Emperor Taizu had many sons, and Shen Jingyi's mother was a full sixty years younger than him.

During the later years of Emperor Taizu's reign, Shen Jingyi's mother was the most favored. Soon after, she was crowned empress, and naturally, Shen Jingyi became the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty.

But the good times did not last long. Emperor Shizu soon passed away. His mother was only 27 years old at that time, and was protected by Emperor Shizu until she became innocent. Shen Jingyi was only seven years old. Even though he had shown his talents, he was no match for his brothers who were nearly 40 years old.

The situation of orphans and widows is very difficult.

In addition, Emperor Shizu favored Shen Jingyi's mother during his lifetime, which made them regard Shen Jingyi and his mother as thorns in their eyes and flesh.

A mother and child without support are like duckweed on the sea, and a heavy rain can drown them in an instant.

Shen Jingyi's mother was forced to be buried alive with Emperor Shizu.

The youngest queen of the Ming Dynasty was held hostage by several eunuchs and forced to drink poisoned wine.

This scene was witnessed by the young Shen Jingyi.

In order to survive and to avenge his mother, the young prince Shen Jingyi began to plan since he was eight years old.

He contacted powerful officials in the court, gradually expanded his influence, fought against his brothers in the turbulent times, and finally was able to consolidate his own rule.

However, those powerful officials who had "followed the dragon" began to be proud of their achievements.

In order to balance the forces of all parties, Shen Jingyi married the women in their family.

In the political struggle, he himself is a tool.

Now, he has finally made it. The politics of the Ming Dynasty is clear and no matter how powerful the officials are, they cannot surpass him.

Those large tribes were also temporarily stabilized due to intermarriage.

However, Shen Jingyi faced a new problem - difficulty in having offspring.

He had many concubines in his harem, more than thirty in total, big and small. However, except for the late Concubine Yun who gave birth to a son for him, Concubine Yun died due to dystocia, and the child she left behind was weak and sickly, the other concubines had no children at all.

Could it be that Shen Jingyi is not capable? But he has a child.

The concubines could only sigh that they were unlucky.

…

The rank of Shen Jingyi's harem decreases from Empress - Four Consorts (noble > virtuous > virtuous > beautiful) - Concubine - Noble Lady - Maid - and the rank decreases accordingly.

Shen Jingyi has been on the throne for more than 20 years without a queen, and now there are three of the four concubines:

Imperial Concubine Qiao Yuewen, daughter of the Zhenbei General, grew up on horseback and is both brave and valiant, but also ruthless.

If she didn't like someone, she would beat him up, and if she got excited, she would even whip him, making the concubines in the palace avoid her.

…

The virtuous concubine Qin Shuqing, the daughter of the Minister of the Central Secretariat, has been well-read since childhood and is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She is a typical noble lady and even a teacher at the highest-level women's academy in the capital of Ming Dynasty. She will go to the academy to teach female students at the end of every month.

In the Ming Dynasty, many noble ladies were proud to have been taught by Qin Shuqing, and jokingly called themselves "disciples of the virtuous concubine."

…

Concubine Li, Yelu Nanyin, is the little princess of the Yelu tribe. She has outstanding appearance and deserves the word "Li".

And from the name of the palace where she lived, "Ronghua Palace", we can also see that what the emperor loved most was her appearance.

…

There are five concubines. It is worth mentioning that Qin Keqing, the half-sister of the virtuous concubine Qin Shuqing, is the only concubine with a title - Concubine Shu.

The virtuous concubine Qin Shuqing had many students all over the world, and her literary attainments were admired by everyone. However, her appearance was not so good.

It was considered average among common people, but in the harem where hundreds of flowers bloomed, it seemed a bit...

Her half-sister Qin Keqing was also very talented. Although she was more modest than her elder sister, she was very eye-catching with her flower-like face.