Chapter 113: Who is the Fool?

  Thank you for the two votes, Guo. I'll work hard to update at noon every day. Thank you for the pink tickets from Fengguolai and one vote each from them. Also, thank you for the reward of a peace symbol and update tickets from Lianlian000...

  All the concubines heard Mu Rong's words and stood up with a hint of resentment, bowed to Mu Rong in unison and said: "We thank the princess for her guidance!"

  Murong's expression was pleased with the concubines' reactions, but her tone remained nonchalant as she continued: "It's not about teaching you anything, we're all the master's women, and the most important thing is to serve the master well. In the past, when the master didn't have a mansion, there were many inconveniences. Now that the emperor has bestowed his favor, the master has a mansion, and everything should have a formal rule. I'm taking advantage of Consort Qi's arrival to gather everyone together to say a few words. The master is now the Duke of Jing, but he doesn't have many children. As the saying goes, 'there are three unfilial acts, and having no descendants is the greatest.' Having many sons and grandsons is a blessing. So I'm putting my words out there today: if any of you can give birth to a son or daughter for the master in the future, I won't hesitate to ask the master for a position for her. You must serve the master well, do you understand?"

  Qing Jin listened to Murong's words to the concubines, her smile became even more charming. Murong's words were indeed clever, subtly provoking these women to compete with her for favor. If she was the previous life's Gu Qing Jin who liked Long Han Yan, she might have felt like vomiting upon hearing Murong's words. However, given her current relationship with Long Han Yan, she couldn't be happier if they came to compete with her for favor. Thus, her smile towards Murong became even more sincere.

  After Murong said that, he quietly paid attention to Qingjin and saw that not only did she not get angry, but her smile became even more brilliant and sincere. Murong couldn't help but furrow his brow, thinking to himself: What's going on? Normally, Gu Qingjin wouldn't change her expression, and her face would never look good, so what's with this even brighter smile?

  She couldn't help but feel a bit more wary of Qingjin in her heart, and after hearing her words, she could still smile even more brilliantly. It seemed that she had underestimated this Gu Qingjin.

  The nameless concubines on both sides heard Mrs. Murong's words and couldn't help but understand that this was a struggle between the queen and the newly entered imperial concubine Gu, looking at Queen Murong's dignified and majestic demeanor, Imperial Concubine Gu's strange and beautiful appearance.

  They were all from poor families, or they were given to the King of Jing by others as concubines. Unfortunately, the King of Jing was not a lustful person, and most of them were placed in the backyard after being sent over. They rarely saw the King of Jing for a whole year, and under the manipulation and control of Queen Muyong, they all stayed quietly in the backyard, diligently asking for peace and courtesy from the queen every day. They waited for the day when they would be favored by the queen and allowed to serve the king. The queen had also hinted to some of them that after the opening of the mansion, she would select a few of them to serve her.

  They waited day and night, finally waiting for the King to open his palace, but unexpectedly also waiting for the news that the King would marry a concubine. The King wanted to marry a concubine, so the Queen had no time to arrange for them to serve in bed, although they knew it was just an excuse from the Queen. They didn't dare complain about the Queen, and could only transfer their hatred to the new concubine who was entering the palace, Qingjin. They envied and resented her because she came from a good family with a good background. So they were stuck in the backyard, slowly wasting away their youth. Therefore, when the Queen sent someone to call them over, they all dressed up beautifully, hoping to give the new concubine a warning.

  After seeing the concubine, watching the queen and the concubine exchange blows, especially the concubine was as beautiful as a demon, and she didn't lose to the queen at all. The concubine wasn't intimidated by their domineering aura either. They had lost confidence in their hearts, thinking there was no hope left. Unexpectedly, the queen said something like this, and they couldn't help but jump up with joy. The meaning of the queen's words was to support them in competing with the concubine, allowing them to climb onto King Jing's bed as long as they had the ability, and after having children, they could also have a position. Their hearts couldn't help but become lively, and they shouted in unison to Queen Muyong: "The concubines understand, thank you, Your Majesty!"

  Looking at the crowd picked up by her, Murong smiled with satisfaction and nodded: "You understand, that's good." Then her gaze shifted back to Qingjin and said: "I almost forgot, Sister Gu, don't stand there either. I just mentioned your position, Sister Gu, please sit in the closest seat to me!" She pointed to the newly arranged seat.

  "Thank you, Princess!" Hearing Murong's words, Qingjin smiled and bowed, then walked to the position specially arranged for her by Murong with the support of Yuanyang, and sat down without any modesty.

  After seeing Qingjin take her seat, Murong said with a smile: "How did you sleep last night, Cousin Gu? Was it good?"

  "It's okay." Qing Jin replied lightly.

  "That's good, if there's anything you're not used to, be sure to tell me, Sister Gu. Now that you've entered our Jing Wang Fu and become the master's concubine, we'll be like one family from now on. In the past, the only person close to the master was me, and I had to manage the inner courtyard, always worrying if someone wasn't serving him well. But now with Sister Gu here, I feel a lot of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I've heard about your reputation before, but I didn't expect that today, when I saw you, you're such a beautiful person! No wonder, with such good looks, how could the master not like you? Even I couldn't help but exclaim in surprise at what a heavenly beauty you are!"

