Chapter 40 Chapter 40 [VIP]

The Imperial Concubine was going to the Taoist temple alone to listen to the sutras and would stay there for two or three days. It was inevitable that she would first go to Wangming Palace to say goodbye to the Empress. As it happened to be the Ullambana Festival, Shen Youyi simply accompanied Emperor Yuanshuo to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager.

The mothers always talked more to each other. With the support of Emperor Yuan Shuo in front, the empress dowager would not think of asking questions to her insignificant daughter-in-law.

Although the Empress Dowager didn't know the anniversary of her minister's death, she was very curious. She smiled and teased the Emperor, "What's wrong with you two again? You've just made up for a while, and now the Emperor has sent our Imperial Concubine to a Taoist temple. Is he going to make her stay there for another year or two to calm her mind and cultivate her spirit?"

Emperor Yuan Shuo was a little embarrassed. He was always reluctant to mention the fact that they had not seen each other for a long time. Envoy Song said that there must be a trigger for the recurrence of such a disease, but as to what this trigger was, it was unknown.

Yi Niang was not the daughter of a real hunter, and she might not have even killed a chicken with her own hands. Before being expelled from the palace, she had witnessed the servants who were ordered to decoct medicine die in front of her, and it was easy for her to be frightened and become ill.

She had even secretly offered tablets for those slaves a few days ago, fearing that he would find out.

Having made a decision, he rarely regretted it, but every time he thought of it, he couldn't help but feel a little scared for his ruthlessness at that time.

Seeing Emperor Yuanshuo hesitate to speak, the Empress grew slightly concerned. She said softly, "If Your Majesty wishes to teach the Imperial Concubine some Buddhist scriptures and Taoist canons, I could invite some Taoist nuns to the palace. The Taoist temple is quite far from the palace, and servants are bound to be inadequate in their service. It would be better to have her accompany me."

Emperor Yuanshuo glanced at the Empress, then turned to the Empress Dowager and said with a smile, "It was the last time I went with my mother to listen to the abbot's lecture. Unfortunately, the Imperial Concubine was ill and couldn't let her go with us. But she insisted on going to see what there was to see. Could it be that I, your son, would also put aside state affairs and go with her?"

The Queen Mother smiled. It wasn't that the Imperial Concubine was ill, it was clearly something that had happened because of their own estrangement. The Imperial Concubine had been humiliated, and she was already unhappy. Now that they were reconciled, she was ready to lash out, spitting anger at the sky. "Mother is old, and I can't interfere in your affairs. But Leyan is twenty years younger than you, and his brother has been a father several times. Why don't you, as parents, pay attention to him?"

Emperor Yuan Shuo drank half a cup of tea. He had heard this so many times that he didn't think it was a big deal. He said slowly, "Mother, I think that members of the royal family always get married very early, but there are few loving couples. Liaoyan is a casual person. I will let him decide whether to get married or not. As elders, we should not interfere."

The Empress Dowager strongly disapproved of this and glanced at him with a hint of displeasure, but she couldn't hit him like she had done when the Emperor was a child. "Wasn't the Consort chosen by Consort Hui herself? Look at how they've become as a couple now, so cold and devoid of warmth. If you hadn't... indulged him so much, maybe you could have chosen someone gentle and virtuous, and the two of them could have lived in harmony. I wonder how much more comfortable their lives would have been."

Since the emperor was not satisfied with his own marriage, he was very indulgent towards his children. Even for a position like the dowager concubine, he tacitly allowed the dowager to choose the one herself.

In his early years, he was not as interested in the harem as in commanding thousands of troops. She and the late emperor chose a wife and two concubines for him, all of whom were daughters of prominent families, but none of them turned out to be satisfactory. The late queen was from the Wang family of Taiyuan and was her distant cousin. She was only fifteen years old when she married the emperor. She was instigated and lost her mind, causing the scandal of committing suicide. Now, although this queen is gentle in nature, her relationship with the emperor is only polite to each other, without much love between men and women.

