Harem Daily Life

Everyone found a large restaurant that looked decent and went in to order a few tables of food.

Tao Yanyan took the children to the private room on the second floor. Jiang Yingying was grabbed by Qingfeng and went in together, so she couldn't run away at all.

Jiang Yingying stood there at a loss, her face turning red and white, feeling uneasy.

"What are you standing there for? Sit down and eat first." Tao Yanyan ordered with a cold face.

"Seven meals, seven meals." He Xiaobao echoed. It was his first time to eat in such a place, and his eyes rolled around with curiosity.

Jiang Yingying had no choice but to sit down.

The table was filled with delicious food, most of which were the restaurant's most classic dishes. Tao Yanyan asked Qingfeng and Shuang'er to sit down and eat together. Since they had left the palace, there was no need to talk about so many rules.

After everyone had eaten, Qingfeng and Shuang'er tactfully took the three children out, leaving Tao Yanyan and Jiang Yingying alone in the house to chat.

Jiang Yingying was the first to break the silence: "Why is the queen here?"

Tao Yanyan glanced at her and said, "He Yue's biological mother, Wang, lived here after being demoted. She was very ill, so I brought the children to see her. What about you? Have you always lived here?"

This place is more than 200 miles away from the capital, and it takes three days to get there by carriage. Tao Yanyan didn't expect that Jiang Yingying didn't run far either, and was actually around the capital.

Jiang Yingying shook her head: "I just came back recently."

After saying that, she had no choice but to briefly recount her movements after leaving Beijing.

"Ever since I learned I was infertile, I secretly left the capital. Later, I found out that the person who hurt me was from Dark Night Island, so I went there. Unfortunately, my abilities were limited, and I kept wandering around the outskirts of Dark Night Island. Later, I found out that the imperial court sent troops to wipe out Dark Night Island. I thought maybe... Qi Yizheng had found out something. I was afraid of running into him, so I left there and traveled around, taking any work I could to earn some money to support myself. Later, I discovered that this place was beautiful and not far from the capital, so I decided to stay and settle down permanently."

Tao Yanyan looked at her dressed as a man, no wonder his people couldn't find her.

"You disguised yourself as a man and went out to find work? What kind of work did you find?" By the way, she also wanted to know what Yixingtang did.

Jiang Yingying continued, "It's inconvenient for women to act outside, so I disguised myself as a man. But I don't know how to do anything, so I can only do odd jobs. Yixingtang has all kinds of odd jobs, such as guarding the house and doing hard labor at the docks... I carry goods at the docks, so I have enough strength and can still do it. But what I didn't expect was that they were so shameless. They didn't pay me for the work. If I resisted, they would arrest me, beat me up, and then send me to the authorities. I had no choice but to take the money and run away."

After hearing this, Tao Yanyan said angrily, "You would rather work as a laborer outside than go back home to live a good life. What's going on in your head?"

Jiang Yingying opened her mouth and sighed, "There's already a huge disparity between his and my status, and now that I'm infertile, how can I continue to cling to him?"

Tao Yanyan looked at the depressed Jiang Yingying and asked, "Do you know what he's thinking? You feel that you can't carry on his family line, so you want to leave. Have you asked him what he thinks?"

Jiang Yingying was speechless for a moment and couldn't answer.

"After you left, he became very depressed. He didn't even shave, and he looked much more haggard. He volunteered to go wherever there was danger. He was like a walking corpse, completely devoid of any sense of life."

Jiang Yingying's heart tightened, she wanted to ask a few more questions, but she didn't know how to start.

"Since I met you here today, I will not let you leave. Since you need work anyway, why not stay and serve me?"

Jiang Yingying immediately refused: "No, no, if I stay with the Queen, won't I meet him?"

Tao Yanyan glared at her. "So, you saw each other. You just had to talk it out. He already has you in his heart, and you flirted with him but didn't take responsibility. You didn't even ask him if he disliked your infertility, and you just ran away on your own initiative. You should at least give each other a chance, right? What if he doesn't care about having children at all? Have you thought about that?"

Jiang Yingying's eyes were red. "He's a general and the only son in the Qi family. How could he not care about having children? I... I don't want to end up arranging for him to take a concubine and watch him have children with other women. Your Majesty, you can call me selfish or stupid, but I'm a child of the Jianghu. Even if I never get married, I can still live."

Tao Yanyan had no choice but to tell the story of how Qi Yizheng was plotted against by the girl from the Wang family.

"That Wang family girl is beautiful and comes from a high-class family, but he still rejected her outright, not wanting even the slightest involvement. Why did he do that? What you just said was all your own thoughts, and you didn't ask him. Why don't you consider that his single-minded desire to marry you will pave the way for your future and eliminate all your worries?"

Jiang Yingying raised her eyes and looked at Tao Yanyan, her brows relaxed a little.

"Also, he was indeed the one who led the troops to wipe out the Dark Night Island, and he was seriously injured in the process." Tao Yanyan sighed: "The wound was very deep, and anyone who saw it would be shocked, but he acted as if nothing had happened. He didn't even ask for a few days to heal the wound, and asked to go out and suppress the bandits again."

Jiang Yingying was so anxious that she almost cried: "Then where is he... where is he now?"

Tao Yanyan raised her eyebrows and said, "In a certain mountain, I don't know the exact location, but anyway... it's freezing cold, and I'm injured, so I don't think it will be easy."

After Tao Yanyan finished speaking, she was glad that Jiang Yingying was a child of the underworld. She didn't know that the court had holidays for the festival, and she didn't know that there were not so many bandits rampant now. Otherwise, her lie would not be convincing.

"Alright, alright, you should return to the capital with me first. I'll send someone to find out where he is and arrange a meeting for you. You can talk it out in person. If you really want to break up, don't do it in an ambiguous way and leave regrets."

Jiang Yingying bit her lip, still a little embarrassed.

"Sister, you are a child of the underworld. If you have a mouth, you should speak up. What's the point of running away silently? Please don't let me look down on you, okay?"

The provocation method really worked, Jiang Yingying had no choice but to nod: "Okay, then I will go back with the queen and explain things to him clearly."

Tao Yanyan nodded in satisfaction: "Okay, then when Commander Wang comes back, we will return to the capital."

Tao Yanyan felt much better, thinking that today's trip had given He Yue a lot of gains, as she had met her biological mother and found Jiang Yingying.

However, her good mood did not last long. After Commander Wang came back to report, she was so angry that she almost smashed the plate.

"How could this be? In this clear and bright world, how could such a dark organization exist, colluding with the government and oppressing the people for so long? Pass on my order. Yuecheng Prefect Zhao Songde is dismissed from office immediately and sent to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Personnel is to appoint a new official. This Yixingtang must be thoroughly investigated. I want to see who is backing this underworld organization!"