Chapter 584: One and Only
Editor: Atlas Studios
Li Jinghua flipped open the register in her hand and asked, “Which palace is that palace maid from?”
“She’s from our Palace of Earthly Tranquility.” Wen Cui lowered her head and said, “She entered the palace 24.years into Emperor Jingyan’s reign. She’s only 18 this year.”
“What a splendid age.” Li Jinghua knocked on the name list and said with a smile, “It’s a pity that she’s too brainless. Transfer her away. Don’t let her stay here and be an eyesore. Considering Little Bear will be entering the palace often, Fourth Master will definitely frequent the back palace. Don’t let them meet again.”
Wen Cui agreed and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Eldest Madam, the court officials are persuading the Emperor to select women for the Imperial Harem.”
Li Jinghua said with a smile, “The Emperor won’t agree to it. Seeing as the construction of Fourth Master’s residence is being put on halt, it’s obvious that the national treasury doesn’t have much money left. Since Fourth Master is already so thrifty, it’s even more impossible for the Emperor to select women for the Imperial Harem at this time. There won’t be many additions to the harem.”
It wasn’t that Li Jinghua didn’t feel anything. After all, Qi Xiuyuan was considered devoted to her. However, even if she wasn’t the Empress and was only the Qi family’s eldest madam, she couldn’t possibly stop Qi Xiuyuan from taking concubines. She wasn’t Mu Yangling, and Qi Xiuyuan wasn’t Qi Haoran. Li Jinghua had always known her position very well.
She thought for a moment and said, “No matter how many new additions there will be to the harem, you have to keep a close eye on the girls below. I will never allow any of my servants to join the harem.”
Her people had to be loyal to her. If they slept with the Emperor, would their master be her or him?
Stunned by Li Jinghua’s gaze, Wen Cui quickly lowered her head and agreed.
“Also, you have to pay more attention to Fourth Master. Don’t let the women in the palace throw themselves at him. Fourth Madam doesn’t have a good temper.”
Wen Cui thought of Mu Yangling’s methods and nodded in agreement.
Li Jinghua sighed slightly. “There are quite a number of people throwing themselves at Eldest Master, but there are actually even more girls setting their sights on Fourth Master. It’s just that Ah Ling hasn’t been vigilant until now. Forget it, I’ll remind her later.”
Although Qi Xiuyuan’s status was higher than Qi Haoran’s, Qi Haoran was more popular because it was not easy to survive in the harem. If one was not careful, they could easily lose their lives.
It was a different case, however, with Qi Haoran.
Mu Yangling’s family wasn’t influential, and she hailed from a village. Not only did the girls from outside target Qi Haoran, but there were also many maidservants and palace maids in the Qi Residence and the palace who had designs on Qi Haoran.
Of course, Mu Yangling sensed it. Towards this matter, she merely chuckled and quietly waited for those women to try and stand out. At night, she repeatedly instructed Qi Haoran that if he dared to make a mistake, she would bring the child back to Xingzhou Prefecture and divorce him before marrying someone else.
These words infuriated Qi Haoran. Before he could vent his anger, Mu Yangling had already tearfully pinched his waist. “No, why should I return to Xingzhou Prefecture dejectedly? I should castrate you, who can’t control the lower half of your body, before bringing my son back to Xingzhou Prefecture.”
After saying that, Mu Yangling could already see the scene of Qi Haoran abandoning his wife and son for a new lover in her mind. She immediately burst into tears.
Helpless, Qi Haoran’s anger was doused instantly. He hugged Mu Yangling and said, “I didn’t do anything to let you down. Didn’t I say that I won’t take a concubine or a mistress? Why would I abandon my wife and child? Why are you blaming me when it’s those people who harbor bad intentions? I haven’t even settled the score with you yet, but here you are crying.”
“Who asked you men to be so fickle?” Mu Yangling cried. “There aren’t many good men in the world.”
Qi Haoran felt very wronged and repeatedly swore that he had not done anything. In the future, he would definitely stay away from women other than Mu Yangling and never take another look at them.
