The news in the palace has always spread like the wind, and at noon, Emperor Liu's concubine took the second princess to stay in Emperor Chu's Lingyun Hall for almost an hour, but a cup of tea has spread throughout the harem.

In the Zhaoyang Palace, in the apse where the queen lives, it is already full of messes.

Queen Duan sat on the edge of the couch panting with her hands down, and the exquisite tea sets that had been placed on the small table on the side were swept to the ground by her, and even her cuffs were stained with tea stains and a little yellow.

The palace maids waiting in the hall saw her suddenly angry, and they all trembled with fright, and subconsciously knelt down.

"The Queen?" The first-class palace maid beside the queen, Jinxiu, was in the side hall on the side, and took someone to check the case sent by the Inner Court Division this month, and when she heard the movement from here, she hurriedly put down the booklet in her hand and looked for it. "Look at the girl's clothes are dirty, let the slave wait for the mother to change clothes."

Jinxiu was born with a pretty goose egg face, and she was assigned to the queen to serve eight years ago. Because she is smart and eye-catching, and because Yahuan Lingyue, who married into the palace from the Zhenguo Mansion before, got grace to leave the palace to match someone, and Jinxiu, who happened to get the opportunity, soon became the first proud person around the queen.

Jinxiu helped the queen up, and the palace maids who were originally kneeling on the ground got her eyes, and immediately got up smartly and neatly picked up the tea cup fragments on the ground.

"Niangniang, when the imperial doctor came to treat you yesterday, he also specially said that your body will be well raised recently, just don't hurt your phoenix body." Jinxiu took a little palace maid and served the queen to change the dress soaked in tea.

"Even if my body is well raised, what is the use of it now?" The queen sat down and said with some dejection. "Although I am the queen, I have no concubine, but she Liu not only has His Majesty's eldest son, but also has a second princess who is more favored by His Majesty than all princes."

"Niangniang is thinking about it, no matter how high the status of the imperial concubine is, she is only His Majesty's concubine, where can she compare to the status of your main palace." Jinxiu stood behind the queen, stretched out her hand and gently pinched the queen's neck, while leaning over to comfort the queen softly. "Besides, isn't there His Royal Highness the Second Prince under the knees of Niangniang? The second prince has been raised and cared for under the knee of his mother since he was full moon, and now he is also very intimate and filial to his mother. ”

"Zhen'er is indeed a good boy." Speaking of the adopted son who has been raised under her knees since she was a child, the corners of the queen's mouth can't help but rise slightly. "It's a pity that he was born late, and there were already words coming out a while ago, Your Majesty has taken Xiao Yu, who was born to the Liu family, and began to take him hand in hand to familiarize himself with government affairs."

"Niangniang doesn't need to worry too much, His Royal Highness the Second Prince is only two years younger than the eldest prince, how much advantage can he take. Besides, His Royal Highness the Second Prince is still the adopted son of Niangniang, but when he grows up, he is afraid that His Majesty will not pay attention to it. Jinxiu poured a cup of tea and handed it to the queen. Besides, Niangniang is still young, as long as she can raise her body well, maybe Niangniang can also get pregnant and raise a sister-in-law. ”

The queen listened to Jinxiu's words, took the teacup she handed over and took a sip lightly, frowning slightly but not speaking.

Queen Duan was born in the Zhenguo Mansion, and she was carefully educated by her family since she was a child, and she was one of the best boudoir daughters in the capital when she was not married. In addition, Zhenguo Gong is also a proud person around the first emperor, so she was married by the first emperor when she turned fifteen, and married into the East Palace as the crown princess at the age of sixteen.

It's just that she hasn't been able to get pregnant for a long time, and there is still a vacancy in the side concubine position in the East Palace. So in the third year when she became the crown princess, the prince welcomed Liu Rong, the beloved young daughter of the eldest princess of Yongshou and now the eldest princess of Yongshou, into the palace.

