misfortune
Soon it was the first year of Yongping.
The change of the reign title allowed Emperor Yongping to first pay tribute to the late emperor in front of his ministers, and then take advantage of the auspicious day of the New Year to confer titles on the six palaces for the second time.
Concubine An and Concubine Jing were promoted to Concubine An and Concubine Jing, and moved to the main halls of Changchun Palace and Yiku Palace respectively; Concubine Bai was given the title "Qi" and was called Concubine Qi; Concubine Rou was promoted to Concubine Rou.
The most surprising thing was that during the New Year, Concubine Yang came out of Jingyang Palace to pay her respects to Empress Li. Emperor Yongping gave her the title of "Jing", admonishing her to be cautious in her words and actions.
Of course, Emperor Yongping wasn't about to favor Concubine Jin again. That day, everyone saw Concubine Jin's emaciated form, seemingly about to collapse at the slightest breeze, and they couldn't help but sigh. Although Concubine Jin hadn't been in good health before, she had never been in such a state of disrepair. She probably didn't have much time left.
Sure enough, within two months of the Lunar New Year, news arrived from Jingyang Palace that Concubine Jin was seriously ill and bedridden. A few days later, the death knell rang, and Concubine Jin passed away.
Before Concubine Jin's death, Emperor Yongping had visited Jingyang Palace. That was his first time there. More than a decade of house arrest was enough to make Concubine Jin lose all her spirit, and seeing Emperor Yongping didn't stir any waves in her heart.
"Last year, the Yang family came to visit me, hoping that I would seek more benefits for them." Looking at Emperor Yongping's calm face, Concubine Jin smiled bitterly, "Of course, you know everything, but I didn't respond. I'm not smart enough, but I understand that after you ascended the throne, you didn't support your mother's family in order to suppress your relatives outside the family. The Yang family will never be a powerful force again."
"In the past, I was possessed by a ghost and almost harmed Ping An. But when I saw her grow up that day in Kunning Palace, I no longer had any regrets. It's a pity that I didn't live to see Ping An get married."
Seeing her mention the fifth princess Ping'an, Emperor Yongping frowned and said, "Ping'an is the empress's legitimate daughter and has nothing to do with you."
Concubine Jin was stunned for a moment, and the smile on her face became even more bitter: "Yes, it was I who spoke nonsense."
With such strict defense, Ping An would probably never know who her biological mother was. But that was fine. After all, it was shameful. She deserved what she had ended up like this.
Concubine Jin closed her eyes forever with tears in her eyes.
After all, she was a concubine. Although she was treated as a concubine during her lifetime, Emperor Yongping still ordered that the funeral of Concubine Jin be held according to the rules of a concubine. Women from other official positions were allowed to enter the palace to pay their respects, and the princes and princesses were required to mourn for three days.
The palace pretended to wear plain clothes and eat vegetarian food for a few days and then things returned to normal.
The death of Concubine Jin, who had been out of favor for a long time, did not cause much waves in the harem. It was not as noticeable as Concubine Yi's miscarriage and premature birth.
Some time ago, the Princess of Gong gave birth to the eldest grandson of Emperor Yongping. As the grandmother of the eldest grandson, Concubine Yi was very popular in the harem. Now that the premature birth had happened, the concubines in the harem were more interested in watching the show than being anxious.
After a whole night of chaos in Yongshou Palace, Concubine Yi barely gave birth to a thin baby girl.
This was the seventh princess. Most people's interest in watching the show faded. Princesses always had to marry. Fortunately, Concubine Yi didn't give birth to another prince.
However, Emperor Yongping couldn't resist his fondness for the Seventh Princess. In his early years, he was jokingly called a father-in-law, but he hadn't had another daughter since Yuxi. Now that Yuxi was almost reaching marriage, he was overjoyed to have another little girl. Although the Seventh Princess was somewhat frail, having been born before full term, she was healthier than Ping'an at the time and was easier to raise. Emperor Yongping often visited the Seventh Princess at Yongshou Palace.
When the seventh princess was one month old, Emperor Yongping named his youngest daughter Yujun.
Soon after Yujun's full moon, it was the wedding day of Prince Yong and Princess Shuhui.
He Yun and Yu Lang were born in the same year. He Yun was the perfect age for marriage, but Yu Lang was only seventeen, having married earlier than her two sisters. However, as the daughter of a favored concubine, and the first of her sisters to marry as a princess, Yu Lang suffered no material hardship. She lived a life of luxury, her dowry filling the entire capital.
