Seeing Qin Yanning in a daze, Songxue knew what she was thinking. She walked forward and opened a wooden box, which contained a set of head ornaments.
"Your Majesty didn't know what the beauty liked, so Eunuch Wang picked out a lot from the storeroom and sent it over, saying that the beauty could choose for herself. If she didn't like it, she could just send someone back."
Qin Yanning sat on the couch, and Songyue and Songxue opened the boxes one by one, took out the jewelry and head ornaments inside and placed them in front of her for her to choose.
Qin Yanning thought to herself, could she say that she liked them all? She was really curious now, was Helian Jue like this to all the concubines, or just to her?
If he only treated her like this, wouldn't he be making himself hated?
Although she wanted to take them all, Qin Yanning certainly wouldn't actually do it. She chose four simpler sets and had the rest sent back.
She was still in a low position, so being too conspicuous was not a good thing. Qin Yanning hadn't forgotten that she was still pregnant with two children. Although she had the amulet, she still didn't want to be the tree that attracted the wind.
Eunuch Wang said that Helian Jue would come to have dinner in the evening, and although the imperial kitchen would serve the dishes, in order to show his devotion to Helian Jue, Qin Yanning decided to prepare some snacks.
She didn't want to admit that she was the one who wanted to eat hot pot.
The Dagan Dynasty originally had the habit of eating in hanging pots, but it was generally used to warm stews and was not considered elegant, so these tableware were rarely used in the palace.
But Qin Yanning asked for it, and the small kitchen was found.
Qin Yanning instructed the small kitchen on how to make the soup base, and asked them to prepare some beef, mutton and fresh vegetables, and then left him alone.
At lunch, Qin Yanning only served two simple side dishes. Perhaps it was because she was pregnant, but her appetite had been in waves recently.
However, she also knew that this was just her own psychological effect, and that pregnancy reactions would not appear until one and a half months later.
After such a period of time, Qin Yanning had already figured out the personnel composition of Tingyuxuan. In addition to Songyue and Songxue, she also had two palace maids who cleaned the house, two eunuchs who did miscellaneous tasks, and three palace maids in the small kitchen.
These seven people were all under the control of Songyue Songxue. Qin Yanning only met them briefly and did not pay much attention to them.
As for why Tingyuxuan is called this name, it is because there is a small pond behind the room where Qin Yanning lives. Every summer, the rain hitting the lotus leaves is the most elegant sight.
After listening to Songyue's explanation, Qin Yanning liked this courtyard even more.
Qin Yanning was living a peaceful life, but Helian Jue had a big tantrum in the court.
There was no other reason. The group of ministers began to persuade him to adopt the youngest son of King Liang. The old Minister of Rites even threatened to commit suicide, saying that if he did not appoint a crown prince, he would hit his head against the pillar and go to see the late emperor.
Helian Jue thought to himself, he is only 34 years old now, in the prime of his life. Are these ministers so anxious to appoint him as the crown prince because they think he will die early? Or is it that Prince Liang can't wait any longer?
Thinking of this, Helian Jue became more and more angry. If he had not been concerned about not disappointing all the old ministers, he would have really wanted to sentence the old bastard, the Minister of Rites, to death with a white silk cloth.
Prime Minister Wan, who was standing next to the Minister of Rites, was not a good guy either. He thought he didn't know that he was the one who was most excited about the matter of enthroning the youngest son of Prince Liang.
The late emperor, the late emperor, these old guys keep talking about the late emperor.
The late emperor would have been a good emperor if he had eleven sons. But if he had no sons, even if he had governed the country peacefully and made it a land of peace and prosperity, with neighboring states fearing and respecting him, he would still be an unqualified emperor.
Looking at the Minister of Rites kneeling and kowtowing in the hall, Helian Jue could no longer control his anger and threw the memorial in his hand at him.
"I see that you are old and confused, so I will allow you to retire and return home to enjoy a few years of leisure."
The Minister of Rites was also panicked when he heard Helian Jue say this, but the emperor had spoken and he had no right to comment, so he had to kneel down to accept the order and express his gratitude.
Seeing that Helian Jue was really angry, the other ministers did not dare to persuade him anymore. They all knelt on the ground and dared not say a word.
Helian Jue snorted coldly and continued, "My dear ministers, do you have anything else to say? If not, please leave."
The ministers looked at each other, and no one dared to say anything.
The eunuch who was in attendance was good at observing people's expressions and when he saw that no one spoke again, he loudly announced the end of the court session.
Helian Jue flicked his sleeves and left the court. As soon as he arrived at the Yangxin Palace in his sedan chair and sat down, he saw Eunuch Wang who had returned from Tingyuxuan to report.
Thinking of Qin Yanning, Helian Jue's mood improved a bit. He asked, "How is Lady Ning?"
Eunuch Wang quickly bowed and said, "Lady Ning is doing well. She also said she really likes the swing in Tingyuxuan."
Speaking of the swing, Helian Jue couldn't help but smile. He had specially asked Eunuch Wang to have someone make the swing.
The harem hadn't held a beauty pageant for years, and Qin Yanning was now the youngest concubine in the harem. Young girls generally liked swings, and Helian Jue remembered that when the late emperor was alive, his sisters had loved playing on them.
Helian Jue, who was furious just now, softened his temper a lot when he heard about Qin Yanning.
Eunuch Wang thought to himself that his master's treatment of Lady Ning was indeed special.
Helian Jue grew up under the care of Eunuch Wang, and Eunuch Wang didn't want to see him getting upset and angry about things happening in the court.
Eunuch Wang wanted to amuse Helian Jue, so he deliberately said, "Your Majesty, an interesting thing happened when I went to Concubine Ning's house today."
Since it was about Qin Yanning, Helian Jue also became interested.
"What's interesting?"
Eunuch Wang narrated what had happened at the Qin family that morning. When Helian Jue heard Xu Cui say that they wanted to choose a smaller and more dilapidated house and when he heard Mrs. Qin say that they were strong and did not need servants, he could not help laughing.
Helian Jue commented: "Her parents and family are all kind-hearted. Since they like farming, I will reward them with another hundred acres of fertile land so that they can be self-sufficient."
Eunuch Wang nodded in agreement.
Helian Jue was also feeling emotional. Both of their daughters entered the palace to become concubines, so why were the Qin family, a small farming family, and the Wan family, a family of officials for generations, so different in the way they did things?
One is contented, the other is greedy.
In this light, it is not surprising that the Wan family would raise a little beast like Wanbao.
Thinking of Wanbao, Helian Jue's eyes darkened.
When the court was clamoring to enthronize the youngest son of Prince Liang, Prime Minister Wan played the invisible man, saying nothing more than a single word. He had always believed that the Wan family held a neutral opinion on the matter.
It was not until Wan Bao's dirty deeds were revealed to him that he decided to investigate the Wan family.
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