I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 37: Beast! I'm so young...

...

When Zhang Chun came to his senses, Zhao Ya had already walked away.

Pursing his lips, he stared at Zhao Ya's back in a daze. After a while of reaction, Zhang Chun hurriedly wiped his mouth fiercely with the back of his hand and said angrily:

"You beast! I'm so young, and Queen Xiansu didn't want me to be a maid-in-training, and you actually had the heart to attack me!!!"

A blush appeared on Zhang Chun's cheeks, intertwined with the shame and anger in her heart, making her expression look extremely complicated.

After scolding Zhao Ya for a while, Zhang Chun licked his lips again:

"Is this what a kiss tastes like?"

An inexplicable feeling surged in Zhang Chun's heart. It was an experience she had never had before, which was both unfamiliar and made her heart palpitate.

"Let me think about it, what just happened?"

"Did I respond?"

"..."

Zhang Chun's thoughts were like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins, and he could no longer retract them...

It took a long time for Zhang Chun to come out of this extremely wonderful feeling.

Zhang Chun's cheeks flushed slightly, and she fanned herself gently with her hands, trying to dispel the heat in her heart.

Zhang Chun looked up at the sky. A few white clouds were floating leisurely by, and the sunlight shone through the clouds, casting mottled light and shadows. Everything seemed so peaceful and beautiful.

However, Zhang Chun's heart was like a surging wave, unable to calm down for a long time...

……

Zhao Ya felt a sense of accomplishment after kissing Zhang Chun and making him confused.

What made Zhao Ya feel even more accomplished was that Zhang Chun's performance was clumsy, like that of a complete novice.

"Could this be Queen Mother Chun's first kiss?"

"If that's the case, then Queen Mother Chun is too conservative..."

After passing through the Imperial Garden and arriving at the front yard of Cide Palace, Zhao Ya met Zheng Xiansu, Wang Yisu and the four palace maids they had carefully prepared for him in the name of Empress Dowager Xiang.

The first palace maid was wearing a palace robe of Cuishui. Her shoulders were as sharp as a knife, her waist was as slender as a thread, her skin was as white as cream, her temperament was as fragrant as orchid, and she was charming and beautiful without any bones.

It was obvious that this palace maid was dressed up carefully, and it was obvious that she wanted to give Zhao Ya a deep first impression.

It has to be said that this palace maid's self-marketing was successful. As soon as Zhao Ya saw her, his scalp went numb and his bones went soft. The passion that he had not vented on Zheng Xiansu, Wang Yisu and Zhang Chun was aroused by her again.

Seeing that Zhao Ya was interested in this palace maid, Wang Yisu pulled her over and said to Zhao Ya: "Chu Chu is a sister from my family. I beg the king to have mercy on her."

Wang Chuchu bowed to Zhao Yayingying in a very obedient and sensible manner: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

After letting Wang Chuchu stand up, Zhao Ya gave Wang Yisu a look that said, "Don't worry, I will definitely take care of her."

Zhao Ya looked at the next palace maid.

This maiden wore a bun, the most common style among palace maids, but it didn't affect her beauty in the slightest. The charm between her eyebrows and lips was elegant and gentle, and she looked friendly, not luxurious but peaceful. Zheng Xiansu pulled her to Zhao Ya and said, "She is my adopted daughter Pei Sui. She is steady, reliable, well-behaved and obedient."

As soon as Zhao Ya heard it, he understood that this was the palace order prepared by Zheng Xiansu, the head female official (i.e. the female steward) of Prince Shen's palace.

Zhao Ya once again looked at the girl, who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, and thought to himself, "I never thought that at such a young age, Empress Xiansu would place such high hopes on her."

However, this also shows that Zheng Xiansu's family background is insufficient. Otherwise, Zheng Xiansu would definitely take advantage of this God-given opportunity like Wang Yisu to insert his own outstanding young girl to help him consolidate his favor and power, instead of giving this opportunity to his adopted daughter who has no blood relationship with him.

