Zhuang Yuyan chose to walk in a secluded place just because she wanted to avoid other concubines, but she didn't expect to meet a concubine in a secluded place, and she was an acquaintance.

Since Concubine Yuan was demoted to Concubine Lin, she asked to be confined to her room for a month. Zhuang Yuyan did not expect to meet her in this place. Lin Zhixi, who was demoted to Concubine Lin, no longer had the nobleness of the past. She was wearing a simple gauze dress, and even her eyes became dry and dull, as if the demotion had drained all her spiritual energy.

Zhuang Luoyan heard that when Concubine Rou Lin Qingyin first entered the palace, she was still a small Liangyi, while Lin Zhixi was already a second-rank Zhaoyi. Just because Lin Qingyin had the same surname as her and shared the emperor's favor, Lin Zhixi made things difficult for Lin Qingyin.

Now that Lin Zhixi has been demoted and Lin Qingyin has become Concubine Rou, I wonder if the situation back then would be different?

"Sister Linpin is fine," Zhuang Yuyan's smile seemed very gentle, but in Linpin's eyes, it was nothing more than a condescending mockery.

"Nothing compares to my younger sister Zhaopin," Linpin half-saluted with an expressionless face, and when she saw Zhuang Yuyan politely avoiding her, a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. Which woman in the harem is not graceful and elegant, and there is nothing wrong with their etiquette, but which of the things they do in private can be shown in public?

"I heard that the Emperor loves my younger sister, and he has rewarded me with many head ornaments early on. I can be said to be the favored concubine in the harem," when Concubine Lin talked about the favored concubine in the harem, the sarcastic smile on her face became more obvious. Wasn't she also the favored concubine in the past? Now, her beauty is still there, but her favor has been lost, and she can't even keep her position. I wonder how ridiculous this scene must be in the eyes of others.

"As for being the most favored lady in the harem, my sister is far from being able to do that," Zhuang Luoyan didn't dare to be associated with this word. Haven't you seen that many women who were associated with this word had a good ending? She felt that she could still enjoy some years in the harem. This word was really not suitable for her.

Concubine Lin glanced at Zhuang Luoyan without comment. Seeing that she did not show any joy at the words "the most favored concubine in the harem", she became more wary of her patience. People like this who do not show any joy on their faces are the most terrifying in the harem. Who told her that Concubine Zhao was brainless?

The Empress, Consort Shugui, Consort Ning, Consort Xian, or Ye Shuyi who had been demoted to Ronghua? Linpin smiled bitterly. Others saw that the two families of Linzhuang had different political views in the court, but she was provoked a little and went to embarrass Zhaopin. Who was so stupid?

"The most favored woman in the harem..." Lin Pin smiled tiredly, "Who can reach her level, and who can't?" In the harem, there are many women who have enjoyed glory, but how many of them can enjoy glory to the end?

Zhuang Yuyan noticed that something was wrong with Lin Concubine's expression. She didn't seem to resent her, nor did she seem to be uneasy. Instead, she seemed a little frustrated. She couldn't help but look at her twice more. After a careful look, she found that without the hairpins and head ornaments, Lin Zhixi's facial features were very beautiful, but her skin was not as delicate as that of a young girl.

"You smile today, and when she smiles tomorrow, don't you know what will happen to you?" Lin Bin raised her slightly tired eyes and looked at Zhuang Yuyan. "I don't regret losing, but can you keep smiling and winning?"

Zhuang Yuyan looked at her without saying a word.

Linpin sneered, looked away, pointed at a patch of flowers and said, "A month ago, I remember the peonies were in full bloom there, but now the hibiscus is blooming. Who can say which flower is better?"

Tilting her head to look at the group of phoenix fairies, Zhuang Yuyan smiled and remained silent.

"I will watch you," Lin Pin suddenly approached Zhuang Yuyan, her tiredness mixed with some sadness and madness, "I want to watch you go from being a pampered concubine in the harem to where I am. Maybe... you are even more pitiful than me." After saying that, she laughed softly and walked away, supported by the palace maids.

Zhuang Luyan turned around to glance at her back and raised her eyebrows. Should she tell Lin Pin that she never used Hua Zibi?

Even if women are like flowers, they bloom for their own beauty. Why should we care about how others compare with us? Love yourself more. When the flowers wither, wouldn't it be better to have fewer regrets?

