My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 40: I'd Rather Not Be the Seventh Prince's Consort

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "Your so-called affection is just being a concubine and hiding your true identity from me?"

"And have you ever kept your background a secret from me?" Rong Yi asked.

Lu Jinshi forcefully broke free from Rong Yi's grip on her wrist and said, "Then don't pretend to have feelings for me. I find it disgusting. Since Zhang'er is a royal descendant, I will assist you in becoming the crown prince and help you establish yourself in the court. But don't talk about feelings. I find the feelings of a concubine truly disgusting!"

Rong Yi did not let go of Lu Jinshi, but instead embraced her tightly.

"Seventh Prince, please have some self-respect. Although we are engaged, we are not yet married. Please observe some rules."

Rong Yi smiled and whispered in Lu Jinshi's ear, "Two years ago, when you came to keep me company late at night, why didn't you say you were following the rules?"

Lu Jinshi raised his eyes and glared angrily at Rong Yi.

Rong Yi chuckled and pulled Lu Jinshi to sit down, saying, "Your grandfather just passed away, and our wedding won't be until the New Year at the earliest. You don't want me to wait for half a year, do you?"

Lu Jinshi removed Rong Yi's hand from her waist and stood up with extreme disgust. "Of course, don't even think about it before the wedding night."

Seeing Lu Jinshi's resistance, Rong Yi did not press his advantage further and slowly said, "You and Zhang'er should move to my villa. Zhang'er is my child, and sooner or later my brothers will find out. They will have to be on guard. My villa is heavily guarded, unlike here where you can just use a ladder to climb over the wall and get in."

Lu Jinshi said, "Only you know how to climb walls. If the Seventh Prince were to do something like climbing walls, would you still want to be the Crown Prince?"

Rong Yi said calmly, "Actually, I never really thought about becoming the crown prince. I just didn't want to go against my father's wishes."

Lu Jinshi couldn't help but look at Rong Yi, "Don't you want to be an emperor?"

Rong Yi said to Lu Jinshi, "Even though my father is the overlord of the world, he still has to consider the historian's pen. When my mother and I returned to the palace, he wanted to make my mother empress, but every time a minister tried to stop him by hitting a pillar in the main hall, he would give up for the sake of his reputation as a benevolent ruler and could only make my mother imperial concubine..."

"It's better to be a prince so you can marry your beloved girl at will, without so many worries."

Lu Jinshi said, "These civil officials are very foolish. His Majesty wants to establish an empress, it's not like they are getting married. Why should they sacrifice their lives to stop him?"

Rong Yi said, "It was not easy for my mother, as a royal daughter-in-law, to divorce Prince Zheng. She was able to divorce him with the help of Princess Mingzhu."

Two years passed after my mother's divorce before she met my father. By the time she met my father, she had already divorced Prince Zheng and had no relationship with my father as uncle and sister-in-law.

However, these ignorant and pedantic old ministers felt that this was a violation of the established moral order and ethics. How could His Majesty marry his elder sister-in-law as Empress? They used this as a reason to obstruct the marriage on multiple occasions.

On one occasion, my father let them kneel in the rain at the palace gate, coldly watching them contemplate suicide. But the Empress Dowager came to persuade my mother. My mother, fearing that offending the court officials would implicate me in the future, persuaded my father that she was willing to become an Imperial Noble Consort, not seeking the position of Empress.

Upon hearing Rong Yizhi's words, Lu Jinshi said, "The Imperial Concubine has been wronged. I will definitely help the Imperial Concubine become the Empress."

Rong Yi said, "My mother has long since given up on becoming Empress. Several times, her attempts to become Empress ended in bloodshed in the palace. She never got the position and has become increasingly irreconcilable with the civil officials."

Lu Jinshi said, "Consort Rong is Zhang'er's grandmother, so I will naturally help her ascend to the position of Empress." Seeing Lu Jinshi's confidence, Rong Yi asked, "What's your plan?"

