The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Is there really a doctor who can diagnose patients by hanging a thread? I thought it was all made up in storybooks to deceive people." Xie Yuzhen said casually while looking at the silk thread tied around his wrist.

The emperor hugged her and replied, "Mr. Lin has been learning medicine from the former Imperial Physician since he was young. He is quite talented in this field. If he were not too young, I would have chosen him to take the position of Imperial Physician."

The silk thread was pulled from Xie Yuzhen's wrist to the outside of the bedroom. Through a layer of beaded curtain, the shadowy and graceful figure could still be seen. The voices of the emperor and the concubine did not avoid Imperial Physician Lin. Imperial Physician Lin lowered his eyebrows and looked submissive, his ears red as he sensed the trembling from his fingertips.

Xie Yuzhen only chuckled: "So that's how it is. Lord Lin has to make this trip so late at night. Your Majesty must reward him a lot."

"Of course, but Mr. Xie, you wouldn't want me to pay your share of the reward as well, right?"

"How many good things can there be in my Jinghua Tower? I am just trying to save trouble. Your Majesty has already appreciated them all. Lord Lin can get some good things, so I don't have to worry about it again." Xie Yuzhen's tone was innocent and sweet. "And the same goes for Her Majesty. I see that Her Majesty doesn't look very well..."

"She has the same old problem." The emperor sighed. He knew the queen's temper and was willing to trust her, but... the queen's health was getting worse every year, and he was always a little soft-hearted. Moreover, the queen was willing to trust the concubines, share power with them, and keep them in check so that they would not compete for favors and lose their sense of proportion.

But the emperor didn't believe it!

He grew up in the royal family and had been accustomed to the various tricks used by concubines and royal heirs to compete for the emperor's favor. During the previous emperor's reign, many people died in the palace every year.

The late emperor's concubines were selected every three years. Together with the palace maids and female officials serving in front of the emperor, there were countless people with and without official titles. It was truly a harem of three thousand beauties, a hundred flowers competing for beauty.

The previous emperor had many concubines, and his luck with children was not as bumpy as the current emperor's. As the youngest son born in old age, the emperor was ranked twenty-first among the princes. In addition, he had a dozen sisters, but many of these heirs died before the emperor was born, and countless others were pregnant but not born.

By the time the emperor grew up and began to compete for the throne, there were only four or five princes left and seven or eight princesses.

When the dispute over the succession was over and the emperor ascended the throne, the only brother left was the paralyzed King Wu. The princesses of the Dasheng Dynasty had always been power-seeking. Several of them died because of their standing in the wrong place during the dispute over the succession. After the emperor ascended the throne, he tried to help his allies in rebellion and executed several more. Now there are only two young princesses left, and they have already left the palace and set up their own homes.

Because these two princesses were born late, they were not too old, and they did not have a close relationship with the emperor. Therefore, they did not like to get involved in political affairs and just stayed quietly in their own princess palaces.

Having experienced such a bloody family war, how could the emperor not know the dangers of harem struggles?

He did respect and trust the Queen, but the Queen's health condition was a huge hindrance. Besides, when the Queen was in good health, how could two pregnant women have accidents in a row within a month?

Most likely it was the assistants under him who either didn't do their job seriously, or were not smart enough and were deceived, or... someone had already developed disloyalty.

The emperor, who had experienced seven years of childlessness, really treasured his offspring, which were much rarer than those of his predecessor.

Instead of leaving the power of the harem in the hands of those unstable factors, it is better to take it yourself!

For the emperor, most of the concubines in high positions have a good family behind them. They are natural allies. Even if the emperor is such a confident person, he has no confidence to guarantee that the concubines will choose him wholeheartedly at a critical moment. But eunuchs are different. They are completely dependent on imperial power. Without the emperor's heart, no one will really believe in a eunuch. He is nothing more than a castrated slave. Even if he is stepped on, there is no need to worry about the endless revenge of his descendants.

As for the possibility of eunuchs and concubines joining forces... the emperor has also considered it, but can what a concubine give to a eunuch compare to what the emperor can give him?

Moreover, they are all eunuchs who can become stewards in the Lizheng Hall. Don’t they understand this truth?

However, the emperor knew that the empress always liked to employ female officials and not eunuchs. He had discussed this issue with the empress before. The empress just said that women could better understand women's feelings. As for eunuchs, even if they had their genitals circumcised, they were raised by men since childhood. The difference between them could not be fooled by a few words.

But the emperor was used to being the only one in charge, and he also had a stubborn temper. The more the queen resisted, the more he wanted to tease her. The accident of a pregnant woman in the palace gave him the opportunity.

But at the same time, the emperor believed that he was actually doing this out of kindness to "lighten the burden" on the empress. Even if he really didn't want to use eunuchs, he could have just said a few soft words to refuse. Anyway, he always respected her ideas, and it just happened to be the case that he pushed Xie Yuzhen, the concubine he had trained, to take the position. But the empress thought differently and not only did she refuse to appreciate this favor, she would rather invite the empress dowager back and add an extra layer of mother-in-law's supervision over herself than let the Lizheng Hall interfere in palace affairs.

The emperor inevitably felt resentful about this, and the empress became a little cold towards him, so he also became estranged from the empress.

Hearing that Xie Yuzhen seemed to want to persuade him to visit the queen, the emperor became emotional and was not willing to go along with his beloved concubine. He just changed the subject to the queen's poor health and casually asked Li Zong to pick out some good medicinal herbs for the queen to use for her health.

Not long after, Imperial Physician Lin finished taking your pulse and said respectfully, "Madam, there is nothing wrong with your body, you are just a little frightened. You will be fine after a few days of rest. If you are still worried, I can prescribe a prescription to calm your nerves. However, medicine is poisonous to some extent. If you can avoid taking medicine, it is better not to take it."

"Then don't take the medicine." Xie Yuzhen said first. She also noticed that the emperor seemed to be in a bad mood. After thinking about it, she decided not to stroke the tiger's beard at this time. "With Your Majesty accompanying me for a while, I feel much better."

"Yes." The emperor nodded, obviously trusting Lin Imperial Physician's medical skills. He was about to ask the palace servants to take Lin Imperial Physician down to receive the reward, but after a pause, he said, "Since we are here, please trouble Lin Qing to run to Kunning Palace again. The Queen is weak to begin with, and running back and forth in the middle of the night is... alas."

He sighed with a troubled look on his face.

After all, they have been married for many years, and even if they have quarrels and disagreements, they still can't help but worry about the queen's health.

Xie Yuzhen curled her lips. Those scholars always like to say that women's hearts are like needles in the sea, but they don't know that the emperor's mind is like a grain of sand in the deep sea, which is impossible to figure out. She softened her voice: "If your majesty is worried about the queen, why don't you go over and accompany her? I am much stronger than the queen. Between husband and wife, I am afraid that they will keep things to themselves. If there is anything, just talk it out."