In the harem, the Empress is a first-rank title, the Imperial Noble Consort is a second-rank title, the Noble Consort is a commoner of the first rank, and the Concubine is a second-rank title. If you keep counting, the Beauty, Noble Lady, and Talented Lady are only the eleventh rank.
The imperial concubines and imperial concubines that Feng Bao just mentioned were all the masters of a palace in the harem, so it was normal for them to force Feng Bao. But why did Concubine Shang force Feng Bao to such an extent
"This Master Shang..."
Seeing that Zhu Ping'an seemed somewhat confused, Feng Bao carefully observed his surroundings again. After making sure that no one was around, he whispered the secret of the palace to Zhu Ping'an.
There are no secrets hidden in the harem, and the rise of Concubine Shang is not a secret. Almost everyone in the harem knows about it, otherwise Feng Bao would not dare to tell Zhu Ping'an. Feng Bao is just used to being cautious.
"Master Shang is about the same age as Master Xiao Zhu, one year younger, and a native of the capital..." Feng Bao said softly.
This beautiful lady Shang can’t be considered a young girl… she’s also a loli!
Hearing this, Zhu Pingan could not help but cough... Some discordant images appeared in his mind, some images that were even more outrageous than those banned for 18-year-olds: a 13-year-old bride and a 40-year-old groom, an old cow crushing a crabapple tree!!!
Emperor Jiajing was truly a walking Teddy Bear who could even harm minors.
"Master Xiao Zhu, what's wrong with you?"
Feng Bao looked at Zhu Ping'an in confusion. Zhu Ping'an held back his cough and waved his hand, motioning Feng Bao to continue.
Through Feng Bao's narration, Zhu Ping'an discovered that the young Concubine Shang was also a demon. Her intelligence and skills made her one of the few people at the top of the harem.
Lady Shang is thirteen years old and is from the capital. She entered the palace three years ago. This year, she has become the most favored woman in the harem by Emperor Jiajing. Her favor is even greater than that of Concubine Cao Duan, the favorite concubine of that year.
Shang Meiren was born in a poor peasant family in the capital area. Her family could not even afford to eat and wear. She was able to enter the palace because Emperor Jiajing needed the Tiankui of a young girl as medicine for refining elixirs. The so-called Tiankui is the menstrual blood of a young girl. In order to meet the needs of refining elixirs, Emperor Jiajing ordered the selection of girls aged 10 to 13 in the capital area to enter the palace.
The 10-year-old Shang Meiren entered the palace with 300 young girls and was raised in the palace. It was definitely not in vain. They were both palace maids and medicine men, and their status was even lower than that of palace maids.
In addition to doing the work of palace maids, they also had to do the work of medicine men. Emperor Jiajing not only needed to use their Tiankui to refine elixirs, but also wanted to become an immortal by "inhaling wind and drinking dew" in order to achieve immortality. He had to drink nectar early in the morning to practice. This was a practice method taught to Emperor Jiajing by Master Tao on behalf of heaven. The nectar fell from the sky and absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon. It was rootless water. Practicing with the unique way of inhaling wind and drinking dew could prolong life.
The task of collecting dew naturally fell to the maidens like Shang Meiren. Every morning after dawn, Shang Meiren and others would get up early, bathe and clean themselves, and use jade bottles to collect dew in the imperial garden. After collecting the dew, they would sweep the altar as palace maids, enter the West Garden, and do everything that palace maids should do. In addition, they would take some elixirs to hasten the growth of Tiankui...
Such heavy work and the torture of slavery caused a large number of palace maids like Shang Meiren to fall ill from exhaustion, and many of them died before they reached the age of Tiankui.
It is a luxury for Shang Meiren and her friends to be ordinary palace maids. If things continue on this trajectory, it will be good enough for Shang Meiren to be able to keep her life in the palace.
However, Shang Meiren is obviously not satisfied with this.
I can take your place!
It’s just like the emotions that Xiang Yu and Liu Bang felt when they saw Qin Shihuang’s carriage passing by.
