Chapter 88 Chapter 88 Concubine Shu's Day
Time flies. It is the sixth year of Ji Chen's reign. As the summer is still hot, he follows last year's arrangement to hunt and escape the heat.
In the seventh year of Jingming, it was the three-yearly selection. Ji Chen cancelled the selection on the grounds that it was a waste of money and time, and only recruited some palace ladies through a minor selection.
The three families behind the Empress, Consort De and Consort Xian naturally did not want anyone else to enter the palace to give birth to a prince, so they all supported it. The rest of the people, seeing that Consort Zhaoyi was still the favorite in the palace, also gave up the plan of sending girls of marriageable age in their families into the palace. As for those who were unwilling to accept it, there were some, but their voices were small, so Ji Chen put the memorial on hold and the matter passed.
However, although there was no beauty contest, Ji Chen took this opportunity to improve the status of concubines in the harem.
The positions of Defei and Xianfei remained unchanged, Shen Qing was given the title of Shufei, Lanpin was promoted to Xiurong, a second-rank official, and became the mistress of Jingyang Palace, Linpin was given the title of Lin Guipin, and because Jingyang Palace already had a mistress, Lan Xiurong, she moved to Xianfu Palace and became the mistress of Xianfu Palace.
Li Jieyushi, who gave birth to the third prince, was promoted to noble concubine. However, although she became an empress, she did not move away from Concubine De's side, and even the third prince was still raised by Concubine De.
Concubine Yan became Concubine Yan.
Concubine Chu's family had made great contributions in the previous dynasty, and was granted the title of concubine, which put her on an equal footing with Concubine Yan. Concubine Xuan, who had been a noble since entering the palace, performed well and was promoted to Concubine Xuan.
After this, Concubine Chen was given the title of Jieyushi, and Concubine Zhang, who was close to the queen, was given the title of Guiren.
The positions of Concubine Yu, Concubine Jiang, and Concubine He remain unchanged.
Some of the other beauties, talented ladies, and concubines in Baolin were promoted to a higher rank, while others remained unchanged.
The palace maid who brought the good news came to Chengqian Palace first. Although Shen Qing already knew that she had become a concubine, she couldn't help but be happy at this moment. She asked Bai Tao to reward the palace maid who brought the good news with silver, and also rewarded the palace maid in Chengqian Palace with six months' salary.
This is Concubine Shu!
When Ji Chen's mind was unclear, Shen Qing also thought that her position might remain unchanged, or she might only be given the title of concubine. As for the vacant positions of Noble Consort and Shu Consort among the four concubines of Noble, Shu, De and Virtuous, she had never even thought about it.
Concubine De and Concubine Xian have been accumulating power in the palace for a long time and are raising princes. What can she use to suppress them?
But now she has figured it out. She is the emperor's favorite concubine, so there is no such thing as appropriate or inappropriate. As long as the emperor thinks she is suitable, she will be suitable in any position.
When she thought about sitting in front of Concubine Xian when paying her respects, and not having to bow to Concubine De and Concubine Xian, and not having to listen to their knocking, she felt relaxed both physically and mentally.
Shufei is good, but if she takes one step forward, it will be too much, and if she takes one step back, she will be unhappy.
Afterwards, Shen Qing received the news that Concubine Lan became Xiurong and Concubine Chen became Jieyushi, which were both jumps. Since the two of them were good friends with her, she was naturally very happy.
There were many concubines who were canonized this time, and the harem was bustling for a whole month before the atmosphere calmed down.
After being surprised at first, Defei and Xianfei gradually accepted that Shen Qing became Shufei. The emperor made great promotions to the concubines in the harem this time, and even promoted Li Jieyushi, Chu Guiren, and Linpin around them. They knew that this was a setup for Shufei.
Since they were able to be promoted even though they were not favored, why couldn't Shen Zhaoyi become a concubine?
If Shen Qing had not failed to raise the prince and princess, she would probably have been more than just a concubine, but also a noble concubine.
It was only a matter of time before Shen Qing's position surpassed theirs, but being suppressed would make anyone upset.
