Seeing the serious look on the Queen Mother's face, the Emperor felt a headache as she really wanted to hear his explanation. He then told the story again: "When I arrived, I saw Concubine Chen trying to hit Concubine Yan! Concubine Yan is a concubine, and Concubine Chen is committing an insubordination..."
Before she could finish her words, Concubine Chen suddenly spoke up: "I didn't do that. It was the Emperor who hit me as soon as he came in, without knowing the truth. I was just angry and went to ask Concubine Yan. Does the Emperor love Concubine Yan so much? If you offend someone, can't others even ask?"
"Does it mean that I can't speak in this harem now? Aunt, you have to make the decision for me. It's okay for the emperor to hit me, after all, I can't hit back. I don't want to be confined to my room!"
The Queen Mother nodded: "Don't worry, as long as you don't take the initiative to cause trouble, no one will think of wrongly accusing you. Emperor, you are willing to offend the entire harem for the sake of that Imperial Concubine Yan."
The emperor felt his head buzzing. How could he want to offend the entire harem? He didn't even want to offend the queen, okay? But he also understood what the queen mother meant. If he really confined the concubine today, it would be considered an offense to the queen mother.
Even though the Queen Mother is his biological mother, the Emperor still feels a headache when she is stubborn and causes trouble for him. Thinking of this, the Emperor nodded and said, "Okay, then don't do it. But if you do this, I am afraid that I will have no status in this harem."
The Queen Mother sneered: "Why? Are you pretending to be pitiful in front of me? You are the emperor, if you have no status, who has status? Imperial Concubine Yan?"
The Queen Mother was really angry when she heard this. She looked at the people around her and said, "You all go out first. The Emperor stays. I want to have a good talk with you."
The emperor was shocked and didn't understand what the empress dowager was trying to do. When the others heard what the empress dowager said, they all went out. Only the people around the emperor remained standing in their original positions. It was only when the emperor waved his hand that these people went out.
"Mother, what are you doing? Do you really want to teach me a lesson?"
He is already the ruler of a country, why does he still need to be taught a lesson? The Queen Mother's eyes suddenly turned red: "I know you are a powerful emperor now. When Xiao'er comes back during the Chinese New Year, I will go with them and not bother you here."
The emperor looked at the queen mother in confusion: "Mother, what are you talking about? When did your son dislike you? This is all for no reason. I know that I have wronged the concubine this time, but a gentleman's word is law, not to mention that I am the emperor."
The Queen Mother sighed again, "Yes, you are the Son of Heaven. You will not change even if you are wrong. Even if one day you accidentally wrongly accuse someone and execute his entire clan, you will not admit your mistake. If someone overturns the verdict, you will only kill that person, because you are the Son of Heaven, how can you be wrong?"
"I am too old to take care of Concubine Chen's affairs. All right, you can go now. I will tell people to pack up and leave with Jiu'er and the others after the New Year."
The Queen Mother then called out to the people outside, "Eunuch Quan, come in and escort the Emperor out. And Concubine Chen, I am old, and no one listens to me anymore. You should go back and stay under house arrest. Don't come out unless necessary. At least you can keep your life."
When the concubine heard this, she was stunned. What was going on? Was it different from the script? Forget it, then I'll just put her under house arrest: "Yes, aunt, I will be honest in the future."
After she finished speaking, the Concubine Chen also turned around and left with her people. The Emperor frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but the Empress Dowager had already spoken: "This place of mine can no longer accommodate the Emperor, Your Majesty, please leave."
The Queen Mother always called the Emperor, but this time she called him Your Majesty. The Emperor felt overwhelmed. He didn't like it that the Queen Mother had to interfere in everything.
As soon as she reached the door, Nanny Zhang chased after her. The emperor thought she was chasing him! Unexpectedly, Nanny Zhang just stopped at the door and said, "Inform everyone that the Queen Mother is not feeling well and will not see guests anymore. Next time, the palace gates will not be opened unless it is the Prince and Princess who come to the palace."
This is the Queen's closure of the palace. Looking at the slowly falling door, the Emperor was speechless and led his people to the Qinzheng Palace. The Queen Mother suddenly closed the palace, and the entire harem fell silent. Some were happy and some were sad about this news.
Concubine Han and Concubine Liu went to the Queen overnight, but unfortunately Si Xia did not let them in: "The Queen said that you should handle things the same way you usually do. If you can't make a decision, send it to the Emperor."
The emperor quickly received this reply and frowned instantly. The Queen Mother closed the palace and the Queen started to lose her temper? No, he had to go and see what was going on.
Thinking of this, the emperor secretly appeared in Kunning Palace in the middle of the night. The queen was already asleep at this time. She was pregnant and had to ensure that she had enough sleep.
