The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

The princess was unhappy because she met Concubine Rou.

Concubine Rou was favored when she was young, which is why she was able to give birth to three sons in a row.

But now she is old and ugly, and has long lost the emperor's favor. She can only live by relying on the relationship she had with the emperor.

But the emperor's mind and eyes are now completely occupied with Concubine Chen and the Eighth Prince she gave birth to, and he won't go to other places in the harem at all, which makes Concubine Rou very idle.

Whenever Concubine Rou has free time, she likes to take care of her two sons' household affairs.

Princess Su comes from a powerful family and holds military power. She also has an elder sister, Concubine De, in the palace. Even Prince Su has to coax her a little, so naturally she doesn't have the good temper to suffer the consequences of her mother-in-law.

Concubine Rou also knew that she would only pick on the weak and liked to torment Princess Jing.

Firstly, the princess was a princess of the Xia Dynasty, and her family was thousands of miles away, so she had no one to rely on.

And the fact that she was sent to marry a foreign prince showed that she was not favored.

Secondly, the princess has been childless for many years.

Based on these two points, Concubine Rou can easily control the princess.

It was also because of the princess's intelligence and Prince Jing's support that she was able to mediate under Concubine Rou for many years.

As soon as Concubine Rou had spoken a few words to Prince Su and his wife, Princess Su mentioned that she wanted to go see her sister.

Not only could Concubine Rou not get angry, she also had to send the person away with a smile.

Since she was angry with Princess Su, she would definitely find a place to vent her anger.

It just so happened that King Jing and Princess Jing were next to them.

The smile on Concubine Rou's face slowly faded, and she asked Princess Jing, "Are the pregnant women in the palace doing well?"

Princess Jing said respectfully, "All is well. Next year, Your Majesty will be able to hold a few grandchildren."

Imperial Concubine Rou sneered, "There are so many grandchildren of mine in Prince Su's Mansion, both legitimate and illegitimate. I would like to hold the legitimate grandson of Prince Jing's Mansion."

She said it so bluntly that Princess Jing had no choice but to admit her mistake, "It's my daughter-in-law who is incompetent."

"Just being incompetent is fine. But being incompetent and jealous is a grave sin."

The princess's face turned pale. "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? Although your daughter-in-law is incompetent, she would never dare to be a jealous woman."

"I heard that you deliberately raised the eldest son to speak foul language and even assaulted his pregnant concubine?"

Before Princess Jing could speak, Prince Jing frowned, "Who instigated this, Mother?!"

Prince Jing's voice was low and majestic, and he suppressed Concubine Rou's momentum as soon as he opened his mouth.

Seeing her son protecting Princess Jing again, Concubine Rou became increasingly dissatisfied, "I'm not old enough to be blind or deaf! How dare you say this is fake?"

"Of course it's fake!" King Jing said calmly, "Jue'er's biological mother is Ning, and he was raised by Ning. If there is any fault, it is the son's fault. He shouldn't have given his son to a concubine to raise!"

"You..." Concubine Rou was blocked by King Jing and couldn't say a word.

King Jing was still unwilling to give up and continued, "I heard that several concubines died in Big Brother's backyard. Mother, why don't you go and pay more attention to Big Brother?"

"As for my son's backyard, the princess manages it very well and my son is very satisfied."

Concubine Rou gritted her teeth: "Do you really have to go against me?"

She really wanted to say, if the princess had managed things well, how could two concubines have been poisoned during pregnancy?

But Concubine Rou knew that once Prince Jing spoke up to protect the princess, he would not hold back.

Then she will be the one who will be embarrassed.

King Jing's eyes narrowed, his phoenix eyes revealed a bit of oppression, and his words were full of sharpness.

"Is mother determined to accuse her son and the princess of being unfilial before she's satisfied?!"

Concubine Rou choked: "I..."

Prince Jing sneered, his eyes as sharp as knives. "Even if Mother favors my eldest brother, at least leave me a way out. If Father listens to my son's unfilial words, will it benefit you and my eldest brother?!"

Imperial Concubine Rou raised her hand and rubbed her chest, "Well, now you have become so powerful that you can't even say a few words."

