"I pay my respects to Empress Xiurong."
Zhou Cairen bowed as soon as she entered the room.
Ye Jun waved her hand, "No need to call me Madam, please sit down."
Although a concubine can address her as "Your Majesty" and can also call herself "this palace", there are so many ranks above her. If she calls her that now, it will inevitably seem frivolous.
Therefore, people in the position of concubine rarely call themselves "this palace" and rarely let others call them "Youniang". Basically, only those who reach the position of second-rank concubine will properly call them "Youniang".
Zhou Cairen nodded and sat down on the chair at the bottom.
Nan Zhi served her tea, and Zhou felt a little relieved after taking a sip.
Just now, she saw Ming Xiurong and Su Jieyu arguing outside Fengqi Palace. When she came here, she saw Ye Jun looking unhappy and worried.
That’s why we call her “Niangniang”, which also means to praise her and make her happy.
But seeing that Ye Jun didn't seem annoyed with him, he felt relieved.
"I called you here to ask about Zheng Baolin. You were selected into the palace with her. Do you know anything about it?" Ye Jun said.
Obviously not expecting her to ask this, Zhou Cairen thought for a while before speaking.
"During the selection, Zheng looked lively and always smiling. She was not from a high-class family and her looks were not outstanding. She had no good friends or enemies with anyone. It seemed that she did not think she would be selected. She was not very noticeable among the selected girls."
"She and I were part of a group of six people selected for the palace. The two of us were selected because the empress said something that made her smile happily, so the emperor kept her. I thought she would be favored after entering the palace, but I never expected that the empress did not win her over or promote her, and the emperor did not like her either. She served him in the bedroom once, and there was no second time."
"I have no connection with her."
Zhou Cairen told everything he knew in one breath.
"It depends on your opinion whether Zheng can be used or not."
Picking up the teacup, Ye Jun blew on it gently and was not in a hurry to drink it.
"I think that she is in a difficult situation now that she has fallen out of favor and is on bad terms with Concubine Su. If Xiurong is willing to protect her, she will be willing to serve you." Zhou Cairen said.
Having said that, what is there that is not clear
Isn't it just to win over Zheng Baolin to work for him and keep an eye on Concubine Su
Ye Jun lowered his eyes, which also meant that he agreed.
Zhou Cairen had lunch in Yuxiu Pavilion before leaving.
Before leaving, Ye Jun vaguely told her about the promotion.
What I mean is that during the Chinese New Year this year, we have to push her forward again.
Being able to get promoted is naturally a good thing, especially since you don't have to fight hard with those women to get promoted. It's much easier.
Now, for Zhou Cairen, promotion is no longer a matter of favor, but just a matter of improving the quality of life.
Standing in the right position makes things much easier.
At that time, the emperor and the empress had lunch together in the Jiuchen Palace.
The Queen is here for two things.
One is about Lin Xiurong, and the other is about Ye Yun.
The couple had their meal first before they could talk properly.
"Your Majesty, the imperial physician told me that Lin Xiurong's body... probably won't make it through this winter. Her internal organs are severely damaged. Her early illness has dragged on for many years, and she has been depressed all the time, which has made her body even worse. Now, she has exhausted all her vitality. I'm thinking, should I ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare?"
"Lin has been serving the emperor since she was in the palace, and she was once pregnant with a child. Now that her death is approaching, it would be a good idea to give her a promotion, which would also bring good luck."
The queen seemed very virtuous and caring, and her tone was full of regret.
It seems like he is missing the old friendship very much.
"President Zhang told me about this this morning. There is no need to treat it now. Nothing I eat will work. I can only take some warming and nourishing medicine to keep me breathing and feel more comfortable."
Ning Chen frowned, thinking back to the past.
When Lin first entered the mansion, she was also the gentle and graceful type. Compared with the quiet but interesting and proud An, Lin felt more like a girl next door.
So Lin was favored for a period of time.
However, her temperament changed drastically after her miscarriage. She complained about everything all day long and even spoke rudely to the Queen and even Ning Chen many times.
Ning Chen was young at that time, full of youthful vigor. He only liked gentle and docile women, so he could not stand such humiliation.
After patiently coaxing her for a long time without any improvement, she was finally ignored.
However, she was still taken care of, and was not bullied or deprived of money by the servants just because she had fallen out of favor.
But I didn't take much care of him.
After all, Concubine Jing, who had also experienced pregnancy and miscarriage, was given the title of second-rank concubine because she did not make a fuss.
Thinking about it now, Ning Chen felt guilty, but after being an emperor for so long, his heart had become much harder and he didn't feel as much guilt.
He took a long breath and said, "Lin should be promoted to Xiuyi first. Wang gave birth to the second princess, so it's not good to surpass her now."
As for posthumous honors, any title is acceptable.
The queen nodded and said, "That's what I mean. Let's have someone announce the decree later."
Finally he said again.
"There is one more thing, it's about Ming Xiurong."
"What's the matter?" Ning Chen drank his tea calmly.
The queen smiled and said, "Ye is now a concubine, so she should be able to live in a separate pavilion. Her Yuxiu Pavilion is just a small pavilion, so she should move to another place. However, after looking around, I don't know which one to choose. Why don't you take a look at it, Your Majesty?"
After she finished speaking, she took a picture album from Nanny Ding.
It was opened, and three places were circled on it with cinnabar pen.
One is close to Jiuchen Palace, but has not been occupied for a long time and has not been renovated. One is farther away but is spacious. There is another one that is of good size and condition and is very close to Fengqi Palace.
Ning Chen took a look and felt not very satisfied.
"Lin Xiuyi is not well now, so Ye Shi will not make a big fuss about moving to another place for now. I will talk to her later. Yuxiu Pavilion is spacious. It has an extra side room compared to ordinary pavilions, so it is enough for her to live alone."
The Queen was somewhat surprised. She didn't expect that the place would not be moved in the end.
But since the emperor had already said so, she did not refute.
Let’s talk about it later. We don’t know whether Ye will still be in favor in the future.
If you don’t want to move, then don’t move.
In fact, the queen thought Ning Chen would choose the one close to Fengqi Palace. After all, Fengqi Palace is also close to Jiuchen Palace, and that place is considered to be very good in all aspects.
Moreover, when the Ye family moved there, they would be right under his nose, making it easier to monitor them.
Now Ning Chen's words made her plan go awry.
But Ning Chen thought that Ye Jun must have a baby.
Now those places are not good. When Ye Jun gets pregnant, she will be promoted. After giving birth, she will be promoted again. When she reaches the rank of Shunrong, a third-rank concubine, she can be directly replaced with a bigger one, which saves the trouble of moving twice.
Ye Jun had no idea that the emperor had already made clear arrangements for her future. She was now thinking about how to convey a message to Zheng Baolin.
Since it is surveillance, this matter must be done in secret and must not be discovered by Su Jieyu or Fang Xiuyuan.
Otherwise, if others find out and are on guard against you all the time, how can you monitor them
After much thought, I finally turned my attention to the Imperial Medical Service.
All concubines in the palace, regardless of their rank, had to check their pulse regularly, and no one would pay attention to which imperial physician was checking who's pulse.
At that time, let Shen Pingzhi deliver the message.