Harem Daily Life

Qingfeng received the dishes according to Tao Cairen's position, and spent money to buy four dishes separately. He and Changtai took them back to Cuiweixuan.

On the way, Chang Tai met his fellow villager Xiao Quanzi, and they stood and talked for a few words. When he caught up with the breeze again, he whispered, "Our talent has become famous!"

Then he looked around to see if there was anyone around, and told the story of His Majesty and Talented Lady Tao riding in the same sedan hand in hand: "Xiao Quanzi serves in Rong Fei's palace. He said that even Rong Fei, who never cares who is favored in the harem, was very angry. She said that our Talented Lady is the reincarnation of a foxy woman who came here specifically to seduce His Majesty."

Qingfeng was confused and said hurriedly, "We are not allowed to have our own sedan chair because of our status as a talent. Your Majesty wants to send us back. It's so far from Changchun Palace to Cuiwei Pavilion. If we don't ride in the same sedan chair, should we follow your Majesty and run back?"

Wouldn't it be stupid not to take the sedan chair? Is it necessary to call them foxes for such a small matter?

Qingfeng was a little angry.

Chang Tai was busy trying to comfort her along the way and hurried back to Cuiweixuan.

Seeing that dinner was coming, Tao Yanyan had someone close the door to the outer courtyard and asked everyone to sit down and eat together.

Qingfeng, Mingyue and Changtai could not refuse, so they all sat down. They left some food for Xianglan, and the four adults and one child had their first reunion dinner after returning to the palace.

Today's dishes are pretty good. After being promoted to a talented person, I was given six dishes, three meat and three vegetarian. Qingfeng bought four more, including a roast chicken. It looked like there were fish, meat, chicken and shrimp, so it was considered a good meal.

Tao Yanyan gave a chicken leg to little Jin'an: "Jin'an will treat this place as his home from now on. You guys should be as supportive of Jin'an as you are of me and take good care of him, understand?"

The three of them stood up at the same time: "Yes, as you command!"

"Okay, there's no outsider here, so there's no need to follow so many rules." Tao Yanyan invited everyone to sit down.

Qingfeng thought about what Xiao Quanzi said when he came back, and nudged Zhengchang with his elbow. Zhengchang said stiffly, "Talented lady, the palace is saying that His Majesty favors you, and that you and His Majesty ride in the same sedan chair holding hands. I'm afraid many ladies in the palace are jealous. Talented lady, please be careful when you go to pay respects tomorrow."

Tao Yanyan's reaction was the same as Qingfeng's. Only a fool would not take the sedan chair. The words "suffering without suffering" did not exist in Tao Yanyan's dictionary.

"Okay, I understand. By the way, according to my position, shouldn't I have two more people to serve me?" Tao Yanyan thought that now that there was a little Jin'an, someone needed to take care of him. Xianglan would have to be taken care of for at least two months and could not get up for the time being, so she also needed help.

Mingyue said, "Yes, a talented person. A talented person can have six servants. But Xianglan is special. She is a talented person who wanted to come here on her own. She was sent by His Majesty, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs may send two or three. Then we may have seven here."

"I think the number of people is not important. What matters most is that they are loyal and useful."

She took a bite of the food and ordered, "When the newcomers come, you guys should be alert and watch more. If it doesn't work, then leave as soon as possible. You still have to watch over Mingyue over at Xianglan's place. Don't let her get into trouble in Cuiweixuan. You will be in charge of Changtai here at Jinan first. Try to train a trustworthy person to serve Jinan in the future."

Several people agreed hurriedly, and while eating, they talked about it, making clear arrangements for what Cuiweixuan should do next.

Knowing that the emperor would not come tonight, Tao Yanyan took a comfortable bath and went to bed early. He finally had the most peaceful sleep in recent days.

After Shu Fei returned to the palace, she asked Zi Ling to copy the scriptures and hand them in as soon as possible.

Hearing that the Queen Mother had summoned Concubine Tao, Concubine Shu sneered, "I've admired her all along, and I didn't want to pull her down and get punished by the Queen Mother. Well, the Queen Mother won't make it too difficult for her, at most she'll just have to kneel down as punishment."

But the subsequent developments were beyond her expectations. First, the emperor went to Changchun Palace in person, and then Tao Cairen was sent back by His Majesty in person, and she was rewarded by the empress dowager.

Shu Fei, who always loves to watch the fun, didn't see anything exciting this time. Instead, she saw a hero saving a damsel in distress, and she was so angry that she didn't even have dinner.

Having slept well last night, Tao Yanyan woke up feeling energetic today.

Mingyue dressed her up, and made her put on the hairpin and earrings given by the Queen Mother. She also chose a scarlet dress to match it, and put on some lipstick. She instantly looked lively.

Tao Yanyan was more and more satisfied with Mingyue's dressing skills. She couldn't help but smile and said, "Mingyue, you understand aesthetics. You have dressed me up so beautifully. I am about to fall in love with myself!"

Mingyue said modestly: "Talented person has a good foundation. She will be bright and charming after a little dressing up. But talented person's clothes need to be bought new ones. The sleeves are a little short here, and the upper body is a little tight."

"Really?" Tao Yanyan herself didn't care much about it, but after taking a look, she did seem a little fuller. It might be because she had taken good care of herself recently and was still growing, so she had developed a little bit.

"Then make a few more. According to my allotment, does that mean I get four new suits a year?"

"Yes, we have made one set before, and we can ask the Clothing Bureau to make three more sets." Mingyue said.

"Then let's do it all and ask them to come and measure the size." Tao Yanyan thought for a moment and asked again, "Can they help make clothes for the children? We'll pay for the fabric and the labor."

Xiao Jinan also needs to have several sets of clothes made. The emperor is busy and cannot take care of so many things. I am afraid no one will think of arranging them for him, so I have to take care of it myself.

"Eunuch Zhang said that Master Jin'an's food, clothing and other expenses will be arranged according to half of the allowance for a talented person, and half of the allowance will be given every month. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already reported it, and I will keep an eye on it. Then I will also ask the Clothing Bureau to make two suits for the young master."

Tao Yanyan was surprised that He Linzhang could tell her all this. This saved her money. She smiled and felt much better.

She rushed to pay her respects early in the morning, and by the time she arrived, half of the people had already arrived. She lived the farthest away, and the others didn't exercise as much as she did, so she was out of breath when she arrived, while the others were calm and relaxed.

Tao Yanyan didn't talk to people much, mainly because no one wanted to talk to her. It was like people from different departments of the same group, who met each other every day but were not familiar with each other. It was good enough to have an acquaintance and a smile, but if they insisted on chatting for a few words, it would seem that there was no sense of boundaries.

When most people had arrived, Tao Yanyan found that everyone was looking at her with an indescribable look in their eyes. She thought it was because of the affection she had shown with He Linzhang yesterday.

She was too lazy to pay attention and just sat in her seat calmly, accepting the mocking, jealous or disgusted looks from all directions.

"The Queen is here!" The palace maid shouted loudly, and all the concubines stood up and respectfully paid their respects to the Queen.

The queen sat down calmly and said, "Everyone, get up!"

"Tao Cairen has disregarded palace rules and acted presumptuously and disrespectfully. She is punished to kneel for two hours. Someone, take her away!" The queen's stern voice rang out, and Tao Yanyan thought she was hallucinating.