The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"You don't have to worry about the rest." Huisu took her niece's hand affectionately and patted the back of Meng Ronghua's hand. "Be patient and don't always indulge your temper. The concubines in the harem are fighting, and the best strategy is to attack their hearts. You have to stabilize yourself first before you can deal with others, right?"

Meng Ronghua opened his lips slightly and asked hesitantly, "...Aunt, you dealt with Zhu for me. I am very grateful to you. But why didn't you deal with Concubine Xian, but instead targeted Xie?"

Lay Buddhist Huisu looked at her and said, "The virtuous concubine and the talented lady Xie... do you think the virtuous concubine is more important?"

"This..." Meng Ronghua couldn't help shrinking back as she faced Huisu's obscure gaze, and then she slowly spoke, "My niece thought that Concubine Xian was in a high position and had great power. Although she was not favored by His Majesty, she raised His Majesty's second son and eldest daughter. The power of the Duke of Ying's Mansion was not inferior to that of my Meng family..."

"......Although the Empress has a legitimate son, both mother and son are not in good health. If something happens to the Empress and her son, then I'm afraid that only the virtuous concubine is the most qualified to take that position in the entire palace."

As Meng Ronghua spoke, he found that Huisu was just looking at him calmly and did not criticize his faults, so he began to feel confident and continued to talk: "Look at Xie, although she claims that her ancestors are related to the Xie family in Maozhou, no matter how she tries to get close to them, she can't change her origin as a commoner in Kyoto."

"Besides, she is a second-time bride and is getting older. She has no family support and only uses her beauty to seduce men. How long can she last?" The more Meng Ronghua spoke, the more he felt that he was right. "Your Majesty likes her now, but it may not be the case in the future. With her background, she only has one son who is not of royal blood, and it is not certain whether the baby in her belly can be born. Such a person cannot sit on the throne of empress. Even if he is forced to sit on the throne by Your Majesty, since she has no children and no family background, the harem will definitely not accept it!"

She finished her speech and looked up, expecting praise from her aunt.

Hui Su's expression remained calm. She raised her hand holding the Buddhist beads and pointed at Meng Ronghua from a distance. "If I had known in advance that someone like you who thinks you are smart would be sent here, I would have scolded your parents who raised you like this!"

"......Aunt......" Meng Ronghua's face turned pale.

Ms. Huisu was already in her forties, almost fifty. She had several older sisters but no older brothers. She was the youngest daughter of the previous head of the Meng family. Many years after she was born, her mother gave birth to Meng Ronghua's father.

As an elder sister and a concubine of the previous emperor, although she has nominally become a widow and a nun, she still has the honorable title of Concubine Dowager. In this capacity, she can discipline and reprimand the Meng family and other clan members, including the head of the family.

"I have said so much, but you don't realize that in the inner palace, everything is secondary. Only the emperor's favor and offspring are the top priorities!" Ms. Huisu became a little irritable.

Meng Ronghua felt wronged: "...But didn't you just say that I can have everything I have now because of the power of the Meng family...Since His Majesty values ​​the Meng family, then my fall from favor is only temporary. With my family background, I will be crowned a concubine like you sooner or later. So why should I focus on a lowly girl like Xie? It is better to look further ahead and avoid lowering your status to target a poor girl. A noble lady with a good family background like Concubine Xian is my future opponent."

She did not notice that Huisu's expression suddenly became stiff, but she kept talking to herself: "Your Majesty is now caring about her, so what? Could it be that Your Majesty would reject the Meng family's face just because he has some affection for such a lowly woman?"

Huisu Layperson: ...

She raised her hand in pain to rub her throbbing temples. Although she really wanted to tell Meng Ronghua that even though she lived in seclusion in the North Palace, she knew that the current emperor was a tyrannical one. She was the dowager concubine, the most favored concubine of the late emperor, and that the Meng family was much more prosperous during the late emperor's reign than it was now.

But so what?

The prince of Meng's daughter was poisoned to death by someone else, and she, the favorite concubine and noble lady, has to keep her tail between her legs and live under someone else's roof...

But when the words came to his lips, Huisu couldn't say them no matter what.

The family gave her everything, so she must give back to the family.

Aristocratic families are precious, and the emperor must also consider the reputation of the aristocratic families and respect the daughters of aristocratic families. And the daughters of aristocratic families have the honor of being concubines because of their own families, so -

Various thoughts were churning in Huisu's mind. Perhaps she had realized that her usual perception that girls from noble families were the most noble was in irreconcilable conflict with her own situation in reality. But just as she still fantasized that if her child survived, he would definitely be better than the current emperor whose mother was of humble origin, she was unwilling to admit her mistakes and failures.

Facing Meng Ronghua, whose eyes showed his disapproval, Huisu forced herself to erase the truth revealed by this slow-witted man from her heart: "Forget it, I won't bother with you about this. You just need to know who His Majesty likes, and that's who you need to be wary of. For women like us who have married, a man's feelings are the most important thing that cannot be ignored."

"Now that you are out of favor, we have no other options but to find a way to get rid of the favored one so that you can stand out in front of the emperor."

Lay Buddhist Huisu twisted her Buddhist beads and tried to calm herself down: "This time, when you use your power against Xie, you'd better not just hide in your own palace. I will let Ji Lan give you the information about some of the people, but you must not touch these people lightly. Without my order, you can only watch them act from the sidelines!"

The way she looked at her niece now was full of undisguised annoyance. Meng Ronghua felt even more aggrieved:... Why does aunt look down on me so much? I'm not really that stupid, am I?

It was just that I was protected too well by my parents at home, and I didn't know that people were treacherous, and the concubines in the palace didn't know how to respect my noble birth, so I suffered repeated setbacks...

"My niece understands, please rest assured, aunt." Meng Ronghua kept complaining in his heart, but he had to pretend to be well-behaved on the surface.

Lay Buddhist Huisu asked Meng Ronghua to call in the maid named Ji Lan, and asked Ji Lan to take care of Meng Ronghua for a while: "Since you feel that you are repeatedly bullied by others because you don't understand private matters, then I will give Ji Lan to you. Watch how I design the affairs of Xie Cairen. You should learn and watch carefully, and never interfere at will!"

Elders who have failed themselves are helpless in teaching younger generations who are on the road to failure.

Xie Yuzhen and Xu Ronghua, who were regarded as teaching materials by them, sat together: "I have some guesses about the person who was acting as a ghost behind the two midwives. I hope my sister can help me out and lend a hand."