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

...

Early the next morning, Prince Yan came to Fangfei Garden before attending court and specially accompanied Shen Wei for breakfast.

Shen Wei is now in great favor, and she just sacrificed herself to protect the King of Yan from an assassin. The servants of the palace curry favor with the king, and all kinds of good things are sent to Fangfei Garden. The breakfast at Fangfei Garden is naturally exquisite and delicious.

On the small dining table, there were shrimp and chicken porridge that had been cooked for a long time, pigeon and kelp soup that replenished the blood and nourished the spirit, stir-fried vegetables, and so on.

Shen Wei's left arm was injured and she couldn't hold the bowl, so she could only hold the spoon with her right hand and lower her head to drink the porridge. King Yan picked up the porridge bowl, stirred the small porcelain spoon, and personally fed Shen Wei the porridge.

Shen Wei's pretty face flushed, and she pursed her lips slightly, as if she was shy: "Your Majesty, there is no need to trouble you with such a small matter, just let Cai Ping do it."

King Yan smiled indulgently: "Be obedient and open your mouth."

Shen Wei opened her mouth silently.

After a bowl of porridge, Shen Wei said she was full. It was almost time for the King of Yan to go to court, so he stood up and prepared to leave Fangfei Garden.

Before leaving, King Yan walked around his vegetable garden twice.

He planted the seedlings himself two months ago. Now the vegetable garden is full of vitality. The Chinese cabbage and radish seedlings are growing very well. The eggplants, peppers and tomatoes have already bloomed and will soon bear fruit.

The King of Yan was satisfied and put on his court clothes to go to court.

After King Yan left, Shen Wei drank another bowl of porridge and ate half a plate of stewed pigeon. She was still thin and needed to gain weight.

After eating and drinking, Shen Wei walked slowly in the yard to digest the food and checked the decoration of Fangfei Garden. As the weather was getting hotter and summer was coming, the overall style of the yard should also be inclined to summer.

"Master, the princess is here!" Caiping trotted over to remind him.

Shen Wei raised her slender eyebrows slightly, and brought the maids, eunuchs and nannies of Fangfei Garden to greet them respectfully at the gate of Fangfei Garden.

A princess who holds a high position rarely comes to the shabby courtyard where concubines live, which is inconsistent with her status.

But Shen Wei risked her life to save the Prince of Yan yesterday, and the news had spread all over Yanjing, with everyone praising Shen Wei's courage. As the principal wife of the Prince of Yan's mansion, the princess had to come and visit Shen Wei in person.

At least the superficial etiquette should be in place.

The courtyard where the concubines lived was in the most remote southwest corner of the palace. Along the way, there were dilapidated flowers, plants and trees, and moss covered the old eaves.

The princess covered her nose, she really didn't want to step into this dirty place. After walking for a while, the princess and her group arrived at Fangfei Garden.

When the princess saw the beautiful little courtyard, she almost thought she was seeing things. The walls of Fangfei Garden had been completely renovated, with beautiful lotus leaves and lotus flowers painted on them, and pink crape myrtles poking out from the top of the walls.

There were two lovely lanterns hanging on the eaves of Fangfei Garden. The ground under the eaves was covered with some fluffy green grass. Shen Wei, wearing a light yellow Luo skirt, stood at the entrance of Fangfei Garden in a charming manner. The spring breeze blew, and she looked like a fairy in a painting.

The princess was a little surprised.

She originally thought that the decoration of the yard where Shen Wei lived was ordinary, but she didn't expect that Shen Wei would decorate it so exquisitely.

"Greetings to the princess." Shen Wei and the maids and eunuchs paid their respects.

The princess walked into Fangfei Garden without changing her expression.

The scenery in the yard surprised the princess even more. It was like a small fairyland. There were crape myrtle trees planted on the edge of the yard, bougainvillea in full bloom below, the grass was green, and there was a winding path paved with pebbles in the middle, which circled the entire yard.

There is a small vegetable garden not far away, eggplants are blooming and crops are growing vigorously. The lotus leaves in the pond are green and lush, and the little lotus leaves are just beginning to show their tips before summer.

The entire Fangfei Garden exudes a vigorous vitality, which is incompatible with the gloomy and rigid palace.

"Shen Wei, it's really rare that you risked your life to save the prince." The princess clapped her hands, and a dozen maids came over with trays and stood in two rows.

The tray was filled with jewelry, pearls, jade, silk, satin, gold and silver.

Shen Wei's heart was pounding when she saw this. Money, money, money, so much money!

The princess slowly said, "When my mother learned that you risked your life to save the prince, she sent someone to give you a hundred taels of gold and a hundred-year-old ginseng to reward you for your contribution. Princess Zhaoyang gave you ten rolls of silk. I also gave you two boxes of pearls and two pairs of jade bracelets."

Shen Wei was deeply terrified and quickly bowed to express her gratitude.

Aunt Rong took Cailian and Caiping, took the reward of jewelry, gold and silver, and put them into Shen Wei's personal treasury.

The princess asked about his health and then said, "The most important thing is to take good care of yourself and give birth to children for the prince as soon as possible."

Shen Wei's body moved slightly, she smiled bitterly and lowered her head: "Replying to the princess, of course I want to give birth to a child for the prince, but...but I am unlucky and have not been able to get pregnant so far."

