Shipin Dalizheng

He turned around and made a gesture of invitation. Taifu Xie withdrew his gaze and left the palace.

When Concubine Rong returned to Qifeng Palace, she felt her legs and feet were weak. Nanny You hurriedly asked someone to close the palace gate and help her undress and take a bath.

Only after she changed into dry clothes did Concubine Rong Xian feel that she was still alive.

Nanny You was shocked. "My dear, this old servant has never seen our prince, no, it's our young master who is so naughty and dishonest, but he has never really angered His Majesty. For this matter, if it happened to anyone else, he would be beheaded, but he gave it a clear way out."

Concubine Rong was also extremely scared. She had kept this secret in her heart for a long time, and she was afraid that one day she would let it slip and someone would hear it. It was not until this moment that she realized what Rong Tang was sure of. He was sure that if the emperor knew about this one day, he would not suspect that he was a spy.

The bookkeeper counted the rewards His Majesty had given to the Empress that morning, as well as the gifts from the concubines in the palace who had come to curry favor with her, and showed her the copied list. "Your Majesty is truly proud today. Not only Concubine Xie, but even the Empress has given rewards."

You should know that the status of Emperor Xuanning's harem is very delicate. Queen Wang's three legitimate princesses have no princes, and they are old and have lost their favor.

The princes had low ranks and the emperor rarely summoned them, so they could only compete with each other to make their sons the crown prince.

Although Concubine Xie holds a high position, she doesn't even have a princess. According to the survival rules of the imperial palace, being favored but having no children is equivalent to being a plaything. She may enjoy great glory now, but her future will be bleak.

On the other hand, Concubine Rong has a high position and is favored by the princess. She has been serving the emperor in bed for more than a month. Not only has she been officially appointed as a virtuous concubine, but her nephew has also inherited the title in advance. As long as she doesn't make trouble, she will definitely be an honorable imperial concubine in the future.

The palace servants who had treated her as invisible in the past finally realized that in this palace, besides the Empress and Concubine Xie, Concubine Rong was the third person who could not be offended.

When Concubine Rong Xian looked at the gift list, her thoughts suddenly flew back to a few months ago when she was still living a tight life.

"Pick out some good ones and send them to the Bo's Mansion. Tang'er already has a fiancée, so use them as a betrothal gift for him. Pick out some more for Zhao Ling as her dowry. As a mother, I finally don't have to subsidize my daughter. And give some to Cai Lan for household expenses. You can't always use Tang'er's things. It's not decent."

Nanny You was very soothing. "I'll go. I think it would be better to send the things given to the young master directly to Miss Tang. Madam Tang and Lord Tang are having a very serious quarrel over their divorce. I heard that Lord Tang refused to agree to the divorce and even recruited many relatives of officials from the Ministry of Rites to put pressure on the Sima family. I won't say anything else this time, just that the Empress loves Miss Tang very much, and these imperial gifts are for her to enjoy."

In this way, those with brains will realize the position of the virtuous concubine and will not continue to exert pressure.

While Matron You was selecting suitable items in the palace, Rong Tang had just left the palace when he was dragged to the Sima household by several young men from the Sima family. These young men were each stronger than the other, and their strength was so immense that they pulled Rong Tang's small frame off the ground. Rong Tang preferred to call them "Wolf Lords."

Rong Zhan and Rong Wanli were riding on their horses. They were speechless when they saw their master being carried away by a few boys of similar age. They followed closely until they entered Sima's house and then let him go.

Madam Sima scolded her grandchildren, "I told you to invite Earl Jian'an here, not to tie him up. You all deserve a beating."

Rong Tang planted his feet firmly on the ground, his mind still a little confused. "Madam, what's the matter?"

Madam Sima muttered for a long time before she sighed and said, "Young Master Rong, even today, our family has suddenly realized that our Tiantian's status is no longer worthy of you. If you have anything to say, why not speak out, so as to avoid hurting our relationship in the future."

