Chapter 233: Vicious Female Supporting Character vs. Childless Emperor 77
The empress dowager put down the silver spoon and gently pressed the incense powder with the incense spatula. Nanny Jiang beside her held her breath and dared not speak anymore.
The empress dowager lifted up the incense seal, and an auspicious cloud-shaped incense seal took shape. She smiled with satisfaction, took the burning incense stick from Nanny Jiang's hand, and lit the incense seal.
The rich fragrance filled the entire room. The Queen Mother took a deep breath and sighed, "Ambergris is the fragrance of the royal family. Only the royal family can wear it. I like this fragrance."
"The Emperor suddenly appointed a queen without leaking any information beforehand, and the Jiang family panicked. When people panic, they will do stupid things! They thought of going against His Majesty at the morning court. What good can they get except to disgust His Majesty?"
"The emperor supports the Ji family just to oppose our Jiang family. He doesn't want to make the Jiang family's daughter the queen. What a pity! The Ji family is a new noble family. How can they compare with the Jiang family's century-old heritage? The family tradition is upright and the women they raise are all excellent. Unlike the Ji family's daughter, it's simply a joke!"
Nanny Jiang had followed the Empress Dowager for many years and immediately understood what she meant.
"Now the whole capital is watching the queen. They say that if one's virtue is not worthy of the position, there will be disaster. If this woman doesn't live up to her expectations, she will bring trouble to her father and brother."
"In the past, the daughter of the Ji family followed Long Haochang around. She was shameless, arrogant and vicious. She offended all the women in the capital. Now she has hurt Your Majesty. She has bad behavior and is unfit to be the queen. I feel like I can't finish talking about all her shortcomings in three days and three nights."
The Queen Mother nodded in satisfaction. "That's great. Do it covertly so that no one can find out. The position of Queen is not so easy to sit on. Once the Queen's scandal spreads throughout the capital, the Emperor won't be able to protect her!"
"Ji Yunhuan is nothing to worry about. Instead, she has helped us a lot. The emperor has been ill and has not favored his concubines for many years. But he favored Ji Yunhuan last night, which is a good thing. Send the news back and ask the Jiang family to prepare to send their daughter to the palace."
"After all, adopted children are no match for our own children. The most important thing right now is to let the Jiang family girl give birth to a prince."
————
At noon, Ji Yunhuan met all the concubines in the harem in Yunhe Palace.
Long Lin could indeed be described as "clean and self-disciplined". As an emperor, the people in the harem did not even fill up a small hall.
Ji Yunhuan didn't intend to make things difficult for these people, so even the lowest-ranking acceptor was given a seat.
She was in charge of the emperor's private treasury, and she had no shortage of gold, silver, and silk, so she generously gave away many things as rewards.
The concubines looked at the dazzling array of rewards, some of them did not dare to reach out to take them, and all stared eagerly at Concubine De in front of them.
Concubine De was born gentle and pretty. Before Ji Yunhuan entered the palace, she was the head of the concubines and her appearance was also outstanding among the concubines.
She was dressed simply, using old-year fabrics, and had no other ornaments except a gold hairpin on her head to show her status.
In contrast, Ji Yunhuan was dressed in a flamboyant and gorgeous red dress, with a phoenix hairpin on her head, jewels all over her body, and a string of red agate on her hand, looking extremely luxurious.
But all the gorgeous clothes and beautiful ornaments could not hide her bright and charming face. They could only highlight the Queen's overall elegance, making people dare not be presumptuous.
Concubine De stepped forward and bowed properly. Her every move seemed to have been measured with a ruler, without any error.
"The Queen summoned the concubines for the first time and gave them such a generous reward. Logically, I should not refuse."
"But now the national treasury is not well-off. Your Majesty is diligent in government and loves the people, and is unwilling to collect more taxes. The people in the harem sympathize with your Majesty's efforts and live a simple life. Your Majesty's actions are too extravagant. Your Majesty is the master of the harem and the mother of the country. You should set a good example."
Qiao Yue was standing next to Ji Yunhuan and was unhappy when she heard this. What did Concubine De mean? She scolded the young lady for being extravagant as soon as they met. Is she crazy?
She leaned over to the young lady's ear and lowered her voice and said, "Young lady, do you want me to chase her out? Give her a warning and see if she dares to talk nonsense again in the future!"
Ji Yun laughed. Qiao Yue was indeed her most loyal lackey. She did all the bad things herself and was very good at helping her solve problems.
However, the palace is different from the outside world after all. It doesn't matter if she is a little arrogant. Qiao Yue is a palace maid and she cannot take the initiative to bully concubines.
Ji Yunhuan signaled Qiao Yue to stop messing around. She let Concubine De kneel on the ground, picked up a cup of fragrant tea and took a sip, then said slowly:
"I heard that De Fei has been in charge of the harem for many years, and she is very good at rules. She knows the palace rules by heart. I am new here, so naturally I don't know the palace rules as well as De Fei. Why don't you tell me when the palace concubine can teach the queen? It's really rare."
Ji Yunhuan had a smile on his face and his tone was gentle, as if he was really seeking advice with an open mind.
When Concubine De was stared at by the Queen, she broke out in a cold sweat on her back. She couldn't help but feel frightened that the Queen, who was so young, had such power.
In time, there will be no place for her in this harem.
Today is the critical day. If she cannot suppress the queen's momentum, she will lose!
Concubine De straightened her back and said loudly, "Your Majesty, you are joking. I dare not. I am also kind-hearted and am thinking about your reputation. If your Majesty does not be careful with her words and actions and restrain herself, the rumors from the outside world may be even worse."
"Now that I have added the sin of extravagance, it will be even harder to wash away."
Ji Yunhuan fiddled with the red agate in her hand, calm and composed, and said unhurriedly: "Rumors stop at the wise, it seems that Concubine De is not a smart person. I am too lazy to teach you, since you don't want it, your reward can be distributed to other concubines."
"Your Majesty has a private treasury, and I have a dowry. No matter how much we spend, it has nothing to do with the national treasury, so Concubine De doesn't need to worry about it. I am the queen, so I must have the dignity and respect of the queen. The same goes for the concubines in the harem. Don't be so dull all day long. I am unhappy to see you."
Below Concubine De is Concubine Lan, and the rest are some concubines and maids. There is not even a noble lady. These people are of humble origins and have ordinary looks. They were all selected by Concubine De to enter the palace to make up the numbers. They are basically just background members.
Concubine Lan had kept her head down, but now she had to stand up and lead everyone to accept the reward from the Queen Mother.
"I would like to thank the Queen for her kindness. May Her Majesty live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!"
The other concubines also knelt down, with delighted looks on their faces, and sincerely thanked the Queen.
Although they had no worries about food and drink in the palace, they did not live a good life. They suffered from cold winters and hot summers, and they could not even wear new clothes every year.
Your Majesty does not care about their life or death, it is all taken care of by Concubine De. Now that the Queen is here, Her Majesty is generous and considerate, it is their blessing!
There is no woman who doesn't like beautiful jewelry. Ji Yunhuan asked them to dress up immediately. She liked the people around her to dress up beautifully. It was like this in Linlangyuan before, and it was still the same after entering the palace.
All the concubines were very happy, except Concubine Lan, who kept her head down, refusing to put on makeup or change into bright clothes.
Ji Yunhuan noticed something was wrong, so she called Lanpin over and said loudly, "Look up, let me see you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
