Harem Daily Life

Chapter 1054 Campaign Against the Empress

"Speak, why?" The Jing family members returned to their residence first, awaiting His Majesty's summons. Jing Mubai stepped into the princess's courtyard again after a month, dismissed everyone, and began to question her.

He Qian hadn't spoken kindly to Jing Mubai for a month, and hearing his question now, she felt a pang of resentment. She stepped forward and gently took Jing Mubai's hand: "If you had been neglected in the palace for over a decade, even though you were a princess, and you were outstanding in appearance, temperament, and talent, yet you couldn't receive your father's love, you would understand why I did what I did."

Jing Mubai opened his mouth. As the eldest son, he had been pampered since childhood and naturally couldn't understand He Qian's bitterness of being neglected. However, no matter what, He Qian shouldn't have taken such a risky move and disregarded the Jing family.

"Stop now. Zhao Shu is already Zhou Chen's woman, so you shouldn't use her anymore. From now on, I will treat you well and make up for all the grievances you suffered in your early years. Let's live a good life together, okay?"

Jing Mubai grasped He Qian's hand in return, appealing to her emotions.

He Qian's eyes darkened: "Don't worry, since she escaped back, it's natural that Father has already seen through her. I'm not that stupid to continue using her."

Jing Mubai breathed a sigh of relief and gently pulled her into his arms. The long-awaited embrace made He Qian overjoyed. She hugged Jing Mubai's waist back and said, "My husband has not been close to me for many days and has abandoned me. He is so heartless."

Jing Mubai sighed: "I was also angered by you. You... Fine, as long as you stop, I will never mention it again and will pretend it never happened."

He Qian's lips curled into a cold smile. Retreat? Impossible!

Feeling Jing Mubai's slightly heavier breathing and the hands around her waist becoming a little unruly, He Qian smiled and kissed Jing Mubai's earlobe. A surge of lust instantly spread throughout his body, and Jing Mubai could no longer resist. He picked her up and carried her into the dormitory.

He Qian was indeed a great beauty. Jing Mubai had been celibate for almost a month, feeling restless and anxious every day, and was also angry at He Qian's actions, so he had refrained from touching her. Now, with the beauty in his arms, he could no longer resist and forcefully pressed her down beneath him.

After the Emperor and Empress settled into the residence, Ying San and his men inspected the place three times before they were finally at ease.

Everyone was exhausted from the journey, so they quickly ate some lunch and went to rest, waiting to be summoned to the ministers again in the afternoon.

He Linzhang went to the study; the people he had sent to Yanzhou to investigate had already sent word.

"Lord Jing is a very cautious man. Our men finally found the hiding place of the late Emperor of Xia, who is hiding in a temple in Yanzhou, under the alias Master Wusheng. Lord Jing has sent people to protect him. The guards usually disguise themselves as worshippers and guard Master Wusheng like an iron barrel. If we want to take him away, the other worshippers who come to offer incense will probably not allow it, so your subordinates dare not act rashly."

He Linzhang's eyes darkened: "I underestimated him. I thought he was just greedy and greedy, but I didn't expect him to dare to hide the former emperor of Xia! Is he trying to support the former emperor of Xia in fighting back and recovering the lost territories? Or is he trying to provoke a conflict between me and the new emperor of Xia so that he can reap the benefits?"

The subordinate dared not say more, and reported again: "During the investigation, we also discovered the whereabouts of Gu Yuanyuan." After speaking, he took out a portrait from his pocket and handed it over: "Gu Yuanyuan's original name is Zhao Shu. After arriving in Yanzhou, she began to associate with this person. The two seem to have a shady relationship."

He Linzhang looked at the portrait: "Who is this person?"

"Zhou Chen. The husband of Jing Yuwei, the second young lady of the Jing family."

He Linzhang narrowed his eyes, recalling what Tao Yanyan had told him before: Hua Yurong's younger sister had married Zhou Chen as a concubine. He hadn't paid attention to those messy things, but he never expected that such a person would be dragged into this now.

