Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Chapter 404 Too Annoying

After the New Year, spring ploughing was completed and according to the new tradition, another spring sports meeting was held, which was slightly larger in scale than last year.

However, it is still difficult to hold larger-scale competitions because the transportation problem has not been solved.

So, just start with small things and slowly accumulate rules and experience.

Because of this sports meeting, the empress stayed in the capital for a few more months. After watching the sports meeting, she set off to return to Gulan.

The emperor wanted to follow, but Xie Jin persuaded him not to.

"Father, everything requires a balance between tension and relaxation. It's not good for you to chase too closely. Sometimes, distance creates beauty."

When the retired emperor heard this, he immediately felt ashamed. He glared at Xie Jin, flicked his sleeves, and walked away in anger.

Xie Jin sighed slightly.

Ugh.

Dealing with my father's emotional problems every day is more difficult than handling state affairs.

I'll go back and ask his wife for advice, learn some words of flattery, and next time I'll try to solve the problem and make my father happy.

-

After Prince Su knew about this, he also advised the Emperor, "Brother, I think the Emperor is right. You should not follow the Empress. I am annoyed by her."

The emperor slapped him on the back and said, "I'm annoyed by you now!"

Prince Su looked at him helplessly, "You are anxious again, can you please talk properly?"

The emperor glared and snorted.

You guys are like full men who don’t know the hunger of hungry men!

I don't want to chat with you anymore, it's too annoying.

However, the retired emperor never said that he would follow the empress to Gulan Kingdom. He knew that he was annoying. Well, he was old now, so he decided not to bother anymore.

After all the trouble, the cruel old woman still looked down on him and despised him in every way.

Forget it, instead of running back and forth, he might as well find something else to do.

The retired emperor convinced himself and happily sent the empress away.

Seeing that his father was in a good mood, Xie Jin felt less worried.

However, when people reach middle age, even if they are emperors, they still have to worry about not only old things but also small matters.

Mingyan is already fifteen years old, and her coming-of-age ceremony is scheduled to be held in three months. The Queen has started preparing for this event since the beginning of the year.

She was her only daughter and the eldest princess, so naturally the coming-of-age ceremony would be as grand as possible.

From the coming-of-age dress to the most important hairpin, I chose various styles again and again, but I was never satisfied.

Every time the Queen asked Mingyan for her opinion, Mingyan would only reply, "Just do as you see fit, mother. What you choose is always the best, and I like them all."

The Queen was quite happy to hear this at first, but after hearing it a few more times, she felt that Mingyan was just perfunctory and didn't care about the coming-of-age ceremony at all.

"Qingzhi, tell me, the coming-of-age ceremony is so important to girls, why doesn't Mingyan care about it at all? Every time I ask her opinion, she always says yes, yes."

Because of this, the Queen complained to Ye Qingzhi.

"Every time I went to her bedroom, there were always memorials and various books on statecraft on the table. Just... you know, if I didn't know that this was my daughter's boudoir, I would have thought I had entered the emperor's imperial study!"

Ye Qingzhi couldn't help but want to laugh when she heard this.

"You're still laughing. I'm so worried to death." The queen glared at Ye Qingzhi.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is training Mingyan as the Crown Princess. It's normal that she doesn't have the mind of a little girl."

Ye Qingzhi said with a smile,

"When we look at a problem, we can't just focus on one aspect. Look at Mingyu. Ever since he realized that he didn't need to inherit the throne, he has been much happier.

Mingyan will naturally become more stable if she takes on the responsibility, and Mingyu will feel more relaxed. This is a good thing, right?"

Queen,...

Oh, why did she feel guilty towards her daughter after hearing this? She felt like she had taken on too much.

This was not at all what she had thought at first.

"Okay, I understand now. Mingyan doesn't care what kind of dress or hairpin she wears at her coming-of-age ceremony. I might as well decide for her and not bother her anymore."

The Queen sighed and spoke.

Ye Qingzhi gave the queen a thumbs up and praised her with a smile: "Mingyan is so lucky to have a good mother like you."

The queen was pleased with her words.

"By the way, is there any news about Xiaokang? He has been at sea for a year. Has he returned?" asked the queen.

If this brat could come back to attend Mingyan's coming-of-age ceremony, my daughter would surely be happier.

"No news." Ye Qingzhi frowned as she spoke of this, "I've been looking forward to hearing about his return these days."

At first, she thought it would only take a year at most, but now, Ye Qingzhi feels that she was too optimistic.

"Don't worry." The queen could only comfort her, "Maybe there will be good news in a few days."