As for Yang Xiuyuan, there is no need to mention her.

But the empress dowager refused to admit this. She and the late emperor valued age the most and had put a lot of thought into choosing concubines. Who could have imagined that the emperor was so overbearing and did not like the docile and obedient girls, but liked the delicate and beautiful imperial concubine who went against him.

The child was so beautiful that the emperor took her into his harem regardless of his reputation. If she didn't know her child's temperament and that he was no longer impulsive and would not do anything crazy for a beauty, she would have thought that the imperial concubine was a vixen who came to overthrow the empire.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it seriously. Shen Youyi lowered his head guiltily.

If the selection had really been made according to the Queen Mother's wishes, the people sitting in Wangming Palace today would not just be the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

However, she had heard rumors about the harem in her early years, and she felt a little worried when she secretly looked at the queen.

As expected, the smile on the queen's lips faded, and when she met her probing gaze, she shook her head slightly, with no intention of taking her anger out on her.

Emperor Yuan Shuo frowned slightly. The imperial concubine had never experienced these things personally, and he had no intention of letting her know. He called out calmly, and the empress and Shen Youyi immediately stood up and retreated outside the hall.

Shen Youyi has been able to understand Emperor Yuan Shuo's temper a little bit these days. In terms of making decisions on his own, the emperor treats everyone the same.

The emperor is supreme and even his biological mother is not allowed to override him or accuse him of wrongdoing.

But Emperor Yuan Shuo was a very filial son to his mother.

Just as he was about to tell her something, he turned his head to follow the imperial concubine's gaze and couldn't help but chuckle.

The Queen Mother's new puppy and the peacock were staring at each other. All it took was a little spark, like too much attention from the women, and they would start bickering immediately.

One of them barked incessantly, and the other spread out its thousand-eyed tail feathers and screamed strangely, but the bird slaves and dog slaves who served them had no way to stop them and could only use silent physical intimidation to drive them away.

It was a quiet morning. In the palace with the strictest rules, a group of people who wanted to breathe as lightly as possible were helpless against their beloved pets who knew nothing about it. It was ridiculous.

The peacock on the screen couldn't stand the strange noise, and I didn't know how the two of them started fighting, but I also found it interesting. I said it looked harsh, but these things I raised were very interesting. The little dog was slender, with sparse white hair, and didn't look like a dog from a kennel.

The queen pursed her lips and smiled, a little sadly: "In this palace, people should speak frankly."

Shen Youyi saw that this was not a good start, and said with a smile: "Don't even mention people, even they themselves may not know what the other party is scolding, isn't it just unscrupulous?"

Try asking them to say a few words that humans can understand. I'm afraid that not only will they be put into the pot, but they will also have to ask a Taoist priest to perform a ritual.

The empress was the head of all the concubines, and the second prince was her own child born after ten months of pregnancy, but in front of the empress dowager and the emperor, she had no say in the marriage.

Perhaps because it was not her own child anymore, Shen Youyi did not care much about it. She was even a little envious of the Second Emperor as they were of similar age. There were not many parents in the world who could let their children decide their own marriage, and the Emperor was even rarer. It was just that he had a weird temper and refused to choose.

Most daughters-in-law don't think their mothers-in-law are good, but in the end, the Queen Mother can't control Tianle's thoughts on these matters, so there's no need to worry about anything. But the Queen will soon become someone else's mother-in-law, and she will also want to control her son's marriage. Shen Youyi had no choice but to say: "I also hope that Your Highness will get married soon. If Your Highness didn't have the Prince of Hengshan, how could His Majesty value her so much?"

The Queen's smile was bitter. Although she was frail, she refused to get on the sedan chair. She and Shen Youyi took a leisurely walk in the Forbidden Garden to relax. "Ah Zhen, has His Majesty never revealed even a little bit of his feelings in front of you?"

