In the Shen Mansion, a young chamberlain dressed as an ordinary servant of a wealthy family bowed respectfully: "...The beauty is full of fear now, so she brought her slaves to ask for some advice from the lady. The beauty never forgets it!"
Behind the low-hanging embroidered curtain, two green gauze lamps illuminated a patchwork of shadows.
On the low glazed couch, Wei Changying was leaning against a hidden pouch embroidered with peonies intertwined with tangled branches of peonies on the azure ground. His long eyelashes were slightly closed.
She has long, crow-like hair. The pair of emerald hibiscus hairpins she used to tie her hair are placed on the head of the couch. Her collar is embroidered with peony flower buds the size of fingernails in light imperial color. The skirt of her middle coat is a little crooked. The pajamas with lotus pattern and wide sleeves are only loosely draped on the top. A thin quilt covers the knees, and a section of aqua skirt is pulled out.
Lianju carefully carried the golden basin to the couch, while Lianmei rolled up her sleeves and pulled out the handkerchief. Wei Changying took it, put it on his face, and took it off after a while. There were two dark blushes on the cheeks as white and tender as a girl. It was not wiped with the handkerchief, but because she had just taken a nap.
Because the little chambermaid sent by Li Meiren looked anxious and kept saying how anxious the beauty was now, the servants thought something serious had happened and hurriedly woke her up.
So Wei Changying didn't even have time to dress up, so he asked people to get off the embroidery curtain, and called the young chamberlain in to report.
But after listening to it, I realized that the matter was not as urgent as I thought - it was just urgent for Li Meiren. Lianju and other maids who advocated waking up Wei Zhangying felt a little ashamed. In order to cover up this mistake, they hurriedly Start waiting for the guard commander Ying to wash up, so as not to delay Chen Guang any longer.
After Wei Changying finished wiping his face and saw that the young chamberlain's statement was over, he said, "Are you saying that Li Meiren doesn't know whether she should leave her child to be raised by the empress or the noble concubine Shan?"
The young chamberlain said: "That's exactly it! Please give me some advice, madam!"
Wei Changying couldn't help but sigh: "She hasn't even given birth to a child... Why bother with this in the first place?"
"In reply to Madam, yesterday Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine went to visit the beauty and talked about the palace regulations."
The young chamberlain wanted to explain the palace rules in detail, but the guard chief Ying knew these rules. When he was mentioned in this way, he immediately remembered: "Yes, all the rules of this dynasty are inherited from the previous dynasty. In the former Wei Dynasty, people with grades below three were Concubines are not qualified to raise the emperor's heirs... The emperor's heirs can only be raised by the chief of the third rank or above. "
"There are not many lords in the palace now. What Yu Jieyu means is that Shan Guifei has just had a miscarriage and may want to take advantage of the beauty." The young chamberlain said cautiously, "Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine remind the beauty that if she doesn't want to If the emperor's heir is handed over to Concubine Shan, then... I can only ask the Queen to raise him on my behalf... "
After all, the young chamberlain didn't say anything else, but the masters and servants behind the embroidery scene knew very well that although Wen Yaozi did not only favor Concubine Shan, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he favored her the most. Among the concubines in the palace who are qualified to raise the emperor's heirs, there is no need to mention the queen. Concubine Shan, Concubine Deng Shu and Concubine Yu -
"Did Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine mention Concubine Deng Shu?" Wei Changying suddenly asked after thinking about it.
The young chamberlain was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Yu Jieyu said that Concubine Deng Shu had been living in seclusion for the past two days, so she secretly summoned the imperial doctor twice to see her... There was a rumor in the palace that Concubine Shu was probably pregnant... "
If Concubine Deng Shu was pregnant, of course she would no longer raise Li Meiren's child.
"Since Yu Jieyu reminded the beauty so diligently, she didn't know if she had any intention of raising Li Meiren?" Wei Changying took the agarwood drink handed by Lianju, took a sip and asked warmly.
