The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

[The position table is in the first chapter. The stupid author took out his brain and put it here.]

[I just realized that someone mentioned the question of the name Liu Hongshi. I know that in ancient times, people would not use the husband's surname. This is actually the abbreviation of Liumen Hongshi. Why is it written like this? It's because of some of my personal grievances...]

text:

It was midsummer, and the heat had silenced the cicadas' chirping. The palace maids in Chuxiu Palace, who were holding sticky nets to catch cicadas, hid in the shade of the trees, poking their heads into the leaves and lazing around. But the wind carried the whispers of the girls waiting to be selected.

"Sister, have you seen that person?" The woman who spoke was pretty, wearing a sky-blue dress, and there was a hint of anticipation in her expression.

The woman opposite her shook her head: "I don't even know if it's her. If I were her, I wouldn't dare to come here and embarrass myself. Tsk tsk...There are so many women who have divorced in this world, but this is the only one who has gone to court with her ex-husband. But she is shameless and knows how to flirt with others. She even squeezed in during the last round of selection and wanted to enter the palace with the daughters of honest families like us. God is really blind."

"I don't know how to seduce Your Majesty..." The woman lowered her voice, not noticing that the young sister in front of her was hesitant to speak. She turned her head and glanced viciously in the direction of the figure she had seen before, but was caught off guard and saw a familiar bright red skirt.

The skirt was bright red with an image of a magpie climbing a tree branch embroidered on it, which looked as if alive. Especially the black pearls that served as the magpie's eyes. Although as small as rice grains, they sparkled like a pair of living eyeballs, making the woman shiver all over.

"Your Majesty, please don't worry about how I seduced you." The man stood behind her and listened for an unknown period of time, but there was no sound.

The young lady surnamed Meng was wearing a moon-white dress, and she and the man beside her were just able to put on a posture of not interfering with each other: "Madam Zhou... Oh no, Madam Xie came at the right time. She was always eavesdropping on others. No wonder she was born in a poor family and has no education."

Xie Yuzhen had painted bright red lips, and her eyes were as soft, round and innocent as a cat's, but with a charming arc at the end of her eyes. Her long and thick eyelashes blinked, like a butterfly fluttering lightly on the bright red flower ornaments she had deliberately drawn at the end of her eyes. She covered her lips and smiled: "Although my family is small, I don't have the upbringing to talk about people behind their backs. But I heard that the Meng family has been a family of integrity for generations, and all the gentlemen and ladies are first-class talents..."

The sarcasm in her words was not concealed at all, and Meng Yanshou's cheeks gradually turned red with shame: "You did it, so why can't others say anything about it?"

"Then why didn't you say it to my face?" Xie Yuzhen still smiled, as if looking at an ignorant child, "Since we have entered the palace, we are all concubines. I am older than you, so even if you have done something inappropriate, I will naturally tolerate it."

Meng Yanshou was made even more angry by her undisguised look: "A woman like you who is of low birth and does not follow the rules, even if you are lucky enough to enter the palace, at most, you can only be a seventh or eighth rank imperial concubine. By then, it will be clear who is higher and who is lower. There is no need to pretend here now!"

As if she had touched upon his worries, Xie Yuzhen showed a look of desolation. Just when Meng Yanshou was about to be proud, he saw her suddenly approach him and said, "My family background is not as good as Madam Meng's. I have also been married and had children, but who made His Majesty like me and insisted on asking me to enter the palace?"

"you!"

Xie Yuzhen smiled and said, "If Madam Meng cares about this and can't stand me, then just leave the palace and marry someone else. If you stay in the palace, I'm afraid you will have to endure my anger for the rest of your life..."

After saying this, she called to the palace maids waiting beside her, turned around and walked away leisurely, without paying any attention to the little girl behind her who was so angry that she was about to lose her noble lady's manners and jump up and down and curse.

"My lady, Meng Xiunu's father and brother are both officials in the court. Isn't it too much for you to make enemies with her before you even enter the palace..."