Whenever she was sweeping the courtyard, when she saw the ladies in the harem walking past with their heads held high, surrounded by palace maids, Lady Shang would always put down the broom in her hand, look at the ladies' backs, and give a sweet and naive smile.
So what if he was thirteen years old? The ladies in the harem were only a few years or a dozen years older than him. They were all thousand-year-old foxes, so a few years of practice wouldn't make a difference.
Opportunities always belong to those who are prepared.
Shang Meiren is this kind of people.
One day in late spring and early summer last year, Shang Meiren's opportunity came.
On this day, Concubine Shang and more than ten palace maids were selected to serve in the Western Garden. After sweeping the courtyard, they waited for orders before the emperor's carriage in the Western Garden.
As usual, Emperor Jiajing did his homework after fortune-telling in the morning, reviewed memorials in the morning, and continued his practice in the afternoon, sitting on the Bagua mat and reciting scriptures. While reciting the scriptures softly and silently, he struck the chime in front of him with his hands.
Emperor Jiajing chanted scriptures and struck chimes until dusk.
Concubine Lu had expended too much energy last night. She had reviewed hundreds of memorials in the morning, and chanting scriptures was so boring. After all, Emperor Jiajing was not made of iron. At dusk, he could not help feeling sleepy. He nodded his head, and the jade ruyi in his hand hit the inkstone in front of him.
The sound of hitting the inkstone
Very discordant
More than ten palace maids who were serving on the scene heard it, and they also saw that Emperor Jiajing was dozing off while reciting the scriptures.
Seeing
The palace maids who were standing and serving lowered their heads one after another, like ostriches, with their heads hung low, pretending not to hear anything. Even if they heard the discordant sound, they didn't have time to look up, and they didn't dare to look up.
The little mouths are tightly closed.
The palace was so quiet that you could hear a strand of hair falling to the ground.
In the palace, being blind and deaf, seeing things you shouldn't see and hearing things you shouldn't hear, is very dangerous. If you know too much, you will be beheaded, not to mention the embarrassing incident of the emperor falling asleep while reciting scriptures. Therefore, the palace maids lowered their heads, closed their mouths, and dared not even breathe heavily.
Chuck, chuck, chuck...
At this moment, a sudden sweet laugh was heard, breaking the tranquility of the hall, and the whole palace was echoed with giggles.
The palace maids present were almost frightened to death when they heard the giggling sound. "You little girl, are you crazy enough to even dare to make fun of the Emperor? You are courting death. How many heads do you have that deserve to be chopped off?"
Improper conduct in front of the palace!
This is extremely disrespectful and punishable by death.
You are dead!
Unlucky, but please don’t let it get us into trouble. The maids were trembling with fear, not daring to look up, fearing that they would be implicated.
who
How dare you make fun of me!
Which dog slave is it!
Emperor Jiajing was startled awake by the laughter, and his face became furious. He raised his head and looked towards the direction where the laughter came from, his eyes filled with imperial rage.
However
What appeared in his sight was a cute and naive girl, with a smile still on her delicate face. She looked like someone who had been caught doing something bad. Her dimpled face was flushed, and her white hands were covering her cherry lips afterward.
So cute
Cute Loli
Emperor Jiajing had three thousand concubines, but he had never seen such a concubine.
The emperor's anger in front of this delicate and innocent girl was like a red-hot iron dropped into ice water, and it subsided instantly.
The naive girl smiled naively at first under the emperor's gaze, and then, as if she was a beat slow to react, she looked timid and lowered her head like a stupid ostrich, and her white little hands subconsciously played with her belt like a child who had made a mistake.
She looks more and more cute and adorable.
"What's your name?" Emperor Jiajing looked at the naive palace maid with burning eyes, stopped chanting and asked.
"Replying to Your Majesty, this servant is Shang Yu'er."
Lady Shang was like a stupid ostrich, timidly raising her head and answering in a sweet and innocent way. As soon as she looked at Emperor Jiajing, her face turned red and she lowered her head, looking even more infatuated. (To be continued)