Selling wife for fame? Kick out the scumbag and marry the new emperor to enjoy the harem of favors

Chapter 108 Not a Good Candidate

"Mother knows about Zhou's affairs." Zhao Xingjin raised his eyes.

"It's quite a commotion, it's hard not to know." The Queen Mother sighed. "I thought the Queen was feeling uneasy and was just giving her a new concubine to show her respect. I never imagined it would be someone so unpresentable. She managed to do a flawless job at the palace banquet that day."

Thinking of Zhou Cainv's gentle and elegant behavior at the dinner that day, the empress dowager became more and more dissatisfied.

The Zhou family stuffed all kinds of things into the palace.

Even if they were relatives or meritorious officials, they would not do this.

With a personality like Zhou Cainu's, the children she gave birth to would make people feel bad. Even if they were given to the queen to raise, people would always feel that they had bad nature.

Zhao Xingjin frowned slightly, "Empress, you are becoming increasingly unstable. My son has already sent word that Zhaoqing, Lingyi, and Wenxi will all go to Hongwen Garden to study with the Fourth Prince. Next year, Zhaoqing and her sister will also move out and live on their own in Ruiyu Palace."

The Queen Mother understood the meaning of these words as soon as she heard them.

He narrowed his eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke in a deep voice.

"Xie Jieyu is now highly favored. Have you decided to let her have children?"

"She is not in good health and needs to recuperate. It is not suitable for her to get pregnant for the time being." Zhao Xingjin said.

The tea in Chengming Palace was specially prepared by Yang Zhian, and Xie Jiu drank it every time he was favored.

Of course, Zhao Xingjin didn't want a child with Xie's blood. After all, the future of the Xie family was a dead end, and a child with Xie's blood would suffer when he was born.

However, if the situation requires Xie Jiu to get pregnant, that is another matter.

"That's fine." The Empress Dowager nodded slightly, then said, "Sun Baolin is due to give birth next year. Calculating, it should be around February or March. What does the Emperor think? Logically, she lives in Yanqing Palace, so after the child is born, Concubine Zhuang can raise him."

But Concubine Zhuang already had children, so he probably wouldn't give it to her.

Zhao Xingjin twirled the jade ring on his finger and said, "Send her to Fangyi Pavilion. Concubine Zhuang's personality is not suitable, and there are no other good candidates in the palace at the moment."

"What about Concubine Yi? She has enough qualifications and status." The Queen Mother suggested.

But Zhao Xingjin shook his head.

"Concubine Yi is too obsessed with the child she miscarried, and I'm afraid she doesn't have the heart to raise someone else's child. Moreover, even if she wanted to raise the child, I would still be worried. Queen Mother may not have spoken to Concubine Yi for too long, and now she is very gloomy and moody. She is not a good choice."

After hearing this, the Queen Mother stopped mentioning it and continued asking.

"What are your plans regarding the selection? I heard that at the morning court session, the Minister of Rites was impeached by Prime Minister Xie and has been temporarily suspended for investigation."

Although she lived in the harem, the empress dowager still paid attention to the news of the previous dynasty.

Zhao Xingjin didn't really mind the Queen Mother staring at the former dynasty. After all, they were mother and son, and the Queen Mother always wanted the best for him, so at this time he just said.

"The envoy from Xichi will come to pay homage to me at the end of the year. I will discuss the selection of candidates after I finish this matter. I don't have the heart to care about it when there are outsiders around."

"That's true." The Queen Mother nodded. Finally, her eyes moved and she said softly, "The Minister of Rites is, after all, Prince Heng's father-in-law. Regarding this matter, you two brothers should not harbor any grudges because of outsiders."

The Queen Mother did not say anything about the matter between the youngest son of the Liang family and Liu Baolin's brother last time. After all, it was not a big deal and it ultimately fell on the shoulders of the young master of the Liang family. However, this time the problem was with Minister Liang himself, so she had to ask more questions.

If the Liang family really did something wrong, they should be punished. However, the empress dowager had a strong prejudice against the Xie family and did not think that what Xie Mingshen said was true.

