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

Chapter 253 Conferring of Imperial Concubine Titles and Training

The next day, Chu Yan woke up and slept in the same bed with Ying Chun.

After a while, Yuanyang Xiangling came into the room to wake him up. Chu Yan gently got out of bed, but Yingchun also woke up and called out to him.

"You can continue sleeping. There's no need to wake Siqi and the others. Rest for a day or two."

Chu Yan pressed her back onto the bed.

"Is His Majesty going to the morning court?"

Yingchun asked in a low voice.

She had intended to fulfill her duty of service, but her legs were sore and she was exhausted. Getting up to help the emperor change his clothes would only be a hindrance.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "There's nothing to discuss today. I'll come back for lunch with you."

After stroking her face, he got up and left.

Yingchun lay on the bed in a daze for a while. Thinking of the last time when Yunmei was favored, her third sister dragged her to Zichen Hall to play with Yunmei. She guessed that her sisters would come to congratulate her later.

Thinking of this, Yingchun could no longer fall asleep. After waking up, she got up, took a bath, and changed her clothes.

About half an hour later, the sisters arrived as expected.

They all offered their congratulations, and Yingchun blushed as she gave a perfunctory reply. Suddenly, Xiangyun said, "When His Majesty returns, I wonder what kind of concubine Second Sister will be made."

Everyone looked over, and Yingchun quickly said, "Only the concubines favored by His Majesty are granted the title of Imperial Concubine. Even Noble Lady Zhou hasn't received it, so I might not be able to either."

Siqi was somewhat unwilling, but there was nothing she could do. The girl was good in every way, but she never fought for anything.

After a while, Xia Shouzhong came in with a smile and said, "Ladies and Your Highness, His Majesty just asked me who is in Zichen Hall. Hearing that you are all here, he is about to return to confer the title of Consort on the Second Miss. Please wait a moment!"

"what!"

Yingchun, Tanchun, and the others were all surprised. Daiyu laughed and said, "It's clear that they're following the precedent set by Yun'er to bestow the title of imperial concubine."

The morning after the girls were favored, when everyone gathered, Chu Yan would bestow upon them the title of imperial concubine.

Yingchun was filled with mixed feelings of gain and loss. She hadn't expected to be made a concubine before, but now that the title was imminent, she felt uneasy.

Seeing her like this, Baozhu took Qin Keqing's hand and whispered, "Your Highness doesn't have a title yet."

Keqing gave her a wink, signaling her to stop talking.

Li Wan happened to overhear this from the side; she didn't expect to be made a concubine...

A quarter of an hour later, Chu Yan returned to Zichen Hall. Everyone came out to greet him and then came inside together.

Looking around, Chu Yan smiled and said, "Today we are bestowing the title of Consort upon the Second Miss. We will give her the title of Consort first, and the formal conferment of the title will be done later. Bring me the jade token."

Upon hearing the imperial decree, Xia Shouzhong hurriedly took the brocade box from the eunuch of the Imperial Seal Bureau and stepped forward with sixteen or seventeen jade tokens in his hands.

Qin Keqing glanced at the brocade box twice, then secretly looked at the Emperor. She remained silent and did not show any resentment. She simply pursed her lips slightly, a hint of resentment in her expression.

Li Wan couldn't help but take another look.

Among the young ladies present, many were also gazing at the brocade box, wondering if they too would one day be granted the title of imperial concubine after they were favored by the emperor.
Ping'er remained silent, knowing that she could hardly compare to the girls.

Looking at the nervous Yingchun, Chu Yan asked with a smile, "I will still let you choose, Second Miss. Do you want a title for yourself, or do you want to leave it to fate?"

Yingchun's timid nature resurfaced, and she couldn't make up her mind. Siqi, who was standing behind her, couldn't help but say, "Miss, you have a gentle nature. Why don't you just choose 'smooth'?"

Yingchun nodded hurriedly: "The word 'shun' is good. It means respectful and humble, which suits me perfectly."

Xiangyun laughed and said, "It's good to choose directly, otherwise it would be bad if you picked the word 'quiet' like me."

Tan Chun and the others laughed, and Chu Yan also asked with a smile, "Shall I change it for you? The jade pendant is here."

