Chapter 369 Punishment
Concubine Li didn't want to go, but there was no point in not going. One could never make decisions on one's own in the palace, especially for someone of low status like her. Her calves were trembling and she didn't know how many things she was thinking in her mind, but she had to go because there was someone leading the way ahead.
Ever since the first time the Fourth Prince behaved poorly in front of the Emperor, or rather, when the Queen found out that the Fourth Prince was born prematurely and late in life, the two powerful maids who were originally serving her were replaced by her, who usually suppressed her.
The Fourth Prince was served by the Queen's people. They said they were serving him, but in fact they were there to teach him how to read and speak. It was still good at the beginning, because the Queen had been well-behaved for a long time, and she didn't touch him, but just asked people to keep an eye on him. She had been harmed by the Queen, so she was naturally afraid.
That's fine, the queen is indeed a person who cares a lot about her reputation.
After all, the Fourth Prince was raised under her name. Even though she knew that she couldn't expect anything from him, if she didn't raise the Fourth Prince well, it would be a disgrace to the Queen.
The older the child got, the more demanding she became. No matter what the Fourth Prince did, she was never satisfied.
But even if she was not satisfied, she could not touch the Fourth Prince. Xuanyuan Ling did not care about Concubine Li, but he still cared about the child. Even if he did not come, the Fourth Prince would always take him to see him from time to time, even if it was just to ask a few questions or see if the child was in good health.
Therefore, no matter how dissatisfied the Queen was, she dared not do anything to the Fourth Prince. If any injuries on his body were seen by the Emperor, the Queen would be guilty of a serious crime.
The Queen would not do such a thing, but how could she express her unhappiness?
Naturally, it was directed at Concubine Li.
It was just a few months ago. The Fourth Prince took a long time to learn something, so she punished Concubine Li. No marks could be left on the Fourth Prince's body, and it would also be ugly if Concubine Li had marks on her body. However, there were many ways in the palace that could not be seen but could make people suffer.
Being treated like this, Concubine Li did not dare to reveal anything.
There are people watching her all the time. If she were alone, she wouldn't be afraid, but she has a family. If she offends the queen, what will happen if she complains to the emperor?
Even if this matter was exposed, and the queen was accused of poor discipline, what would happen? What if she insisted that the queen punished her after she was scolded by the queen?
Can she be at peace on her own?
The queen can be deposed? The Chen family will be gone?
It's impossible. Li Guiren knows it's impossible. She can't be at peace. Even if she is at peace, it will only be temporary. By then, the Queen will really hate her. I'm afraid her situation will be worse than it is now, and her family will be implicated.
Didn't the emperor know that the queen wanted to harm her? He knew, but there was no testimony, no witnesses. Even if the matter at that time was a final conclusion, the coffin lid could not be nailed down, and it is the same now.
She lived under the Queen's surveillance, so where would anyone come from to testify to her words?
So they arrived at Fengyi Palace. At a time like today, the Fourth Prince was still supported by the Queen, so it was natural for the Queen to want him to go to Fengyi Palace. But when Li Guiren arrived, she saw that the Fourth Prince had stopped crying, but there were still traces of tears on his face, and he kept his mouth tightly shut.
This was a lesson he had to teach her not to cry. The queen was annoyed by the child's crying and didn't even allow him to cry. The reason she gave was that as a prince, he should behave like a prince and it would not look like to cry.
This was not the first time that Concubine Li had seen this. The Queen was very annoyed by the Fourth Prince's crying and making a fuss. She started by scolding him, but later found that it didn't work, so she tried other methods. In the end, she punished him by making him write and someone had to watch him when he made a fuss. A child of this age could not even hold a brush properly, but sometimes she had to suppress his childish nature and sit in front of the desk for several hours.
The child was scared of being punished, but he was still young, and was also afraid of occasions like today's New Year's banquet. The more scared he was, the less he could say.
Lady Li felt really distressed when she saw this, but she also felt resentful in her heart. Why were other people's children so well-behaved, but hers was just like this?
She had been oppressed by the Queen for a long time, and seeing this scene, she dared not say anything. She just knelt down and crawled to the Queen's side to apologize to her.
She was a noble lady, and in Fengyi Palace, she was no different from a palace maid. No, a palace maid was better. At least the queen would not look at this humble existence without reason.
In the past few years, she didn't know how she managed to hold on. She always thought that as long as the child grew up smoothly, she would have hope.
The Queen felt disgusted when she saw Concubine Li's appearance. From the beginning, she looked down on Concubine Li except for the child in her belly. With such a person like her, if the Queen was not afraid that she would cause trouble, would she allow her to live to this day?
