Harem Daily Life

Qi Yizheng was anxious. How could this be done?

He hurriedly said, "Nothing happened between you and me. It's all clean and innocent. Don't even mention taking responsibility! You should just leave now. Let's just pretend we never met today."

Miss Wang refused to leave. She looked at Tao Yanyan with tears in her eyes, "Empress, you and I are both women. You should understand me, right?"

Tao Yanyan: “…”

She glanced at Qi Yizheng, who was scratching his head, and then at Miss Wang, who wanted her to "understand", and raised her eyebrows: Of course I understand that she would pounce on such a handsome and heroic young man, but -

I understand you, but I can't make you happy.

"Well, Miss Wang, you are both noble ladies, so there's no need to resort to such tactics, right? Besides, General Qi is already engaged, and his engagement was granted by His Majesty. If you insist on getting involved with General Qi, I'm afraid you can only be his concubine. Are you willing to be his concubine?"

Miss Wang choked: Which good daughter wants to be a concubine?

Qi Yizheng said anxiously, "No, no, I only want to marry one wife and never take a concubine."

Tao Yanyan glared at him: "Shut up!"

Qi Yizheng was scolded by the Queen and pouted, feeling aggrieved.

Miss Wang bit her lip and said, "I heard that General Qi's fiancée has no family background and is just an ordinary commoner. But I am different. My uncle is the Minister of Rites, my father works in the Hanlin Academy, and my cousin is the Consort Xian. I think I am the most suitable for General Qi."

Tao Yanyan sneered, "What can we do then? General Qi's fiancée is approved by His Majesty. His Majesty has even specifically instructed the Imperial Household Department to prepare General Qi's wedding. Having the Imperial Household Department handle matters is a privilege only afforded to princes. Miss Wang, if His Majesty were to learn of your statement just now that you are the ideal match, wouldn't that be questioning His Majesty's judgment and the Emperor's decision?"

Miss Wang quickly apologized, "I made a mistake. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me. But...but I was indeed in the same room with General Qi. This is an indisputable fact."

Tao Yanyan looked at the beautiful but calculating Miss Wang in front of him, and his expression turned colder. "Sharing the same room doesn't mean sleeping on the same bed. What are you fussing about?"

Qi Yizheng: “…”

What does "sleeping on the same bed" mean? Your Majesty, please be mindful of your wording.

Miss Wang: “…”

Is it really okay for the Mother of the Nation to speak so bluntly?

"Besides, I still want to ask you, it was obviously General Qi who came to this side hall to rest drunk first, and you came in later. Why didn't you leave quickly when you saw a man here? Could it be that... you have been staring at General Qi just to find this opportunity to blackmail him deliberately?" Tao Yanyan stared at Miss Wang with his big eyes, which was quite intimidating.

"Your Highness, Your Highness did not, I did not stare at General Qi, it was all just a coincidence."

Miss Wang denied it again and again. She couldn't admit that she was moved when she saw Qi Yizheng at the banquet today. She watched him being taken to the side hall by Eunuch Zhang and followed him all the way.

Seeing Miss Wang's evasive eyes, Tao Yanyan's expression became even colder.

"I won't believe you just because you make a few sophistry excuses. With so many people watching, I'll definitely find witnesses. If you want to make a big fuss, I can oblige you. But it all depends on whether you can afford the price of that fuss, and whether your Wang family can afford it."

Miss Wang looked at Queen Tao with fear and did not dare to argue for a moment.

"You should be thankful that your cousin, Consort Xian, is decent and has a good relationship with me. Otherwise, just because you deliberately framed a military commander favored by His Majesty, I would have dragged you out and given you thirty lashes of the cane."

Tao Yanyan's tone was so cold that Miss Wang started to tremble with fear.

Seeing that the atmosphere was almost calm, Tao Yanyan gave him another way out: "Alright, I see that you are young and immature. Considering that this is your first offense, I will give you a chance to reform and let you go this time."

Tao Yanyan gave Qingfeng a look, and Qingfeng stepped forward to help the man up.

"Calm down and go back to the banquet. You were the first to have impure thoughts about what happened tonight. If you are a smart person, don't bring it up again in the future."

Miss Wang was helpless. Now that things had come to this, she didn't dare to confront Queen Tao head-on.

Tao Yanyan sent the person away, and Qingfeng personally took the person out and watched her return to the banquet.

"Drinking will cause trouble, General, it's better to drink less." Tao Yanyan dealt with Miss Wang and advised Qi Yizheng.

Qi Yizheng clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I am deeply grateful."

"I am also helping you find someone. If we are destined to be together, you will meet again. Why do you have to drink to drown your sorrows and make yourself so haggard?" Looking at Qi Yizheng's thin face, Tao Yanyan couldn't help but say one more sentence.

Qi Yizheng chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Will we meet again? The world is so vast, if she's deliberately trying to avoid me, how can I find her? But I still need your kindness, Madam. I'll just pretend it was all a dream, and I never met her."

Tao Yanyan didn't know what to say. Qi Yizheng and Jiang Yingying were both free and easy people, but now one of them was hiding deliberately and the other was depressed. Love was really a tormenting thing.

Back at the banquet hall, Tao Yanyan's expression remained calm. Concubine Xian was still diligently maintaining order, presumably unaware of the incident that had just transpired in the side hall. The young lady from the Wang family seemed like a deflated quail, and she didn't act up again.

However, whether the virtuous concubine is aware of it or not is another matter, but she still needs to be punished.

The next day, Tao Yanyan asked someone to invite Concubine Xian to Changle Palace to talk to her about what happened last night.

Upon hearing what had happened, Concubine Xian blushed as red as a boiled shrimp. "It's all my fault for not being able to discipline her. I originally thought I'd let her see the world, and if she found someone I liked, I could help her find a partner. But I never thought she was so greedy that she'd secretly set her sights on General Qi. I'm truly ashamed!"

Tao Yanyan said calmly, "People's hearts are hard to predict. You'll just have to be careful from now on. Fortunately, General Qi had already drunk the sobering soup and wasn't so drunk. Otherwise, if any noise had come from the side hall last night, it would have been a huge disgrace."

The virtuous concubine quickly said yes, feeling a little scared.

"I think your cousin is a scheming woman with high standards. It's better to marry her off as soon as possible to avoid causing trouble at home." Tao Yanyan took a sip of tea and looked at Concubine Xian.

The virtuous concubine sighed, "Your Majesty, you may not know this, but my cousin is very self-righteous and a bit clever, which has earned her the affection of the elders. She has been very picky about her marriage until now. But your Majesty, don't worry. After this incident, I will definitely make it clear with the elders at home and have them choose a husband for my cousin as soon as possible so that she can marry off as soon as possible."

Tao Yanyan nodded. "Be careful what you say, and don't involve General Qi. He's your Majesty's study companion, and he spends more time with your Majesty than any of us do. They have a very close relationship."

The virtuous concubine quickly agreed. She certainly wouldn't be so foolish as to report what happened last night to her elders at home. She still knew how to find an excuse.