When Zhuang Yuyan was about to leave, she heard a faint sound coming from behind her. She looked back and saw that it was Zhuang Wanqing, whom she had not spoken to for a long time.

"Sister," Zhuang Yuyan lowered her eyelids slightly, seeming to be a well-behaved sister.

"Princess Zhao," Zhuang Wanqing bowed calmly, "Just now I saw Sister Lin walking past with a smile on her face. Did Sister Zhao have a good chat with Sister Lin?"

Everyone in the harem knew that Lin Zhixi and Zhuang Yuyan had an unharmonious relationship, so Zhuang Wanqing's words sounded more like sarcasm.

"Sister, I heard that elder sister and sister Linpin had many pleasant conversations," Zhuang Luoyan knew that Zhuang Wanqing had also been bullied by Lin Zhixi when she was still a concubine. Now seeing Lin Zhixi like this, no one knew what she was thinking.

Zhuang Wanqing had not expected Zhuang Yuyan to say this. After being slightly stunned, she said with a bad look, "Why do you have to ridicule me?"

"Didn't my sister say so?" Zhuang Yuyan smiled, "How could my sister forget?"

"Actually, I don't want to fight with you," Zhuang Wanqing smiled bitterly, "I have never been valued at home since I was a child. Later, I was sent to the harem, and my mother was respected in the mansion. Yes, I am a concubine's daughter, and my appearance is not as good as yours, so since you entered the palace, my mother's life in the mansion has become difficult again."

"I did hate you. I hated you for being beautiful but mean and for making things difficult for me," Zhuang Wanqing looked sad, as if she had remembered something. "But now my mother is gone, and I have nothing to fight for. Although our relationship is not good, you are still the daughter of the Zhuang family. Life in the harem is too hard. I don't want to face all those calculations and struggles alone."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yuyan looked up and carefully examined Zhuang Wanqing. Seeing that she did not look uncomfortable at all when she was examining her, she smiled and said, "Sister, that's true. As sisters, we should naturally support each other."

"I feel relieved if you think so, sister," Zhuang Wanqing showed a faint smile on his face, and then lowered his voice and said, "You must be careful of Concubine Shugui and Concubine Ning." After that, he looked around and left in a hurry.

"Master, this..." Yunxi was a maid brought out from the Zhuang Mansion. Naturally, she understood the affection between the two young ladies of the Zhuang family. Now Concubine Zhuang behaved like this, was it a gesture of goodwill or something else?

"She just said a lot of words, but she didn't say anything," Zhuang Yuyan smiled nonchalantly. She naturally didn't believe that Zhuang Wanqing was really trying to show her goodwill. If she was really trying to show her goodwill, she wouldn't be so calm. Besides, who in the harem doesn't need to be careful, especially the favored Concubine Shugui and the Concubine Ning who has always been known as the emperor's eloquent flower?

Zhuang Wanqing was a minor concubine with an unstable foundation in the harem. Even if she followed a high-ranking concubine, she was just a chess piece. She was now deliberately showing goodwill, and no matter what her intention was, she couldn't take it too seriously.

"Then what should we do?" Yun Xi asked in a low voice.

"What should I do?" Zhuang Yuyan leaned over and plucked a fairy flower. "When two sisters meet, what's wrong with chatting for a while?"

Yun Xi widened her eyes slightly. Could it be that the master intended to treat today's incident as if nothing had happened, that is, to ignore Concubine Zhuang's advances?

"Let's go back. I'm tired too." Zhuang Luyan didn't want to join hands with Zhuang Wanqing to do anything. Besides, she was just a concubine with little brains who had fallen in love with the emperor, right?

In this world, teammates who are like pigs are not scary. The scariest thing is teammates who are covered in pig skin but always have a knife behind their backs. Zhuang Wanqing would never cooperate with her sincerely, and she also does not believe in the empty sisterhood in the harem. This kind of friendship is even less reliable than the friendship in the business world.

"Your Majesty, the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department requests an audience," Gao Dezhong reminded the emperor in a low voice when he saw him lowering his head to review memorials, although most of the time the emperor would not meet him.

