The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Lu Weiyuan poked half of her body out from between the lotus flowers, with a huge lotus leaf on her head: "Fourth sister! What a rare guest!"

She had a simple bun, with a red string wrapped around her hair and a few small pearl flowers inserted into it. Her dark eyes shone like a cat, "What does Father want to talk to me about?"

Princess Shou'an looked at her sister from afar. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were slightly moist. She looked like she had just woken up in the lotus bushes. She said helplessly, "I don't know about this. I just met a palace maid who was looking for you on the way. Then I knew that my father was looking for you. Why did you go to this place to take a nap? What if you fell into the water?"

Lu Weiyuan raised her hand, and the loose sleeves slipped from her wrist and hung on her arm. She broke off a lotus flower next to her with a "click" and stood up. The boat began to shake with her movement, and ripples spread under the hull. There was still a distance of two steps from the shore. Lu Weiyuan lightly tapped the boat with her toes and flew down from it. It was light and graceful, but it also made others feel thrilling.

Princess Shou'an's heart suddenly skipped a beat, fearing that she would not stand firmly when she landed and fall into the lotus pond. Then, as her sister, she would inevitably have to bear some responsibility.

Lu Weiyuan jumped onto the shore easily. The tie of her coat might have been untied when she was taking a nap. One side of it slipped off her shoulder and hung crookedly, making her look lazy.

Lu Weiyuan didn't care if she was being too unruly. There weren't any outsiders around. She walked up to Princess Shou'an, raised her hand and handed the lotus flower to her sister. "Thank you, Fourth Sister."

Princess Shou'an took the flower and said, "Why are you thanking me? You should go see your father as soon as possible and don't make him wait anxiously."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I understand. I'll go right away." Lu Weiyuan pulled his coat tight, casually raised his hand to tidy up his slightly messy black hair, took off the lotus leaf that had been on his head, held it in his hand and fanned himself with the cool breeze, then slowly walked away in the direction of the Chonghua Palace gate.

.................................. .................................. ............................................

Another place.

"......I just don't want to get married again. Oh mother, my dear mother, please help me talk to the queen. The queen loves me very much, she will definitely agree with my idea."

Concubine Li Shu looked at her daughter who was lying on the chaise longue and eating fruit. She felt a lump in her heart: "What do you mean by 'The Queen loves you so much'? Doesn't the Queen love me too much?... No, don't I love you too much?"

Hearing this, the second princess, Lu Xianqiong, sat up abruptly: "Of course you love me, but your love is different from that of the queen. The queen has never urged me to get married, unlike you... I just divorced my former husband, and you keep nagging me all day long. If my love life is as bumpy as Aunt Rong Le's in the future, you will probably nag me until my ears are worn out."

"Hey, you damn child!" Concubine Li pointed at her daughter and was so angry that she couldn't speak.

She was very picky about her daughter's future husband. She was not satisfied with this one, and she looked at that one and found it unsuitable. After picking and choosing, she kept the second princess until she was 22 years old before finally marrying her off. Lu Xianqiong's husband was one year younger than her, and his family also had the title of Marquis of Huyang, but this husband was the second son in the family, so it was not his turn to inherit the title.

What Concubine Li Shu liked was that Marquis Huyang had only one wife and no concubines, and the same was true for his eldest son. The second son also had a good reputation. After carefully observing him for half a year and making sure that he had no tricks in private, Concubine Li Shu finally nodded and agreed to let him be the son-in-law of her daughter.

The Huyang Marquis' family had no objection to letting the second son marry a princess. The second son himself had met Lu Xianqiong at several banquets. In response to his parents' inquiry, he blushed and agreed to the marriage.

Then Concubine Li Shu asked for permission, and the emperor and empress arranged a marriage between the second princess and Marquis Huyang, and then named the second princess Princess Yongtai and established Princess Yongtai's Mansion in the imperial city.

Three years had passed since Princess Yongtai got married. During these three years, although Princess Yongtai was not enthusiastic towards her husband, she was not cold either. However, half a year ago, her husband went out hunting and disappeared. When he came back, he brought a woman with him. He claimed that the woman was his savior and he wanted to acknowledge her as his sister. He asked her to stay at home and would find a good family for her to marry after some time.

However, less than a month later, the woman rushed to the gate of Princess Yongtai's mansion crying, saying that when she and her husband were in the mountains, they had physical contact in order to keep warm. She was taught by her parents since she was a child that a woman should be faithful to her husband and should never marry another man.

Princess Yongtai did not react much to this. She just calmly wrote a letter of divorce to Marquis Huyang, threw the prince consort and his servants out of the princess's mansion, closed the door, and went to the restaurant run by Princess Rong Le to have fun.

Until Concubine Li Shu was worried about her daughter and wanted to summon her to the palace, she was caught off guard and learned that her daughter was actually having an affair with Princess Rong Le...

"Listen to what mother said. Those men outside are just for fun, but at home, there needs to be someone who knows the cold and the warm. This is the right thing to do. Take a look at the information of these gentlemen. Mother has checked it out for you. They are the most gentle and docile. Although they may not be as virtuous as your aunt Fuchang and her husband, they are just ordinary children of officials. They just need to be taught a lesson when they enter the princess's mansion."

What Concubine Li Shu is most worried about now is that her daughter will be seduced by a wild man outside, so she is extremely careful and wants to find another prince consort for Princess Yongtai.

But Princess Yongtai casually flipped through a few pages of paper and picked out two.

Concubine Li Shu was delighted when she saw this: "These two?"

Princess Yongtai shook her head: "These two seem to be quite suitable for my third sister."

"......" Concubine Li Shu was strangely silent for a while, "I haven't heard what happened between Fengning and her husband. You...you sent two men to her, it's too...did you have a quarrel with Fengning?"

The third princess, Lu Zaiguang, is the same age as Lu Xianqiong. She has also been married off and given the title Princess Fengning.

Princess Yongtai pouted and said, "I went to Heyi Tower yesterday and saw her husband sneaking around in an alley nearby. Send the information about these two people over, and Third Sister will understand. Mother, your idea is too wild. I can't send two living people directly!"