Harem Daily Life

When Concubine Xian came to pick up Queen Tao, she saw the wound on the Queen's lip at a glance. She quickly looked away and refused to look at it.

Tao Yanyan shamelessly put on some lip balm to cover it up, put on the cloak handed to him by Mingyue, and followed Concubine Xian out the door.

Ever since Concubine Rong passed away, Tao Yanyan made an agreement with Concubine Xian to visit the Concubine's palace regularly, ask them about their needs, and build closer relationships with them, so that the Concubine would not be idle every day and have random thoughts in their minds, thus losing their energy.

The Empress Dowager fully agreed with their actions. If she felt like it, she would summon a few concubines to Changchun Palace to play mahjong and kill time.

There are still four of the late emperor's concubines living in the palace. The queen came to visit them with a big belly, and they were naturally happy and grateful.

The tenth prince's mother, Concubine Wang, had the lowest rank among all the concubines. When the queen asked if she had any needs, Concubine Wang mentioned her son.

"Empress, my son Xiaoshi broke his leg when he was young. Although he received treatment from the imperial physician, he is still disabled and now walks with a limp. Because of this disability, the late emperor disliked him and didn't even give him the title of a prince. Over the years, he has grown up, but he has not been allowed to leave his home and establish a residence. I wonder if you could make it easier for him to marry after he has a residence."

Tao Yanyan had heard Mingyue mention the Tenth Prince before and had some impression of him. When he heard Concubine Wang mention it again, he said, "The Tenth Prince is now sixteen years old and can go out and set up his own household. How about this? I'll go talk to His Majesty and ask His Majesty to make the arrangements."

Concubine Wang was extremely grateful and thanked her repeatedly.

The other concubines did not make any requests and chatted with the queen about family matters for a while. Then, Concubine Xian accompanied Tao Yanyan and left the Dowager's Palace.

"The women in this palace may seem to have a glamorous life and are the glory of their families, but they live such lonely lives and only they know the bitterness in their hearts." Concubine Xian said this after meeting the concubines.

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "You and I will live in the palace for the rest of our lives, so we should find more fun for ourselves."

Xian Fei agreed deeply: "Fortunately, I have the Third Princess to accompany me, and the Empress has trusted me and asked me to assist in the palace affairs. My life is quite fulfilling now."

Tao Yanyan praised her, "You are steady and principled in your work, so I trust you. Now, you don't have to see me off. There's a fork in the road ahead. It's more convenient to go left back to Yongtai Palace."

The virtuous concubine was polite for a while, and then asked everyone to serve the queen well before she took her leave.

Tao Yanyan had just walked a short distance in the sedan chair when he saw a figure standing in front of him, who seemed to be waiting for someone.

Qing Feng took a look from afar and said unhappily, "My Lady, it seems to be Ms. Shu."

Tao Yanyan frowned and told her to leave the sedan chair alone and go straight ahead. Little did she know that Shu Cairen was waiting for her. When the empress's sedan chair approached, she bowed and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."

Qingfeng had no choice but to return the greeting: "I hope Shu Cairen is well. The Queen is a little tired and needs to go back to the palace to rest. I will not see Shu Cairen anymore."

Tao Yanyan did not open the curtain of the sedan chair, so she could not see Shu Cairen's expression, but she thought it must be ugly.

Sure enough, Shu Cairen's harsh voice came from outside: "The Empress is so arrogant. When she was still a Liangyi, she was very cautious, afraid of making a wrong move. Now things are different. She has completely learned the Queen Mother's demeanor."

Tao Yanyan sat in the sedan chair, her red lips parted softly, "Ms. Shu, there's no need to be so sarcastic in front of me. I'm in a good mood, and nothing you say will affect me. It's been a year since we last met, is Ms. Shu doing well in the palace?"

Tao Yanyan knew that Shu Cairen really liked He Linzhang. It would be strange if she could feel comfortable without seeing her lover and cousin for a year.

Shu Cairen's sore spot was indeed touched, and her expression became even colder.

Qingfeng stepped forward and said, "If Concubine Ruo Shu is alright, please don't stop the Empress. The Empress needs to go back to take care of her pregnancy. His Majesty has already instructed that no one in the palace can disturb the Empress' pregnancy."

Shu Cairen was exhausted. She had heard that Empress Tao was pregnant again after giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and the baby was already eight months old.

She has three children in three years. She is so fertile. Why doesn’t she go to heaven?

"Oh, the Empress is indeed very resourceful. Not only does she firmly control His Majesty, but she has also given birth to more children than anyone else."

Tao Yanyan silently rolled his eyes, then thought that since the other party couldn't see, it would be a pity to roll his eyes in vain. So he gently lifted the curtain, looked at Shu Cairen, and said with a smile, "Are you envious? It's a pity that even if you envy her, you can't envy her enough."

Shu Cairen said coldly, "Your Majesty has been monopolizing His Majesty all day long. His Majesty cannot even go to other palaces. How could the concubines in other palaces have children? You are so jealous and intolerant of others. You are truly unworthy of being the empress."

Tao Yanyan's anger flared up, and she narrowed her eyes. "Shu Cairen, how I act as the Empress, and how I love His Majesty, is not your place to comment. Come on, Shu Cairen is disrespectful to me, committing an insubordinate act. I slap you ten times in the face as a warning to others."

Tao Yanyan had had enough of Shu Cairen's repeated troubles.

Qingfeng glanced at Chang Tai. Chang Tai swallowed his saliva, asked two young eunuchs to hold Shu Cairen down, and he slapped her in the face himself.

"Pa, pa, pa..." Chang Tai used all his strength in each of the ten slaps.

"You bastard, how dare you hit me? Do you want to die? Ah..."

"Tao Yanyan, I am the Empress Dowager's niece and His Majesty's cousin. How dare you order someone to beat me? Ah..."

Tao Yanyan scratched his ears and said, "You are disrespectful to me by calling me by my name. Five more strokes."

Shu Cairen was really dumbfounded. This Tao Yanyan actually meant it. Was he really not afraid of being blamed by the Empress Dowager and His Majesty?

After Chang Tai finished fighting, his hands were red. He spread out his palms and shook them, letting the wind blow through his palms to cool them down.

Shu Cairen's face was swollen from the beating and there was blood at the corners of her mouth. Her speech was slurred and tears flowed down her swollen cheeks, smudged her makeup, and she looked extremely miserable.

"Just wait, I'll tell the Queen Mother and His Majesty right now, and have them punish you severely!"

Shu Cairen was so angry that she was shaking all over. The little palace maids following her kept their heads down all the way, fearing that if the Empress was unhappy, she would not be spared either.

Qingfeng and Changtai both looked at Tao Yanyan, their expressions filled with worry. Tao Yanyan sneered and lowered the curtain: "Let her go. She's so lawless and rebellious. Do you think everyone will tolerate your bad habits?"

After returning to Changle Palace, Mingyue saw that the three people all looked unhappy when they came back, so she quickly called Qingfeng aside to ask him. After knowing the whole story, Mingyue thought about it and whispered a few words in Qingfeng's ear.

Qingfeng's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded quickly: "Okay, okay, I'll send people to spread the word that the Empress was upset by Shu Cairen and had a miscarriage." As he spoke, he ran out and shouted: "Chang Tai, Chang Tai, go get the imperial physician quickly, the Empress has a stomachache!"