Chapter 412 Concubine
Summer of the fourth year of Yongning.
The early summer sun was warm and gentle, and even the unchanging sky over the palace became bright and cheerful.
At this time last year, the Crown Prince and Princess were still young, and the Emperor and Empress were worried about the bumpy and arduous journey to Beiyuan, so they spent the entire summer in the palace.
This year, both young princes have learned to speak and walk, so the Emperor and Empress felt relieved and took most of the palace to the North Garden to escape the summer heat.
The palace servants were all in good spirits. Those who could go to the North Garden could go with them to escape the summer heat, and those who stayed in the palace were even more relaxed because their masters were not around. Only Wei Qingqing from Beichen Palace was different.
She stood under the blazing sun, a large pair of shears in her hand, trimming the plants delivered by the greenhouse. She didn't care whether the branches were good or bad, cutting them all haphazardly, muttering to herself:
"Damn emperor, damn empress, damn Qi You! Not a single one of them is any good!"
Palace maids could leave the palace at the age of twenty-five, but her situation was different because she was implicated in a family crime. Unless the master granted her a favor, she would have to work in the palace until she died.
She had already spent three years working like a slave here, and seeing that Qi You was sixteen years old, with four years left before he turned twenty, became an adult, and was to be enfeoffed as a king and establish his own government, she felt that her future was bleak.
"Damn Qi You! He could have asked the Emperor and Empress to let him leave the palace early, but he insisted on staying here! He's enjoying himself with women on both sides, while I'm the only one suffering... Why?!"
As she was muttering to herself, Wei Qingqing felt a light tap on her shoulder, followed by a hand casually draped over her shoulder.
The familiar movements and aura immediately told her who it was, and she rolled her eyes: "How the hell are you going to stay here?!"
Even after being rolled his eyes at, Qi You wasn't angry. He just chuckled and took the scissors from her hand, placing them aside.
Several eunuchs followed behind him, their clothes still smelling of fresh mud and grass, clearly having just left the palace to ride horses, enjoying themselves immensely.
Qi You was overjoyed and pulled her into a shady spot, whispering, "What's the rush? Isn't it better to stay in the palace and live a simple life? This doesn't cost us any money, so we can spend it however we want. Once we're granted our own residence, we won't be able to live this carefree life!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Qingqing became furious: "That's you, what does it have to do with me? You promised me three years ago that when the time was right, you would go to the Emperor and Empress to request to leave the palace early!"
Qi You continued his nonchalant stride without stopping: "Isn't the timing just not right yet!"
"Look at you now in the palace, aren't you idle and carefree all day long? Who in Beichen Palace dares to offend you?"
This is true. After all, Wei Qingqing and Qi You are from the same time and space. Fellow countrymen appreciate each other, so even though Wei Qingqing is just a low-ranking palace maid, she can still walk sideways in the Seventh Prince's Beichen Palace.
Wei Qingqing gritted her teeth: "How can that be the same? I have no personal freedom, and I have to kowtow and bow to others. It's so stifling. Are you going to wait until you're twenty before you're willing to leave?!"
Qi You put his arm around the person's shoulder and led them into the house, where the sweltering heat gradually dissipated.
Suddenly, he caught a faint fragrance, and his spirits lifted. He looked at the girl, who was already half a head shorter than him, and asked, "What perfume are you wearing? It smells so good!"
Wei Qingqing pulled her hand away: "What other fragrance can I use? It's just the scent of soap that palace maids usually use!"
But in that pull, her movements were so bold that her hand accidentally hit some parts that she shouldn't have touched—
For a moment, both of them felt a little awkward.
Qi You had an untimely idea. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke up: "...Since you said that you still have to kowtow and pay respects when you see others, how about you become my concubine, and I will set you free after you leave the palace? That way you won't feel so resentful."
Wei Qingqing's pupils widened: "What did you say?!"
...
It was a month later when Qi You finally pleaded with Qi Yuxuan for Wei Qingqing's sake.
The summer days in Beiyuan are quiet and cool. The pavilions and towers are all built against the mountains and by the water. The craftsmen carefully cultivated various insect-repelling and mosquito-repelling plants. The breeze that blows in is full of refreshing fragrance.
Qi Yuxuan was taking a nap in the pavilion with her two children.
Qi Zhan and Qi Yuanyuan are already a year and a half old, the age when they love to talk and walk. At this moment, the two children are sleeping peacefully on the ivory mat, kicking and pushing each other, their little mouths babbling as they dream about something.
After giving birth, Qi Yuxuan became very sensitive to both cold and heat. Even now, in the pavilion, she needed two palace maids to fan her in turn so she could close her eyes and rest for a while.
She was somewhat surprised to hear that the Seventh Prince was requesting an audience.
In the past few years, Qi You has never taken the initiative to contact her, except during holidays.
Firstly, the young brother-in-law and the imperial sister-in-law should avoid suspicion; secondly, everything in Beichen Palace is in good order, so Qi You doesn't need to ask Qi Yuxuan for anything.
But today, he actually asked for a palace maid.
He probably knew that Wei Qingqing's status was awkward, so he decided to act first and inform her later, saying that he had accidentally eaten something while drunk and that Wei Qingqing was pregnant with his child, his first child. He wanted to give the birth mother a higher status, so he requested that she be made a concubine.
Upon hearing the name Wei Qingqing, Qi Yuxuan was still somewhat dazed.
After thinking for a while, and asking Lanxin, who checked the monthly palace maid's salary, she remembered that it was the fifth daughter of the Wei family in Kuncheng four years ago. Due to the family's misfortune, she was forced to become a palace maid, but she escaped into the Xiao family halfway and eventually appeared in front of people in a swaggering manner. It was Qi Yuxuan who personally detained her in Beichen Palace as a low-ranking palace maid.
She always kept her instructions in mind when the Department of Internal Affairs conducted assessments, but after all these years she is still ranked last.
Lanxin whispered a reminder in the Empress's ear:
“Your Majesty, the positions of a prince’s consort and a concubine are not child’s play. Wei Qingqing is merely a palace maid and has no relatives. Even if she is pregnant, she is not worthy of being promoted to concubine.”
There have been such examples in the past. For instance, during the reign of the late emperor, the fourth prince had four or five pregnant maids in his harem. In the end, they were only promoted to concubines. Even if they were able to endure until they were enfeoffed as princes and left the palace, they would at most be promoted to noble concubines. There was no case of someone becoming arrogant and rising to the rank of secondary consort just because they had a child.
A concubine is a woman who is listed in the imperial genealogy. Even if she is not a noblewoman, she should be a woman from a respectable family.
Qi Yuxuan nodded, her gaze falling on the obediently kneeling young man before her. "I remember that three years ago you also pleaded for Wei Qingqing in the same way. On the day of my wedding to His Majesty, it was you and Wei Qingqing who led the Qilin Guard to run around, which prevented the treacherous people of Yue from ruining the dignity of Qi."
She paused for a moment, then asked, "Tell me the truth, do you have any prior acquaintances with Wei Qingqing?"
Qi You had assumed the trip would go smoothly and that Qi Yuxuan would have no reason to keep her as a palace maid. But to his surprise, she questioned whether they had known each other all along!
Meeting the increasingly sharp and composed gaze of his sister-in-law, Qi You had a fleeting illusion that he was facing Emperor Qi Jun.
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