After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 236 Musk Moon Red Jade
The group left Yangxin Hall carrying palace lanterns. The sight of the lanterns and the many maids, servants, eunuchs, and palace women following them was particularly spectacular.

Chu Yan watched Daiyu and the others leave. Tan Chun took Ping'er's hand and stepped forward, smiling, "Ping'er and I have something to say to His Majesty."

Daiyu stopped in her tracks, and Baochai also turned around to look. Xiangyun, however, was still sitting. Since she lived in the side hall, everyone knew that she wanted to stay and say a few more words to Chu Yan.

"What is it?" Chu Yan asked.

Ping'er blushed, and Tan Chun said, "It's because Sister Ping'er wants a maid to serve her, and she's thinking of returning to Daming Palace together in five days."

Chu Yan understood and smiled at Ping'er, "I had forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. Does Ping'er have a place to stay in the Daming Palace? One maid isn't enough, we can have another one. In addition, there are other maids to serve, which can also be brought in from here."

Ping'er finally felt relieved and quickly said with a smile, "I can easily get two people to help me, and I don't care where we stay. It's just that our grandmother..."

She looked at Wang Xifeng, whose expression became somewhat tense.

Chu Yan nodded and said, "Okay."

However, she didn't mention Fengjie, nor did she ask Ping'er who she wanted to serve. Tan Chun originally wanted to say something, but seeing that he was probably tired, she stopped talking about it and told Ping'er to choose two more maids to serve later.

According to the rules set by Empress Zhang and Yuan Chun, a concubine has four personal maids, and a noble lady and below have two. However, a few junior maids and eunuchs can also be placed outside to do some rough work.

They didn't usually use eunuchs; instead, they selected several old women from their households to serve in the palace.

After Ping'er's matter was settled, Qingwen stepped forward and said with a smile, "I also have something I would like to report to His Majesty."

"Speak," Chu Yan said casually.

"Musk Moon, Musk Moon!"

Qingwen hurriedly called out to the side room, and immediately a young girl, shorter than her with a round and pretty face, ran out of the side room and rushed to Chu Yan.

"So that's what happened."

Chu Yan nodded, and Qingwen nudged her. Musk Moon hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, but she couldn't say a word, giving off a clumsy and simple-minded appearance.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "You used to be a maid just like Qingwen, but now that you're in my room, it's not appropriate to give you the position of head maid."

Hearing this, Qingwen felt a little smug. Daiyu, who was standing at the door, chuckled and whispered to Baochai, "Look at him, he even remembers a maid like Musk Moon clearly. It's obvious he cares about her."

Chu Yan glanced at her.

Xiangyun didn't hear Daiyu's words, but he did.

"His Majesty!"

Musk Moon, who hadn't dared to speak just moments before, kowtowed and said in a trembling voice, "I dare not compare myself to Qingwen. She has a better life than me, is universally acknowledged to be beautiful, and is more capable than me. I am already content to be a little maid in His Majesty's quarters!"

Qingwen quietly tugged at her clothes, her face flushed with embarrassment, and told her to stop talking.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Do you think I don't know what Qingwen is like? Just ask Fangguan if she's afraid of her!"

Those who remained inside laughed, as they were well aware of Qingwen's fiery temper.

Fangguan stood there for a while, and when the Emperor mentioned her, she hurriedly asked, "Is Your Majesty still angry with me? I will never dare to complain about the greasy food again."

It's clear that Chu Yan's words have left her feeling uneasy ever since!
"I don't blame you... Alright, Musk Moon, get up and be a second-class maid." After thinking for a moment, Chu Yan smiled and said, "But considering that you and Qingwen are friends, I'll allow you to scold her back and argue with her when she scolds you, so as not to cause any rift between you two friends."

Everyone was puzzled by this rule, but after thinking about it, they laughed. Qingwen laughed and said, "How could I dare to argue with her? Every time, she leaves me speechless."

Musk Moon chuckled but said nothing.

The Emperor gave her this special decree, elevating her status above that of a regular second-class maid.

Chu Yan asked, "I remember that Qingwen was given five taels of silver per month? Then give Mushe three taels of silver per month."

Qingwen smiled and said, "Our weight is two taels this year, and it will increase by one tael each year until it reaches five taels."

Chu Yan chuckled: "So I misremembered. Then let's change it to two liang, and add more later. Alright, you've met Musk Moon, you can go back now. We can talk about it tomorrow."

So everyone left, and before leaving, Daiyu asked one more question: "Is His Majesty still busy tomorrow?"

Chu Yan said, "It's still uncertain. Logically, there's nothing wrong. I'll go back to the garden and have someone inform you."

Daiyu didn't ask any more questions and returned to Xiaoxiang Pavilion with Zijuan.

Xiangyun was left alone in the room. Chu Yan pulled her inside and sat on the soft couch, chatting with her for a while.

Xiangyun sighed, "Being an emperor isn't easy. He has to worry about the affairs of the world and has only just found time to rest now."

She sat next to Chu Yan, looking at him with concern and heartache in her eyes.

