Shipin Dalizheng

"Noble Concubine Xie is childless, so why would the Xie family try to win over my cousin? Or..."

Aunt Cailan said, "I can't guess the answer, but the person who delivered the invitation said that a young lady from the Xie family who was raised in the countryside is about to get married. They want to hold a banquet before the wedding to meet the noble ladies from the capital so that they can have good relations in the future."

Zhao Ling scoffed, "What do you mean by 'young lady raised in the countryside'? It sounds nice, but she's just a peasant girl who has nothing to do with the Imperial Tutor's Mansion except her surname Xie. She's using the name of the Imperial Tutor's Mansion to come to the capital to climb the social ladder."

Aunt Cailan sighed, "Noble families want to arrange marriages, but how can they have so many daughters of marriageable age? Every family has a cousin, a distant cousin."

Even the Bo family had raised a girl named Rong Xiu, but unfortunately she had a miserable life.

Although the peasant girl was of low status, if the Xie family used her as a tool for marriage, at least they would have some respect. Taifu Xie's influence in the court was no less than that of the left and right prime ministers, so Zhao Ling wouldn't be so unwilling to show respect to him for just a banquet.

As they continued to drink tea, Aunt Cailan's face lit up with a gossipy smile. "Princess, I heard that His Majesty has been staying in the Empress's palace these past few days. Is the Empress regaining her charm and favor?"

Zhao Ling didn't want to share gossip about his mother, but this fact was really funny.

The reason was that Rong Tang asked the Ministry of Works to install a fan in both Concubine Rong and Zhao Ling Palace. The fan was fixed in the bedroom of the palace. The craftsmanship was very complicated. It used the wind outside to drive the fan in the room through the transmission shaft.

The downside is that you can't move, but the upside is that the entire bedroom is breezy at night and you won't wake up from the heat.

When the renovation was just completed, many concubines came to watch the fun and sat in Concubine Rong's bedroom to feel the coolness. However, they did not know that the automatic fan technology was very immature. It broke down eight times a day and could not be repaired in time, causing them to laugh at Concubine Rong loudly.

Tang Fuyun, who was in charge of the installation, scratched his head but had no idea what to do. So the other concubines gave up the idea of ​​following suit and asked the people around them to go to the Ministry of Works to ask for hand-cranked fans and foot-operated fans. Although they would occasionally malfunction, they were easy to repair and the young eunuchs could fix them after learning. At night, they would let the palace maids and eunuchs take turns to crank the fans so that they could sleep soundly.

Of course, Emperor Xuan Ning was also equipped with a relatively small one as soon as possible. Wherever the person moved, the fan moved there, and there was a cool breeze everywhere, which was very comfortable.

It was not working at night. Emperor Xuanning suffered from neurasthenia and often had restless sleep. The buzzing of mosquitoes at night could wake him up, and he would have to wait half an hour before falling asleep again.

For this reason, he never spent the whole night with the concubines and had to leave before midnight. Even the most favored Concubine Xie could not keep him. Over time, no one made any effort in this regard.

So at night, Emperor Xuanning suffered. Compared with the coolness of the day, the night seemed much hotter than in previous years.

Someone might ask, wouldn't it be enough to have a eunuch fan him? Or, what about putting a few more ice basins?

No! Again, he's in such a bad mood that even a mosquito could wake him up, let alone a living person.

As for the ice basin, if you put too much in it, it will cause rheumatic leg pain, but if you put too little in it, it will be ineffective.

Moreover, Emperor Xuanning was extremely suspicious (there were always villains who wanted to harm him), and he would not allow anyone to approach him when he slept. Once, a eunuch approached to tuck his pillow while he was sleeping, but he opened his eyes and killed him with a sword. Even He Daban, his most trusted eunuch, watched from outside the curtain when it was his turn to keep watch at night, and did not dare to make a sound.

Even if Emperor Xuan Ning was willing to tolerate He Daban fanning him by his bed, the manual fan would speed up and slow down at random and make a lot of noise, which he could not stand.

He slept restlessly every night, and asked for water to wipe his body several times. Or he wanted to get up and asked the eunuch to fan him for a while to cool him down before going back to sleep. Within two days, his eyes were black and blue.