When Liu Rong first entered the palace, her temperament was not as gentle and affectionate as it is now. When she did not enter the palace, she was the most pampered young daughter in the family, not only her parents regarded her as a palm bead, but even her brothers and sisters-in-law and sister liked her quite a lot, so it was inevitable that her temperament was a little pampered and rude.

At the beginning, the Shi clan also used his status as the main room to punish Liu Rong for copying the palace rules on the grounds that Liu Rong was disrespectful to the main room. But on the second day, the eldest princess of Yongshou entered the palace and scolded Duan, and even the first emperor said vaguely that Duan could not tolerate people, and Duan could only swallow his anger and exempt Liu Rong from punishment.

The eldest princess of Yongshou and the first emperor are brothers and sisters of the same mother, and the brother and sister have a very good relationship, so she has great prestige among the heavenly clans. As soon as Liu Rong entered the palace, she was the prince's side concubine, and she and the prince were also childhood sweethearts, and soon after entering the palace, she became pregnant with the eldest son of Emperor Chu, who was still the prince at the time. Xiao Yu was born and was given the name Xiao Yu by the first emperor.

Immediately afterwards, all the concubines and concubines in the imperial palace gave birth to heirs, but only the Duan family was unable to conceive for a long time, and finally had to adopt the son of the concubine Qin.

Immediately afterwards, the first emperor died of illness and Emperor Chu ascended the throne.

The crown princess Duan naturally became the queen and lived in Zhaoyang Palace, and the side concubine Liu Rong was named a noble concubine by virtue of Emperor Chu's favor and two sons under her knees.

After entering the palace for many years, Concubine Liu Guifei was still pampered, and she also gave birth to the first child after Emperor Chu ascended the throne. Although she is only a princess, she is favored by Emperor Chu and her status is far above that of the princes.

And Liu Guifei was also promoted to the imperial concubine because of her meritorious service in giving birth to the imperial heir again.

Concubine Liu has two sons and one daughter, and her eldest son Xiao Yu, who was born to Emperor Chu, is now the first among the princes to contact political affairs.

The queen didn't mention tactfully in front of Emperor Chu that Xiao Zhen was getting older, and he should also serve his father and relieve his worries, and Emperor Chu only rejected the queen's proposal on the grounds that Xiao Zhen was still young and young.

The queen's appearance is only in the middle and upper ranks in Emperor Chu's harem, and Emperor Liu's concubine has a beautiful face that captivates the country and the city. The queen is also self-aware, and she knows that there is not much chance of winning in the competition with Emperor Liu's concubine only by her own appearance and family background.

When she was still the crown princess, the queen supported the concubines Deng and Qin, as well as her own dowry maid Huan Chen.

But in the end, no one could win her Liu Huang Guifei.

"Niangniang, tomorrow is the fifteenth, and according to the usual harem concubines, they will come to greet you." Seeing that the queen didn't know what she was thinking, Jinxiu's face became more and more calm, and she spoke. "The slave maid thinks that tomorrow Niangniang might as well mention one or two of Emperor Liu's concubines, after all, Lingyun Hall is an important place for His Majesty to deal with court affairs and meet with officials of the previous dynasty, and Emperor Liu's concubine is just a woman in the inner palace, so it is naturally better to go less."

"Hey, speaking of which, although she has become more and more proud over the years, her temperament is much more restrained than when she first entered the palace." When the queen heard Jinxiu's words, she also thought about it carefully.

"Niangniang, His Royal Highness the Second Prince has come down." A palace maid came in to report.

"Niangniang, I'll help you out."

Jinxiu helped the queen to get up.

Xiao Zhen also moved out of Zhaoyang Palace early when he reached his age, but because Xiao Yu Zhuyu was in front of him, the queen didn't know how much he valued his schoolwork.

So every day after Xiao Zhen gets out of school, he has to return to Zhaoyang Palace. After having dinner with the queen, the queen had to take a test of his homework in person.

