Chapter 374: The Concubine Who Was Buried with the Emperor VS The Ruthless and Romantic Emperor 22
Inside Fengyi Palace.

The queen sent the concubines who came to pay their respects back to the inner room, and Jin Xuan brought tea to serve them.

The queen sat back on the couch, took the tea, and asked, "What do you think?"

Jin Xuan knew that the queen was asking about Concubine Qin, so after thinking for a moment, he answered truthfully, "Concubine Qin is extremely beautiful, and she is unforgettable at first sight, but she is a little ignorant. Look, she dared to challenge Concubine Li directly today. I don't know where she got the courage from."

Upon hearing this, the Queen smiled faintly, her smile was unfathomable, "Oh? I think this kind of courage to not fear power is rare. Concubine Li is relying on her favor and acting more and more arrogantly. Someone should curb her arrogance."

After saying that, she slowly stood up, with a graceful figure and a gorgeous phoenix robe.

She instructed Jin Xuan, "Get ready and follow me to the Imperial Study. The Emperor has just ascended the throne, and I need to discuss the matter of the selection of concubines with him."

"Yes, ma'am."

Jin Xuan responded respectfully, then stepped back to prepare.

Royal study room.

The air was filled with the scent of ambergris and sandalwood, which intertwined with the occasional sunlight coming in from the window to create a peaceful and solemn picture.

The queen, wearing a phoenix robe, walked in lightly.

"Your Majesty, long live the emperor."

Even though she was the queen, she still had to bow to the emperor when facing her husband in a place like the imperial study.

Emperor Jing was buried in a mountain of memorials. He had just ascended the throne and had a lot of official duties. Except for resting at night, he had almost no free time during the day.

Hearing the voice, she looked up and saw that it was the Queen. She was slightly startled, "Queen, please don't be polite. What is the matter with you coming here today?"

He didn't like the queen for the simple reason that she was too dignified. Her every word and action was in accordance with the standards of a noble lady from an aristocratic family, which made him feel boring.

But because the queen did not commit any mistakes and managed the harem well, she was respected.

At least on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, which were the days that belonged to the queen, he would not go to the palaces of other concubines.

If there is anything happening in the harem, she will also take the initiative to discuss it with the Queen.

The Queen stood up, smiled slightly, and said softly, "I do have something to discuss with the Emperor. The Emperor has just ascended the throne and has passed the mourning period. According to the ancestral system, it is time to hold a beauty pageant to add new blood to the harem to show the prosperity of the royal family. I wonder what the Emperor thinks about this matter."

Emperor Jing's eyes flickered slightly, and he stroked his chin gently. After a moment's silence, he said, "The Queen is right. The selection of concubines should indeed be put on the agenda. I have been busy with official duties recently, so I will leave this matter to the Queen. On the day of the selection, if I am free, I will attend."

The Queen was not surprised by this answer. She bowed respectfully and said softly, "I will definitely live up to the Emperor's trust and do my best to run this selection. However, the selection is related to the reputation of the royal family. I dare to ask the Emperor to set a general rule to avoid omissions."

This was her first time as queen, and she had never held a beauty pageant before, so it would be better to leave this difficult issue to the emperor.

Emperor Jing put down the red brush in his hand and looked at the queen with deep eyes, as if examining her every subtle expression.

After a moment, he slowly said: "The Queen has considered everything. In this case, you will draft a selection criteria, focusing on character and talent, and selecting more women who are easy to bear children to enter the palace. As for family background, there is no need to be too demanding."

Not having an heir has always been a concern for him, and he doesn't want to wait until he dies, only to have his throne handed over to someone else.

The Queen immediately understood what the Emperor meant when she heard this, and bowed, saying, "I understand. I will follow the Emperor's instructions and carefully prepare for the selection. I will try my best to select a beautiful woman with dignified conduct, outstanding talents, and suitable for bearing an heir to the Emperor."

When Emperor Jing heard the Queen say the word "dignified", his face looked a little strange. Although it was a nice word, he did not like women who were too dignified.

Being dignified also means being uninteresting, wooden and boring.

It’s fine if you can have children, but if you can’t, then why choose to come in?
But as an emperor, it was difficult for him to say such things out loud. He just wanted to find time to go and take a look on the day of the selection.

Although Emperor Jing thought so, he did not show it. He nodded slightly, gave some other instructions, and then let the queen leave.

Yingyue Palace.

The sunlight slanted across the floor of the palace, creating a mottled effect, adding a touch of laziness and tranquility to the magnificent palace.

Concubine Li sat in front of the bronze mirror. Her face in the mirror was charming and beautiful, but it was distorted by the anger in her heart.

"How dare a mere slave like you challenge me? What kind of person are you?"

Concubine Li had a cold smile on her face, and a fierce look flashed in her eyes. "Cuiwei, go to the Jingshifang and tell An Hai to put down the green card of Concubine Qin and put it up later."

Cuiwei knew that the empress was very angry today and wanted to teach Concubine Qin a lesson, so she did not dare to ask any more questions and respectfully accepted the order and left.

Jingshifang.

An Hai, the chief eunuch of the Jingshifang, had just finished making Yu Yao's green card and was about to put it up when he saw Cuiwei push the door open.

An Hai was slightly startled when he saw Cuiwei, and thought: What are Concubine Li’s people doing here?
But she did not dare to neglect him. With a smile on her face, she hurriedly went to greet him, "Miss Cuiwei, what brings you here today? What does Concubine Li want to do for you?"

Cuiwei saw Anhai and walked over with a smile, "Of course I came to ask for help from you, father-in-law."