The young chamberlain said: "Yu Jieyu herself said that she had no such intention, but the beauty... the beauty is doubtful. It's just that the beauty thinks that what the beauty is carrying now is just a princess, and it seems that it will not lead to such calculations by Yu Jieyu."
"The point is not just that she is pregnant with a princess." Wei Changying handed the agarwood drink to Lianju to take away, and said calmly, "The point is, both Concubine Shan, Concubine Deng Shu, and Yu Jieyu are still young! Your Majesty They are still in their prime of life! Why should they raise children born from other concubines? Can’t they wait for their own birth?”
The young chamberlain was stunned for a moment, but then he heard Wei Changying continue, "When Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine said this to Li Meiren, their intentions may not be for the children, but for their position!"
"Although I can see some clues about this matter now, I still need to think about it carefully before I can give her an accurate answer. You go back and ask the beauty to raise the baby in peace... She may not need to separate mother and child."
After sending the young chamberlain away, Lian Ju boldly asked, "Madam, the concubine Shan is the most favored concubine in the Sixth Palace. Even if the rest of the people are favored, it is not more than the remnant. So Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine are with Li Meiren is quite close to each other and they are fighting against the imperial concubine. Why didn't Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine tell her about it? According to the information they had received before, the three of them did not show up like this. "
"Although Li Meiren is not the lowest among His Majesty's concubines, she is the lowest among the people favored by the Holy One." Wei Changying rubbed his brows and said, "Do you know why?"
Lianju and Lianmei looked at each other and whispered, "Is it because... the beauty is a tribute to our family?"
"It is precisely for this reason." Wei Zhangying said, "I also considered this at the beginning, so I only sent a son into the palace. Otherwise, it would not be a matter of words to recognize an adopted daughter, but sending an adopted daughter into the palace - Duanmu The adopted daughter of the Deng family is a noble concubine, and the adopted daughter of the Deng family is a concubine. Our adopted daughter... If she is given a higher position, Your Majesty will not worry about it. If she is given a lower position, our family will lose face. After all, Li Meiren was born as a slave, so there is nothing wrong with giving her the status of a beauty. "
"but now… "
"Now that she is pregnant, Dayong has followed the palace rules of the former Wei Dynasty. Without a third-rank position, she cannot raise her own heirs. Now, those who have this qualification, except the queen, even the concubine Shan who has just had a miscarriage, who Do you dare to say that she will never be pregnant again?" Wei Changying shook his head slightly and said, "As for Queen Qiu, the Queen herself has a son and a daughter, and she also raises the son of her concubine Fan. She was in the mood to raise another princess—Princess Xian'an in front of the queen had not yet declined! The eldest prince was far away in Fengzhou. How could this mother not worry about her biological son? How could she have the leisure to raise another concubine
"In this case, the harem definitely still hopes to let Li Meiren raise her own children."
Lianju suddenly said: "My maid knows! The harem hopes that Li Meiren will be promoted to Jieyu because of the birth of a daughter. This way, she doesn't have to raise Li Meiren's daughter! But because Li Meiren was donated by our Shen family, Your Majesty... I don’t want Li Mei’s position to be too high - if I grant Li Mei a title, I might also grant the title to others, lest Li Mei become proud?”
Wei Zhangying said: "This is one reason, and another reason is that Li Meiren is only a fourth-grade beauty, two levels away from third-grade Jieyu. She is pregnant and has a daughter, which is the reason for promotion. But Yu Jieyu and Zhao What about the concubines? Your Majesty doesn't want the concubines from our Shen family to have too high a status. This is something that is tacitly understood, but it is not good to do this too obviously. In that case, Your Majesty will be very embarrassed - as an emperor. Your Majesty would never want to be treated like this by someone who is so worried about his ministers."
"Then why did Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine persuade Li Meiren to hand over the child to the Empress or the Imperial Concubine? Aren't they afraid that Li Meiren would resent her when she found out about the situation?" Lianmei asked in surprise.
