The chaotic scene, the noise, and the steady footsteps of the people below were all separated by the layers of gauze.
The news that Cang Huang was drunk in the Tianmen Palace, and had sex with a female slave and intended to take her into the Harem caused an uproar in the court. The implementation of the new policy that had been stagnant for a long time was put on the agenda again.
There was also an uproar in the imperial harem. The Empress Dowager was furious and summoned all the concubines in the imperial harem to her palace. Not to mention the confinement of Lady Wen Yu, even Bai Suyan who was "recuperating" was carried in a soft palanquin.
"What do you think about this matter?" Empress Dowager Wang's face was cold and her eyes were angry. She glanced at the people present, and there was a sense of disappointment.
Faced with the Empress Dowager's reprimand, no one dared to talk back. They could only admit their mistakes. "It's our dereliction of duty. Please punish us, Empress Dowager."
Empress Dowager Wang snorted coldly. "What's the use of punishing you? Now you should think about how to stop His Majesty from conferring the title of female slave."
"What?" Consort Wang was shocked. "His Majesty wants to give the female slave a status?"
As the ruler of a country, Luoshuanga could touch every woman in the Harem. If he wanted to have sex with anyone, even the Empress could only persuade him, but could not stop him.
If His Majesty had sex with a female slave before this, it would not be a big deal. It would be fine as long as it was quietly wiped out. But to give her a status was a big deal!
Not to mention the royal family, even ordinary people would not marry a lowly female slave. There was a folk song:
When the sun rises, people rush to the market. Ten slaves are brought to the market.
At noon, people just rise, and the prostitutes are passed by the market.
Ten slaves are cheap like dirt, and the prostitutes are expensive like pearls.
Rather marry a prostitute than a ten slaves.
"His Majesty is …" Consort Wang could not find any words to describe it for a while.
Empress Dowager Wang seemed to be angry. "His Majesty means to remove her from the register and confer her the title of Chang Zai."
For a time, all the concubines had different expressions. Consort Wang said, "Since the establishment of the Great Qing Dynasty, there has never been such a precedent …"
"There wasn't one in the past, but that doesn't mean there isn't one now, and it doesn't mean there won't be one in the future." A leisurely male voice flowed into the hall like a clear spring.
The imperial concubines in the hall hurriedly adjusted their appearance and posture and knelt on both sides of the hall. "This concubine kowtows in salute to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be blessed, Kim On."
"Susu, why are you kneeling? The floor is cold." Luoshuanga bent down to help her up.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Bai Suyan also played along and pretended to be weak. She took the opportunity to lean into his arms. As expected, two pairs of eyes immediately pierced her back like needles.
"Mother, they don't know anything about this matter. Have them withdraw!" This was Luoshuanga's second sentence after he appeared here.
Empress Dowager Wang thought for a moment and waved her hand with a sullen face. "You can leave now!"
"Yes."
Leaning on Xia Zhi, she slowly walked out of the palace gate. Before she left, Lady Wen Yu inevitably said a few words of sarcasm. Bai Suyan covered her face with her sleeve and coughed lightly, pretending to be dizzy.
"Okay, stop talking. Do you want to be confined for another three months?" Consort Wang said this, but she was still unwilling in her heart. She couldn't help but glare at her before she got on the sedan.
It seemed that this Chastity still had some value to His Majesty. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been pulled out to attract the attention of Wang Wen and Consort Wang. At least before the new policy was implemented, nothing could happen to this Chastity.
The so-called new policy was the law that used children as scapegoats. It had existed for more than a hundred years. It turned out that the filial daughter Yuan Qi had written a letter in blood and knelt in the capital's yamen. She didn't plead for leniency, but rather, she volunteered to serve in her father's place so that her father could enjoy the rest of his life.
This was originally a story of a filial daughter. Because of this, the emperor at that time even issued a law that exempted people over the age of seventy from punishment if they had children as scapegoats.
However, with the passage of time, this law gradually changed and became exclusive to the families of officials. Even the scapegoats became exclusive to women. In order to protect the men in the family, they forced the women in the family to be scapegoats. If they didn't go, they were unfilial and disobedient to their parents. If they didn't stay close to their siblings, they were vicious.
And Chastity was like this. Her brother didn't live up to expectations and got jealous with someone in a brothel. He beat the person to death, so the family used her, a concubine's daughter, as a scapegoat for her brother. She stayed there for six years and was now 18 years old.
Compared to the uproar in the court and North Court, the Nanyuan's side was relatively calm and was still orderly.
Knowing that the Nanyuan wanted to add people, the people in the Yao and Qin Gardens didn't react. Even the empress dowager didn't summon them the day before yesterday. The harem had always been a stage for the concubines in North Court to perform. The Nanyuan's people had nothing to do with it. Naturally, they closed their doors and lived their own lives.
The concubines in the Nanyuan couldn't compare to those in North Court. Normally, they didn't even have the right to pay respects to the empress dowager unless it was a special occasion. Other than that, they could only stay here and wait obediently for His Majesty to occasionally think of them.
The words of a lowly person didn't carry much weight. The people in North Court didn't have anything to say, let alone these two from the Nanyuan's.
Nanyuan's Spring Palace Willow Courtyard.
Chastity lay on the soft bed. Her face was pale and her almond-shaped eyes were red and swollen from crying. She didn't have the slightest joy of being blessed. Instead, she was filled with fear and panic.