  The princess was wrong, Qing Jin couldn't be considered a stunning beauty, but the princess herself had an elegant demeanor, treating Qing Jin with such kindness and warmth that Qing Jin couldn't help but feel honored... Qing Jin followed Mu Rong to practice Tai Chi.

  "I originally thought that Gu sister was only beautiful, but I didn't expect her mouth to be so sweet. Gu sister entered the Jing Wang Fu and served our master together with me, the empress. Of course, the empress regarded Gu sister as a sister... Alright, the empress won't exchange compliments with Gu sister anymore. La Yiniang, serve tea!"

  "Yes, Princess!" Hearing Murong's words, Le Jiaojiao waved her hand, and the servant girl who had been waiting on the side brought over a cup of tea and placed it on the small tea table beside Qingjin before retreating respectfully.

  Qing Jin picked up the teacup beside her after the maid retreated, took a sip under the gaze of Murong and Le Jiejie, then gently wiped her mouth with the handkerchief in her hand, and said to Murong: "Thank you, Princess, for the tea!"

  Murong saw Qingjin finish her tea and said to Qingjin: "Gu sister doesn't need to be polite, from now on Gu sister is the concubine's sister. Gu sister must cooperate with the concubine to serve Wangye well..." Turning her head, she looked at the many concubines below and said: "From now on, Gu Ce Fei is the one with the highest status except for the concubine. You all come to pay respects to Gu Ce Fei now!"

  "The concubines have paid their respects to Consort Gu." The crowd that was still standing heard Murong's words and bowed in unison towards Qingjin.

  "You're welcome!" Qing Jin said faintly to the crowd in front of Fu Shen's residence.

  The many concubines heard Qingjin's words and stood up together. Muyongshi then continued Qingjin's words, saying to the concubines, "You all take a seat!"

  "Thanks to Princess Wang for the gift of a seat!" Everyone bowed to Princess Murong and then took their seats.

  Murong saw that everyone had taken their seats under her indication, and then shifted her gaze to Qingjin's body, wanting to see what reaction Qingjin would have, but saw Qingjin lowering his head to drink tea, as if he didn't feel anything wrong.

  Seeing Qingjin like this, Murong couldn't help but feel a little down, but seeing Qingjin holding the teacup and drinking tea, her eyes swept to the side of Le Jiejie, the two people looked at each other, Le Jiejie nodded towards Murong, and Murong's eyes flashed with a strange color.

  Next, Murong spoke to Qingjin about some everyday topics, and the concubines below chimed in with Murong's words, creating a harmonious atmosphere between wives and concubines.

  After a while, an official from the mansion came in and said that he wanted to report some things to Murong. Qingjin understood and stood up to bid farewell to Murong. The concubines present also stood up to bid farewell to Murong with great presence of mind. Murong said two polite sentences to everyone and then let Qingjin and the others leave.

  Qing Jin walked out of Murong's courtyard with Yuanyang, and then they headed towards her own courtyard. Behind Qing Jin, a group of people who had been waiting to talk to her emerged from Murong's courtyard a little later, but when they saw Qing Jin leaving without looking back, accompanied by her personal maid, some felt resentful and others envious, yet none dared to chase after her to stop her.

  They habitually wanted to maintain a good relationship in peacetime, but then they thought of what Princess Murong had just said. They looked at each other with disapproval and glared at one another before leaving from the front of Princess Murong's courtyard.

  Yuanyang followed Qingjin from behind, after leaving the courtyard of Murong's residence, looked around and found no one nearby, then whispered to Qingjin who was walking in front: "Master, you just drank the tea served by the princess's servant, how could that be?"

  "Are you afraid that Princess Wang will harm me by putting something in the tea?" Qing Jin stopped in her tracks and turned around to ask.

  "Isn't that right? Master, you think about it, you've just married into the Jing Wang Fu, and as the highest-ranking concubine aside from the queen, with a title bestowed by the emperor himself, and being the eldest daughter of the An Ji Hou Fu, our An Ji Hou Fu is now favored by the emperor, who knows whether the queen won't harbor some resentment towards you... perhaps she'll even put something in your tea..." Yuanyang said to Qingjin.

  "You, this little girl, really didn't disappoint Ben Ce Fei for bringing you into the Jing Wang Fu. You're quite clever, but if you can understand all these things, then what about the Wang Fei? It's precisely because of this that Ben Ce Fei was certain the Wang Fei wouldn't dare to make any moves with the tea, so Ben Ce Fei dared to openly drink the tea presented by the Wang Fei." Upon hearing Yuanyang's words, Qingjin immediately said these words to Yuanyang with a smug expression.

  "The master had thought of it all along, I said so, how could the master...?" Yuanyang heard Qingjin's words and suddenly realized.