Qingya Garden was the palace that Zhao Huan had bestowed upon Tian Yingying. Over the past few days, Tian Yingying, led by her maids, had visited Li Sisi, Nangong Lian'er, Tang Wan'er, and others. Fortunately, the situation she had worried about had not materialized, and these concubines were very welcoming to her.
When Zhao Huan brought An Xiaozhu to Qingya Garden, Tian Yingying was studying a vase on the table. It was made in an official kiln. If this thing were to fall into the hands of ordinary people, it would surely fetch a lot of money, Tian Yingying thought.
Haha, a concubine who had entered the palace from the common people was filled with curiosity and wonder. So this was the imperial palace, and this was how the emperor lived. The food was so exquisite, much better than the big bowls of wine and large chunks of meat at the Lai Fu Inn. The only difference was that the imperial wine wasn't as good as the one I brewed myself. Yes, it really wasn't as good as the one I brewed myself.
Cao Dongsheng had been around the emperor for many years and knew his character well. He turned around and looked at Zhao Huan inquiringly, asking if he should yell that the emperor had arrived.
Zhao Huan already understood Cao Dongsheng's intentions. He glared at him and said, "Shut up your hoarse voice and get out of here with all your people."
So Cao Dongsheng took his eunuchs, palace maids and several guards and left. Zhao Huan took An Xiaozhu's hand and walked into Qingya Garden.
"Hi, Yingying, look who I brought here?" Zhao Huan said with a smile.
Tian Yingying was holding the vase when she heard someone calling her from behind. She was so frightened that she loosened her grip and the official kiln vase fell to the ground with a clang, breaking into pieces.
Zhao Huan stared at her blankly. Tian Yingying asked quietly, "This is worth a lot of money, right?"
Zhao Huan nodded and said, "Probably. If you like, I'll have someone send one to you every day for you to throw around for fun."
Tian Yingying was a little dazed, and Zhao Huan laughed: "It's just a vase, there are plenty of them in the inner court. Look who this is." As he said that, he moved aside and a woman stood out from behind him.
"Xiao Zhu!" Tian Yingying rushed over happily and took her hand: "Why are you here?"
Because her force affected the injured arm, An Xiaozhu couldn't help but frown.
"What's going on?" Tian Yingying asked doubtfully. She pulled An Xiaozhu's arm away, shocked and angry: "Who did this? Who is so cruel!"
Zhao Huan was secretly angry when this matter was mentioned. He kept a cold face and said nothing. So Tian Yingying looked at An Xiaozhu and asked, "What's going on?"
"I, yes, I fell accidentally." An Xiaozhu said in a low voice.
"Bullshit! How did you fall like this? Tell whoever hit you, and I'll fight him to the death!" Although she was a concubine, she was still a commoner after all. Tian Yingying didn't know how to be reserved and subtle. She never thought it was indecent to say slang like "you bastard, you're talking bullshit" when she said it.
But this is what Zhao Huan likes, no pretense, just speaking his mind. But Zhao Huan still reminded her: "Yingying, this is the palace. You can say fucking farts here, you bastard. But don't say such things outside. Xiaozhu was beaten by the palace lady." Zhao Huan then told her what happened.
Tian Yingying was furious: "Your Majesty, why don't you avenge Xiaozhu? I'm going to find that palace lady and I'll beat her to death!" As she said that, she was about to rush out the door.
Zhao Huan grabbed her and shouted, "What are you doing!" When he saw Tian Yingying's somewhat resentful eyes, his tone immediately softened: "I tell you, you are a concubine now, my concubine. You must pay attention to your image, the royal image." Zhao Huan said seriously.
"Oh, I see." Tian Yingying pointed at him and said, "No wonder you don't like being in the palace and sneak out to play. So, Your Majesty, you don't like these palace rules either, right?"
Zhao Huan was hit on the heartstrings by this, and he chuckled, "Well, that court lady has already been beaten to death by me, so you don't have to avenge Xiao Zhu."
Tian Yingying trembled: "Your Majesty killed her?"
She thought Zhao Huan would only punish the palace lady, but she didn't expect him to kill her. Tian Yingying appears to be fierce and domineering, but in fact she is very soft and fragile inside. Zhao Huan seemed to see through her thoughts: "Don't blame me for being cruel. This vicious woman not only beat Xiao Zhu like this. All the palace maids in the Fruit Bureau are covered with bruises. I just asked the servants to check. In the past three years, as many as four palace maids in the Fruit Bureau have died inexplicably. Although I dare not say that they were tortured to death by this palace lady, she is definitely involved. If I don't kill her, it will not be enough to vent the people's anger!"
Tian Yingying felt a chill in her heart: "Your Majesty, this palace is so scary." Suddenly she felt a deep fear, wondering if someone would treat her like this.
Hearing her say this, Zhao Huan felt a little scared. Throughout history, there have been countless harem struggles, all for one thing: imperial power.
Fortunately, he only has one son, Zhao Xin, now. If he has more children in the future, who can guarantee that these concubines will not secretly covet the imperial power? Even if they don't care about him, what about their sons?
Suddenly, Zhao Huan understood why the empress didn't stop him from taking concubines, but instead fully supported him. It was because the concubines he had chosen were all from the common people with no connections. When ministers recommended the daughters and nieces of important officials to enter the palace, the empress obstructed them in every possible way. Because these important officials were so powerful, the empress feared that these women would threaten her position.
Zhao Huan shuddered at the thought. The Queen didn't seem to care whether Xin'er was the Crown Prince or not; she had even said she didn't want Xin'er to inherit the throne. If he really did appoint another prince as Crown Prince in the future, the Queen probably wouldn't agree with that either.
Zhao Huan was a little scared. It seemed he had to come up with a foolproof plan to prevent the princes from competing for the throne. Should he follow the Qing dynasty's example and place the crown prince's name behind a plaque that read "Zhengda Guangming"? This, too, seemed to be of no use and wouldn't fundamentally solve the problem.
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