Lu Jinshi said, "No one gets up early for nothing. Most scholars with true integrity and principles cannot adapt to the treacherous and profit-driven nature of officialdom. Senior Brother Muyan is a scholar with integrity..."

Upon hearing this, Rong Yi frowned slightly.

Lu Jinshi continued, "Most scholars with integrity cannot enter the court to serve as officials. They are all sent to various places. Which of the officials who are already in the court is not shrewd? They certainly do not have the integrity to seek death for the so-called ethical principles, unless there is a huge benefit."

Rong Yi looked up at Lu Jinshi: "You mean they were instigated and encouraged to hit the pillar by someone? The person who encouraged them to hit the pillar was Prince Jin? That doesn't seem right. When they first hit the pillar, Prince Jin was only twelve or thirteen years old."

Lu Jinshi said, "It certainly won't be the Prince of Jin. The Prince of Jin's birth mother died when she gave birth to the Prince of Yan. He was raised by the Empress Dowager, so there's no need for His Majesty to stop him from establishing an empress."

Rong Yi said, "The Prince of Jin is not without motives. If my mother is made empress, then I will be the legitimate son and will hinder his position as crown prince."

Lu Jinshi smiled and said, "But for Prince Jin, if he can stop the Imperial Noble Consort from becoming Empress, can he stop someone else from becoming Empress? Prince Jin's greatest reliance is his status as the eldest son and the Empress Dowager. Why should he take the risk of displeasing His Majesty? His mother has long since passed away. No matter who is made Empress, it will not be up to him as the legitimate son."

Rong Yi asked, "Then who do you think it is?"

Lu Jinshi said, "Now, besides the Imperial Noble Consort, the most honorable in the harem are the Four Virtuous and Gentle Consorts. The Virtuous Consort only has one daughter, Princess Yongjia, so there is no need for her to compete for the Empress's position. The De Consort gave birth to the Sixth Prince, Prince Qi; the Shu Consort gave birth to the Second Prince, Prince Xuan; and the Liang Consort gave birth to twins, the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince. So, it must be between the De Consort, the Shu Consort, and the Liang Consort. I am not familiar with them; I have only heard of them but have never seen them. Who do you think it is?"

Rong Yi said, "It's a coincidence. I'm not familiar with these concubines either. I've only met them a few times. Apart from Consort Xian, they left the palace with my brothers after they established their own residences."

"Let's not talk about who's behind this. Pack your things and come with me to the other courtyard!"

Lu Jinshi said, "If things don't go well in East Street, I will take Zhang'er to live in the Prince An's mansion. Who wants to go to your villa?"

Rong Yi said, "In the Prince An's mansion, you are ultimately a guest, but in my villa, you are the mistress. Besides, I will establish my own mansion sooner or later. Why don't you go and manage the backyard for me?"

Lu Jinshi said, "I started studying when I was three years old. I'm not here to manage the backyard for you. I'm going to teach at Lingxiao Academy."

Rong Yi said slowly, "I let you be before because I didn't reveal my identity, but now that you are my Seventh Prince's Consort, why are you still spending time with a group of young men at Lingxiao Academy?"

Lu Jinshi said, "If you think I am not a virtuous woman, go to His Majesty right now and ask him to change my position as the Seventh Prince's Consort. I have already promised Uncle Lin that I would help the students of Lingxiao Academy to achieve their goals, so I will not give up halfway."

Rong Yi reached out again, put his arm around Lu Jinshi's waist, and led her to the small couch.

Rong Yi looked into Lu Jinshi's eyes and said, "If you want to teach at Lingxiao Academy, you'll have to live with me in the villa, or let me stay here..."

Lu Jinshi pursed her lips and said, "You just said that being an emperor doesn't give you the freedom of a leisurely prince. Isn't being a royal daughter-in-law the same? Even teaching at the academy is restrictive. Maybe I shouldn't become the Seventh Prince's consort?"

Rong Yi's face darkened: "Are you treating the imperial edict as a joke?"

(End of this chapter)