"I pay my respects to His Majesty and Concubine Ming!" Qiwen bowed generously.
Ye Jun waved his hand, "Forget it, why is Miss Qiwen here in person? Just ask someone else to see her off."
Qiwen smiled and said, "Our Xiuyi said that she and Ming Jieyu entered the palace together, so their relationship is always different. Last year, it was Jieyu's birthday, but Xiuyi didn't know about it. Today, she knows about it and hurriedly prepared a gift to send to her. Please accept it, Jieyu."
After he finished speaking, he ordered someone to open the box. Inside was a pair of lake blue porcelain vases with plum patterns. They were in excellent condition and were obviously rare items.
"Thank Fang Xiuyi for the gift. Please take this small gift and have a cup of tea."
Ye Jun just smiled faintly, motioned Nan Zhi to stuff a purse into him, and asked the second-class maid Lu He to send the person out.
Ning Chen didn't say a word from beginning to end.
After the two of them entered the house, the third-class maid Liuzhi stopped Luhe outside.
"The emperor is in there, and you need to serve him at all times. Let me take his place."
Lu He looked inside and realized that they needed to prepare everything for dinner. It was indeed necessary to have someone do it. It was not a big deal to send a palace maid from another palace, so she nodded and handed it to her.
Qiwen smiled, said nothing, and let Liuzhi send it off.
It took some time to get there, about half an hour before I got back.
However, Liuzhi said that she had caught a cold and went to the Imperial Hospital to get some medicine, so she came back late.
Naturally, no one cares about these little things.
Inside, Ning Chen was talking to Ye Jun about Princess Jiarou Ning Lin's marriage.
"During the Chongyang Festival this year, Lin'er seemed to have had some interactions with Feng Zihuan, the son of the Marquis of Pingyang. From what Concubine Dowager De said, she is also satisfied with the Feng family."
"The Feng family, Marquis Pingyang is a wealthy and idle man. I have heard that the prince is quite talented and it seems that he has taken the imperial examination this spring. How old is he?" Ye Jun said casually.
Ning Chen thought for a moment, "He is also in the second class. He is eighteen this year and has not yet won the championship. He is considered to be the best among his peers."
"Then what is the emperor dissatisfied with?" Ye Jun raised an eyebrow, "The princess likes it. Feng Zihuan has a good family background and talent. His appearance should not be bad either. He is very suitable."
"I like your brother more." Ning Chen sighed.
This is not a lie.
Ye Zhe has held military power at a young age and is loyal, but it would be even safer if this loyalty could be coupled with a relationship with his wife.
In other words, Ning Lin's marriage to Ye Zhe can be regarded as a spy arranged by Ning Chen in the Ye family.
Since ancient times, emperors have been good at using political tactics. Even the closest and most trusted ministers cannot be completely trusted, let alone ministers who hold military power.
Furthermore, according to the rules, the son-in-law of the emperor cannot have real power, so Ye Zhe became the son-in-law of the emperor, and Ning Chen gave him real power as a reward and appreciation. Taking back the military power was also in accordance with the ancestral rules, which would not cause criticism and would be easier.
Ye Jun understood what she heard, but she also understood that Ning Chen was not such a cold-blooded person.
If he really didn't take his sister's feelings into consideration, he should have granted the marriage directly.
So I can only sigh at this moment.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to go with the flow and make him feel more at ease.
"My brother was unlucky and didn't catch the princess' eye. But today when my mother came to the palace, she mentioned my brother's marriage. He has set his eyes on a girl from Lingzhou, the legitimate daughter of a fourth-rank military commander, named Yin, who is only seventeen years old."
The local fourth-rank military general in Lingzhou was really nothing. With the Ye family's status, it would be easy for them to marry the daughter of a wealthy family in Kyoto.
Ning Chen's eyes darkened and he stared at her for a while, as if to confirm the authenticity.
Ye Jun was also calm and looked at him.
After a long while, Ning Chen retracted his gaze. "Marriage is always decided by parents and matchmakers. Since your mother thinks it's a good idea, it's really good. Your brother is not young anymore, so it's a good idea for him to get married early."
"That's right. I'm married now, and my brother is far away in Lingzhou. He also needs someone who understands and cares for him." Ye Jun smiled.
Speaking of which, Ye Zhe himself had mentioned the Yin family, and now that he had mentioned it in front of Ning Chen, it could be considered a settlement.
I'll send someone to inform my mother someday, and Ye Zhe's marriage will be arranged.
The two chatted until it was time for dinner.
Today is Ye Jun's birthday and the Emperor is in Yuxiu Pavilion, so needless to say, the meal is rich.
There was a table full of delicious food, and both of them were satisfied with the meal.
They are satisfied, but some are not.
In Yingyan Pavilion, Concubine Yi, whose morning sickness had finally gotten a little better, saw the braised pork on the dinner table and vomited for a while again, vomiting up all the white porridge she had for lunch.
He was so angry for a moment that he dragged the girl who brought the braised pork into the yard and ordered her to be beaten with fifteen boards.
It wasn't fatal, but each hit was solid and the girl cried and screamed in pain, not daring to get off the ground.
"On Ye's birthday, she asked her family to come in and accompany her, and the emperor came to see her in person. I worked so hard to be pregnant but I can't even eat. Could it be that God is on her side? I can't feel at ease!"
"Jieyu, calm down and be careful of the baby in your belly!" Yunxiu hurriedly persuaded her and poured her a cup of tea for her to drink. "Jieyu is pregnant and it's not easy for her to serve on the bed, so the emperor naturally went to Ming Jieyu more. Her maternal grandfather's family also needs her, so he can't help but give her a little bit of respect. But no matter how much he respects her, Jieyu, you are pregnant with the emperor's heir, this is a blessing she can't ask for!"
"Yes, yes, when you give birth to the royal heir safely, you can become one of the Nine Concubines. You are the only one entering the palace!" Yunxi also advised.
The two maids coaxed her with kind words, and finally Concubine Yi was not so angry.
In fact, she was not stupid. She knew that Ye Jun had revealed her pregnancy before in order to put her in the spotlight. However, now that the Queen was pregnant, this might divert a lot of attention from her.
This is a perfect opportunity. She must keep a low profile and wait until the baby is born and she has more bargaining chips. Then it will not be too late to settle everything.
Of course, none of this has anything to do with Ye Jun.
After dinner, it’s time to eat people.
In the past, Ning Chen had been somewhat considerate of Ye Jun because she had to get up early the next day to pay her respects. But now that the Queen was pregnant, no one was allowed to disturb her, and she didn't have to take care of the Queen Mother. Thinking about how relaxed this woman was, Ning Chen felt an itch in his teeth.
Besides, they hadn't been intimate for a while, so this night was bound to be crazy.
This resulted in Ye Jun sleeping until lunch time the next day.
Nan Zhi and Hui Yue came in to serve her, and seeing that she was covered in red and purple marks, they were too embarrassed to look at her.
Ye Jun was also very tired. He ate a few bites reluctantly and then rolled back into bed.
The weather is getting colder, and I am becoming more and more lazy.
Thinking that Concubine Yang would give birth in a month, the Empress would surely come out again after she was pregnant for some time. It was almost the end of the year, and there was a new cousin of the Emperor in the Cining Palace.
With everything going on, I'm afraid things will soon get busy again.
Tsk tsk, hurry up and recuperate in these two days. Now that the queen is pregnant, there will be more to fight about in the harem.