Harem Battle Strategy II
"When did you become so good at playing the pipa?" Sun Yuan was the original owner's best friend. His father was General Sun and the original owner's father were very good friends, so they were also very good friends.
"I practiced hard for a long time just to be able to surpass Ye Rong today." Tao Wan whispered to him. "Everyone thinks that I'm not as good as him, but I want to prove that I'm better than him in every aspect."
"Not everyone thinks so." Sun Yuan whispered. "I've always thought that you're better than him."
Tao Wan smiled. "You're biased towards me, but that doesn't count. I want those who are biased towards Ye Rong to also think that I'm better than him."
Yu Qianyun and the others followed. She said to Tao Wan, "Ah Xi, you were too good just now. I was stunned. I've never heard such a beautiful pipa song. My brother likes to listen to the pipa, but I don't. My brother said that listening to the pipa was like playing to a cow. When I get back, I'll tell him that I'm not a cow. It's not that I don't understand, it's that those people didn't play well enough. "
"That's right. You played better than … better than that person. Those people from the families of the civil officials always look down on us from the families of the generals. It's as if they're better than us and are better than us. Just thinking about it makes me angry. "
"Every time at the Flower Admiring Banquet, it's their turn to perform. We're just supporting them. This time, they're also supporting us. How satisfying."
On Tao Wan's side, the noble ladies and noble men from the families of the generals all felt that they had vented their anger. Before, whether it was in terms of talent or poetry, they were inferior. Because the families of the civil officials and the families of the generals valued different things, the way they raised their children was naturally different.
On Ye Rong's side, after a moment of awkward silence, the noble ladies and noble men also began to find topics to talk about.
"Ah Rong, the Empress Dowager is so good to you. That white jade incense burner looks so beautiful."
"Of course the Empress Dowager is good to Ah Rong. Ah Rong's talent and appearance are the most outstanding among all of us. Whether it's character or family background, the Empress Dowager is most satisfied. The one who will be made Empress in the future will definitely be Ah Rong."
"Yes, the Empress Dowager and His Majesty definitely want Ah Rong to be Empress. No matter how you compare, Ah Rong is much better than Mu Xi. Even if the Mu Family controls the military power, Mu Xi can only be the Imperial Noble Lord at most. She definitely can't be the Empress.
"Those who are born in a military family are all simple-minded and uneducated. They definitely haven't learned the etiquette and rules. I don't think he's qualified to be the emperor."
...... of................. As long as His Majesty doesn't like him, coupled with his spoiled personality, it's very likely that he won't even be able to keep his position as Imperial Noble Lord in the future. Besides, the border can't always be at war. "
They all felt that the Empress Dowager was biased towards Ye Rong, so the Emperor must also be biased towards Ye Rong. Mu Xi also had a reputation for being overbearing and willful. Even if she became an imperial noble, she would definitely be disliked by the emperor. An Empress Dowager disliked and despised by both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager was not as good as a favored Empress. They felt that with Ye Xi's appearance and personality, the Emperor would like him the most.
Most importantly, although Mu Xi's father had military power, which seemed to be very beneficial to him, the hidden danger was even greater. This was because in every dynasty, the person that the Emperor feared and guarded against the most was the person who held military power. If his father did not want to hand over military power, the Emperor would find a way to get rid of his family. He, the Empress Dowager, could only stay in the Cold Palace.
"Ah Rong, the poem you composed this time will be presented to His Majesty. You must write it well and let His Majesty see your talent. His Majesty will definitely be moved by you."
"Yes, seeing their smug looks just now made me angry. This is the only time he's in the limelight, as if he's so great. I think he only knows how to play that one song. I don't know what those people are so smug about."
Everyone talked for a long time. Ye Rong was silent and did not say a word. Because he already had some understanding of this world, he knew that the first person to become the Empress would definitely be Mu Xi.
When the others saw that he did not speak, they looked at each other and said to him, "Ah Rong, think carefully about the poem you'll present to His Majesty later. We'll go to the side and admire the flowers. We won't disturb you."
Ye Rong watched them leave and lowered his head to think. However, he was not thinking about the poem he was going to write later. Instead, he was thinking about what to do next according to the progress of the strategy. In the past year, he had successfully made Prince Yu fall in love with him. However, according to his own choice, to complete the strategy and become the Empress Dowager, he had to enter the palace.
In fact, after he transmigrated to this world, he did not have to follow the game's rules. He could choose another life. As long as he got engaged before the Emperor ascended the throne, he did not have to enter the palace. However, he wanted to complete the highest strategy in this real world and become the Empress Dowager and have his own harem.