"Announce," Feng Jin said without raising his head. He finished reviewing the memorial in his hand. When he raised his head, he happened to see the eunuch coming in with a tray. He pretended to glance at the tray casually, reached out and picked up the sign of Taoyu Pavilion, "Let's call it Concubine Zhao."

The eunuch of the Internal Affairs Bureau left silently, and Gao Dezhong followed suit, asking a useful eunuch beside him to go to Taoyu Pavilion to pass on the order. The emperor just rested in Taoyu Pavilion last night, and today he turned over Zhaopin's name, which was really rare.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor has picked another name today," He Yu walked to the Empress' side, "and I heard he is still going to Taoyu Pavilion."

"Didn't the emperor visit Concubine Yan's Linyuexuan yesterday?" The queen put down the scriptures in her hand and said in a calm tone, "Concubine Zhao of Taoyu Pavilion is also a lovely girl. It is normal for the emperor to visit her twice more occasionally." What's more, this concubine is not the most favored one in the harem. There is no need for her to be so restless just because the emperor went there twice in a row and make the emperor unhappy for nothing.

When He Yu saw the Queen's expression, he knew that she didn't care about it, so he retreated quietly.

The queen continued to read the Buddhist scriptures without lifting her eyelids, and there was even a hint of a smile on the corner of her mouth. It was unknown whether it was the Buddhist scriptures that enlightened her or for some other reason.

Feng Jin didn't come to Taoyu Pavilion very often, but he had different experiences every day. Zhaopin wasn't as versatile as the other concubines, but it was very easy to get along with Zhaopin. Sometimes he even wondered, when a person cares about another person, they would put that person first in everything? So when he went to Taoyu Pavilion, he would feel relaxed and comfortable?

The carriage stopped outside Taoyu Pavilion. When the curtain was opened, one could see a woman in white kneeling down under the moonlight. Her black hair was adorned with a jade hairpin, and she looked lazy and amorous.

"My beloved, please stand up." After approaching, he could still smell that faint cool scent, and Feng Jin's restlessness immediately subsided a lot.

The two walked into the house together. The ice cubes placed in the room made the room not too hot. Feng Jin sat down by the window and held Zhuang Yuyan on his knees. "I remember that my beloved concubine and Concubine Zhuang are sisters, is that right?"

"Your Majesty is so busy with government affairs that I am surprised that you still remember such a small matter between me and my sister," Zhuang Yuyan tried her best to make her little admiration not so obvious but still noticeable to the emperor. "My sister and I are indeed half-sisters, but I was not raised together since childhood, so I have very little time to spend with my sister. In addition, my sister was more sensible than me when I was young, so my father used her to encourage me. I was young and ignorant, and I had some conflicts with my sister. Now I think that it was wrong."

Feng Jin didn't care much when he heard this and said, "There is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. It's normal that you don't have a deep relationship with her."

Zhuang Yuyan lowered her head and smiled in shame, but said no more.

She understood what the emperor meant. As an emperor, he naturally did not want the women in the harem to form cliques. In addition, when the emperor was still a prince, he was born of a legitimate wife. At that time, it seemed that there was a prince who was very domineering in the harem because his mother was favored. Now it was not surprising that Feng Jin could say such a thing. Of course, she was not sure whether there was any hidden meaning in these words. However, at least one thing was certain, that is, she could not get too close to Zhuang Wanqing. After all, Zhuang Wanqing talked to her for a while today. Now the emperor brought up this matter. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or a warning.

Seeing Zhuang Yuyan's shy posture, Feng Jin waved his hand to let the others in the room leave, then picked up Zhuang Yuyan and walked towards the bed.

The woman beside the wine shop is like the moon, with white wrists as white as frost and snow. Such poems are not enough to describe the woman under him. Feng Jin stroked the smooth skin under his hands, turned over with satisfaction, and smelled the faint fragrance on her body, "My beloved concubine's skin is really as soft as catkins, skin as smooth as cream, neck as white as a cicada, teeth as white as white, delicate eyebrows, charming smile and beautiful eyes!"

Zhuang Yuyan pretended to be shy and buried her head in the emperor's arms, but she felt emotional in her heart, it turned out that no matter what kind of man he is, he will say nice things in bed.

Why would a good and wise ruler resort to poetry and teasing? It seems that the emperor also possesses this hidden bad nature of men.