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

"They only work for money. What a bunch of vulgar slaves." Liu Ruyan shook her head.

The eunuch who was delivering dishes from the imperial kitchen pursed his lips silently, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

The imperial kitchen had set daily dishes. If a concubine wanted to add a dish, she would need to purchase additional ingredients and have the cook work overtime. There was no such thing as a free lunch, so of course the concubine had to pay.

Liu Ruyan did not enjoy her lunch very much.

In the afternoon, the Clothing Bureau delivered winter cloth to the masters of each palace. Liu Ruyan looked at the gaudy red and green cloths and felt even more uncomfortable.

She asked, "Why is there no Su Yunjin?"

The palace servant from the clothing department replied, "Suyun brocade costs fifty taels of silver per foot, which is expensive and does not keep you warm, so it was removed from the list."

The palace maid from the Clothing Bureau left three pieces of brightly colored cloth and left.

Liu Ruyan bit the corner of her lip lightly, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her eyes.

In the next few days, Liu Ruyan felt as if she had lice and felt unwell all over. The courtyard was empty, without a single blade of grass growing; the writing brushes, inkstones, and paper in the study were all replaced with the same style as those of other concubines; even the clothes and bedding in her bedroom were changed to the red, green, and purple colors that she didn't like.

This was torture for Liu Ruyan. She had always felt that she was the most unique woman in the palace, like a plum blossom in winter, unique and special.

The fact that her food, clothing and other necessities had to become the same as everyone else made her feel her self-esteem was trampled upon.

The maids and eunuchs in Yuxiu Palace were all very uncaring and perfunctory. Xuemei was a lesson learned from the past, and the palace maids took it as a warning and did not dare to open their hearts to Liu Ruyan.

Liu Ruyan had no choice but to condescend to write a letter to Liu's parents, hoping that they would send some rice paper and silver-white cloth. But the letter fell into oblivion, and the Liu family ignored her.

Liu Ruyan, who is indifferent to the worldly affairs, is surrounded by the worldly smell of money for the first time.

She really couldn't stand it.

The sky cleared up that day, and at noon the imperial kitchen sent over four dishes and a soup, including a steaming hot delicious braised pork elbow. When Liu Ruyan saw the greasy pork elbow, she put down her chopsticks in disgust.

She thought for a long time, and finally put aside her high self-esteem and went to Chang'an Palace to ask for an audience with Li Yuanjing. She wanted to complain to Li Yuanjing about Shen Wei's targeted and harsh treatment. She ended up like this, all because of Shen Wei.

On his day off, Li Yuanjing did not handle government affairs in the Chang'an Palace, but took his two sons to the training ground to ride horses.

"Empress Mei, please follow me into the training ground." Eunuch Deshun obtained Li Yuanjing's permission and took Concubine Mei into the training ground in the palace.

It snowed last night, and a layer of snow accumulated on the training ground. Li Chengyou was wearing a thick riding suit and a cute tiger-skin hat. He was holding the reins in his chubby hands and riding a pony in the training ground.

"drive!"

Li Chengyou looked imposing, his small body sitting firmly on the pony, his eyes sparkling.

After riding around ten times, Li Chengyou pulled the reins skillfully. The pony was naughty and deliberately raised its front hooves, causing Li Chengyou to fall off the horse's back with a thud and roll in the snow.

"Brother!" Li Chengtai was shocked.

But Li Chengyou climbed up from the snow swiftly as if nothing had happened, spit out the snow in his mouth, and smiled broadly at his father and brother: "I'm fine! I'm used to falling!"

Li Chengyou ran back to the tent, took the hot tea handed to him by his brother, and drank half of the cup in one gulp.

Li Yuanjing patted his son's head and said, "Your horsemanship is good. You are quite like your father in his youth."

Li Chengyou raised his little chin and said proudly, "Of course, my mother said that a good father will have a good son."

Li Yuanjing laughed heartily.

When Liu Ruyan arrived at the training ground, she happened to see this loving father and filial son scene. Li Yuanjing laughed out loud, and the two strong little boys also laughed.

Liu Ruyan hid the sadness in her eyes.

