The palace maid just passed on the message that something happened to the sixth lady of the Fuguogong Mansion.

The former Fuguogong followed the army to the battle during the Xuanfu Incident. When the incident happened, he tried his best to protect the emperor and died of exhaustion. Qin Yi couldn't treat such a minister who died for the country harshly, so he pardoned the crime of the Fuguogong Mansion and allowed them to inherit the title on an equal level. The eldest son of the Fuguogong also died in the war. The following sons were either illegitimate sons or too young. Later, the mother of the former Fuguogong made the decision to pass the title to the second house, that is, the younger brother of the former Fuguogong.

This sixth lady is the legitimate daughter of the new Fuguogong.

I don't know how this Wu Liu girl walked, anyway, she accidentally walked to the front and met Qin Yi. Qin Yi took people to walk outside, and suddenly saw a woman. Naturally, he packed up and handed her over to Chu Jinyao. Now this Wu Liuniang has been sent to the side hall, and it is said that the wife of the Duke of Fuguo has passed away.

After the palace maid finished speaking, she looked at Chu Jinyao nervously, but Chu Jinyao was very calm. She even listened to the whole excerpt before she stood up leisurely, and walked towards the side hall on the pretext of changing clothes.

Linglong frowned when she heard about this. Now walking out of the stage, Linglong whispered: "My queen, how should we deal with this Miss Wu?"

"How we deal with it is not important. What is important is what this Miss of the Duke of Fuguo, or the Duke of Fuguo behind her, wants to do."

Linglong obviously understood the strangeness of this, and kept silent, and followed Chu Jinyao to the side hall.

In the side hall, the lucky new Duke's wife was hugging her daughter to comfort her. After hearing the report from the palace maid, she wiped the tears from her daughter's face and said softly, "Sixth Lady, don't cry first. I will go and tell the Queen."

Chu Jinyao walked into the hall and sat directly on the main seat. After paying her respects, the Fuguo Duke's wife sat aside and gently took out a handkerchief to wipe the corner of her eyes: "Queen, my daughter is not familiar with the way in the palace and mistakenly entered the front court and accidentally bumped into Your Majesty. Please convey my daughter's apology to Your Majesty. It is really disrespectful to disturb Your Majesty."

"You are too polite, Madam Duke." Chu Jinyao said with a smile, "It's nothing. His Majesty will not bother with an ignorant little girl. However, I am worried about how the Sixth Miss got lost and entered the garden of the front court. The road is so long, how could there be no palace maids or eunuchs to show the way? How could the Sixth Miss get lost all the way to the front court?"

Madam Fu of the Duke was embarrassed: "I don't know. Maybe there were not enough people to help at that time. Your Majesty, you see that my daughter is still crying. She is a shy girl. She has never seen anyone other than her brother since she was a child. ’s outsider, what happened today is really…”

Chu Jinyao did not respond. The wife of the Duke of Fuguo sat for a while, and seeing that she really did not react, she could not help but shouted, “Empress?”

Chu Jinyao smiled and looked at the wife of the Duke of Fuguo: “Isn’t this a family affair of the Duke’s Mansion? Why are you asking me? Whether the Sixth Miss will tie her hair to become a nun, or serve the Buddha with a green lamp and an ancient Buddha, it’s up to you, Madam. “

Linglong finally suppressed the urge to laugh. Over the years, the Empress has become more and more skilled in not showing any harshness.

The wife of the Duke of Fuguo's face was completely frozen: "Your Majesty, my daughter is a lively girl after all. How can she be sent to be a nun? Wouldn't this ruin her life? Your Majesty, please forgive me for being so presumptuous. This year is the third year of your majesty's accession to the throne. According to the rules, there will be a selection of beauties. My daughter has already run into your majesty, and it is not appropriate to go back to discuss marriage. It just so happens that her age also meets the selection rules. Why don't you choose her regardless of her status? Let her enter the palace."

After saying this, the wife of the Duke of Fuguo looked at Chu Jinyao's expression and added, "I know that this is against the rules and it makes Your Majesty embarrassed, but out of pity for the love of parents in the world, for the sake of my daughter, I can only risk my face and ask for a way out for her. Your Majesty also has children, so I'm sure she can understand my feelings."

