Chapter 7: All Imperial Concubines Came to Visit His Empress
Translator: å®è´-Peggyan
Having finished the imperial court session, Long Xiaoyuan went back to the Qiankun Palace. s.h.i.+ Qingzhou just got up.
âYour Majesty, greetings.â s.h.i.+ knelt down.
The latter hastily held him up. âQingzhou, you donât need to kneel down in the future.â
After a pause, s.h.i.+ said nodding, âYes, I know that.â
âLetâs call each other casually,â added he.
s.h.i.+ slightly curled his lipsâ corners and said, âOkay, I got it.â
He felt delighted upon hearing this and said, âQingzhou, havenât you eaten breakfast? Are you hungry?â
âIâm not hungry.â s.h.i.+ gave him a faint smile.
He held s.h.i.+âs hand, walked toward the dining table, and ordered the Chief-eunuch to serve breakfast.
Breakfast was delivered shortly.
Since s.h.i.+ had s.e.x last night, s.h.i.+ naturally ate something mild.
Having cozily finished breakfast, he followed s.h.i.+ to the back study. He had already ordered someone to fetch his memorials to the throne here. It surprised him when he got inside.
There were several landscape paintings hung up in the study, and he fancied them very much.
He couldnât help but walk up to those paintings and asked, âQingzhou, those paintingsâ¦â
s.h.i.+ replied, âI painted them.â
His eyes brightened. As expected, it was s.h.i.+ who painted them! He subconsciously stroked them. âQingzhou, letâs hang some of them up in our sleeping chamber.â
Their sleeping chamberâ¦After a pause, s.h.i.+ Qingzhou said nodding with his eyes twinkling with splendor, âItâs my honor that they catch your eyes. Iâll have two paintings hung up.â
âThatâs all right.â After some thoughts, Long Xiaoyuan said, âQingzhou, there arenât some in my sleeping chamber. How about decorating there with some of your paintings?â
s.h.i.+ said in a soft voice, âNo problem.â
Soon, Chief-eunuch Zhou Qing was ordered inside again.
Having five paintings taken away, Long Xiaoyuan was about to say something with a smile, and then a voice arose outside.
âYour Majesty and Your Grace, Lady Rou of the Xuanyang Palace, Lady Shan of the Zhaoyang Palace, Lady Qing of the Deshui Palace, Lady You of the Sihuan Palace, Lady Lan of the Jiuye Palace, Lady Yuan of the Huoyang Palace, Lady Yu of the Qianhui Palace, Lady Luo of the Baiyuan Palace, Lady Qiu of the Yushui Palace ask to meet Your Grace.â (those imperial concubines were announced one by one based on their rankings)
Hearing so many names of the imperial concubines, Long Xiaoyuan had a buzz in his brain, but he also found a fact that all of them were âactiveâ in the palace.
In other words, all the âpowerfulâ concubines gathered up here!
s.h.i.+ Qingzhou looked at Long Xiaoyuan who really felt embarra.s.sed. He never wanted to have so many concubines. After all, his life was more important than this. Moreover, he loathed those scheming concubines who only wanted to strive for his love!
After last night, he felt that s.h.i.+ Qingzhou was enough for him!
Thus, why did those women show up here? He really wanted to live longer!
Having seen s.h.i.+ Qingzhou look at him, Long Xiaoyuan felt guilty and said immediately, âYour Grace, I didnât ask them to come here.â
s.h.i.+ found it funny and gave him a smile. âYour Majesty, youâre kidding me.â
Long coughed to cover his embarra.s.sment. âQingzhou, I wonât see them. Now that theyâre here, you go to see them and then send them away.â
Staring at him, s.h.i.+ couldnât help but ask, âYour Majesty, are you serious?â
Long said righteously, âOf course! Youâre my empress, the sole owner of the Imperial Harem!â
s.h.i.+ felt shocked for a while and then said with a smile, âYes, I know. Please excuse me for a moment.â
âEh. Go ahead.â Long waved his hand.
After s.h.i.+ left, Long pondered for a while and decided to eavesdrop on them talking, for, in his memories, those concubines were extremely unrestrained. Thus, he was afraid that his empress would suffer losses.