The background setting of entering the palace was that his grandfather would support whoever became the Emperor, so it was impossible for him to marry Prince Yu. And under the circumstances that he had to enter the palace, he had already told Prince Yu that even if he entered the palace, he would definitely keep his chastity for him. The reason why he said this was to show that he had no choice but to show his helplessness and pain so that Prince Yu would love him even more. The most important goal was to let Prince Yu know that he would keep his chastity for him. After he had Prince Yu's child, Prince Yu would support him even more.
According to the plot setting, the current Emperor would pass away in five years. He had to be pregnant with Prince Yu's child within three years. Then, with Prince Yu's support, he would be able to become the Empress Dowager. Therefore, before he was pregnant with Prince Yu's child, he could not sleep with the Emperor. Otherwise, if he could not figure out whose child it was, Prince Yu would definitely be unwilling to support someone else's son. If Prince Yu became the Emperor, not to mention being the Empress Dowager, he would not even be able to be the Empress Dowager and have his own harem. This dynasty would not allow the younger brother to marry the older brother's wife. Therefore, he had to carefully plan every step and absolutely could not make a single mistake.
Ye Rong had already thought of the poem that he wanted to compose a few days ago. Previously, when he entered the palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager had already given him a hint that he would have enough time to prepare and compose a good poem to win the Emperor's favor.
Although this Emperor would not live for more than five years, within these five years, he must make the Emperor like him. It would be best if within these three years, he could make Mu Xi be banished to the cold palace and become the Empress. Then, his child would naturally be able to inherit the throne. He felt that with his protagonist aura, it should not be difficult to make the Emperor like him. He had already made the Empress Dowager favor him. After entering the palace, there would be plenty of opportunities to obtain the Emperor's favor.
The poem that Tao Wan wanted to present had already been written. Since it was to be presented to the Emperor, displaying his talent was secondary. The most important thing was, of course, to write a poem that was in line with the Emperor's wishes.
For some of them, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in front of the Emperor. Therefore, only those who were very confident in their poems wrote it down and handed it to the eunuchs holding the tray. They secretly hoped that their poems would be liked by the Emperor.
There were those who wanted to enter the palace, and naturally there were those who did not want to enter the palace. Those who were not forced to enter the palace by their families did not want to enter the palace themselves. At this time, they just had to work hard to reduce their presence.
When the Empress Dowager went to rest, the Emperor had already returned to the Imperial Study. The steward eunuch by the Empress Dowager's side delivered the poems to the Emperor. He also followed the Empress Dowager's instructions and took out the poem that Ye Rong wrote for the Emperor alone.
After Xiao Junye read it, he nodded. He had already heard of Ye Rong's talent. This poem was indeed well written. He had often heard his Imperial Mother talk about how good he was. This time, Eunuch Liu specially took out Ye Rong's poem. It must be his Imperial Mother's intention. She was hinting to him that his reward should be given to Ye Rong directly.
Putting down Ye Rong's poem, Xiao Junye casually flipped through the papers on the tray. On a piece of paper, the exquisite handwriting that was like moving clouds and flowing water reflected in his eyes. He resisted the urge to pick up the paper and admired the handwriting on it. The handwriting was free and elegant, and the strokes were clear and beautiful. It could be said that the handwriting was ingenious.
When he saw the two words "Mu Xi", he was stunned for a moment. He thought to himself that he could actually write such good handwriting. It seemed that Mu Yongsheng did not only teach his children to play with swords and spears.
After seriously reading the contents of the poem, Xiao Junye slapped the table and praised, "Good poem!"
Eunuch Liu was stunned for a moment. He glanced at Ye Rong's poem that was placed on the table. He continued to stand with his head lowered, hesitating whether to tell the Emperor the Empress Dowager's intention clearly.
The Empress Dowager rested for about two hours in the Warm Fragrance Pavilion in the Imperial Garden before returning to the banquet hall.
The noble ladies and noble men also returned to their tables and sat down, waiting for the Empress Dowager to announce the person who had received the Emperor's reward. However, they did not have much suspense in their hearts. They all felt that it would definitely be Ye Rong. Other than the fact that he was really good at writing poems, the most important reason was that the Empress Dowager was obviously biased towards him. The Emperor's reward this time would definitely be given to him.
Eunuch Liu came over with the Emperor's reward. It was a block of graphite. Since it was something specially given by the Emperor, it naturally would not be ordinary graphite. This graphite was a tribute and there were only five blocks a year. This was the graphite that the Emperor liked to use. When he was still the Crown Prince, he could only get one block every two or three years. However, Prince Yu could get it whenever he wanted.
"Empress Dowager, this is the incense ink that His Majesty bestowed." Eunuch Liu held the tray and bowed to the Empress Dowager.