Zhao Ya looked at Zheng Xiansu and thought, "No wonder. Historically, although you were the most favored concubine in the harem, you didn't get any help. Later, in order to intimidate the other concubines, you had to adopt Huang Jingchen's strategy and acknowledge Zheng Juzhong, a high-ranking official who was not even remotely related to you, as your relative."

In this era, men married more for political reasons or alliances of interest, and were subject to various constraints of social etiquette and laws. Couples were often well-behaved and respectful to each other.

As for whether to take a concubine or not, and what kind of concubine to take, it is up to the man himself. Concubines are often prettier than wives, and their talents and personalities are more appealing to men. Therefore, in the emotional world, concubines often have an advantage.

Let me put it this way, the wife's family is generally powerful and very helpful to the man's career development, and must be respected; while the concubine generally has no background, but is more in line with the man's aesthetic taste. With a concubine, a man can do whatever he wants, and even if he PUAs her every day, no one can stop him.

This means that in some families, concubines are more familiar with the household situation and understand their husbands' tempers better than the newly married wife. If the wife is not strong enough and not good at controlling the family, then the power to manage household affairs and even the financial power may be taken away by the concubine. In that case, there will never be peace in the backyard.

Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu are both masters of harem politics. They are gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, so this kind of situation will definitely not happen.

But then again, because Zheng Xiansu's family had little power, if Zhao Ya did not support her, it was possible that some concubine or maid in Zhao Ya's family would not be able to figure things out and, relying on the fact that they came early and had served Zhao Ya before, would make things difficult for her to manage Prince Shen's Mansion.

If Zhao Ya doesn't want chaos in his family, he must support Zheng Xiansu and help her build enough prestige.

Otherwise, no matter how capable Zheng Xiansu was, it would not be an easy task for him to take over Prince Shen's Mansion in a short period of time.

Zhao Ya was not at all vague on such a matter of right and wrong. He said to Pei Sui directly: "You will be a Shang Gong. Before your mother comes to the mansion, help her manage my household. All the women in the mansion, no matter who they are, are under your jurisdiction. If anyone disobeys, you can punish them first and then report them."

Zhao Ya had slept with many maids, but those maids were only given red and purple skirts and robes by Zhao Ya, and they didn't even have a title. But Pei Sui had not slept with Zhao Ya yet, but Zhao Ya had given her a fifth-rank female official, which immediately raised her status and made her stand out from the crowd.

This also shows Zhao Ya's importance to Zheng Xiansu who is behind Pei Sui.

As soon as Zhao Ya said this, Zheng Xiansu felt relieved and a gentle and grateful smile appeared on her face.

Zheng Xiansu bowed slightly, his voice trembling with a barely perceptible tremor: "Sui Sui, why don't you thank the king for his grace?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Sui bowed calmly and said in a clear and pleasant voice, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty! I will do my best to manage my family for you, Your Majesty."

Wang Chuchu and another palace maid, including Ma Xiaojiao, were all more respectful of Zheng Xiansu when they saw how Zhao Ya defended him.

Next, Zheng Xiansu took the hand of the third palace maid and brought her to Zhao Ya. "This sister is Guo Wei, the cousin of the Guo family sister. She entered the palace in the eighth year of Yuanyou. Before that, she had been serving in the palace of Concubine Zhu. She is a close friend of Concubine Zhu and can be used. She has learned to play the pipa since she was a child and plays a beautiful melody. You can teach her to play it for the king someday."

Zhao Ya didn't ask whether this was someone planted by Guo Ting or Zheng Xiansu was doing Guo Ting a favor, but looked directly at Guo Wei.

I saw that this woman had an extremely beautiful face, a pair of phoenix eyes with natural charm, and was dressed in pink palace maid's clothes. Her every move was as graceful as a willow in the wind. She was also a rare beauty.

Zhao Ya said to Guo Wei, "Don't worry, come to my house. I will treat you all equally."

Guo Wei bowed gracefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

When only Ma Xiaojiao was left, Zhao Ya took the initiative to look at her.

Seeing Zhao Ya looking at her, Ma Xiaojiao quickly forced out a smile that was uglier than crying...

……

(End of this chapter)