My elder sister forced me to become a concubine; I was reborn and remarried into the emperor's

The man was tall and wore a black court robe embroidered with dragon patterns, with a bright yellow jade belt around his waist. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and his steps were steady and solid, but each step was very large.

A young eunuch was leading the way for him in a very obsequious manner; he was clearly Zhou Fuhai, who had previously served the Empress Dowager.

"Your Highness, you haven't slept for several days. You really need to rest."

Behind the side hall of Cining Palace are many rooms, but only one room has two young palace maids guarding its door.

Zhou Fuhai, the head steward of the place, recognized that the room was the most spacious and comfortable, and immediately said with great insight, "Your Highness, let's go this way."

Pei Ji paused slightly, his dark eyes swept over the scene, but he said nothing and turned to walk in that direction.

The two palace maids outside the door, who had come with Lingxi, were both taken aback when they saw this.

Instinctively, he reached out to stop him: "Regent, there are..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Fuhai scolded him: "Get out of the way! You know it's the Regent, yet you still dare to stop him. The Regent wants to rest here for a while, so you may all leave."

The palace maids exchanged bewildered glances. They wanted to remind them that there were already people inside, but this was the Regent.

He said he needed to rest, and even the crown prince would have to respectfully give up his seat; they wouldn't have enough heads to chop off even if they had several.

He could only stoop and step aside, watching helplessly as the tall figure pushed open the door and strode inside.

But Miss Wei is among them!

The two women exchanged a glance, both filled with shock. They had been assigned to take care of Miss Wei, and now that something like this had happened, it would be the servants like them who would be punished.

They had no choice but to jog back to the front hall.

By this time, the Empress Dowager and the others had finished their lunch.

*** returned to her side hall to rest, while Wei Mingzhao, preoccupied with informing Pei Yuyan, did not linger and took her leave as well.

Only Empress Dowager Jiang remained, resting with her eyes closed on the chaise longue in the warm pavilion.

When the young palace maid entered, she was scolded by the nanny beside the Empress Dowager: "Didn't you see that Her Highness was taking a nap? What kind of behavior is this, so clumsy and impetuous?"

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager was in a fairly good mood today and simply raised her hand to let people in.

"Why are you so panicked?"

The young palace maids knelt on the ground, one of them trembling so badly she could barely speak. The other one, however, seemed calmer and quietly recounted the regent's past.

Empress Dowager Jiang, who had been comfortably reclining, suddenly opened her eyes.

"I knew it! That girl is definitely up to no good, come on..."

The head maid beside her was about to help her sit up when she stopped: "Wait, are you saying the Regent insists on going into that room?"

The two palace maids immediately nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, we said there were people inside, but Eunuch Zhou was determined to go to that room, and the prince still went in."

"What happened next? Did you get out?"

Although she wasn't close to this son, she understood his character; he was extremely indifferent to matters of love and sex.

Over the past few years, she has been extremely worried about his marriage. She has tried all kinds of women, from noble ladies of the royal palace to daughters of ministers, but he has not been interested in any of them.

If he knew there was someone inside, especially a pretty young girl, his first reaction would be furious. He wouldn't just pull out a knife, he would definitely kick her out.

Unexpectedly, the palace maids all shook their heads: "We waited outside for a while, but the Regent went in and didn't come out again. The doors and windows were tightly closed, and we couldn't hear any noise. Eunuch Zhou has been guarding outside the whole time."

"You said you've never come out..."

Did Pei Ji already know that the person inside was Wei Nanxun?

Empress Dowager Jiang suddenly remembered her daughter's unusual behavior today; she would never normally be so interested in a so-called young girl.

By the way, it was she who spoke up that day, saying she wanted to bring this woman into the palace.

Having spent many years navigating the inner palace, Empress Dowager Jiang immediately sensed the anomaly. Her expression hardened: "I've lived to this age, and yet these two have managed to trick me."

The head nanny mistakenly thought the Empress Dowager was referring to the Wei sisters, and very considerately said, "This old servant will send someone to arrest them?"

"What are you doing? This is the result of the misdeeds committed by my good children."

The head nanny then realized what was happening and showed a hint of surprise: "You mean the Regent... This, this Wei family girl actually has such great abilities?"

Empress Dowager Jiang seemed to have thought of something and shook her head with a smile: "I have gone to great lengths for his marriage all these years, you could say I have racked my brains, but have you ever seen him give me even the slightest bit of face?"

"I thought he really intended to become a monk at the temple, but it turns out he just didn't like the people I chose."

"That face... if the late emperor had seen it back then, I'm afraid Yao Shi wouldn't have stood a chance. Oh well, if he likes it, let him be."

"But, but isn't this against the rules, Your Majesty? After all, this is your territory."

If a man and a woman alone in a room cause trouble, they could become the next Crown Prince and Crown Princess.

"Then what's the point of you going? So much time has passed; even if it were going to succeed, it would have already. If it didn't..."

The head maid looked up in even greater surprise: "The Regent has gone to such lengths, even sending wine; how could it not work?"

"It's precisely because they put in the effort that men are so cheap. They won't cherish what they get without any effort, but the more effort they put in, the more they will cherish it."

"This old servant noticed that you didn't think much of this Miss Wei before, but now you seem... less opposed to her."

Empress Dowager Jiang glanced at her, then leaned back against the railing.

"When men and women get together, who do you think benefits? My son has benefited, so what right do I, as his parents, have to object?"

"This servant was just thinking that Miss Wei is a concubine's daughter from the second wife's family, and the Wei family has a lot of dirty business. She is not a good match for Your Highness at all..."

Empress Dowager Jiang closed her eyes and continued to rest: "What do you mean by a suitable match? He's already twenty-five years old. When the emperor was his age, the crown prince was already born and could speak, but he didn't even have a bedmate. Now that he's the regent, he can have whatever he wants."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Over the years, I have often felt guilty towards my children in my dreams. Fortunately, we have finally made it through. We now have the military power and financial resources of the Northwest in our own hands."

"But Shouzhuo, everyone outside says he's bloodthirsty and doesn't care about his own flesh and blood. I'm very happy that he's come to the capital to help the emperor. People need to have something they care about to keep them going."

The head maid tentatively asked, "So you mean the Regent is truly in love with this Miss Wei?"

Whether it's true or not, let's see what they say today.

"If we just take them in directly, it's not a big deal. But if we properly send them back..."

Empress Dowager Jiang sighed softly: "Then I will think of another way to elevate the status of this girl's family."

"Will it really come to this?"

Empress Dowager Jiang recalled Wei Nanxun's face and turned over: "Father and son are the same."

And then he didn't say anything more.