First, the father of Concubine Li was sentenced to immediate execution for corruption, bribery, and forming a clique for personal gain, and all members of the Li family were sentenced to exile.

As for Concubine Xian, her father was fine, but her brother was found to have falsely claimed military merits during the war, so the Liu family also got into trouble.

The virtuous concubine was also implicated because of this. Of course, she was not demoted to a commoner and exiled with her family like the noble concubine. She was only demoted from the virtuous concubine to the position of Jieyushi.

She was suddenly demoted from a first-rank concubine to a third-rank imperial concubine. She was no longer favored and now she has lost her high position. She will definitely not have a good life in the future.

Next came Wang Zhaoyi, Xu Zhaorong and Gao Zhaoyuan, whose families also encountered problems.

Someone in the Wang family was tyrannical and maliciously occupied the people's land and took human lives, and then Wang Zhaoyi was implicated.

The Wang family was not confiscated, but Wang Zhaoyi was sent back to her parents' home in a domineering manner by Qin Mu, who also said that he could not afford a woman from the Wang family.

Of course, Wang Zhaoyi was sent away, and Concubine Wang, who also had the surname Wang, was also implicated and sent away by Qin Mu.

Xu Zhaorong's family was relatively peaceful, but her father made a mistake and was dismissed from his official position and demoted to Lingnan.

Xu Zhaorong was sent back to her parents' home by Qin Mu. Of course, this time she was not sent back with great fanfare like Wang Zhaoyi, but was sent back secretly.

Gao Zhaoyuan's affair with the palace guards was discovered.

Of course, Gao Zhaoyuan did not have an intimate relationship with the guard. They just wrote love poems to each other and had a spiritual love affair.

Even though this matter was discovered, Qin Mu was not very angry.

After all, he had never touched anyone. Although the women in the harem were tacitly considered his women, since he couldn't touch them, he had no intention of pursuing the matter.

So Gao Zhaoyuan died of illness, and the guard who behaved improperly in front of the emperor was stripped of his official position; in fact, they were both sent out of the palace.

Qin Mu "helped" the two of them, but whether they could live well after leaving the palace and whether they could continue to love each other was not his business.

When Wushuang was about to give birth, there were only two concubines left in the harem out of the original nine besides him.

The virtuous concubine, and an unknown concubine named Liu.

This Liu had no one she liked, and her family hadn't done anything wrong. She was quiet and did nothing, and didn't compete for favor, so she was kept by Qin Mu.

As for the virtuous concubine Liu Xue... no, now she is the imperial concubine Liu Xue. She was demoted two levels because of her brother's affairs, which can be regarded as a punishment.

Liu Xue's original plan to have Wushuang recognize her father as her adoptive father and the matter of her having a prominent family background was shelved.

After all, she herself was demoted two levels because of her brother. If Wushuang recognized her father as her adoptive father, her family was not prominent and might even hinder the eldest prince.

And judging from what His Majesty said, Wushuang, a concubine who has no family background and no relatives, is the one he likes even more.

Liu Xue couldn't help but smile bitterly when she thought of this.

Why couldn't she understand?

There are so many noble ladies of distinguished birth in the harem, why doesn't Your Majesty favor them?

Perhaps it was because of the issue of foreign relatives that the emperor preferred Chen Xiuyi, who did not have the issue of foreign relatives.

If the eldest prince really becomes the crown prince in the future, there will be no need to worry about external relatives interfering in politics.

…

"In the blink of an eye, I'm the biggest in the harem?" Wushuang asked Qin Mu while looking at him with her big pregnant belly.

"I, a second-rank cultivator, have become the highest-ranking woman in the harem?" Wushuang said, staring into Qin Mu's eyes.

"My beloved concubine, are you unhappy?" Qin Mu smiled. "When the baby in your belly is born, perhaps I can make you a noble concubine... or even queen."

Wushuang: "Is this true?"

"Would I lie to you?" Qin Mu asked.

Wushuang: "...In that case, I'm looking forward to it."

I just don’t know whether Qin Mu will make her a noble concubine or directly make her the queen.

In the court.

"Your Majesty, there are only a few people in your harem now, which is not good for your offspring. I implore Your Majesty to expand your harem!" A minister stood up and said.

After seeing that the emperor actually cleared out the few people in the harem, many ministers felt a sense of crisis, but some also felt that this was an opportunity.

All the concubines in His Majesty's harem have been cleared out. Now not only is there no one to take the empress's position, but there are also no one to take the four concubines, and there is even only one Chen Xiuyi left among the nine concubines.

Xiuyi, this is not Zhaoyi, the head of the nine concubines.

So this is the opportunity for those ministers who have daughters of marriageable age in their families. If they send their daughters to the palace, they will have the opportunity to become the father-in-law of the emperor.

"I implore Your Majesty to expand his harem and continue his family line." The other ministers also echoed the minister who spoke first.

Qin Mu looked at the group of people and said calmly, "I intend to make Chen Xiuyi the queen."

"Since entering the palace, Chen Xiuyi has behaved herself and adhered to her duties as a concubine. Now she is pregnant with my child, so she should be the empress."

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible!" The first person to stand up and ask Qin Mu to expand his harem was the Minister of Rites. He was also the first person to oppose Qin Mu's decision to make Wushuang his queen.

"Your Majesty, Xiuyi Liu is unfit to be empress," the Minister of Rites said. "Xiuyi Liu's family was exiled for a crime, and she is the daughter of a criminal. It is her honor to be your majesty's concubine, so how can she be allowed to be empress?"

"Xiuyi Liu was originally the daughter of a tofu shop owner, born in poverty and humble circumstances. Fortunately, she was favored by Your Majesty and was able to enter the palace."

"She is not fit to be a queen in any way. Your Majesty, please think twice!" The Minister of Rites firmly opposed Qin Mu's decision to make Wushuang the queen.

If such a woman of humble origins were to be made empress, would all the ladies of the imperial court have to pay their respects to her? How could the ladies of noble families tolerate this?

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