After the emperor read her mind, the salted fish concubine effortlessly won the title of empress.

Chapter 330 The Concubine

The imperial physicians all knelt down to congratulate the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, we offer our congratulations!"

Li Yuanke ignored the Empress Dowager, saying, "Just do your best to treat her!"

With their leader now in control, the imperial physicians worked tirelessly and finally brought Li Yuanyin's high fever down. He stopped fainting, and after acupuncture and medication, his breathing stabilized.

All the imperial physicians felt as if they had survived a catastrophe, and were finally able to catch their breath.

After Li Yuanyin recovered, Li Yuanke left without staying long or having a heart-to-heart talk with the Empress Dowager, which saddened her greatly.

She complained to Qingruo, "How could I not care about the Empress? It was just a coincidence! Isn't Yuan Yin his own brother?"

Qingruo then reminded her, "The Empress has given birth to twins, a boy and a girl! This is truly a joyous occasion, and the Tenth Prince has been named Crown Prince. As the Empress Dowager, wouldn't you be overjoyed? You should definitely reward her handsomely!"

The Empress Dowager emptied her coffin fund for Li Yuanyin's wedding, and now she wants to reward him handsomely, which is really heartbreaking.

But not giving a reward was definitely not an option, so another huge expense was incurred.

When night fell, Li Yuanyin woke up. The Empress Dowager breathed a sigh of relief. She had stayed up for two days and nights and her body was really exhausted. She cried tears of joy and then went to sleep.

Qingruo had originally suggested that the Empress Dowager visit her grandchildren at Zhaoyang Palace, but seeing the Empress Dowager's listless appearance, she swallowed her words.

The Empress Dowager didn't say who she would send to take a look.

On the second day, the emperor received his ministers at the Taiji Palace and formally issued an edict to appoint his tenth son as crown prince. The formal investiture ceremony would be held on his first birthday, with the Imperial Astronomical Bureau selecting an auspicious day and time.

The Ministry of Rites is about to get busy again.

Lu Shixun was also unlucky. When Song Piyang was serving as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, he had nothing to do, but then the emperor's enthronement ceremony happened, and even the ceremony for the investiture of the empress was very perfunctory.

Once he became Minister of Rites, he had to attend several grand investiture ceremonies a year. Even though the emperor already had a string of children, he still insisted on holding a grand wedding. And just a few days after that wedding, his son was born, and he was to be made crown prince.

The ceremony for bestowing the title of Crown Prince cannot be taken lightly; it is no less important than the simple wedding of the Emperor and Empress, and the surrounding neighbors must be informed as well.

Lu Shixun was on the verge of tears after receiving the imperial decree. What could he do? Could he simply quit now?

Many people are waiting for him to be punished, and all the credit he earned from the grand wedding of the emperor and empress will be wasted.

Fortunately, Li Yuanke was a decent person and granted his family a special privilege, just waiting for the day when one of his descendants would be a good-for-nothing so that they could use the privilege.

The emperor meant well, but Lu Shixun didn't want to accept this kindness; he never wanted to use this quota in his entire life.

The Ministry of Rites is busy again; the year isn't even over yet, and they're already working overtime again.

People in the Ministry of Rites are already considering changing jobs. They work overtime every year, get into big trouble every year, and have no days off. They're always in a difficult position, and it's hard to even ask for leave if something happens. Who can stand that?

On the third day of the lunar month, the prince and princess celebrated their third-day-old ceremony.

The women of the Shen family and Du Hanyun all came, as did the women of the clan. Consort Ning's mother and daughter-in-law, Shen San, also came. Shen San married Xu Wanyi, the chimpanzee, at the end of last year, and the two were newlyweds.

Shen Shixi glanced at her third sister and, seeing that she wasn't in a sweet and affectionate mood, she understood what was going on.

Shen Shixi told Bai Ping and the others to entertain the guests, but she kept Shen San behind to talk. She asked, "What happened? You just got married. Tell me about it."

Shen Shiwan didn't intend to say anything. Her mother-in-law was still outside, and besides, her second sister had just given birth, so she refused to say anything.

Shen Shixi said, "I'll only ask once. You can answer if you want, or not. If you don't answer, I'll never ask again."

Shen Shiwan was very nervous. "No, it's not a big deal."

"Then tell me!"

"That's right, he has two maids who share his room. That day, I heard him doing that with one of them in the washroom... I..." Shen Shiwan shed tears and wiped them away. "I feel uncomfortable, but I don't know if I should make a fuss about it."

"If you're upset, why shouldn't you hold a grudge?" Shen Shixi was furious.

This is even more disgusting than Li Yuanke's favoritism towards his concubines. Li Yuanke's family had a throne to inherit, but the key point is that Li Yuanke treated his concubines in the harem as equals, without considering them as human beings.

Shen Shixi said angrily, "How did he propose to you back then? You didn't say a word? It's our wedding day, and he's already so impatient;

"Even that maidservant is bullying you, the new bride, and you still say you don't know whether you should make a fuss or not? Shen Shiwan, how can you be so useless? What did I tell you back then?"

"But the maidservants have served him since they were little. There are many things I don't know about them. They have had a relationship for so many years, and I've only known him for a few days?" Shen Shiwan said, lowering her head.

Shen Shixi held her hand, "That's not how it's said. If you think like that, you'll lack confidence in everything you do. If you can't stand up for yourself, no one can help you."

"Let me ask you, since Xu Wanyi thinks the maidservant is good, why doesn't he marry her? Why does he insist on marrying you?"

Shen Shiwan raised her head.

"Alright, since things are like this now, and since you didn't show any concern from the beginning, then just endure it forever and don't care. You also forbid him from entering your room again, and arrange for a maidservant to sleep with him."

Don't argue with him. Don't let him near you. Just say you're not feeling well and act as if nothing's wrong. Let him figure it out himself. Also, elevate two of your maids to the status of concubines!

Shen Shiwan didn't understand. "And then?"

"Then they can just wait for someone else to take care of them!"

"Who?"

"Your mother-in-law! If you want your mother-in-law to deal with them quickly, then you should ignore them. No matter how these two provoke you, you should avoid confrontation. Let people think that you're not incompetent, but rather that you don't care—you don't care about this man, you don't care about that damned Marquis's mansion. Do you understand what I mean?"

Shen Shiwan nodded vigorously; she understood.

"Then do you know why I didn't let you take action, but instead asked you to favor those two maids?"

Shen Shiwan wasn't stupid. She said, "I wanted to tell the Marquis that I don't care. He can dote on whomever he wants. He doesn't care about me, so naturally I don't need to care about him! Without desire, one is invincible!"

Shen Shixi patted her younger sister's head. "You're still young, and there are some things you don't understand, so come in and tell me. Also, visit the Han family more often and keep in touch with your older cousin."

Shen Shiwan asked blankly, "Why?"

Shen Shixi no longer avoided her, and said with a smile, "Because back then, my cousin didn't plan to remarry. She originally wanted to borrow a child from General Han, but instead, she was manipulated by him. If you associate with her more, the Marquis of Changning's mansion will definitely worry that you will follow suit. You need to make them nervous about you, instead of you begging them, understand?"

Shen Shiwan smiled, pursing her lips. "Second sister, I understand. I will definitely not embarrass you."

Shen Shixi sighed, "You don't need to feel sad, and you don't need to think about what you two did in the past, as if you were deceived or let down. There's no need for that. Look forward."

Don't take many things too seriously. If you do, you've already lost. Love yourself, live your life well, and don't suffer. There are plenty of men in the world; if one isn't good enough, there's always another. Broaden your horizons!