"Oh?" Even the Empress Dowager was a little surprised. "His Majesty bestowed incense ink? It seems that the person who received the Emperor's reward this time must have written a poem that His Majesty liked very much. That's why His Majesty bestowed his favorite incense ink to him. "
When the Empress Dowager said the last sentence, she smiled and looked at Ye Rong. Then, she said to Eunuch Liu, "Read out the Emperor's verbal decree."
"… Yes." Eunuch Liu did not dare to delay for too long. He could only read out the Emperor's verbal decree. "His Majesty's verbal decree. The young man of the Mu Family, Mu Xi, has brilliant literary talent and a profound artistic conception. His literary talent and brushwork are really to our liking. We specially bestowed incense ink as a reward. We hope that the young man of the Mu Family will be diligent in his writing and continue to improve. "
The Empress Dowager was stunned. Other than Tao Wan, everyone else was stunned. They all thought that the person who received the reward would be Ye Rong. Why did Eunuch Liu read out Mu Xi's name?
Ye Rong was the grandson of the Prime Minister. The Ye Family had been officials for several generations and was also a scholarly family. Ye Rong's literary talent was already well-known. How could his poem not be comparable to Mu Xi's, who was born in a military family? How could this be possible? But why did the Emperor reward Mu Xi and not Ye Rong?
"His Majesty wants to reward Mu Xi?" The Empress Dowager confirmed with Eunuch Liu.
"Empress Dowager, His Majesty has asked this servant to read out Young Man Mu's poem. Then, everyone will know why His Majesty wants to reward Young Man Mu."
"… Read it." Since the Emperor had already said so, what else could she say?
After Eunuch Liu read out Tao Wan's poem, everyone looked at Tao Wan in surprise. They did not expect him to have such good literary talent.
When the Empress Dowager was young, she was also a very famous talented woman. Therefore, she liked people with good literary talent. She liked Ye Rong not only because he was the grandson of the Prime Minister, so there were definitely no problems with his character and upbringing, but also because of his literary talent.
In her heart, Mu Xi was like a proud and domineering peacock. Although she was very beautiful, her character and upbringing were very poor. With this kind of character and appearance, it was fine for him to be a noble, but he was definitely not suitable to be the Empress. However, Mu Yongsheng did not want Mu Xi to enter the palace. He had said before that their Mu Xi would only be the official wife.
Mu Yongsheng was brave and good at fighting. Not only did the Emperor need his support, but Dawei also needed his protection now. Therefore, he could only let Mu Xi be the Empress and let Ye Rong, who was originally the most suitable Empress, be the Imperial Noble Lord.
After hearing Eunuch Liu's poem, even the Empress Dowager had to admit that it was a good poem. However, she was still somewhat dissatisfied with the Emperor's decision to reward Tao Wan. Because, in addition to her bias towards Ye Rong, she also wanted to balance the two sides.
Since Mu Xi was the Empress and Ye Rong could only be the Imperial Noble Lord, then in order to appease the Ye Family, she naturally had to show that she was more biased towards Ye Rong. The Emperor should also cooperate with her. She thought that the Emperor would understand her meaning, so she did not say it directly. She really did not expect that Mu Xi's literary talent would surpass Ye Rong's. If she had known earlier, she would have told the Emperor to reward Ye Rong regardless of whether there was a poem better than Ye Rong's.
However, since the Emperor had already given the order, it was too late to say anything now. The Empress Dowager could only smile at Tao Wan and say, "This poem is really good. No wonder the Emperor would reward you."
The Empress Dowager raised her hand and indicated for Eunuch Liu to bring the things in front of Tao Wan.
Tao Wan stood up and bowed, "Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. Thank you, Empress Dowager."
After Tao Wan took the tray, Eunuch Liu walked back to the Empress Dowager and said, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, His Majesty also has another verbal order."
"Oh?" The Empress Dowager said, "You can announce it."
"His Majesty's verbal order: Ye Family's Ye Rong is worthy of being the Prime Minister's grandson. His documents and rules are neat and tidy, and he is a model example. Zhen has specially entrusted the heavy responsibility of repairing the damaged poetry library to Ye Rong."
After the Empress Dowager heard this, she nodded in her heart. She thought that the Emperor was indeed worthy of his name. This arrangement was much better than rewarding both people at the same time. Moreover, if both people were to be rewarded, after reciting Mu Xi's poem, they had to recite Ye Rong's poem. If Mu Xi's poem was like the pipa he played, it would be much better than Ye Rong's. However, if they insisted that the two were equally matched, it would inevitably make the children of the military families bitterly disappointed.
Repairing the damaged poetry library, although it was not a reward or commendation, it still showed that the Emperor recognized his literary talent. Moreover, there was an additional layer of trust. It was also the best way to appease Prime Minister Ye. Because the trust in Ye Rong was the trust in Prime Minister Ye.