Chu Jinyao thought to herself, who would understand your feelings? Her son and daughter would never do such a thing. But it couldn't be said so bluntly. Chu Jinyao paused and said, "The wife of the Duke of Fuguo is really thoughtful, but who told you that there would be a beauty pageant this year?"

The wife of the Duke of Fuguo was obviously stunned. It was a custom to select beauties after the new emperor was enthroned. In previous dynasties, even if the emperor was in mourning, he would not delay the election. Qin Yi had no filial piety for his father, and it was shocking enough that there was no beauty pageant in the first year. Everyone in the capital guessed that Qin Yi was concerned about the lack of wealth in the national treasury, so he canceled the election. But now three years have passed, the national treasury is full, the national strength is prosperous, but the emperor's harem is still empty. What kind of talk is this? The wife of the Duke of Fuguo was determined that a grand beauty pageant would be held this year, so it was nothing for her daughter to show up in front of the emperor in advance. Although it is not in line with the reputation of a nobleman, in the royal family, there is no such thing as chastity and rules.

But now Chu Jinyao is calm and relaxed, and casually says that he will not select beauties. The wife of the Duke of Fu was stunned. How could this be possible? Usually men have three wives and four concubines, let alone the emperor. But Chu Jinyao is a queen, and she should not make such a ridiculous joke.

"Empress..."

"The wife of the Duke of Fuguo and the young lady of the noble family will probably be disappointed. His Majesty has personally told me that the harem is huge, which is unfair to the concubines from the common people. That's why His Majesty is unwilling to do such a thing of exploiting the people's strength. Since the first year of Jinghe, I have released nearly ten batches of palace ladies from the palace. If we select concubines again this year, wouldn't all the previous efforts be in vain?"

The wife of the Duke of Fuguo was stunned. What did she hear? Chu Jinyao was too lazy to say anything. She stood up, her eyes seemed to casually sweep across the screen, she chuckled, and then said to Erxue, "Erxue, Miss Wu Liu was frightened, you can send the frightening thing over."

Erxue took the order and walked behind the screen with the palace ladies. The palace maid behind her was holding a tray with the "Female Rings" on it.

Lady Fuguo knew Erxue, of course. This was the famous Aunt Erxue in the palace, who was in charge of disciplining newcomers. There was no one in the palace who was not afraid of her. When she saw what Erxue held in her hand, Lady Fuguo's face turned even paler.

Every family has its own problems. Chu Jinyao didn't care whether Miss Wu Liu, the former second wife and current Duke's legitimate daughter, was instigated and framed by someone. But Miss Wu Liu's fate was Chu Jinyao's attitude. Killing a chicken to scare the monkey, these powerful families in the capital should also be more careful.

After returning home, Miss Wu Liu cried in front of her grandmother's lap, and Lady Fuguo couldn't help wiping her tears. Lady of the first wife stood aside with her children, feeling pleased.

The wife of the Duke of Fuguo loves her daughter dearly. If she runs into the emperor in the palace and is able to enter the palace because of this, it will be a good story. If not, then it will be difficult for her to get married in the future, especially since the Sixth Miss has been given the "Female Rings" by the Empress. There are no secrets in the circle of power and nobility. From now on, no family will come to propose marriage to the Sixth Miss.

The wife of the Duke of Fuguo could not help but feel dissatisfied when she thought of this: "The Empress is really too much. She has only one prince so far, and she is unwilling to fill the harem for the Emperor and have children. Not only that, she even ruined Liu Niang. Even if Liu Niang is more beautiful, she cannot be treated like this."

The wife of the first room could not help but sneer, and everyone in the room obviously heard it: "You are really shameless. Liu Niang is beautiful, which is fine for the Duke of Guo's mansion, but where do you get the courage to make such big talk in front of the Empress? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at if it gets out?"

"Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? Mother, look at sister-in-law, she doesn't help her own daughter, but instead she is turning her elbow outward."

Without waiting for the old lady to speak, the wife of the first house, the former wife of the Duke of Fu, immediately sneered and said, "What do you mean by turning your elbow outward? Do you know who you are talking about? That's the Empress! Who gave you the courage to act so unbridled in the palace? After being disciplined by the Empress, you didn't reflect on it, but you dared to criticize the Empress?"

The first wife was speechless when she saw this bunch of idiots in front of her. The imperial guards were so powerful and the spies of the Imperial Guards were omnipresent. How dare the second wife speak ill of the queen in front of so many people? They were really asking for trouble. If the current person heard about it, the second wife's position as Duke would end tomorrow.