"I hope so too." Ye Qingzhi nodded vigorously.

However, three months passed and there was still no news from Xie Niankang.

None of the ships that went out to sea returned.

Mingyan's coming-of-age ceremony is in ten days.

"Okay, wait until that day and she will wear this dress. My daughter is so beautiful!" The queen asked Mingyan to try on the dress, admired it for a while, and said with a smile.

"It's my mother's choice that makes my daughter look good." Mingyan changed her clothes and said with a smile, "Thank you, mother. You have been taking care of the coming-of-age ceremony for me. You have worked hard."

"What's so hard about this? If your mother doesn't do this for you, what else can she do?" The queen glared at her in disapproval and noticed that her eyes were a little dark. She immediately said with heartache,

"Look at you, you should also have a good rest. You stay up late every day reading books and memorials. You have done all your father's work. What else do you want your father to do?"

"You are joking, mother. I have done far less than half of what you have done. It's just that you have been asked to supervise several government offices recently, so I seem to be a little busy."

Mingyan smiled and shook her head.

The queen nodded, and after a while couldn't help asking, "Well, you're not still thinking about that brat, are you?"

"I do think about it occasionally, but I can't say I'm worried about him." Ming Yan said calmly, "After all, he is leading a lot of people out to sea, and it's his first time, so it always makes people nervous."

The Queen didn't know what to say after hearing her talk so grandly. She paused and said, "Mingyu has been talking about him every day these days, so I just asked about him."

Mingyan responded, expressing her understanding, "I hear him talking about it every day, too. I can't help but know it."

When the queen heard this, she immediately had an idea in her mind.

Well, the core problem has been found!

The son keeps calling his daughter "Brother Kang" all the time and praises her in various ways. It would be strange if the daughter could forget him!

-

After the Queen left her daughter, she returned to her own bedroom and immediately instructed Madam Zhou,

"Where's the eldest prince? Call him over. I have something to tell him."

"I'll go right away." Nanny Zhou responded and went out to tell the eunuch who was running errands to call someone.

After a long while, Mingyu came back, sweating profusely, "Mother, what do you want me to do?"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you sweating so much?" The queen waved at him, and when he came to her, she immediately took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"Don't run so fast next time. If you sweat, wipe it off immediately to avoid catching a cold."

"Mother, I'm practicing running and preparing to participate in a small competition in a while." Mingyu said, taking the handkerchief from the Queen's hand and wiping herself casually.

"Mother, what do you want me to do?"

"Why do you want to participate in the running competition?" the queen asked him in return.

"Just running around for fun, there's nothing to do anyway." Mingyu said in a relaxed tone.

Upon hearing this, the Queen glared at him and tapped his forehead with her hand. "Your sister is busy with government affairs and helping your father deal with memorials every day, but all you think about is playing around."

"Mother, I don't just play around, I also help father." Mingyu felt aggrieved when her mother pointed at her forehead and scolded her. She immediately exposed her elder sister's secrets.

"My sister has been busy recently because she has taken the initiative to take on some of the shipping and voyage matters. With the workload that the emperor gives her on weekdays, she is able to handle things with ease."

When the queen heard this, she took a deep breath and her heart suddenly tightened.

There is no doubt that my daughter did this just for that brat Xie Niankang!

Are you waiting for the person to come back, and you're getting worried and ready to intervene yourself?

The queen thought about it and felt that her daughter was indeed very domineering, but she wondered if she could change the object of her favor to someone more reliable.

It is obvious that Xie Niankang's heart is outside, just like the King of Chu. Keeping him in the capital is like roasting him on the fire, and he cannot be at peace for a single moment.

Let me interject here that the King of Chu has not been in the capital for a long time. He has gone to the Dongyi Kingdom to hang out.

This time, Xie Hongbao also went with him. The two of them planned to take over this small Dongyi Kingdom and make it a state of the Great Zhao.

It's not even a vassal state.

After obtaining more detailed historical materials, Xie Jin naturally agreed. Although the Dongyi Kingdom was small in size, it had rich silver mines.

Once that place is conquered, it can also be a stopping point for long voyages and can be used as a supply station in the future.

Ye Qingzhi also fully agreed with this. Well, it would be a good idea to "destroy" the future Japan in advance.

Back to the topic, after the queen had imagined a lot, she couldn't help but nod her son's head.

"Why didn't you tell mother about this? It's all your fault for always talking about Xie Niankang in front of your sister."

Mingyu, "???"

Although Mingyu understood every word in her mother's words, when they were put together, she was confused.

What is going on? What’s going on, Brother Guan Kang?