Tao Wan thought that the Emperor had been the Crown Prince for twenty years after all. Moreover, the previous Emperor was extremely biased and had spent a lot of effort to think of a proper way to depose the Crown Prince. However, he was still able to persist until he successfully ascended the throne. It could be seen that his scheming was not ordinary. The battles and swords in the harem were more serious than the battles on the battlefield. The slightest carelessness could lead to eternal damnation.
Xiao Junye held the poem written by Tao Wan and admired the words on it for a long time before carefully putting it in the book. He got up and walked to the window. He looked out of the window and thought that he was the Crown Prince since he was born. In the past twenty years, he had experienced many dangers to persevere until now. Only he himself knew best. Even if he became the Emperor, there were too many things that were not up to him. It was not easy to stay on the throne.
"Cough, cough, cough …" Xiao Junye suddenly coughed. There was a fishy sweetness in his throat and he spat it out as he coughed. "Pfft!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Seeing the Emperor spit out blood, Eunuch Xu immediately ran over to support him and said anxiously, "I will call the Imperial Physician!"
"Wait!" Xiao Junye stopped him. "I'm fine. There's no need to call the Imperial Physician."
"But Your Majesty …"
Xiao Junye raised his hand and said, "Help me inside to rest."
He knew very well the condition of his own body. Even if he called the Imperial Physician, it would be useless. He did not know how many more years he could live, but as long as he was alive, he would never give up the throne to King Yu.
After returning to his residence from the palace, Tao Wan asked his servants to put away the gifts given by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor carefully. Then, he went to take a bath and change his clothes.
Soaking in the large wooden tub, Tao Wan leaned back and straightened his legs. He closed his eyes and thought. Before he came to this world, he had already learned about it in detail. He knew that Ye Rong was very ambitious and he was playing a very big game alone. Because he still had the mentality of playing a strategy game, he felt that if he completed the strategy according to the rules, he would definitely win.
The background and character settings of this world were indeed like those in the game. However, if he still had the mentality of playing a game, it would be a good thing for Tao Wan. Because this way, he would be easier to deal with. Perhaps he would even seek his own death and there would be no need for him to do anything.
In this world, everyone was made of flesh and blood and had their own independent thoughts and personalities. Only he was the protagonist in his own life. If Ye Rong thought that he was the protagonist of everyone and that he could be invincible with the protagonist's aura, he would soon realize that in this world, his protagonist's aura might bring him some benefits, but it was impossible to completely control people's emotions with the protagonist's aura.
After soaking in the tub for about twenty minutes, Tao Wan came out of the tub and picked up the neatly folded cotton cloth to dry the water droplets on his body. Although this body was only sixteen years old, the ancients not only matured early, but also developed early. The original body was slender and had a pair of straight, slender and fair legs.
Although his body structure was the same as a man's, his physique was more feminine and he was softer and slimmer.
After putting on his clothes and walking into the bedroom, Tao Wan decided to take a nap before getting up to eat.
Today in the palace, the Empress Dowager was biased towards Ye Rong. Although it was not particularly obvious, everyone could feel it.
However, this was unavoidable. Ye Rong had been in this world for more than a year. Most of his time was spent trying to woo King Yu, and a small part of his time was spent on pleasing the Empress Dowager and showing off himself.
The original body's mother died early, and his father spoiled him, so his personality was indeed a little arrogant, but not to the point of being overbearing. As for the original owner's bad reputation for being a tyrant, it was only in the past two years that the original owner had spread. Because of Ye Rong's secret plans, he didn't even need to do anything personally. He only needed to give some guidance and those officials and nobles who were centered around him would naturally spread these rumors. The more people who knew about it, the more people would believe it. After a long time, it would become true.
After the Flower Appreciation Banquet, those who received the palace's decree had to prepare to enter the palace to be selected.
After entering the palace, they mainly learned the various etiquette and rules of the palace. Although the rank of those who stayed in the palace in the end depended on their family background. However, the female officials and attendants of Chuxiu Palace would truthfully report their usual behavior to the Empress Dowager, which was also an important process to determine their rank.
After entering the palace, these noble men and women were assigned to the best courtyards in Chuxiu Palace. After all, they were going to be masters, so it was impossible for them to mingle with the servants. Therefore, their courtyards were separated from the other courtyards.
The number of brothers in this world was relatively small, and there were even fewer people entering the palace this time. There were only about 30 people. These more than 30 people were assigned to the largest Xuanmo Garden. Every two people were in a room, and each room was close to each other with a large courtyard in the middle.
The attendants in the palace also knew that the children of the civil officials and the children of the generals did not get along. In order not to cause trouble and implicate them, they tried to arrange them in the same room according to their family background.
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