Even when she returned home on the third day and came to the palace to pay her respects, she was still very happy, and there was no sign of the crying on her face like on her wedding day.
Isn't she happy? It's hard for an unmarried girl to go out. Now Yulang is the head of the princess's house, and her husband likes to play around when he has free time. It's much more comfortable than in the palace.
Concubine Ke looked at her daughter and felt that she had been worrying in vain all these days.
The older brothers and sisters had all gotten married, leaving only four princes and four princesses in the palace. The four princes were still young, and except for the newly born Yujun, the other three princesses were only a year or two away from coming of age, and had also begun to look for suitable husbands.
Even after the two children's wedding, the harem was still bustling.
Because there is a new person in the palace.
The selections for the imperial concubines had not resumed last year or this year. Although the three-year mourning period was no longer required, the selections were still suspended. Those entering the palace this time were all sent by large families to consolidate their status.
The highest-ranking concubine initially received the title of Rongpin Wang. This Wang clan was a prominent Qinghe clan, on par with the Wan clan, the clan behind Concubine Yi. Over the years, the Wang clan had produced numerous talented individuals, many of whom held official positions, and their retainers and advisors were formidable. Therefore, with the support of their family, Wang was immediately granted the title of Rongpin, a lower rank, and placed in Jingren Palace, equal to the other four senior concubines. Rongpin was also beautiful, and immediately gained considerable favor, much like Concubine Ke's former status in the imperial residence.
Now, with the addition of Ding Jia and An Jing, there are now five of the six concubines in the harem. These main concubines are all one-size-fits-all, and once they are given a title, there are no more. It doesn't make sense to skip the rank and directly promote them to concubines. The promotion path for the lower-ranking concubines will be difficult in the future.
Next up were Consort Le Jin and Consort Wan Xu. Both came from well-connected families and had the potential to become imperial concubines.
However, among the established noble ladies, there were also Noble Lady Qi and Noble Lady Xiu. One of them had given birth to a prince, and the other was extremely favored, so they were unwilling to be outshined by the newcomer. With only one position remaining for the imperial concubine, these four were currently fighting fiercely.
On this day, Concubine Xiu used some tricks to successfully intercept Concubine Rong and invited Emperor Yongping to Yonghe Palace. She prepared clothes and boiled hot water, and it was obvious that she wanted the emperor to stay overnight.
This certainly could not be hidden from Li Qingping who was in the main hall.
"How many times has this happened this month?" Emperor Yongping was in the side hall, so Li Qingping didn't dare to be too obvious. He asked Yunsu quietly when he was getting ready for bed.
Now that Concubine Yi has shifted her focus to the Seventh Princess, Yujun, Concubine Ke has lost her enthusiasm for vying for favor. The two who usually bestowed the most favors have both stopped, so the most favored in the palace now are, besides the fresh and fresh Concubine Rong, the charming and gorgeous Concubine Xiu. Concubine Xiu is, after all, a veteran favorite who has been with Concubine Rong since her time in the Imperial Residence, and she's not afraid of Concubine Rong. The two have been competing openly and covertly for quite some time, trying to steal each other's favor.
Yun Su smiled secretly and made a "three" gesture.
Li Qingping: Wow.
Even the fights between Concubine Ke and Concubine Yi were not that intense. It seemed that she had indeed lost the energy of a young girl as she got older.
"Forget it, turn off the lights quickly. I have to go to bed too." Li Qingping ordered.
There was no reason for her to continue caring about what was going on in the side hall. If she didn't sleep now and waited for Emperor Yongping to finish and call for water, there would be another round of noise.
Just as he lay down, he heard the sound of teacups smashing in the side hall, followed by the sound of someone kneeling and crying and confessing their sins. But he couldn't hear it clearly.
Li Qingping sat up and gathered her hair to her chest. Yun Su, who was keeping watch, lit a candle. The master and servant looked at each other in surprise: How did Concubine Xiu anger Emperor Yongping?
It would not be a good thing for Li Qingping if Emperor Yongping walked out of Yonghe Palace angrily in the middle of the night.
"Come and help me change my clothes. There's no need to be so troublesome with my hair, just tie it up casually." Li Qingping hurriedly got down from the couch. As the mistress of Yonghe Palace, it would be better for her to go over and take a look.
But before Li Qingping could finish cleaning up, Emperor Yongping came in from behind the screen with a dark face.
