Hosting The Banquet

"It seems that sister Yingpin is not going to give face to me."

The kneeling Yingpin couldn't help swallowing her saliva. Facing the pressure from the imperial concubine, she was a little scared.

But no matter how scared she was, she had to refuse, so she clenched the handkerchief in her hand and continued to speak with a stiff upper lip.

"Your Highness has misunderstood me. How dare I disrespect you? I am really incompetent. I am afraid that if I mess up, it will affect your reputation. That would be my fault." Incompetent?

How dare she use this as an excuse.

Her father is the Minister of Rites. She has been exposed to these rules since she was a child. How could she refuse to host a banquet like this?

There must be a reason behind it.

Thinking of this, Imperial Concubine Lin changed her aggressive attitude and continued to speak in a gentle tone."I was joking with my sister. Since this banquet can't be held by Concubine Ying, then..."

Her eyes swept over the other concubines below. Some were eager to try, some were deliberately avoiding it, and of course there were also those who looked curious.

"Let Concubine Ye and Du Changzai discuss it. You two have served His Majesty for many years and are familiar with many rules, especially Concubine Ye. I remember that before you served His Majesty, you were originally a member of the Inner Court. I believe you have held many banquets. You must be decent and thoughtful, understand?"

This tone was no longer a discussion, but a direct order.

Du Changzai was naturally overjoyed. It turned out that her idea of ​​choosing to cling to Concubine Lin was correct.

If she could get the emperor's attention again with this matter, her life in the harem would be more comfortable.

So she stood up and sincerely thanked Concubine Lin.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will be careful and will never embarrass you."

After she said this, Concubine Ye had no way to refuse and could only kneel down and thank her.

Lin Wanyi looked at her more because of what happened just now. Although she agreed happily, her face did not have the excitement of Du Changzai. She seemed to be a person who could hide her thoughts.

I don't know why such a person would help just now.

She was thinking about it here, and Mu Yingda next to her looked at her and secretly gave her a thumbs up. Lin Wanyi immediately understood that she had misunderstood.

Mu Lanchun thought that this was Concubine Lin deliberately trying to make her look good.

After all, Concubine Chu, who had just offended her with her rude words, had been confined to her house in disguise, and Concubine Ye, who helped her, also took on the banquet. This was a matter of effort and flattery.

Such performance was to let everyone know that Lin Wanyi should not be easily offended.

Lin Wanyi was very worried about this.

What Mu Lanchun could understand, others naturally understood.

For her, it was less threatening, but in the face of such a "favor", what did Concubine Lin want to get from her?

First she used her elder brother's future as bait, and then she boosted her own momentum.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like a trap.

Even though she saw through it, she couldn't refuse it.

She could only wait for Concubine Lin to show her cards. As for whether she could handle it, that depended on Lin Wanyi's ability. Concubine Lin gave a few more instructions on the Dragon Boat Festival.

Using the excuse of reading a letter from home, she kept Lin Wanyi.

Mu Ying whisper a few words to her before leaving.

"Sister, I'm going to watch Chunqi make green plum pastry first."

She seemed to be in a leisurely mood. Looking at her, her future was really uncertain.   

She was fully prepared to deal with Concubine Lin. After everyone left, Qin He ordered all the palace servants to wait outside, leaving only Concubine Lin and Lin Wanyi in the palace.

Lin Wanyi felt that this matter must be very serious.

Sure enough, Concubine Lin startled Lin Wanyi when she opened her mouth.

"Concubine Ying has been pregnant for four months, but no one in the harem knows about it."

Why didn't the concubine report their pregnancy?

Seeing Lin Wanyi's confusion, Concubine Lin explained.

"She entered the palace so long before she got pregnant, so she naturally had to be more cautious. I guess she is pregnant now, and she is just waiting for the right time to tell it."

"Then what the queen means is..."

"There are two pregnant concubines in the palace all of a sudden, and their positions are not low. If they successfully give birth to a child, I am afraid they will have to be promoted to another level."

Promoted to another level! It's okay for Concubine Ying to be a concubine, but if Concubine Lan is promoted to another level, is there going to be two Imperial concubines in this palace?

This has never happened in the past dynasties.

No wonder Concubine Lin reacted like this.

"Now that things have come to this, I won't beat around the bush. When I gave birth to Mingruo, I was injured, so I haven't been pregnant again after so many years of recuperation. So I guess you have guessed about 70% of the reason why you entered the palace."

Concubine Lin went straight to the point without any concealment.

"Before the fruit is ripe, it is hard to say whether the child can stay. Even if it is born, it is not certain that it can be raised in the palace. The eldest prince and the second prince are examples."

When the two princes were suddenly mentioned, Lin Wanyi became more and more frightened.

"The eldest prince was born to Empress Xu. He was the eldest son that Your Majesty had high hopes for. Unfortunately, he died of illness when he was about six years old. The Empress was so exhausted that she was unable to recover. She passed away a year later."

"The second prince was born to Concubine Su. It took three days of dystocia for him to be born. Not only was the child born with congenital deficiencies, but she also lost her life due to heavy bleeding. The child became the adopted son of Concubine Lan.

"Concubine Lin looked at Lin Wanyi's face while speaking.

It was indeed a little pale.

A sneer rose from the corner of her mouth. After all, she had just entered the palace, and she couldn't stand such a small thing.

But the words in her mouth did not stop.

"On the contrary, the third prince born to Concubine Yi is not only strong and healthy, but also talented. Looking at him in the palace, he is a person who can be shown off."

When the word "show off" was mentioned, Lin Wanyi clearly felt Concubine Lin's gnashing of teeth.

It seems that the third prince has long been a thorn in her eyes.

If it weren't for Concubine Yi's close supervision, I'm afraid many people in the harem would have made a move on the healthy Third Prince.

"Now there are two more pregnant women. If they are both princes, they will be the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince. The palace will be much more lively."

As she spoke, she seemed to be thinking about something, and her eyes became distant.

Lin Wanyi listened quietly. These things were not something she could interrupt casually. Besides, it was better not to speculate when Concubine Lin did not make it clear what she wanted to say.

Hiding one's shortcomings would make her feel more comfortable.

After a while, Concubine Lin came back to her thoughts, and when she looked at Lin Wanyi again, she was more inquiring.

"Although you entered the palace late, I think you have a good momentum. But it's better not to have the situation like yesterday where you only accompanied the emperor but did not sleep with him."

When this matter was pointed out, Lin Wanyi pursed her lips tightly, feeling embarrassed.