This was even more strange. The emperor didn't need to discuss the Second Emperor's marriage with a young concubine like her. Shen Youyi was stunned: "What do you mean, Madam?"

The queen looked at the young and lively beauty in front of her. She was very surprised when she first saw this newly favored woman. How could a weak woman who was lost in the war, lost her parents and husband one after another, and was forced to abandon by her husband's clan be so delicate and charming, like a rose covered with dew in the early sun, with amazing beauty.

Even when the day of her husband's death in battle approached, she did not seem depressed, but still talked to her with a smile.

The Queen said slowly, "His Majesty came to my palace a few days ago and said a lot to me. He wanted to give Yan a fiefdom, but he didn't want him to leave Chang'an. He stayed in the palace with me all the time."

Shen Youyi smiled and said, "This is a blessing that many princes and nobles have begged for, isn't the Empress happy?"

As far as she knew, there were no age or marital restrictions when emperors of all dynasties sent princes to their fiefdoms. Many canonized princes had to take boats or cars to distant fiefdoms when they were only a few years old. However, there were also many favored princes who could stay in Chang'an and fulfill their filial duties to their father and mother even if they were married and had been fathers several times.

The Queen said gently, "But Your Majesty is not without conditions."

Her husband wanted her to move to the temporary palace, so that she could stop caring about palace affairs and focus on taking care of her health.

No matter which palace it was, as long as she was willing, Emperor Yuan Shuo would agree.

He hoped that she would get better, or at least be truly happy... She had not received such caring and tender words for a long time, but her hands and feet were very cold.

A queen who has been in poor health for many years was exiled to the palace by God. No one would understand what the emperor is thinking.

Ever since she was hastily enthroned as queen, she had vaguely felt that this day would come sooner or later, but she never expected her husband to be so heartless... He had never even considered Yan as his successor.

That was her first time getting pregnant, and she was almost beyond words. Her life had never been so good. She was designated as Liangdi by the Emperor and Empress. Her husband, who was the Queen Mother, did not approve of the practice of having many concubines in the harem, and only selected two Liangdi according to convention. Even though she was not as beautiful as Yang and Wang, she was never treated badly, and was even the first concubine in the palace to become pregnant.

Even though the baby girl only lived for a moment, she was heartbroken and had the urge to kill for the first time... Even though she couldn't kill anyone, the Concubine Dowager had already sacrificed her life for the death of the child. During the most difficult and precarious time in the Eastern Palace, Yang gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby who would most likely compete for the throne of Queen in the future.

But unexpectedly, when the new emperor ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Yuan Shuo, he neither chose the grown-up Yang as his queen nor selected a young woman from the newcomers to the palace as his successor. Instead, he promoted her, who had no makeup on all day, to the position.

She heard people say that Yang secretly scolded her for pretending to be pitiful to win favor, but the anger in her heart suddenly gathered. Until Leyan was born and several new concubines came to the inner court one after another, the anger gradually dissipated as Tian Le treated her more and more distantly and politely.

That girl was the Majesty's first child. He felt guilty and pitied her, and was too lazy to marry a new person with an unstable temperament. Perhaps he also wanted to warn the Yang family, who were acting so confidently, so he gave her everything that the king thought was best.

But as the guilt filled the room, the already limited warmth was gone, and the Pepper Room became cold again.

She still remembered that when the empress dowager urged the selection of girls, Emperor Yuan Shuo would occasionally become impatient, saying that those girls were too young and there was no reason for them to be so condescending as to become concubines.

If we can't even talk to each other, how can we have the desire to branch out?

But in the blink of an eye, twenty years passed, and the king who had sworn all his vows fell hopelessly in love with a girl who was even younger than his wife... She was even a widow.

However, the daughter of the Duke of Yan never had such concerns as hers. She didn't care about the future at all, and even refused to give face to her biological mother. After monopolizing the emperor's favor, she turned a blind eye to the resentment in the palace. Those hardships that were unimaginable to her seemed to have never happened to this beauty.

