The most beautiful lady in the harem

From a beauty of the fourth rank, she was promoted to a concubine of the third rank. Don’t underestimate it as it is only one rank difference. The status is very different.

It was because concubines and beauties were the dividing line in Emperor Yongjia's harem.

From Jieyushi and above, there were not many concubines who were granted the third rank or above, but from Meiren and below, there was a huge crowd of people.

Therefore, Qin Liuse is now considered a woman with a relatively high rank in the Yongjia Emperor's harem. If she moves up one more position, she will be able to rule the entire palace and live in a palace of her own as the master.

After being Emperor Yongjia's woman for nearly a year and serving him in bed for more than a month, Qin Liuse finally knew what it felt like to be favored.

In comparison with this, the rewards the emperor gave her when she first slept with the emperor were really not enough.

Ever since she was conferred the title of Concubine, the emperor sent gifts to the palace every day. Qin Huaijin, who lived next door, was so jealous that she twisted her handkerchief until it was about to tear.

"Isn't it just a title of Concubine? Is it necessary to make such a fuss, as if she is the queen!" Qin Huaijin said angrily.

"Talented lady, please don't say such things carelessly. Walls have ears. If someone hears you, it would be disrespectful to the Queen." The maid quickly advised.

Qin Huaijin had just been taught a lesson by Concubine Dong two days ago and was still frightened. She was afraid that Emperor Yongjia would be tired of her because of this, so she quickly shut up and just stood by the window, watching the excitement across the street angrily.

That day, Concubine Dong said that the emperor hated the competition for favor in the harem the most, and that it always made trouble out of nothing and created a chaotic atmosphere.

Concubine Dong also said that since Concubine Qin was his woman and served him, these concubines who gossiped about her were also blaming the emperor.

After hearing these words that day, Qin Huaijin and Wen Zhaoyi, who usually looked down on others, were so frightened that they quickly told others that they were not feeling well and begged for mercy.

They stepped on Qin Liuse, but who dared to criticize the emperor?

Thinking of this, Qin Huaijin felt depressed as if he had suffered a great loss.

The maid Chuntao followed from the palace and quickly advised her, "Talented lady, why bother with these things? We are in the palace for a lifetime. I see that your Majesty may be a little anxious recently and is about to lose her sense of proportion. This is not good."

"Talented lady, do you still remember the instructions of the master and mistress in the palace? In this harem, remember not to cause trouble openly and let others catch you. As long as you still have a place in the emperor's heart, there will always be a possibility in the future."

Seeing that Qin Huaijin did not refute, Chuntao knew that she had listened to him, and continued, "Didn't the madam say at the beginning that the favor would not last forever. The palace will hold another beauty contest next year. The madam said that the most important thing is that you can have a prince in your belly." With a prince, you won't have to worry for the rest of your life.

Qin Huaijin's hands were on the table, turning a little pale. She had indeed become a little impatient recently and had lost her usual sense of propriety. Chuntao was right.

During the first five years after a new emperor ascended the throne, a beauty pageant was held every year in order to allow the emperor to have children. After five years, the selection was changed to every three years.

Winter was approaching and new flowers were about to be delivered. She really shouldn't keep getting angry.

--

The rewards from Emperor Yongjia flowed into Shu Yuexuan like water.

It is said that Emperor Yongjia did not bestow gifts casually, but he thought about it carefully. For example, Shu Yuexuan was not big enough, so there were not many large items in the reward.

There was only the screen, and the rest were clothes and jewelry, gems and jade, which made Qingqing and Zijin smile every day.

Every day when going out, Qingqing Zijin loved to put her hair in her hair when dressing her up, and she wished she could put all the gold hairpins and step-shaking ornaments on her.

Liu Se has a good temper and doesn't put on airs. She just lets them do whatever they want. Anyway, life in the harem is boring, and they like to dress her up. She is happy to play this role.

But when I finally go out, I still have to take off my clothes one by one, leaving only one or two pieces, otherwise I will have a headache walking around, and jewelry is really heavy.

In addition, there are some high-quality fabrics that I have never touched before.

Liu Se thought to himself, as expected, among the emperor's women, one can tell who is more favored just by looking at them. Just by looking at their clothes and jewelry, one can tell who is favored more. It's always the one who is more gorgeous and looks more expensive.

Right now, Liu Se thinks of herself as just a concubine who looks very valuable.

When he pampers you, he really wants to pile all the good things in the world in front of you.

Liu Se won't be addicted, but he still enjoys it.

Every day after lunch and a short nap, Liu Se likes to take a walk in the palace. Now it is early winter, and moving around makes her feel comfortable all over.

