Harem Daily Life

"Your Majesty, all the gold, silver and valuables seized from the mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery have been put into the national treasury. There are also some correspondence. The relevant people have been verified one by one, and those who should be investigated have been investigated. The house of the Rong family has also been included in the royal property. The case is closed. Please review it, Your Majesty." The Minister of the Dali Temple presented the case report and waited on the side for the emperor's instructions.

He Linzhang flipped through the documents and saw that the amount of money confiscated was quite large, far exceeding the income of a marquis's mansion. It was unknown how much of it was given to the Rong family by other countries. He then looked at the people involved and the results of their investigation, and he was quite satisfied.

He closed the letter and looked at the Minister of War on the other side. Minister Zhao was startled and knelt down in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life. I used to have a good relationship with the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, but I didn't know his true face at that time. I was deceived by him. I have worked with him for many years and never thought he was such a person. If I had known earlier, I would never have sided with him!"

The Minister of War regretted it. In the past, he only thought about Concubine De giving birth to the eldest prince and Marquis Zhongyong and his son holding military power, so he became an unwavering party of the Rong family. But now he knew that the guy had secretly colluded with the Xia and Yan countries, forced the emperor to abdicate and establish an heir, and kidnapped the queen to escape. Each of these crimes was punishable by death. He broke out in cold sweat, his legs and feet trembled, and he felt weak in his heart.

He Linzhang had also investigated those who had previously supported Marquis Zhongyong and Concubine De, and naturally knew that the Minister of War was on the wrong side of the issue, but he had indeed not done anything else that would cross the line and result in death.

He said calmly, "You should be thankful that you didn't do anything irreparable, otherwise, you would be in the same situation as the Rong family."

The Minister of War wiped his sweat and finally felt relieved.

"Your Ministry of War has two traitors from the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion. He deliberately arranged for them to be imprisoned. They have been taken to the Dali Temple's prison and will be dealt with impartially. You are the Minister of War, but you failed to manage the affairs strictly and were deceived. I will fine you three months' salary and demote you to the position of Vice Minister of War. I will see how you behave in the future. If you continue to be confused, you can resign and return home."

The Minister of War kowtowed and thanked the emperor immediately. He said that being demoted was better than losing his head.

The originally cold neck slowly warmed up, and the Minister of War was glad that he had finally saved his head.

"Is there any news from Xicheng?" He Linzhang asked with a frown.

I haven't received any reports from the army for many days and I'm really worried.

The demoted Minister Zhao hurriedly said, "The order to arrest Rong Bin has long been sent to Xicheng, but no news has been sent back yet."

He glanced at the emperor and quickly lowered his head. "Your Majesty, don't worry. General Duan has already led his troops to West City for support. I think General Gu should... be able to report good news soon."

He Linzhang pondered for a moment. "There are still 50,000 troops stationed in the camp outside the capital. Pass on my order to send another 30,000 troops to Xicheng to support General Gu. The battle with the Xia Kingdom must be concluded as soon as possible. The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for the Great Zhou."

Minister Zhao quickly agreed and hurriedly took his leave to go back to his work.

Before the Dali Temple Minister left, He Linzhang said, "Investigate all those who had close ties with the Rong family. Arrest and investigate those who are suspicious. Make sure to eliminate all accomplices."

The Dali Temple Minister accepted the order and left.

Eunuch Zhang came in and reported, "Your Majesty, Li Jing requests an audience."

This Li Jing was the concubine He Linzhang had secretly planted with the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery. Her true identity was a secret guard. Her martial arts skills were average, but she was quite skilled at coaxing people and gathering evidence, which led to her being assigned to the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery. She entered and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, your servant pays respects to His Majesty."

He Linzhang flipped open a memorial and said, "You've made a great contribution this time. You've received your rewards, right? What else is there?"

Li Jing raised her eyes slightly and glanced at the emperor. "I am fortunate to have been chosen by Your Majesty. I have been lurking in the Rong family for so many years. Now that I have completed my mission, I have nowhere to go. I beg Your Majesty to grant me grace and allow me to serve in the palace."

He Linzhang frowned slightly. "You're a secret guard, and you're already 25 this year. It's not appropriate for you to stay in the palace as a maid. Those are servant jobs, not for you. How about this? You can go to the Imperial Farm and find a job. There are many workshops there, and you can get paid for anything you do. I'll ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make the arrangements."

Li Jing quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please don't chase me away. I can do the work of a palace maid. Besides, the palace not only has palace maids, but also female officials. I have learned some things about managing the household in the Rong family over the years, so I am qualified."

Seeing that the emperor still showed no sign of relenting, Li Jing continued, "I lost my parents when I was young. Fortunately, Your Majesty favored me and took me into the Secret Guard for training, which is how I have grown to this day. Your Majesty's kindness to me is something I can never repay. I beg Your Majesty to keep me in the palace and continue to serve you. I am willing to do any job I can."

He Linzhang thought about it and realized that the secret guards were very loyal, so he didn't insist any further: "Then I will discuss with the Queen and see where to place you. You can leave now."

Li Jing's eyes were filled with joy as he respectfully left the imperial study.

Tao Yanyan stayed in the Qinzheng Palace for several days, and every day he had people bring the children to see him, especially the two twins, whom he missed very much.

She found this too troublesome, so she wanted to go back to her Changle Palace after staying there for a few days, which made He Linzhang feel resentful.

"It's so hard to finally be alone with you without the children's interruptions. The number of days you've lived in Qinzheng Palace over the years can be counted on one hand. I can't bear to let you go."

Tao Yanyan glared at him: "Your Majesty is still saying that I have gradually recovered in the past few days, but Your Majesty still won't let me go back. Every night..." Tao Yanyan bit her lip: "You are making trouble every night. I really can't stand it anymore!"

Her delicate tone made He Linzhang unable to resist hugging her in his arms again: "You should look for the reason in yourself. You are always so delicate and soft, how can I let go?"

After saying that, he leaned over and kissed her, and he couldn't get enough of the kiss. The two of them were confused and ridiculous for a while, and then He Linzhang remembered Li Jing's matter and mentioned it casually.

"She is a secret guard? Then... why not arrange her in His Majesty's Qinzheng Palace so that she can protect His Majesty at ordinary times." There were no vacant positions elsewhere in the palace, so Tao Yanyan said.

He Linzhang leaned over her neck and said, "Okay, you decide."

What Li Jing didn't expect was that she was so lucky that she could serve the emperor and be a personal maid.

As soon as she arrived, she drove away the few palace maids who had served before. She took care of all the emperor's eating, sleeping, dressing and washing herself. As time went on, Eunuch Zhang felt that something was wrong, so he took the opportunity to mention it to the queen while paying his respects at Changle Palace.

"Your Majesty, perhaps I am too suspicious and overthinking things. However, I have seen so many concubines vying for favor, and I truly find Li Jing's words and actions suspicious. I am afraid that a servant would covet Your Majesty... Please, Your Majesty, please help me understand the situation and don't let this villain take advantage of me."

A hint of coldness flashed across Tao Yanyan's eyes, and she nodded: "Okay, thank you, Eunuch Zhang, for reminding me. I will keep an eye on it."