Rong Tang was baffled. "Where did you get that from, Madam? This marriage was arranged before we even had the baby. If nothing unexpected happened, I would definitely be the Earl of Jian'an in the future. How could you suddenly realize we're not a good match?"

Madam Sima was also distressed. "When your mother and Tiantian's mother were betrothed, they certainly didn't care about the difference in social status. Besides, no matter how unpromising Tang Xunze was, he was still a fifth-rank official. But now Tiantian's mother wants to divorce that ruthless man. Tiantian must stay with her mother. She will no longer be a daughter of an official. Isn't this too unfair for you?"

Rong Tang finally understood Madam Sima's train of thought. To be honest, he had always wanted to find a gentle way to cancel the marriage without hurting the mother and daughter of the Tang family, so that the two families could dissolve their marriage relationship in a decent manner.

But if the current situation were to be made public, it would undoubtedly make things worse for the Tang mother and daughter. Either they would lose their reputation, or Mrs. Tang would compromise for her daughter and not divorce.

"Old Madam, you're mistaken. Whether a daughter's family is noble or not is determined by her upbringing, not her father's official position. Xiaotang believes that Miss Tang is capable and responsible, and that she can use her meager strength to protect her mother from the storm. Her own value far exceeds the halo bestowed by her family. A girl like this is worthy of any noble family."

Madam Sima's eyes widened. Was the Earl of Jian'an talking about his own granddaughter? Tiantian, who couldn't write poetry, paint, embroider, or cook?

"So what happened that has you so worried?"

Madam Sima sighed, "I was influenced by outsiders. I never thought that Earl Jian'an, at such a young age, could be so broad-minded and courageous. Those were just some nonsense made by others, which made Earl Jian'an laugh at me. Rui'er, ask your young lady to come out and have a few words with Earl Jian'an."

While waiting for Tang Tiantian, Rong Wanli also found out what had happened.

"They said they were lobbyists hired by Tang Xunze who refused to divorce. They also said that Miss Tang no longer had the status of an official's daughter, so she no longer had the qualifications to marry the master and become the mistress of the baron's mansion. They also talked loudly in front of Miss Tang, saying that the master was already the Earl of Jian'an at such a young age, and it was not too much to have three wives and four concubines. They wanted to marry the concubines of the mansion to the master as concubines. By then, the baron's concubines would all be daughters of officials. How could Miss Tang have the authority to manage the backyard of the mansion?"

Rong Wanli's tone was exaggerated and he tried to be funny in a serious manner, but Rong Tang couldn't laugh.

"Whose family is this?"

"There are several distant relatives of Lord Tang, several minor officials of the seventh and eighth ranks, and several close friends who claim to have grown up with Miss Tang. The most prestigious is the wife of the Minister of Revenue. She's the one who said she was helping her master get concubines. Oh, and I heard that Minister Wei's wife lost her husband young, and Minister Wei was born posthumously. Madam Wei worked hard to raise Minister Wei into a successful career, and the late emperor bestowed upon her a chastity memorial archway and named her Lady of Chastity and Martyrdom."

"Oh my god, a female version of the moralist!"

Rong Tang had absolutely no desire to deal with such old-fashioned people. They were completely domesticated by feudal ethics, female in appearance but male at heart, and even more extreme than the average man. She took pride in her own hardships and urged all women to follow her example. If a woman like Madam Tang dared to defy the patriarchal rules, she would suppress them even more harshly than any man.

Tang Tiantian came over reluctantly and gave him a new purse. However, the embroidery on this purse was extremely ugly, and the mandarin ducks were very abstract. Rong Tang didn't want to criticize her, but he couldn't help but say, "It's so ugly. If you can't embroider it, don't do it."

Tang Tiantian's face turned pale and she covered her face and ran away.

Rui'er was so anxious that she jumped up and down, "Young Master, Madam forced the young lady to learn embroidery. The young lady has poked her fingers all over it. Even if you don't like it, don't discourage her enthusiasm!"

This was actually his fault, as it was clearly him who wanted to go out wearing this ugly thing.