Shipin Dalizheng

So there is no such thing as a high-end fan that brings coolness. It is just that there is someone who is not sleeping next to you and is fanning you gently. At this moment, the light silk fan in Rong Fei's hand is better than all the fans in the palace.

Emperor Xuanning was dazed for a while and soon fell asleep again.

Just like the previous days, when he got up, Concubine Rong was sleeping soundly. He previously thought that Concubine Rong got up late because she was thirsty, but now he knew the reason and walked more lightly.

While the former dynasty was discussing state affairs, the harem also had its own meetings. The ladies from all the palaces gathered in Kunyi Palace to pay their respects to Queen Wang. Amidst the flowers, Queen Wang, wearing a bright red dress embroidered with gold peony patterns, sat down. She glanced around and saw a rare guest.

"Thank you, Imperial Concubine. You seem to be in better spirits today and are able to come out to the Moon Palace to pay your respects."

Concubine Xie's petal-like lips trembled slightly. "Your Majesty, it is my duty to pay my respects to you. In the past, it was because Your Majesty was too brave and I struggled to keep your favor, so I was exhausted. After resting for these days, I feel much better now."

All the concubines in the palace were trembling. This Imperial Concubine Xie had a beautiful face, but she was actually very unruly. In front of so many people, she blatantly said that a man was "brave" and that she "received the favor without any effort" and "was exhausted". Such fierce words showed that she had not even the slightest bit of subtlety that a woman should have.

Not only that, she also humiliated all the concubines. After entering the palace for ten years, she compared the emperor's favor to a load of money. She alone got eight loads, Queen Wang got one load, and the other concubines shared one load.

Even if Your Majesty went to Qifeng Palace again last night, she still intercepted him first. No matter how "brave" Your Majesty is, he will be exhausted after going to Qifeng Palace.

But that wasn't the most important thing. One of the concubines immediately noticed something was wrong. "Come to think of it, Concubine Rong has been the last one to pay her respects these days. Yesterday morning, she came in a hurry and was still laughing. It's true that once someone wins the emperor's favor, their behavior changes immediately. They even don't care about the empress."

Queen Wang looked at Concubine Shu and said calmly, "Concubine Shu, Concubine Rong is the concubine, and you are the concubine. Please don't overdo it."

Shupin was very dissatisfied. She entered the palace early and had a prince who was crowned king. According to her seniority, she should have been promoted to a concubine. However, His Majesty refused to promote her on the grounds that the harem regulations only allowed four concubines, and only gave her the title of Shu.

For many years, she had been looking down on Concubine Rong because of the title "Shu", and always believed that a bald concubine who didn't even have a title was not as good as herself.

Concubine Rong came hurriedly again, laughing and looking sleepy. She forced herself to be alert and paid her respects to the queen along with the other concubines.

After Ping's death, everyone sat down. Concubine Shu kept belittling and suppressing Concubine Rong in a harsh tone. Another Concubine Hui also followed suit, sounding sour and sarcastic.

Queen Wang watched the show calmly, asked all the palace ladies to leave, and only kept Concubine Rong to answer.

As an old married couple, she knew Emperor Xuanning best. However, he had never been "brave" in the past few decades, not when he was young, and even less so now.

She also knew Concubine Xie's methods very well. A man weighing 100 kilograms would lose 80 kilograms if he got out of her bed. The emperor would feel dizzy when he left her palace, and there was no possibility of him getting married again.

Seeing that the emperor was still alive and attending court, Rong Fei definitely did not take action.

She asked Rong Fei subtly why she was so sleepy. Rong Fei smiled bitterly and said, "Empress, we all know that His Majesty is a light sleeper. The slightest noise will wake him up and he won't fall asleep. When His Majesty comes to my palace, I dare not sleep, for fear that my snoring will disturb His Majesty. I usually don't dare to take a nap until after the fifth watch. Since I'm a woman with nothing to do, I'll take a nap after paying my respects and returning home."

Queen Wang studied her for a moment, not finding any pretense in her eyes. She sighed softly, "Thank you for your hard work. We women in the harem have always relied on His Majesty for our honor and glory. His Majesty lives a long life, and we all enjoy wealth and honor for a long time, like Concubine Xie... Well, let's not talk about it."