Xiangyun refused to change her mind again, saying that Consort Jing's decision was the will of Heaven.

Chu Yan didn't mention it again. He opened the jade tablets in the brocade box, picked out the tablet of Consort Shun, and handed it to Yingchun.

"Your Majesty, I thank you."

Yingchun stood up to accept the gift. Yuanyang had already prepared a prayer mat and placed it in front of the Emperor. Yingchun knelt on the prayer mat, kowtowed again to express her gratitude, and had an uncontrollable shy smile on her face.

She was overjoyed to be granted the title of Consort Shun.

Chu Yan asked her to sit down and looked at them again, his gaze sweeping over Daiyu, Baochai, Baoqin and others in turn, finally landing on Qin Keqing.

Ke Qing's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly sat up straight. Her unusually serious demeanor made Chu Yan laugh, and he beckoned her over.

Keqing obediently stepped forward, her graceful figure still attracting a lot of attention among the crowd.

Chu Yan fiddled with the jade plaque in the brocade box in front of him and asked Qin Keqing, "I almost forgot that Ke'er has not yet been made a concubine. Does Ke'er want to be a concubine or a consort?"

Both the imperial concubine and the concubine seem to be high-ranking imperial concubines, much higher than noble ladies, beauties, and talented ladies.

In reality, during the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, there were only four imperial concubines: Guifei, Shufei, Defei, and Xianfei. These were the most prestigious ranks of imperial concubines below the empress.

During the Shun Dynasty, the titles of imperial concubines became excessive, and a double-character title such as "Virtuous Concubine" was created. There were more than ten imperial concubines in the harem who were granted the title of imperial concubine.

Even so, there was still a significant difference between imperial concubines and imperial consorts.

Now Chu Yan asked Qin Keqing whether she wanted to be a concubine or a royal consort.

If I wanted the title of Imperial Concubine, wouldn't that be greedy? But if I were only granted the title of Concubine, I would be truly dissatisfied.

After a long pause, under everyone's gaze, Qin Keqing's charming face was full of resentment: "Does Your Majesty want Ke'er to tell the truth, or just say something polite?"

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Just saying nice things."

"Pfft!"

Xiangyun and Daiyu couldn't help but laugh, and quickly covered their mouths with handkerchiefs.

Qin Keqing said solemnly, "Whatever Your Majesty bestows upon me, I will accept it. How could I dare to be greedy in front of Your Majesty?"

"The truth?" Chu Yan asked with a smile.

"Ke'er wants the title of Imperial Concubine~~"

Qin Keqing could no longer pretend. With a charming smile, she threw herself into Chu Yan's arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said in a sweet voice, "Ke'er has served Your Majesty for so long, Your Majesty, please grant me a title of Imperial Concubine~"

The girls were all watching, even Li Wan was staring intently at Qin Keqing. If this were back in the Jia family, such seductive behavior would have been cursed behind her back, and no one would have dared to do it, otherwise the old lady, the madam, and Madam Zhen would all criticize her.

But nowadays in the harem, seductive women have become a means of vying for favor, or rather, of winning the emperor's heart!
Chu Yan laughed and said, "Very well, I will give you a title of concubine. Do you want to choose one yourself or leave it to fate?"

Qin Keqing was immediately delighted, her charming face beaming with smiles. She eagerly replied, "I'll choose one with my eyes closed, it doesn't matter which one, they're all gifts from His Majesty!"

As she spoke, she closed her eyes, and with her slender fingers, she picked up a jade pendant from the brocade box. When she unfolded it, it was clearly the character "丽" (Li).

"Congratulations, Consort Li!" everyone exclaimed with laughter.

Qin Keqing laughed uncontrollably, got up from the Emperor's arms, and knelt down to kowtow and express her gratitude.

After she sat back down, Chu Yan looked at Li Wan again, and the latter immediately tensed up, drawing everyone's attention.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Although I would like to bestow the title of Imperial Concubine upon all twelve beauties, unfortunately, the Palace Attendant is still the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhu family." Li Wan was taken aback. The twelve beauties?

