When the two of them were halfway through their journey, a crisp slapping sound was heard from the palace road ahead.
"You dare to stand in my way?"
"Xue Jieyu, calm down. I didn't see you..."
A woman with a bright face was teaching another concubine a lesson.
This was the only way to Jingxi Palace. Many concubines saw this scene, but they all hurriedly walked past with their heads down.
"Cousin, this is Concubine Xue, let's go quickly..." Tang Miaoling reminded in a low voice.
Although she was domineering in the Ning family, she was not brainless. She was a person who only bullied the weak and feared the strong, and never showed off in front of people whose family background was more powerful than hers.
Concubine Xue is one of the two newly selected beauties with the highest rank.
She was from the Duke of Su's Mansion.
When Dayan was founded, the founding emperor conferred titles of two dukes, four marquises and twenty-one earls on the generals who had helped him conquer the world, and they were to inherit the titles and live with the country.
Although there were occasional people who were granted titles for military merit, this trend disappeared within three generations.
It is far from being comparable to this group of iron-hat nobles.
This group of founding heroes are the true "aristocrats" in the eyes of the world.
Even a declining baronial family like the Ning family would choose a third or fourth rank official for marriage. Not to mention the two great dukes who held heavy troops and guarded the borders of the Great Yan Dynasty for generations, with tremendous power.
It can be said that every dynasty has its own ministers, and every dynasty has its own Duke's Mansion.
During the previous emperor's time, the Empress and Imperial Noble Consort were from two great duke's houses respectively, and each had a son.
For the throne, the two major factions of the Dukes fought for power and fought to the death.
In the end, both the Crown Prince (son of the Queen) and the King of England (son of the Royal Consort) died.
The previous emperor passed away.
The current emperor has been elected as the new emperor by all the ministers.
Although they are called ministers, most of them are the people of the two dukes. This is actually the result of the two dukes weighing the pros and cons.
The current emperor's mother was of ordinary birth and died young. During the reign of the previous emperor, he had no chance to participate in court affairs. He was just an idle prince and seemed to be ignorant of government affairs.
His Empress Yuanxiao was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Suguo, which was his in-laws' family. His concubine Shufei's family was also a relative of the Duke of Xinguo.
It has some connection with both sides, but not much.
If he ascends the throne, the Duke Su's Mansion will have a queen, and the Duke Xin's Mansion will have a powerful concubine, and both families will benefit.
Moreover, the position of queen is vacant, so they can send their daughters into the palace to fight for the position.
With this calculation, the current emperor is the most suitable candidate among all the princes.
Concubine Xue was very clear about this. Her grandfather had already told her that she entered the palace this time only for the position of empress.
She is the most noble eldest daughter in the Duke of Su's Mansion. Her elder sister is the former Crown Princess and her aunt is Empress Dowager Xue.
Even her sister from the opposite clan, whom she looked down upon, became Empress Yuanxiao.
How could she, a daughter of the Xue family, not be the queen?
"Hmph!" Concubine Xue slapped the woman hard several times, leaving her face red and swollen, before she turned and left.
The accompanying maid quickly reminded, "Master, you are new to the palace, I'm afraid..."
"I called this for the new concubines and Concubine Shu to see. Who is she to be in charge of the six palaces? It is only because my unpromising elder sister died early that she was given this opportunity!" Concubine Xue's eyes flashed with a cold light:
"Now that I have entered the palace, I must establish my authority and kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."
The maid said no more.
Her mistress was not overbearing in the boudoir before, and was always gentle and polite. This move had its own intentions.
…
Ning Wanyin and Tang Miaoling arrived at Jingxi Palace and first paid their respects to the main concubine, Concubine Shu.
The concubine Shu was wearing a crimson purple palace dress with blue phoenix and gold embroidery, gentle and elegant, she smiled softly and said, "Hurry up, my two sisters. You are cousins, and I have specially assigned you to the same palace so that you sisters can take care of each other."
Tang Miaoling felt bitter, but she could only thank her. In her short one-month memory of her past life, Concubine Shu was a very kind person who cared about everyone, so she must have had good intentions.
Ning Wanyin followed suit and thanked them. Concubine Shu's words were, firstly, a favor, telling the two that she had helped. Secondly, a warning, as she was the one in power in the palace.
She is both kind and strict, yet gentle and considerate, and looks like a virtuous queen.
But since she knew that Tang Miaoling and Ning Wanyin were cousins, how could she not find out how Tang Miaoling was so domineering in the Ning family?
Putting the two of them together is just to watch the sisters fight.
With evil intentions.
However, Tang Miaoling suddenly changed her personality recently, and Concubine Shu couldn't bear to watch the fun for a while.
"You think you are the queen, but you act so pretentiously." Concubine Zhuang, who was sitting on the side, rolled her eyes. She couldn't stand Concubine Shu's behavior like a principal wife.
She was wearing a wide-sleeved floor-length dress decorated with pearls and jade, and her hair was covered with pearls and jadeite. Like Concubine Shu, she was a concubine of the current emperor when he was in the palace.
Your Majesty broke the ancestral rule that no one could be appointed as a concubine if there was no heir.
She also raised the eldest princess left by Queen Yuan under her lap.
She can be said to be the most favored concubine in the six palaces.
Concubine Shu glanced at her, smiled faintly and said nothing.
Fang Zhaoyi, who was sitting at the first seat, immediately said, "The Empress Shu took over the six palaces on behalf of the Empress Yuan and fulfilled her duties conscientiously, so that made the Empress Zhuang think of the Empress, right?"
Concubine Shu looked at her with admiration and said with a smile, "Concubine Zhuang, you are overpraising me. I am far from being comparable to the Empress."
Concubine Zhuang choked. She always liked to stir up trouble, but she was not very eloquent and had never won a verbal battle with Concubine Shu.
The new concubines who entered the palace all lowered their eyes silently, pretending not to hear.
In this harem, apart from Concubine Shu and Concubine Zhuang, there is no other main palace. The rest include Zhaoyi, Jieyushi and several others below them.
Because the current emperor was not favored when he was a prince, these concubines from the old palace were of ordinary origin.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
