Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Palace Maid for Forty-Five Days
"Why?"
Shen Qing did not look up to observe Ji Chen's expression, but the voice sounded calm, as if it was just an ordinary inquiry, so he was not very scared.
Little did she know that Ji Chen's hand on her back paused, veins bulged, and he changed to holding her.
Shen Qing complained in his heart that Cairen was only higher than Baolin. There were many beauties, noble ladies, imperial concubines and imperial concubines above it. He had to perform formalities when he saw most of the concubines in the harem. The house he lived in was not big either. If it was far from Kunning Palace, he had to pack up before dawn in the morning. There was no sedan chair to ride in, so he had to walk. His feet would be sore from walking back and forth.
In addition to having many palace maids to order around, she had to count her own meal portions on her fingers. She had no money from her parents' home, so when her expenses increased, she had to live frugally.
As for rewards, one has to please the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, or the Empress, or have made contributions. If there is a palace seal on it, it cannot be exchanged for silver at all. If it is an imperial gift, it has to be placed in the house, and one can't wait to burn three incense sticks every day to show piety.
The only extra income might be the gifts from other concubines when she gets promoted. But it is not only difficult to get promoted in the palace, but does it mean that I don't have to give gifts to other concubines when they get promoted? I have to pay them back, and in the end, all my hard work is in vain.
Besides, other concubines competed for favor for the sake of their families, but the Shen family did not need her to compete at all. The only connection between the Shen family and the officialdom was that a relative-in-law was an official in the court. When Shen Qing was studying at the Shen family school, he had seen the young man and young lady sent to study at the Shen family school by that relative-in-law. However, they were only the sons of minor officials, and he did not even try to hide the fact that they were the sons of minor officials. In his words and deeds, he looked down on the Shen family as merchants.
Not to mention that her family was separated from the Shen family.
Yes, the emperor might be a little obsessed with her now, but this is all based on her youth and beauty. Now that he has succeeded, he has grown tired of her and has found someone new. Maybe he even forgets her name.
Why are the concubines in the palace so anxious to get pregnant? Isn't it because they are afraid that when they are old and ugly, they will not even have a prince or princess to accompany them.
When the palace fighting is finally over and she survives to the end, the new emperor ascends the throne and the game is settled, all the concubines, except the empress dowager, will be thrown into one palace and live next to their hypocritical sisters and sisters to make room for the new emperor's concubines. There will be a lot of crying then.
As for giving birth to a prince, waiting for the prince to be crowned as king and then taking the mother away? But the emperor's fertility seems to be not good. In such a long time, he has only had two pregnancies.
Instead of pinning her hopes on this, it would be better for her to wait until she is 25 and is released from the palace. By then, with her beauty and the wealth she has accumulated in the palace over the years, she will surely find a suitable man.
Being an emperor is just for fun, but talking about feelings? There is really no need.
Shen Qing sincerely said: "The position of a talented person is too low. If I want to be a concubine, I will be the main concubine."
Her breathing was still a little unstable, but she grabbed Ji Chen's clothes and finally finished her words. The last syllable of her words was upturned, and you could imagine her proud chin up without having to strain your eyes to see her face.
"You have great ambitions." Strangely, Ji Chen's heart calmed down. He did not feel unhappy about being rejected at all. Instead, a smile appeared in his eyes. "But I will not agree to it."
Shen Qing puffed up her cheeks, she knew it!
Men, if you refuse directly, they will feel hurt, but if you raise the conditions, they will feel that they can agree, but they are unwilling to do so because the price is too high.
The other party is the emperor, so Shen Qing can only hand the initiative back and let Ji Chen make the choice.
Ji Chen was too stingy with his position. He had doted on Du Mingyi for two years, and the highest she could do was a concubine. He coveted Lu Yunmei's beauty, but when she had just entered the palace and could become a noble, he made her a beauty...
If the emperor could make her the main queen, live in a big palace, wear countless beautiful clothes, and have endless jewelry, Shen Qing would be crazy about it.
But it was obvious that Ji Chen was not sincere. Since she was a palace maid, he felt it was appropriate to give her the position of a talented woman, thinking that she would be grateful.
If the person he was facing now was the daughter of an official, she would definitely not be just a talented person.
After all, it was because her status was not high enough and Ji Chen didn't like her enough.
"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?" The person in his arms didn't say a word, as if he was in a bad mood. Ji Chen could only speak helplessly.
There was an indescribable doting in his voice, but Shen Qing would never be fooled by this illusion.
Shen Qing snorted: "Tired."