"Go and investigate further to find out if Zhou Chen is really the person behind it all. I heard he's just a merchant and a son-in-law who married into the family. How could he have such power to control everything?" He Linzhang didn't believe it.

The subordinate put away the scroll and turned to leave.

Eunuch Zhang poured He Linzhang a cup of tea: "Your Majesty, the Empress has asked if we would like to have dinner with Marquis Jing and his family."

He Linzhang sneered, "No more gatherings, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

The emperor does not wish to see ministers who harbor ulterior motives.

"Then... what about the Fourth Princess?" This is her biological daughter, shouldn't we at least meet her?

He Linzhang thought for a moment and nodded: "Summon her and the prince consort here."

He Qian and Jing Mubai spent half a day together, and when they learned that His Majesty had summoned them, they quickly got up to attend the banquet.

Before leaving, Marquis Jing repeatedly instructed He Qian to find out the purpose of His Majesty's trip and see if he was really just passing through and taking the opportunity to celebrate the New Year.

He Qian noted it down, but a sense of unease began to stir within her. The Marquis of Jing wouldn't have asked her to inquire without a reason; he must also be worried about something…

"What are you thinking about?" Jing Mubai toyed with He Qian's hand. "Ever since Father started talking to you, you've been distracted. What are you thinking about?"

He Qian snapped out of her reverie and smiled, "It's nothing, I just felt that the Marquis was being a bit too cautious. Under the Marquis's rule, Yan Prefecture is prosperous, so why would the Marquis worry about any oversights being seen by the Emperor?"

Jing Mubai thought for a moment: "Perhaps it's the innate awe that subjects have for the emperor. But speaking of which, His Majesty's aura is indeed extremely oppressive, and it's really hard for ordinary people to withstand it. Empress Tao, on the other hand, is always smiling and much more approachable."

He Qian disliked his praise of Empress Tao very much, and said coldly, "Aren't you men all easily deceived by a person's appearance? Don't think that Empress Tao is kind just because she looks kind. Do you think a kind person could rise from the rank of Consort to Empress? There are so many people in the harem who are no match for her. What kind of kind person could she be!"

Jing Mubai touched his nose: "I... okay, I won't talk about her anymore. You get angry every time I mention her."

He Qian bit her lip: "You have no idea what kind of life my mother and I lived in the palace! For more than ten years, only the Empress has received the Emperor's favor in my father's harem. Countless concubines in the palace, like my mother, have been living alone for many years, never even seeing the Emperor's face once. And my birth mother, who died under mysterious circumstances, and my aunt, who was demoted from the rank of Consort to a lowly concubine before her untimely death—these are all living examples. Empress Tao is kind? Ha, what a huge joke!"

Seeing that she was about to attack Empress Tao again, Jing Mubai quickly advised her, "Don't think about the past. Just live your own life now. Let go of the grudges of the previous generation."

He Qian took a few deep breaths: "Fine, even if I don't care about the grudges of the previous generation, what about my own grudges? I am also Father Emperor's biological daughter, but my life is far worse than that of the other princesses!"

Jing Mubai wanted her to stop talking, but He Qian had started talking all day and wouldn't be satisfied if she didn't.

“My father has never held me once, and he only comes to visit me when I am sick. But what about He Yinuo? He Yinuo was raised by my father himself, and he even changed her diapers in the middle of the night. He Yucheng, who is her half-brother, was made crown prince when he was still in his swaddling clothes. My father’s favoritism is not a recent phenomenon! Look at He Yinuo, she looks like a little pig, so round that you can’t even see her waist, but my father doesn’t mind her and treats her like a precious jewel.”

While eating plum blossom pastries, a specialty of Yanzhou, at her residence, He Yinuo sneezed several times. He Xiaoqi, who was standing nearby, quickly flew three meters away and said, "Don't breathe your illness on me. Birds can't drink typhoid medicine."

He Yinuo rubbed her nose: "Look at you, you've eaten what I ate, if you were going to get sick, you would have gotten better long ago."

But that's strange, is someone thinking about her? She even sneezed.