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

Zhaoyang came to the palace to visit Shen Wei, and the news reached the ears of the princess. The princess didn't care, as she was too busy.

There are many chores in early spring.

The fields of the palace needed to be managed, the tenants of the farm needed to be paid, the profits of the shops needed to be calculated, and the clothes of the wives and concubines needed to be taken care of in the spring. The princess rubbed her brows tiredly, looking at the account books piled on the table, and her head was splitting.

In fact, in the first few years after she married into the palace, the princess managed the palace quite well. Unfortunately, she later focused her energy on the struggle between wives and concubines and the education of her children, and became increasingly unfamiliar with these housekeeping chores.

The princess did not have any housekeepers or maids around her to help her.

"Madame Liu, send someone to deliver these to the East Chamber." The princess couldn't bear to watch this any longer, so she asked someone to deliver all the account books to the steward Fugui.

The princess returned to the Buddhist temple and continued to worship Buddha.

After a while, Nanny Liu came in and reported, "Princess, Concubine Zhou from Nanyuan wants to see you. Spring is coming, and she has made new clothes for the child, and she wants to see the child."

The princess lit a stick of incense in the shrine and thought for a while before she remembered who Concubine Zhou was. There were many concubines in the palace, and this Concubine Zhou had an ordinary family background and was a concubine after entering the palace.

Later, she was lucky enough to give birth to a son and was promoted to concubine. The son born by concubine Zhou was naturally given to the princess to raise. Every time she wanted to see the child, she had to beg the princess humbly, and nine out of ten times she was turned away.

The princess said calmly, "Spring is a good time to study. The children are taken care of by servants in the school, so they don't need any clothes."

Madam Liu walked out of the Buddhist hall and came to the gate of Kunyu Courtyard. She said to the thin and withered woman, "The princess is very busy, Master Zhou, please go back first."

Concubine Zhou knelt on the ground, grabbed Madam Liu's sleeve, and burst into tears: "Madam Liu, please let me see the princess. Chengming is not in good health and always coughs in spring. There are many willow catkins in the school. What if he coughs and inhales the catkins? What should I do?"

The son born to Zhou's concubine was named Li Chengming. The child was only five years old and had always been in poor health.

She begged desperately, but Madam Liu remained unmoved: "In the academy, each young master has servants to take good care of them, and there are learned teachers to guide their studies. Master Zhou, please don't worry."

Nanny Liu turned and walked into the yard, and heard Concubine Zhou's suppressed crying behind her.

In the Buddhist temple, there is a lot of incense burning in front of the compassionate Buddha statue.

The princess replaced the water in the vase of the Buddhist shrine and asked Aunt Liu, "I heard that the prince postponed the full moon banquet for Shen's daughter?"

Madam Liu said, "That's right. It must be that Shen was reluctant to part with her child, so she begged the prince to delay the date of the full moon banquet. Master, delaying the full moon banquet is really against the rules."

The princess laughed sarcastically: "No problem, I can wait."

If Shen Wei gave birth to a son, the princess would definitely take the child away when he was one month old.

But Shen Wei was unlucky and gave birth to a daughter. Shen Wei wanted to keep the child with her for a few more days, and the princess was not angry.

The princess even felt secretly happy. Shen Wei was almost the exclusive favorite of the King of Yan, and she enjoyed unlimited glory, but in the end she only gave birth to a useless daughter, which was really laughable.

After a while, mother and daughter were separated. If Shen Wei wanted to see her daughter, she had to go to her house and beg for mercy. Thinking of that happy scene, the princess smiled.

So what if you are favored?

After all, I am a concubine.

-

East Palace.

The prince handed the border document to the King of Yan: "The border has temporarily ceased fighting. General Shen is stationed in Liangzhou. Shangguan Xuan wrote a letter, hoping to return to Yanjing for a short stay in the second half of the year and return to the border next year."

King Yan nodded: "Yes."

