Harem Daily Life

He Linzhang's face darkened instantly. After accepting the silver note handed over by Prince Yong, he said nothing more.

Fortunately, they arrived at Prince Yong's mansion very quickly. The two got off the carriage. After Prince Yong took his leave, He Linzhang went directly to Tao Yanyan's courtyard.

Unfortunately, he came up empty-handed.

Mingyue said that Concubine Tao had gone to pay her respects to Concubine Hui. He Linzhang then remembered that he had mentioned last night that Tao Yanyan was going to go over to ask for advice on calligraphy, so he had to return to Xingqing Courtyard in embarrassment.

On Tao Yanyan's side, Concubine Hui's attitude towards her was not very enthusiastic at first, but it was already quite good for someone they had just met to be able to do so, not to mention that the other party was a favored concubine in the previous dynasty, so Tao Yanyan did not care.

Tao Yanyan just regarded it as completing a task. After all, the emperor never jokes. The emperor asked her to come, so she came and completed the KPI. She did not force the task to reach perfection.

The two chatted about calligraphy and their experiences, and when they touched upon Concubine Hui's areas of expertise, she spoke eloquently about the expertise and work styles of many famous masters of this era. Tao Yanyan listened carefully like an elementary school kid, and from time to time asked a few unprofessional questions, asking Concubine Hui to answer them. The atmosphere was filled with academic flavor.

Tao Yanyan even shamelessly ate a meal in the palace of Concubine Hui. After she had eaten and drunk her fill, she said, "I have learned a lot from coming here today to listen to the Concubine's teachings. I will practice calligraphy more diligently in the future. Thank you for your guidance."

Concubine Hui nodded, thinking that if the person in front of her had not already become the emperor's favorite concubine, and if she was still unmarried, it would not be impossible for her to hire her as a concubine for her son, because she was quite pleasing to the eye when she looked at her occasionally.

Concubine Hui said with some regret: "Tao Cairen is smart and well-behaved. If you hadn't entered the palace, I would have helped you find a marriage partner outside the palace. It would also be a good choice to go to a family of aristocrats and become the mistress of the house."

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "I came to the capital for the selection, but I didn't expect to be chosen. Everything is destined. I just hope that Your Majesty will have more mercy on me so that I can have less worries in the palace. I will be satisfied then."

This seemed to have aroused Concubine Hui's thoughts. She nodded and said, "Which woman who enters the palace doesn't think so? But everyone has their own destiny. I also hope that you will rise step by step in the future and have a place in the deep palace."

"Then I'll take your good wishes, Madam Dowager. It's getting late, so I'll take my leave first. I wish Madam Dowager good health. If you return to Beijing in the future, please remember to look for Yan Yan!"

After bidding farewell to Concubine Hui, Nanny Zhang, who was beside the Concubine, saw Tao Yanyan out, then returned to Concubine Hui and said, "No wonder Your Highness has been thinking about her all the time and has been looking for her for a whole year. This old servant has seen that this talented lady Tao is indeed extremely beautiful, and her every move is very attractive."

"So what if she still can't forget him? She is determined to enter the palace, how could she be willing to be a concubine in the palace. I am very grateful to her for saving Tingye, but she herself doesn't want to have anything to do with Tingye, so what can Tingye do? The most important thing now is to let Tingye burn the painting as soon as possible. If people knew that he, a prince of the first rank, dared to privately keep the portrait of the concubine and covet your majesty's favorite concubine, it would be strange if your majesty didn't take away his fiefdom and title!" Concubine Hui said angrily.

"Yes, I will go there as soon as Your Highness comes back. Alas, it would be great if Your Highness could put his love on the princess. The princess is also one of the four most beautiful beauties in the capital. Why is Your Highness always indifferent to her?" Nanny Zhang was worried.

Concubine Hui said calmly, "It's just the bad nature of men. They never cherish what they have, and always worry about what they don't have. Okay, go over and wait. Let him take care of it."

Nanny Zhang took her leave and went towards the study in Prince Yong's courtyard.

After waiting for a while, he saw that his own prince had returned from outside, so he stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the Concubine Dowager has ordered you to burn the portrait to eliminate the trouble forever."

Prince Yong glanced at Aunt Zhang with cold eyes and said, "Go back and tell mother: I am already grown up, and I don't need you to remind me all the time. Besides, I listen to you in everything. I just have one or two preferences, so please don't interfere. Do you think I have to lose everything and obey you in order to do what you want?"

Nanny Zhang was stunned. She didn't expect Prince Yong to react so violently this time. In the past, the prince would always listen to the Queen Mother's opinions.

"Just tell your mother exactly what I said. I am a human being with flesh and blood. I have my own joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness. I no longer want to go back to being the person I was when I was a child and let your mother dictate everything to me." After Prince Yong finished speaking, he entered the study and slammed the door shut.

Nanny Zhang was helpless. She wanted to say, "There is no mother who is not wrong. Which mother doesn't care about her children?" But Prince Yong did not give her a chance. She had to leave Prince Yong's courtyard, looking back every few steps, and go back to report to the concubine.

In the study, Prince Yong's face was not much better. He actually knew that Concubine Hui made this request for his own good so as to avoid trouble, but this painting was the only thing related to her that he had kept. If he lost it again, then he would have nothing left of this love that never even began and ended in vain.

He looked at the person in the painting for a while, and finally rolled up the scroll, carefully put it in a box, and placed it in the secret compartment of his study.

After Tao Yanyan staggered back to the courtyard, Mingyue hurriedly came to greet him: "Talented lady, His Majesty came here before, but left again when he saw you were not there. Do you want to come over?"

Mingyue knew that the emperor left in a huff last night, so she was happy when he came today. She thought that the emperor was taking the initiative to show goodwill, so she suggested that her own concubine should also be more proactive.

But Tao Yanyan yawned and said, "Let's take a nap first. I'm sleepy. I'll talk to you after I wake up."

Qingfeng and Mingyue looked at each other and saw two words in each other's eyes: As expected.

As expected, she is still as bad as ever. When will Cairen start to actively compete for favor like other concubines?

It's really sad.

They were to set off tomorrow, and He Linzhang was busy from the afternoon until the evening. He had just finished his dinner when Zhang Fuhai came in and said that Concubine Zhao wanted to see him.

"Let her in." He Linzhang said casually while reviewing the memorials.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. I have heard terrible news and I have come to report it to you."

He Linzhang then looked up at Concubine Zhao. Concubine Zhao looked at the servants around her and signaled to the emperor to ask them to leave.

He Linzhang narrowed his eyes and gave Zhang Fuhai a look. Zhang Fuhai understood and took his men out.

"Tell me, what's the matter?" He Linzhang said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, Tao Cairen and Prince Yong had an affair. One year ago, on their way to the capital, Prince Yong fell into the water, and it was Tao Cairen who jumped into the water to save him, regardless of his own safety. Since then, Prince Yong has been looking for Tao Cairen in the capital for a whole year. If you say there is nothing wrong between them, I won't believe it even if you kill me!"