The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 51 Not Involved

Even if Consort Li manages to keep this pregnancy for now, it's hard to say what will happen in the future.

When the imperial physician spoke to Emperor Yuanwu and the Empress Dowager yesterday, he revealed the situation to them, seemingly to give them some time to prepare. However, in order not to affect Consort Li's pregnancy, the Chuxiu Palace kept it a secret.

The second prince in the palace was already quite worrying because he was sickly all the time, and now there is a third prince as well.

Now, the only hope lies with Consort Rou.

After much deliberation, the Empress Dowager concluded that the reason there were so few children in the harem was because there were too few concubines. So, she selected a few women from the households of several ministers who had been particularly active in devising strategies to combat smallpox and brought them into the palace.

With more women in the harem, the chances of having offspring would be greater. The Empress Dowager was afraid that Shen Qingwan would be unhappy about this, so before the new concubine entered the palace, she still summoned her to Cining Palace and talked with her for a while.

"Mother, rest assured, your daughter-in-law will not be jealous over such matters. It is a joyous occasion for the harem if the Emperor can have more princes and princesses," Shen Qingwan said gently.

The Empress Dowager was very pleased to hear Shen Qingwan's words.

"It's best if you think that way. No matter who is favored in the harem, no matter how many concubines there are, you are the most honorable empress."

Shen Qingwan felt that the Empress Dowager was worrying too much. Naturally, the more painless motherhood she had, the better. In the future, she could also become an Empress Dowager and enjoy her old age in the harem.

Anyway, she never thought about having a child with Emperor Yuanwu. She would fully support whichever concubine in the harem wanted to have a child.

All three girls entered the palace relying on the glory of their maternal families, and were immediately given the title of Changzai upon entering the palace.

They are Tong Changzai, Ruan Changzai, and Dong Changzai.

Consort Tong lived in Xianfu Palace.

Ruan Changzai resided in Jingyang Palace.

Consort Dong resided in Yanxi Palace.

The Empress Dowager personally arranged the accommodations for the three newlyweds, and the concubines in the harem could only keep their dissatisfaction to themselves.

The next morning.

The three newlyweds arrived at Kunning Palace early and paid their respects to the Empress.

"This humble servant greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty live a thousand years!"

"Once you enter the palace, you will all be sisters. You did not pass the imperial selection; you entered the palace to serve because of your maternal families' honor, and it was also by imperial decree personally issued by the Empress Dowager. You will gradually become familiar with the rules of the harem. Currently, Consort De and Consort Shu are in charge of the harem more. These days, the Third Prince in Consort Shu's palace is not in good health. If you have any problems, go to Consort De. When the Third Prince recovers in the future, you can also go to Consort Shu."

Shen Qingwan's voice was gentle, but her purpose was clear: if there was anything, go to Consort De or Consort Shu, and don't come to her.

The three women exchanged glances. Although they found the Empress's words somewhat strange, they still replied, "Your Majesty, we will remember your teachings."

"Does Consort De and Consort Shu have anything else to say to the newlyweds?" Shen Qingwan asked.

That’s all for the sake of talking about it.

"Your Majesty, we do not have any," Consort Shu and Consort De replied in unison.

"Since there's nothing here, let's call it a day. The weather is getting colder, so everyone in the palace should take care to keep warm. If you need anything these days, just go to Consort De." Shen Qingwan said, standing up.

Concubine De: ...

After the morning greetings were over, the three newlyweds, though not living in the same palace, gathered together.

After all, they entered the palace at the same time and learned etiquette from the same nanny, so they were naturally closer than the other concubines in the palace.

"This Empress really is just like the rumors say, someone who doesn't care about anything," Consort Dong couldn't help but say. "Even if the Empress doesn't care about anything, she's still the Empress. We're just newcomers to the palace, so we shouldn't be negligent," Consort Ruan said.

"You two are much better off. Once you entered the palace, one of you was in Consort De's palace and the other in Consort Xian's palace. Unlike me, I was assigned to Consort Jin's palace," Consort Tong sighed.

"If we're talking about the luckiest one, it has to be Consort Dong. Not only is Consort De a consort, but she also assists in managing the six palaces. Living in the same palace, they all benefit from each other's influence to some extent. Although Consort Xian is a consort, her health is ruined. Who knows what will happen to her in the future?" Consort Ruan clicked her tongue in amazement.

"It's strange, since the Empress doesn't manage things, why doesn't the Emperor appoint a Noble Consort or Imperial Noble Consort? Now the harem is actually managed by two consorts." Consort Tong wondered.

"I heard that the Imperial Noble Consort's preferred candidate was Consort Xian, who was also the one who previously assisted in managing the six palaces. If it weren't for Consort Xian's accident, she might have already been a Noble Consort..."

As the three were talking, a group of palace maids and eunuchs walked past them.

"Greetings to Consort Dong, Consort Tong, and Consort Ruan."

Ruan Changzai stopped speaking, but her face looked extremely ugly.

See? She told me that even the lowest-ranking palace maids treat people differently based on their status.

They were both called "Changzai" (a title in Chinese astrology), but the first one they called "Changzai Dong" was the one they called "themselves" last.

How is she going to live her life from now on?!
"Alright, alright, there are too many people and too much gossip in the palace. Let's hurry back. What if the palace maids hear what they're saying? It wouldn't be good if word got out." After saying that, Consort Tong was the first to leave.

Shen Qingwan thought that with the new concubine entering the palace, Emperor Yuanwu would visit the harem more frequently.

Several days passed, and apart from having lunch at his Kunning Palace once, he never entered the palace again.

Gradually, Shen Qingwan discovered something: Emperor Yuanwu seemed to be particularly averse to the women sent to the palace by the Empress Dowager.

It seems that Consort Xi was the same before; she was the last one to serve the emperor, and after that, Emperor Yuanwu did not elevate her rank.

Since the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet when he served her, it seems that Consort Xi has never been summoned to the Emperor's bedchamber again.

Now that the new concubine has just entered the palace, if Emperor Yuanwu goes to the harem but does not summon her, and instead goes to another concubine, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the Empress Dowager?

Emperor Yuanwu simply stopped visiting the inner palace altogether. This not only worried the new concubines, but also made the older women in the inner palace restless.

The tragedy of women in the imperial harem lies in this: their entire life's honor, disgrace, and happiness depend on a single man, and they spend their days in the harem hoping for the emperor's favor.

Shen Qingwan was not born in this era. She understands such things, but she does not accept them.

However, judging from the current situation, there are more and more women in the harem, and Emperor Yuanwu simply doesn't have enough to go around. There's no way she'll get a chance to serve him in bed. She can just continue to be a lazy bum and do nothing.

That very night, Emperor Yuanwu, who hadn't entered the inner palace for several days, actually came.

As expected, Emperor Yuanwu not only did not favor the new concubine, but went directly to Consort Li in Chuxiu Palace.

Although Consort Li has recovered from smallpox, the scars left on her body will never fully heal.

They thought Emperor Yuanwu was just going to see the children, but they didn't expect it to be until the morning of the next day.

Emperor Yuanwu then left Consort Li's palace.

The news spread throughout the palace in an instant.

Having fallen out of favor for a long time, Consort De couldn't help but complain on her way to Shen Qingwan's palace to pay her respects early in the morning.

(End of this chapter)