Harem Daily Life

Chapter 237 Concubine's Speculation

The Queen Mother initially focused on training Tao Yanyan because she had the potential to be a favorite concubine and could pull her son out of the vortex of Concubine Li. In addition, Tao Yanyan was a well-behaved person in her daily life. Over time, the Queen Mother also liked her and naturally treated her more kindly than other concubines.

Now seeing her standing in front of him with such grievance, he still couldn't bear it.

"You didn't tell the emperor because you were worried that he couldn't bear it. It seems that you still care about the emperor." After the empress dowager said this, she glanced at her son and saw that the silly boy's mouth curled up and he looked at her little Zhaoyi with a smile in his eyes.

The Queen Mother was so annoyed that she coughed and said, "Forget it. Considering that this is your first offense, I will forgive you this time, but a small punishment is still necessary. I will punish you to cook lunch for me every day until I leave for the palace."

The Queen Mother has decided that in five days she will go to the hot spring palace to continue her wintering and will not come back until March when spring comes and flowers bloom. So, Tao Yanyan will need to be the cook for another five days.

Tao Yanyan thanked her with a smile: "Thank you for your tolerance, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, today's lunch is ready. I'm afraid you're hungry after being delayed for a while. Why don't you move on and have your meal earlier?"

The Queen Mother nodded and looked at the Imperial Concubine: "I have been very busy recently, Imperial Concubine, taking care of the palace affairs. Please stay here for dinner today."

The Imperial Concubine had never expected that for such a crime of deceiving the emperor, the Virtuous Concubine would be demoted, while Tao Zhaoyi was unharmed. She was really angry.

But the Queen Mother had already made the punishment, and he could no longer refute it. He had to respectfully accompany the Queen Mother to dinner.

He Linzhang took Tao Yanyan's hand and said with a smile in his eyes: "You, always silently contribute to me behind my back, but never say anything. You have a big mouth, but don't you know how to seek credit and favor?"

Tao Yanyan: “…”

Can I just not bother to say it? I'm not in love.

"Haha, your majesty, it's enough for you to know my kindness. What's the point of talking about it? Well, the food is getting cold. Let's go over there. I made your majesty's favorite dishes today. Please use more."

He Linzhang felt even more relieved and personally took Xiao Zhaoyi's hand and went to the side hall.

During this meal, only the Imperial Concubine had no appetite. Looking at His Majesty and Concubine Tao sitting on the left and right of the Second Prince, looking like a happy family of three, the jealousy in her heart was like wild weeds growing wildly, popping up one after another.

Suddenly, she took a close look at the Second Prince's appearance, then looked at the Emperor carefully, and became more and more suspicious: This Second Prince was obviously an ordinary person who was brought back from the folks and had no relationship with the royal family, but why did he look more and more like Your Majesty?

Is it true that children in this world will look like the person they live with? Or is it just a coincidence?

The imperial concubine's mind was in a mess. She just ate lunch perfunctorily and then hurried back to her Qingyun Palace.

"Go check the records of His Majesty's daily favors to see which palace maids he has favored in the past five years." The imperial concubine asked Wenlan to check.

Her guess was that maybe His Majesty had favored an insignificant palace maid, and the maid left the palace, which led to His Majesty's bloodline being lost among the people. However, she herself felt that this idea was unlikely, and she went to check it out just to be at ease.

She was now second only to the Queen in rank among the concubines, but she had only one princess by her side. Although His Majesty often came to her Qingyun Palace to spend the night in the past few years, she had never gotten pregnant again. The imperial physician checked her pulse and said that she was in good health. She prayed to the gods and Buddhas a lot, but she had no luck in having children.

Now Shu Fei is pregnant, the Queen is pregnant, and De Fei has a son. If I don't get pregnant in the next few years, then there will be no chance. As you get older, your Majesty will come less and less often, and there will be only a few years left in your best years of childbearing.

If a biological son of His Majesty appeared at this time and was raised by the most favored Concubine Tao, it would be a fatal blow to her.

In a few months, Shu Fei and the Queen will give birth to children one after another. If they are all princes, it can be basically concluded that he will never have another chance in this life.

Wen Lan checked very quickly and reported that night: "Reporting to the queen, there is no record of a palace maid being favored in the past five years. Besides the queen who came out of the East Palace, among those who came in after the emperor ascended the throne, only Shu Fei is pregnant now, and Li Fei and Fan Liangyi had miscarriages before. The rest have never been pregnant."

The imperial concubine's heart dropped back into her stomach, and she asked in confusion, "Could it be true that the more they are raised, the more they resemble each other? Have you noticed that the Second Prince seems to be somewhat similar to Your Majesty?"

Wenlan thought about the child and said disdainfully, "Your Majesty, how could a child who was randomly adopted by the common people be your Majesty's bloodline? In my opinion, the child must have improved in temperament, so he looks a bit like a prince. Your Majesty, don't worry about him. The most important thing right now is the Queen's baby."

Wenlan's reminder made the imperial concubine even more anxious. She hesitated for a moment and said, "The people buried in Fengyi Palace should be used. It must be done carefully and we must not be implicated."

Wenlan nodded: "Don't worry, Madam. They were both placed beside the Queen in the East Palace. They have never been asked to do anything. Their relatives are all in Madam's hands. She knows that if something happens to them, they dare not reveal anything."

The imperial concubine waved her hand and asked Wenlan to go down and do it. After taking this step, she really could never turn back.

Tao Yanyan brought Xiao Jinan to play in the Empress Dowager's palace until very late before returning to Changle Palace. As soon as they entered the palace, they saw several boxes.

"What is this? Why is it placed here?" Tao Yanyan asked puzzled.

Mingyue smiled and said, "Reporting to Zhaoyi, this is the reward sent by His Majesty, Eunuch Zhang, to deliver it personally."

"All three boxes are rewards? What's in them? Open them and take a look."

Mingyue opened the boxes one by one. The first box contained two vases. She felt that the quality was comparable to those seen in the queen's bedroom, so she asked Xianglan to take them to the bedroom to display them.

The second box was opened, and there were several small boxes inside. Each small box was filled with exquisite jewelry.

"Eunuch Zhang said that His Majesty had these jewels made by the Bureau of Treasures a long time ago, but he didn't say who they were for before, but today they were all given to Zhaoyi." Mingyue joked as she spoke, "I didn't expect it took so long to save them up before giving them to Zhaoyi. Could it be that they originally wanted to give them to Zhaoyi on her birthday, but they just gave them to her earlier?"

Tao Yanyan was stunned: "My birthday?" He searched the original owner's memory in his mind and it seemed to be February.

Mingyue said with a smile: "Has Zhaoyi been too busy recently and almost forgotten to celebrate her birthday? But Zhaoyi's birthday is only celebrated once every four years, and February 29th is indeed a rare day."

No wonder Tao Yanyan didn’t remember it clearly, it turns out that he was born in a leap year!