Before this, she had never realized how weak she was. Ji Chen was too fierce. She thought he was going to bite her to death. Now her mouth was still very sore.
Because this is a breather after a crazy kiss, even if you are spoiled at this time, it is allowed.
Some people may even find it pitiful and cute.
Ji Chen laughed, changed the position of the person in his arms, let her sit on him, and looked down at Shen Qing who was so exhausted that she buried herself in him, with only her hairy head exposed. She was not lying.
I'm really tired.
As smart as he is, how could he not see that Shen Qing was implicitly refusing him, but he could not give the position of the master directly.
There is no need to discuss this topic any further, because in the end, it will all end in a bad mood.
He couldn't give her what she wanted, and she didn't want to be just a talented person.
Ji Chen skipped over the matter and said, "Since you are tired, go to sleep."
After hearing what Ji Chen said, Shen Qing, who had no strength left, really felt sleepy. His eyelids gradually drooped, and the frequency of his blinking became slower and slower, and finally he fell asleep on the dragon bed.
Ji Chen placed her at the innermost part of the dragon bed, took out a quilt and gently covered her with it. From this position, if you didn't look carefully, you couldn't tell that there was someone hiding here.
Ji Chen lay beside Shen Qing, and even though he was wide awake, he wanted to sleep with him for a while.
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When Shen Qing woke up, it was already noon. When he sat up, he still had no idea where he was. It was not until he saw the dark patterns on the bed curtains that he held his head and recalled what had happened before he went to bed.
She stood up and walked a few steps towards the bed. She was surprised at the size of the dragon bed and was thinking about how to leave the Palace of Heavenly Purity quickly.
Her clothes were wrinkled and no longer fit to wear, her hair was disheveled and her jade hairpin was broken. Shen Qing couldn't help but look worried.
Fortunately, she and the emperor should have reached a tacit understanding, and Ji Chen should not mention making her a concubine again.
Just treat it as being bitten by a dog today. Ji Chen has a good face and he can use it to commit crimes without suffering any loss.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing got off the bed and found several trays beside her. On them were new clothes of the same style as hers, new shoes, as well as jade hairpins and a complete set of headdresses.
The jade hairpin was naturally not her original one, and she didn't know where the broken one had gone. She looked for it in the place where the jade was broken, but couldn't find it, and she couldn't help feeling depressed.
A copper basin filled with clean water was placed on one side, as were various types of hair combs. In Ji Chen's bedroom was a large copper mirror that was so bright that one could see through it.
After washing and changing into new clothes, Shen Qing looked in the bronze mirror and found that she looked no different from that morning, so she got ready to leave.
As soon as she stepped out of the bedroom, Qian Ji, who was waiting, led her out and explained as they walked: "The emperor is meeting with ministers now, and has ordered me to send you back."
Shen Qing was amused and blushed: "Why should we be so rude to each other? I am still a palace maid now, there is no difference between us. As long as you can tell me when the time is right, I will be grateful."
She returned Qian Ji's words exactly as they had been said.
Qian Ji led her away from some people in the Palace of Heavenly Purity and smiled slightly: "Okay."
He saw that Shen Qing was about to marry into a wealthy family, but what puzzled him was that the emperor still ordered him to prepare palace maid's clothes for Shen Qing, but Shen Qing actually slept on the dragon bed in the Qianqing Palace. He didn't believe that nothing had happened.
This is a treatment that even the concubines in the harem do not have.
How could he not lower his position?
Shen Qing followed Qian Ji and didn't dare to stick her head out to look. She didn't catch a glimpse of Wang Jigui and Wang Ding out of the corner of her eye. It had been a long time since she last saw them. She even broke the jade hairpin that Wang Jigui had given her.
Even if Ji Chen compensated for one, it would be different from hers.
Shen Qing asked Qian Ji: "Do you know where the broken jade hairpin in the bedroom is? I want to take it back and fix it."
Broken jade can be fixed by inlaying jade with gold.
Qian Ji shook his head: "Never seen it before."
As one of the very few people who knew the inside story, he naturally knew what the broken jade hairpin on the floor of the bedroom meant. He also knew the deep displeasure and relief of having removed the obstacle revealed in the emperor's words when he asked him to dispose of the broken jade hairpin.
Even though Shen Qing had an affair with the eunuch in front of the emperor, the emperor still liked her, but he probably didn't mention anything about Eunuch Wang in front of Shen Qing, so Shen Qing was thinking about the jade hairpin.
Shen Qing sighed, thinking that the palace maid had thrown the things away when she entered the bedroom to clean, so she said, "Could you please ask the palace maid who cleans the bedroom in the Palace of Heavenly Purity to see where it was thrown away."