When a middle-aged man on the decline of his life meets a young woman in her prime, I don't know who should be sympathized with.

After sending Concubine Rong to rest, Queen Wang went into the small Buddhist temple to chant sutras and praise Buddha. Perhaps because of her old age, Queen Wang, like many other old ladies of officials' wives, began to believe in Buddhism when she got older.

Queen Wang is fifty-one years old this year, six years older than Emperor Xuanning. At the age of twenty-eight, she married Nangong Yu, who was then a concubine prince, and used the power of the Wang family to support him to become the emperor of Dai Viet.

After Emperor Xuanning dismissed his court, he remembered that he had not visited the empress for many days, so he walked leisurely into the Kunyi Palace.

After chatting for a while, Queen Wang talked about what happened in the morning. She did not mention how Concubine Rong explained it, but only said that Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui had a lot of disagreements, and asked him to ask when he went to Concubine Rong's palace, and if he felt unwell, he should see the imperial physician as soon as possible.

Emperor Xuanning certainly knew why Concubine Rong was sleepy, but he didn't say anything and just responded with a hum.

Queen Wang then brought up Zhaohua's matter again, "Your Majesty, Zhaohua is a legitimate princess after all. She should be of sufficient status to marry the prime minister's illegitimate son, right? Why wouldn't Your Majesty grant her a marriage?"

Emperor Xuanning was incredulous. "Empress, do you think Prime Minister Zheng would agree?"

Queen Wang was also the legitimate daughter of a noble family. Her knowledge and magnanimity were unmatched in the world, but once it came to her own daughter, she could not help but protect her.

Queen Wang said, "Your Majesty has issued an imperial decree, and Prime Minister Zheng can't disobey it."

Emperor Xuanning was stunned. "Forced marriage?"

Queen Wang was a little embarrassed. "Why are you talking about forced marriage? Zhaohua is a legitimate princess. Marrying a bastard from the Zheng family should be considered a great favor by the Zheng family."

Emperor Xuanning looked at her speechlessly for a moment, then said, "Prime Minister Wang's family also has several sons who are also outstanding talents. This favor should be given to the Wang family!"

Queen Wang turned away angrily and said, "How can that be possible?"

"Why not? After all, they are cousins, and have been inseparable since childhood. In terms of affection, their relationship should be even deeper than the Zheng family's. Why doesn't the Queen think this is a favor now? You don't even want to marry your daughter to your nephew, so why do you think the Zheng family is willing?"

Queen Wang was a little annoyed that the emperor had humiliated her, so she had to change her words, "It's not that I don't want to marry Zhaohua to my nephew, it's that Zhaohua doesn't like her cousins ​​and only likes Zheng Changning."

Emperor Xuan Ning thought silently that Zhao Hua only liked Xie Jinzhi in the past, and once she no longer liked him, she would immediately beat him to a cripple. The Queen must not know how bad her daughter's reputation was among the aristocratic circles in Shangjing, so she felt so good about herself.

"We are a royal family, and our daughter is the most noble daughter in the world. Can't she marry whoever she likes?"

Emperor Xuanning let out a long sigh, his tone calm, "Empress, noble status is only superficial. Zhaohua is nothing but our daughter. If she were pure and innocent, I would have given her a marriage to anyone and at least given them an explanation. Now she is married for the second time and has a bad temper. She dares to point her mouth at a talented man in Shangjing and ask him to marry her. What's the right? Zheng Changning is both civil and military, and Prime Minister Zheng has high hopes for him. Why would he give up his bright future to marry a princess who has been married for the second time and become the laughing stock of Shangjing? Empress, you and I are old. After we pass away, the emperor who succeeds her is not her brother. How long will he support her? In the previous dynasty, how many princesses and noble ladies blocked their husbands' paths and died quietly in the backyard? Haven't you heard of them?"

Queen Wang's face turned pale. She had heard of it, but always felt that it was very far away from her daughter.

"Queen, you must admit that Zhaohua is not worthy of Zheng Changning. Forcing her to marry you is just sending her to death."