The current scene is a little complicated. Zhuang Yuyan's relationship with Kong Cairen and Jiang Xianpin is not very close, and it is even unclear what they are thinking.
Not to mention that this is the harem. Even if there is a little interest involved in reality, there will be intrigue. She does not believe in the deep affection between sisters in the harem. The Ye sisters are living examples.
Feng Jin didn't seem to take Kong Cairen and Jiang Xianpin seriously. Seeing Zhuang Yuyan's shy face, he smiled and played with her fair hands: "Don't tell me how worried I am about you. I want to confer a title on the harem next year. How can you attend the ceremony when you are like this?"
Does the emperor mean to promote Zhao Xiuyi after the new year? Jiang Xianpin was shocked. Zhao Xiuyi's promotion speed in the past year has attracted attention, which shows that the emperor loves her very much. Now he wants to promote her after the new year. This is really a rare thing in the harem.
After hearing this, an inexplicable light flashed in Kong Cairen's eyes, and his lowered brows concealed a certain determination.
Zhuang Yuyan herself was also surprised. It was expected that the emperor would promote her because of the miscarriage, but she did not expect that he would continue to confer a higher title later.
She gradually thought of a possibility in her mind, maybe she was a reserve plane for the emperor's harem struggle, Shu Guifei was used to deal with the empress, and she and Yan Guipin were used to restrain Shu Guifei. If she hadn't been acting for so long and had become familiar to the emperor, she would not even have the chance to be a reserve plane.
Sometimes she would wonder what would happen if the emperor fell in love with a woman, but when she thought that this was the harem and not the legendary romance drama, she knew that even if as a woman she had a strong need for gossip, she had to know when to stop.
"Your Majesty, how could I have deserved such a reward..." Zhuang Luyan's eyes were slightly red, and her hand held in the emperor's palm was trembling slightly.
"Just rest and take care of yourself. I love you for no other reason. Don't overthink it." Feng Jin patted the back of her hand, wanting her to understand that he was not doing this for compensation.
The emperor is not a creature suited to the job of comforting people. How deceptive is this spirit of trying to cover up something that shouldn't be mentioned but still has to be mentioned?
Seeing Zhuang Yuyan's tearful smile, Concubine Jiang Xian, who was sitting with her, suddenly felt that even if Zhuang Yuyan was promoted, it was not something to be envied. At least, for a concubine who cared about the emperor and had a small child, this kind of compensation might be a kind of injury.
Suddenly, she lost interest in watching the scene of a concubine who was in love with a man who was ruthless. Concubine Jiang Xian stood up and saluted the two of them: "I think the emperor and Zhao Xiuyi still have a lot to talk about. I remember that I still have some things to do, so I will take my leave first."
Kong Cairen also stood up and asked to leave. Feng Jian did not try to persuade them to stay. He asked the two to leave and then said to Gao Dezhong beside him, "I will stay here at Zhao Xiuyi today."
Gao Dezhong wanted to remind the emperor that he had ordered Su Xiuyi's name today, but seeing the emperor's attitude, he knew he couldn't say more, so he stepped back and asked someone to prepare.
As soon as Concubine Jiang Xian and Concubine Kong reached the gate of Xihe Palace, they saw two eunuchs walking in with a few beautifying sticks in their hands. Concubine Jiang Xian had an impression of these two eunuchs, who served the emperor and were quite trusted by him.
"Hello, two masters," the two eunuchs followed the etiquette perfectly and did not show any negligence at all because the two men were not favored.
"No need to be so polite, eunuchs," Concubine Jiang Xian looked at the plum blossoms in the hands of the two men, "These plum blossoms are so beautiful. What are you doing?"
"My Lord Jiang, the Emperor was concerned about the fact that Master Zhao was unable to go out to enjoy the plum blossoms, so he asked me to select a few beautiful plum blossoms and place them in Master Zhao's palace to add to the scenery." The eunuch bowed, "I will report back now. I hope you two masters will forgive me for my negligence."
"The two eunuchs have important matters to attend to, so please proceed as you please," Concubine Jiang Xian watched the two eunuchs hurriedly enter the Xihe Palace. No wonder Zhao Xiuyi was attracted to the emperor, such favor was unique.
Holding the hand of the palace maid, stepping on the snow, it made a creaking sound, and there was an indescribable sense of loneliness. Kong Cairen breathed a sigh of relief, "Sister Jiang seems to have a very good relationship with Zhao Xiuyi."
"There is no such thing as good or bad in the harem," Jiang Xianpin held the already cold Tang Pozi in her arms, "Although Zhao Xiuyi is favored, she is not the best at scheming."
"Those who don't have any scheming in the harem are either dead or out of favor, just like my sister and I, women who have no favor and no status," Kong Cairen looked expressionlessly at the low-ranking palace maids who were struggling to sweep the snow in the distance, "Zhuang Yuyan was promoted from a fifth-rank Wanyi to a third-rank Xiuyi in less than a year. How could a brainless woman do that?"