Qian Ji was puzzled: "Is the jade hairpin important?"
Didn't the emperor repair it with a jade hairpin with better water head? The original one was broken into several pieces. Even if it was repaired, it would not look good and could not be worn. Why bother?
"It's important, because it's someone else's intention." Shen Qing's little face was full of solemnity.
Qian Ji agreed: "I'll try and ask."
Shen Qing was overjoyed and thanked repeatedly.
Qian Ji sent her to Kunning Palace and then they parted. When Shen Qing returned to the eldest prince, she found Qi He there.
Seeing her come back, he was slightly puzzled: "Where have you been?"
Then he said thankfully: "Fortunately, the Queen didn't ask, otherwise you would not be able to escape the crime of dereliction of duty."
Shen Qing was completely relieved. Others did not notice the change in her body, so she said, "I came back from the Cining Palace and felt very sleepy, so I found a place to take a nap for a while."
"Thank you, Sister Qiehe, for helping me!"
Qi He said with relief, "It's good that nothing is wrong. As for the eldest prince, the Empress held him in her bedroom for a while this morning. When she saw that the eldest prince was sleepy, she handed him over to the wet nurse. With the wet nurse taking care of him, there is nothing wrong with the eldest prince."
In other words, when Qie He saw that she didn't show up, he helped to keep an eye on her for the whole morning, but no one noticed that she was missing.
Shen Qing was so moved that she didn't know what to say. She flattered him, "I have nothing to repay you with, so I can only pledge my love to you."
Qie He couldn't help laughing, holding her hand and saying, "Let's go, after seeing the eldest prince, go to the kitchen to eat. I asked someone to leave you your favorite food."
"Um!"
The maidservant beside the queen can order food in the small kitchen, can a talented person do the same? !
December is the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. Time flies and soon it is the end of the month, the last day of the twelfth month, New Year's Eve.
All the concubines in the palace rushed to the Qianqing Palace to attend the New Year's Eve banquet.
Considering that the eldest prince was still young, the queen did not take him away. Shen Qing, four wet nurses, sufficient manpower, and an imperial physician to prevent accidents stayed in Kunning Palace.
Qie He asked the Queen to let her stay in Kunning Palace. The Queen thought that there was nothing to do at the banquet and it would be enough to have Qing Gu and Xuan Cao around, so she nodded in agreement.
After the queen's procession left, Qie He winked at Shen Qing.
Shen Qing was slightly stunned. Qi He stayed for her, but when she thought of the relationship between Qi He and Wang Jigui, she knew that maybe something happened to Wang Jigui.
Sure enough, not long after the queen left, Qie He said, "I'll look after this for you. Eunuch Wang said that he wants you to go to the pavilion on the north side of the Imperial Garden at 12:00 p.m. to discuss something important."
Shen Qing nodded and agreed: "Okay."
Before the hour of Xu arrived, Shen Qing put on a hooded cloak and went out carrying a lantern.
At this time, everyone was at the palace banquet, and there were few people on the palace road.
Soon, she arrived at the Imperial Garden and walked towards the pavilion on the north side. Then, she heard a voice: "Second Prince, please respect yourself!"
It was Concubine Yan's voice. What Shen Qing didn't know was that tonight, the three princes of the late emperor were respectively named Prince Li, Prince Wen, and Prince Xin by the emperor.
But from Concubine Yan's words, we can also tell who this Second Prince is.
Shen Qing quickly blew out the lamp in his hand. Curiosity got the better of him, and he tiptoed towards the direction where the sound came from.
Although a few lights were on in the Imperial Garden, it was still dark and many places were still pitch black, without even the moonlight.
Perfect for eavesdropping.
Unfortunately, someone had the same idea as Shen Qing. Shen Qing had just found a good place to hide when he glanced out of the corner of his eye and found that the corner of a robe hanging behind the rockery on the other side looked so familiar.
She looked up and met the gaze of the two people opposite her. Her eyes widened and she was stunned.
It was the emperor, and the person following him was not Qian Ji, but Wang Jigui.
Ji Chen saw someone who had squatted there at some point, curled up into a snow-white ball, with the red plum blossoms on his cloak adorning him, making him look very delicious. The anger on his face subsided a little.
Wang Jigui slowly shook his head at her, meaning that things had changed and she should not act rashly.
Shen Qing immediately covered his mouth, indicating that he understood and promised not to reveal that the two were here.
There was an error in the information transmission, but Wang Jigui couldn't help but smile.
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