Then, she hurriedly stood up, her face full of shame, and said, "I... still can't let go of Lan-ge'er." At least until he was seven years old, Li Wan couldn't bear to let him leave her side.

Chu Yan shook his head and said, "I'll temporarily confer the title of Consort on you, so that people won't say that you came to the palace from the Jia family without a proper title."

Li Wan felt both ashamed and moved. She took two steps forward and knelt on the prayer cushion, saying, "It is already a great favor from His Majesty that I have the rank of Consort. I have been married before and cannot be compared with the young ladies."

Chu Yan nodded and told her to get up.

Finally, he smiled at Ping'er and said, "Ping'er is hereby granted the title of Noble Lady."

Ping'er had no hope, thinking that perhaps His Majesty had not noticed her. But the sudden bestowal of the title of Consort put her at ease, and she stepped forward to kowtow in gratitude.

After the investiture of the imperial concubines was completed, everyone sat for a while before getting up to take their leave.

Before leaving, Daiyu glanced at him one more time.

Xiangyun asked one more question: "Is the Emperor going to summon the ministers later?"

Chu Yan said, "I won't go today. I'll go to the training ground to practice for a while this afternoon."

This means that those who want to come to Zichen Hall can go to the martial arts arena.

Daiyu glanced at him one last time before leaving with Xiangyun.

After everyone left, Chu Yan sat with Yingchun in the house, ate lunch together, took a nap, and then let Yingchun continue to rest while he went to the training ground, changed into his armor, and practiced alone, thinking about some things along the way.

Half an hour later.

Baochai arrived at the martial arts training ground. The sun was blazing, and she had worked up a good sweat just walking there. She saw the Emperor, mounted on horseback and clad in armor, practicing spear techniques on the muddy ground. The sound of his spear whistling through the air as he swung it captivated her, and she thought to herself:

"On such a hot day, an ordinary person would not be able to stand under the sun for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, yet he is wearing a heavy suit of armor. How can he withstand it?"

She was worried but didn't dare to speak up, because she could tell that Chu Yan was practicing his spear technique on horseback in the training ground, which was completely different from Xiangyun and Baoqin's playful antics a few days ago.

He even had a quiver of arrows hanging from his waist!
It was Xia Shouzhong and the other eunuchs who were worried about the emperor's health. Seeing that Miss Bao had arrived, they took the opportunity to shout loudly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please rest! Miss Bao has arrived!"

On the field, Chu Yan turned around and saw Baochai's plump figure standing under the veranda. He took a breath, reined in his horse and walked back. He dismounted in front of the veranda, handed the horse rope to the eunuch and instructed him: "Take it to a shady place, get a few buckets of water to cool it down, give it some water, but don't give it hay."

The eunuch hurriedly led the horse away.

Baochai came out to greet him. When she got closer, she saw the emperor's tall and strong body covered in armor. Her face suddenly turned red, and she quickly said, "I've come to remove Your Majesty's armor. It's hot, and Your Majesty is covered in sweat."

Chu Yan waved his hand, walked into the shade of the veranda, sat down casually on the ground, took off his helmet and put it aside, and smiled at Baochai, "Just bring me a pot of water."

Baochai quickly gave the order and then asked, "Would you like some chilled drinks to cool off? I'll go and get some ice!"

Chu Yan shook his head, took the water bottle, tilted his head back and drank a few mouthfuls, exhaled a breath of hot air, and said, "Since it's training, how can we enjoy ourselves? There's no ice water to cool off during wartime."

Baochai immediately realized what was happening.

Your Majesty is not removing your armor because there will be a drill later, and that's also why the horses aren't eating.

Despite her extensive knowledge, she knew little about warfare, so she could only sit not far from him and fan His Majesty with an embroidered lotus flower fan.

Surrounded by beautiful women and fanned by a round fan, with a pleasant fragrance, Chu Yan didn't really enjoy it. The training was indeed tough. Wearing full armor, he was drenched in sweat from the heat. Even with his superhuman physique, he didn't want to move at this moment and just wanted to rest before continuing.

He sat quietly without saying a word.

Baochai fanned him while she couldn't help but watch.