Guard Chief Ying said: "The reason why the three of them got along earlier was because Concubine Shan was too doting on Concubine Shan. They were afraid of fighting alone, and they might be dealt with by Concubine at some point. But this time Concubine suffered a big loss, and there were vague rumors in the palace. It is said that it is the Queen's handiwork - the imperial concubine's promotion is granted with the Queen's permission according to the rules. "
"So they want to please the Queen in order to get a chance to be promoted?" Lianmei suddenly realized.
"But they are trying to scare Li Meiren, what kind of flattery is this?" Lianju asked in confusion.
Wei Changying said calmly: "Whether it counts as flattery or not depends on the situation. Before, Queen Qiu declined and she was nominally the master of the harem. In fact, Concubine Shan relied on her favor and did not take the Queen seriously. In the morning and evening, she always goes if she wants to, but she doesn't go if she doesn't want to! Since she became pregnant, she has been showing that she is afraid of the queen trying to kill her! Concubine Deng Shu seems to be better than Concubine Shan, but she is limited! Among Jieyu and others, including the Li beauty sent by our family, is there any one who truly obeys the queen? "
This is not entirely because the queen is not favored. In the final analysis, it is related to her origin.
Concubine Deng Shu was the illegitimate daughter of the head of the Deng family. Although she was not qualified to be included in the Deng family's genealogy, she actually had the blood of the Deng family's original clan flowing through her. She was a genuine noble bloodline. If the head of the Deng family hadn't been embarrassed to recognize her back, and wouldn't have been sent to the palace to serve Wen Yaozi, how could such a master think highly of Queen Qiu from the bottom of his heart? Maybe Concubine Deng Shu even looked down on Wen Yaozi
Even though some of them, such as Shan Guifei, Yu Jieyu, and Li Meiren, were just slaves, they all grew up in the family. We are all powerful slaves, and even many low-level officials with no backing have to flatter them. What do they mean to mere common people
Considering that Queen Qiu was born in a rural area, it is strange that these concubines do not look down upon her. In particular, the Queen has a gentle temperament. Even though she is in charge of the Middle Palace, she has not given much attention to the Sixth Palace - which makes her look down upon even more.
"Now the queen has suddenly become ruthless, and she has the intention to cleanse the palace while His Majesty is commanding troops outside." Guard Chief Ying said calmly, "Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine weighed their options and decided to take refuge. This was also their choice - as for the Why do you say that to Li Meiren? It’s just to help the queen! What do you think it means that Li Meiren doesn’t know whether to give her child to the queen or the concubine Shan? "
"If it is given to Concubine Shan, then naturally she is optimistic about the concubine's favor. If it is given to the Queen, then she has chosen the Empress?" Lianmei and Lianju said in unison.
Wei Changying smiled and shook his head: "That's wrong. No matter who you give her to raise, it's not Li Meiren's turn to be the master! The only ones who can be the master are Your Majesty and the Queen!"
She turned the jade bracelet on her wrist, glanced in the direction of the palace, and said, "The original intention of Yu Jieyu and Zhao Bin was to use Li Meiren to remember our family's instructions after entering the palace, never cause trouble, and never talk too much. , being ill-informed, he first frightened Li Meiren, and then coaxed her to submit to the queen... But she didn't expect that Li Meiren was not stupid either. She didn't dare to inquire in the palace, and there was no one else to deal with, but there were still people outside the palace. We have a home!”
Lianmei couldn't help but said: "My maid said that Yu Jieyu and Zhao Concubine are very boring. With their friendship with Li Meiren, what's wrong with telling them directly?"
"This is the human heart - to put it bluntly, this is equivalent to using Li Meiren to climb up. Even if Li Meiren agrees, they still owe Li Meiren a favor!" Wei Changying said lightly, "You must know their status. They are all taller than Li Meiren! Even if they are shouting at each other, they don't really care about their status, right? How can they be willing to ask them to take the initiative to owe Li Meiren a favor? It's better to favor Concubine Shan. They persuaded Li Meiren to come to the queen, so they can show their credit! Maybe they can get better in front of Li Meiren!" (To be continued)