Emperor Wende was flipping through the list of newly-appointed Jinshi.
"Thirty-one students from Shanhe Academy made the list. Have you checked their exam papers?"
"Your Majesty, everything has been reviewed several times and there are absolutely no issues."
Emperor Wende hummed, "It seems that the teacher at Shanhe Academy is quite good at teaching."
As soon as he finished speaking, Emperor Wende suddenly laughed.
Then he said, "There are thirty-one people from Shanhe Academy on the list, twenty of whom come from humble backgrounds. Even Yang Ji, the third-place finisher, comes from an ordinary family. Not bad, not bad. Shanhe Academy has indeed created a path for ordinary students to advance, and it has lived up to my high hopes for it."
Chang En beamed, "Congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty. The court has gained hundreds more talented people and beautiful women."
Emperor Wende smiled and said, "This is indeed worth celebrating."
Emperor Wende celebrated by favoring the new beauties in the palace.
A new group of faces have been added to the harem.
Men love novelty, and the emperor is the best among them.
When new faces are favored, old faces naturally lose favor.
It’s better for those who have children, at least they have someone to rely on.
Concubines in the harem who have no children are in a more miserable situation.
Without the emperor's favor, her appearance is getting older day by day, and there is almost no hope of turning things around in the future.
…
Madam Xiao came to the harem to meet Xiao Zhaoyi and told her about the situation of the Xiao family.
Xiao Zhaoyi listened patiently and suddenly asked about Xiao Qin'er.
"I haven't seen my sister for a while. I don't know if she's doing well. Has mother seen her recently?"
Madam Xiao nodded. "I've met her twice. She just bought a new house and hired the Ministry of Works to renovate and decorate it. She's been preparing for the move every day. I told her that if she moves out of the palace, she must arrange for her own people to take care of all the important areas. She can't let His Highness' concubines take control of the palace."
I had originally arranged several suitable men for her, but she refused to accept them. She said she would go to the Shaofu and choose the right one herself. I think she looked down on the servants of the Xiao family.
Xiao Zhaoyi raised her eyebrows and smiled, "I'm afraid not only does he look down on the Xiao family's servants, but he's also wary of the Xiao family members."
"Being on guard against the Xiao family?" Madam Xiao frowned. "That's impossible! Qin'er is homesick and often takes her children back to her parents' home for a few days. How could she be on guard against her family? You must have misunderstood."
Xiao Zhaoyi smiled. "If Sister wasn't wary of her family, why wouldn't she accept the servants Mother prepared for her? Of course, it's also possible that I'm overthinking it and wrongly accusing Sister."
Madam Xiao frowned, feeling a bit worried. She didn't know whether to trust her own judgment or what Xiao Zhaoyi said.
Xiao Zhaoyi sighed, "I won't hide it from Mother. My sister and I haven't spoken since our last argument. Every time she comes to the palace, she only goes to Weiyang Palace and never comes to my place. If I want to see her, I have to go to Weiyang Palace. My sister has a huge grudge against me. It's no surprise that she resents me even if it extends to my family."
Madam Xiao was unwilling to believe what Xiao Zhaoyi said and hurriedly explained on Xiao Qin'er's behalf, "Don't overthink it. I know Qin'er. How could she possibly resent her parents' family? There must be some misunderstanding here."
Xiao Zhaoyi looked worried. "I hope I misunderstood my sister. She's really busy, and not deliberately avoiding me."
Madam Xiao turned to comfort Xiao Zhaoyi, "When I see her, I will have a good talk with her. You are sisters, you should support each other."
Xiao Zhaoyi smiled broadly, "Thank you, mother. I hope you can clear up the misunderstanding between me and my sister."
Mrs. Xiao was worried.
She asked, "How do the Ninth Prince and Zheng Ge'er get along?"
Xiao Zhaoyi gave a bitter laugh, "I dare not lie to my mother. It's not good."
"How could this be?" Mrs. Xiao was anxious.
Xiao Zhaoyi sighed, "I don't know why the two children can't get along. Liu Zheng and the eldest prince's Liu Yu get along very well."
When Mrs. Xiao heard this, her brows furrowed.
Xiao Zhaoyi turned around and advised her not to worry.
How could Madam Xiao not be worried?
Xiao Qin'er and Xiao Zhaoyi had a conflict, and as a result, their children couldn't get along well.
Mrs. Xiao was almost worried to death.
After leaving the palace, he thought for a while and then went to the prince's palace.
"Is Madam Yi here?"
"The fourth lady went out early in the morning and should be at the new house now."
Madam Xiao instructed the driver to take the route to the new house that Xiao Qin'er had bought, which was three blocks away from the palace.
The huge mansion was undergoing renovation and was in a mess.
Xiao Qin'er was not disgusted, but was very excited.
She would come over to take a look every few days.
Every time I come here, I find new changes.
It was spring, and Xiao Qin'er ordered her servants to decorate the garden and plant flowers and plants.
By next year, the garden will be full of flowers.
At that time, a flower viewing banquet will be held in the mansion, and all relatives and friends will be invited.
Whenever she thought of that scene, as the only hostess, greeting the guests, she felt happy.
The servant reported that Madam Xiao had arrived.
"Why is my mother here? Please ask her to come in and I'll show her around."
Mrs. Xiao was led into the messy garden and was in a bad mood.
"There are servants watching here, why are you running here?"
Xiao Qin'er said with a smile: "I have nothing to do anyway, so I came to take a look."
Madam Xiao sighed.
She pulled Xiao Qin'er to a secluded place.