"Too arrogant, too irrational?" Xie Yuzhen didn't know what he was thinking, and sneered sarcastically, "She didn't say anything wrong. I did marry into the palace for the second time, and I took the initiative to seduce His Majesty, which gave me the chance to divorce Zhou and enter the palace."

She had trusted the wrong person in the first half of her life and married a heartless man. Before the marriage, he swore to treat her well for the rest of her life, but within three days after the marriage, he came with his mistress and his illegitimate children. Because her family background was too low, she could not divorce him. The mistress was the daughter of a criminal and could not be made his wife. In order not to wrong her, Zhou Ting refused to marry a lady from a high-class family. He searched the capital and found Xie Yuzhen, a woman with a good family name but no one to support her, to marry her to suffer.

Xie Ruzhen's father was just a distant branch of the Xie family, and a bastard with no family resources. He himself was not very smart, and it took him most of his life to pass the imperial examination. She had a brother who was ambitious, but he couldn't even pass the imperial examination. Therefore, after Xie Ruzhen got married, she had no choice but to endure the bullying from Zhou Ting and the concubine's family. Otherwise, she would have divorced and left long ago. It was not as if she was mentally ill that she had to interfere between the lovers.

Less than a year after getting married, Xie Yuzhen didn't mind much except that he felt a little annoyed when the concubine made trouble and had to endure the cold eyes of his mother-in-law and sisters-in-law on weekdays. Later, he gave birth to a child. He thought that he would live a miserable life in this way. But the Empress gave birth to a son, the country was pardoned, and the concubine's family of the daughter of a guilty minister was rehabilitated. Now, Xie Yuzhen was the least worthy of the three.

She wanted to divorce, but Zhou Ting was unwilling to let her go.

He even said that the Zhou family has always had only widowers who lost their wives, and never divorced. In addition, Xie Yuzhen actually tasted medicine in his daily meals. In a fit of rage, he thought he would not live long and would rather give Zhou Ting, the bastard, an easy life even if he gave up his life.

She had originally thought of setting fire to Zhou Ting and his mistress while they were having fun, but she had never expected that the two of them would decide to rent a boat to have fun on the Jing River that day. Xie Yu was so determined that he also rented a boat and followed them, wanting to expose the affair between the couple in public. Even if she died in the future, they would still be criticized by others for the rest of their lives.

However, she didn't expect that the boatman somehow jumped into the river and ran away, leaving her alone in the boat. She lost her balance and fell into the river.

Fortunately, Xie Wei was really good at swimming, but due to the effects of the drugs, she was a little lacking in physical strength. She held her breath and doggy-paddled there. While struggling, she clearly saw Zhou Ting sticking his head out of the boat and staring at her for a long time. The fierceness in his eyes seemed to wish that he wanted her to sink faster so that she would die and make room for his sweetheart.

Xie Yuzhen, who was filled with resentment, did not let him get his wish, but struggled to climb onto the side of a black-sailed boat. The boat was swaying among the lotus flowers, and the cabin was tightly covered with black cloth that did not allow light to see through. Xie Yuzhen, with a pale face, clung to the boat like a female ghost in the water asking for her life, and trembled like a cat and shouted, "Help."

A man's hand reached out from the cabin and dragged her up.

This was Xie Yuzhen's first meeting with the emperor. She was in a state of utter humiliation and full of resentment.

When the man asked how he could repay the man for saving his life, Xie Yuzhen answered without a second thought: "Since you saved my life, why not repay me with my body?"

Zhou Ting did not marry Xie Yuzhen for love as he claimed. He just wanted to shut up his family who were urging him to get married. But even so, he still regarded Xie Yuzhen as his own and would rather poison her to death than let her go.

If that’s the case, why should Xie Yuzhen guard him?

"Madam, are you kidding me?" The man was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "This is stealing someone."

The hatred in the woman's eyes was frighteningly bright. "Look at the embroidery on your collar, it's used by the royal family, so your status must be high. You have straight eyebrows and handsome eyes, which is much better than my family's ruthless man who kept a concubine and forced his original wife to death. As for me, I'm afraid I will go to heaven soon. Stealing someone like you before I die won't be in vain!"