Chapter 71 Long Live Your Majesty 7 The Land is So Beautiful
The fifth princess, Qi Min, was given the title of Princess Taiping by the original owner of the body.
Her mother was Consort Ren, the head of the four consorts.
Since the Fifth Princess is to be chosen as the Crown Prince, it is naturally inappropriate for her mother to still be a concubine.
As the saying goes, a mother's status rises with her son's; since he was already preparing to make Qi Min the crown prince, his mother would naturally be promoted one rank.
Not long after the edict to depose the crown prince was issued, before the court had even recovered from the shock, Qi Wang proposed to make Consort Ren the empress.
The four consorts had jointly managed the harem for many years and had become like sisters. However, now that Consort Ren was suddenly to be made empress, the other three consorts did not feel jealous, but rather found it strange.
After the late empress passed away, in order to preserve Qi Zhen's status as the legitimate son, Qi Wang never established an empress. Over the years, the harem has only had one concubine, Pei Cairen.
Everyone knows that His Majesty is a man of deep affection. He and the late Empress were childhood sweethearts and had a very deep relationship. Therefore, even though the late Empress has been gone for many years, the position of Empress remains vacant.
But now, first the Crown Prince has been deposed, then Consort Pei has been imprisoned, and then Consort Ren is to be made Empress.
These events, all coming together, left everyone with no choice but to overthink it.
"Sister Renfei, now that you are about to become Empress, has His Majesty told you anything that we sisters don't know?"
Although Consort Ren was over forty, she still looked elegant and dignified because of her good maintenance.
When Consort De asked her, Consort Ren shook her head and said, "I don't know either. Like my sisters, I only found out about this when the imperial edict of my investiture was delivered to me."
Consort Ren really didn't know anything. She was shocked when she was about to be made empress.
Who would have thought that she would remain a concubine for twenty years, and now her daughter is about to choose a husband, and she herself is going to become the empress?
If she had been young when she heard the news that she was to be made empress, Consort Ren might have been excited. But now she was over thirty years old and was about to become a grandmother. Her sudden appointment as empress filled her with fear, as if something beyond her control was about to happen.
The three women, including Consort De, were also frowning. It wasn't that they were jealous of Consort Ren's impending appointment as empress; they just felt that the matter was very strange.
Surely Her Majesty wouldn't go crazy just because the Crown Prince was deposed?
While others were unaware of why the crown prince had been deposed, the four of them knew very well.
The Crown Prince's residence was outside the palace. He entered the palace without imperial decree late at night, and even entered the inner palace. Consort Pei's imprisonment and the Crown Prince's deposition occurred around the same time.
They were women who had spent many years in the imperial harem; it would be strange if they couldn't see the shady dealings.
The Crown Prince is probably having an affair with Consort Pei.
The four of them weren't surprised that Consort Pei could do such a thing.
After all, Consort Pei had a very high opinion of herself. When she entered the palace, she was always jumping around and using some simple tricks to make her presence known.
However, the youngest concubine in the palace was almost old enough to be her mother, so naturally she wouldn't care about Consort Pei's scheming, which was obvious to everyone.
Originally, it was thought that Consort Pei had calmed down in the past two years and had grown up and learned to be more discerning. However, it turned out that she hadn't learned to be discerning, but rather had caused a major incident halfway through.
She had an affair with the Crown Prince and was caught in bed with him by the Emperor; she truly has no fear of death.
It's fortunate that the current emperor is merciful; otherwise, given what she did, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to exterminate her entire family.
The conversation among the four consorts originally revolved around the matter of Consort Ren being made empress, but as they talked, the topic veered towards Pei Yan.
When they talked about Pei Yan, their tone was filled with helplessness.
“I advised her not to enter the palace, but she said she had long admired His Majesty and wanted to enter the palace to serve him.”
"Yes, I also told her that His Majesty has deep affection for the late Empress, and apart from us concubines who entered the palace in the early years, His Majesty is not willing to take anyone else into the palace."
"If you regret it, you can tell His Majesty, and he will allow you to go home and promise you a good marriage."
When Pei Yan wanted to enter the palace, they took turns trying to dissuade her, but Pei Yan was determined to become a concubine.
She probably had a pipe dream that entering the palace would lead to instant success and the rise of her entire family, and she was fooled by the stories of favored concubines in the novels. She really thought that entering the palace would bring her the emperor's favor, and that she would have two children in three years, rising from the lowest-ranking concubine to the highest-ranking imperial concubine.
In reality, His Majesty is not interested in women. Although he treats all his concubines equally, this also makes it very difficult for them to be promoted.
Over the years, the ranks of the concubines in the harem have remained basically fixed. Except for Consort Ren, who suddenly became Empress, the ranks of the other concubines have not been promoted.
Whether they were promoted or not, it didn't really matter; the treatment wasn't much different anyway, so no one had any other thoughts.