"I went to the palace to visit Empress Zhaoyi today. She told me that she missed you very much. When can you come to the palace to see her?"
Xiao Qin'er sneered, "Mother, there's no need to sugarcoat things for her. Did she complain to you, saying that I was deliberately avoiding her?"
"Then are you deliberately avoiding her?" Mrs. Xiao's question was direct and caught everyone off guard.
Xiao Qin'er's eyes seemed vague for a moment.
Soon, she calmed down again.
"I don't want to see her face."
"You are sisters." Mrs. Xiao was almost worried to death.
Xiao Qin'er raised her eyebrows. "So what? I didn't provoke her, so she'd better not think about me."
"Let me tell you what you are talking about." Mrs. Xiao sighed.
"Mother, what do you think of my garden?"
Mrs. Xiao had no time to care about the garden.
She asked, "I heard that Zheng'er and the Ninth Prince are not on good terms, but are on good terms with Liu Yu. Have you found a way to control Zheng'er?"
"Why do you care about Zheng Ge'er? I think he's a good guy and has done nothing wrong."
"He and the Ninth Prince..."
"He is him, and the Ninth Prince is the Ninth Prince. Mother, one of them is a prince, and the other is the grandson of the emperor. It's better for them not to interact too much."
Madam Xiao frowned nervously, and could hardly believe her ears.
"Empress Zhaoyi said you had a prejudice against her, but I didn't believe it. Now it seems she didn't wrongly accuse you."
Xiao Qin'er laughed sarcastically, "Mother, if you don't mention Empress Zhaoyi, I can still entertain you well. But if you mention Empress Zhaoyi, I'm sorry I won't accompany you."
"Why are you sisters making such a fuss? Even the children are affected."
Mrs. Xiao was driven away by Xiao Qin'er.
When she returned home, she whispered with her husband, Lord Xiao.
After hearing what happened, Lord Xiao was silent for a long time.
Finally, he said, "This is fine. A prince and a grandson of the emperor really shouldn't interact too closely. Each of them has their own standpoint, which may not be a bad thing."
"How can you say that, Master? They are sisters."
"So what if they're sisters? You haven't been in touch with your sisters for many years."
Madam Xiao was speechless and was blocked from speaking.
Lord Xiao added, "Empress Zhaoyi has her own ideas, and Qin'er has her own. Let them do whatever they want. They know their limits!"
Sense of proportion?
hehe!
These two sisters have no sense of propriety at all, okay?
…
Xiao Qin'er's face was gloomy and she had no intention of continuing to tend the garden.
She returned to the palace and called Liu Zheng over.
"Are you and the Ninth Prince still attending classes together?"
"Yes! Why did mother suddenly ask this?"
"Where's Liu Yu? Is he with you?"
Liu Zheng shook his head. "The teacher said that Brother Yu is a very advanced student and it would be too much of a waste for him to attend classes with us. So he was given a separate class."
Xiao Qin'er frowned slightly, "Why are you still taking classes with the Ninth Prince, but Brother Yu can ask the teacher to open a separate class?"
Liu Zheng suddenly felt guilty, "Son, I remembered that I still have homework to do, I'll go now..."
While pointing outside the door, he retreated towards it, ready to run away at any time.
Xiao Qin'er chuckled twice, "Stop! Do you think I'm letting you leave?"
Liu Zheng wanted to cry.
But he is already a man and cannot cry.
I can only hold back my tears.
Xiao Qin'er took a deep breath and spoke in a gentler tone, "Stay away from the Ninth Prince from now on."
Liu Zheng nodded repeatedly, "Mother doesn't need to tell me, my son will stay away from him."
Xiao Qin'er added, "Stay away from Brother Yu."
"Why?" Liu Zheng was dissatisfied.
Xiao Qin'er said with a straight face, "Why else? You are just cousins, not blood brothers. Even blood brothers have to settle accounts, let alone cousins."
"Brother Yu is different."
"There's no difference. He's good at studying, and you're not. Don't you feel inferior when you're with him?"
This is so heartbreaking!
Liu Zheng looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears.
Xiao Qin'er sighed, "I'm not telling you to stay away from Yu Ge'er immediately, but I'm just saying don't go out and play with him all the time. You need to learn more skills. Didn't you say you wanted to protect your sister? If you don't learn more skills, how can you protect your sister?"
Liu Zheng retorted: "My sister is the emperor's granddaughter, no one dares to bully her."
"Others wouldn't dare bully the emperor's granddaughter, but what if the emperor's granddaughter bullies the emperor's granddaughter? What if the emperor's daughter bullies the emperor's granddaughter? Can you just watch your sister get bullied?"
Liu Zheng shook his head like a rattle.
"My sister is being bullied by another imperial granddaughter. How are you going to help her?"
This question stumped Liu Zheng.
Xiao Qin'er said earnestly, "So you have to learn more skills. Once you learn these skills, you will be able to protect your sister. Protecting your sister requires more than just words; you have to take action."
Liu Zheng asked with tears in his eyes, "Can't my son play with Yu Ge'er anymore?"
Xiao Qin'er patted the child's head. "You can play with him, but don't let him interfere with your work. As far as I know, Brother Yu has never neglected his studies when he asked you to play. Can you do that? If you promise not to neglect your studies, mother will allow you to continue playing with him."
"Son, I promise not to neglect my studies." Liu Zheng made a vow, with a smile in his eyes again.
"Okay! But I will supervise you. If you can't do it, then you can't play with Yu Ge'er."
"Son will definitely do it."
For his sister and for Yu Ge'er, he can definitely do it.
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