Harem Fighting Strategy 15
A month later, everything was settled, and Mu Yongsheng returned to the imperial city with his troops. The first thing he did upon meeting Xiao Junye was to voluntarily surrender his military power. Xiao Junye still allowed Mu Yongsheng to serve as Grand Marshal, but since the war was over, he took back two-thirds of the military power.
Ye Rong had recovered, and early in the morning he went with Tao Yuan and the concubines to pay their respects to the empress dowager.
The Queen Mother asked everyone to stand up and told Tao Yuan to sit down. She looked at him with a smile and said, "I'm not telling you not to come and pay your respects early in the morning. Now is the time to get some sleep. You're pregnant, so it's good for you to get some more sleep."
"I woke up early today, so of course I had to come and pay my respects to the Queen Mother. How could I be lazy every day?" Tao Yuan said with a smile.
"As long as you have this intention, it's already early in the morning, and you haven't had breakfast yet, right? Go back and have breakfast. You'll be more comfortable. I won't keep you here for breakfast." After the Queen Mother finished speaking to Tao Yuan, she said to the others, "You all should leave as well. Ye Rong will stay."
Tao Yuan stood up, bowed with the others, and walked out.
The Queen Mother called her Ye Rong, not A Rong. From this simple name, Tao Yuan guessed that Xiao Junye had already told the Queen Mother that Ye Rong's child was no longer his business.
After everyone else left, the Queen Mother immediately looked at Ye Rong with a gloomy face and didn't speak for a long time.
Ye Rong looked up in confusion, and when his eyes met the Queen Mother's, he was suddenly shocked, because the Queen Mother looked at him with cold and disgust, as if she was looking at something unclean.
Thinking back to when he had just had a miscarriage, the Queen Mother sent someone to deliver something to him, and told him to take good care of himself and that he could get pregnant again in the future, so he shouldn't be too sad.
But after that time, the Queen Mother never sent him anything again. Now she looked at him with such an expression and gaze, which seemed to indicate that she knew that the child he had aborted was Prince Yu's, not the Emperor's.
The way the Queen Mother looked at him made him feel embarrassed and nervous, as if he had been caught in bed with someone, and he wanted to escape immediately.
The Queen Mother was also disheartened and disgusted with him. She had thought he was the most suitable person to be the emperor's empress, and she favored him in every way. In the end, her love for him was worse than giving him to a dog. A dog at least knows how to be loyal to those who treat it well. Fortunately, he was not made the emperor's principal wife, otherwise, this shame would be even greater.
"I heard from the imperial physician that it will be difficult for you to recover. You should stay in Mingcui Palace to recuperate from now on. You don't need to come here to pay your respects to me, and don't walk around the palace at will." The empress dowager wanted to sentence him to death immediately, because the emperor still needed him to remind and control the Ye family, so he could live a few more years, but she didn't want to see him appear in her sight again.
Ye Rong's drugging of the Emperor was a serious crime, his affair with Prince Yu was another, and his pregnancy with Prince Yu's child, impersonating the Emperor, was an even greater crime. These combined charges were enough to have the Ye family confiscated and exterminated, but the Emperor still needed to use the Ye family, so he wouldn't touch him for now.
"Yes." Ye Rong responded in a daze. The Queen Mother was going to put him under house arrest in disguise, which meant that he would never be able to leave Mingcui Palace again.
"Step back!" the Queen Mother said coldly.
"I'll take my leave." Ye Rong bowed and walked out.
On the way back to Mingcui Palace, Ye Rong suddenly looked up at the sky. His heart was filled with pain and torment. He hadn't seen Xiao Yuyang since his miscarriage. The palace was completely under the emperor's control. He didn't know how to contact Xiao Yuyang. Not even his family came to see him. He didn't know how to survive in the future. Was he really just going to wait for death? But he refused to accept this. He really didn't want to give up.
Although the Queen Mother told him not to walk around the palace casually in the future, Ye Rong still changed his route and went to the Empress Dowager's palace.
But he couldn't even get into the palace. The eunuch guarding the gate told him that the Empress Dowager was seriously ill and the Emperor had ordered that no one was allowed to disturb her recuperation.
Even the Empress Dowager had been controlled by the Emperor, and Ye Rong felt even more desperate. This helpless feeling of not knowing what to do made him feel sad.
Ye Rong returned to Mingcui Palace in a daze. To say he had completely given up on achieving his current goal was impossible. Although many things had unfolded very differently from what he had expected, he still clung to the last glimmer of hope in his heart, unwilling to let go. He felt that after all, he had traveled through time as the protagonist, and it was impossible for him to fail so completely.
He had completely given up hope of ever gaining Xiao Junye's favor, and now he only hoped that Xiao Yuyang could hold on. Because Xiao Junye could only live for three years at most, as long as they could survive these three years, they still had a chance to seize the throne.
"Your Majesty, please enjoy your meal." The palace servant placed the food on the table.
"I'm not hungry, take it away." Ye Rong said in a daze, but when he saw the palace servant preparing to leave without saying a word, he called him back, "Wait!"
"What are your orders, Your Majesty?" the attendant turned around and asked.
"I want to see my family. Go and tell Eunuch Xu who is beside the emperor. After the court is dismissed, tell my grandfather a message." Ye Rong stood up and took out some gold leaves and silver bills. "Take these gold leaves and give this silver bill to Eunuch Xu."