Concubine Li was fine, but the Fourth Prince, the child she had prayed for, had now become a thorn in her heart that was difficult to remove.
The Queen was upset seeing the Fourth Prince. She had scolded him today. Now that Concubine Li had also arrived, the Fourth Prince was naturally not the most important person. Her attention was focused on Concubine Li again.
Seeing the fourth prince being carried away, it was natural for someone else to scold him. Li Guiren began to kowtow to the queen: "I deserve to die, I deserve to die."
The more the queen saw her like this, the more disgusted she felt: "Since you have ignored what I told you, I will teach you a lesson. Lady Li, don't hate me. The Fourth Prince is your son. He is good, and you may have a better future."
Jinzhi was used to it. She looked at Li Guiren in that state with a blank expression on her face. She had already arranged for someone to hold her down.
Then a nanny took out a fine cow-hair needle.
It was not the first time that Li Guiren had experienced such a thing, but she was still so scared that she burst into tears: "Your Majesty, please spare me, please spare me, next time, I will definitely teach the Fourth Prince well, and I will never do this again."
The Queen remained indifferent, and Concubine Li was looked down upon. She made promises every time, but was never able to keep them.
The mother is useless and the son is useless.
After all the trouble, Concubine Li had to thank the Queen for sparing her life.
When she went out, she asked someone to dress her up, so that no one could see the tears on her face. However, if she had any other thoughts, the Queen would naturally know.
The queen was punished, but she couldn't vent her anger. There was no way she could vent it. It was too embarrassing.
"A disappointing thing."
The queen was not in the mood to drink tea. She picked up the cup, then thought about it and felt angry, then put it down heavily.
Jinzhi knew that the Queen had changed her requirements for the Fourth Prince after she came to her senses. She had wanted to treat him well in the past, but now she saw that the Fourth Prince was hopeless, so she had to ask him not to lose face in front of the Emperor.
Otherwise, it would be like at the New Year's banquet, if the Fourth Prince was poorly taught, it would still be the Queen's fault, and the Emperor would certainly blame the Queen for her poor teaching.
Her Majesty is already worried, so if there was nothing else it would be fine, but now she has to worry about something like this.
But there is really no way. I wanted her myself. Can I still tell the emperor that I don't want her anymore?
I can’t do that anymore.
It was indeed impossible to tell when Concubine Li left Fengyi Palace, but her eyes looked as dead and heavy. When she turned around and saw the Fourth Prince, her tears welled up in her eyes, but she did not dare to cry out loud. Even now, she did not dare to say anything to the Fourth Prince that would be detrimental to the Queen, as someone was watching her.
I could only coax the Fourth Prince to sleep and calm him down.
After the New Year banquet, Xuanyuan Ling had nothing to do. Eating hot pot during the New Year has become a traditional activity in Zhaohua Palace. After all, what can warm the stomach better than a hot pot in winter? No matter how delicious the other dishes are, they are always a little short of the meaning of prosperity.
The two of them ate hotpot, and after they were full, they took a stroll together, and then chatted occasionally. During the New Year period, the tradition was to gossip about relatives, and no one dared to talk about the emperor, but Shen Qing could also talk about others with Xuanyuan Ling in private. Xuanyuan Ling didn't have any taboos when talking in front of Shen Qing now. In fact, if they didn't talk about it in the past, he felt that Shen Qing might not understand it, but now, he felt that Shen Qing could understand whatever he said.
Naturally, the topics of their conversation became more and more extensive.
But it's okay to just listen to gossip. Xuanyuan Ling does have something to tell Shen Qing: "The new year has passed. In the spring, I plan to promote all the concubines who have been in the palace for four years but have not been promoted to concubines."
When Shen Qing heard this, it was a good thing.
Shen Qing said: "The whole harem has to thank the emperor."
"Are you thanking me too?" Xuanyuan Ling looked at her and asked.
Shen Qing said angrily: "You have to thank me. Your Majesty is not only making life easier for other concubines, but also for me. How can I not thank you?"
Xuanyuan Ling smiled. She really understood. There were some things that didn’t need to be said explicitly. She knew it clearly in her heart.
There are indeed too many concubines in Xuanyuan Ling's harem now. All of them are beauties. There are less than two noble ladies, and there is only one concubine, Zheng Pin, who was demoted from the title of concubine. The title of concubine is Shun Fei, which is really a bit abnormal. Moreover, the second batch of those who entered the palace have been there for four years now. Even if they are not favored, they have some qualifications and it is time for them to be promoted. After all, a higher position will make life better in the palace.
