Ye Jun also kept his promise and made her the second-rank Concubine Yi.
But at the same time, Concubine Rong Shu was promoted to Concubine Xian, Concubine Hui was promoted to Concubine Huide, and Qi Shunrong was also promoted to Concubine Qi.
For a moment, Concubine Yi was so angry that her teeth were itching.
It seems like she was promoted but also like she wasn't.
If everyone gets promoted together, then her promotion has no value at all, except for saving face.
That's natural.
Ye Jun is not stupid. If he said it, it would make the mother and son look better. But if he didn't say it, he would have to look at the mother and son as a pair.
Now that the children have grown up, the battle for the crown prince has begun. The main forces are her fourth prince, sixth prince, third prince and fifth prince who has found a good mother.
Ye Jun would never create advantages for his opponents.
Although it was very different from expectations, she finally became a concubine after all, and Concubine Yi had to follow the agreement and complete the mourning period peacefully.
Three years passed in a flash, and the harem experienced a rare period of harmony and peace during these three years.
Of course, this only applies to the concubines. The princes who are growing up have already begun to compete secretly.
This mainly refers to the third prince and the fourth prince.
The eldest prince has been in poor health and has been taking medicine all the time, so he doesn't have the energy to do this.
The second prince's biological mother was born in a low status and his adoptive mother was full of evil. Knowing that she had no hope, she gave up fighting and now devotes herself to poetry, calligraphy and painting.
The fifth and sixth princes are still young and don’t understand much.
The mourning period was over, and on this day the palace was completely renewed.
A banquet is to be held on this day, which according to the rules of the Nanqi royal family means bidding farewell to the deceased.
The concubines who had managed to survive the hard times and were still thoughtful all dressed up gorgeously, hoping to attract the emperor's attention after taking off their mourning clothes.
The banquet was held in the Peony Pavilion and was also lively.
Not only the concubines were there, but also the princes and princesses.
The eldest princess came of age this year. She has grown into a very beautiful woman, well-educated and well-mannered. Today she specially gave her younger brothers and sisters purses that she embroidered herself.
"Time flies so fast. The eldest princess is already at the age of getting married. I wonder which boy will be lucky enough to marry our eldest princess." Concubine Huide said with a smile.
The eldest princess blushed when she heard this and lowered her head and said, "My daughter is still young, please don't say that, Mother Hui. My daughter doesn't want to get married."
"Hehe, mother, look, my elder sister doesn't want to get married. That's perfect. I don't want to get married either. From now on, I will live with my elder sister." The second princess was very lively.
Ye Jun pursed her lips and smiled, "The older girls all said they didn't want to get married, but the younger girls are anxious. A few days ago, Yuan'er even told me in secret that the second son of the Xu family, who is her companion in study, is very handsome."
Although the fourth princess was only five years old, she knew what her mother meant and was extremely embarrassed.
But she was unwilling to give up, so she whispered, "But he is just good-looking, better looking than all the brothers."
"Nonsense, what's wrong with me, brother? I look like father. You always say that father is the most handsome. Are you trying to trick me into giving you candy?" The Fourth Prince raised his eyebrows slightly.
He has Ning Chen's face but Ye Jun's personality and loves to tease his younger siblings.
The fourth princess was no match for her eleven-year-old brother. She buried her head in Ye Jun's arms in grievance and remained silent.
Ning Chen reached out and slapped the Fourth Prince on the back of his head.
"You bastard, you only know how to tease your sister."
"Ouch, Dad, it hurts. My palms and backs are made of flesh. You can't only love your daughter and not your son."
The fourth prince touched the back of his head and pretended to be serious.
This quirky personality is just like Ye Jun. How could Ning Chen be angry? He just laughed and scolded her, "Get lost."
Such an intimate father-son relationship made other children envious, but no one dared to be so bold.
Take this title for example. Only the three children of Concubine Ming call him dad, while the other children all call him father.
The third prince lowered his eyes slightly, smiled and put his arm around the fourth prince's shoulders.
"My fourth brother is still young, but he is competing with his sister for favor. If this gets out, people will laugh at him. Have you finished writing the article that the teacher assigned you?"
These words were meant to flatter the audience, implying that the Fourth Prince was so absorbed in vying for favor and being clever that he neglected his studies.
"Thank you for your concern, Third Brother. I finished writing it yesterday. I wonder if you have finished it. If you have time, why not go to the training ground with your younger brother to compete in archery." The Fourth Prince also smiled brightly.
At the same time, he acted like a close brother and raised his hand to punch the third prince in the chest.
The punch was so powerful that it made the Third Prince feel a tightness in his chest.
But at this moment at the banquet, he had no choice but to endure it and had to grit his teeth.
"Although I have finished writing it, there are still some parts that I am not satisfied with. I would like to revise it. I am afraid I cannot accompany you."
There's no way you'd go with him.
Ye Jun is good at archery. The princes practiced martial arts and started learning archery at the age of ten. The Fourth Prince seemed to have inherited the talent and was very talented from the beginning.
Now I have surpassed my older brothers who learned it earlier.
Maybe this is because of the military bloodline. After all, my grandfather and uncle are both very good fighters.
"Instead of always pestering your brothers, why don't I compete with you and then call your mother." Ning Chen said with a smile.
Ye Jun waved her hands and said, "No, Your Majesty, please don't bother me with the child. I haven't touched an arrow for more than ten years, so how can I draw a bow?"
When she said this, Ning Chen couldn't help but sigh, it had been more than ten years in a flash.
But even though so much time has passed, Ye Jun still looks so heroic in the Zasak grassland, dressed in tight clothes, drawing the bow and arrow, and hitting the target from a hundred steps away.
I don't know what kind of mood I was in at that time, but now when I think about it, I can only say that it was amazing.
There are few women in the world who are so heroic.
Taking this opportunity, Ning Chen said, "It has been more than ten years since I last went to Zasak. I said before that I would tour the north again. Now that three years have passed, it is not appropriate to delay any longer. Let's go and take a look this year."
When he was going on the Northern Tour that year, he not only wanted to take Ye Jun out to see the world, but also because he had received a tip-off that the Third Prince Enhe Jin was the brother of the deceased Concubine Yu Sudiya, and seemed to have some inflated ambitions.
During the past three years, Ning Chen has also sent people to keep an eye on him and indeed discovered that Enhe Jin was arrogant and domineering. Relying on the good development of the tribe in recent years, he did not take the other princes seriously.
If this continues, the next person to be ignored might be Emperor Ning Chen.
Therefore, it is better to go on the northern tour as early as possible.
If he can be warned and behave himself, that would be great. If he is not, the position of the Third Prince can be taken by someone else.
"Since Your Majesty is willing, I will make arrangements with Concubine Rongxian and Concubine Huide. We can set off once the Imperial Observatory sets a good day." Ye Jun said.
Ning Chen nodded, "Well, you can make the arrangements. You don't need to bring too many people with you."
After all, this trip is not for sightseeing.
These words also dampened the hearts of many concubines, and they instantly felt that they had no hope.
Of course, the imperial concubine would bring along those who were on good terms with her.
Ning Chen didn't care about these. Whether others went or not was just a matter of face. As long as Ye Jun accompanied him, it was enough.
During these three years, he seemed to have gotten used to having Ye Jun alone by his side.