Don't be a salted fish, the daily life of the concubine in the palace

Liu Ruyan's eyes were red, and she stared at the snow-white bed curtains numbly, her beautiful face full of sadness: "Lan Yin Xu Guo, who is deeply in love with me now..."

They were once a loving couple, but ultimately they could not withstand the passage of time.

Now the Prince of Yan has found a new lover, leaving her alone, a heartbroken woman, feeling sorry for herself. Just for a few pieces of cake, the Prince left her.

"Xuemei, throw away the scones." Liu Ruyan ordered in a muffled voice, burying herself deeply in the quilt.

Xuemei walked silently to the table, took away the lonely pieces of plum blossom pancakes, brought them outside, and ate them with relish.

Xuemei ate the delicious plum blossom pancakes, looked at the falling snow, and wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes helplessly.

If she were honest, Xuemei had tried her best to secure an opportunity for Liu Ruyan and Prince Yan to stay in the same room.

Today, Liu Ruyan fainted due to a cold. Xuemei asked the maid in the yard to call the palace doctor while running to the Glazed Pavilion to ask King Yan. As long as Liu Ruyan was submissive and acted coquettishly, King Yan would definitely rekindle his old relationship with Liu Ruyan for the sake of their past friendship.

Unfortunately, the master was not up to the task, and the cooked duck flew away. King Yan's patience with Liu Ruyan was gradually worn out.

Xuemei wiped her tears and looked up at the dark sky. When would these sad and miserable days end?

...

The young eunuch held an umbrella, and Prince Yan, full of anger, turned and walked towards the Liuli Pavilion.

Halfway through the journey, King Yan suddenly heard the little girl sobbing softly.

On the snow-covered stone road beside the wall, the soft light of the lanterns dispelled the darkness. Li Yao was holding a bright little lantern in her hand, wearing a pink cloak, and crying as she walked.

The old nanny beside him kept comforting him: "Young master, don't be sad. The princess didn't abandon you, she just spoke a little harshly."

Li Yao sobbed: "Mother called Yao'er an ungrateful wolf... Wuuwuwu, mother Yao'er is not a wolf, wuuwuwu..."

Seeing Li Yao's tearful appearance, the old nanny's heart ached. She bent down and wiped Li Yao's tears: "Young master, don't cry first. It's cold outside. I will carry you back to the yard--"

Before she finished speaking, a cold voice came from behind the old lady: "Yao'er, why are you crying?"

Li Yao was stunned for a moment, then raised her little head blankly.

There were lanterns hanging on the eaves of the courtyard, the light was warm and bright, and the tall and majestic figure of King Yan came into view.

Li Yao cried loudly and threw herself into the arms of King Yan: "Father, Yao'er is not a wolf..."

It turned out that Li Yao sympathized with the concubines who had frozen to death in the southwest courtyard. She mustered up the courage to go to the princess tonight and asked her to light some charcoal for the concubines to survive the winter.

The princess was furious and scolded Li Yao severely. Li Yao was scolded and driven out of the princess's yard. On the way back, Li Yao cried in grievance.

Li Yao cried, "Father, those concubines don't have charcoal fire in winter, they are so pitiful..."

Prince Yan's eyes grew colder.

The Prince of Yan has always adhered to the life view of "men are responsible for external affairs, women are responsible for internal affairs". He assumes the responsibilities of a prince, plans and calculates all matters of the court, and works hard for the national economy and people's livelihood. The Prince of Yan has no time to worry about trivial matters in the harem, so he leaves the harem to the mistress, the princess.

It is the princess's duty to distribute charcoal-coated cotton clothes to the concubines in winter.

Unexpectedly, the princess forgot her duties again. This was not the first or second time she had failed in her duties.

If the Censorate knew about this, memorials impeaching Prince Yan would probably pile up on the emperor's desk like snowflakes.

"Yao'er, go back to the house and have a rest first. I will discuss the matter of the charcoal fire with your mother." King Yan brushed the snow off Li Yao's little shoulders.

Li Yao nodded obediently and looked at King Yan eagerly: "Then Yao'er will go back first. Father, you should go to bed early after you finish your work."

The old nanny took Li Yao away.

It was late at night and the snow was still falling.

The Prince of Yan rubbed his brows tiredly. He was very sleepy and just wanted to go back to bed and take a nap. But unfortunately, things happened in the harem one after another, disturbing his peace.

The King of Yan ordered the eunuch beside him: "Go tell the princess to provide charcoal fire to the concubines in the backyard on time during the winter."

The young eunuch was about to leave when the King of Yan suddenly said, "Forget it, I'll go there myself."

...

Late at night, snowflakes fell silently, and the study was brightly lit, warm and comfortable.

The princess did not fall asleep.

She was accompanying her two sons to study at night. In winter, the Imperial Academy held an important winter exam. The princess hoped that her two sons could rank first among the students of the same age.

"Mother, I'm worried about my sister." The eldest son Li Chengke held the brush, worried.

Just now, the princess scolded Li Yao, and Li Yao ran away crying. It was snowing heavily at night, and Li Chengke was worried that something had happened to Li Yao.

The princess said in an unhappy tone: "Yao'er has Nanny to take care of her, why are you worried? Finish writing this policy paper first and give it to Dr. Sun for review tomorrow."

Li Chengke pursed his lips, suppressed the drowsiness that was surging in his mind, and forced himself to continue writing.

Nanny Liu hurried into the room and whispered in the princess's ear, "Princess, the prince is here."

The princess was puzzled.

As winter came, the prince came to the princess's place only a few times. He only came once or twice to talk about rigid official business and rarely stayed overnight.

Why did the King of Yan come tonight? Is he concerned about his child's winter exam?

The princess suppressed her doubts and hurriedly took Madam Liu to the gate of the courtyard to greet them. Snowflakes fell one after another, and Prince Yan walked into the courtyard with a chill on his body. He saw the brightly lit study and two children who were studying hard.

The three old maids sent by the queen to take care of the children were standing at the door of the study, their eyes full of worry. The old maids and the princess usually targeted each other. The old maids wanted to teach the two young masters in the right way, but were often stopped by the princess.

King Yan closed his eyes and said coldly, "Come here, take Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen back to the house to rest."

The old nanny gladly accepted the order and happily took Li Chengke and Li Chengzhen out of the study.

The two children timidly greeted the King of Yan, lowered their heads, and left without saying a word. They had always been more afraid of the King of Yan than respecting him.

The princess frowned and said, "Your Majesty, there is a big exam in the Imperial College in winter."

Prince Yan no longer had the heart to reason with the princess.

Over the years, the Prince of Yan has repeatedly blamed the princess for dereliction of duty, but every time the princess just listened with one ear and let it go with the other.

There is no use in talking more.

The princess would not listen to anyone, she only thought her own opinion was correct.

The Prince of Yan cast a cold gaze on the princess and said harshly, "If another concubine in the southwest courtyard freezes to death, you will no longer be the mistress."