Your Majesty, please do not disturb, the empress only wants to engage in business

Chapter 198 The Rope Breaks

There are some things that Granny Kang dared not say to Consort Rong, which naturally means that Consort Rong was not at liberty to tell Xie Yun'an these things.

However, the Imperial Concubine has always been unconventional in the palace. Apart from her servants, she doesn't have many capable people under her command. Yao Jinse is currently the only one who has the opportunity to inquire about information from the Emperor.

The implied meaning flowed from the words themselves, and Yao Jinse understood Kang Mama's purpose.

As Consort Rong's personal attendant, Granny Kang went to great lengths to care for her. After all, she had been by Consort Rong's side since childhood, so her role as a wet nurse was naturally different from others.

All these plans were made with the future of the Imperial Concubine in mind.

"I understand your good intentions, Madam. Please remind Her Majesty that no matter what happens outside, the palace is a completely different place. Moreover, this pregnancy of Your Majesty's was hard-won and took a lot of effort. Please remember to take good care of yourself."

Granny Kang naturally understood.

In this imperial harem, the reason why the concubines risked their lives to have a child was simply because a child is ultimately a mother's support.

Whether a son gains status through his mother or a mother gains status through her son, as long as there is a child, the emperor will more or less consider the relationship.

The harmonious and joyful scene in the harem today is nothing more than the birth of a new prince and the pregnancy of a concubine, which has diverted most of the emperor's time, so more concubines have the opportunity to see the emperor.

Meeting is an opportunity.

These days, Consort Qiao and others who are currently enjoying great favor in the palace are considered to be favored by the emperor. Although they are not as favored as the Imperial Concubine, these things are still clear to the palace maids and eunuchs who are not involved. They can all see the future trend, so recently, they have been trying to curry favor with the new favorites more than before.

Yao Jinse didn't care about that.

In the imperial harem, the competition for favor is a never-ending cycle of suppressing one and raising another. Ultimately, it comes down to the emperor liking one concubine after another. Under imperial power, no concubine dares to claim that she is the emperor's favorite.

Flowers don't bloom for a hundred days, and people are different. Now that the bond between the newlyweds and the emperor is deeper, the emperor's heart will inevitably be divided among them. And since it has to be divided, naturally some people will divide more, some less, some will divide more sincerely, and some will divide more superficially.

There's nothing new under the sun. In this land, in any grand mansion, you can find situations where you only hear the laughter of the new and not the cries of the old. The imperial harem is, after all, the epitome of feudal dregs, so it's no exception.

"I wonder if the Imperial Concubine will understand after all the reminders Your Highness has given her. If the Imperial Concubine doesn't get it, wouldn't Your Highness have wasted all your efforts?"

Bai Tan had been by Yao Jinse's side for many years and had some understanding of Consort Rong's character and habits. Although Consort Rong was not a suspicious person by nature, she was always very self-centered.

Moreover, anything involving the emperor seemed to bewitch the Imperial Concubine, as if she were under a spell. No one knew what kind of bewitching potion the emperor had given her to make such a noble and beautiful woman so devoted. Yao Jinse naturally didn't know what the potion was, but she had to admit that, as the emperor, Xie Yun'an did possess a unique personal charm.

Without this personal charisma, he could not have won the support of so many court officials so quickly after seizing the throne. As for why Consort Rong loved him so much—a woman's love is inherently irrational. If there were a reason for this, Yao Jinse wouldn't be going through so much trouble now.

"Whether you can understand it or not is not important. Once things happen and reality is right in front of you, it will be difficult to pretend you don't understand. Right now, our foundation is not yet solid, and the Imperial Concubine cannot be allowed to fall."

Of course, even if she didn't help in this, Consort Rong wouldn't be implicated in the Duke's Mansion's affairs. She would only transfer her hatred to Qiao Yanran and the others, since it was Qiao Yanran and the others' maternal clan that truly started the war in the court.

However, by that time, Consort Rong was no longer in a good position, and due to the decline of her family, she was blinded by hatred and had almost lost her mind. Even though she was able to have a child later, she did not have a good ending, and her fate is well-known.

"Fortunately, although the Imperial Concubine herself has not yet realized it, there are still people around her who are aware of these things. With these people constantly reminding her, things will not escalate too much."

If there were any other way to save the Duke's Mansion, Yao Jinse would not have kept quiet. It is clear that the current situation is that the Duke's Mansion's predicament is unsolvable. A gecko can sever its tail to survive when it is bitten, but if the Duke's Mansion were to sever its tail, all that would be left would be a small piece of its tail.

The merit of following the emperor is not something that comes easily. The old Duke gained endless wealth and honor with his first merit, but if a second similar merit were to fall into his lap and no one in the Chen clan could support it, then the final result would inevitably be the current situation of discarding the bow after the birds are all gone.

As for the fact that Qiao Yanran's family used the collapse of the Duke's Mansion to climb the social ladder, it's hardly surprising.

Loyalty to the emperor and love for one's country have always been the things that court officials most like to boast about.

As subjects, we are obligated to serve our ruler and receive his salary. Now that the court is stable and we are in a period of peace, it is the perfect time for civil officials to play their part.

To advance further in the court, one inevitably needs the emperor's favor. So, while it may seem that the emperor is using his ministers to achieve ulterior motives, in reality, it's a case of perfect harmony and illicit collusion between superiors and subordinates.

The Yao family was not a prominent clan, and Yao Jinse's father did not hold a high official position. Although they had official dealings with the Duke's mansion on the surface because of Yao Jinse, these dealings were not close, also because of Yao Jinse's warning.

Although Yao Jinse could not guarantee that the Yao family would remain unscathed after the fall of the Duke's Mansion, she had a daughter in the harem and had done a decent job herself, so she could still say a few words to the Empress Dowager and the Empress.

Most importantly, there's still the credit she earned earlier. As long as Xie Yun'an doesn't want to erase that credit, she still has room to maneuver.

Perhaps they can use these events to advance their careers in the harem, climb higher, and gain a more stable foothold.

As for when the rope of the Duke's mansion, which is destined to break, will break, that depends on Xie Yun'an's intentions.

I think those days shouldn't be too far off.