Eunuch Eunuch Le, who had just been promoted to be the chief steward of his new master, hurried in with a bowl of medicine. Seeing her like this, his heart felt like it was being cut by a knife, but there was nothing he could do.
He put the medicine on the low table at the head of the bed and moved to the bedside. "Sister Zhen, Sister Zhen, it's me, Sister Zhen!"
Being called back to her senses, Chastity struggled to open her eyes to look at the person in front of her. "Xingge? Xingge! "As soon as she saw the familiar person, she immediately sat up from the bed and threw herself into his arms to sob.
Eunuch Le raised his hand several times, but when he thought of their current status, he could only resentfully put it down.
After she cried enough and her emotions gradually stabilized, Eunuch Le rubbed a towel to help her clean her face and hands. After that, he asked, "What exactly happened? Why did you suddenly …"
As soon as she was asked about this, Chastity sank into panic. "I … I don't know. I really don't know. Xingge, you have to believe me. His Majesty … he wasn't drunk at all … he also didn't touch me … let … let the eunuchs use the hairpin …" As she spoke, she began to sob again.
Hearing her incoherent explanation, Eunuch Le was also grieving. A woman like her had suffered such humiliation. As a cripple, there was nothing he could do except let her cry in his arms.
"Xiao Changzai, are you blaming His Majesty? This is a great disrespect ah! " Liang Yu-an walked in with two young eunuchs carrying trays. One of them held three feet of white silk, while the other held a bowl of steaming medicine. Seeing this, the faces of the two immediately turned ashen.
Liang Yu-an waved his horsetail whisk. "Old Slave doesn't need to say more about this three feet of white silk. This bowl of medicine to prevent miscarriage was personally brewed by the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. Xiao Changzai is a smart person. She should know which is the best choice."
Chastity lifted the quilt and got out of bed. She walked barefoot to the two trays and looked back and forth in panic. She pursed her lips and raised her hand to the white silk, but she heard Eunuch Le plead, "Don't."
Her hand paused for a long time. Finally, she turned around and picked up the bowl of medicine. She tilted her head back and drank it all. The medicine was indeed brewed by the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. In just a moment, a sharp pain came from her abdomen.
The hand holding the bowl trembled so much that she almost couldn't hold it. Her fingers loosened, and the high-quality celadon jade bowl fell to the ground. Chastity clutched her abdomen and fell to the ground. Her white underwear was gradually dyed red with blood.
Eunuch Le crawled forward a few steps to support her. Seeing the pool of blood, he asked hoarsely, "What did you give her to drink?"
Liang Yu-an looked at them coldly. "According to His Majesty's oral decree, from today onwards, Xiao Changzai's status as a guilty slave is revoked. She will be given a fourth-rank title, and will be granted a place to live in the Liu Ye Courtyard of the Spring Palace. Since Xiao Changzai's pregnancy is unstable and needs to rest, there is no need to thank His Majesty. Xiao Changzai, I hope that you will behave yourself in the future. "
A pregnant female slave, or perhaps she should be called Xiao Changzai now, had been ordered by His Majesty to close the door and rest quietly. No one was allowed to disturb her. Of course, this was a lie. Everyone knew that it was just one night. Who knew if she was pregnant or not?
In the Liu Se Palace of the North Court's Rain Resting Palace.
Lady Wen Yu was so angry that she smashed porcelain pieces all over the floor. When Consort Wang came, she almost pricked her foot.
"Enough. If you have time to make a scene here, why don't you think about how to regain His Majesty's favor?"
Lady Wen Yu was scolded and suddenly felt wronged. "Consort Xian, sister, why are you helping outsiders to bully me?"
Consort Wang snorted coldly. "If I wanted to step on you, I wouldn't have let you be confined. I would have asked His Majesty to strip you of your title and banish you to the Cold Palace."
Lady Wen Yu calmed down a little when she heard this. She forced a smile on her face and wanted to walk closer to Consort Wang. Unexpectedly, she stepped on a piece of broken porcelain and stomped her foot in pain.
Lady Wen Yu angrily vented her anger at the palace servants who were helping her onto the bed. "Are you blind? Why didn't you warn me? "
Consort Wang couldn't stand it anymore. "Enough. What's all this mess? Hurry up and clean up this mess. What's the point of this mess?"
"Yes." The palace servants responded and quickly cleaned up.
Lady Wen Yu saw that Consort Wang was still standing and hurriedly called out, "Sister, don't just stand there. Sit down!"
"I'd like to have a place to rest!" Consort Wang glared at her. She had been here for so long and only now thought of asking her to sit. This Wen Clan had to be taught a lesson.
Lady Wen Yu lay on the bed and pursed her lips. "I'm just fighting for sister. Who knew that the Bai Clan actually dared to use a child to plot against us. They're really willing to spend money …"
"Enough. His Majesty is already being merciful to you." Consort Wang interrupted her chatter. "Otherwise, just the fact that you hurt the imperial heir is enough to demote you by more than three ranks!"
Lady Wen Yu saw that Consort Wang was really angry and asked carefully, "In sister's opinion?"
Consort Wang took a few deep breaths and forced herself to calm down. "Right now, the most important thing isn't Consort Yan's matter, but that female slave's matter."
"I'm even angrier when you mention that bitch. What's her identity? She actually, actually … Wu —" Lady Wen Yu's face was flushed red and she covered her face and cried bitterly.
The concubines of Beiyuan were all from prestigious families and were respectable young ladies. Usually, it was difficult for them to meet those concubines from the common people.
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