The emperor had time to ride horses with his children, but he had no time to visit her Yuxiu Palace.

Liu Ruyan felt heartbroken.

"I pay my respects to His Majesty." Liu Ruyan bent her knees slightly, with a bit of grievance in her eyes. She had never asked Li Yuanjing for anything on her own initiative, and this was the first time she put aside her pride and self-esteem and took the initiative to step forward.

She felt a little humiliated.

Brothers Li Chengtai and Li Chengyou looked at each other and greeted, "Hello, Madam Mei."

Liu Ruyan ignored the two princes.

Li Yuanjing raised his eyes and glanced at her. It was very cold after the snow. Liu Ruyan wore a thin silver long gown, with her long hair tied up lightly and a white jade plum blossom hairpin in her hair, looking like a beautiful woman carved out of ice.

It looks cold.

Li Yuanjing frowned and asked, "Did the clothing bureau withhold fabric? You are wearing so little."

Liu Ruyan's nose was slightly sour, and the grievance in her heart quickly expanded, turning into a surging ocean that filled her heart. She had tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, if you still remember the little bit of love you had for me, please make the decision and help Ruyan."

Li Chengtai frowned slightly. He was always very perceptive and knew that the adults wanted to talk about the harem. So he took his brother's hand and said to Li Yuanjing, "Father, I will take my brother to go horseback riding."

Li Yuanjing nodded.

Lee Seung-tae took his brother to the horse farm. Lee Seung-woo had just finished a glass of water and his butt wasn't even warm yet, and he was full of questions: "Going horseback riding again? But I've been riding for a long time today..."

Li Chengtai did not give his brother a chance to refute, and returned to the stable with a cold face. After sending his brother to a pony, Li Chengtai ran back on tiptoe and hid behind the tent to eavesdrop.

In the tent, Liu Ruyan was in tears and accused Shen Wei of targeting her everywhere.

Li Yuanjing was immediately overwhelmed and asked, "Weiwei is respected as the imperial concubine. You avoided her and didn't greet her. This is really against the rules."

Liu Ruyan's tears fell, and she said disappointedly: "Your Majesty, even you are partial to the imperial concubine?"

Li Yuanjing: ...

There is nothing to say!

Li Yuanjing rubbed his brows. Thinking of their past relationship, he tried to reason with Liu Ruyan: "Among all the concubines in the harem, except the Queen Mother and Concubine Chen, your palace has the highest expenses. It is in accordance with the rules to replace the food and clothing expenses in your palace with the standards of a concubine."

The brightly colored fabrics sent to Yuxiu Palace were warmer than the original white fabrics and more suitable for making clothes in winter. But did Liu Ruyan think that sending warmer fabrics from the Shangyi Bureau was torture?

Liu Ruyan was extremely disappointed: "Your Majesty, are you going to watch me being tortured?"

Li Yuanjing was speechless.

Liu Ruyan was still complaining. The grievances she had suffered over the years overwhelmed her. She said emotionally, "I only see the new people laughing, but never hear the old people crying. Your Majesty, you are so heartless—"

Snapped--

Li Yuanjing could no longer bear it, and dropped the teacup in his hand heavily onto the table. He looked at Liu Ruyan deeply and said word by word: "It was cold in winter, and thousands of people in the north froze to death in the snow. How many people can survive the cold winter with a piece of plum blossom rice paper you used? You don't care about worldly things, and yet you blame me and the concubine?"

Liu Ruyan turned pale with fright.

It was the first time she saw the angry emperor up close.

In Liu Ruyan's memory, Li Yuanjing had always been handsome, free and easy, and full of vigor, like a bright red plum blossom in the snow. The Li Yuanjing in front of her was very strange, very scary, and made her knees weak.

Deshun heard the noise outside the tent and hurried in with his back bent.

Li Yuanjing's eyes were filled with impatience. "Deshun, pass on my order. Liu has been cunning, disobeyed etiquette and laws, and has committed crimes against her superiors. Effective immediately, she will be demoted to Meipin and confined for three months. Princess Nanzhi will be raised by Yufei."