again.

She still felt that she was putting too much pressure on her daughter.

After the throne was demystified, the queen only felt sorry for the hard work her daughter had to do and no longer focused on the rights she would gain.

"Establishing the position of Crown Princess is a challenge for Ming Yan, but it also brings many benefits. First and foremost, she can formally form her own team and train her own subordinates and officials, which is very important for her to participate in the governance."

Ye Qingzhi said with a smile,

"Let me talk about another benefit that the Empress is most concerned about. After Mingyan's status as the Crown Princess is established, when she is selecting outstanding men for Mingyan, she will no longer be selecting a consort, but a future imperial husband. This status has been upgraded quite a bit.

Your Majesty, just wait and see. In the next one or two years, the mistresses of families who intend to have their sons run for the title of Emperor will definitely come to you frequently to show off their knowledge.”

The Queen was so busy worrying about her daughter's unstable status as Crown Princess that she ignored this issue.

At this moment, hearing Ye Qingzhi's reminder, she couldn't help but clapped her hands, "That's the truth!"

To the emperor's family, that is definitely more favor than the prince consort's.

Of course, in order to stabilize the government and prevent the emperor from seizing power, the emperor’s rights to participate in politics should be more strictly restricted.

This also solves many new problems.

"Qingzhi, you are good at judging people. You have to help Mingyan choose a husband." The queen said immediately.

"Your Majesty, I will naturally give you advice, but the attitude of the Emperor and Mingyan is more important. Even you should stand back."

Ye Qingzhi spoke.

"Ah, it is true." The Queen sighed and complained a little, "I just followed her and did nothing else."

"People are always messing around." Ye Qingzhi smiled and comforted her, "Why bother to be so serious? If you don't mess around, they won't be used to it. They will definitely come running to you and ask if you are dissatisfied with something."

The queen was amused by her words, and after careful consideration, she felt that this was the case, "Then I will continue to toss and turn."

-

Ye Qingzhi felt that the years passed by very quickly.

Before we knew it, snowflakes were falling from the sky again, it was the twelfth lunar month again, and another year had passed.

Every year, the New Year’s Eve dinner in the palace became more and more lively, but people could never get together.

Last year things were better. The Prince of Chu, the Prince of Duan, the Prince of Qi, the Prince of Ying were all there. The Empress was there, the Emperor Retired was there too. All the members of the Xie royal family were there, so it was a reunion.

But this year is a bit outrageous. Except for Prince Ying who is in the capital all year round, the Prince of Chu, Prince of Duan, Prince of Qi, and the retired emperor are all gone.

Let’s talk about the emperor first. He did not go to the Kingdom of Gulan, but traveled to the south to see the scenery of the State of Chu. During the Chinese New Year, he went to celebrate the New Year with his sister, the eldest princess.

The King of Chu is still in the Dongyi Kingdom and cannot come back for a while. The King of Qi and the King of Duan are also on the way and cannot come back.

Even Prince Su and his companions were not here. They had gone out for fun and would not be returning to the palace to celebrate the New Year.

"This year's New Year's Eve dinner is too lonely." The Queen also complained to Ye Qingzhi, "Without Prince Duan and the others, it's a lot less interesting. It really becomes like a family dinner for us."

Ye Qingzhi nodded and sighed, "Everyone is a busy person. However, the journey is too time-consuming and we can't make it back in time."

When the railway system is completed, even if we are scattered all over the world, we can still come back and reunite during the Chinese New Year."

"I really want to see how amazing the railway system you are talking about is." said the Queen longingly.

"I heard from the Emperor that it will be soon. We can start laying tracks outside Beijing next year." Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.

The Queen nodded expectantly.

-

The third year of Qiansheng.

For the people of Da Zhao, this is a magical year and a year of epoch-making significance.

Because the steam engine was invented, railways began to be laid.

For ordinary people, the railway made up of sections of rails is like a steel monster, which makes them feel afraid.

What is the imperial court building? How can carriages pass through this road?

They can't understand!

Even if the imperial court gave them relevant knowledge and explained to them that it was a railway and a means of transportation, they still could not understand and could not imagine it.

The legend of this giant railway beast spread and became a new horror folk tale.

Ye Qingzhi was amused when she heard these stories, and praised them, "The imagination of the people is richer than we think."

"We still need to popularize education. This is a symbol of ignorance." Xie Jin shook his head and said to Ye Qingzhi,

“Compulsory education should be gradually popularized. The rulers in the past thought that keeping the people ignorant was more conducive to their rule, because as long as they were given something to eat, they would not rebel.

However, their approach is not very smart and it restricts the progress and development of society.”

Ye Qingzhi looked at Xie Jin and for the first time began to seriously consider a question: who among the two of them had traveled through time.

Leaders who study with books every day are not looking at the world with open eyes, but looking at the world by standing on the shoulders of giants.

In terms of the book education he received, he asked Feng Yuxi to exchange a lot of books for him, and after two years of hard study, he is no different from a modern person like himself.

Especially in the study of various historical books, including world history, well... she definitely can't compare to him.

Ye Qingzhi felt that there was really nothing more she could teach her leader, and she could finally retire after accomplishing her mission.

Xie Jin thought for a while, turned his head to look at her, and found that she was also holding her chin in a daze, so he smiled and poked her cheek.

"What are you thinking about, qingqing?"

"It's always good to be prepared for danger in times of peace." Ye Qingzhi said, "I'm wondering if I should learn a new skill or something."

"Oh? Qingqing, why are you thinking about making progress?" Xie Jin asked her with a smile.

"It's because the emperor has put too much pressure on me." Ye Qingzhi said half-truthfully.

"I'm not worried. I know almost as much as the emperor now. In the future, I will be useless as the emperor's teacher and will be disliked by the emperor again."

"Of course I won't dislike you." Xie Jin immediately hugged her in his arms and said to her,

"However, I think it would be a good idea for you to learn more. First, it can help you kill time, and second, it can enrich yourself. It may be useful in the future."

Ye Qingzhi nodded thoughtfully.

After traveling through time for so long, alarm bells rang in Ye Qingzhi's mind for the first time. She had an inexplicable sense of crisis that made her unable to lie down with peace of mind.

She couldn't explain clearly what this feeling was. If she was worried that Xie Jin would despise her and think she was useless, which would make her uncomfortable, then maybe that was the case, but it was definitely not the main reason.

"Then what do you want to learn?" Xie Jin didn't notice anything wrong, but thought her ambition was funny, so he asked her with a smile.

"I don't know." Ye Qingzhi shook her head, stared at Xie Jin for a long time, and finally lay down on the bed.

"Forget it, I'd better lie down."

Xie Jin, ...

This sudden desire to improve oneself is gone just like that?