The two chatted about official business for a while, and then the little girl's sweet voice came from outside the study: "Father, Wan'er brought sweet soup to you and Second Uncle!"

The prince's daughter trotted in, with a maid behind her holding two bowls of sweet soup.

Wan'er was wearing a pink spring dress, with beautiful double buns, a chubby face, and her embroidered boots made thumping sounds on the floor. She handed the prince a bowl of sweet soup first, and said in a soft voice, "Father, drink first."

Then Wan'er handed King Yan a bowl of sweet soup and said with a smile, "Uncle, drink too."

King Yan took it, looked up at the cute little girl in front of him, and suddenly thought of the child Shen Wei gave birth to. In a few years, his daughter will definitely be cuter than Wan'er.

"Father and second uncle have worked hard! Wan'er won't disturb you anymore. I'm going to go play with my sister Nanzhi." Wan'er skipped away, her back looking like a lovely butterfly.

The prince drank two sips of the sweet soup and said: "It tastes very good."

King Yan took a sip and frowned: "It's too sweet, brother, how can you drink it?"

The prince smiled but said nothing.

Drinking sweet soup, the two continued to discuss the Spring Examination. This year, there were many candidates participating in the Spring Examination, and the Ministry of Rites had to review the papers for a longer time and the standards for selecting talents were stricter.

The crown prince told the king of Yan: "Yuan Jing, the candidates selected in this spring's imperial examination will be your bargaining chips in the future. You must recruit them as soon as possible and appoint people based on their merits, regardless of their background."

King Yan nodded: "Brother, I know."

This year, there are many candidates taking part in the Spring Examination, so the list will be released later. The King of Yan has already investigated and found that Shen Wei's younger brother Shen Xiuming did well in the exam and should be on the list.

The Prince of Yan simply postponed his daughter's full moon banquet and waited until the list of the Spring Examination and the Palace Examination was released before celebrating together.

The Prince of Yan was busy until dusk, and then he left the Eastern Palace. The dark and gorgeous carriage of the Prince of Yan's Palace drove on the prosperous streets of Yanjing.

A small vendor selling rattles on the roadside was enthusiastically soliciting customers: "Look, look! Rattles, children's favorite rattles!"

Unexpectedly, a dark carriage blocked his stall.

The BMW was pulling, its mane was black and shiny. The carriage was luxurious, with dark black curtains blocking out the light. On both sides of the carriage were four sword-wielding guards, strong and murderous.

The street vendors were trembling with fear.

The man riding in such a luxurious carriage must be a well-known male figure in Yanjing. The one standing in front of his stall must not be buying anything. After all, he has been running the stall for many years, and his customers are almost all women and children.

The vendor trembled with fear, and bowed to a guard beside the carriage, shaking his legs: "Gentlemen... I have not committed any crime... I don't know, I don't know why you are standing in front of me?"

The black curtain opened a crack.

A bony hand stretched out.

The finger points to a colorfully painted carp rattle on the shelf.

The guard took out his purse and said, "My master bought this rattle."

Street vendor: ...

The vendor took down the beautiful rattle with shaking hands. He took the money from the guard with shaking hands. When the vendor looked up again, the magnificent carriage had already rolled across the wide road and sped away.

Prince Yan strode back to the palace with his newly bought rattle.

In the Glazed Pavilion, Shen Wei was leaning on a soft couch, selecting fabrics for a new dress to be made in spring, while Cai Lian and Cai Ping were playing with the children beside her. The Prince of Yan strode in, and the maid stepped aside tactfully. Shen Wei looked up in surprise: "My Lord, you are back - what's in your hand?"

Prince Yan couldn't wait to get to the cradle.

When the baby saw King Yan, he immediately danced with excitement, stretched out his two chubby white hands, and babbled, as if saying hello to the King.

King Yan's heart melted.

After a busy day, the fatigue that had accumulated on King Yan disappeared.