Harem Daily Life

Shu Fei lay on the chaise longue in a depressed mood. She had been suffering from severe morning sickness recently and couldn't eat anything. She had lost a lot of weight.

"Your Majesty is still very busy. Don't you have time to come?" Shu Fei said angrily.

Zi Ling sighed, "I went to invite him yesterday, but I couldn't see His Majesty at all. Today, the people below said that His Majesty had gone to Fengyi Palace. Madam, the Shu family has come to urge us, saying that they need to spend money to rent the warehouse. If we don't move the cloth this month, we will have to pay an extra fifty taels of rent next month."

Shu Fei originally wanted to donate cloth in person and ask the emperor to accompany her, but now it seems that this is not possible.

"You go to Fengyi Palace now and tell them directly that I want to donate 10,000 taels of cloth to make clothes for the soldiers. Your Majesty, please send someone to hand over to the Shu family and ship the cloth away as soon as possible." The money spent on buying the cloth was all from Concubine Shu. Since the emperor was not coming, there was no need to wait and pay rent.

After Zi Ling went to Fengyi Palace to finish her talk, He Linzhang said, "I am very happy that Shu Fei has helped me share my worries. You go and take care of Shu Fei first. I will go to see her at lunch tomorrow."

After everyone left, the Queen said, "Shu Fei is pregnant, so I came here at this time to ask Your Majesty to come over tonight. If Your Majesty doesn't go, Shu Fei will probably think too much."

He Linzhang had already laid down and said calmly, "I promised to visit the Queen more often. Now that I'm here, there's no reason for me to leave. Go to bed early. Come here."

The queen lay down shyly, and her voice also had a rare little girl's tone: "Your Majesty has been resting in Fengyi Palace recently, and the concubines in the harem are jealous of me."

He Linzhang gently stroked the queen's shoulder: "Queen, you are my first wife. You help me take care of the harem. It's very hard. I see it all. You should take good care of yourself and try to give birth to a legitimate son as soon as possible."

The Queen feels a little pressured, but His Majesty is so eager to have a legitimate son. Isn't it that he is placing hope on himself and the legitimate son?

The Queen has been in high spirits recently. The next morning, people from various palaces came to pay their respects to her. The Queen looked rosy-complexioned, smiling, and her attitude was indescribably good.

"This year, the newly made winter clothes for each palace will be delivered to them in the next two days. If there is anything that does not fit, you can contact the Clothing Bureau for modification. If there are not enough to wear, you can spend money to make a few sets yourself. I am busy and sometimes I can't take care of you. You should live well."

Everyone said, "Yes, thank you, Queen."

Concubine Wang said, "Speaking of making clothes, I went to the Clothing Bureau two days ago. There were several patterns left by Lady Tao. They were really beautiful. I wanted to follow her example, but the Clothing Bureau said that those were drawings drawn by Lady Tao herself. If I wear the same clothes as Lady Tao, it would be bad."

Wang Jieyu looked at the queen and said, "In fact, we could have asked the clothing bureau to make some minor changes, or change the fabric or color, but the clothing bureau didn't know how to adapt. I was so angry that I came back without making the dress."

Lady Li added fuel to the fire, "I'm afraid the Clothing Bureau saw that Lady Tao was in favor and didn't dare to change her design."

Everyone began to discuss in a low voice and denounce Lady Tao.

Tao Yanyan was far away in the palace and sneezed several times.

Qingfeng immediately took out a thin cloak and put it on her: "It's cold in the mountains in the morning and evening, my beauty, please take care of yourself and don't catch a cold."

Just as she finished speaking, little Jin'an came bouncing in: "Mother, mother, are we going to catch rabbits today? Eunuch Gui said there are rabbits in the back hills."

Tao Yanyan held her big son in her arms: "Well...but rabbits run very fast, Dong Fang, can you hunt?"

Dong Fang shook his head: "I don't know how to hunt. If I chase it, I may not be able to run faster than the rabbit."

Xiao Jinan pouted: "Okay, forget it..."

Seeing the helpless look on his eldest son's face, Tao Yanyan thought for a moment. Eunuch Gui said there were troops stationed here, so he said, "Dong Fang, go ask Eunuch Gui if he can ask the garrison to find someone to help us hunt a rabbit."

Dong Fang took the order and left. Coincidentally, he met a team of garrison troops coming for patrol. The leader was an extraordinary man, and Eunuch Gui was talking to him.

Dong Fang didn't want to disturb him, so he stood not far away and waited. But Gui Gong had already seen him, and he said a few words to the man and then walked towards Dong Fang to ask if he had anything to do.

When he heard that Lady Tao and the little prince wanted a rabbit, Eunuch Gui slapped his thigh and said, "What a coincidence! Commander Gu is an excellent archer and never misses a shot. I will ask Commander Gu to help me hunt one!"

Gu Yi heard this and asked curiously, "Little prince? Doesn't His Majesty only have one eldest prince?"

Eunuch Gui glanced in Dong Fang's direction and whispered, "He was adopted by Concubine Tao from the common people. At first, she raised him as a younger brother, but later the Queen Mother liked him and recognized him as the Emperor's grandson. His Majesty also agreed, so now there is a little prince."

Gu Yi frowned: "Is this possible? Are royal bloodlines so casual?"

Eunuch Gui hurriedly stopped him and said, "Commander Gu, please don't make it public. Lady Tao is very favored!"

Gu Yi raised his eyebrows: "If you are really favored, will you come to the palace?" After saying that, he jumped on the horse and said: "If you can hunt it, send it to me in the evening."

The group rode away on horseback. Eunuch Gui shook his head, turned around and said something to Dong Fang. He then asked a palace servant to keep an eye out for it, and went to inspect the palace.

Xiao Jinan waited anxiously, but when it was dark, no one came to deliver the rabbit. He was dejected and didn't even eat much for dinner.

Tao Yanyan had no choice but to draw a rabbit and asked Qingfeng to make him a rabbit doll according to the drawing. Only then did he regain his energy.

But after three days, there was no rabbit. Little Jinan became mentally devastated. When he saw the Queen Mother, he burst into tears.

"Oh my, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly so sad? Quickly ask the Empress Dowager to take a look." The Queen Mother held the person in her arms to comfort him, and questioned Concubine Tao with her eyes.

Tao Yanyan said, "Jin'an wanted to catch a rabbit, so I asked Eunuch Gui to ask the garrison to catch one. But they haven't received any rabbits for several days, so Jin'an is a little sad."

Speaking of this, it was the Queen Mother who started it. She used roasted rabbits as bait to trick the two of them into coming to the palace.

The Queen Mother gave Eunuch Qin a look, and Eunuch Qin said, "I will do it immediately."

Tao Yanyan didn't understand, so the Queen Mother said, "It's hard to catch rabbits these days. Eunuch Qin, take two of my guards with you, and you will definitely catch them."

By nightfall that day, Eunuch Qin not only caught two rabbits, but also carried back a person.

Eunuch Gui stepped forward and took a look, and was horrified: "Isn't this Commander Gu? Why is he unconscious?"

"Let's ask the imperial physician to take a look first. I led people into the mountains and saw a man lying on the ground. He was wearing military clothes, so we carried him back. Eunuch Gui, since you know him, you should take care of him. I want to take the rabbit to the little prince."

Eunuch Qin sent the rabbits and reported that he had found Commander Gu in the mountains. The Queen Mother and Tao Yanyan then realized that Commander Gu was not the one who did not go to the mountains, but was injured when he went there.