Harem Daily Life

"Do you know why there is a word 'Lin' in my name?" He Linzhang asked.

Tao Yanyan thought for a moment and asked, "Is it because the Queen Mother is from Lincheng?"

"Yes. The Shu family is the Empress Dowager's family, and the Shu family's headquarters is in Lincheng. In order to commemorate their hometown, they gave me the word "Lin" in my name, which shows how much the Empress Dowager values Lincheng."

"When the Queen Mother was selected to enter the palace, became the Crown Princess, and then became the Queen, the Shu family gave her a lot of support."

"Later, the Empress Dowager's parents came to Beijing and gave all the properties in Lincheng to the side branch. The Shu family's side branch has been operating in Lincheng for decades, with deep roots and thriving branches, and is involved in too many things."

"If they behaved properly, I would have let it go, after all, they are my relatives. But their actions chilled me. Not only were they corrupt, but they also sold official positions, collected exorbitant taxes privately, abducted women, bullied the people, and killed people. It took me a lot of determination to get rid of them."

Tao Yanyan lowered her eyebrows, making it difficult to see the expression in her eyes. She spoke slowly and calmly, "Your Majesty is an emperor. When an emperor does something, he does not need to explain it to others. Others can only obey your wishes unconditionally. This is the majesty of the emperor. But your majesty is also our husband. As a husband, shouldn't you also take our safety into consideration? Therefore, your majesty is not a bad person, and is even a wise ruler. I don't blame your majesty. I'm just sad."

"I have sent guards to protect you, nothing will happen to you." He Linzhang said confidently. He really had not been too worried about them before, firstly because they had guards following them, and secondly because he was sure that the Shu family was still afraid of the imperial power and would not dare to do anything to them.

He just underestimated the Shu family's audacity.

But the emperor is the emperor. He will never apologize. Even if he feels guilty, he will not bow to his concubines.

He turned sideways and looked at Tao Yanyan: "Then how do you need me to compensate you so that you won't be sad anymore? Promotion or reward? Or maybe I won't go to other people's places for the rest of my trip and stay with you every day."

Tao Yanyan was speechless. This bastard's thinking was indeed different from that of ordinary people. Did he think he was a rare treasure or a magical medicine? As long as he stayed with her, he could erase everything?

"Why aren't you talking?" He Linzhang moved closer and gently pinched Tao Yanyan's face: "Is my little Liangyi too embarrassed to say it, or hasn't thought it through yet?"

Seeing that he looked nonchalant, Tao Yanyan suddenly felt too lazy to continue the topic with him.

In the end, you have to take care of your own life and never think of relying on others again.

She gently snuggled into He Linzhang's arms, too lazy to look at his face: "There are rules for the promotion of concubines. You can't be promoted before you sleep with me. Your Majesty doesn't need to break the rules for me. There's no need to reward me, and there's no need to accompany me every day. Sister Shufei must have been more frightened than me this time. Your Majesty should spend more time with Sister Shufei. She has lost so many relatives of the Shu family this time, and was stabbed in the back by her relatives. The blow is even greater."

He Linzhang was very satisfied with her generosity and consideration for the overall situation. He couldn't help but hug her tighter and stroked her back gently, saying, "Good, my little Liangyi is very sensible."

So in the next few days, He Linzhang indeed summoned Shu Fei to sleep with him the most times. Shu Fei knew that this was His Majesty's intention to appease her, but after all, the Shu family's affairs had already happened, and time could not be turned back. If she knew that this trip would allow her to witness the demise of the Shu family's branch, she would never have come out no matter what.

Shu Fei was disheartened as she knew she would have to face the Queen Mother's questioning and rage after returning to the palace.

Perhaps it was because of her anxiety, or perhaps she was too frightened, but Shu Fei fell ill within a few days. She was afraid that she would pass her illness on to the emperor, so she never slept with him again.

As for Tao Yanyan, although she still had nightmares every night, she didn't show any abnormality in the following days. It was as if nothing had happened. She ate and slept as usual, and didn't look frightened at all.

He Linzhang sent Zhang Fuhai to deliver things to her several times, including fresh fruits, tea, jade, jewelry, and tributes from all over the country. She accepted them all, but never took the initiative to approach He Linzhang to express her gratitude.

He Linzhang was too busy with official duties to see her, so she would not take the initiative to find He Linzhang. Therefore, until the trip was almost over, she was still the only one who did not sleep with him.

While Concubine Shu is recuperating and Tao Yanyan is playing badly, this gives Concubine Zhao and Fan Liangyi an opportunity. Originally, the chance was one-fourth each, but now it's either Concubine Zhao or Fan Liangyi, half each. Today it's you and tomorrow it's me, which is quite a tacit understanding.

After the Shu family was in danger, Qingfeng and Mingyue became even more devoted to Tao Liangyi. In the critical moment, Tao Liangyi thought about them regardless of his own safety. The two little palace maids were deeply moved and served their master even more diligently.

Qingfeng was anxious like an ant on hot pan when he saw that the trip was almost over and Tao Liangyi had not yet gone to bed with him.

"Liang Yi, I have made several sets of small clothes for you. When can you use them?" Qing Feng hinted, hoping that his master would do better and successfully sleep with him before returning to the palace, so as to improve his status.

Tao Yanyan was holding the latest script in his hand, flipping through it to kill time while lying down to rest. When he heard Qingfeng's words, he said with a smile, "Qingfeng, the main purpose of that small dress is to be comfortable and to help you shape your body, not to be used to win favor. By the way, you and Mingyue should make a few pieces each according to your own sizes. You are both growing up, and wearing this kind of small dress is good for your health."

Mingyue was startled and waved her hands repeatedly: "How can we, the servants, wear what the master wears? No, no, don't break the rules."

Qingfeng also shook his head repeatedly: "Yes, this is disrespectful to the master."

Tao Yanyan put down the book and began to give them a scientific lecture in all seriousness, talking about the body structure of girls, future changes, from youth to old age, and also the harms of not wearing any and what kind of diseases might occur. The two little palace maids were so scared that they blushed and wished they could make one and put it on right away.

So Qingfeng hurriedly made a set for herself and Mingyue according to the measurement method Tao Yanyan said, but the patterns on their embroidery were fewer and there were no complicated designs, only the simplest styles.

After they were done, Tao Yanyan personally taught them how to put them on, which made the two little palace maids blush again.

When the army reached Mengcheng, they could only stay for a few more days because of the heavy rains that caused landslides, cut off roads, and flooded the city. Fortunately, the palace in Mengcheng was located at a higher altitude and was still habitable.

He Linzhang had to go out for inspections in the rain every day. Concubine Shu was worried that he would get caught in the rain or the rapid flow of water, so she sent Concubine Zhao to advise him every day. Fan Liangyi caught a cold these two days, so she asked the imperial physician to take care of her. Suddenly, the four-person working group became only Concubine Zhao on duty.

Tao Yanyan looked at the heavy rain that seemed like it would never stop and fell into deep thought.

It is unknown to what extent the flood control projects in ancient times could have been implemented. With continuous heavy rain like this, I am afraid that many people’s houses would have been flooded. Most importantly, reconstruction after the rain would require a lot of manpower and material resources, and we would also have to face the possible epidemic.

It was not easy for He Linzhang to be an emperor.