What's more, Concubine Shen Shufei had already defected to the Queen and showed closeness to the eldest prince. If this continued, it was hard to guarantee that the Emperor would not favor the eldest prince because of Concubine Shen.
The summer of that year was not that hot, so no one went to the Mountain Resort to escape the heat.
However, as all the masters stayed in the palace for the summer, ice became in short supply. Concubine Jiang made a big fuss because her ice was withheld, but she had the support of the Empress Dowager and the Virtuous Concubine, so how could she be the one missing out?
The Queen is in charge of the harem. If this matter is not thoroughly investigated, she will be accused of dereliction of duty. There is no reason to let it go easily.
After checking thoroughly, they found that the ice in the Second Prince's share was not enough, so the people below took the initiative to move the ice from Concubine Jiang.
After finding out the truth, He Cairen lowered his eyes and was unusually low-key.
The virtuous concubine, who originally just wanted to watch the show, suddenly felt humiliated. She was the one who raised the Second Prince, Concubine Jiang was her person, and even the person who moved the ice secretly was from her palace.
The virtuous concubine glared at Lady Jiang fiercely, thinking that it was just a matter of ice being missing, was it necessary to make such a big fuss?
This year is not as hot as previous years.
When Concubine Jiang heard that the Second Prince, the favorite of Concubine Xian, was involved, she began to panic. She originally just wanted to expose the Queen's mistakes in managing the harem so as to divide the palace power with Concubine Xian.
If the virtuous concubine had been in charge of the six palaces, she would not still be a beauty this year.
Look at Concubine Zhang who was beside the Queen. She had no ability at all, but she just flattered the Queen and was promoted from a talented lady to a noble lady.
And now this beauty has to pay her respects to Concubine Zhang.
Concubine Jiang couldn't blame the emperor for not remembering her. She could only think it was the queen's fault. If she had mentioned her to the emperor, wouldn't the emperor have promoted her?
This year is the most generous one by the emperor. It is not known when he will confer titles on the six palaces next time.
She has been thinking about this for a long time. If the ice in her allotment, which is already small, is deducted, she will definitely make a fuss, right?
Shen Qing observed the expressions of Concubine Xian, Concubine He, and Concubine Jiang, then turned his gaze to the Queen.
I saw the Queen tapping her fingers lightly, and I knew that she was aware of the situation.
She realized something was wrong when she heard it just now. There were only three princes in the palace, and it was not enough for them. How could the second prince not have enough ice?
Then he thought that He Cairen was the Queen's person, and she could instigate Concubine Jiang to cause trouble so that the Second Prince's ice would be consumed faster. It would be done by just doing something.
Therefore, it is not difficult to guess that the Queen and He Cairen conspired in this matter.
After this incident, Concubine Xian would no longer trust Concubine Jiang, and Concubine He successfully became Concubine Xian's closest person.
As for Concubine Lin, she had been the invisible person beside Concubine Xian for a long time.
Concubine Xian was too impulsive and reckless. Although she was hard to guard against, it was easy to deal with as long as we knew what she did. The Queen had Concubine Xian in her control, which was equivalent to having Concubine Xian in her control. The only one she needed to guard against was Concubine De.
Shen Qing glanced at the queen and then looked away.
This farce came to an end. The Queen said, "The Concubine Xian was not strict in disciplining me in this matter. How could she allow a servant to embezzle the master's share? Even if the Second Prince still doesn't have enough, he should report it to me. As a mother, would I be short of ice for the Second Prince?"
"Xian Fei, you are really confused."
The Queen's words made Concubine Xian feel extremely disgusted. She sneered, glanced at Concubine Jiang, and left in a huff.
The queen rubbed her forehead upon seeing this. Since the emperor did not enter the harem, the concubines would naturally not be angry. However, the virtuous concubine became even more arrogant because of her cousin relationship with the emperor.
Except that he was inferior to Shen Qing.
Seeing this, He Cairen said softly, "The Concubine Xian has not been sleeping well these past few days and has a bad temper. Please don't blame her, Empress. Now that the matter is over, I will take my leave first."
