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

If your methods aren't tough enough, you have to be flexible in your approach.

Most people who have struggled and survived adversity will gradually understand this principle, and Yao Jinse still believes in the wisdom left by our ancestors that "excessive rigidity leads to breakage".

Moreover, given the current situation, there's no way to get Consort Rong to stand up for herself.

Yao Jinse noticed the change in Consort Rong, and her plans for the future became clearer.

She had initially worried that Consort Rong would become depressed after giving birth and shut herself away like Consort Jing, but now it seems that Consort Rong is not depressed, so this worry was unnecessary.

As long as she has this daughter, Consort Rong will have a reason to fight and struggle. For the sake of the little princess's future wealth and honor, she will never allow her position in the harem to decline.

This shows the depth of a mother's heart.

Although Yao Jinse herself had never given birth, she had profound insights into this subject because she raised Princess Dongyang.

In this harem, there is no such thing as a mother gaining status through her son if she is not a prince. Even if a prince is not favored, he can still strive for glory and wealth outside when he grows up. Xie Yun'an is a ready example.

But what about the princess?
Nominally, they were royal offspring, but they were also born into the confines of those four words.

If she does anything even slightly out of line, countless people will be there to advise her—the palace maids and the ministers outside. They claim to be advising the princess on her behavior, but in reality, they are just using this as an excuse to point fingers and make things difficult for her.

Throughout history, the fate of princesses has been almost the same: a daughter's status depends on her mother. How much glory and freedom a daughter can enjoy depends entirely on how much face her mother has in front of the emperor.

Therefore, even if it is for the sake of their daughters' future well-being, mothers cannot slack off. This is a skill that needs no supervision from others and is acquired the moment they become mothers.

The bond between mother and daughter is like the cycle of yin and yang, connected by something unseen. So even though Yao Jinse didn't give birth to Princess Dongyang herself and never experienced the pain of childbirth, she always felt calmer whenever she saw Princess Dongyang's round and adorable face.

It seems that because of the child's existence, she, an outsider, also has an indelible connection in this unfamiliar world where she knows no one.

"However, this servant has observed that although His Majesty has bestowed many rewards upon the Consort and the little princess these past few days, he has ultimately not mentioned allowing the Consort to participate in palace affairs."

Although Bai Tan wasn't particularly knowledgeable, she was meticulous and often helped Yao Jinse sort through the messages from the servants. With her cautious nature, she naturally learned a lot over time.

"Moreover, this matter involves Her Majesty the Empress. These days, Your Highness has finally gained some respect in front of Her Majesty the Empress. If you were to use the power you have now to do things for the Noble Consort, wouldn't that go against His Majesty's wishes and hurt Her Majesty the Empress's feelings?"

"There's no need to worry about His Majesty. Given his temperament, if he truly cares about someone, he's unlikely to let them get involved in trouble."

Discussing the emperor in private is a great disrespect. Yao Jinse dared to say this because Bai Tan and Bai Tao, who were by her side, were people she absolutely trusted.

They're in the same boat, and the two girls aren't gossipy. If they had been even slightly loose-lipped in the past, they wouldn't be serving Yao Jinse now.

Although Yao Jinse was relieved, Bai Tan and Bai Tao couldn't help but feel nervous upon hearing these words. Bai Tao, being more quick-witted, even thought to herself that her mistress was truly different from before after entering the palace.

They are naturally different.

In the past, whether in the Prince's mansion or the palace, the original Yao Jieyu would never have said such a thing. Although the original owner was cunning and had planned a lot in order to survive in the harem, she was not favored and naturally did not understand the temperament of Emperor Xie Yun'an.

Yao Jinse, on the other hand, understood what kind of person Xie Yun'an was.

Even though a few words between the lines cannot fully depict a person's true fate, they can completely reveal a person's attitude towards things and others.

From these attitudes, one can naturally discern a person's character.

In his youth, Xie Yun'an was a relatively diligent ruler, conscientiously managing state affairs. He was not overly greedy for the beauties of the harem. It was only after the court stabilized that Xie Yun'an began to frequent the harem.

But by then, the palace was already a place where new talents were flourishing, and the old ones had long been forgotten.

It is clear that while being stubborn and self-willed may not be a good description of Xie Yun'an, it is quite apt to describe him as lustful, greedy, and heartless.

Not long after waking up in this body, Yao Jinse knew very well that the most important thing to survive and thrive here was to win the heart of Emperor Xie Yun'an. However, she only realized after trying it herself that this idea was ultimately too difficult.

