Chapter 105
The whole time she was speaking, Empress Fu was smiling, smiling in an extremely dignified and decent manner, just as she had been when she married Emperor Cheng'an, extremely beautiful.
But the Emperor did not like her.
Why did he dislike her? This question had never occurred to Emperor Cheng'an, nor did he want to think about it.
Empress Fu came from the House of the Duke of Jin, a true pride of the heavens, yet she was married to an unpopular prince. When he first learned that he had been granted a marriage and that the other party was still the direct daughter of the Duke of Jin's House, Emperor Cheng'an was a little confused, but he had to say that he was happy in his heart.
But when Empress Fu married in, he gradually became less and less happy.
His wife was from a noble family, but he was just a royal son born to a palace maid, who was not valued as a child and even suffered repeatedly from the indifference, so many times he was even a bit in awe of this wife.
It was obviously not a good thing for a husband to fear his wife, so when the arrogant and beautiful Gao Guifei appeared, the gentle and understanding Zhou Xianfei appeared, and many, many more women appeared, Emperor Cheng'an became more and more reluctant to face Empress Fu.
When he became emperor, he was able to raise his eyebrows, only to find that there was still nothing he could do about this woman.
She was so dignified and generous in front of people, and treated his concubines so well behind the scenes that no one could fault her, and she had a son who sat securely in her position as Empress.
After all these years, Emperor Cheng'an had forgotten his initial awe. He was the emperor, and no one under the sky was more than a sovereign, and no one in the land was more than just a subject, and everyone should be subservient to him.
Only then did he realise that he had not forgotten, had never forgotten.
Just like at this moment.
You poisonous woman! This was a phrase Emperor Cheng'an had cursed many times, and all that came out was an ah-ah sound.
"Well, it's getting late, so I will not disturb Your Majesty's rest. Your Majesty rest well, so that you can take care of your dragon's body."
Empress Fu bowed respectfully before she straightened her waist and straightened her robe, turning to leave.
The eunuchs who were waiting by the side did not even dare to raise their heads, and all of them pretended that they were deaf and blind.
When the new emperor ascended to the throne, he naturally had to move his palace.
But the new emperor said that his father was ill and there was no urgency in moving the palace, but Empress Dowager Fu said that since the new emperor was already a ruler, he should move to Qianqing Palace so that the concubines of the emperor could be accommodated, and that it would be inappropriate for the concubines of the emperor to live in the new emperor's harem all the time.
The new emperor finally agreed, and had a map of the Forbidden City taken out, and proceeded to choose a suitable place for the retired emperor's concubines to spend their days.
When Pan'er arrived, Zong Cong was standing in front of the dragon desk, looking at the map.
Fu Lu had now changed from a small fry to the main eunuch and was dressed in the new clothes of a head eunuch, not only refreshed, but also extraordinarily dignified.
But his face was still the same, and he even smiled more broadly when he saw Pan'er.
"Please come this way, Master Su."
Pan'er was guided in by Fu Lu, and Zong Cong, who was wearing a dragon robe, looked up at her and beckoned to her, "Come over and help me take a look."
From this word "I", Pan'er sensed that the prince had quickly entered his role, and then looked at him but he had not seen him for some days, he had lost weight again, but was more energetic.
She could not help but glance at Fulu and sigh that there are different kinds of servants for different kinds of masters.
Pan'er walked over and Zong Cong naturally pulled her along and said, "I had my eye on this place, but I'm afraid this place is not very suitable for recuperating from illness, so it's better than here."
She looked at the map and saw that the two places pointed out by Zong Cong were almost on the same level.
The Yangxin Hall was in the west, the Ningshou Palace was in the east, and in between were the Qianqing Palace, the Zhai Palace, the East Palace and the Fengxian Hall. The latter three are not to be mentioned, as neither the size of the complex nor the furnishings inside are as good as the first two.
"Is the palace chosen for the emperor? The Ning Shou Palace is small, but it is said to have just been repaired within a few years? It's true that Ning Shou Palace is not secluded, and whenever there is a palace banquet, it is always the liveliest."
Each has its own good points and bad points, but these two places are already the most suitable for the Emperor to live in. If you go beyond that, it's not decent, and you're in the harem.
