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

Chapter 236 Talking about Loneliness

In the harem, a place where everything is very pragmatic, spending money will definitely bring benefits.

This benefit might not be obvious in other ordinary matters in the palace, but when it comes to the exquisiteness and care put into the food, the saying "money makes the world go round" is fully demonstrated.

Yao Jinse still had some connections in the Imperial Kitchen, and she had never stopped visiting the people that Jin Chuan'er knew before entering Consort Jing's Palace.

Yonghe Palace has always been secluded from the world. Once you enter Consort Jing's palace, it is very difficult for you to move around outside. Apart from the maids and eunuchs who do odd jobs, it is not easy for you to get out.

Although Consort Jing was not in good health, she was extremely shrewd. In the original storyline, she only appeared briefly, but it was already clear that she had the ability to orchestrate things behind the scenes.

Unless absolutely necessary, Yao Jinse didn't really want to provoke Consort Jing. So, most of the messages she sent to Yonghe Palace had only one core message: to ensure Jin Chuan'er's safety within the palace.

As for things outside, since she promised, she will definitely find a way to do it.

It was precisely because of Yao Jinse's promise that Jin Chuan'er entrusted all the friendship between the sisters over the years to Yao Jinse. Otherwise, although the money could buy a decent meal, it wouldn't provide enough cooking utensils to cook together on the table.

The principle of "treat others as you would like to be treated" applies everywhere.

As they were talking, Chen Meiren had already started eating.

Winter weather is already cold, and eating mutton hot pot is the best way to warm up. The ingredients in the palace are extremely particular, and the smell of mutton will never be allowed on the masters' tables. Otherwise, if the emperor is displeased, it will be a crime for everyone in the imperial kitchen.

Since the main ingredient of the hot pot is so exquisite, the other side dishes are naturally not bad either. At this time of year, it is already quite rare to see green vegetables.

Although they are all grown in greenhouses, most of the time, apart from the Emperor and Empress, only the Cining Palace and Chengqian Palace have the opportunity to enjoy them.

The other concubines in the palace only had the opportunity to eat it during festivals, and even then, it had to be combined with tributes from the royal estates with hot springs outside to make up the total.

Winter diets consist mainly of meat, so it's no wonder that the concubines had such strong internal and external heat.

Chen Meiren hadn't expected to have a good meal at Yao Jinse's place. It wasn't a holiday, and it was almost the end of the year, so there was no reason to eat anything too lavish.

As a result, after taking that bite, she forgot everything else and could only focus on eating the food.

The pot itself was already delicious enough, not to mention the addition of already sliced, tenderly roasted lamb.

The thick flatbread, with an opening cut in the middle, is filled with slices of roasted meat prepared by the master chef. With just one bite, you can feel the warmth flowing through your entire body.

This is truly a pleasure.

Consort Chen knew that Yao Jinse was a good eater. In fact, she also loved to eat, but she didn't have many preferences. Besides, the small kitchen in Changchun Palace belonged exclusively to Consort Zhuang, and Consort Chen was not qualified to use it.

That being said, if life hadn't been so uncomfortable, Chen Meiren, with her easygoing nature, wouldn't have bothered with those competitive things.

But things are often just unfortunate. When you don't think about competing, you can still get a share of the profits, but when you do think about competing, you don't even have the chance anymore.

Seeing that Chen Meiren ate elegantly but slowly, Yao Jinse knew that most of her anger had subsided.

As for the remaining anger, Yao Jinse didn't have any good solutions—people always have desires, but it's difficult for all desires to be granted, and most of the time, the gods and Buddhas can't hear them.

Since many things cannot be forced, it is understandable to feel angry; we can only wait for time to resolve them.

After dinner, it got completely dark.

Chen Meiren's anger was temporary. Now that she had calmed down, she naturally felt that her previous behavior of rushing over to complain was somewhat undignified. Fortunately, this scene was only in front of Yao Jinse, and given the relationship between the two of them, it was not embarrassing.

"Sister, please relax. Many things have two sides. Right now, Consort Ning is in the limelight. The Emperor's interest has not diminished with time; on the contrary, it has grown stronger. It is clear that Consort Ning has her merits. Sister should learn from her."

“Some things require talent and cannot be learned. I understood this a long time ago. Otherwise, back in the Prince’s mansion, I might have gained some favor from the Emperor.” In fact, among the people Xie Yun’an brought into the harem from the Prince’s mansion, Consort Rong would naturally rank first in terms of favor, but Consort Chen would also be in the middle. However, that slight favor would at most make Xie Yun’an think of this person from time to time, but it was impossible for him to do anything special for her.

