Harem Daily Life

The first thing the Queen did today was to announce that Shu Fei was pregnant. Everyone had heard some rumors before, and now it was finally officially confirmed.

"Shu Fei is the niece of the Queen Mother and the cousin of Your Majesty. I am responsible for taking care of Shu Fei's fetus. I hope Shu Fei can give birth to the royal heir safely. If anyone has any improper thoughts, I advise her to think twice before acting and not to make any mistakes. Otherwise, it will bring trouble to the whole family and the loss will outweigh the gain!"

The queen's warning was loud and clear. She glanced around with majesty in her eyes.

"The second thing is that the Queen Mother has to spend the winter at the Hot Spring Palace every year. From now on, concubines and above no longer have to go to Changchun Palace to pay respects. Of course, if you want to have a private conversation with the Queen Mother, you can go and sit with her in the next few days. The Queen Mother will be happy."

After the Queen finished speaking, the Imperial Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine looked at each other. They had agreed to take their children to the Changchun Palace to pay their respects. What a coincidence.

Tao Yanyan's envy of the empress dowager reached a new level. In this palace, the empress dowager was the most powerful person. She could go wherever she wanted. She was so happy.

The greetings were quickly concluded, and Tao Yanyan rushed to Changchun Palace with Qingfeng. Unexpectedly, not long after they entered, the Imperial Concubine and the De Concubine also arrived.

The Imperial Concubine brought the eldest princess, and the Virtuous Concubine brought the eldest prince to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, while Tao Yanyan brought Jin'an to pay respects to the two ladies.

The Queen Mother looked at the two and the children and said, "You all should sit down. Since the children are here, you can stay here for lunch today. Lady Tao will be the cook. You will be in for a treat. Jin'an, come here and let your sister cook."

Xiao Jinan looked at Tao Yanyan, who nodded at him: "If you have anything to say, tell Qingfeng."

Tao Yanyan gave Qingfeng a look and went to the kitchen.

The Imperial Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine originally wanted to give the siblings a warning, but after seeing with their own eyes how the Queen Mother treated Concubine Tao's brother, they were smart enough not to show any disdain or sarcasm towards Xiao Jin'an, but they were not enthusiastic either.

Little Jin'an had been living on the streets since he was a child. He was smart and sensitive, and he soon realized that the two ladies in gorgeous clothes in front of him were not as kind to him as the empress dowager was to him. So he was as quiet as a chicken, staying beside the empress dowager, and was so well-behaved that it seemed as if he did not exist.

In contrast, the eldest prince was very active. After sitting for a while, he started to make a fuss about going out to play. The eldest princess was one year older, but she also had a childlike nature. When she heard that the eldest prince wanted to go out to play, she could no longer sit still and also made a fuss about going out.

The Queen Mother looked at Jin'an and asked, "Jin'an, do you want to go out and play for a while and let Qingfeng follow you?"

Little Jinan nodded obediently: "Then I won't go far, I'll just play in the yard for a while."

The Queen Mother gave Eunuch Qin a look and asked him to take the children out and take care of little Jin'an.

Eunuch Qin understood immediately and went to the courtyard with the princess and the prince's entourage.

The eldest princess and the eldest prince knew each other well, so they naturally played together. Qingfeng took Jin'an to see flowers, trees, and ants.

"Hey, you are not a member of the royal family at all, why do you live in the palace?" The eldest princess couldn't help but ask loudly to Xiao Jinan across several people.

Xiao Jinan was puzzled and asked, "I live with my sister. Wherever my sister is, I am there. If my sister lives in the palace, I will live in the palace naturally. What's so strange about that?"

The eldest princess looked at Xiao Jinan with disdain and said, "Your sister is my father's concubine, so she can live in the palace. But you are the brother of Lady Tao, so you should live in the Tao family. What's the point of living in my house? Are you a relative who is begging for money?"

"Royal sister, what does 'begging for money' mean?" the eldest prince asked curiously.

Xiao Jinan actually didn't understand either, and he was also full of curiosity.

