Chapter 139: Establishing Authority
When He Yanchen came back, Yueli had already learned everything that had happened from Xiaolizi.
With the Queen's incident before, Yue Li suspected from the bottom of her heart that He Yanchen was behind this matter. Her thoughts were shown on her face, and when the man came back, he could guess what she was thinking at a glance.
He Yanchen pretended not to see it, sat down on the couch, and poured himself a cup of cold tea.
"Your Majesty..." Yue Li slowly walked over and asked tentatively, "Today, three concubines were killed at once..."
He Yanchen nodded calmly: "I haven't forgotten the order I just issued."
Yue Li heard the indifference in his tone and asked directly without beating around the bush, "Your Majesty has long known that Concubine Jin... Li Baolin is planning to take action against Concubine Zheng?"
He Yanchen looked at her expression carefully and only saw curiosity in her eyes, without the worry and fear like after the last incident with Jiang. Only then did his expression ease up a little.
He reached out and brought her into his arms. "Not only do I know this, but I also know that Cui has been fanning the flames all day, trying to instigate Li Baolin to deal with Concubine Zheng so that she can reap the benefits."
Yueli exclaimed in surprise, "How does Your Majesty know everything?"
He Yanchen burst out laughing: "Jiaojiao, you should know that this palace is my palace. What happens here cannot be hidden from my eyes. It's only whether I want to intervene or not, not whether I can or cannot intervene."
The palace is filled with imperial guards and secret guards. As long as he wants to know, nothing can escape his eyes unless he is too lazy to care.
The affairs of the court were already annoying enough every day. If Concubine Zheng had not been so uncharacteristic that she asked for the imperial physician late at night, He Yanchen would not have noticed her.
Concubine Zheng has evil intentions and wants to curry favor with the Queen Mother to nominate the eldest prince. It is better for such a person to die to avoid other troubles in the future.
As for Cui, she is too cunning. Keeping her will inevitably cause trouble for Yueli. Yueli's little brain is no match for her, so it is better to get rid of her as soon as possible.
There was only one Li Baolin left. He Yanchen originally wanted to sentence him to death directly, but when the words came to his lips, he changed his mind and demoted him.
Li Baolin has been very well-behaved since he was demoted. This time he attacked Concubine Zheng in order to prevent her from continuing to harm the eldest prince. Perhaps because of her motherly kindness, He Yanchen spared her life.
He Yanchen sorted out his thoughts and looked down to see the woman in his arms with her brows furrowed. She looked lost in thought, not knowing what she was thinking.
"What are you thinking about?" He raised his hand and tapped her head lightly.
Yueli groaned, pouted, and glared at him: "I'm counting how many concubines are left in the palace."
He Yanchen choked. He never expected that she was thinking about this.
"Have you figured it out?" He relaxed his body, leaning lazily on the soft pillow, and playing with her jade belt in one hand.
Yue Li suddenly snorted softly and glared at him sideways, "How could I possibly calculate that? Your Majesty should be the one to do the math. You should know exactly how many concubines Your Majesty has had."
He Yanchen chuckled softly, and with a little force on his fingertips, Yueli fell into his arms along the jade ribbon.
"It turns out Jiaojiao is jealous."
Yue Li raised her eyebrows and said, "I am not jealous. There are so many concubines in the palace. If I were jealous, I would kill myself."
"There is no one else, and there won't be anyone else in the future." He Yanchen became serious and lowered his head to kiss her between the eyebrows. "From now on, there will only be Jiaojiao."
"After the coronation ceremony, I will issue an order to dismiss them from the palace."
Yueli said hurriedly: "Then let's not do it."
If she was the only one in the harem, she wouldn't even have the chance to find someone to make trouble with, and she would be bored to death.
Besides, there was an empress dowager in the palace, and no other concubines were there. What if the empress dowager wanted her to go and talk to her? She didn't want to go. It would be better to leave a few people to serve the empress dowager, so that she could stick to He Yanchen without distractions.
Yue Li’s plan was very good, but in He Yanchen’s eyes, she was just not jealous enough.
If you think about it more deeply, it means that she didn't love him enough.
He Yanchen's eyes darkened slightly. If other men appeared next to Yue Li, he would want to kill them all as soon as possible.
Yet, she could tolerate having other women around her.
He Yanchen was unhappy, so he kept tormenting her at night.
Yueli cried until her voice was hoarse, and she slapped him on the jaw unable to bear it any longer.
He Yanchen was stunned for a moment, then touched his hit jaw with a strange look.
Afterwards, Yueli discovered that not only was he not angry, but he was even more excited.
*
The next day, Yueli slept until noon before getting up.
But as soon as she stood up, trouble came.
"Your Majesty, today in the Upper Study, the eldest prince's wet nurse threw the Prince of Huaiyang's books into the pond. The Upper Study was in commotion, and His Majesty was still in the Imperial Study discussing matters. The palace maids over there had no choice but to come and ask for Your Majesty's instructions."
Yue Li rubbed her brows and asked, "Why would the eldest prince's wet nurse go to the study?"
"The eldest prince is ill after what happened yesterday, and the wet nurse has gone to ask for leave on his behalf."
"Ask for leave? The princes have eunuchs, servants, and tutors waiting on them personally. When is it a wet nurse's turn to ask for leave?"
Lian Qiao said mysteriously, "That wet nurse has served the eldest prince personally since she was a child. I heard that the eldest prince treats her as lovingly as he treats Jin... Li Baolin. Even Concubine Zheng can't compare to her."
Yue Li understood now. After the eldest prince left Li Baolin, he became closest to the wet nurse. The princes in the palace never used only one wet nurse. This was to prevent this situation, fearing that some people would not be able to distinguish their own identities.
"Why did she throw away the book of Prince Huaiyang?"
Lian Qiao said, "It's because the Upper Study announced last month's academic assessment today. When she went there, she heard people talking about how the eldest prince only got a C grade, so she wanted to go and deal with those kids. The Prince of Huaiyang tried to stop her, but she pushed him to the edge of the pool, and the books in his bag fell into the pond."
Yue Li laughed angrily: "Who is she? The upper study room is full of children of royal relatives, and she wants to beat them up?"
She has offended a group of classmates. Even though the eldest prince is a prince, others cannot bully him. Can't they also distance themselves from him?
"Go and find out what those children said. If they are innocent, have the nurse jump into the pond and pick up all the books herself."
"Yes, I'll go right away."
When Lian Qiao hurried to the study, the courtyard was still noisy. The teachers could not control it and did not dare to do so, as they could not afford to offend anyone.
Lian Qiao's face turned cold. After staying with Yue Li for a long time, he looked quite imposing.
She asked the palace maids to ask the children one by one what they said, but they all looked confused and said that everyone was discussing the assessment levels today and they didn't know what they said wrong.
Lian Qiao now understood. Seeing that the wet nurse still looked unconvinced, she said coldly, "The Imperial Concubine has ordered you to retrieve all these books, or you can't go back."
The wet nurse sneered, but before she could say anything, she heard a noisy sound of footsteps outside the study, and then Lian Qiao saw Ji Ming leading people in.
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