The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Seeing that someone had died, the concubines in the hall stood up at once, took a few steps back, away from the body on the ground, and knelt down: "Your Majesty, calm down!"

The Great Sheng Emperor educated the people, regarded himself as the emperor and father of the people, and advocated love, valuing life, loyalty and filial piety. Therefore, according to the laws of the Great Sheng, even slaves of lowly rank could not be beaten or killed at will. However, apart from the legal principles, some room for "humanity" had to be left for the powerful and wealthy. Therefore, if a slave was beaten or killed, the master's family could redeem the crime with money, and if the powerful and wealthy killed someone, they could also redeem him with titles, official positions, gold and silver.

Aristocratic families have raised slaves from generation to generation, or have kept their families in seclusion, so outsiders would not know if they killed anyone at will. The same goes for the families of nobles and nobles, who have large mansions and deep courtyards. As long as nothing is revealed, or the family of the deceased is unable to cause trouble, how would outsiders know how many slaves and servants died?

But if you want to be an official, especially if you aspire to high positions and generous salaries, you still have to manage this aspect well and treat your subordinates well. After all, which official doesn't have a few political enemies who want to find fault with him, right?

The royal family serves as a role model for all people, and the palace maids are divided into two types: criminal slaves and girls from good families. However, the difference in their status in the palace is actually not as big as the difference between eunuchs and normal men. Normally, unless the palace maid has committed a serious crime punishable by death, he cannot be beaten or killed at will.

No matter what the truth is, the fact before everyone is that Concubine Zhu is suspected of instigating Nanny Lu to murder the dragon heir, and she also impulsively kicked an important witness to death.

Concubine Zhu was seen slumped on the ground, her face pale with dejection. Her mind was almost completely blank, and she subconsciously cried out in injustice: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I only kicked her lightly, I didn't... I didn't use much strength at all!"

The moment she opened her mouth, tears streamed down Concubine Zhu's face, and her originally beautiful face twisted into a shape of fear: "I didn't know she would die, I really didn't tell her to do that kind of thing, I didn't want her to die!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Concubine Zhu's mind was completely confused. She could only make incoherent excuses for herself. She was so frightened that she climbed up using both hands and feet without caring about her dignity. She rushed to the Queen and knelt down heavily, "I really didn't do it..."

The empress looked at the emperor in embarrassment, while the emperor looked impatient: "Since the new concubine entered the palace, so many troubles have occurred. You—" He looked at the concubines kneeling on the ground, "Zhu has bad intentions. Moreover, she beat and killed a palace maid in public. Considering that she has been a concubine for many years and has served us well, she will be demoted to a concubine and secluded in the back hall of Zhaoyang Palace. She cannot leave without the emperor's order."

The testimony and evidence all pointed to Concubine Zhu. She slid to the ground like a wooden figure, and her expression gradually became dazed.

"Everyone else will be punished to copy the palace rules ten times. Queen, you keep an eye on them." The emperor felt annoyed.

Concubine Zhu had also been serving him since the Emperor's residence. When she was in favor, she could almost compete with Concubine Song Shufei. Unfortunately, Concubine Zhu only had beauty and could not agree with many of the Emperor's preferences. After being favored for a while, she was neglected.

In the emperor's view, his treatment of Zhu was based on their old friendship. He was very upset by the many things that were implicated by the miscarriage of a concubine selected by the emperor, so he might as well cut the Gordian knot and let the matter be dealt with right here.

The most important thing right now is his unborn daughter Xuannv, and——

"Those who resold items in the palace and plotted to murder the royal heir should be executed. Then conduct a thorough investigation of the purchasing offices and warehouses. Anyone who has committed such acts should be convicted together, and their families should be punished as well. Also, let Zhu's father write a memorial to defend himself." The emperor instructed Li Zong. He believed that he needed to strengthen his control over the harem. Perhaps it was because he had been too lenient with the palace people over the years that they had become so bold.

The emperor thought about it and glanced at the queen, feeling extremely sorry for her increasingly frail health. If the queen was in good health, she wouldn't have to share so much power with other concubines. How could there be so many mistakes?

He did not want to blame the queen, so he turned his attention to Concubine Deng, who assisted the queen the most: "Concubine Xian, you should be more vigilant in the future. Put aside the things at hand and reflect on yourself for a few months."

"Your Majesty..." the Queen advised, "The Concubine Xian has helped me a lot in the past. If I were the only one in charge of the palace affairs, I'm afraid there would be more oversights. In the final analysis, this matter is still my fault..."

The emperor helped the empress up, and signaled the palace maids to help the pregnant Xie Yuzhen and the frail Concubine Song Shu back to their chairs. "Zi Tong, there is no need to blame yourself. The people below are careless in their work. It's time to give them a good lesson. I know you are kind-hearted and I can't bear to use heavy hands. Well, I will transfer two people from the Lizheng Palace to you to sort out the atmosphere in the harem!"

After saying this, the Queen's brows almost twisted together: "Your Majesty, it is so hard to manage the government. In the end, it is because of my incompetence that I have to tire you even more..." Tears welled up in her eyes, and she sobbed softly, begging, "How dare I make you worry about the affairs of the harem? How can the staff of the Government Hall leave the sides of the king's carriage so easily? Please take back your order, Your Majesty. I will immediately write a letter to ask the Queen Mother to return to the palace. After all, we are not as experienced as her. In all matters of the harem, the Queen Mother still needs more guidance."

Although the emperor seemed to have good intentions in letting people around him help the queen deal with harem affairs, but from another perspective, isn't it also saying that the queen is incompetent and unable to maintain peace in the harem, and that her power as a concubine should be reduced?

When the queen is in poor health, it is common and reasonable to share power with concubines. However, if the people in the Lizheng Palace are allowed to intervene, it will undoubtedly trample on her power as queen. Just like the power of the emperor and the power of the prime minister that have been pulled against each other in every dynasty, although the power of the emperor and the power of the queen are interdependent, they are also implicitly opposed.

Even though the queen was often troubled by official duties, she knew very well that if she gave up the power to control the harem, she, as the queen, would be completely dependent on the emperor's mind. But the emperor...even though they had been married for many years, the queen did not dare to entrust everything to him easily.

It would be better to ask the empress dowager who worships Buddha to take charge of the palace affairs for a period of time, so that the queen's power will not fall into the hands of others and will still be passed down in the hands of the royal women.

The emperor was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's up to you."

"I thank your majesty for your grace." The queen continued, "The palace maids are guilty and must be punished, but if too many people are implicated, there will be too much killing and it will damage the harmony of heaven. I beg your majesty to pardon the death penalty for the uninformed family members of the criminals."

"Approved." The emperor nodded as usual, looking as if he valued the queen very much.

Xie Yuzhen sat on the chair with his hands on his belly, savoring the performance of the emperor and the empress carefully - it seemed that the man surnamed Lu was really annoyed by recent events, and even the empress could not escape a beating. Fortunately, he had the protection of "Xuannv", otherwise, based on those few words before, he would most likely be scolded or even ignored for a while.

Tsk tsk.

What a heartless person.

Yes, if he could have so many beauties and so many offspring, Xie Yu really thought, he might not care too much about how the beauties fight with each other. If the beauties are gone, there are more beauties. Naturally, he would not have any feelings for the children he has not given birth to. Anyway, he would not have to suffer in the next life, it would only be a matter of pulling up his pants.

Complaining in his heart, Xie Yuzhen hid these disrespectful thoughts and respectfully sent off the emperor, who seemed still very irritable, together with the other concubines.