Chu Yan leaned back on the pillow, put his arm around her slender waist, and laughed, "There are countless people in the world who want to be emperor. What is this little thing? Besides, I'm not this busy every day. I used to be even more tired when I was fighting wars."

Xiangyun quickly asked, "How did you get so tired?"

Chu Yan shook his head, "There's no point in saying anything more. It's enough that Yun'er has this intention."

Xiangyun chatted and laughed for a while, then remembered something and hurriedly massaged his legs. Chu Yan smiled and pulled her into his arms, asking her, "Did you and your sister Lin compose poems tonight?"

Xiangyun smiled and said, "The moon is beautiful tonight. I thought of what my Emperor brother said about moon gazing during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I imagined boating on the lake under the Mid-Autumn moon, which would be a wonderful thing. It's a pity that it's still more than a month away."

Chu Yan also laughed and said, "What if it rains this Mid-Autumn Festival?"

Xiangyun grew anxious and hurriedly said, "This year is sure to be a good year... Even if it rains, we can still enjoy the moon, watch the raindrops hitting the lake from the boat, and listen to the sound of the lotus leaves."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "I know why your sister Lin gets along so well with you. You are both people who enjoy life."

Xiangyun said, "Sister Lin..."

She stopped talking and smiled shyly. Chu Yan asked her what she wanted to say, but she didn't say anything. She nestled in his arms for a while before raising her head and smiling, "I'm going back to rest. I won't disturb you, Emperor brother. You should go to sleep early too."

Chu Yan stroked her soft face, and Xiangyun understood his meaning. She blushed, stepped forward, kissed him on the cheek, then quickly got off the ground and ran out laughing.

Qingwen, Xiangling, and the others came in, preparing to help him to bed.

While changing his clothes, Yu Chuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, would you like a few more maids to serve you in the room? Fang Guan and the others don't work and therefore don't count as maids. We have four senior maids, but only one second-class maid, She Yue."

Chu Yan said, "I don't want ordinary people. As for others, Yuanyang is not bad, but unfortunately she is the darling of Old Madam Shi. I can't ask her for the sake of the girls. Besides, it would be better if she were willing. Yuanyang's personality is not like others."

Yuanyang would rather die than become Jia She's concubine, much like Daiyu.

Hongyu smiled and said, "People say that the Emperor's word is as good as gold, but His Majesty has been very considerate of the young ladies, which shows that His Majesty is kind and benevolent."

Chu Yan chuckled, raised his hand and pinched her cheek. Hongyu didn't dodge, her face pressed against His Majesty's palm. Yuchuan glanced down at his imposing figure, blushed, and asked softly, "Does Your Majesty wish to summon someone to serve you tonight?"

Chu Yan shook his head: "Reduce your meals to vegetarian food for three days, and do not summon the concubines."

Qingwen blushed and said, "It's not tomorrow yet. If Your Majesty finds it troublesome, Yuchuan and Xiangling can serve you in the room, can't they?"

They were favored by the emperor, but they couldn't bring themselves to offer to serve him in bed. So it was Qingwen and Hongyu, who hadn't been favored, who could say it.

Xiangling blushed slightly and lowered her head. If His Majesty wanted her to serve him tonight, she would stay.

"No."

Chu Yan refused and went back to his room to go to sleep.

The others followed them in, and Hongyu added, "His Majesty wants to take Yuanyang into his service, but he also cares about the young ladies. There is a way."

"What method?" Chu Yan asked with interest, but although he wanted a pair of lovebirds, he wasn't in a hurry.

Hongyu said shyly, "I haven't thought of anything right now, but I think there is a way."

Chu Yanchao and Qingwen laughed and said, "Do you think Xiao Hong deserves to be hit?"

“He deserves to be punished! He deliberately stirred up His Majesty’s interest and then said he had no way to help!” Qingwen laughed.

Chu Yan then reached out and pulled Lin Hongyu over, laid her down on his lap, slapped her on the back, and laughed, "Three days from now, I'll call you to serve me in bed first!"

Hongyu knew this was the Emperor's playful remark, but she still blushed with embarrassment.

After getting into bed, Chu Yan said, "If there's no way to satisfy both parties regarding Yuanyang's matter, or if she's unwilling, then let it go and don't bring it up again."

He spent a lot of time coaxing Lin Daiyu, so he wouldn't have the time to deal with another one, especially since Yuanyang isn't Lin Daiyu.

Hongyu agreed, saying, "It's hot tonight, shall I fan Your Majesty?"

Chu Yan didn't speak, and Qingwen and the other two had no objections. They blew out the rest of the lamps, leaving only one, and then went out to sleep.

Hongyu lowered the gauze curtain, knelt on the bed, and gently fanned Chu Yan with a fan. After a while, Chu Yan waved for her to go back, and Hongyu carefully got off the bed.

As a personal maid, Hongyu was expected to fan the emperor in the summer and warm his bed in the winter. Gradually, she also figured out some clever ways to serve the emperor.

Day two.

Chu Yan still went to the morning court. Tan Chun sent someone early in the morning to summon all the stewards and tell them the Emperor's decree: "Within three days, everyone in Daguan Palace will have their rations of vegetables reduced by half. All the young ladies and ladies will be given vegetarian food, with four dishes and one soup. The eldest young lady is an exception because she is young."