An emperor is an emperor; he lives like a completely cold machine.

As the most outstanding figure among so many intelligent people in this vast country, Xie Yun'an's emotions can be described as both rare and complex. His attitude towards the concubines in the harem was like distributing porridge to refugees. Even though the porridge was already as thin as water, he still managed to share it with many people, and these people had to repay him with gratitude.

Ultimately, he still loves himself the most. All the concubines in the harem probably don't even occupy as much of his heart as a little finger. And among all of them, the Imperial Concubine probably occupies about the size of a fingernail.

Yao Jinse, as a Jieyu, was an insignificant figure. Even after giving birth to a princess, she didn't receive much attention from Xie Yun'an. If it weren't for the loss of Consort Yi, Yao Jinse's life would probably be no different from last year.

Therefore, when Consort Rong asked Yao Jinse to come up with a way to elevate herself, Yao Jinse was able to come up with the idea of ​​improving people's livelihood to win Xie Yun'an's attention.

After the night of serving the emperor, she would use some unusual tricks to enhance the experience. With so much effort put into it, Xie Yun'an naturally paid more attention to the concubine in Yuxiu Palace who had given birth to a princess, but that was all.

If it weren't for the Imperial Concubine, Yao Jinse wouldn't even have the power to manage these affairs. Her background is well-known to Xie Yun'an, so naturally she wouldn't be favored.

This power came from the Imperial Concubine, so when the Imperial Concubine asked her to do something, she couldn't refuse; she could only agree first.

However, Bai Tan is right. Things have priorities, and since some things are so important, they certainly need to be considered carefully.

"There's no rush to do this for the Imperial Concubine."

Since the Imperial Concubine didn't specify when, the timing is naturally up to us.

These days, the Imperial Concubine is weak after giving birth, so it is most important for her to take good care of herself.

Spring planting, summer busy, autumn harvest, winter storage—winter is the perfect time to relax and unwind, rather than go out and cause trouble, which only annoys others.

Besides, the Emperor doesn't even enter the harem now. Even if he wanted to use his rank to stir up their emotions, it wouldn't be something he could easily do. Since the Empress keeps quiet about these things, it's up to the Emperor to bring them up.”

But getting the Emperor to bring up such a matter is as difficult as ascending to heaven; ultimately, we still need to think it over carefully.

Winter is not the time for jealousy and rivalry. Going out in this cold weather would only result in getting a blast of cold wind. Yao Jinse herself just wanted to stay in bed and not go out, let alone anyone else.

However, to be fair, the lives of the concubines were not particularly busy. It was in such an environment that they had the time and leisure to devote their minds to fighting each other.

If even surviving requires energy, who has the time to engage in such petty squabbles and jealousies?

The affairs of the imperial harem, upon closer examination, are actually quite boring, nothing like the interesting stories written in them.

When Yao Jinse first woke up, she thought she would have to deal with a lot of open and covert attacks, but apart from the suppression by Consort Yi, she hardly encountered anything else.

This was naturally a benefit of being protected by Consort Rong. Since the new concubines entered the palace, jealousy and rivalry had often occurred, but no one had ever been heard of being plotted against and slandered.

Ultimately, the source of disputes in the harem lies with the emperor. When the emperor is busy with state affairs, he rarely enters the harem. Without the emperor as the source of jealousy and rivalry, the Imperial Household Department treats concubines of the same rank equally.

Everyone enjoyed the same treatment. When concubines of the same status compared themselves, none of them had an easier life than the others, so naturally they couldn't compete with each other.

If it weren't for the task of all the concubines gathering to pay their respects to the Empress and Empress Dowager at the beginning and fifteenth of each month, many concubines wouldn't see the Emperor even once a month. As a result, the harem would naturally be much quieter.

As Empress, Shen Qingyin was pleased with this scene. A peaceful harem was the best demonstration of her orderly management as Empress. However, the Empress Dowager was not very happy about the fact that the Emperor rarely visited the harem.

There were simply too few children in the harem. The Empress Dowager preferred a lively and bustling palace, so every time Yao Jinse brought Princess Dongyang to visit her, the Empress Dowager was always very happy.

With another day for paying respects approaching, and given that no new concubines have been attending to the emperor for quite some time, Shen Qingyin is likely to face another reprimand from the Empress Dowager. As for the outcome, we'll have to wait and see. (End of Chapter)