The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

In fact, the path taken by Concubine Zhang is quite similar to that of Xie Wei.

They are all powerless and can only rely on the emperor wholeheartedly. However, compared to the fierce Xie Yuzhen, Concubine Zhang is delicate and a little confused. At the same time, she also has her own little tricks that others can see through at a glance. Such a personality can usually better satisfy the emperor's growing self-esteem.

There were indeed some concubines in the palace who were arrogant and looked down on Concubine Zhang's background, but at most they would just make a few sarcastic remarks. When the emperor was not around, Concubine Zhang was not so delicate and would just retort in a sarcastic tone. If the emperor was present, or if they happened to meet - although this happened quite frequently - Concubine Zhang would become a scheming little fox who took advantage of the tiger's power.

If Xie Yuzhen's best trick was to act like a spoiled brat and stir up trouble, then Concubine Zhang was best at creating a situation where she was being bullied, winning the emperor's sympathy in exchange for the pleasure of suppressing others, highlighting her status as a favorite concubine, and using it to establish her authority.

The emperor was not unaware of this trick of competing for favor. Instead, he was happy to play along with the woman he favored. For the emperor, praising one and suppressing the other among the concubines was just a game.

The reason why Xie Yuzhen asked the palace maids to go and see was because he wanted to know whether Concubine Zhang was pregnant or had some other plan.

Being able to win the emperor's favor as a palace maid and being conferred the title of beauty as soon as she entered the palace, Xie Wei really couldn't believe that Concubine Zhang could be such a shallow person.

If you are just using the royal heir as a raft and don't have a reason to convince the emperor, you will naturally be blamed by him.

That was why she took the initiative to provoke the emperor's anger, not wanting Concubine Zhang to get through this safely.

In the royal garden.

A palace maid dressed warmly was kneeling outside a pavilion. Inside the pavilion were several ladies dressed in palace dresses and their servants. Concubine Li was sitting at the top with an angry look on her face. The Second Princess was next to her. Ruyi was wiping the wound on her palm with a handkerchief with a look of heartache on her face.

Concubine Zhang stood under the eaves of the pavilion wearing a rabbit fur cloak, with an unyielding look on her face.

When Concubine Li saw her look, she couldn't help but said sarcastically, "I asked the palace maids to bring you a chair and put a stove, but you refused to sit. Do you really want to share the joys and sorrows with that palace maid, or are you thinking of waiting for His Majesty to come and let him see how I 'bullied' you?"

Every time there is a new person in the palace, there will be a period of excitement. Concubine Li had heard about Concubine Zhang's various deeds of "being bullied and having no choice but to fight back" and sneered at her behavior. However, she originally thought that although she was not favored, she was a concubine, and Concubine Zhang's stirring up trouble among the lower-ranking palace concubines could not involve her.

Who would have thought that Concubine Zhang was so bold as to let her own palace servant offend the second princess, and she even acted as if she had punished the servant wrongly!

Concubine Li really couldn't understand where Concubine Zhang got the confidence to treat herself and her daughter like this. Now, just a glimpse of the expression on Concubine Zhang's face made her feel upset and nauseous. When she looked at the wound on her daughter's hand, she wished she could eat her alive.

The second princess was lively by nature and was doted on by the emperor. Although Concubine Li envied the eldest princess's quiet and dignified manner, she threatened several times to change the second princess's temperament, but she couldn't bear it when the second princess frowned. She wanted to have a good talk with her daughter and ask her to pretend to be more dignified, but she had never won over the second princess in terms of verbal skills.

Seeing that her daughter was almost old enough to start looking for a son-in-law, Concubine Li had completely given up on raising her daughter to be dignified. Instead, she tightened her requirements for the son-in-law, insisting on picking one with a clean family tradition and a good temper. After months of selection, she finally found a few who were barely acceptable from the officials' families in the capital. With the permission of the Emperor and Empress, she held a banquet in the Imperial Garden today to observe whether the second princess's mother-in-law candidates were easy to get along with...

As a result, the second princess, who was putting eyes on the snowman, was knocked to the ground by a palace maid who suddenly jumped out!

Concubine Li screamed immediately, rushed over and kicked the palace maid, then picked up her daughter and found that the palm of her hand was scratched. She immediately became furious and ordered someone to force the palace maid to kneel in the snow.

Although the Second Princess usually likes to run and jump, play with whips and wooden swords, she is a spoiled ten-year-old girl. The broken skin on her palm made her cry in pain. Seeing her mother so angry, she still held back her tears and pulled Concubine Li: "I see she is in a hurry, it doesn't seem like she is deliberately bumping into you. Why don't you ask her what she is in a hurry to do."

"My son, you have never suffered such a serious injury in your life. Just wait for your mother to vent her anger!" Concubine Li was furious. Her irrelevant answer made the second princess and the noble ladies around her silent.

"I was ordered to go to Shouning Palace to report the good news to His Majesty." Pei'er said tremblingly when she saw this.

The angry Concubine Li replied without thinking: "What good news! Unlucky stuff!"

"My wife is pregnant." Pei'er said quickly.

Concubine Li was stunned: "Then you can walk without looking, your wife is pregnant, then she is pregnant, so you can run rampant in the Imperial Garden?!"

"Empress Li, please calm down. Pei'er was too happy for me and did not intend to offend you." Concubine Zhang hurried over and was about to kneel down with Pei'er.

Ruyi quickly helped her up: "You can't kneel like this. Your wife is pregnant and she has to kneel for an unruly maid. If the dragon fetus is damaged, wouldn't it be the fault of our queen and His Highness?"

Her words calmed Concubine Li down a bit, and she thought, "Okay, Lady Zhang, I haven't treated you harshly before, have I? Why are you trying to put me in an unfair position?"

Lady Zhang hesitated and looked very pitiful: "I am not...I just panicked for a moment, please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

Her cowering appearance made Concubine Li's suspicion go away a little, but she was still very angry: "Come in and sit down, you--" She casually pointed at a palace servant beside Concubine Zhang, "Go to Shouning Palace and announce the good news. It would be best if you can invite His Majesty to come!"

Concubine Li was furious. She didn't care what Concubine Zhang whispered about her palace maid offending the princess and didn't dare to sit down. She asked someone to call the imperial physician, while hiding her trembling hands, and watched Ruyi clean the second princess's wound.

The scene suddenly became quiet, and as time passed, there was now a scene where the ladies in palace dresses were sitting in the hall, Pei'er was kneeling in the snow, and Concubine Zhang was standing stiffly under the pavilion.

Hearing Concubine Li's veiled words, Lady Zhang looked even more aggrieved: "I didn't... didn't mean that. It's just that Pei'er was rushing to report the news for me, so she accidentally bumped into the princess. I feel really guilty. I know that my status is not as noble as yours. If yours truly wants to punish me, I have no complaints. If yours truly doesn't punish me, I will be even more ashamed. How can I sit there with my face..."

"You are pregnant, no one dares to punish you." Concubine Li really wanted to make the master and servant kneel together, but Concubine Zhang's belly was now important, and even if Concubine Li hated her, she could not vent her anger on the child.

Thinking of this, she became even more angry that her daughter was bumped into by the palace servant who came to announce the good news.

Her tone became colder and colder: "I hope what you said is true. Don't think that you can trample on others and act wildly just because you are pregnant!"

"I know myself well." Lady Zhang's eyes were red as she wept, "I am only a palace maid. Even if I am pregnant with this child, she is no more noble than the Second Prince. This is really just an accident. I can swear to heaven that I have no intention of committing a crime against my superiors!"

The emperor has arrived.