She had the lowest rank after entering the palace, but she was easygoing and never complained about it.

Anyway, there were only so many reasons. Her family, the Chen family, was not in the capital but in the Northeast. Her father and grandfather did not hold high official positions. After entering the Prince's Mansion, she was too straightforward and always offended people with her words. Most importantly, she had no children.

If Yao Jinse also did not have children, her rank would be roughly the same as hers.

But that would make their lives even more difficult.

A woman's family background determines her initial position in the harem. If the emperor is lustful, the women might be able to use their own methods to secure their positions in the harem. However, Xie Yun'an is not such a lustful emperor. He has a very high goal in mind, which means he has a lot to do. He doesn't see the beautiful women in the harem, not because he doesn't want to, but because he simply doesn't have the time.

Time is always precious in a man's world, and the emperor has an exceptionally busy schedule. Under such circumstances, one can imagine the importance of someone who can be actively remembered by the emperor.

As for the others—being able to use some means to gain the emperor's attention and favor for a period of time is already a very good thing. Once you get a start, it's time to show your skills. Being able to gain the emperor's favor in the harem for a long time is never an easy thing.

The concubines always said they wanted a child, whether boy or girl, because they would have someone to rely on.

Ultimately, as long as one doesn't do anything too blatantly wrong in the palace, as an emperor's concubine, if she can see the empress, she naturally won't really be helpless and die unexpectedly in the deep palace.

The reason why everyone is so obsessed with their children is simply this:

The loneliness of the harem is unbearable.

No one can say for sure that the other concubines are true friends. Yao Jinse had read those beautiful short stories about the inner palace in her previous life. The scenes described in those stories, where "sisters live together without the emperor and live happily together," seemed so beautiful and heartwarming.

But when she arrived in the real world, she realized that the carefree life and the happiness of having enough to eat and wear were just beautiful fantasies of people living in civilized cities. If she were to actually live in the deep palace, someone who wanted to build a living space for themselves by making friends would probably not even last a year.

The harem was full of women who had no one to rely on. Regardless of whether they had families to support them or whether they held a high position in the harem, they all shared one common characteristic.

Unable to rely on.

Favored concubines may not be unaware of the principles of self-preservation and keeping a low profile, but the emperor's favor is so short-lived that even the favored ones cannot guarantee whether that favor will still be there when they wake up tomorrow morning. Therefore, they can only be as flamboyant as possible while they are still favored, which can be regarded as a model of living for the moment.

Favored concubines are arrogant and unrestrained, unwilling to share their favor. They can only listen to flattery and cannot tolerate any other words of sycophancy. In fact, even the initially arrogant Consort Rong was a good leader. Under such circumstances, unfavored concubines are even less reliable.

Because in the "unfavored" race, everyone is a competitor to each other.

In an environment where everyone is striving to find a chance to get ahead, no one can be completely trusted.

In the imperial harem, Consort Chen was probably the least ambitious. Even so, she longed for a child of her own. But to others, this simple wish was seen as a signal to compete for favor. No one cared about Consort Chen's loneliness and anxieties about the future.

Because of all of Consort Chen's emotions, the other women in the harem also experienced them.

Everyone's emotions are the same; no one's emotions are more sophisticated. It's just that the environment in the palace is still relatively normal. The Empress's control over the harem is passable. Whether it's the concubines, the ladies-in-waiting, or the palace maids and eunuchs, everyone follows the rules. They're not living a life where they don't know where tomorrow will come.

The newly arrived concubines all came from good families. Among the older concubines, apart from Consort Rong's maternal family, none of the other families were particularly prominent, so they all lived peacefully.

—If it weren't for their lack of family background, everyone wouldn't have to live so cautiously in the harem. They could have sought out the emperor like new concubines to get a chance to shine, instead of looking for other avenues here and then just sulking after failing to find any.

"Sometimes, I thought I could follow the Imperial Concubine with you and maybe even get a chance to serve her in bed. Unfortunately, I never even had the chance to do that before things turned out this way."

Consort Chen had drunk some wine. When she said this, she was standing at the entrance of Yuxiu Palace. Her slightly flushed cheeks looked very cute, but once the words came out, she was still the same as before.

"Sister, please stop talking," Yao Jinse pulled the person and handed her to a sober palace maid. "Keep an eye on your mistress and make sure she doesn't say anything out of line. Bai Tan, you take Consort Chen back for me!"