His Majesty's armor was neither new nor old. Although it had been washed, there were still some dark red stains, and a strange smell could be faintly detected.

But she didn't feel disgusted. Looking at the man beside her, she felt that he was incredibly tall, like a mountain standing between heaven and earth, making her look up at him.

Baochai couldn't help but wonder: What was he like when he was fighting? Why did he still have to go through so much hardship and rehearse after he had conquered the world?

Lost in thought, a clear voice suddenly rang out: "Sister Bao, who is this person wearing armor?"

Baochai and Chu Yan turned their heads at the same time and saw that Daiyu and Baoqin had come together. Both of them had smiles on their faces. There was no need to guess who had spoken just now. Only Lin Daiyu could have said that!

"So it's the Emperor~" Daiyu said with a sweet smile, her beautiful face full of charming smile.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "Pin'er, come here!"

Daiyu and Baoqin walked over laughing together. When they saw him covered in sweat, his hair soaked, they were both surprised. Daiyu forgot her joking and hurriedly asked, "Why are you doing this? It's so hot, and you're wearing thick armor to train. Look, your face is covered in sweat!"

As she spoke, she took out her handkerchief and wiped his face and forehead.

When Baochai saw this, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. Why hadn't she thought of wiping His Majesty's face earlier?
But before Daiyu could even touch the handkerchief, Chu Yan smiled and raised his hand to refuse, saying, "I still have to practice later, so I won't waste your clean handkerchief."

"Just wash it if it gets dirty. Aren't you uncomfortable with all that sweat?"

Daiyu persisted, but Chu Yan, dressed in full armor, couldn't refuse her forcefully and could only let Daiyu wipe his face with a handkerchief in her slender hands.

Baoqin glanced at him, then looked at the horses under the distant veranda, and couldn't help but worry, saying, "In this sweltering heat, you still have to ride horses and wear armor to practice. Your Majesty is now the ruler of the world, does he really want to go to the battlefield and charge into battle? Although I don't know much about warfare, I still understand the principle of 'the king is behind the army'!"

"That's right!"

Daiyu and Baochai both agreed.

Chu Yan chuckled: "What do you mean by 'queen of the throne'? Sister Qin has learned to make things up too." He paused and said, "There's no reason why we can't fight in the morning or evening just because it's hot or cold. If we need to seize the opportunity, we can march day and night, and sleeping on ice and drinking snow are common occurrences."

The three young ladies, still in their boudoirs, were speechless for a moment.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but don't worry, I'm not afraid of fighting at all."

Daiyu said anxiously, "What kind of talk is that?"

Seeing that his handkerchief was wet, Baoqin took out her own handkerchief as well. With the two of them using two handkerchiefs, they finally managed to wipe the sweat off his head and neck.

"All right!"

Chu Yan picked up his helmet, stood up and said, "I'll practice a little longer. If you're tired, go back and rest."

Daiyu looked at him and said, "Are you going to practice for a while?"

Chu Yan smiled and walked out, mounted the horse brought by the eunuch, and put his helmet back on.

Normally, he would have been in the mood to perform for them, like archery or holding a gun on horseback, but today was a serious training session, so he ignored them.

After practicing for a while, he called over several agile eunuchs to ride horses and spar with him, but these eunuchs had never been on the battlefield, and they were all knocked off their horses in a few moves. The same thing happened when seven or eight of them came.

Even Baochai and the others could see that the emperor was a formidable warrior, and these eunuchs were no match for him.

Soon after, Xiangyun and the others arrived. They were also worried about Chu Yan, who was training hard, but they didn't want to call him back.

Daiyu did not speak while he was still riding his horse; she simply watched silently.

It wasn't until nearly evening, when the horse was too tired to run anymore, that Chu Yan finished practicing. After dismounting, he said, "I've regained some of my former feeling. Fortunately, the pleasures of these past few days haven't worn down my iron will!"

The novel jokes made Daiyu and Baoqin laugh, but they also felt sorry for him. They rushed over to help him remove his armor and led him to a room with a bucket of water prepared on the side to bathe. Only when Chu Yan changed his clothes and came out, washing away his sweat, did they feel relieved.

(End of this chapter)