Just as Eunuch Qin was about to stop him, he heard the eldest princess say, "It means that his family is very poor, so he goes to the homes of rich relatives to eat, drink, stay and take things. He is just taking advantage of others."

Little Jinan thought about how he used to be a beggar. Wasn't that a poor man with no place to live and no food to eat? After hearing what the princess said, he couldn't help but blush.

Eunuch Qin could no longer bear to hear this, so he stepped forward and said, "Grand Princess, Young Master Tao is the adopted child of Lady Tao, and he is allowed to live in the palace by His Majesty's permission. It doesn't matter if he is a member of the royal family or not, as long as His Majesty grants permission, he can live here. Please be careful with your words, Grand Princess."

Qingfeng also stepped forward to protect Xiao Jinan: "Young Master, you are now Lady Tao's younger brother. Lady Tao will make the decision on everything. Don't underestimate yourself."

The eldest princess snorted coldly: "This little beauty is so self-righteous. I don't know what kind of seductive tricks she used to deceive the emperor into allowing her to bring an outsider to live in the palace."

Eunuch Qin was almost mad with anger. He might be a prince, but he was being ridiculed by the princess here!

It was Concubine Tao who found the prince and raised him well, yet she was slandered by the princess!

Eunuch Qin's eyes darkened, and he said in a cold voice: "Grand Princess, the Imperial Concubine has always been careful with her words and deeds, and her moral behavior is a role model for the harem. Grand Princess should learn more from the Imperial Concubine. The servants are also unruly, letting the young master say whatever he wants without any admonition. You think your life is too comfortable, and you want to go to the Ministry of Punishment for a walk, right?"

Eunuch Qin was a servant of the Queen Mother, and when he showed his power, he was quite intimidating. The wet nurse and the maidservant beside the eldest princess immediately advised the young master not to say anything more.

The eldest princess glared at Eunuch Qin, but was eventually pulled away by her entourage.

The eldest prince suddenly stepped forward and pushed Xiao Jinan: "It's all your fault. You caused my sister to be criticized!"

Xiao Jinan almost fell down, but Qingfeng was quick to help him and he was able to stabilize himself.

Xiao Jinan was not to be outdone. When he was wandering on the streets, he would be bullied and go hungry if he was weak. Sometimes he would fight back even if he was right.

So he pushed the eldest prince without any hesitation, which scared the eldest prince's entourage.

However, just now Eunuch Qin defended Young Master Tao in person, and the eldest prince's entourage did not dare to rebuke him in front of Eunuch Qin.

When the eldest princess saw it, she rushed over and grabbed Xiao Jinan's face. Xiao Jinan covered his face with his hands, his eyes red.

Eunuch Qin immediately stood between the two children, picked up little Jin'an and checked on him. He was relieved to see that the wound was not deep.

He glanced around at the princess and the prince's entourage, then walked away with little Jin'an in his arms with a cold face. Qingfeng followed him anxiously, feeling extremely angry!

Tao Yanyan had no idea that her brother was being bullied in the yard.

Because there were two adults and two children eating, Tao Yanyan prepared several more dishes today, including boiled pork slices, fish-flavored pork shreds, prawn casserole, steamed sea bass, steamed scallops with vermicelli, winter melon and pork ribs soup, shredded chicken with scallion oil, and stir-fried seasonal vegetables. Caiyun prepared the marinated duck early in the morning and brought it directly, which saved a lot of trouble. Tao Yanyan asked someone to cut it and put it on a plate, and made minced meat stewed eggs for the children, and a sweet osmanthus wine and rice dumpling sweet soup, and the table of dishes was ready.

After all the dishes were ready, Tao Yanyan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked someone to arrange the table.

She thought that Jin'an would be fine with the Queen Mother and Qingfeng watching over him. But when the children were brought back after washing their hands, Tao Yanyan saw a fresh scratch on Jin'an's face. She narrowed her eyes and questioned Qingfeng with her eyes. Qingfeng whispered, "He had a shove with the eldest prince and was scratched by the eldest princess."