"Thank you, Sister Maopin. I've always been in good health, so you don't have to worry about me."
If you look closely, you can notice that Concubine Li's hands are trembling slightly, which shows that she is not as calm as she appears to be.
"I'm glad you're okay. I was just worried that my sister, who has lived on the farm for so many years and is used to a simple life, would have trouble adapting to suddenly returning to the capital and living in the palace."
After saying this, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief to hide the smile on her lips.
Li's eyes flashed, but her face remained calm and she did not respond to her.
Ulanara, who was sitting at the top, saw all of this.
There was a smile on her brows, and her eyes fell on Wen who was drinking tea from a teacup.
"Imperial Concubine, you don't lack anything, do you?"
When the Wen family was mentioned, Li Guiren's gaze immediately fell on Wen Mianmian. There was a hint of sinisterness in her eyes, but she looked away after just one glance. No one noticed the resentment that flashed across her eyes.
Wen Mianmian didn't notice the look Li Guiren gave him just now. She seemed to have known that the Queen was going to mention her, and she leisurely took a sip of the tea in the cup.
Then she put it down leisurely and said calmly, "Don't worry, Queen, I have everything I need in my palace."
"That's good. The emperor loves you the most. I think he has considered everything for you." The queen's words made Wen Mianmian somewhat resentful.
However, Wen Mianmian did not take the Queen's words to heart.
She has gotten used to it over the years, and the Queen only uses these words to annoy her.
"I heard that the name of the Imperial Concubine's Guanju Palace was chosen by the Emperor himself, and the plaque was written by him himself. It can be seen that the Emperor has deep feelings for the Imperial Concubine." Niuhulu laughed softly.
He had no idea whether this was appropriate or not in this situation.
As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings suddenly became silent. Niuhulu looked around and realized that she seemed to have said something wrong. She pursed her lips, lowered her eyes and dared not say anything more.
He was afraid of accidentally offending the empress and the imperial concubine.
When the queen heard her words, the smile in her eyes and eyebrows faded a little.
"Today is the first day of paying respects. Please follow me to the Cining Palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager."
The group walked towards the Cining Palace in a mighty procession.
Cining Palace
"Greetings to the Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, may you be blessed with good health and happiness."
Led by the Queen, all the concubines knelt down and paid their respects.
After they finished their greetings, the Queen Mother smiled and said, "Okay, okay, all of you get up."
"Everyone, please sit down."
Everyone sat down in their seats.
"You are all elders from the Fourth Master's residence. I won't say much else. I just hope that you can all abide by your duties and refrain from doing anything that is detrimental to yourselves or the royal family..."
The Empress Dowager spoke at length, most of which were criticisms of them.
I hope they can behave themselves and not have any inappropriate thoughts. After all, this kind of thing is very common in the harem.
The fourth prince had just ascended the throne not long ago, and he didn't want anything bad to happen in the fourth prince's harem, as this would be greatly disadvantageous to him.
And she didn't want the fourth child's child to be in any danger.
As someone who has been through it and has lived in the palace for decades, she knows very well that the harem is a complicated place, like a big dye vat. Anyone who comes in will be infected with dirty thoughts.
Especially among the women of the fourth brother, Mianmian has the most children, and most of the others are childless. She is afraid that these people will become knives in the hands of others, and this knife will be swung towards the children, which is what she least wants to see.
"Your Highness and I will remember the Queen Mother's teachings."
“I hope you can really remember it.”
“…”
The Queen Mother did not keep them here for too long, and let them go back when she thought it was about time.
And tell them that from now on they only need to come to pay their respects on the first and fifteenth day of each month.
She doesn't want to be disturbed every day in the future, she finds it noisy.
After hearing what the Empress Dowager said, everyone stood up and left tactfully.
However, the queen did not leave immediately. She had something to talk to her mother alone.
Seeing that everyone else had left but the Queen hadn't left, the Queen Mother's eyes fell on them and asked, "Does the Queen have anything else to do?"
"I do have something I want to discuss with you, Mother."
The Queen Mother looked at her without saying anything, then stood up and walked inside.
The queen quickly followed.
The Queen Mother sat down in front of the warm couch, looked at her and pointed to the seat next to her, "Sit down and talk."
"Thank you, mother."
After the queen sat down, she spoke out what was in her mind.
"Mother, this is what I think. The emperor has just ascended the throne, and all the sisters in the harem are from the mansion."
"Besides, the emperor hasn't had any new companions in many years. I'm thinking of holding a beauty pageant to inject some fresh faces into the harem." The queen finished her thoughts with a smile.
This was something she had thought of a long time ago.
As long as my mother agrees, it will be easy to deal with the emperor. The harem thanks the sisters, and maybe I can even get a share of the favor of the imperial concubine. After all, no matter how well the imperial concubine takes care of herself and how young she looks, she is still different from a young girl.
He believed that the emperor would definitely be attracted to a young woman of his age.
This Imperial Noble Consort has enjoyed favor for too many years. If this continues, she has so many sons. If she just whispers a few words to the Emperor, the Emperor might make her child the Crown Prince. What will happen to her Honghui then?
She could still fight for one or two sons for Honghui, but she was not sure about the crown prince. She had only one son, while the imperial concubine had seven or eight sons. This was really enviable.
So she couldn't let the Imperial Noble Consort's family dominate.
The Empress Dowager looked at her meaningfully and asked, "Have you told the Emperor about this?"
The queen really can't hold back for a moment. After arranging the talents in the palace, she wants to prepare for the selection.
Being too eager for quick success and instant benefits will only hurt others and yourself in the end.
The Queen's face froze, and she shook her head, "Not yet. Your Majesty is so busy with affairs of state that I dare not disturb His Majesty with such trivial matters."
This kind of thing has always been handled by the Empress Dowager and the Queen. After all, the Emperor is so busy every day, so there is no need to tell him about things like the selection of concubines.
"I think the Queen should discuss this with the Emperor first. Although I am the Emperor's mother, there are some things you still have to discuss between yourselves."
After she finished speaking, she yawned and said, "It's too early to get up, it's easy to feel sleepy. Queen, please go back. I'll go in and lie down for a while."
After saying this, the Queen Mother went straight into the inner room, obviously not wanting to continue talking about this with her.
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