After he finished speaking, he stuffed a bag of silver that was quite heavy into the bag.

Cuiwei didn't explain the situation, and Anhai didn't dare to accept the money.

He looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he leaned over and asked in a low voice: "Miss Cuiwei, what instructions does Concubine Li have?" Cuiwei smiled faintly and stuffed the silver into Anhai's hand again, "Nothing, it's just that the queen feels that Concubine Qin has not learned the rules well and doesn't know how to serve the emperor. What if she offends the emperor? The queen means that you should put Concubine Qin's green card up later."

As soon as An Hai heard this, he understood what was going on. He had also heard about what happened in Fengyi Palace in the morning. He knew that Concubine Li was still angry and wanted to take revenge on Concubine Qin.

If it was an unfavored concubine, it would be fine and it could be put up later. The emperor would not notice it.

But the Emperor is still interested in Concubine Qin. He went to the east hall of Yihe Palace last night and might go there again tonight.

If he didn't put up the green card, he would not be able to bear the blame if the emperor found out.

But Concubine Li is the favorite concubine in the palace. At least so far, she is the most favored concubine. An Hai does not dare to offend her and feels torn.

"Miss Cuiwei, this."

An Hai wanted to say something but stopped himself. He gently rubbed the bag of silver in his hand, only to feel that it was a little hot. He didn't know whether to take it or not.

He thought for a moment and said, "Miss Cuiwei, the emperor is still interested in Concubine Qin. If I rashly use Concubine Qin's green card, if the emperor finds out, I will lose my head."

Cuiwei frowned, a hint of displeasure flashed in her eyes, "Eunuch An, how dare you disobey the order of Concubine Li? You know the status of the queen in the palace, who is Concubine Qin? Besides, if you help the queen, the queen will remember your kindness, and you will definitely benefit from it in the future."

Beads of sweat appeared on An Hai's forehead. After thinking it over, he agreed to Cuiwei.

After all, in his opinion, Concubine Li is currently in favor, and if he offends her, his life in this palace will probably be difficult.

As for Concubine Qin's green-headed card, if the Emperor asks about it, she will say that the green-headed card has not been made yet. I think even if the Emperor is unhappy, he will not blame her too much.

When Cuiwei saw Anhai agreed, she left very satisfied.

The night was as dark as ink, and the palace lanterns were swaying, making the outline of the imperial study look both solemn and mysterious.

Inside the palace, the scent of ambergris rose in the air, interweaving with the occasional whispers of the night wind outside the window to form a silent palace overture.

Emperor Jing Rongyuan sat behind the dragon desk, holding a red brush in his hand, and was buried in a mountain of official business.

At this time, An Hai hurried in with a group of young eunuchs. Each eunuch held a tray in his hand, and the tray was filled with rows of exquisite green cards.

An Hai led his men to kneel on the ground, "Your Majesty, it's late at night, it's time to turn over the cards."

Upon hearing the voice, Emperor Jing looked up at the hourglass beside him and found that it was already the hour of Xu.

He put down the red brush in his hand, stretched himself, looked at the rows of green cards, and whispered, "Show them up."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

An Hai responded respectfully, stood up, and then called on the eunuch behind him to present the green card.

The young eunuchs respectfully presented the green card to Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing looked at the rows of green cards in front of him, thinking about the promise he made to a certain little woman last night. He was about to turn over her card, but he couldn't find it after searching around.

He frowned and looked at An Hai, unhappily asking, "Why is there no sign for Concubine Qin?"

Lu Xi was standing nearby. When he heard the emperor's words, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and found that there was indeed no green card for Concubine Qin.

He secretly glanced at An Hai and shook his head inwardly: I don't know who this bastard has benefited from. He even dares to bet on Concubine Qin's green card. He is really courting death.

When An Hai heard the emperor's question, his face turned pale with fear. He knelt on the ground trembling with fear and said fearfully, "Your Majesty, it was my negligence that I didn't put up the green card for Concubine Qin because it was not ready yet."

Emperor Jing was so angry that he kicked An Hai and said angrily: "It has been a few days since I issued the imperial decree to confer the title of Concubine Qin, and you told me that the green card was not ready? What were you doing before? If the job is not done well, I don't mind changing people."

An Hai was kicked to the ground by Emperor Jing. He kowtowed and begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down. It's my fault that I didn't do my job well. I will go back and make the green card for Concubine Qin and send it to you."

Emperor Jing was still furious. "Humph, I think you did it on purpose. Tell me, did someone instruct you to do this?"

He had also heard about what happened in Fengyi Palace today, so he was not completely ignorant.

If he guessed correctly, it must have been done by Concubine Li.

Thinking of this, he began to feel dissatisfied with Concubine Li.

It was true that he doted on Concubine Li, and he could tolerate her occasional temper.

If this woman dared to interfere with his favoritism towards his concubines, it would be a bit unreasonable.

An Hai's heart tightened. He didn't dare to expose Concubine Li, so he could only kowtow and say, "Your Majesty, I was just careless for a moment. No one else instructed me to do that. Please give me another chance."

Emperor Jing sneered, not wanting to dwell on such a trivial matter, and shouted angrily: "Why don't you get out of here? Tomorrow, I will put the green card of Concubine Qin on it. If there is a next time, you will lose your head."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty."

An Hai felt as if he had been pardoned, and he retreated tumbling back.

When he came out of the imperial study, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and he knew that he had just been to the gates of hell.

Emperor Jing did not flip the cards, but took Lu Xi directly to Yihe Hall, where Yu Yao was.