"I..." The wife of Duke Fuguo paused, and obviously she also thought of the noble nemesis Jinyiwei, and her expression couldn't help but falter

. "I am also doing this for the good of this family! Is it possible that Liu Niang, a beautiful lady, will ruin her second half of life like this?" "Who told you to be unable to control yourselves and go to the palace to do little things. Now you are being used as a scapegoat, who can you blame?"

This sentence seemed to hit the wife of Duke Fuguo's sore spot, and her voice immediately became sharp: "Sister-in-law, you are very happy now, right? If it weren't for the lady of your first house who did something, would Liu Niang have been deceived to the front?"

The word "deceived" is actually a bit biased. If Liu Niang didn't dream of becoming a palace concubine, would others have tied her feet to follow Qin Yi? This place has indeed been tampered with, but it can only be said that it is all their own fault for what it has become. The wife of the first house thought secretly, who made you stupid? You couldn't plan to target anyone, but you actually planned to target the empress.

The wife of the first house was married as a clan wife. Unlike the second house who only cared about eating, drinking and having fun, she was much more sensitive to politics than the second house. For example, the one sitting on the back seat now is definitely the blood of the emperor's heart and the pearl on the dragon crown. When the emperor was still the prince, he risked being attacked for usurping the throne and delayed his ascension for a month for the ceremony of this queen. Now they are just a few noble women. If the selection is stopped, it will be stopped. Anyway, no one can enter the palace, which is fair.

The status of the empress is far more important than the people below imagine.

"The selection of beauties is such a big deal, involving so many families in the capital. I don't believe that the emperor can really cancel it." Lady Fuguo was not convinced. Which man could refuse a young beauty who came to his doorstep, not to mention that the man was the emperor. Moreover, many families in the capital were secretly speculating that the empress had not been pregnant for three consecutive years since she gave birth to the eldest prince. Considering that the empress had a very difficult time giving birth, perhaps the empress was injured and could no longer conceive. The emperor had been staying alone in the palace for three years, but Chu Jinyao still did not get pregnant, and the speculation of injury became more and more solid.

It was precisely because of this that the idea of ​​sending girls to the palace became increasingly popular. The emperor ascended the throne at a young age, his appearance was first-class, and he was also a powerful person in the world. Who would not be thinking about such a person? The Empress of the Central Palace was suspected to be unable to bear children, and the young ladies were getting more and more restless.

The Lady of the First House held a completely different view. She sneered and said, "Then you wait and see."

The Lady of the First House had personally witnessed the heyday of Empress Mu Huai, the wedding of the Crown Prince, and the defense of the capital. As a bystander, she watched the former Crown Prince and Crown Princess go through the ups and downs step by step, and survived the suspicion of the Emperor Retired and the chaos of the Prince Su together. This was no ordinary friendship in adversity. These two people have experienced too many things, and their half-life journeys are firmly embedded together. How can the feelings between the Emperor and the Empress be shaken by Liu Niang, a shallow, stupid woman who wants to steal the fruits of victory without any experience.

The Lady of the First House has an intuition that there will probably be no more beauty pageants in the future.

At first, no one believed it. They all kept their smart and beautiful daughters and planned to send them to the palace to seek wealth and honor. However, there was no selection in the first three years, but in the winter, news came that the queen was pregnant. In the second three years, Qin Yi did not mention the intention of selecting a beauty, but discussed with the inner cabinet about the appointment of a prince. In the third three years, the fourth three years... The families in the capital who were eagerly looking forward to using their daughters to seek wealth and honor were shocked to find that Qin Yi had not appointed a concubine since he succeeded to the throne, and Chu Jinyao was the only one favored in the harem for decades. Chu

Jinyao did not get pregnant in the first three years. This was Qin Yi's initiative to avoid the age gap between the eldest son and the second son. Later, the gap widened, but there was no reduction in the number of princes and princesses in the palace. Until then, the officials who had experienced the Jianyuan and Jinghe dynasties had to admit with sorrow that the father and son were equally foolish when it came to women, but one had more sympathy for one person, while the other concentrated all his emotions on one person.

A willful but capable emperor was an unspeakable pain for all the officials. Those who had hoped for the crown prince to ascend the throne now realized that they were too eager to take it for granted.

Today's emperor is not a person who can be manipulated by others.