The harem concubines were supposed to go to the queen's Zhaoyang Palace every five days to greet her, but because of the weak body of the queen Duan's family who needed to take medicine all year round, it was changed to the first and fifteenth days of the new month, and the concubines would come to greet her.

Emperor Liu's concubine is high but not pampered and rude, and she is always the first to come to Zhaoyang Palace to order.

"The slave has seen the imperial concubine." got the news of his little palace maid, and went out to greet him diligently. "I didn't expect the imperial concubine to come so early today, the queen didn't sleep late last night, and she hasn't gotten up yet."

"It's my fault, I came early." Liu Rong, who was bright and proud when she first entered the palace, is now a soft and amorous concubine of Emperor Liu. She pursed her lips and chuckled. "If the mother is not well, get up slowly, I am here waiting for the queen mother."

"Then the Imperial Concubine is waiting outside." Jinxiu said with a smile.

After that, Jinxiu led the little palace maid into the palace again, and left Emperor Liu's concubine outside the palace in this way.

"Mother." Sui Hong, who was beside Emperor Liu, lowered her voice rather angrily, and whispered in the ear of Emperor Liu. "The weather is so cold, even if you want to let the mother wait for the queen to get up, you should invite the mother into the palace to wait, they are standing outside with the mother hanging like this, it is obvious that they are deliberately making things difficult for you."

"Now that we know they did it on purpose, there's no need to say anything more." Concubine Liu Huang rolled her eyes and said with a shallow smile. "This is the queen's Zhaoyang Palace, not my Yihua Palace, our masters and slaves have to be cautious in their words and deeds. It's just a cold wind blowing while standing, and I can still stand. ”

"Slaves and maids are not afraid of anything, but they are afraid of freezing your body."

"It's nothing, my body is so tight." The corners of Emperor Liu's lips turned up slightly.

Concubine Liu Huang deliberately arrived earlier today, and she stood outside the palace for almost half an hour before concubines came over one after another.

Some low-ranking little concubines, seeing that Emperor Liu's concubines were standing outside the hall and waiting, did not dare to enter the hall after stepping forward to greet her, and only stood on the other side with low eyebrows.

"Imperial Concubine." Concubine De, who was good friends with Emperor Liu's concubine, also arrived. "Why don't you go in and wait?"

"It's my fault, I came too early and disturbed the queen's sleep." Concubine Liu said with a smile to Concubine De. "The queen's mother is weak, and it is also possible to get up slowly, but the labor sisters are waiting for the mother to meet me outside."

Concubine De didn't laugh and said nothing, and the little concubines didn't dare to shout.

"I've seen the imperial concubine and the concubine." Concubine De and Concubine Liu were talking, and Concubine Chen also arrived.

Seeing that there were more and more concubines standing outside the hall, Jinxiu, who had been standing by the window to look at the situation, walked to the queen who had already gotten up and sat on the edge of the couch and said a word.

"Alright, I've got it all in here." The queen looked at the bronze mirror on the dressing table and helped the nine phoenix beaded hairpins on the sideburns. "Let them all in."

The position of Emperor Liu's concubine in the harem is only below the queen, and the concubines and concubines have asked the queen to say goodbye, and she sits on the left side of the queen.

"The concubines heard that the imperial doctors have recently entered a new health care recipe for the queen mother." As soon as she sat down, Concubine De took the lead in speaking. "I think that the prescriptions of the doctors will have miraculous effects, no wonder I see that Niangniang's complexion is really getting better."

"I've always been in poor health, but fortunately, the doctors in the hospital have served me with all my heart." The queen took the tea cup offered by Jinxiu and took a shallow sip. "I'm not in good health, but fortunately, the two of you have the imperial concubine and the concubine de to handle all the affairs of the harem, which saved me a lot of trouble."

"It's my duty to share my worries with Concubine De's sister, and my mother is tormenting the two of us when she says this." Emperor Liu Guifei laughed loudly.