Xuanyuan Ling only favors Shen Qing now, so it would be a good thing for Shen Qing if he promoted other concubines.
After all, if he promoted other concubines, people would not say that Shen Qing was jealous. Although whether to confer titles was the emperor's own business, the emperor's women, especially the favored ones, were basically the scapegoats. People would not say why the emperor was so ruthless, leaving so many concubines in the harem and letting them waste their time. They would only say that Shen Qing was jealous, monopolizing the emperor's favor and not allowing him to promote other concubines.
Xuanyuan Ling was looking at Chen Qing, and saw that Chen Qing looked proud: "Promote if you want, anyway, no one can surpass me now."
Xuanyuan Ling felt comfortable seeing her like this. He liked her spoiled look. No one else could compare to her little look. She was really adorable.
During the New Year holidays, Xuanyuan Ling did not have to attend court, and his life was indeed much more comfortable than usual, but there was still something to do.
After the New Year, he announced a great honor to the six palaces to make a festive start to the new year. All the concubines who were originally beauties were promoted to noble ladies, and those who were originally noble ladies were promoted to concubines, which meant they were the masters of a palace. There were a maximum of nine concubines, but Xuanyuan Ling did not confer titles on all of them, only on a large part of them. There were also a few exceptions.
Just as he said to Shen Qing, those who have entered the palace for four years but have not been promoted to the rank of concubine will be promoted. But for someone like Chen Guiren, Xuanyuan Ling would never promote her to the rank of concubine. Chen Guiren has never served the emperor in bed until now. She used to have a lot on her mind and always wanted to serve the emperor in bed, but after what happened to Chen Mianmian, she didn't dare to make any move, and that's how it stayed.
Then there is Concubine Zhou. Concubine Zhou's father was convicted, and Xuanyuan Ling promised not to bring disaster to Concubine Zhou, so Concubine Zhou was not demoted. Otherwise, strictly speaking, she would be the daughter of a criminal. According to the rules, let alone the position of a concubine, it was Xuanyuan Ling's mercy that she was not sent to the cold palace. Such a high title was not hers.
When Concubine Zhou heard the news, she seemed to have gotten used to it. She just curled her lips and said nothing.
Except for these two, all the other minor concubines were promoted. Those who were beauties were promoted to noble ladies, and the original noble ladies were all promoted. Noble Lady Zhao became Concubine Zhao, Noble Lady Li became Concubine Li, and Noble Lady Yi became Concubine Yi.
If other people felt that their promotion was unexpected and they were happy about it, Chu Linglong on the contrary did not feel any emotion. Ming Su was happy, but Chu Linglong knew that she should have been granted the title of concubine long ago.
The emperor recognized the fifth prince and used the fifth prince's death to eliminate the Qin family and clear the fifth prince's name. However, her status as the fifth prince's biological mother remained unchanged. This was not normal. Now that she could be promoted, she was not surprised. This was what she deserved.
The Concubine An, who had always been insignificant and had almost no presence, also had a lot of seniority, so she was promoted to Concubine An.
Speaking of Concubine An, Shen Qing really admires her.
If we ask who is the most stable person in the palace, it must be her. It is meaningless to talk about the original novel now, but after all, Concubine An is one of the palace fighting champions, so Shen Qing can't really ignore her. This taciturn concubine in the original novel seems to care about nothing except her children, but she is always there to help out at critical moments. Now she is incredibly low-key. Without the intersection with Chu Linglong because she is raising other concubines' children, she has almost become a transparent person.
She was even more low-key than Concubine Shun. Concubine Shun was already very low-key. She was rarely seen unless she came to pay her respects. But after all, she had the eldest prince, and the eldest prince was in the imperial study, so no one would ignore Concubine Shun's existence. But Concubine An was different. She rarely came to pay her respects due to illness.
How deep can a person's sense of non-existence go? Look at Concubine An. If she hadn't been given the title of consort, I'm afraid all the concubines in the harem would have forgotten her existence.
Of course, if one gets promoted, one has to pay an audience with the Queen. All those who got promoted this time went to pay an audience with the Queen, and the Queen also gave them rewards. Concubine De and Shen Qing were also rewarded. Now they have the highest positions, so they deserve rewards.
It must be said that this matter made the concubines much happier than the Chinese New Year. After all, their status was promoted and their treatment was much better.
They were happy, but the queen was not in a good mood. She saw what Xuanyuan Ling meant. The emperor was very clear about it, and even Li Guiren was promoted to Li Bin. The Fourth Prince was still being kept by her. She didn't care about other people. It was not the first day that Shen Qing was favored, so she could ignore it. But the promotion of Li Bin, wasn't this a slap in her face?
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