Although it was late last night, the news came as soon as I woke up this morning. The old women were not surprised, and only asked, "Do the old lady and the madam want their meals to be vegetarian?"

Tan Chun said, "I'll go pay my respects to the old lady later, and we'll talk about it then."

After the imperial decree was issued, Tan Chun set off for Grandmother Jia's courtyard. All the young ladies were in the room. When they saw her arrive, Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "His Majesty is praying for the disaster victims and has reduced his meals and is eating vegetarian food. We cannot be an exception. We will also eat vegetarian food for three days."

After the old lady spoke, Madam Wang, Madam Xing, and the others naturally followed suit and ate vegetarian food, and even Jia Lan was no exception.

The only one who could still eat the original dishes was Qiao Jie. Wang Xifeng was instructed by Grandmother Jia to take Qiao Jie to kowtow to the emperor and express her gratitude that evening.

Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

At breakfast, the maids served Daiyu four vegetarian dishes and a clear soup. The rice was the finest green glutinous rice. After it was set out, Daiyu's wet nurse, Granny Wang, came in and saw it. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her and said, "It's hard for Yu-jie to eat this. She has never suffered since she was a child."

Daiyu smiled and said, "This is enough. I don't like eating too much oily or meaty food anyway, and these four dishes are just to my liking."

Granny Wang stayed for a while before leaving. Zijuan whispered to Daiyu with a smile, "Would you like some of mine, Miss? I have another meat dish."

Daiyu said, "If I eat it, he will definitely laugh at me if he finds out."

Zijuan smiled and said, "His Majesty dotes on you the most, and even made an exception for you last night. How could he laugh at you?"

Seeing that she refused to eat, Zijuan had no choice but to give up.

Sister Feng's Courtyard.

Ping'er sat down with Fengjie to prepare dinner and said with a smile, "Grandma still has two meat dishes. Are you really going to send them to the little maids?"

Logically speaking, since Sister Feng was not a concubine, she was allowed to eat meat. Moreover, Grandmother Jia's words were not as powerful as the Emperor's. She could simply give an order to the kitchen and meat would be delivered.

But when Ping'er specifically asked her last night, Fengjie had already made up her mind to only eat vegetarian food.

"You little hussy, you're making fun of me again!"

Sister Feng rolled her eyes at her and said, "You always said that I would be a concubine in the future. Now that I'm reducing my meals and eating vegetarian food as required by the emperor's concubines, you're urging me to eat meat. What are you up to?"

Ping'er laughed for a while before saying, "Since you've made up your mind to enter the palace and become the Emperor's concubine, you shouldn't hesitate anymore. You should harden your heart, focus your attention on His Majesty, and compete with the other concubines in the palace. Even if you can't become Empress, you should at least be named a Noble Consort. Isn't that what you said, Grandma?"

Upon hearing the words "Imperial Consort," Feng Jie was momentarily stunned. After a long while, she came to her senses and spat at her, saying, "You want me to compete with the young ladies for the Emperor's favor?!"

Ping'er kept laughing. At this moment, Xiren led Qiaojie in, carrying a bowl of dishes in her hands. She said with a smile, "Eldest sister heard that Second Mistress didn't have any good food, so she said she wanted to send her own dish to Second Mistress."

Fengjie looked over in surprise and saw her daughter Qiaojie, who was beautifully sculpted and looked quite pleased with herself. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her and quickly hugged her daughter in her arms, stroking her while saying, "My good girl, I love you! You're so young and you already know how to love your mother. I wish I could pluck the moon off the ground to love you!"

Qiaojie giggled, and after a while, she opened her big, bright eyes and asked her mother, "Tonight, Mother, are you taking me to kowtow to Uncle the Emperor? I haven't seen him for quite a few days."

Sister Feng lightly slapped her cheek and said, "You must not offend the Emperor. You must address him as Your Majesty or Emperor."

Qiaojie obediently agreed. Seeing this, Xiren went to bring Qiaojie's food so that the mother and daughter could eat at the same table.

Although they were mother and daughter, Sister Feng was busy managing the household and often didn't have time to eat, so Sister Qiao mostly ate with her wet nurse.

Despite the delicious food for her daughter being served, Sister Feng refused to eat a single bite, obediently following the emperor's and concubines' instructions not to touch meat for three days.

in the afternoon.

Someone came to deliver a message that the Emperor had returned to the garden.

Knowing that the young ladies would be going, Fengjie waited with Ping'er for a while before taking Qiaojie's hand and entering the garden together.

Upon arriving at Yangxin Hall, they happened to see the graceful and delicate Qin Keqing, dressed in a charming and beautiful manner, walking slowly into Yangxin Hall with Baozhu and Ruizhu by her side.

Fengjie looked down at her own attire. Compared to Qin Keqing, she was dressed much more neatly. She neither revealed her bra nor flirted with the emperor with a seductive expression. She was far less charming than Qin Keqing, who smiled sweetly and fawned over the emperor to win his favor.

Can she really be made a Noble Consort as Ping'er said?

(End of this chapter)