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

Chapter 44 Call the Queen
After a while, Chu Yan picked up another document and asked the princess who was still massaging his shoulders, "What do you want from me?"

Qinghe subconsciously wanted to walk in front of him before answering, but after a moment's hesitation, she continued to massage his shoulders. Her soft, rosy lips parted slightly, and she said in a clear and soft voice, "I would like to ask the king for something."

"explain."

Chu Yan was very pleased to be addressed as "Your Majesty". Princess Qinghe was just of marriageable age, and was a young girl in her prime. Her voice was also very pleasant, matching her gentle and soft temperament. The clear and melodious voice of a young girl was very pleasant to the ear.

"I've heard the sages say: Filial piety and brotherly love are the foundation of benevolence. Your Majesty has already conquered the world, ruling the four seas and commanding the entire universe. The royal family of the old dynasty has been subdued and held captive by Your Majesty. Only my elders remain in the palace. Most of them are elderly. The old queen dowager is approaching eighty, and my mother, the queen, is already sixty-five. Your Majesty conquered the world with military might. If you can rule it with benevolence and filial piety, why should you worry about the people's obedience?"

Princess Qinghe spoke in a sweet and crisp voice. Chu Yan couldn't help laughing and looked back at her.

Qinghe lowered her head, her pretty face flushed slightly, and she looked a little frightened.

"Princess, did you not sleep well last night?" Chu Yan could see that she looked tired.

After hearing this, Qinghe remembered that he had not slept all night last night and still had no desire to sleep, except that his head was a little aching.

She whispered, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern." Summoning her courage, she continued, "How can I sleep peacefully when my country is destroyed and my family is ruined?" Then, she stammered, "Fortunately, fortunately, thanks to Your Majesty's understanding, my family and I have been able to survive."

These three sentences are full of twists and turns, which shows Princess Qinghe's sensitive and delicate mind.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "I can hear that you have resentment in your heart, but the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit, this is the truth since ancient times. If the Chen family can rule the world, then I can rule it too."

Qinghe bit her cherry lips and didn't answer.

Chu Yan had no intention of showing off in front of a young woman, nor did he intend to persuade her, so he turned to business:
"What you said earlier makes sense. I rebelled to seize your kingdom, and everyone in the world is worried that I'm a tyrannical ruler. I've just led my army out, and the scholars in Nanjing who have come to me, led by Zhao Deming, have begun discussing offering sacrifices to Confucius. Chuanqi originally wanted to send a descendant of the Kong family to the capital so I could enthrone him and then perform the Confucius sacrifice to appease the scholars of the world."

Qinghe had heard of Zhao Deming, a great Confucian scholar in Jiangnan who had passed the imperial examination but was frustrated in officialdom and resigned early. However, he was highly sought after among the scholars in Jiangnan. He founded the Nanshan Academy with a group of Confucian scholars, which was very famous in Jiangnan. Many ministers in the court came from this academy.

She couldn't help but feel sad and angry. Those scholars from the south of the Yangtze River surrendered to King Qian so early, and even before King Qian entered the capital, they began to plan for him to rule the world!
Chu Yan pondered for a moment and said, "I wish to see peace and stability in the world and the return of the scholars, but I don't want to offer sacrifices to Confucius... Forget it, I will first ask the descendants of the Kong family to come to the capital."

As he spoke, he wrote a line on the letter: "I agree that he can go to the capital. The rest of the matters will be discussed in the capital."

Qinghe happened to see what he wrote and was puzzled, "Agree?"
Chu Yan picked up another letter of recommendation, which was also from Jiangnan. Due to the war some time ago, there were thousands of letters of recommendation piled up, and now he had time to deal with them.

As he watched, he asked her, "What else happened in the palace? I'm talking about when the concubines were moved."

Qinghe hurriedly replied, "The old concubine and the queen mother are willing to move and dare not disobey your order... However, some concubines and young concubines have gone to the virtuous concubine and the emperor's sister-in-law to ask for help. The virtuous concubine went to discuss it with the emperor's sister-in-law."

"What did Consort Xian De say?"

"She also thought that the king could be kind and filial and treat the concubines over sixty years old well by choosing a palace to temporarily house them. She was worried that the concubines in the palace would be left unattended, so she sent a maid to serve them and was about to report back to the king."

"Oh, is there anything else?" Chu Yan nodded calmly.