The Emperor is now immobile, but as long as he is not dead, he will be the emperor for a day. No matter how Zong Cong thinks of him, he has to be able to speak for himself.
"In addition to the emperor, the concubines will also have to choose a place to move their palace, right?"
It had to be said that Pan'er's words were right in the middle of Zong Cong's mind.
Recently, he had been anxious about this matter.
As soon as the enthronement ceremony was over, it was the rule that the emperor would be crowned first and then the Empress Dowager would move, followed by the Empress coronation.
As is the case now, it was not easy to choose a place to live because there was an additional Empress Dowager. The buildings in the palace seem to be numerous, but in fact there is a decision as to who should live where. There had never been two Empress Dowagers in this dynasty, although one was the Grand Empress Dowager and one was the Empress Dowager.
There were no old precedents to follow, so Zong Cong could only ask people to look through the previous dynasty's scrolls to see if there were any, and it was Empress Fu who finally took the initiative to settle the matter.
The Grand Empress Dowager was the eldest and should continue to live in Cining Palace, while she lived in Shoukang Palace.
After all, Shoukang Palace was a place where the dowager concubines lived and was far smaller than Kunning Palace. Now that Empress Fu had easily become the Empress Dowager, the place where she lived had become worse.
But Empress Fu said that it was fine, that the place was not good enough and could be renovated, and that Shoukang Palace was adjacent to Cining Palace, which was more suitable for her to do her filial duty in front of the Empress Dowager.
At Empress Fu's insistence, the matter was settled for the time being.
This was the reason why Zong Cong did not even have time to settle his own concubines before he hastily planned to settle the Empress Dowager and the dowager concubines first.
This was the reason why Zong Cong hastily planned to settle the concubines of the emperor and his concubines before he could even settle his own.
This was also the reason why Zong Cong had asked Fu Lu to bring up a list of all the concubines of the emperor before he intended to make an imperial decree to appoint the concubines with their respective titles.
It took a visit to discover this.
Earlier, when the emperor was still ill, the six palaces in the east and west were stuffed to the brim, with several concubines living in several places. Even now, with the promotion of the concubines, the treatment could be slightly worse, as three or four people used to live in one palace, but now there is double the number of concubines, but there has to be room for them.
So today, instead of talking about choosing a place for the emperor to spend the rest of his life, it would be better to say that Zong Cong is looking for a place to put all the concubines.
"Then, according to Your Majesty, why don't you ask the Empress Dowager to live in the Ning Shou Palace, so that you can adjust each other like this." Pan'er drew an invisible line on the public map, turning the six palaces in the east and west into two with Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace as the line.
"In this way, the emperor will live in the Yangxin Palace, and the concubines and the empress will live in the western half of the palace, while the emperor will lead the empress and the concubines in the eastern half of the palace. When the ministers heard that His Majesty had divided the West Palace for the concubines, they would only say that His Majesty was very filial and could do no wrong."
As far as Empress Dowager Fu was concerned, she would be able to detach herself more completely from the emperor and the concubines, which would also benefit Empress Dowager Fu's mood.
However, Pan'er did not say these words later.
Zong Zong could not help but reveal a smile: "This is a good idea of yours," he pondered for a moment and said, "It is settled."
Saying so, he picked up a vermilion pen and drew a line on the map of public opinion, while at the same time writing the words 'Tai Shang Huang' on the Hall of the Nurtured Heart, where Gao Guifei and Zhou Xianfei lived in Yong Shou Palace and Qixiang Palace respectively, just behind the Hall of the Nurtured Heart.
For the Shoukang Palace and other palaces, he filled in the names of some of the higher concubines of the emperor, and as for the lower concubines, just stuff them as you see fit, a few in one palace can always be stuffed.
Having settled this matter, Zong Cong could not help but feel in a good mood and dragged Pan Er to the east side of the official map again.
"Originally, I told you that you would be allowed to live in the Palace of Eternal Longevity and go out through the Fengcai Gate. In this case, you will have to stay at Jingren Palace, and I will go through the Longguang Gate."
His words caused Pan'er to puff out a laugh, and after laughing, she was a little ashamed.
