Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Chapter 394 Retirement Life

On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Prince Su returned with his army. The Emperor, the Emperor Emeritus and all the civil and military officials went out of the city to welcome him, and the whole country celebrated.

For Prince Su, this expedition lasted only half a year, which was really too fast. Now that he is standing under the city wall, he can still clearly remember the scene when he left.

When the emperor saw Prince Su, he just patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work!"

They can no longer talk about the long absence like before, and the emperor misses his brother very much. Alas, this leads to insufficient expression of emotions, and the emperor is quite melancholy.

When everyone returned to the palace and could talk quietly, the emperor asked Prince Su,

"Did you have any seizure or feel unwell on the battlefield this time?"

"Royal brother, this war not only did not make me sick, but it cured me." Prince Su said with a smile.

"Oh? What do you mean?" the emperor asked in surprise.

Prince Su then told him some of his new feelings, realizing that this war was not a disaster but a salvation for the State of Yan.

"Royal brother, you haven't seen it, the ordinary people in Yan State are really miserable..." Prince Su sighed and told him some stories about Yan State.

In some villages, nine out of ten houses are empty, leaving only the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, all waiting to die.

The homes of the landlords that were raided had piles of grain that were all moldy and infested with bugs. They would rather leave the grain there to mold and get infested with bugs than give it to the poor people.

There were even some outrageous situations where almost half of the land in the town was occupied by landlords. The people had no land and no food, so they either sold themselves to the landlords or starved to death.

After hearing this, the emperor was also very angry, "The disaster of Yan State is comparable to that of the previous dynasty!"

Prince Su nodded with a serious face.

"Very good. Sending you to Yan State this time can be considered a perfect result." The emperor said with a smile.

"You're going to rest for half a month. Do you want to go with me to the Western Region?"

"I don't mind. It's just that Nianqiu suffered from acclimatization after going to the border. He had to lie down for half a month before he got better. I'm worried that Nianqiu will also suffer from acclimatization after going to the Western Regions."

Prince Su said, "I want to go again in a few years. I can't accompany my brother this time."

The Emperor,

That's not what you said before!

I know this annoying brother well. My status is far inferior to that of Princess Su.

The emperor glared at him fiercely.

"Royal brother, if I go, I will definitely be in the way. I'm afraid you can't let go. It's better for me not to go." Prince Su said again.

What if my brother was humiliated by the empress? It would be uncomfortable enough, and now he has to be watched by him. Tsk tsk, it would be even more embarrassing.

"Why shouldn't I let go of anything?" The emperor glared.

Prince Su looked at him, smiled, and let him experience it for himself.

The emperor didn't want to pay any attention to him.

-

On the other side, Emperor Xie Jin was also talking to the King of Qi. Naturally, he started by praising him for killing the Emperor of Yan and for his great contribution.

The King of Qi nodded in satisfaction. The Emperor praised him and did not blame him for acting rashly. In this respect, he was much better than his second brother.

"I have thought about your reward for a long time. What do you think about granting you a marriage?" Emperor Xie Jin said deliberately.

"...No!" The King of Qi squeezed out these two words from between his teeth, with his hands on his waist. Well...there was no sword, so he put them down in disappointment.

"Your mother has asked the Queen and the Imperial Noble Consort, hoping that I can grant you a marriage." The Emperor was not making this up.

Concubine Xian was extremely anxious, but she couldn't do anything with the Prince of Qi, so she could only pin her hopes on the Emperor, hoping that he would issue an imperial decree granting the marriage and the birth of a child.

The King of Qi was forced to complete these two major events in his life.

The King of Qi frowned tightly, he was just angry and didn't say anything.

"Alright, I see your reluctance. If you don't want to, forget it."

Xie Jin glanced at his hands on his waist and suddenly felt a chill on his neck.

He was all too familiar with this move.

When he was a Jinyiwei, he liked to reach for his waist whenever he encountered a dangerous situation, because he could draw his sword at any time.

When the King of Qi heard that, he relaxed immediately and stopped touching his waist. He became the silent and good brother again.

"The Imperial Concubine gave me a good idea. She said that she could give you the Imperial Sword..." Xie Jin talked about the reward and position of the King of Qi, and finally asked for his opinion.

"Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"

"Good!" The King of Qi's eyes lit up and he also spoke, "Satisfied, thank you, Royal Concubine!"

Xie Jin counted in his mind and found that the King of Qi actually said eight words at a time. It seemed that he was indeed satisfied.

The Prince of Qi was thinking to himself that he would go back to the storehouse of the Prince of Qi's Palace to search for some good things and send a box to the Imperial Concubine to thank her for her good idea.

-

After the lively Mid-Autumn Festival, Ye Qingzhi went to the princess's mansion to visit Ling Yue and her little girl.

Ling Yue's daughter looks more like her father. She is a pretty and lovely child, but she is a bit noisy and likes to cling to her mother.