The imperial concubine only cared about living a happy life. Even she had never thought that there could be a concubine who would treat the emperor like that, even making him angry to death, and then reconciling as if nothing had happened.

Shen Youyi was still curious about the conditions proposed by Emperor Yuan Shuo, but the Queen refused to continue. She said with pity: "It's hard for you to be so sad and still tease me. You have deep feelings for Marquis Xiao, and it's rare for His Majesty to approve it. Hurry up and get on the carriage, don't miss the auspicious time."

Emperor Yuan Shuo was not the only one who thought that she was going to pay homage to Marquis Lingyang. Shen Youyi felt quite helpless.

She could not help but feel sad, but not to the point of being heartbroken. However, the Queen was a sensitive and thoughtful person, and she just pretended that she was still alive three years ago.

…

The emperor would often come to Wangming Palace and say things that were not suitable to be told to outsiders. The empress dowager had long been accustomed to it and enjoyed this filial piety.

Although sometimes this mature and steady boy can make people very angry.

However, the shock this time brought her far greater than the surprise she felt when she heard that the King of Yue had rebelled.

She still didn't know why her son treated the Imperial Concubine coldly, but once they reconciled, unexpectedly...

The Empress Dowager barely cared about her manners as she suddenly stood up and said in disbelief, "Emperor, how old are you now? How can you so easily depose and enthrone someone? Do you even know what the history books will say?"

Compared with his mother's reaction, Emperor Yuan Shuo's expression was somewhat calm, which was within his expectations.

"Mother, do you think Wei Jingzhong's daughter is not good? Is she unclean in appearance, has bad morals, or speaks in a disgusting way?"

He said slowly, "You can see how hard the Queen has worked these years. My choosing her wasn't necessarily a good thing for her."

The Queen Mother was almost amused by his anger: "Which woman in the palace doesn't want to be the Queen? Many would rather sacrifice their lives and work themselves to the bone to climb to the top. If you think this position is not good, why do you want to give it to the Imperial Concubine?"

She had lived with concubines in the past, so how could she not know what they were thinking?

How come the Duke of Yan adopted such a daughter? His family was reunited, but this daughter turned the royal family upside down.

Wasn't he ignoring the Imperial Concubine half a month ago? His expression was so cold and indifferent. How long has it been since then? He even sent the Empress Dowager's only son back to the Eastern Palace. When Wei gives birth to children, there's no telling whether there will be a way for others to survive!

She felt almost suffocated in her heart, and said bitterly, "Back then, when you refused to make Yang your empress, mother knew you were suspicious of her past actions and worried that she would harm the concubines in this position. This was not without reason. The empress is magnanimous and forgiving, and she is your oldest companion. There is nothing wrong with making her empress. There must be a reason to make a empress, but what does Wei have now?"

Sometimes, even his subjects would be deceived by Tian Liao's appearance. When he first appointed the queen, he actually said that it was the late queen who recommended her before her death. He could not bear to go against his first wife's wishes, which made both Wang and Yang very angry. They resented each other and fought for more than ten years until his power declined.

But when it comes to Wei's turn, what can she say?

It's impossible that she was born beautiful and the emperor didn't care about her virtues, but just liked this charming beauty and made her the emperor without thinking, right?

Although the Empress Dowager didn't particularly like Yang Xiuyuan, she had a great-grandson, so her heart inevitably leaned towards the Crown Princess. "She's already a Noble Consort, second only to the Emperor. If she becomes Empress in the future, it would be really bad... It makes sense for you to appoint Yang as Empress. Is the Noble Consort less jealous than Yang was back then?"

"My mother also said that she is second only to me."

Emperor Yuan Shuo suddenly smiled, his brows relaxed, and he said in a gentle voice, "I just want to teach her to be above everyone else. Is that not possible?"