However, the Queen Mother knew that the relationship between Zhao Xingjin and Xie Jiu was not that simple, so it was not convenient for her to interrupt too much at the moment and she could only give a brief reminder.

Both of them are her biological sons, so naturally she doesn't want to see them turn against each other.

Zhao Xingjin understood this, "Don't worry, mother. Prince Heng and I are doing fine."

After hearing this, the Queen Mother breathed a sigh of relief and then invited everyone to eat.

After lunch, when Zhao Xingjin came out of the palace, he happened to meet the Fourth Prince playing in the yard.

"Father!" The Fourth Prince was very excited when he saw Zhao Xingjin and ran forward.

"Father, I want to go back to Yanqing Palace. I miss my mother."

"Isn't it okay here, Grandmother?" Zhao Xingjin squatted down and touched his son's head. "Sun Baolin is pregnant. Mother has to take care of her. You can go back after a while."

He didn't want to tell the truth to the child, as that would be cruel.

The Fourth Prince lowered his head in disappointment upon hearing this. "Grandmother is very kind, but I want to be with Mother more. Father, I didn't mean to bump into Empress Sun."

In the end, the Fourth Prince told the truth himself.

After all, he was still young, and the incident had happened a long time ago. The fear of getting into trouble had passed, so he admitted it voluntarily.

However, Zhao Xingjin already knew this, so he just patted the Fourth Prince's shoulder gently.

"Father knows, but you must never make such a mistake again. The one in Sun Baolin's belly is your brother or sister. Like you, they are Father's children. When they are born, you will be the older brother. You should act like an older brother and protect them. Do you understand?"

"I'm not the youngest anymore?" The Fourth Prince was interested in this topic.

Concubine Zhuang never told him these things before. Even the Fourth Prince didn't think that the child in Sun Baolin's belly had anything to do with him.

Zhao Xingjin nodded, "Yes, just like your sister Zhaoqing, you will also be a brother in the future."

These words made the Fourth Prince nod in confusion.

Seeing this, Zhao Xingjin was about to leave, but the Fourth Prince reached out and grabbed his robe.

"Father, can you come visit me more often? Mother is not here, and I want to be with you."

When saying this, the Fourth Prince's eyes were filled with anticipation, yet also a bit of timidity.

Zhao Xingjin's heart softened, "Okay, Father will come to see you when he's free."

The Fourth Prince immediately became happy upon hearing this, and his whole body was in high spirits. He happily watched Zhao Xingjin leave Fukang Palace.

After getting on the imperial sedan chair, Zhao Xingjin's eyes seemed thoughtful.

When the sedan chair reached a fork in the road, he suddenly said, "Let's go to Changle Palace. I'm going to see Wenxi."

Yang Zhian responded immediately, thinking that it was the Fourth Prince's words that reminded the Emperor of Princess Wenxi. After all, if you really think about it, Princess Wenxi was the one who saw Zhao Xingjin the least.

Changle Palace.

When Zhao Xingjin arrived, he saw that there was no one guarding the door and immediately frowned.

Seeing this, Yang Zhian was about to call for help, but Zhao Xingjin raised his hand to stop him.

The group entered the courtyard first.

But he found that there was no one serving in the courtyard, it was empty, and the door of the main hall was closed.

Yang Zhian felt that something was wrong and wondered if the servants under him neglected the princess because she was young and had no mother, and she did not see the emperor often.
Obviously, Zhao Xingjin also thought of this in his mind, and his expression became much gloomier.

Just at this moment, a child's cry was heard from the hall. The voice was full of grievance and sorrow, as if the child was heartbroken and unable to control himself.

Upon hearing the voice, Zhao Xingjin strode forward without stopping and pushed open the door. When he looked inside, he saw Princess Wenxi, holding an old dress, slumped in Qinlan's arms, tears streaming down her face.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Qin Lan was startled and hurriedly helped the princess kneel down to pay her respects.

"Your servant greets His Majesty."