The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Without leaving any trace, he winked at Xia Zhi and the others who were pushed aside by the imperial attendants. Xie Yuzhen wiped his eyes and stood up with his mother Xie, who was worried. "Greetings to His Majesty. How did His Majesty have the time to come here?"

Mother Xie followed her daughter in bowing stiffly, not knowing where to put her hands and feet - for a moment she wanted to kneel down directly, but as soon as she bent her knees, Xie Yuzhen held her firmly.

In this dynasty, except for the grand court meetings of all officials, officials and their families only needed to perform normal etiquette when meeting the emperor, without the need to kneel three times and kowtow nine times; and the etiquette requirements for common people were more relaxed. When commoners met officials, they did not need to kneel or kowtow unless they were in court. It was just that commoners were not as knowledgeable about etiquette as high-ranking officials. When meeting an official, it was always right to kneel first. What if the official was a narrow-minded person, and saw that they did not kneel or kowtow, and used this as an excuse to punish them, which would be bad.

"Madam, thank you, there is no need to be so polite." The emperor sat down opposite the two of them, his attitude very casual, "Please sit down."

Mother Xie held her daughter's hand tightly and sat down on the low couch tremblingly. She was usually eloquent but couldn't make a sound at this moment. She didn't even dare to look up at the emperor's face. She just felt that he was worthy of being the emperor. He was so majestic and seemed to be very tolerant to her daughter...

Holding her mother's no longer young hand, Xie Yuzhen silently stroked and comforted her, looking up at the emperor: "Your Majesty did not inform me in advance that you were coming, and I was so scared."

The beautiful woman leaning against her mother's side had eyes full of joy. The emperor coughed softly and said, "I just finished my work and heard from Li Zong that your mother had entered the palace, so I came here directly."

Hearing the emperor say this, Xie's mother became more and more nervous as she realized that he came here just for her.

Xie Yuzhen glared: "Then your majesty should have asked the palace servants to come and tell us in advance."

It scared her mother.

Before the emperor welcomed Xie Yuzhen into the palace, he had thoroughly investigated her family background. Of course, he knew that the Xie family was supported by Xie's mother, and he thought that a woman who could go from door to door to do business and take care of a large family must be courageous. Just look at the fact that she raised such a bold daughter.

He had not expected that his sudden appearance would make Mother Xie so nervous. Facing the complaining eyes of his beloved concubine, he felt guilty unconsciously and softened his tone: "It's my fault. I thought that Xie Qing's mother and daughter meeting today was a happy occasion and she should come to join in the fun, but I didn't expect to make Madam nervous instead."

Mother Xie did not expect that the emperor would apologize to her daughter. The tension in her heart eased a little, and she spoke boldly: "I am a commoner, no, it is my fault. I am a humble person who has just met the emperor. I have always known that Your Majesty is so powerful, but I never thought that Your Majesty is so approachable. I am the one who frightened myself."

Her words were a little confusing, but very pleasant to the ear. The emperor now discovered the similarities between Xie Yuzhen and her mother in some aspects. He felt as if he had found a little toy that his cat had tried every means to hide. He felt a little proud in his heart - the emperor had indeed deliberately not asked anyone to inform Xie Yuzhen in advance that he was coming.

It was also he who stopped the palace servants from announcing his arrival.

He really wanted to know what Xie Yuzhen would look like in front of her family, whether she would mention him to her mother, and if so, how would she describe herself as the emperor and husband to her biological mother.

As the emperor expected, Xie Ruzhen only told her mother good things and showed her mother her jewelry and accessories like a bird with colorful feathers. However, the emperor did not expect that he would have such a high evaluation from Xie Ruzhen. He thought that with her pretentious personality of saying one thing to one person and another to another, not giving in when she was right, and loving to act like a spoiled child, she would at least scold him.

It can be said that Xie Yuzhen's true feelings for his mother just hit the emperor's sore spot, making him even more satisfied and cherishing of Xie Yuzhen, the "red apricot" that he had actively fought for.

So the emperor was still kind and asked: "Madam, are you satisfied with this son-in-law of mine?"

But this frightened Xie's mother even more. She stood up suddenly, waved her hands and bowed repeatedly: "This, this, this, how can this be..."

emperor?

son in law? !

Even if the Queen's mother came, she would definitely not dare to be so frivolous. Xie's mother felt more and more uneasy. Although she was happy that the Emperor was close to her daughter, she was more worried that the Emperor only had a superficial liking for her daughter. If this liking faded one day in the future, if she was not careful in her response today, it would be evidence of her daughter's arrogance in the future!

So she pretended to be so frightened that she couldn't breathe and couldn't stand, and she was about to faint.

"Your Majesty!" Xie Yuzhen also stood up and quickly supported his mother, and called Xia Zhi to take his mother to the partition to rest.

Then, turning around, Xie Yuzhen knelt down holding her belly and said, "I am a humble woman, a floating duckweed. If Your Majesty thinks that I have been too frivolous these days, you can punish me directly. Why do you have to test my mother like this?"

Her words rolled down like falling beads.

When the emperor saw her kneeling, he was startled at first, and then he was stunned when he heard her fluently utter such self-deprecating and sorrowful words. He could only keep saying, "Get up quickly! How can you be so angry? You kneel at every turn and don't even care about the child."

The word "son-in-law" just now was just because the emperor was used to being casual in front of Xie Yuzhen, and the concubines in the harem were not ordinary concubines, but had positions and ranks. They were "officials" different from ordinary people, and their maiden families also became "official families". As long as the emperor was willing and recognized it, the maiden families of the concubines could be called royal relatives.

Therefore, to be precise, as long as the emperor himself does not feel that there is anything disrespectful, it is not a big deal for him to call himself the son-in-law to the parents of his favorite concubine.

Of course, the empress, as the emperor's principal wife, and her family would most likely be unhappy about this.

But they would never be dissatisfied with the emperor, at least not on the surface.

The emperor's willingness to be humble in front of his favorite concubine's elders showed his kindness and generosity, but as a concubine, Xie Yuzhen had to be cautious - she had to show enough fear, humility and obedience to the emperor's favoritism in order to avoid attracting gossip from others.

But she didn't want to be like the average person, panicking and crying with gratitude, so she quickly thought, "Am I short-tempered?"

Having just cried, it was so easy for her to cry again. Her eyes quickly turned red: "How dare I get angry? Even if I was angry, I would still be kneeling here!"

"Who am I? My family is just a poor family. How can I dare to have a great Buddha like you as my son-in-law?"

The emperor could no longer sit still, so he stood up to help her. Xie Yuzhen shook her body gently, but did not try to shake it off. Instead, she followed the man's strength and was held in his arms. She cried fiercely but gracefully, "What did I do wrong to deserve your testing? I'm just pregnant. Was I disrespectful to you and the queen in the past? That's why I called you..."

Xie Yuzhen was sobbing.

This matter was not a big deal, but it would not be good for her if it got out. If the queen was narrow-minded, her life would be difficult. Although Xie Yuzhen did covet the position of queen, in her opinion, from ancient times to the present, it has never made sense to put one's goals out in the open before accomplishing anything.

Most people who dare to do this when they are in a low position and have no power will be killed along the way.

She is just a small talent without the support of her family and no connections in the palace. If she really goes against the queen, then... Even though the emperor loves her like a treasure now, when that time comes, he will definitely not stand on Xie Yuzhen's side and protect her as he promised when they were in love.

Xie Yuzhen did not trust the emperor.