She had been in favor for two months and had avoided getting pregnant by drinking contraceptive soup.

Otherwise, with the terrifying frequency of King Yan doing it seven times that night and with such long-lasting power, Shen Wei would have been pregnant long ago.

But Shen Wei pretended not to know about the contraceptive soup.

A flash of pity flashed across the princess' eyes. The poor woman didn't even know that the man beside her had secretly replaced her body-replenishing medicine with contraceptive soup.

The prince is a cold-hearted person after all.

Even though Shen Wei was full of love for the prince, he only treated her as a bed warmer.

"You should take good care of your injuries." The princess didn't want to stay any longer and prepared to leave.

Shen Wei respectfully saw the God of Wealth off.

The princess left with her maid and the old nanny, and turned around at the corner. She looked at Shen Wei standing at the door, and seemed to see her once energetic self.

Unfortunately, time later smoothed out his edges and determination.

Nanny Liu followed behind the princess and whispered, "Princess, Zhang Yue from the side courtyard has recovered from her injuries and can serve the prince."

Zhang Yue was also very tenacious. He was hit by dozens of sticks, but he recovered unexpectedly so quickly.

The princess said calmly, "Promote Zhang Yue as a concubine and grant her a place to live - the Rose Garden next to the Fangfei Garden is still vacant, let Zhang Yue move in."

Now that new people have arrived, it’s time for Shen Wei, the old one, to slowly leave the stage.

The princess had been married to the Prince of Yan for ten years, so she naturally knew how fickle the man beside her could be. The Prince of Yan's love was time-limited, and no woman would be an exception to the Prince of Yan's.

...

Shen Wei received a large amount of rewards, and she happily counted the gold, silver and jewelry. Her own small treasury became more and more abundant.

Of course, as an excellent boss, Shen Wei is well aware of the principle of "If you become rich and powerful, don't forget your friends."

She called over Aunt Rong, Cailian, Caiping, Jixiang and Deshun.

Shen Wei gave Rong Mama twenty taels of silver. Rong Mama was old and had worked hard. She was responsible for managing the maids and eunuchs every day, completing the tasks assigned by Shen Wei on time and teaching Shen Wei etiquette. She deserved a bonus of twenty taels.

"Thank you, master!" Aunt Rong burst into tears of gratitude.

Shen Wei smiled and said, "Madam, you have been working hard recently. I will cut a small piece of this hundred-year-old ginseng and give it to you. Cut a little bit every day and soak it in water to drink. It will nourish your spleen and lungs."

Rong Mama's eyes were filled with tears.

The 100-year-old ginseng gifted by the Empress was naturally extremely valuable. Even a single ginseng root was a precious medicine. The master generously gave her half of the ginseng, which was really... really touching.

Shen Wei gave Cai Ping and Cai Lian 15 taels of silver each and said, "Your clothes are old. Pick out a piece of cloth from the storehouse later. Summer is coming, and it's time to make new clothes."

Cai Lian and Cai Ping kowtowed repeatedly.

Fifteen taels of silver was more than their annual salary. The master not only generously rewarded them with silver, but also gave them precious cloth.

Where can I find such a generous master?

As for Jixiang and Deshun, these two eunuchs were quiet and hardworking. Shen Wei's courtyard could be successfully renovated in a short time, thanks to these two hardworking eunuchs.

Shen Wei rewarded each of them with 15 taels of silver and gave them some precious spices. Eunuchs were all castrated and always had a faint smell of stench, so they liked to use spices to cover up the stench.

What they needed most were the finest spices, but good spices were expensive and they could not afford them with their meager monthly silver.

Shen Wei’s reward was just right.

Shen Wei knew that the best way to make employees work wholeheartedly was to give them money.

In modern society, many company bosses always talk about asking employees to contribute, make big promises every day, but do not raise wages or provide overtime pay. Over time, employees complain and leave one after another.

Shen Wei is a good boss, sharing the good and the bad. When Shen Wei eats a bite of meat, Cai Lian and Cai Ping drink a bite of soup.

"Okay, you guys go and get busy." Shen Wei asked the maids and eunuchs to leave, leaving Cailian to serve her.

Shen Wei took a sip of the newly acquired Biluochun tea, and the rich tea aroma spread in her mouth. She narrowed her eyes and said to Cailian, "Cailian, go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ask for a set of four treasures of the study."

Cai Lian gladly accepted the order.

She was very efficient and quickly brought the pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

After Shen Wei finished practicing Ba Duan Jin in the afternoon, she looked up at the sunset in the sky and guessed that the King of Yan would come to her place to rest again tonight. So Shen Wei spread out the brush and ink, ground the ink herself, and started writing with the brush in her hand.

When the King of Yan finished his official duties, he walked into Fangfei Garden in the golden sunset. He did not let Cailian inform him, but walked straight into the house.

What caught my eye was the scene of Shen Wei sitting at a small desk by the window, writing.

Shen Wei's profile is very nice, and her straight nose has ink stains on it, making her look like a little cat. There are some rice papers piled up on the table, with dense ink stains on them.

I am practicing calligraphy in the small window.

There was a kind of happiness of a peaceful and quiet life. The fatigue accumulated by Prince Yan from being busy with official duties during the day disappeared when he saw Shen Wei.

"Your arm injury hasn't healed yet, what are you doing?" King Yan's voice was as deep as wine and floated into Shen Wei's ears.