Even with the help of a wet nurse and maids, it was not easy for Ling Yue to take care of her, so Ling Yue did not attend the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and stayed at home to accompany her daughter.

"Han Yan hasn't come back yet?" Ling Yue asked Ye Qingzhi.

"No, she was sent by the emperor to the grassland to guard the border and build a city. She is a general now." Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.

"Wow! The female general is so powerful. Han Yan has realized my dream." Ling Yue immediately exclaimed, expressing envy.

"It's really amazing." Ye Qingzhi said, "She should be very happy now, as she can realize her ambitions."

"Amazing, awesome." Ling Yue exclaimed again, and couldn't help but say,

"I will communicate with you again after I give birth to the baby. After hearing what you are doing now, I finally feel the sense of separation you mentioned at the beginning, and the feeling of being kidnapped by the child."

"Why, do you regret it?" Ye Qingzhi asked with a smile.

"No, my daughter is so cute, I don't regret it." Ling Yue said immediately, "I just feel that it is indeed different, and I am expressing my feelings."

Ye Qingzhi nodded, "I invited you to go horseback riding now, but I guess you can't go."

"Not in the next six months, but when the child grows up a little bit, then it will be fine." Ling Yue said with a smile, "You have nothing to do in the palace, so come over more often and talk to me."

"Who said I have nothing to do? I am very busy every day." Ye Qingzhi immediately retorted seriously.

Ling Yue looked unconvinced and asked her with a smile, "Are you busy reading a book or feeding the fish?"

"I have both. I recently got a yellow puppy and a white kitten. They are very cute. If your daughter is not allergic to the dog and cat hair, I will bring them over next time and let her play with them."

Ye Qingzhi spoke.

"I don't know if she has allergies or not. I haven't let her come into contact with cats and dogs. You can bring her here and try." Ling Yue said with a smile.

"Listening to you, my days are just comfortable and boring."

Ye Qingzhi smiled proudly. This is the ideal life for modern office workers. She has already reached the pinnacle in the workplace.

She just needs to keep doing this until retirement, although she seems to have already started her retirement life.

-

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor set out, leaving the capital and heading west.

Although he kept emphasizing that he was just going out for a stroll, everyone knew that he was going to the Western Regions to find the Empress.

Since the emperor insisted on putting up this fig leaf, the younger generations certainly couldn't pull it off. They all tried their best to cooperate and saw him off with a smile.

Emperor Xie Jin also said to the Emperor Emeritus, "Father, you should not just rush along the way. Since you are going to travel around, you should go deep into the people and don't forget to understand their feelings.

If you see some officials you don’t like, whether they should be fined or dismissed, just do it directly.”

The Emperor,

How could he have the time to slowly understand the people's sentiments?

He was going out for a trip, not on official inspection, and would not accept any assigned tasks!

"Let someone else do it. I'm an old man and don't want to work anymore." The emperor refused directly and rolled his eyes at his eldest son.

unacceptable!

Now he still doesn't forget to make me work for him!

I don't know if I can get comfort after meeting the empress and complaining to her that my son is not filial enough.

The emperor sighed.

Forget it. It is important for people to know themselves and not have unrealistic fantasies.

-

After Xie Jin sent the retired emperor away, he hurriedly sent a letter to his mother, informing her that his father was on the way to find her.

Ten days had passed when the empress received the letter.

In fact, the empress had known that the old man was planning to come, and was not surprised by his arrival.

But now that he's here, the empress is really unsure how to greet him.

Should we just treat him as the emperor of the Great Zhao and follow all etiquette, or should we treat him as the father of our children and be a little more casual, or... well, that's all.

She couldn't treat him as the emperor's husband. He was so old and no longer a young and handsome man. She couldn't bring herself to treat him like that. She didn't have the mood or motivation to do so.

"The retired emperor of the Great Zhao is going to visit our country as an envoy. He may arrive in more than half a month. You should take care of the preparations and don't be negligent." The empress summoned the people from the Ministry of Rites and instructed them.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites were a little confused. Why didn't the Great Zhao notify them in advance that such an important person was going to Gulan Kingdom?

A letter or something should be sent at least a month in advance so that their Ministry of Rites can make arrangements calmly.

The empress looked at the official's face and said calmly, "Don't be too formal. The emperor of Great Zhao and I are old friends, so this can be considered a private visit."

"Yes, I obey your order!" The official from the Ministry of Rites quickly took his leave before he lost control of his facial expression.

That’s right, they all believe that the current emperor of Da Zhao is the biological son of the empress, then the emperor emeritus of Da Zhao must be the empress’s cousin, right?

bah bah bah!

Don’t dare to insult the Empress like this!

The official from the Ministry of Rites slapped himself twice and quickly drove the thought out of his mind. However, after realizing this relationship, he felt very weird.

When I went back and told other officials about this, everyone felt very uncomfortable.