On this day, Concubine Dong led all the concubines to the Ci'en Temple to pray for blessings. Ci'en Temple was the inner temple of the palace, but because Liu Se had her period and was still late, she did not go with them.

After waking up from a nap, Liu Se drank a bowl of bird's nest, lily and lotus seed soup, then led the maid to walk around the palace.

When the concubines are not around, the palace is unusually quiet.

Liu Se likes to move around, so she went to the back mountain to climb. Actually, it wasn't really climbing, because the mountain in the palace was not that high, just a small hill, but from the top, she could see the scenery outside the palace, and it also allowed her to see the other world she once lived in.

I was walking on the path and just stopped in the pavilion to rest when I heard screams coming from the rockery not far behind me.

Liu Se lost interest in appreciating the scenery, threw away the dead leaves in his hand, and said to Mingyue, "Go and have a look, go and see what's going on."

Mingyue took the order and went forward.

Not long after, he ran back immediately.

As soon as he got closer, he leaned over to Liu Se's ear and whispered, "Beauty, it's Zhang Baolin."

Liu Se didn't expect that Zhang Baolin, a low-ranking concubine, would not follow to show her presence at this time, but come here alone. What was she doing?

"Beauty, guess what she is doing?" Mingyue asked Liu Se in her ear.

Liu Se didn't have the ability to see through things, so he naturally couldn't guess. He held Mingyue's hand and went there.

Originally, Zhang Baolin was standing on the fake stone, picking the flowers and plants in the cracks. When he saw Liu Se coming, he seemed to be caught off guard and slid down directly.

Liu Se ran over quickly, "What happened? Is it serious? Is it serious?"

"The people in Baolin's room are really something. Why did they let Baolin out on his own and didn't follow him? It would be terrible if he got hurt." Mingyue said.

Although Zhang Baolin was just a maidservant of Meng Cairen before, and her rank was lower than that of the old man Mingyue, Mingyue still paid her respects sincerely.

Zhang Baolin wanted to pay his respects to Liu Se, but found that he couldn't move his legs.

Liu Se quickly exempted her from the formalities and told her not to move. If she injured her leg, it would be even more serious if she moved around.

Liu Se called out and brought only Qingqing and Mingyue with him, neither of whom had much strength. Thinking of this, he asked Qingqing to go to Shuyuexuan and call two maids to come over.

Zhang Baolin now lives in Wen Zhaoyi's palace, which is too far from here. Shu Yuexuan lives closer, just at the foot of the mountain, so Liu Se sent him to his own palace.

Qingqing followed the maid, while Mingyue and Liuse walked behind. As they walked, Mingyue said to Liuse, "My beauty, Zhang Baolin is also a pitiful man."

Liu Se was puzzled. She really didn't know as much about other people's palace affairs as these maids. The maids worked together every day, and news was passed back and forth, so they knew more than their masters.

Especially people like Zhang Baolin who are of low status are particularly suitable to be used as topics of conversation. As for those who are of high status, firstly, the maids dare not say anything casually, and secondly, the people in the palace are relatively tight-lipped.

"Poor person?" Liu Se asked in confusion. Speaking of which, Meng Cairen is still young. There are not many people who push the maids around them at such a young age.

Many of those who have maids around them are like Concubine Ning Shufei, who is in her thirties and would push young maids out to consolidate her favor.

There were also some people who, when they got old, brought their relatives, nieces and cousins, into the palace to serve the emperor. So in the palace, there were many relatives such as nieces and cousins ​​serving the emperor together.

Mingyue whispered, "After Zhang Baolin was favored by the emperor, he was given a title and he stopped serving Meng Cairen and went to live in Wen Zhaoyi's palace."

Wen Zhaoyi, Liu Se understood that it would be difficult for such a domineering, jealous and arrogant person to live under her.

"Zhang Baolin was originally a maid, and she had no one to serve her. It was after she went to Wen Zhaoyi's palace that the virtuous concubine asked Wen Zhaoyi to assign someone to serve her."

Then life would become even more difficult. Asking Wen Zhaoyi's people to serve a concubine who was promoted from a maid would definitely not be thorough. Moreover, they were all Wen Zhaoyi's people. On weekdays, Zhang Baolin's every move was probably controlled by Wen Zhaoyi.

Mingyue sighed, "Zhang Baolin has no family background, and the emperor's favor that day was only temporary. It is said that after that night, the emperor never summoned her again. I think those days were hard to endure."

Liu Se looked at Zhang Baolin's pale face and felt distressed.