As soon as the emperor approached the queen's room, he was discovered by Si Xia. Si Xia thought it was an assassin, but she didn't expect it to be the emperor. She quickly saluted: "Your servant greets the emperor."
He was just about to ask Si Xia to keep quiet so as not to wake up the queen, but Si Xia had already spoken and the queen woke up. The emperor could only wave his hand and let Si Xia go.
He walked to the queen's bed and helped her sit up: "Would you like some water? I'll pour it for you."
The queen shook her head: "No, I'm not that fragile yet. I'm just doing this just in case. By the way, why are you here?"
The Emperor looked at the Empress and said, "It was your idea to ask Concubine Chen to go to the Empress Dowager and ask her to stop her from being confined. Otherwise, she and En can't get close to the Cining Palace."
The queen nodded calmly: "Yes, what's wrong? You support Concubine Yan, and I will support Concubine Chen to deal with Concubine Yan in the closed palace. Is that not okay?"
The emperor's eyes widened, somewhat surprised: "No, what do you mean? It's different from what we said at the beginning. You also agreed to Concubine Yan."
At this moment, the emperor really felt how fickle women are. The queen looked at the emperor and repeated what the concubine had said to her today. She looked at the emperor and said, "So I am not sure if that woman is really innocent. What if she wants to kill me?"
"I can't give her that chance. I want her to have no chance to fight me from beginning to end. That's why I need the Concubine Chen. Do you understand? And you should think carefully about what your mother said, right? As a person in a higher position, you don't even have the courage to admit that you did something wrong. Do you think that's right?"
The emperor was stunned. Yes, it was wrong. If Xiaoman knew about this, he would probably bring a stick to the palace again. The power of these times made him a little arrogant.
He reached out and held the queen in his arms: "I will rest here tonight. I will leave before dawn. Promise not to be discovered by others, okay?"
The Queen didn't have to send the Emperor away, so she nodded and said, "Okay. It's getting late, I need to rest early. Think about what your mother said."
After the queen lay down, she went to sleep peacefully. The emperor looked at the queen's sleeping face, reached out and touched the queen's hair, lowered his head and kissed her gently: "Don't worry, I will fulfill my promise to you. When Yin'er is 18 years old and becomes an adult, and inherits the throne, I will take you to travel everywhere, and we can go wherever we want."
The queen didn't know if she heard the emperor's murmurs, but she smiled. At dawn, the emperor got out of bed quietly, looked at the queen who was still sleeping soundly, and left with a smile, obviously in a good mood.
When Eunuch Su saw the emperor coming back, he immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Your servant greets the emperor. Your Majesty, please take off your clothes."
As he took out the dragon robe he was going to wear for the morning court and changed his clothes, the emperor suddenly said, "Send some good things to the Concubine Chen later. Just pretend you didn't hear anything about the house arrest. As for the good things, consider them as compensation for the injustice she suffered yesterday."
Eunuch Su raised his lips and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will take care of it."
The emperor nodded in satisfaction: "Okay, remember to remind her to go to the Queen Mother's palace to pay her respects, and she must go in."
Eunuch Su nodded with a helpless look. It was very abrupt for the Empress Dowager to close the palace. Now he understood why. To outsiders, it seemed that the Empress Dowager was threatening the Emperor by closing the palace and not confining Concubine Chen.
After only one night, the emperor compromised. It seems that in this harem, if the queen does not go out, the person who can't be offended the most is Concubine Yan, and the second is Concubine Chen. This time, the status of women in the harem was completely established.
As for the imperial concubines, they were just nominal. After giving the order, Eunuch Su personally selected some things and then accompanied the emperor to attend the morning court.
Just when the concubines thought they didn't have to pay respects today and could sleep in, the emperor's reward suddenly arrived at Xinglin Palace. Jia Jia looked at the small table with some surprise: "Little table, what are you doing?"
Seeing so many things behind the small table, Jia Jia was even more puzzled. The small table looked at Jia Jia with a smile: "Sister Jia Jia, these are all given to the Empress Chen by the Emperor. It's the Empress Chen, don't confine her."
"These are to apologize to the Empress Chen for wronging her! The Emperor asked Eunuch Su to personally select them. After the Empress Chen receives them, remember to pay respects to the Empress Dowager!"
Jia Jia understood instantly that the emperor was being cowardly. She nodded and said, "Please come in, eunuch."
There was a smile on Xiaozhuo's face. The women in this palace, from the queen and concubines to the palace maids cleaning the houses, the speed at which they changed their expressions was first-rate!
Jia Jia quickly went in to inform Concubine Chen. After thinking for a moment, Concubine Chen agreed. She then dressed up, put on the things that were sent to her, and went to the Empress Dowager's palace.