Qinghe added, "Consort Xian De wants to write a letter to her family, telling them that Your Majesty is so kind and generous, and asking them not to worry."

"Any more?"

"..."

Qinghe finally realized that King Qian was not satisfied with their actions.

"Why aren't you talking?" Chu stretched out his hand and pulled Qinghe, who was pinching his shoulders, from the back to the front. She was like a frightened rabbit, her face pale with fear.

Holding her soft and slender jade hand, Chu Yan looked at her beautiful and well-behaved face, and the noble temperament unique to the royal family, and the fire in his belly was aroused.

He had been leading the Northern Expedition from Nanjing for over a month, and was extremely angry.

He originally wanted to endure it until he ascended the throne, but seeing Princess Qinghe's weak and delicate appearance and what she had just said, Chu Yan thought that he should give a warning to the concubines in the Shun Dynasty harem, so that they would not act recklessly just because they thought the knife was not on their necks.

"You go back."

Chu Yan instructed her calmly, "Tell Consort Xian De that the Empress Dowager, the old concubines, and the concubines over sixty years old do not need to move for the time being. In addition, I will have a midnight snack tonight at midnight. I have ordered all the young concubines in the palace, from the Empress to you, to come to the Qianqing Palace to entertain me!"

Qinghe widened his eyes, looking even more frightened.

For his amusement?!
From the emperor's sister-in-law... to her?
Qinghe's hands and feet were cold. She didn't know how she walked out of the Linjing Palace. She followed the palace maids and eunuchs back in a daze. When they reached the Qianqing Gate, Xia Shouzhong ran over and said something to her, "Princess, please tell Consort Xian De to bring her zither tonight. Tell the Empress, Consort Wu, and others to sing and dance for Consort Qian during supper tonight!"

Ah... for fun, so this is what it means?
Qinghe came to her senses and said hastily, "How ridiculous! My sister-in-law is the empress of a country, how could she act so coquettishly... Prince Qian wants to see singing and dancing, why not call the Yuefu dancers from the Ye Ting Palace? There are several opera troupes in the palace that usually perform for the old concubines and empress dowagers, so they can also be invited to go. Why bother my sister-in-law and others?!"

Xia Shouzhong looked helpless and sighed, "Princess, not only them, but you too will have to serve Prince Qian tonight... However, Prince Qian also said that since you are not married yet, you don't have to dance tonight. You can just massage Prince Qian's legs and shoulders."

After saying this, Xia Shouzhong bowed and said, "I will go back to serve His Royal Highness Prince Qian first. Princess, I advise you to be more open-minded and careful, lest you speak with such care that you may cause trouble."

Qinghe looked at Xia Shouzhong's departing back in dismay, worrying whether he had said something wrong and made King Qian unhappy.

Make the queen of a country sing and dance to entertain...

How would she tell the Empress Dowager when she returned?!
……

Kunning Palace.

"Royal sister-in-law...!"

Seeing Empress Zhang sitting with Jia Yuanchun in the palace, Qinghe couldn't help crying. She wiped the tears from her fair and delicate cheeks with her delicate hands and threw herself into Empress Zhang's arms and cried.

After all, she was just a girl waiting to be married, and it was not easy for her to get out of Linjing Palace.

"Seventeenth girl, you..." Empress Zhang hugged her and immediately checked whether her clothes were messy and whether there were any signs of damage on her chest and neck. When she found none, she breathed a sigh of relief and asked her what was wrong.
Jia Yuanchun couldn't help but worry. Because she was too worried about her family, she wrote a letter to Qinghe, asking her to take it to Prince Qian and ask for permission to send it out of the palace.

Qinghe was scolded by King Qian for this?
"Emperor's sister-in-law..."

Qinghe's eyes were filled with tears as she stammered, "Prince Qian said, he said... he asked you, and Consort Xian De, and all the young concubines in the palace to go sing and dance for him tonight..."

Ah!
Jia Yuanchun covered her rosy lips with her delicate white hands, her eyes widened, and she almost screamed out in shock.

Empress Zhang was also shocked for a while before she pushed Qinghe away and ordered her maid Luyan, "Find me a piece of white silk and tell me to hang myself from the beam. That would be the right thing to do! Why bother to suffer his humiliation!"

"Royal Sister-in-law!!"

Qinghe threw himself into her arms again, crying and refusing to give in.

(End of this chapter)