When they arrived at Shuyuexuan, Liu Serang took his name card to the Imperial Hospital to invite the imperial physician.

While talking to Zhang Baolin, I found out why she went to the back mountain today.

Zhang Baolin said with a bitter face, "I contradicted Zhaoyi a few days ago. Zhaoyi wanted to smell the scent of flowers and said that the herbs in the back mountain could cure her headache, so she asked me to pick them for her. I have been picking for several days, but I haven't collected enough for a pot."

Isn't this just making things difficult for people?

At this time of year, all the leaves are about to fall, so where can I find so many fresh flowers and plants to cook for her?

"You look like you're not feeling well. Why are you still crawling around? Didn't you tell Zhaoyi that you're not feeling well?" Liu Se asked. Zhang Baolin's face showed that he didn't get enough rest and was worrying too much.

Zhang Baolin's eyes were a little empty, and she choked up and said, "I said it, but Zhaoyi said that it was because I was not in good health, so I had to exercise more. She said that after I exercised for a long time, my body would be strong and I would not get sick easily."

When I was favored by the emperor, I thought my destiny had changed. But who knew that was just the beginning and the days ahead would be difficult.

This harem relies on family background, but it doesn't rely on family background. As long as they are favored by the emperor, they don't care about family background. Unfortunately, she has nothing, no family background, no favor, and no beauty.

Only then did he realize that he was just a chess piece of Concubine Meng, a chess piece used in the battle as long as the Emperor did not go to Concubine Qin's palace.

Liu Se sighed, hoping nothing would happen. Just as he was thinking about this, the imperial physician arrived.

Doctor Zhang looked young. After he entered the room, he knew that the patient who came to see him was Concubine Qin. He was a little surprised and said, "I have seen the beauty, and I have seen Baolin."

"Don't be polite." Liu Se called Doctor Zhang to stand up, "Doctor Zhang, please take a look at Zhang Baolin. She just fell down in the back hills. I don't know if she's okay."

Doctor Zhang paused, then took the medicine box and went over, took out the pulse pillow, felt Zhang Baolin's pulse for a long time, and then checked her feet.

"Doctor Zhang, is Zhang Baolin in any serious condition?"

Doctor Zhang replied, "Well, Zhang Baolin is fine, he just twisted his foot and there are some bruises. It's better not to walk around for a few days. Take some blood-activating and blood-dispelling medicine, and he will be well soon."

Liu Se heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this.

After Doctor Zhang applied the compress on her feet, he said, "Why don't Baolin stay at Shuyuexuan for a few days and go back after the swelling goes down." Although Shuyuexuan is not big, it is still a place to live.

Doctor Zhang said it was a good idea and wrote down the prescription, saying, "Boil three bowls of water into one bowl of medicine, twice a day, to nourish Baolin's body."

Mingyue took the prescription for Zhang Baolin and said okay.

Doctor Zhang packed up his medicine box and walked out with his head lowered.

Liu Se sent him out the door, and when he was far away, he turned to Mingyue and said, "Ask about this Imperial Doctor Zhang and see whose family he is related to."

After thinking for a while, he said, "Ask around to find out which palace's queen he takes pulses for, and which palace he visits more often."

Mingyue also felt that this Imperial Doctor Zhang was a little strange. "When he came in just now, he saw that the person lying there was not a beauty, and he seemed a little disappointed."

This is exactly what Liu Se found strange. Since it was her brand, it was normal to be surprised, but disappointment...that made Liu Se feel a little weird.

Liu Se thought about it and still felt uneasy. In her previous life, she had seen too many dirty tricks in the harem, so it was inevitable that she was a little more guarded.

Among these dirty methods, the most commonly used one is medicine.

So when he returned to Shuyuexuan, he took the opportunity to ask Zijin, "Have you read the prescription? Is there anything strange about it?"

Zijin has been with her since she was a child. Her mother specially chose her for her because she said it was inconvenient for the young lady to see a doctor and that she would be the mistress of a big house in the future.

When choosing a personal maid, she found a young female doctor for her, and later let Zijin study medicine.

Unexpectedly, it came in handy.

Zijin said softly, "The prescription is a tonic for Baolin's health. It doesn't look like anything serious, but there are a few herbs that I think are redundant. I wonder if Doctor Zhang has other intentions."

Liu Se absolutely believed in Zi Jin, so she instructed, "Pay attention and see if there is anything wrong in the past two days. You must personally check Zhang Baolin's medicinal food and medicine before giving it to her. We can't let anything go wrong in the palace. We have to send her back safely."

Zijin nodded and said yes.