Ch 293: Imperial Concubine in the Cold Palace 7
The next morning, after Zhao Yan left, the Head Eunuch came with a pile of rewards, mostly jewelry and hairpins, but the most eye-catching were two bulging sachets, which, when lightly weighed, were found to contain ready-made small silver fish.
“This…” These small silver fish were exquisitely crafted, and most importantly, they had no markings, making them very suitable for rewarding others.
“This is The Emperor’s reward for you, the only one in the entire palace, a full one hundred taels of silver,” the Great Eunuch said with a smile.
One hundred taels of silver…
Lin Lang found it a bit strange that the other party was giving her money, but she didn’t say anything and told the maidservant to put the things away. She also specially handed a sachet to the Head Eunuch.
“Thank you, Eunuch, for speaking well of me. I hope you will accept this with a smile.” In addition to handing over the sachet, Lin Lang also gave him some dried apricots she had made earlier, “This was made by this Beauty herself, and I hope Eunuch will take it back and taste it.”
The Eunuch’s old face smiled like a chrysanthemum. Yesterday, he sent over two plates of dried apricots, but The Emperor had used them all, which showed how delicious the dried apricots were. He didn’t expect to have the good fortune to eat the same thing as The Emperor today.
Lin Lang relied on the dried apricots to win The Emperor’s favor again, but this favor was ultimately a reflection in the water, a flower in the mirror. Soon, The Emperor threw her to the back of his mind.
Lin Lang was not in a hurry, because the imperial harem was currently in a white-hot stage. The Noble Lady who was pregnant before had given birth, but unfortunately, she had bad luck. She risked her life to give birth to a frail Little Prince. Not only did she have a massive hemorrhage, but even the Little Prince’s body was not optimistic.
The Imperial Physician looked at the Little Prince’s pale face, finally sighed, and then told the truth. The Little Prince’s body was not good, and even if he was carefully pampered, it was estimated that he would not live past the age of five.
The Empress and Consort Gao originally wanted to adopt this Little Prince, but when they heard this, the two women’s faces changed. A healthy Little Prince could bring them favor, but a weak Little Prince would probably not bring them too much benefit.
Consort Gao immediately found an excuse to leave, even feeling unlucky. The Empress forced a smile, and asked someone to send a large pile of tonics, and finally left with a gloomy face.
After the Noble Lady woke up, she looked at her weak son and cried uncontrollably. Originally, her son’s body should not have been so weak, but unfortunately, she had suffered a lot of scheming during her pregnancy, which led to her massive hemorrhage.
Everyone in the palace thought that this Little Prince would probably not live past the full moon, but unexpectedly, this Little Prince had a hard life. Not only did he survive the full moon, but he even had the possibility of continuing to live.
The Empress had an idea and went to visit the Little Prince, but she immediately dismissed the idea of adopting the Little Prince, because this Little Prince looked thin and dry, like a newborn monkey, without any vitality, and even with a deathly aura on his face.
Zhao Yan was originally looking forward to this son, but when the son was born, he just glanced at him and then left directly. He didn’t have much expectation for this son. Anyway, it was good enough that he could live, so he didn’t put in too much effort, just asked the people below to take care of him carefully.
“It seems that The Emperor has thoroughly detested the Eldest Prince and his biological mother, otherwise he wouldn’t have ignored them for so long.
What this palace wants is a Prince who can compete with me for The Emperor’s favor, not that unlucky thing that’s going to see King Yama.” Consort Gao snorted coldly, “What a lack of blessing.”
Wet Nurse also felt it was a pity. That was a Prince, but he was gone just like that. How good it would be if it was a healthy Little Prince.
At the same time, the Empress and Consort Gao became more and more incompatible, and the two of them quarreled endlessly over various silly things, even Empress Dowager came out to mediate.