The palace attendant didn't accept it. Instead, he looked at him and said, "The Queen Mother has ordered that from today onwards, no one in Mingcui Palace may leave without permission. No one may enter Mingcui Palace without the Queen Mother's permission."
"My grandfather is the prime minister. He will naturally ask His Majesty for permission." Ye Rong said.
The palace attendant pretended to hesitate, then said, "Since Prince Yu's death, I heard that Prime Minister Ye has not attended court for many days due to a serious illness. So even if the emperor wanted Eunuch Xu to pass on a message, he couldn't do it."
"What did you say?!" Ye Rong's eyes widened in shock. He looked at him in disbelief and asked, "You mean Prince Yu? What happened to Prince Yu?!"
"Prince Yu rebelled and was captured alive by Marshal Mu's eldest son. While being brought before Your Majesty, he fell upon a soldier's sword and died."
Ye Rong's eyes went dark and he felt dizzy. The last glimmer of hope in his heart was shattered. Although he had a premonition, he was still dealt a huge blow after confirming it with his own ears.
He didn't understand why things had turned out like this. He didn't even know why he had lost, and there was no chance of recovery. If this was his end, then why did God let him travel to this world? Was it just to let him suffer failure and setbacks?
Ye Rong fainted on the ground. The palace servant just glanced at him and then turned and left.
Mingcui Palace was now completely occupied by Xiao Junye's men, who constantly monitored Ye Rong's every move. Furthermore, due to the Queen Mother's order, Ye Rong could no longer leave Mingcui Palace. His future would be difficult.
……………………………………
A few months later, Tao Yuan's child was born, a boy. Xiao Junye and Queen Mother Fei were both very happy.
After Tao Yuan completed her confinement, she would take her child to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager every day.
Two months later, the Empress Dowager began to let Tao Yuan manage some of the harem affairs. Ever since she learned about Ye Rong and Prince Yu's affair, the Empress Dowager was not only extremely angry, but also had no intention of persuading Xiao Junye to favor other women more, so she just let him do whatever he wanted. Thinking of Ye Rong's affair with Prince Yu and her constant persuasion that the Emperor favored Ye Rong more, she was so angry that her chest ached.
In fact, the Queen Mother was mainly concerned about Xiao Junye's health. She felt that since he had neither the intention nor the ability to do anything for other people, she couldn't bear to force him any further.
That day, Tao Yuan got up early and took the child to pay his respects to the empress dowager.
"I am late, please forgive me, Your Majesty." Tao Yuan saluted the Queen Mother.
"It must be this little guy who has been bothering you early in the morning. Hurry up and bring him to me to see." The Queen Mother said with a smile.
The palace attendant carried the little prince to the Empress Dowager, who took him in her arms, looking at his fair and tender little face. She couldn't get enough of him. This was not only Xiao Junye's eldest son, but also his only child. This child looked exactly like Xiao Junye when he was a child, even his little movements were very similar. If the Empress Dowager didn't look at him for a day, she would feel empty and uncomfortable.
"You all leave." The Queen Mother, holding her grandson, was impatient to listen to the concubines and just wanted to send them away quickly.
"promise."
Tao Yuan, as usual, chatted with the Queen Mother for a while, then left the child behind and returned to Fenghua Palace to take care of some matters. After noon, the Queen Mother would send someone to return the child to Fenghua Palace.
Tao Yuan took over the management of the harem, but he did not want to hold power tightly in his own hands. With so many people in the harem idle, he would not be stupid enough to work hard alone. So he asked Concubine Shu, Concubine Xian, and Ning Guijun to help him manage the harem. If there was any problem in the area under their management, he would directly blame them.
The Empress Dowager was very pleased to see that Tao Yuan had managed the harem in an orderly manner from the very beginning, and that he was not greedy for power and had good governance. She thought that when she was older, she could safely hand over the entire harem to him and she could retire in peace. Now she could also help him suppress those cunning and mischievous women, so he could relax and help the Emperor have more children.
After taking a bath at night, Tao Yuan half leaned on the bed and played with his son. The little guy slept most of the time. If he was not teased before he fell asleep, he would wake up and cry in the middle of the night.
But as he was teasing her, Tao Yuan slowly fell asleep. He didn't know how long he slept, but he suddenly felt a little itchy on his face. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Xiao Junye kissing him.
"Your Majesty..." Tao Yuan looked at him sleepily.
"Awake?" Xiao Junye stroked his face and kissed the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah." Tao Yuan thought, how can I not wake up if you do this to me?
Xiao Junye stood up, lowered the curtains, then took off his clothes and got into bed.
Tao Yuan looked at him, cooperated with his actions, and let him take off his clothes.
Tao Yuan suddenly remembered that the child was still beside him, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Xu'er is still alive. Let the palace servant come in and take him away first."
"Let's talk about it later. Let him sleep here first." Xiao Junye's intention was already on the verge of collapse. It was impossible to stop it just by saying so.
"Then Your Majesty, please be gentle and don't wake Xu'er, otherwise he will cry again." Tao Yuan wrapped his legs around his waist and clung to his shoulders and said.
Xiao Junye didn't answer him, but just kissed him hard. He hugged Tao Yuan tightly and moved vigorously, not caring about their child who was sleeping beside him.
Tao Yuan was still somewhat rational and tried not to make any sound. He could only be thankful that the child was still young and would have no memory at all even if he woke up.
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