Chapter 184 The Heir Apparent of the Earl's Mansion 7

Kunning Palace.

The concubines have been furious these past few days.

"Your Majesty, I heard that Lord Ning slept in Yangji Palace again last night. If this continues, won't His Majesty be completely bewitched by him?"

Before ascending the throne, the emperor was disliked by the previous emperor and was practically invisible. He wasn't even given a concubine, let alone a princess. So, Xiao Li didn't have a single woman before he became emperor.

After he ascended the throne, he was forced by his officials to select a concubine. He was a stubborn man who believed that if you don't make me happy, I won't make you comfortable either. He wrote down all the people who petitioned him to select concubines. He then selected all their daughters and brought them into the palace, but he didn't touch any of them, leaving all the beauties in the harem.

Those concubines were no pushovers either. When the emperor didn't come to the harem, they would run to the Holy Palace. Xiao Li seized on their mistakes and killed some, beheaded others, and banished some to the Cold Palace. Finally, he intimidated those women, and no one dared to provoke him anymore. But they all hated Ning Yan, who had made the emperor refuse to come to the harem!

The Empress was the daughter of the Left Chancellor. She originally thought that after entering the palace, she would surely win the Emperor's heart, give birth to the Crown Prince, and then become the Empress Dowager.

As it turned out, she thought, and that was just her opinion; her thoughts only stopped at the step of entering the palace, and she couldn't take any further steps after that.

These concubines even wanted to encourage her to go to the Emperor. Did they think she was a fool?

The Emperor clearly dislikes these concubines; if she were to actually go, she might just lose her head.

Consort Wu saw the Empress's expression clearly and understood her thoughts perfectly. She thought to herself that the Empress was useless, took a sip of her tea, and said, "Speaking of which, the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion only has one male heir, Prince Ning. He must be eighteen or nineteen years old this year. This is the perfect age to get married."

He's not even of age yet, but he's already a third-rank general. Given the Emperor's favor towards him, he'll likely be promoted again soon. With such status and power, who knows which noble lady will end up with such a man.

Several concubines in the hall, who considered themselves clever, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Good heavens, why hadn't they thought of this before?

It's certain that Ning Yan gained the Emperor's favor for whatever reason. If his family members married into the Cheng'an Earl's Mansion and became his principal wife, wouldn't they also be able to whisper sweet nothings in the Emperor's ear?

Even if we take a step back and assume that his sisters can't make Ning Yan obey, once he gets married, I don't believe the Emperor will still favor him!

That's the Emperor! If Ning Yan isn't clean, how can the Emperor still want him?

Thinking of this, some people's gazes fell subtly on Consort Wu. When they were young, they had heard people say that the Grand Tutor's eldest daughter was Wu Zhuge, and now that they saw it, it really was true!

She's full of cunning schemes. It's only because the Emperor doesn't come to the harem that she's around; otherwise, with her around, countless concubines would have been tricked to death by her.

The Empress smiled. She couldn't change the Emperor's mind, but dealing with a mere Thousand Bull Guard General was a piece of cake.

There are plenty of palace maids who want to get married. If we just lock the two of them up together and let the emperor catch them in the act, I don’t believe the emperor will still dote on Ning Yan like that!

Then she would arrange for palace maids to test the waters. How could a rough, uncouth man compare to a gentle, tender woman? She didn't believe the emperor could resist!

"I remember that Consort Wu seems to have a younger sister, and their ages are quite suitable."

Consort Wu frowned. "Your Majesty, my younger sister is already engaged and will be getting married at the end of the year."

A favored minister who uses his beauty to please the king is not worth the Grand Tutor's family losing another legitimate daughter.

Consort Shu said smugly, "What a coincidence! Although I am the only legitimate daughter in my family, I have several half-sisters who are of suitable age. I will send a message to my family later to see if we can arrange a good marriage."

She wouldn't care even if ten of her concubine's daughters were married off. Her family didn't have many other things, but they had a lot of concubine's daughters, all of whom her father planned to use for marriage alliances.

Since it's an arranged marriage, it doesn't matter who you marry.

His father would never object as long as there were benefits.

Some people glanced at Consort Shu with disdain. The dignified Marquis of Nanchang was ennobled for his military achievements, but by the time of Consort Shu's father's generation, not a single member of the family was of any use. The men didn't even dare to hold a knife, for fear that one day the emperor would send them to the battlefield and kill them with barbarians.

But everyone has to live, so Consort Shu's father, who was also the Marquis of Nanchang in this generation, desperately took concubines and had daughters.

Once they were grown up, they were sent away for marriage alliances. He was handsome, and all his concubines were stunningly beautiful, and their daughters were all exceptionally beautiful.

Many families in the capital have daughters, some as wives and some as concubines. The Marquis of Nanchang has benefited greatly from this; at the very least, the Marquis of Nanchang's mansion remains prosperous and no one dares to bully it!

Consort Shu was not unaware of the disdainful looks from those people, but she didn't care at all. Everyone has their own way of living. It didn't matter if others looked down on her, it wouldn't stop her from living a good life!

Several concubines of slightly lower rank also chimed in, saying that their own younger sisters were also suitable, and they were determined to have their families sound out the Lady of Cheng'an's opinion.

The Empress listened for a while before letting the group disperse.

Let her make a fuss, she's already waited three years, what's a little more? If someone actually succeeds, it'll save her the trouble of intervening.

...

Ning Yan slept in the palace for six whole days before finally being able to go home on her day off.

She felt that if she hadn't been disguised as a man, the emperor would have slept with her long ago.

These past few nights have been incredibly agonizing for her.

She was invited by the emperor to bathe with him every day.

There's no solution to this!

She could only take a bath every night when the emperor wasn't looking, and then huff and puff as a bath attendant.

Then there's the emperor using her as a body pillow.

Xiao Li is really hugging him!

At first, it was just a matter of putting my arm or leg to hers, but when I woke up this morning, she was completely wrapped around my arm.

She always felt that her innocence was not far from being jeopardized.

She never expected that she would almost lose her innocence even after returning home!

"What? A blind date? And with the seventh concubine's daughter from the Marquis of Nanchang's mansion?"

The old Marquis earnestly advised, "If you don't like this seventh concubine's daughter, there's also the legitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites, who's three years younger than you. If that doesn't work either, there's also the legitimate second daughter of the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices..."

The old Marquis named seven or eight candidates in one breath. Ning Yan didn't need to think about it; these officials were all cut from the same cloth, lacking any real skills and specializing in underhanded methods. What good person would want to discuss marriage with a treacherous minister and a favorite of hers?

Her father sat to the side, his eyes practically spitting fire. Afraid that her grandfather would say another word and her father would suddenly attack her, she quickly said, "Grandfather, my marriage is not something I can decide, nor is it something my parents can decide, and of course, it is not something you can decide either. Do you understand what your grandson means?"

Wouldn't marrying anyone in her situation just be hurting them?

The higher the status of the bride's family, the less likely she is to be considered.

The old marquis's face turned pale instantly, and he slumped into his chair. "You, you and the Emperor, are you really, really in that kind of relationship?"

"Grandfather, be careful what you say!"

The Emperor's secret guards are everywhere!