He Daban felt distressed. "Your Majesty could sleep well before the fan was installed. But now that you have it, you can't sleep anymore. Who can you complain to?"

But except for the emperor, all the concubines and high-ranking eunuchs in the palace thought that fans were a good thing.

At this time, He Daban's godson Xiaoji spoke up, "It's said that Empress Rong in Qifeng Palace has installed a high-end ice cube. Although it's easy to break, I haven't heard that Empress Rong needs a lot of ice cubes. Perhaps it has some effect. Why don't you go and feel it for yourself, Your Majesty?"

He Daban glared at his godson, "Empress Rong has never asked for more ice! Did you accept any favors from Qifeng Palace?"

Xiaoji cried out in injustice, "My son wants to take it back, but Concubine Rong doesn't have it!"

The poor concubine was completely exposed.

He Daban still wanted to bear his godson, but Emperor Xuanning gave him a sidelong glance and said, "Alright, let's go take a look tonight. It won't cost anything."

That night, Emperor Xuanning went to Qifeng Palace. In a corner of the bedroom, a strange object was installed outside the room. It would spin when the wind blew, and no one knew how the wind outside could get inside the room.

Concubine Rong received him and welcomed him in, and she saw a round hole dug in the wall. The wind leaf was turning neither fast nor slow, blowing in wisps of wind that were barely noticeable. The noise was not loud, but a steady and soothing buzzing sound that was not unpleasant to the ears.

It was very late, and he just came to experience it. If he felt sleepy, he could sleep, and if he didn't, he could leave. After chatting for a few minutes, he undressed and lay down on the bed.

Concubine Rong knew his habits. Since His Majesty had not expressed his intention to have her sleep with him, she planned to help His Majesty go to sleep and then go to the side hall to make do.

Emperor Xuanning casually asked, "Is there an ice basin in the side hall?"

Rong Fei said, "Your Majesty, I have never used an ice basin before."

"Aren't you hot then?"

"It's only hot for two or three months a year. Just bear with it and it will pass."

Emperor Xuan Ning felt sorry for pushing away people who came to enjoy the cool breeze.

"Let's rest together. We're already an old married couple. Besides, I don't know if I can get any sleep."

Rong Fei did not object and lay down on the side with her inner clothes on.

Emperor Xuan Ning slept soundly that night. He didn't know whether the high-end fan was broken or not. Anyway, he hardly woke up all night. When he woke up occasionally, he turned over and went back to sleep.

In the morning, when the court was about to begin, it was He Daban who bravely called out to him, "Your Majesty, it's time to get up. You'll be late for court."

Concubine Rong was still asleep, so Emperor Xuanning put on his court robes and left the bedroom. Looking back, he saw that the senior guy had stopped moving. He was indeed a spoiled creature.

In this way, Emperor Xuanning stayed in Qifeng Palace for three consecutive nights. Other concubines were dissatisfied and wanted to install this high-end fan as well.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs could not come up with such a large budget at once, not to mention that Concubine Rong's expenses were also paid by Rong Tang, so the concubines in each palace had to pay out of their own pockets.

Who knew it was so evil? After other concubines spent huge amounts of money and manpower to install them, the fans were either unusable or broke down frequently, and the noise was no less than that of hand-cranked or foot-operated fans. Emperor Xuan Ning simply couldn't stand it. He stayed up for two nights and got a black eye. He returned to Qifeng Palace again and issued a ban, forbidding the palaces to waste money again.

The same immature skills, the same love of breaking things, and for some reason, Emperor Xuanning only felt cool in Qifeng Palace.

When Princess Zhaoling heard Nanny You talk about this, Nanny You said very subtly, "The Queen slept with you last night."

It was probably because he slept soundly, Emperor Xuanning was in high spirits, and Concubine Rong's beauty was still online.

Zhao Ling collected his thoughts again and responded vaguely to Aunt Cailan. In fact, this matter could not be concealed in the palace. The attendants kept records of every empress's sleep and nights, which would serve as a basis for the bloodline of future princes and princesses.

Aunt Cailan was very pleased, "It would be great if Your Majesty could give birth to another prince. I'm not saying that the princess can't rely on me, it's the palace's rule. If you have a prince by your side, he will be crowned a king in the future, and Your Majesty can leave the palace and become a concubine."