I, the one in the heavens, am here to protect my bottom line in all realms.

Chapter 360 The Little Paper Doll

As for the emperor, he would occasionally give him some rewards, and without fail, he would come to Zhang Chengyuan's place for a night's rest at the end of the month. What was more gratifying was that he no longer made any advances; he simply slept next to Zhang Chengyuan, saving Zhang Chengyuan a lot of trouble.

As the days went by, she returned to her obscure status, and few people in the palace mentioned her.

Before she knew it, the triennial talent show began. Zhang Chengyuan followed the crowd to watch the excitement. She was incredibly excited inside, but on the surface, she had to maintain a world-weary and indifferent demeanor, which was quite a struggle for her.

It's heartbreaking to think that so many tender young flowers are about to be ruined by this old man who could be their father. If they were all given to her, she would be such a cheerful and lively little girl.

Jealousy envy hate ah!

However, beautiful people do have many similarities, which explains why some emperors liked to collect similar people. They may look alike, but their different personalities give them completely different feelings.

Upon hearing this, she recalled that the emperor had quite a few concubines. She had counted them during her previous greetings, and there were as many as eighty. It was said that six of them had been given death sentences, four were in the Cold Palace, and no fewer than twenty had died for various reasons.

Who knows how many people will enter the palace this time? Tsk tsk, this emperor knows how to enjoy life, he's not afraid that the national treasury can't support them.

There are currently six prominent figures in the palace. One of them is the Empress, who holds real power and is known for her kindness and the demeanor of a mother of the nation. She has three sons and one daughter, but only one son and one daughter have survived. As for the two who did not survive, they were both killed by Consort Liang. One was miscarried after Consort Liang deliberately knocked her down, confirming that she was male or female, and the other was drowned by Consort Liang when she was five years old.

The second is Consort Liang. She has the Empress Dowager as her backer. Although she is blatantly stupid and vicious, her beauty is unmatched. To this day, she is still childless, not because of any physical reason, but simply because the Emperor does not want her to have children. Perhaps there are other reasons behind this. The Emperor may have already made some guesses in his heart and is therefore wary of her.

But Zhang Chengyuan didn't care about any of this. He could tell just by looking at their faces that the emperor was actually the empress dowager's elder brother's child, and Consort Liang was the empress dowager's child. There was a complicated story behind it.

Thirdly, there was Consort Xian. Her father was a general who commanded 300,000 troops and guarded the border year-round. Therefore, even though Consort Xian was physically weak, she was still a powerful figure in the palace whom no one dared to offend. Even the emperor and the empress dowager had to give her face. She had only one son and one daughter.

Fourthly, there was Consort De, the daughter of the Prince of Chu. The Prince of Chu was a shrewd businessman and the richest man. The Emperor pursued Consort De personally for his wealth. Consort De was the first to marry him and was considered his principal wife. However, after he became Emperor, he only granted her the title of Consort De, which broke her heart. She spent her life in seclusion with a Buddhist lamp and a Buddhist temple, but she was still a formidable figure. However, she had many children, four sons and two daughters.

Fifthly, there was Consort Shu. She was the daughter of a prominent family. Her father had many disciples and was not someone to be trifled with. Moreover, she had quite a few children: two adult princes and princesses, and three minors.

And this last one is the emperor's recent favorite, Consort Yao, the younger sister of the newly appointed top scholar. She has been in the palace for several years and was able to rise to prominence thanks to her brother. However, she is also a cunning and resourceful person. During this period, she has managed to make the emperor, who is not particularly fond of women, linger in the harem.

Pulling himself from his wandering thoughts, the emperor had already risen and left, thus concluding the imperial concubine selection.

Zhang Chengyuan returned to his residence and, bored, hid in the small ancestral hall to draw talismans.

Just when I was bored, a little paper figure slipped in, put its hands behind its back, and walked with an arrogant, domineering gait, calling out urgently, "Mother, Mother, look at me, don't I look imposing?"

Zhang Chengyuan tried hard to suppress the upturned corners of his mouth, but didn't speak, afraid that what would come out of his mouth would be a wild laugh instead of words.

It was difficult for the little paper doll to maintain this pose. When it saw its mother turn her head away from it, it gave up the awkward position out of curiosity. It ran over and tugged at its mother's clothes, quickly climbing up to its mother's shoulder. It hugged its mother's face and stood on tiptoe to look: "Mom, did you secretly eat something delicious behind my back? Let me see."

Zhang Chengyuan couldn't help but chuckle, gently turning her head to shield the little paper figure with her hand, her tone both helpless and indulgent: "Be careful, you're overthinking things. If Mom has something delicious, would she not give it to you?" The little paper figure gave Zhang Chengyuan a quick kiss, dodged her mother's hand, leaped off her shoulder, and slid down the curve of her clothes like a slide, landing on the ground. It then bounced and hopped around its mother, saying, "Mommy, I'm so bored! Shall we go play outside the palace together?"

Zhang Chengyuan agreed without hesitation: "Okay, wait for me, Mother."

The little paper doll chattered as it followed its mother.

Zhang Chengyuan cut out a paper figure from Xuan paper, drew an array on it, and then sent a wisp of his divine consciousness onto the paper figure. The paper figure seemed to come alive, able to run and jump.

Paper Doll #2 jumped off the table, took Paper Doll #1's hand, and said, "Come on, Mom will take you out to play."

Zhang Chengyuan watched the two paper figures leave, collected the remaining items, returned to the small ancestral hall, found a place to close his eyes and rest, and focused his mind on that wisp of divine consciousness.

Paper Doll No. 2 led Paper Doll No. 1, and they quickly jumped over walls and out of the palace, running around everywhere, avoiding strangers.

When she darted onto a rooftop, Paper Doll No. 2 heard a familiar voice. She gestured to her daughter not to speak and to stop and listen carefully to what was being said inside.

The voice belonged to an acquaintance—the Sixth Prince, Yu Qingyuan, and sounded quite affectionate: "Sister Jingru, is this matter causing you some difficulty?"

The woman's voice was gentle and melodious: "For Brother Yuan, Jingru is not afraid of suffering any hardship."

Paper Doll #2 paused for a moment. This was yet another scumbag who used women to achieve his goals. There was nothing useful to hear. She grabbed her daughter and jumped away silently.

After leaving that place for a while, she told her daughter, "Little Jiangbao, did you hear that? That man was a scumbag. He tricked women into doing things for him and then reaped the benefits. He's a typical useless man. Don't be like him. If we women are going to do something, we should do it for ourselves. When we have power and status, there will be plenty of handsome and useful men for us to choose from."

Paper Doll No. 1 nodded seriously. She had heard this kind of talk many times. The gist of it was nothing more than 'useless men rely on women, while useful women choose men.'

"Mom, I know."

Zhang Chengyuan smiled with satisfaction and brought his daughter to the Nanfeng Pavilion, where they sat on the roof beam to watch the performance.

In this era, the best places to watch performances are still brothels and entertainment venues. Watching a play in a theater is fine occasionally, but it gets boring after a while, as there are only a few plays to be performed over and over again.

Brothels and brothels also held beauty pageants, with new variations every year, because competition is what drives innovation.

The only downside is that there are occasionally some scenes that are not suitable for children, but blocking them is not difficult. Therefore, in my daughter's eyes, there are no scenes that are not suitable for children. At most, she sees that the people here like to hug and kiss.

Therefore, she was very confused in her little mind: Did other people have candy in their mouths?
Why do so many people like to kiss other people's mouths?