Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

The palace is bustling today.

With two concubines pregnant, Li Chengqian was in a good mood, as was Empress Dowager Changsun, and they promptly held a palace banquet.

The banquet was hosted by the families of the various concubines, as well as some important officials in the court.

"Old Master Wang, congratulations! With Consort Wang's virtuous character, she will surely be able to raise any prince or princess to be of good character..."

"Hehe, not at all, Duke Ying, you flatter me. Consort Wu is so composed and dignified; she truly has the air of her father..."

"Hehe, then let's celebrate together!"

Hahaha, congratulations to you too!

Despite feeling nauseous and vomiting, Zheng Jiang forced a smile that seemed to offer the same blessings, but looking at the two old men, Wang Ming and Wu Shiyue, he felt an urge to kick them both.

He kicked it directly into the pool water next to him...

Hey!

In the imperial harem, a mother's status rises with the weight of her son.

In the court and among the common people, all those whose clans had daughters in the palace were waiting for this day.

Don't be fooled by the fact that in the imperial palace, concubines compete for the emperor's favor and try to gain status. In reality, is it really possible to win favor through such competition?

In most cases, this is unlikely.

There are some things that the emperor cannot handle openly. So, he would favor or demote the daughters of any court officials who had daughters in the harem.

It's a way of expressing an attitude.

In the imperial harem of the Tang Dynasty, the ranks of the women were arranged from highest to lowest as follows: Empress (first rank).

The four consorts (rank one) consisted of four consorts: the Noble Consort, the Virtuous Consort, the Wise Consort, and the Wise Consort. They assisted the Empress in managing the inner palace.

The Nine Concubines (rank 2) consisted of nine women: Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaoyuan, Xiuyi, Xiurong, Xiuyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong, and Chongyuan. They were responsible for etiquette, sacrifices, and other affairs in the harem.

Then there were the Twenty-Seven Ladies-in-Waiting, divided into three classes.

There were nine Jieyu (rank 3), nine Meiren (rank 4), and nine Cairen (rank 5).

We won't go into detail about the eighty-one imperial wives later, as Li Chengqian didn't actually have that many women.

However, unlike Wu Shihuo and Wang Ming, whose daughters were respectively the Imperial Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine, Zheng Jiang felt restless and uneasy at this banquet.

His daughter, Zheng Lizhen, the eldest daughter of the Zheng family of Xingyang... was once a concubine of the Crown Prince, just like Wang Yuyan, but now that the Crown Prince has ascended the throne, she only received the title of Jieyu.

Jieyu!

Even though there were still vacancies for the Ninth Consort, Zheng Lizhen was still forced to take the position of Jieyu!

To some extent, this is not simply a matter of not being promoted, but rather... being deliberately neglected.

There are quite a few people attending this banquet today.

While some congratulated Wu Shiyue and Wang Ming, others inevitably made sarcastic remarks about the Zheng family of Xingyang.

"Eh? Minister Zheng, why haven't I seen your daughter at the Empress's place? Could it be that she's been unwell lately?"

The man's clear enunciation of "Minister," the flippant tone in his words, and the sarcastic remark about "feeling unwell" caused Zheng Jiang's already unsteady smile to falter.

But upon seeing the person before him, he had to regain control of his expression once again.

"Hehe, Prefect Dou, I didn't expect even you to come."

The visitor was none other than Dou Cai, who had been promoted by the King of Wei when he served as the governor of Luoyang, and later by the Crown Prince, and was now the prefect of Chang'an.

His Xingyang Zheng family may have once been extremely glorious, but now, the Dou family head, who comes from a noble family in Guanzhong, forces him to be patient for the time being.

There have been some rumors circulating in the court recently that Dou Cai might soon be transferred to the Ministry of Revenue.

As for what position?

Zheng Jiang, who was the Vice Minister of Revenue, was very vigilant.

"I don't know either. Perhaps he's chatting with the concubines in the harem somewhere?" he chuckled.

Dou Cai didn't follow up with his sarcastic remarks. Holding his wine cup, he glanced with fervor at Emperor Tianwu, Li Chengqian, who was teaching two princes how to fish not far away.

"I've heard that His Majesty originally intended to host a banquet for ministers with daughters in the palace, but the Empress Dowager insisted on having the banquet for all ministers as well. Heh... we can't help but wonder about her intentions."

Dou Cai patted Zheng Jiang's stiff shoulder, giving him a villainous smile, and then walked towards Wu Shiyue and Wang Ming.

"Duke Ying, Minister Wang, congratulations!"

Zheng Jiang: "......."

At this moment, Zheng Jiang hated his spoiled daughter who had been pampered since childhood. She was truly more trouble than she was worth!

He gripped his wine glass, a shadow flickering in his eyes, as if deep in thought.

And on the other side.

Hou Junji, his old face wrinkled, bowed to his daughter Hou Qianya as if begging for her hand.

"My goodness! You better be careful! That's the Empress, the Empress! Even if you want to regain your martial arts skills, find someone else! Why would you practice swordsmanship with the Empress?!"

"Look at my dark circles! I'm begging you, can we tone it down a bit?"

Hou Qianya glared at him, annoyed: "The Empress didn't say anything, so what are you yelling about, you old man? Have I spent more time with the Empress, or have you spent more time with her?!"

One sentence almost made Hou Junji faint on the spot, and he was almost kneeling down to this person.

"Alas! What sins did I commit in my past life!" He lamented, regretting that all these years of fighting on the frontier had raised his daughter to be so...masculine?

He thought of something else, and his expression turned serious.

“That’s your son, Pi Nu. He’s your only support in this palace. You must never treat him like a plaything again. You…”

Hou Qianya: "His Majesty hasn't said anything, so what are you yelling about? Is that boy my son or yours?!"

Hou Junji felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, realizing that his future was bleak.

Every family has its own troubles, and Hou Junji could only pray in his heart that his only grandson could survive to adulthood under the care of his strong and powerful parents...

......

"Father, are you impotent?"

"Ha~ Father, it's been almost an hour..."

"Father, maybe we should just give up..."

"Father, Great-Grandpa caught another one..."

Li Chengqian's forehead veins throbbed. He had always thought that he could remain calm and composed when it came to the matter of the Air Force, but when the two little guys on his left and right started to say something every now and then...

His usually calm and composed demeanor gradually began to crumble.

Behind him, he keenly caught the low laughter of Chang Le and Gao Yang's younger sisters.

This caused the veins on the back of his hand to bulge.

As fate would have it, Li Yuan, who was now the Supreme Emperor, was sitting opposite him fishing. He laughed loudly, raised his fishing rod, and caught another carp.

Xiangyu rested her chin on her hand and let out a long, sorrowful sigh.

"Sigh, I shouldn't have boasted earlier, saying that if Father couldn't catch it, we wouldn't eat today..." He seemed to have given up hope.

However, Li Chengqian was instantly furious upon hearing these words.

Outrageous!

"Somebody come!"

He displayed the majesty and privileges of the emperor, and Qian Lou, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, walked over.

Li Chengqian pointed to the opposite side.

"Go! Take all the fish from that old man over there!"