“Empress, you are Mother of the Nation, you must have the capacity to tolerate others. She is just a small Noble Consort. At best, she will be a Dowager Consort in this life. As long as you sit firmly on the Diaoyutai, then you are the Empress, maybe the future is still…” Empress Dowager did not say the last sentence, but the meaning was very obvious.
The Empress clutching her handkerchief, sobbed softly, “Aunt, you don’t know how hard this palace has been these days. The Emperor doesn’t even come to this palace’s palace on the first and fifteenth of the month. He’s been seduced by that dead bitch.”
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Empress Dowager thought these were trivial matters, “The Emperor is the ruler of a country, with three thousand beauties in the imperial harem. Even if he favors one person, it is appropriate.
When the late Emperor was still alive, he favored Consort Yue alone, and he really held her in his palm, but in the end, didn’t this old woman become the winner?
If you have this leisure, you might as well pick a few more people and dilute Consort Gao’s favor. In the imperial harem, children are the most important thing.”
The Empress could only wipe away her tears and continue to move forward with a stiff head. Consort Gao’s arrogance was nothing more than relying on The Emperor’s favor and her family background.
The Empress selected a few more delicate and lovely imperial concubines, and at the same time asked her father in the previous dynasty to target Consort Gao’s family more, preferably to impeach them a few more times.
The Empress and Consort Gao were constantly fighting in the imperial harem, and their families were also constantly fighting in the previous dynasty. There were also many small fries who became cannon fodder because of them.
Lin Lang was not a fool. She could see that if no one deliberately condoned it, the two sides would not have become like this. The art of the emperor is actually the art of balance.
Lin Lang didn’t dare to compete for favor anymore. Anyway, it was pretty good for her to be a small Beauty. After the previous rectification by the Imperial Household Department, they no longer dared to be harsh on those unfavored imperial concubines, so her treatment was pretty good.
She could ask people to make whatever she wanted to eat, and her palace was big, and she had her own separate small kitchen. Her life was much better than other high-ranking Imperial Concubines.
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, Consort Gao’s father launched a palace coup, but unfortunately it was suppressed by The Emperor. Consort Gao’s father and brothers were all sentenced to death, and the fifteen-year-old males in the family were exiled to Minnan.
At the same time, the Empress’s father and brothers also participated in the palace coup, but the Empress’s father and brothers supported another Prince, but they did indeed participate in the rebellion.
The Emperor still had some affection for Consort Gao, so he did not punish Consort Gao, but he did not have so much affection for Empress Dowager and the Empress. Due to their status, The Emperor could only issue an edict to let Empress Dowager go to Mount Wutai to burn incense and worship Buddha. At the same time, he stripped the Empress of her position as Mother of the Nation, branded her with a Daoist title, and let her go to burn incense and pray with Empress Dowager. It was estimated that she would never come back in this life, but at least she saved her life.
With the Empress gone from the palace, Consort Gao was still a Noble Consort, but because her father and brothers participated in such a thing, it was estimated that she would only be a Noble Consort in this life.
But unexpectedly, Consort Gao was also a woman of strong character. After learning of her father and brothers’ deaths, she swallowed gold and died that night.
The Emperor was depressed for a long time, but he still had Consort Gao buried with great honors. At the same time, he did not make things difficult for Consort Gao’s other family members. He also gently let go of those female relatives and allowed them to leave with their dowry.
Lin Lang watched such a big drama and only felt that the imperial family was really indifferent. Zhao Yan might have favored Consort Gao, but he loved himself more.
Two big mountains were gone from the palace at once, but it was not chaotic. Zhao Yan let a highly respected Old Dowager Consort temporarily manage the six palaces.
Now there are only six high-ranking imperial concubines in the imperial harem, including Noble Lady Wang, who gave birth to the Eldest Prince. No, she should be called Consort Wang now.
Most of the others are Imperial Attendants and Beauties, so Linglong can be considered the second person in the imperial harem. Although she is just a small Beauty, but who told her to have an imperial title?
