The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Xie Yuzhen only found out the day before that the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion had intended to form a marriage alliance with the Jun family.

She was busy giving birth and recuperating after childbirth, and Jun Yuexin and her siblings were not at home. After Mrs. Ye rejected the matchmaker and sent him away, she felt that something was wrong, so she sent a message to Shouning Palace a day in advance. Mrs. Ye's mother was a daughter of the royal family, and she herself was also born a noble lady. Although she was alienated from her original circle because she married a peasant general and then became a widow for many years, she did not lose contact after all, and still had her own connections and channels.

At this time, Xie Yuzhen pretended to be surprised and interrupted with a smile: "I really didn't know about this, aunt, since the Duke of England appreciates General Jun so much and is willing to marry his daughter to him and regard him as his half-son, you can take a look at our Concubine Xian, and you can imagine that her sister must be dignified, virtuous, gentle and generous..."

She seemed to be very eager to promote this marriage, and Concubine Deng just smiled gently: "You are too kind, Concubine Zhao."

Concubine Deng was the same age as the Empress. Her biological mother, the wife of the Duke of England, had passed away. After the death of the wife of the Duke of England, the Duke of England did not remarry, but instead kept several concubines. As for the household chores of the Duke's Mansion, they were left to the Crown Prince's wife to take care of.

Although the Duke of England wanted to win over the Jun family, he felt that Jun's family background was a little thin, so he was only willing to send a daughter from the Jun family, rather than the Duke of England's biological daughter.

However, Concubine Deng did not reveal this point, and Madam Ye did not intend to directly point it out and cause the two sides to quarrel, so she said in a gentle voice: "It is a blessing for my rebellious son to have the good fortune to win the favor of the Duke, but... it is not for me as a mother to be modest. My rebellious son is really not a good match. How can I let him delay the girl of a good family..."

Her voice was full of helplessness.

"I heard that General Jun is quite like his father in his old days. How come you, Lianxin, make him sound like a playboy?" Empress Dowager Hu asked, becoming curious.

Madam Ye's expression froze for a moment, and she became embarrassed: "This..."

Seeing this, Xie Yuzhen naturally did not hesitate to use his acting skills: "When I was still at home, I never heard of anything bad about General Jun. But this guy, every day he either climbs over my wall or steals jujubes from the jujube tree in my yard..."

She pointed at Jun Yuexin and started to make fun of her, as if she wanted to use the funny stories from her and her close friend's childhood to ease Mrs. Ye's embarrassment, and also to secretly clear up Concubine Deng's previous words of "deep affection and friendship" - everyone knows that Jun Muxin and Jun Yuexin, the brother and sister, are very rare twins, a boy and a girl.

The Xie family and the Jun family are separated by only a wall, and Jun Yuexin is not the only one who "grew up together" with Xie Yuzhen!

The emperor would enjoy the fact that he had rescued and won back his betrayed wife from a bad man, but he would never be happy about the woman who had become his concubine and his childhood sweetheart who he had not married yet.

Just now, Concubine Deng first praised the childhood friendship between Xie Yuzhen and Jun Yuexin. She never mentioned the existence of a childhood sweetheart, and she didn't even actively lead everyone to associate Xie Yuzhen with such a childhood sweetheart. But then she asked Xie Yuzhen to act as a matchmaker for Jun Muchin, her "childhood sweetheart".

If Xie Yuzhen and others had not responded properly and showed something strange, perhaps the emperor would not have thought there was anything wrong at first, but... who can guarantee that Concubine Deng did not have a backup plan?

Sometimes it is this kind of subtle and hidden tactics that can most accurately kill the enemy.

"You're already a mother, why do you always keep harping on other people's embarrassing childhood memories?" Jun Yuexin widened her eyes.

Xie Yuzhen looked at her innocently, then looked at Madam Ye: "Look, auntie, she's glaring at me again!"

The emperor, who had been sitting at the top of the table watching everyone's heated conversation in silence, suddenly smiled and said, "I rarely see you so lively and childish."

Xie Yuzhen heard this, picked up the round fan on the table and fanned twice, then gave the emperor a coquettish roll of the eyes: "Oh, I was so happy today that I forgot to pretend, and I accidentally exposed my true colors..."

The way she covered her face with a round fan in deep regret made everyone present laugh. Empress Dowager Hu laughed especially loudly. The old lady laughed heartily and said, "Don't be afraid, Concubine Zhao. If the emperor dislikes you, just come to my Cining Palace. I like lively and coquettish girls like you. It's lively!"

She turned to look at the emperor who was cooperating and pretending to be regretful: "I wonder if the emperor is willing to give it up?"

"Ahem." The emperor cleared his throat. "As a concubine, it is the duty of Concubine Zhao to serve the queen mother. If the queen mother has time, just ask her to come over and talk."

"Are you reluctant to let go?" Empress Dowager Hu said with a joking smile.

It was so rare to see the emperor being humiliated that the empress couldn't help but interject, "If Your Majesty is worried that the trip to Cining Palace is too far and would tire Concubine Zhao, then it would be the same if she came to my palace. The phoenix carriages in my palace can be used by Concubine Zhao, and it will definitely not tire her out."

The emperor looked at the queen with an expression that said "Why are you also trying to sabotage us?" The queen raised an eyebrow at him and refused to respond.

The emperor looked at the woman who hid her face under her round fan and whose shoulders were shaking with laughter, and said helplessly, "There are also sedan chairs in Shouning Palace, but it will take some time for the servants to harness them."

Sometimes, Xie Yu really felt that when the emperor was talking about love with a woman, he behaved like a young man who was just beginning to fall in love, with eyes full of deep affection - provided that he was not expressing his love in front of a bunch of wives and concubines.

Xie Yuzhen took off the round fan covering her face and pleaded timidly, "My dear ladies, please stop talking. I am really... I am so ashamed..."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone burst into laughter again.

For a moment, the atmosphere was so harmonious that it didn't feel like a palace banquet in the imperial city, but just a family teasing their young wife.

Jun Yuexin only felt that her friend's acting skills had reached a higher level. While laughing with everyone else, she glanced at Concubine Xian who seemed to be laughing happily as well. However, she caught a glimpse of a woman sitting behind Concubine Xian who was smiling very reluctantly.

She recognized that it was Cheng, the wife of the Crown Prince of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion. Madam Ye had told her that it was Cheng's housemaid who had followed the matchmaker to inquire about the marriage. Now seeing Cheng's reluctant look, Jun Yue's thoughts turned and she began to suspect whether Cheng was blamed because she had refused the marriage and failed to fulfill her father-in-law's instructions.

Laughed a round.

As the situation became more peaceful, Cheng couldn't hold back any longer. She gritted her teeth, smiled, and asked abruptly, "Miss Jun is so pretty, I'm sure General Jun is also good. Although I haven't seen him, the sister who wants to get engaged has seen General Jun's heroic appearance when he returned victoriously... Madam, why don't you..."

Concubine Deng's face suddenly darkened: "What nonsense are you talking about? Are you drunk?"

She frowned and scolded, then turned around and put on an apologetic smile: "I'm really sorry, your sister-in-law is a little drunk, I will send your sister-in-law to rest now."