At that time, Li Qingping was changing out of her nightgown, completely naked. She blushed with fear and quickly grabbed an outer garment to cover herself. Before she could even salute, Emperor Yongping helped her up and dismissed all the palace servants. He then relaxed his expression and said with a smile:
"Did this scare you? It's not like you haven't seen it before, so why are you still shy?"
Li Qingping noticed that Emperor Yongping's breathing was a little disordered and his body was hotter than usual, but before he had time to think about it, the man threw his coat on him, pinched his waist and pushed him onto the bed.
Isn't this the wrong development?
Amidst the turbulent ups and downs, Li Qingping clung to Emperor Yongping's shoulders in a daze, seemingly about to collapse into a puddle of water. Furthermore, he was extremely tired and had been doing this for a very long time.
When Li Qingping woke up drowsily the next morning, she was surprised to find that Emperor Yongping was still lying beside her.
After a night of confusion, she finally remembered that today was a day off and she didn't have to attend the morning court. But it was quite unusual for Emperor Yongping to still be in bed at this hour. Could it be that he had stayed up too late last night?
I'm afraid both He Chang and I have already woken up.
Emperor Yongping woke up as soon as Li Qingping moved. He supported himself with his arms and sat up, and asked the palace servants to come in and help him wash up.
Li Qingping was naturally happy not to have to serve the emperor.
Yunsu and Yunzao came in with a bunch of things to help Li Qingping dress and wash. Emperor Yongping finished first and left the inner room. Yunsu then whispered to Li Qingping, "Noble Lady Xiu has been kneeling outside since last night."
"If you make a mistake, you should kneel down. We can't do anything about it. The emperor is here, so you have to do what he wants." Li Qingping frowned and said.
After Li Qingping finished cleaning up and came out to sit at the dining table, Emperor Yongping ordered breakfast to be served.
But after breakfast, Emperor Yongping did not mention the matter of Concubine Xiu. Instead, Li Qingping felt a little sore in the waist because of sitting.
The man was kneeling outside his bedroom. Li Qingping still mentioned it, "Your Majesty, Concubine Xiu is still kneeling outside. What do you think we should do?" If he was not afraid of Emperor Yongping's anger, Li Qingping really wanted to know what mistake Concubine Xiu had made last night.
Emperor Yongping answered irrelevantly: "Thank you for your hard work last night. I remember I had a set of ruby head ornaments some time ago. I will ask Liang Pei'an to send them to you later."
Until Emperor Yongping left Yonghe Palace, he still did not say what to do with Concubine Xiu.
But it was clearly Concubine Xiu who slept with the emperor that day, so how could it be that Li Qingping received the reward? Li Qingping was not the type to intercept, so Concubine Xiu must have made a mistake. Emperor Yongping saw that the palace gates were locked and so he took his turn to sleep with Li Qingping.
When paying respects, Rongpin asked Li Qingping as if she was enjoying the show: "Sister Dingpin, why didn't Xiu Guiren come today?"
Li Qingping just smiled, but he actually didn't know how to answer.
Until Emperor Yongping's oral instructions reached Yonghe Palace.
"Little Liu offended the emperor and was demoted to Consort Liu, and confined to reflect on her mistakes for three months." Yun Su whispered in Li Qingping's ear, "I heard they added some aphrodisiacs to the spices."
Li Qingping: "..."
No wonder that night was so difficult.
"The Emperor is in his prime, so why would he need medicine? No wonder he's so angry. But where did the medicine come from? It's a forbidden drug in the palace."
Yun Su shook her head and said, "I don't know about that."
"That's strange. She's enjoying so much favor now, why does she still need to resort to such unseemly tactics?" Li Qingping narrowed his eyes. "Liu Cairen isn't usually that stupid."
"Master, do you mean that someone deliberately set a trap for Lady Liu?" Yun Su's expression was stern.
Li Qingping blew gently on the tea and said, "Spices like these are usually collected by the personal maids. If Liu didn't administer the drugs herself, then someone must have tampered with the spices."
Is it Rongpin? The two of them have always had friction, so it's hard to say, but Rongpin may not be that stupid.
"Have someone keep an eye on the back room and try to get the remaining spices." Li Qingping felt something was wrong: "Remember not to attract too much attention."
After being demoted, Liu Cairen moved from the side hall to the small room. After all, with her current status, she couldn't live in the side hall anymore.
Yun Su accepted respectfully.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
