Harem Daily Life

"Your son pays his respects to the Queen Mother. I was unable to pay a visit to her as soon as I returned to the palace. I hope you will forgive me!" He Linzhang bowed to the Queen Mother and stood beside Tao Yanyan and said.

The Queen Mother looked at the two of them standing together. It was very pleasing to the eyes. She couldn't help but stare at them for a while longer.

Eunuch Qin immediately winked at the Queen Mother, but seeing that it had no effect, he coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, His Majesty is apologizing to you."

The Queen Mother then realized that her thoughts had gone astray, and she said in a deep voice, "The Emperor is busy with state affairs, and the ministers are eagerly waiting for you to return to the palace. I know you are a very busy person, so there is no need to apologize. Please take a seat."

The emperor leaned slightly towards Tao Yanyan and said, "I am not tired. I will stand with Talented Lady Tao for a while."

The Queen Mother choked and glared at Tao Yanyan with some displeasure: "Tao Cairen, please sit down too. What are you standing there for? I have to look up at you when I talk to you!"

Tao Yanyan felt miserable. How could I dare to sit down if you didn't ask me to? It was really like I couldn't sit or stand. It turned out that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were natural rivals!

He Linzhang then took Tao Yanyan's hand and sat on the left side together.

The Queen Mother's eyes darkened, and Eunuch Qin was shocked. This was the first time that His Majesty had personally supported a concubine in front of the Queen Mother. Even the Queen, the Imperial Concubine, the Shu Concubine and the Rong Concubine who gave birth to the only prince had never had this treatment. As for the most favored Concubine Li... Concubine Li was not liked by the Queen Mother and had not been summoned until now, so she was ruled out.

Tao Yanyan didn't feel anything, as He Linzhang often held her hand, so she was used to it. But when she accidentally caught a glimpse of the surprised look of the eunuch in charge of the empress dowager, she realized that she shouldn't act too close to her son in front of her mother-in-law. Wouldn't this accelerate the deterioration of the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law?

Hey, I was distracted and made a mistake just now! I should have broken free. It's all He Linzhang's fault for holding my hand without considering the occasion. Make a note in my notebook and make it clear to him next time that you can be as intimate as you want behind closed doors, but you must be dignified in front of outsiders!

The Queen Mother suppressed the complex emotions of happiness and displeasure in her heart that she had detected the Emperor's favored concubine, and said expressionlessly: "Tao Cairen has just explained everything about the Shu family in Lincheng. The Emperor handled it impartially, and I cannot disregard the law and plead for them. However, what the Emperor did in this matter really hurts me. Don't you have any trust between you and me? You didn't even mention it to me! It really chills my heart."

He Linzhang knew that the Empress Dowager was determined to vent her resentment, so when Shu Fei came to ask for an audience with the Empress Dowager, he did not come, knowing that the quarrel between the aunt and nephew would not be too fierce. He just wanted the Empress Dowager to vent some of her anger on Shu Fei first, and then he could come to apologize tomorrow, so as not to damage the emperor's dignity and allow the Empress Dowager to come down the ladder.

But what he didn't expect was that as soon as Shu Fei left, the young talent was summoned by the Empress Dowager.

The young talent did not have the identity and status of Shufei, so as soon as he heard the news, he let go of the courtier who was holding him and crying, and rushed to Changchun Palace immediately.

He Linzhang apologized, "I didn't dare to tell my mother in advance, mainly because I didn't want to believe that the Shu family, who had received the emperor's grace, would actually do such a treasonous thing."

He Linzhang was heartbroken: "I was worried that my mother would be sad after hearing the news, and I was also worried that it would be unfair to the Shu family if I reported it without finding out the truth, so I thought that I would find out the truth while passing by Lincheng. I didn't expect that after checking, there were witnesses and evidence. The Shu family in Lincheng committed an unforgivable crime. Otherwise, it would be a slap in the face of the court, the queen mother, and me. Therefore, I had to deal with the main criminals and persuade others with less serious crimes to plead guilty. As for those who did not participate, I will never punish them by association."

He Linzhang sighed and continued, "Mother, they are also a branch of my maternal grandfather's family. They contributed a lot to my ascension to the throne. Without solid evidence, I am unwilling to punish them. But they are stubborn and stubborn. They are clearly guilty, but they kidnapped Shu Fei and several other concubines to threaten me, asking me to give them a golden medal of immunity from death, and to let bygones be bygones, and they also want them to live a peaceful life. Even if I want to show some leniency, I can't just watch them commit suicide, can I?"

He Linzhang stood up and knelt directly in front of the empress dowager. Tao Yanyan looked at him and was wondering if she should kneel as well, when she saw He Linzhang raising his hand and pulling her to kneel down.

Tao Yanyan: “…” Actually, I have no reason to kneel?

He Linzhang said, "I was so angry at the time that I almost executed the entire Shu family. However, at the critical moment, Talented Tao decisively advised the innocent Shu family members to turn from evil to good. This gave me a moment of clarity and gave many people a chance to survive."

He Linzhang squeezed Tao Yanyan's hand and said affectionately: "Thanks to Talented Tao, I didn't make such a big mistake. Today I apologize to my mother so that I can have a clear conscience."

The emperor's words "I have a clear conscience" actually made his position very clear - the Shu family members who were executed deserved it, and he did not kill any more people who should have survived. He had done his utmost.

The emperor was born to the empress dowager, and no one knows a son better than his mother. How could the empress dowager not understand what the emperor said?

Now that everything has been said and the dead are dead, if the empress dowager continues to hold on to it, it will affect the relationship between mother and son.

The Queen Mother had no choice but to say, "It is my fault that I did not control my family well, and I have made things difficult for the Emperor. This matter ends here, and I will not mention it again in the future, so as not to make you sad. Emperor, please stand up, and don't kneel at every turn. You are an emperor, and you must always maintain the dignity of an emperor."

"Yes, I am relieved that your Majesty Mother can think it through. Thank you for your understanding and support." The emperor stood up and helped Tao Yanyan up.

The Queen Mother saw the intimacy between the two and looked at Eunuch Qin and said, "Tao Cairen has done a great service. Go and fetch my white jade and red coral headdress and give it to Tao Cairen."

Eunuch Qin was stunned, then quickly went to the warehouse to get something.

The headdress was specially made for Concubine Shu by the Empress Dowager, who thought she would give it to Concubine Shu after she gave birth to an heir. But she unexpectedly gave it to Concubine Tao in advance. The headdress included a top hairpin, a pair of hairpins, a pair of long hairpins, a center-shaped hairpin, a center-shaped hairpin, a pair of side-shaped hairpins, a pair of side-covering hairpins, a pair of earrings, a pair of bracelets, flower ornaments, and several small hairpins. It was extremely exquisite and luxurious.

In fact, according to Tao Cairen's position, she was not allowed to wear it, but it was given by the empress dowager, so no one dared to say anything to her even if her status was not high enough.

Eunuch Qin quickly brought a box of jewelry over and handed it to Tao Yanyan, who quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for the gift!"

Just by looking at the quaint and exquisite box, Tao Yanyan knew that the things inside must be extremely expensive!