The Yongxu Palace and Jingren Palace were the closest places to the Qianqing Palace among the six palaces in the east and west, even closer than the Kunning Palace where the Empress lived, and the Fengcai Gate and Longguang Gate on each side of the Qianqing Palace led to the West and East Long Streets, and Jingren Palace was the first one on the East Long Street, which was the reason for Zong Cong's remark.
Pan'er had not seen Zong Cong for some days.
Since Zong Cong had ascended to the throne, he had been staying at Qianqing Palace due to his busy schedule of chores and government affairs. He had not taken the initiative to ask his minions to deliver a letter or something, so that people would not say that he had not been enthroned yet and could not hold back.
The new emperor is ascending to the throne, and the more the time comes, the more the people in the East Palace have to keep a low profile.
The two of them naturally couldn't be bothered to talk about their longing for each other. At this time, Zong Cong's words contained three parts of flirtation and five parts of intimacy, while the remaining two parts were a bit flirtatious, so Pan'er was shy.
The other two points were a bit of flirtation, so Pan'er was shy. Zong Cong, who had been a vegetarian for more than a month, could not help but feel a tingle in his heart when he saw that she was more delicate than a flower.
So he threw away the brush, picked her up and went inside.
The two of them were not tired, but rather refreshed after they made love.
This time, in order to avoid the taboo, although Zong Cong stayed in Qianqing Palace, he lived not in the main hall, but in the supporting hall. He was surrounded by eunuchs and no palace maids, so he had to ask Fu Lu to call in the Xiang Pu who was left outside to serve Pan Er.
The eunuchs had no maids around, so they had to ask Fu Lu to bring in the Xiang Pu who was left outside to serve her.
But Zong Cong said, "This is not a filial service.
Seeing that he did not take it seriously, Pan Er could only pretend to be generous. After the two of them cleaned up, Zong Cong went back to his study, probably to finish the work of assigning the palace in one go, so that his people could make arrangements.
As for the others, when Pan'er had finished dressing up and went over to see, Zong Cong had already finished making arrangements.
Hu Liangdi is in Chengqian Palace, Xu Liangyuan is in Yanxi Palace, He Liangyuan is in Yonghe Palace, Li Liangyuan is in Zhongcui Palace, and Zhao Xiyue is in Jingyang Palace.
It is just as well that all six palace masters are available, but what surprised Paner is that Zhao Xiyue could also be a palace master. The six palace masters are all in place, so he is not going to bring in any more people?
There is a rule in the palace that a concubine must be at least an Imperial Concubine, so Zong Cong has filled up all six palaces at once, and there is no way he can reappoint them in the future even if he wants to, because there is no space, so he has to wait for the Dowager Imperial Concubines to die, but it is obvious that the Imperial Concubines will not be able to move in for a while.
Seeing that Pan'er was looking at it for a bit too long, Zong Cong smiled and said, "This is not just as you wish, what a little vinegar bag." Saying that, he also specifically nodded to Zhao Xi Yue's name.
What did this have to do with a little jealousy bag again? Well, Pan'er didn't deny that there was a little bit of her own selfishness in suggesting that the Western Sixth Palace be moved for the imperial concubines to live in, but since it was selfish, how could she bring it out?
She glared at him, making him laugh, shaking his head in a helpless manner as she did so.
When he was done, he threw a copy of the folding book to Fulu and asked him to take the public opinion map as well, who went up with his bow and rolled it up and carried it down with the folding book.
Zong Cong turned his head and asked Pan'er, "Aren't you curious about what rank I've awarded you?"
What is there to be curious about, it's one of the six main positions in the palace, it must be a consort at least, right? She didn't believe that he would give her a concubine position after she had given him three children.
In fact, Pan'er thought in her heart that he would give her a consort rank, the first of the four consorts.
But she certainly wouldn't say that on the surface, instead putting on a breezy face.
"Not curious."
"Since you're not curious, then forget it."
Pan'er pursed her lips, shouldn't it be that she wasn't curious and he was the one who had to tell her, but now he wasn't playing by the rules.
Seeing her exasperated look, he stretched out his long fingers and scratched her cheek, but he still didn't tell Pan'er.
Pan'er couldn't face asking, so she had to wait for the decree to come down before revealing the result.
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