The palace was lonely, and everyone was confined to the inner palace, unable to go anywhere else, but they knew these things before they entered the palace.
Pei Yan obviously knew this as well.
They tried to dissuade her, but she wouldn't listen and insisted on entering the palace.
However, after entering the palace, he couldn't stand the loneliness and ended up cuckolding the emperor.
Thinking of this, the four concubines sighed deeply, their expressions not very pleasant.
"She's still young and made such a mistake, so we helped her."
They felt a sense of shared fate and could empathize with Pei Yan, a young girl who had entered deep space, unable to see her parents and lacking the emperor's favor, and thus felt lonely.
But no one forced her to enter the palace; she should have known what the consequences would be.
If she wanted to leave the palace, she could have asked the Emperor or those other women; they could have found a way. But instead, she chose to have an affair.
It would be one thing if she were to commit adultery, but considering her young age, the Emperor might let her off the hook. However, she ended up getting involved with the Crown Prince.
The four concubines' expressions turned sour upon thinking of the deposed Crown Prince Qi Zhen.
The emperor only had one son, Qi Zhen. After Qi Zhen was deposed, who could ascend to the position of crown prince?
Could it be that the Emperor intends to adopt a member of the imperial clan?
However, the group suddenly remembered something and turned their gazes to Consort Ren.
Consort Ren was suddenly made Empress; could it be that she is pregnant...?
The other three concubines' gazes fell on Consort Ren's belly.
Concubine Ren: "..."
No, she's almost at the age where she'd be a grandmother, how could she possibly get pregnant?
These three people probably don't think she was made empress because she was pregnant, do they?
Consort Ren said with a wry smile, "Don't make wild guesses. I'm perfectly healthy. There's nothing like what you're thinking."
Consorts Deli, Yi, and Sanfei looked suspicious, but when they saw Consort Ren still eating iced cheese without any restraint, their suspicions vanished.
Indeed, it's unlikely that Consort Ren, at her age, could get pregnant. Moreover, the Emperor probably wouldn't abandon the deposed Crown Prince just because of a child whose gender is unknown.
"I wonder what about the deposed crown prince..."
Before Consort Yi could finish speaking, Consort Ren interrupted her: "Sister, be careful what you say. The inner palace must not interfere in politics. The affairs of the court are none of our business. All of you sisters should refrain from mentioning them again."
The three consorts, Deli, Yi, and Sanfei, also realized they had spoken out of turn, so they simply changed the subject and stopped mentioning the matter.
Qi Zhen was imprisoned in the imperial prison, but he still felt that he had a chance to turn things around. After all, he was Qi Wang's only son, and who else could be the crown prince?
Will Qi Wang make a member of the imperial clan the crown prince?
Obviously not.
So aside from his initial panic, he quickly regained his confidence.
Qi Zhen secretly resolved to teach Qi Wang a lesson. He had so easily deposed Qi Wang from his position as crown prince. If he wanted to regain his position in the future, he would have to make excuses and force Qi Wang to apologize.
Perhaps because of Qi Zhen's confident demeanor, the jailers in the imperial prison couldn't figure out what kind of person he was. They didn't want to mistreat him, so they chose a clean cell for Qi Zhen and served him good food and drink every day.
Even though Qi Zhen was the deposed crown prince, he still held the title of crown prince, so there was no guarantee that he could be reinstated at any time. Therefore, his treatment in the imperial prison was not too bad.
Pei Yan didn't receive such good treatment.
She was just a minor concubine from an unremarkable family. When she was thrown into prison, her hair was uncombed, her face unwashed, and her clothes were hastily put on.
The prison guards were experienced and knowledgeable; seeing her like this, they knew exactly what had happened.
Therefore, after entering the prison, Pei Yan's attitude plummeted.
She was furious, but still used the principle of equality for all and the argument that they couldn't insult her like that to deal with the jailers.
However, the jailers all burst into laughter upon hearing her words.
"You guilty woman, Pei, do you still think you're a high and mighty empress? You've committed a crime and been thrown into our court, so you're just a prisoner now. And you talk to us about equality? When you were living the high life in the palace, enjoying all the luxuries, why didn't you come here and talk to us about equality?"
"Now that they're in trouble, they suddenly remember that everyone is equal. How ridiculous!"
How could the jailers possibly listen to her words? They all did their best to mock her. If it weren't for the fact that she was a concubine, these jailers would probably have done something even more outrageous.
Without the system in hand and without the high and mighty status of a concubine, Pei Yan had nothing that could subdue these prison guards.
After realizing that he couldn't get anything out of these jailers, Pei Yan finally became obedient.
"You just wait and see. Fortune changes every thirty years. I'm now a fallen phoenix, worse than a chicken. You just wait and see how I soar to the heavens..."
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