Chapter 195 His harem is all his cousins

After listening, Liu Ye stroked her chin thoughtfully. Wei Ziwei's sudden visit to bribe her seemed like an attempt to curry favor. Perhaps her marriage to Prince Xuan had changed, and she wanted Liu Ye to help her at a crucial moment. She placed the golden toad on the table and said, "Furong, I think Wei Ziwei gave me this gift because her marriage to Prince Xuan has changed, and she wants me to help her get back together."

Furong's eyes lit up. Of course! How could she have forgotten about this? "Oh dear, how could I not have thought of that? Miss, you guessed it perfectly. In the past, there weren't many ministers who supported Prince Xuan. Even Minister Wei was a high-ranking official. But things are different now. Prince Xuan can be considered the emperor. Although Minister Wei is only a second-rank official, his family background isn't prominent enough, and he doesn't have a powerful clan behind him. Wei Ziwei can't marry Prince Xuan. At most, she can be made a concubine."

"Throughout history, which empress didn't have a powerful maternal family behind her? The royal family's ambitions also depend on the power of the empress's family. They can help them. Miss, just believe it. After Prince Xuan ascends the throne, the empress will definitely issue an edict to annul the engagement."

Liu Ye looked at the things on the table with reluctance: "Wrap up the gifts. Let's forget about it today. You can return them tomorrow. We shouldn't accept gifts we didn't do."

"Yes, Miss." Hibiscus's voice was full of joy. Willow Leaf touched her nose and teased, "Why do you seem so happy?"

While packing the gifts, Furong said with a smile, "I am quite happy. I don't like Wei Ziwei, and I don't like her becoming the Empress of Prince Xuan. Actually, if nothing had happened to my family, I would probably have ended up like her. Although my father is the Grand Tutor, my family is not a large clan. We are just a family of scholars. Sigh, I have already guessed who the Empress will be."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye immediately became interested and asked gossipily, "Who is it? Tell us quickly."

Furong sighed and said, "Alas, the Empress is of course Prince Xuan's cousin. The current Empress's maternal family is the powerful Zheng family. The Zheng family once produced three imperial merchants and five great generals, but later they fell into decline. All five generals of the Zheng family died, and the civil officials of the Zheng family also got into trouble one by one. They were all bought back with silver, so half of the Zheng family's wealth was also scattered."

"With her maternal family losing power, the Empress was able to be bullied by Consort Su. I seem to remember that the Zheng family's troubles also occurred after Consort Su rose to power. Maybe she was behind it all. It's hard to say..." She couldn't say anything more, as the old Emperor might have been involved.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye exclaimed, "So that's what happened! With King Xuan's ascension to the throne, the Zheng family will rise to prominence once again. The Empress's position will definitely belong to a member of the Zheng family. Does King Xuan have many cousins?"

Furong said sarcastically, "There are many more. I know of more than a dozen legitimate daughters, and those are still unmarried. There are more than a dozen married daughters. There are also more than a dozen illegitimate daughters waiting to be married. And there are even more children who haven't grown up yet. Do you know how many concubines Prince Xuan's maternal uncle has? More than 60, which is more than the number of the emperor's concubines."

Liu Ye stared in shock, "No way, how can there be so many? Even the legal wife is doing it, hehehe, the house must be in complete chaos."

Furong said with a smile, "Hehehe, what's the fight? Those concubines are just servants to the main wife. Anyone who dares to displease the main wife will be sold off. Hehehe, our Prince Xuan has eight maternal uncles and five aunts. Hahaha, Prince Xuan's harem will all be his own family members in the future. Hahaha, hahaha, it's really hilarious."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye agreed. When Prince Xuan arrived at the harem, all he saw were his eldest cousin and his second cousin. His father-in-law was his uncle, and most of the children born to him were deformed, mentally challenged, drooling and calling for eunuchs as "fathers," not even recognizing their own fathers. She found the scene quite laughable: "Pfft, hahaha, hahaha, it's really funny, hahaha, hahaha, it's killing me with laughter."

The next day, after breakfast, Furong took the gifts and went out. Liuye also took advantage of Furong's absence to quickly lock the door and enter the space. The black soil was already covered with golden rice ears.

With a thought, she harvested 5,860 mu of land. Immediately afterward, a golden light flashed on the black soil, and the area expanded from 5,860 mu to 17,000 mu, doubling in size.

Great! The space is bigger now. She looked up at the sky and wondered why it felt higher. Maybe it really is higher. What should she plant this time? There was already too much wheat and rice in the space. That's it! She waved her hand at the black soil and planted soybeans all over it.

Liu Ye strolled over to the orchard again, picked a bunch of lychees and ate them as she walked. The shop she bought was still vacant. Since Brother Bai wasn't coming back from the palace, she had no interest in doing anything else. She would wait until King Xuan ascended the throne.

Both she and Brother Bai contributed to King Xuan's ascension to the throne. She won't go into detail about her contributions, but she's curious about what official position King Xuan will appoint Brother Bai to—a civil official or a military general? Brother Bai certainly can't be a civil official; he's uneducated and only knows the few characters the old hunter taught him. Brother Bai is highly skilled in martial arts and could be a great general. She just doesn't know if King Xuan will actually appoint Brother Bai as a great general.

In period dramas, emperors often turn on those who helped them after they've been killed. If Prince Xuan dares to treat her and Brother Bai like that, she'll make him regret ever being born!

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door opening outside. She quickly put the lychees on the ground, slipped out of the space, and Liu Ye opened the door. Just then, Fu Rong also walked to the door: "Miss, I'm back. I've returned the things. Wei Ziwei is angry. She asked me to tell you a message: 'May the green hills remain forever, and the green waters flow forever...'"

Liu Ye immediately understood; this meant they were going to take her on a trial run, and they'd see how things went. She scoffed dismissively, "Hmph! Let's see how things go then. It's not like I'm afraid of her. Did she give you any trouble?"

Furong shook her head and said, "Wei Ziwei didn't. Her maid scolded me a few times, but it doesn't matter. I'll just pretend she was talking nonsense."

At noon, Bai Zilin actually returned. This time, he didn't climb over the wall; he walked through the main gate openly. Furong left the two of them alone and went to the garden to weed. The garden was full of vegetables, which were already ready to eat.

With no outsiders in the room, Bai Zilin excitedly hugged Liu Ye in his arms: "Silly girl, I missed you so much! I've been so busy in the palace that I haven't been able to get out at all. I asked Prince Xuan for leave today, and I have to leave in a bit. I hope no one at home is bothering you?"

Liu Ye nestled in Bai Zilin's arms and nodded: "No, only Miss Wei came once. She brought me a bunch of gifts, but I've already returned them. Brother Bai, when will you be done with that? I miss you so much..."

Bai Zilin sat on the bed with Liu Ye in his arms. Liu Ye blushed and lifted her head from his embrace. Their eyes met, sparks flew, and they couldn't help but kiss. Bai Zilin stopped when he could no longer control his desire and held Liu Ye in his arms, panting.

"It'll be soon, just over 20 days until 100 days. But I won't have time to spend with you. After I finish the old emperor's funeral, I'll have to deal with Prince Xuan's ascension to the throne. He's entrusted me with many things. Prince Xuan trusts me a lot now. Once he's on the throne, I'll have time to spend with you, and then we'll get married."