The Queen glanced at Concubine Jiang who had already frozen in place, and said indifferently, "You are being considerate of Concubine Xian. Go ahead."
He Cairen left the hall and hurried after Concubine Xian.
Defei sneered, and it was not known whether she was lamenting that Xianfei had He Cairen, the mother of the Second Prince, who was loyal to her, or something else.
Even if Shen Qing knew the truth, he would not say much. Seeing that the matter was settled, he and Defei went to the Queen one after another to take their leave.
Not long after Shen Qing came out of Kunning Palace, Concubine Chen caught up with her.
The sedan chair landed, and Shen Qing and Concubine Chen left together.
Concubine Chen said, "Your Majesty, there is news about Concubine Yu and Concubine Yan, whom you asked me to keep an eye on. Concubine Yan seems to be controlled by Concubine Yu."
Shen Qing looked surprised: "What do you mean?"
Concubine Yan's position is higher than that of Concubine Yu. No matter how capable Concubine Yu is, she cannot threaten the position of a concubine.
"Every time Concubine Yan leaves Concubine Yu, she has to make some moves. Without Concubine Yu's guidance, Concubine Yan would never be able to figure out those things. And from what I see, Concubine Yu seems to still have people in this palace to command."
"Although their actions are small now, they may be detrimental to the Empress in the future."
Shen Qing pondered: "I know."
She had asked Concubine Chen to pay attention to Concubine Yu and Concubine Yan two years ago, but she didn't expect that they would remain so well-behaved until now.
But it's also true that the combined status of the two of them is not enough to deal with her.
The higher the position, the greater the power. Shen Qing can already guarantee that there is absolutely no one else standing behind the palace servants of Chengqian Palace.
In this case, how can others take action?
Shen Qing knew that she was eye-catching. Although she looked like a bunch of flowers, she was actually a hot commodity. As long as there was a chance, she didn't believe that others would not be tempted to pull her down.
"Chen Jieyu, you have done a great job on this matter. No matter what you want, just ask me."
Concubine Chen smiled and said sincerely, "I have nothing to ask for. As long as the queen and Sister Lan are well, I will feel relieved."
Lan Xiurong is a slow-witted person and knows nothing. So, she has to listen to Shen Qing.
Only if Empress Shufei is well, will she and Lan Xiurong be well, and only then will the three of them be well.
They had long shared prosperity and adversity, and she didn't believe that the emperor had made her a concubine for no other reason than Shen Qing's.
After talking with Concubine Chen, Shen Qing remained on guard silently, but until the turn of the year, it was already March of the following year, and there was still no movement from Concubine Yu and Concubine Yan.
In Chengqian Palace.
The eldest prince Ji Can, with his short legs twitching, ran into Chengqian Palace, followed by four eunuchs.
"Madam Shu, Can'er is here!"
Shen Qing, who was lying in a rocking chair in the yard holding a book and wearing a pink brocade blanket, curled her lips when she heard the words. She put down the book, stood up and took a few steps, then Ji Can, who was running towards her, grabbed her legs.
Shen Qing smiled, squatted down, and gently wiped the sweat from Ji Can's forehead with a handkerchief: "Little Prince, run slower. Madam Shu welcomes you anytime."
Ji Can took a deep breath, his eyes full of anticipation: "Madam Shu, please take Caner to the Imperial Garden to play."
The Queen Mother would not let him wander around the palace, even with eunuchs following him. The Queen Mother could not spare the time to accompany him, and even if she had time, she would only be concerned about his schoolwork. But it would be different with Concubine Shu taking care of him. The Queen Mother would be very relieved.
Shen Qing couldn't bear to refuse the little guy's request, so he resigned himself to his fate and said, "Okay, Madam Shu, take the little prince down. The flowers in the imperial garden should be blooming now."
When Ji Can smiled, he knew that Madam Shu treated him well!
Although Lady Zhang was a good person, she was always reserved when facing him, but he understood that this was a sign of respect for him.
He liked Empress Shu and Concubine Zhang, but he liked Empress Shu more.
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