The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Thank you, talented lady, for requesting to see me?" There was some fatigue in the queen's eyes, and in her hand was the account book that had just been sent by the Shanggong Bureau. After the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, the Double Ninth Festival would follow. Although the arrangements for the Double Ninth Festival were not as grand as those for the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was still very tiring when combined with the daily palace affairs.

Moreover, in addition to taking care of all the affairs of the inner palace, the empress of the Dasheng Dynasty also shouldered the responsibilities of a royal clan lady. She had to know which clan members got married, which had children, which had funerals... how to reward them, how much each person's salary should be, and how much the rewards should be given during the New Year... According to the rules, all these miscellaneous matters had to be reported to the emperor, the patriarch.

But the emperor still had to deal with state affairs on a daily basis, so this part of the affairs had to be handled by the empress, a clan woman, first, and recorded, and then presented in preparation, so that the emperor could look through it when he remembered.

However, this generation of emperors was too impatient to worry about the trivial matters of royal relatives, so they left it to the empress to handle even the distribution of titles to royal women, the recording of royal newborns, and the promotion and demotion of some concubines. However, the empress was not autocratic, and she conscientiously recorded all the matters she handled according to the rules. Even if the emperor hardly looked at them, a booklet would be presented to him every month.

With so many miscellaneous things to do, the Queen Mother was not in the palace, so it was certainly impossible for the Queen to handle them all by herself. Even if the many female officials and eunuchs in her Shanggong Bureau worked together, it was still extremely busy. So the Queen simply brought several concubines to help manage the palace affairs.

However, among the concubines, Concubine Song Shu was in poor health, so even if she could, she couldn't do much; and Concubine Ning's situation was rather special, as she basically only had to take care of the affairs in her own palace, so only Concubine Deng and Concubine Li were left to serve as the Queen's right-hand men.

When Xie Yuzhen sent Xia Zhi to ask the Queen if she was free to see him, Concubine Deng came to settle the accounts of the needlework bureau last month. She saw that the corners of the female official Yun Rong's lips were tightly pressed and there seemed to be some helplessness in her expression. She asked with a little curiosity: "Why do you have such an expression? Was the female official called by Concubine Xie rude?"

She often went in and out of Kunning Palace, was trusted by the Queen, and was also close to the ladies-in-waiting in Kunning Palace.

Yun Rong knelt slightly and said, "To answer the question, Her Majesty, the maid was not rude, but she...I cannot repeat what she said..."

Female personal servants above the rank of concubine already had ranks, and when answering their superiors they referred to themselves as ministers.

Hearing this, the Queen relaxed her tired brows, restrainedly moved her neck which had become sore from sitting for a long time, and put the book in her hand aside: "I guess Ms. Xie has another wonderful sentence?"

Hearing what the Queen said, Concubine Deng couldn't help but lower her head, holding the handkerchief to gently cover the corners of her mouth, and suddenly laughed: "Your Majesty is so mischievous."

Since entering the palace, Xie Yuzhen has been known for her quick words and sarcastic tone, treating anyone who has a grudge against her equally. Concubine Deng is a noble lady from the Duke of Yingzhou's mansion, but she is not spoiled. Her father hired famous teachers for her and her sisters to learn principles and appreciate poetry and books; her mother taught them to abide by the rules, not to be frivolous, to integrate into the circle of aristocratic women, and to deal with the ladies of various families.

The most important point here is that no matter who you are with or what you are doing, you must be harmonious and maintain the dignity of a noble lady. Even when meeting your mortal enemy, you must put on a perfect smile. Even if there is a verbal conflict, you must not shout or curse or even fight, but make sarcasm by quoting classics. The difficulty is not much different from the men's imperial examination poetry competition. It is very different from those who come from impoverished families such as Qian Xianhui and Liu Hongshi, whose brains are pedantic due to education... And facing a scoundrel like Xie Yuzhen who is always right, Concubine Deng is actually not very willing to make friends with him.

"Talented Lady Xie is young and lively. With her around, life is more lively and interesting." The Queen said with a smile, "Talented Lady Xie sent someone to tell you something. You should learn it."

Yun Rong was embarrassed and answered yes, then slowly said: "... The talented lady sent Xia Zhi, who serves her, to say... that she missed the queen so much... that she tossed and turned at night and couldn't sleep. May I ask... may I ask if the queen has time to visit her a little to relieve her pain of missing her..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire Kunning Palace hall suddenly fell silent.

Even the Queen was stunned for a moment with her lips slightly open. When she came to her senses, she burst into laughter and gently clapped her hands on the table. She did not wear a phoenix crown today, but just had a simple homely bun with a long phoenix-shaped hairpin with pearl tassels on it.

As the queen laughed heartily, the tassels began to sway, swaying back and forth, looking very happy: "Forget it, I'll just go see her, why bother saying such cheesy words."

Concubine Deng also laughed, but her posture was still dignified and elegant, and the kingfisher butterfly hairpin on her head fluttered its wings gently: "Thank you, talented lady, you are really a wonderful person..." She wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, "Your Majesty has been so tired these days that you are haggard. I feel sorry for you. You should put down your work for a while, take a break and rest."

She gave a gentle persuasion, and then said with a smile: "I, an old yellow flower, will not disturb the meeting between the majesty and the talented lady Xie, and will help relieve her longing for you."

"You said I was mischievous, but it's obvious that you are the most mischievous one." The queen pointed at Concubine Deng, and the smile on her face became more relaxed.

She glanced at the endless books on the table and couldn't help but sigh: "Forget it, the palace affairs are the same every year. There is no way to finish them. I will be lazy today."

Seeing this, Concubine Deng picked up her copy of the palace affairs booklet and stood up to say goodbye.

The queen also gave a few instructions to the female officials, telling them that if there was anything wrong with the emperor, or if any emergency suddenly occurred in the palace, they should send someone directly to Jinghua Tower in Shouning Palace to find her.

After saying this, the queen was too lazy to dress up again. She just put on a thick cloak and walked out of the gate of Kunning Palace with Yunrong and others in simple clothes.

Autumn is crisp and clear, with no clouds in the sky.

Although the sunlight was not as glaring as in the summer, the queen, who had been staying indoors for a long time and busy with books, could not help squinting her eyes. She looked at the withered flowers and trees along the road and felt a little cold. She pulled her cloak tighter and sighed unconsciously.

"It's time to calculate the charcoal that each palace will use this year..."

Xie Yuzhen lazily lay in Shouning Palace and slept until noon before he yawned and got up: "Xia Zhi is back?"

Xia Zhi opened the curtain and walked in: "I am back. I have said what Madam told me to do...but Sister Yunrong said that the Queen is settling accounts. I am afraid it will take some time for her to reply, so she asked me to come back first."

Xie Yuzhen rubbed her tangled long hair, and with her ten fingers combing it, she easily straightened out her thick black hair: "I know, oh, get up, get up, I'll go to Kunning Palace to pay my respects to the queen later."