Qi Haoran wiped her tears and asked, “Why do you like to cry so much recently?”
Mu Yangling shook her head blankly. Sighing, Qi Haoran tightened his grip on her arm. “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t abandon you.”
Because Mu Yangling was crying pitifully, Qi Haoran could not and did not want to flare up at her. Thus, the anger bottled up inside of him could only be directed at those who had designs on him. For example, those ministers who had repeatedly probed him to change his wife, and those palace servants or servant girls who wanted to climb into his bed.
Qi Haoran called Mama Wang and Spring over and said with a dark expression, “Pay more attention. Send all the restless servant girls out of the residence. Don’t let them disturb Fourth Madam’s rest.”
Then, he found an opportunity to vent his anger on the ministers who were always testing him. Only then did he stop.
Qi Xiuyuan watched but did not stop him or help. However, when news of Qi Haoran being henpecked started spreading outside, he wielded his power to suppress the news.
However, the fact that Qi Haoran was terrified of his wife still quietly spread in the bureaucracy. It even spread to the families of the officials and was privately publicized.
When Qi Haoran heard this rumor, he puffed up his cheeks in dissatisfaction for two days. Clearly, he was in charge of all matters at home and it was clearly Ah Ling who was afraid of him. How did he become the henpecked one?
He was merely giving in to Ah Ling!
Mu Yangling recovered after being sentimental for two days. Seeing that Qi Haoran had settled everything, she no longer had to wait to deal with the girls that wanted to stand out. So, she started to focus her attention on the summer harvest and autumn sowing.
Mu Yangling wanted to import corn from the north on a large scale. After getting Qi Xiuyuan’s approval, she started to get people to go back to the north to buy seeds.
Qi Haoran followed beside Mu Yangling. Seeing that she wasn’t fretting or crying anymore, he was instantly furious. He turned around and went to settle the score with Physician Sun. “Didn’tyou say that Fourth Madam is depressed and needs a very long time to recuperate?”
Physician Sun nodded. “Yes, that’s what I said.”
“But she’s all well now. And it only took her three days. Is this ‘a very long time1?” Qi Haoran emphasized on ‘a very long time1.
Physician Sun coughed lightly and said seriously, “Fourth Master, Fourth Madam was under a lot of pressure. Coupled with the discomfort caused by the change in identity, it was inevitable that she felt anxious and frustrated. Moreover, Third Young Master was away from the residence for the past few days. Logically speaking, she shouldn’t have recovered so quickly.” Physician Sun sighed. “Fourth Madam is indeed extraordinary.”
Qi Haoran instantly became smug again. “Of course Fourth Madam isn’t an ordinary person.”
Although Physician Sun said that Mu Yangling had already adjusted herself, Qi Haoran was still worried and asked if she ought to take some more medicine.
Physician Sun quickly waved his hand and said, “Since Fourth Madam has adjusted herself, there’s no need for her to take any more medicine. Every medicine has its side effects, after all. Besides, that was an ailment of the heart.” He continued, “Although she has recovered this time, she still has to be more careful in the future. I don’t think there are many people Fourth Madam can talk to after she enters the palace. Third Young Master often enters the palace, so it’s inevitable that she’ll be lonely. If she has no one to confide in, wouldn’t that make her depressed?”
Qi Haoran seemed to be deep in thought. After dinner, he said to Mu Yangling, who was packing the things Little Bear would bring to the palace tomorrow, “Don’t send Little Bear to the palace tomorrow.”
“Why?” Mu Yangling turned her head and asked.
Qi Haoran said sternly, “Let him stay at home with you. I’ll go to the palace tomorrow and tell Sister-in-law to let Little Treasure stay here for a few days.” “Will our son agree? Little Bear and Little Treasure have been having a jolly good time exploring the palace these few days.” The palace was enormous. In fact, it was so big that the two children could only walk around a few palace halls in a day, not to mention that there was a huge imperial garden there. Hence, the two children fell in love with exploring the place. Little Bear only came back to stay for a night before asking to enter the palace to accompany his older brother. He wanted to go to the imperial garden to play a game of exploration.