"Even though she has some brains, she has a fatal flaw, which is that she has fallen in love with the emperor. She can't shake the empress and the concubine," Jiang Xianpin sighed, "Thanks to your sister's help when I entered the palace, I didn't die suddenly for no apparent reason. So I don't want you to ruin your life because of impulse."
"My life has been ruined since my sister and I were sent to the emperor," Kong Cairen said gloomily, "I can't let my sister die in vain, and her child can't die in vain. Even if I can't shake the empress and the concubine, I will bite them hard. You are good friends with my sister, and you have taken good care of me since she passed away. I remember all this in my heart, but there are some grudges that must be avenged."
"But why did you choose Zhuang Yuyan?" Concubine Jiang frowned. "Her weaknesses are too obvious. It's too dangerous for her to be in this harem."
"But Sister Jiang, have you forgotten that sometimes love can make a woman even more cruel?" Kong Cairen said with a complicated smile, "Besides, the dog that doesn't bark often bites the hardest."
Concubine Jiang Xian looked at Concubine Kong, but didn't know what else to say to comfort her.
Although it has been nearly twenty days since the birth, the emperor is not cruel enough to get into bed with Zhuang Luoyan at this time, so they are just chatting under the quilt.
Feng Jin held Zhuang Yuyan's waist, and the warm touch made him feel at ease. "Do you like the plum blossoms I sent you?"
"Your Majesty, you forgot that I am a vulgar person. I cannot appreciate the beauty of plum blossoms, but I do like their fragrance." Zhuang Yuyan snuggled into the emperor's arms. It was nice to have a human body to warm up in the winter. "But I heard that your Majesty likes plum blossoms and often goes to the plum garden to admire them."
"I, like my beloved concubine, like the scent of plum blossoms," Feng Jin coughed dryly, "As for its appearance, there is nothing special about it."
"Then Your Majesty and I are both vulgar people," Zhuang Yuyan said with a hint of excitement as if they were on the same path. "It turns out that I am not the only one who cannot appreciate the elegance and coldness of plum blossoms."
Although the tone was a bit rude at first, Feng Jin felt that it was better for the woman in his arms to be like this. The sad look she showed a few days ago made him feel upset.
Sure enough, he still likes energetic women, which is exactly what the women in the harem lack. Fortunately, Zhuang Yuyan has not lost this quality.
Of course, if Zhuang Yuyan knew the emperor's thoughts, she could only say that men have some masochistic genes in their bones, and if a woman is very nice to him, it is dull and lifeless. If a woman occasionally acts coquettishly and willfully in front of him, it is actually full of vitality.
What kind of insanity is this?
When Zhuang Luoyan was lying in the warm quilt and watching the emperor leave with a satisfied look on his face, she asked Tingzhu who came in later, "Tingzhu, whose cards did the emperor turn over yesterday?"
Tingzhu replied: "Master, it is Su Xiuyi."
Zhuang Luoyan suddenly realized that it was indeed Concubine Shugui's gang. Was the emperor doing this intentionally or unintentionally?
For women in the harem, some things are extremely shameful. For example, the emperor clearly picked your name card, but stayed with another woman.
Although Su Xiuyi was not the most favored in the harem, she was still favored by the emperor because of her beauty. In addition, she was the cousin of Concubine Shu Gui, so no one in the harem dared to embarrass her. Who would have thought that after losing such a big person today, the emperor would rather stay at Zhuang Yuyan's place who had a miscarriage than go to her palace. After this incident, I don't know how many people laughed at her behind her back.
Moreover, although she and Zhuang Luoyan are both cultivators, Zhuang Luoyan has a title while she only uses her surname as her name. Compared with the two, the latter is more honorable.
So when Su Xiuyi met Zhuang Yuyan for the first time after giving birth on the bluestone road outside the Empress' Palace, her face was not very pleasant.
"Isn't this Sister Zhao Xiuyi?" Su Xiuyi, who always had a bad temper, said with a fake smile, "Sister is having a baby, why don't you stay in the palace and rest, instead of coming out?"
"Hello, sister," Zhuang Luyan bowed softly, "The New Year is coming soon. I saw that it didn't snow today, so I came to pay my respects to the Empress."
"My sister has a good temper. I can't wait to see her. No wonder the emperor likes her." Su Xiuyi raised her eyelids with a hint of disdain. "Now she is talking about manners in front of the empress again. My sister has learned the rules really well."
"Thank you, sister," Zhuang Yuyan smiled slightly, "The Queen is the master of the harem, so we should go and pay our respects to her."
Not knowing who caused the empress to be divided into two powers, Su Xiuyi rolled her eyes, held the hand of the palace maid and stopped looking at Zhuang Yuyan, "Caixiu, let's go, your master is not that obedient, so naturally I can't stand these."
Zhuang Yuyan calmly watched Su Xiuyi enter the gate of Jingyang Palace before her, and smiled as she held Yunxi's hand, "Let's go."
She just didn't believe that with the emperor's desire for control, what happened today would not reach his ears.
Su Xiuyi is right. Sometimes, behaving well-behavedly can win people's favor. Otherwise, why would there be such a phrase as "to please others and show off one's kindness" in the world?