Harem Daily Life

At first glance, it was an ordinary and useless Buddhist scripture. The eldest prince did not want it. He was coveting the gold, silver, jewelry and precious ornaments in the hands of others.

He frowned and came up with an idea: "Did I in some way offend the Empress? Otherwise, why is my gift just a Buddhist scripture, while others' are valuable gifts?"

It was easy for him to pretend to be wronged now. People who didn't know his temperament and past would certainly be moved by his harmless face.

What he said clearly meant that Tao Yanyan was not good to him and that all he gave him were worthless things.

How could Tao Yanyan not hear the hidden meaning in his words? She smiled and said, "This Buddhist scripture is not an ordinary Buddhist scripture. It was written by Master Jingshan, a distinguished monk from Fuyan Temple outside the city. Reading it regularly can calm your mind and eliminate the negative energy in your heart."

Concubine Xian and Concubine Liang exchanged a glance, each guessing that the Empress had ulterior motives in sending the eldest prince Buddhist scriptures. She wanted him to be a good person and stop harming the other heirs.

He Ye's eyes turned cold. "I don't understand what Her Majesty the Queen said. Does Her Majesty think that I am a vicious and evil person?"

Tao Yanyan wanted to say, aren’t you?

However, in front of all the concubines, he had no evidence and could only remain silent.

"Don't be so sensitive, my prince. This Buddhist scripture not only allows one to comprehend the Dharma, but copying it for deceased relatives is also a kind of merit. Since you lost your mother, I have specially prepared this scripture for you. You can copy it a few times and burn it for her to show her your filial piety."

He Ye was exhausted. This was a disguised form of punishment for himself, making him copy Buddhist scriptures.

Humph, isn't it because of the conflict between him, He Jinan, and He Yue last night? The Queen is avenging those two adopted sons and daughters and punishing him!

He Ye lowered his eyebrows, said thank you lightly, and his face turned ashen with anger.

After He Ye returned to Yongxing Palace, he became increasingly angry and wanted to smash things again. But the palace servants would not let him smash things again. The Imperial Household Department had already issued a warning: if anything happened to the items in Yongxing Palace again, they would not replace them.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs had a very good reason - it was a war and they had to save money everywhere.

But the things used by the prince are defective. Wouldn’t people laugh at him if he told others about it?

So the palace maids rushed forward to stop him, and if they couldn't stop him, they would run away with the ornaments. Anyway, they couldn't let the eldest prince smash them again.

"Humph, you're bullying me too, aren't you? The entire Great Zhou belongs to my father, the Imperial Palace belongs to my father, everything is my father's, and therefore mine. I can destroy it if I want to, and it's not up to you eunuchs to decide!"

He Ye ignored the obstruction and when he couldn't grab the fragile vase ornament, he used scissors to cut the fine curtains into pieces and pushed over all the tables, chairs and benches. After the mess, he seemed to be able to exhaust the anger in his heart and calm down.

The newly appointed eunuch in charge, Eunuch Feng, looked at the shabby bedroom, sighed and shook his head, and ordered the young eunuch to go in and clean it up. He then quietly went to Changchun Palace to report to the empress dowager.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and it would be a good opportunity to go to Changchun Palace to pay New Year's greetings to the Empress Dowager.

Eunuch Qin brought Eunuch Feng into the hall. Eunuch Feng respectfully kowtowed to the empress dowager and wished her a happy new year. After standing up, he talked about the eldest prince's movements in the past two days.

After hearing this, the Queen Mother didn't smile at all.

"This He Ye is really getting more and more surly." The Queen Mother paused, as if she had made a firm decision. "I hereby decree that the eldest prince's monthly salary will be reduced to fifteen taels. No furnishings in his room may be replaced. If they are broken, they must be repaired, not replaced. If he wants new ones, he can buy them with silver."

The Queen Mother was determined to make the eldest prince understand that everything is hard-earned, and that he should not take advantage of his status as a royal member to do whatever he wants and waste the royal money unscrupulously.

"Alas, as both are princes, Jin'an is capable of everything, has good academic performance, and is hardworking. He Ye has really wasted a good background." The Queen Mother was angry at him for not fighting back.

Speaking of Xiao Jinan, Eunuch Qin told the Queen Mother the news he had heard before to make her happy.

"I heard from Eunuch Zhang that the Second Prince is preparing for the Imperial College entrance exam. If he passes, he'll be able to enter. I also heard that His Majesty has recently asked several officials from the Hanlin Academy to help the Second Prince identify and fill in any gaps. The Second Prince is working very hard. Every day after lunch, he takes his companions to the side hall of the Qinzheng Palace to study with the adults."

The Queen Mother's brows relaxed a little, and a smile appeared on her face.

"It's thanks to the Queen that she has taught us well. All the children raised under her name are well-behaved and sensible. It's a pity that she refused to raise He Ye. Otherwise, He Ye might not be like this now..."

The Queen Mother sighed with regret again and frowned.

However, despite her regret, the Queen Mother had to admit that Empress Tao was a smart woman. Not accepting the hot potato of the eldest prince was the best choice.

"Forget it, let's have someone keep an eye on him. As long as he doesn't go out and cause trouble for others, let him smash things in his palace. He'll understand when everything is gone and he's no longer useful."

Eunuch Qin nodded. He and the Queen Mother were both in their fifties, so how could they possibly care for a prince? Fortunately, once he gave instructions, the people below would take care of it. Eunuch Qin didn't bother worrying about it, so he gave Eunuch Feng a few words and then left it alone.

It was a holiday for the Lunar New Year, and Mrs. Dong was also taking a two-week break. Since He Xuan and He Yue didn't have to go to school, they played hide-and-seek with the twins. The twins, who had just learned to walk, wiggled their hips around looking for a hiding place, but they often focused on their heads and ignored their butts. They always thought that covering their heads would prevent others from seeing them, and they would call out to their sisters in their baby voices to find them. It was so cute and funny.

The fifth prince was different every day, doing only two things: eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating, like a little Buddha. His name hadn't been decided yet. He Linzhang had tried several, but the Empress Dowager rejected them all. The Empress Dowager had also thought of a few, but none of them satisfied her. So, even now, more than ten days after his birth, the fifth prince still had no name.

But he was very smart. Whenever he heard "baby" and "Fifth Prince", he would look towards the source of the sound.

"From what I see, the Fifth Prince seems to be able to eat more than the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Princess. His appetite is really good." Qingfeng picked up the full Fifth Prince, patted his burp, and walked gently in the room.

"He absorbed nutrients on his own and weighed more than one kilogram more than his brothers and sisters when they were born. He was considered a little fat boy." Tao Yanyan had been controlling her food intake during pregnancy, but she still gave birth to Xiaowu, who weighed 7.2 jins. He was considered a big fetus. When Xiao Yucheng was born, he weighed only 5 kilograms.

Tao Yanyan took the Guyuan paste handed to him by Mingyue and took two mouthfuls.

This Guyuan paste contains red dates and Ajiao, which is specially designed to replenish her qi and blood. Childbirth is extremely depleting to the mother's body, and excessive bleeding will cause severe deficiency, so it must be replenished.

Chang Tai lingered at the door for a long time. When he saw Mingyue coming out with dishes, he knew that the Queen had already fed the Fifth Prince, so he asked for a meeting.