King Jing's smile grew colder. "If my mother had asked my eldest sister-in-law about this matter today and then asked my princess, I would not dare to say anything."

"But mother doesn't care about my elder brother and his wife's family affairs at all. Instead, she always finds fault with my princess."

"Is mother dissatisfied with the princess or with her son?"

Imperial Concubine Rou was almost crying from anger, "Why do you have to poke my heart?"

King Jing said expressionlessly, "It was my son's fault. I shouldn't have mentioned your beloved brother."

Concubine Rou couldn't catch her breath.

Before she could speak, King Jing bowed to her and said, "Since mother is unwell, I will take you to see father."

"The sacrificial ceremony will be held soon. Mother should wipe away her tears, lest Big Brother be suspected by Father."

Imperial Concubine Rou: “…”

After Prince Jing and Princess Jing left, Concubine Rou pointed in the direction they left and said, "Look, this is the good son I gave birth to?!"

The palace maids and eunuchs around him all lowered their heads and dared not say a word.

Anyone who dared to offer honest advice was dismissed by Concubine Rou, even her wet nurse, Nanny Shen.

Now no one in the palace dared to persuade Concubine Rou not to interfere in the affairs of Prince Jing's Mansion.

But no one dared to agree with Concubine Rou and criticize Prince Jing and the Princess.

After leaving Zhongcui Palace, King Jing and Princess Jing went to the Sheji Altar.

King Jing's originally unhappy mood reached its peak when he saw the Eighth Prince standing behind the emperor.

In addition to King Jing, several other princes and royal brothers were also dissatisfied with this.

The ministers also had their own thoughts.

However, the sacrificial ceremony was about to begin, and no one dared to say anything at this time.

The sacrifice is carried out according to the procedure.

Originally, the official in charge of ceremonies should have handed over the lit incense, the emperor would have read the blessing speech, and then the blessing wine would have been served.

But when it came to lighting incense and praying, the ceremonial official did not come up, and instead the eighth prince took over.

The thirteen-year-old Eighth Prince was in his growth period. He was tall and thin like a bamboo pole, but his face was very childish.

Standing beside the emperor, he was very conspicuous.

He respectfully lit the incense and handed it to the emperor, and also took the responsibility of pouring wine when the blessing wine was served.

None of the princes behind the emperor looked happy.

When the sacrifice was over, people in the court and the country were talking about it.

Everyone said that the emperor intended to make the eighth prince the crown prince, which was why the eighth prince lit incense and poured wine during the sacrifice.

Since ancient times, the princes who assumed certain passing responsibilities during the emperor's sacrifices were attached with the emperor's intention to oppose the crown prince.

The eighth prince is the youngest son, and he has six living older brothers, five of whom have already become successful.

谁能服气？

The court officials were also dissatisfied.

You said you wanted the eighth prince to be the crown prince, so why did you hide it from everyone?

It would be fun if this move caught everyone off guard and caused a lot of discussion in the government and the public, right?

The emperor handled this matter in an awkward manner, but King Jing, as his son, could not say a word.

He could only return to the palace with a grim face.

Thinking of how he had protected her during the day, the princess understood Prince Jing's displeasure and gently advised, "Your Highness, you're feeling depressed right now. Why don't you go check on the pregnant concubines and maidservants?"

"Seeing them, His Majesty will feel a little relieved when he thinks about the future addition of children to the palace."

King Jing glanced at the princess with a deep gaze, "Princess, you are truly virtuous. This shows how deeply Mother misunderstood you."

When the princess heard this, she felt it was sarcastic.

However, she was quite tolerant of King Jing at this moment, with a smile on her face, "I know that I am not gentle and considerate enough to comfort the prince's depression, so I naturally dare not be the unvirtuous one."

King Jing: "..."

Prince Jing actually wanted to ask the princess how she could speak so well, why she looked so humiliated in front of Concubine Rou and didn't dare to say a word?

But after thinking about it, I didn't say it.

Normally, Prince Jing should rest in the princess's courtyard during this important festival.

Now that the princess is so generous, it would seem shameless for Prince Jing to continue staying here.

He responded calmly, "I know."