Harem for a living

Chapter 4

The Chen family was on the wrong team back then, so the Chen family must have several political enemies.The battle for the position is most likely to be a life-and-death situation.With the Chen family in decline, the political opponents of the Chen family are bound to rise, and even if they don't rise, they must have a higher status than the Chen family.

The Chen family is now at a time when it is about to prosper. The old man Chen has worked hard all his life to get a general position from the third rank, and then Father Chen has worked hard all his life.Even Mrs. Chen retired early in order to allow his son to develop better, but he was only a third-rank general.

But a third-rank official is not even half of the status of the Duke's Mansion, the Hou Mansion, and the Grand Master's Mansion. In this capital, there are many first-rank and second-rank officials. It's already low-level, let alone a third-rank military general released outside.

Not up or down, the most embarrassing.The Chen family is in development, if something goes wrong right now, the whole family may end up being executed.The Chen family is not the kind of family that uses girls to elevate their status. Originally, Chen Manrou's life has been planned by the Chen family.

In the future, find a child from an excellent family, or a famous family, and marry Chen Manrou to her, so that she can live happily and easily for the rest of her life.From the old man Chen to the Chen Huaijin brothers, they all loved the only girl in the Chen family to the bottom of their hearts.

But no one expected that as soon as the emperor made his filial piety, he would send someone to find Mrs. Chen first.The third-rank general stationed in Zhending Mansion was absolutely inconspicuous in the time of peace and prosperity.Even if Zhending Mansion is the most prosperous mansion on the border, it can't change that it is located at the junction of the Daqing Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom, and it is very far away from the capital city of Kaifeng.

But it was also this "border", a "general", and a "garrison for five years" that attracted the emperor's attention.I specially asked someone to come over and ask, how old is the Chen family girl, and she said that she heard that the Chen family girl is a virtuous and virtuous person? , should be full of luxury.

Such a sentence blocked Chen Manrou's way forward.

"Although you were asked by the emperor to enter the palace, our Chen family does not have any background, so after you enter the palace, don't expect the emperor to care about you. Don't compete with the queen and concubine, they are all When I was in the residence, I followed the emperor, there is hard work without credit, not to mention that the empress is the emperor's first wife and has a son and a daughter, unless the empress has made a big mistake, her status will not be shaken."

"As for the imperial concubine, she is loved by the emperor. Even though she has no children for so many years, she is still No. 1 under the empress. The emperor's love for her can be imagined. You have the Chen family behind you, as long as you abide by the rules, do what you say and do. If you don't go out of line, then you can secure a concubine position. In the future, when your father returns to Beijing, the emperor will definitely use your father, and then your status will rise accordingly."

The old lady Chen explained slowly, and Chen Manrou nodded. Sure enough, the old lady Chen was wise and saw things very clearly.If she was provoked by Zhang Wanting and confronted these two first as soon as she entered the palace, she would definitely die without a place to die.

The emperor may let her stay on the imperial concubine for the sake of the Chen family's face, but don't think about going any further in the future.

"Grandmother, this British government..." Chen Manrou hurriedly asked when the old lady Chen stopped.Mrs. Chen sighed and said, "This piece of Wanting must have inquired about you, and only found you today."

"The great-grandfather of the British Duke and your great-grandfather used to be very good brothers. When they stood in line, the Chen family and the British referendum voted for the same prince. But the Chen family really took refuge in the eldest prince. , and the Duke of England, in private, belongs to the second prince. But the fourth prince was the one who ascended the throne in the end, and the Duke of England took refuge in the fourth prince at the last moment, and thus retained his title."

"The current Duke of England only has one title left?" Chen Manrou knew what was going on as soon as she heard it. The friendly relationship between the Zhang family and the Chen family had disappeared with the enthronement of the fourth prince. The current relationship between the family is very embarrassing.Although the Duke of England did not talk about loyalty, he kept his title, but he always lacked confidence when facing the Chen family.

Gradually, this lack of confidence turned into disgust, as if he felt that as long as the Chen family existed for a day, it would always be a reminder of the British Duke's betrayal.Therefore, the British Zhang family is very dissatisfied with the Chen family.Zhang Wanting naturally wants to use Chen Manrou, and it is best to let Chen Manrou become her stepping stone.

"Well, although the Duke of England has only one title left, it is still possible to change the status of one of the four concubines for Zhang Wanting." Mrs. Chen did not take the Duke of England seriously, and was silent for a while. Then he continued: "The one I want to remind you is the Zheng family of the prefect of Suzhou."

The old lady Chen looked very serious, and Chen Manrou also became nervous.Mrs. Chen turned the beads in her hand, and said slowly: "At the time of Gaozu, the second prince had a side concubine, who came from the Zheng family of Duke Cheng. Since the fourth prince came to the throne, the Zheng family also fell. Soon, it will be time for the Zheng family to revive. Zheng Xiuxiu, the eldest daughter of the Zheng family, married Zhang Qing, the eldest son of the Duke of England."

"Grandmother, the status of the Zheng family doesn't match that of the British family, right?" Chen Manrou asked in surprise, and the old lady Chen sneered: "You grew up in Zhending Mansion, so you have never heard of the British family's royal family. Glorious deeds of the eldest son."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Chen hesitated a little, as if she wanted to say something, but she felt that it was hard to say it.After pondering for a long time, he continued: "Forget it, you will always enter the palace in the future, and you will gain a lot of insight after hearing such dirty things."

"Grandmother, tell me." Chen Manrou hurriedly brought tea to Old Madam Chen, who took a sip before saying, "Zhang Qing has been favored by the old ladies of the British government since he was a child, and he has always been a bully in Beijing. I once smashed a restaurant, saying that the food and drinks were not to my taste. I followed him into the casino when I was eight years old, and lost 1 taels of silver from the British government and five shops overnight."

Chen Manrou's mouth was wide open. Silver in this era is very valuable. One copper plate is equivalent to one yuan, and one thousand copper plates are one tael of silver. This 1 taels of silver is 1000 million RMB!There are still five shops, Zhang Qing drinks the silver as plain water, he can't drink so much in one night!
"Don't you care about the Duke of England?" Chen Manrou closed her mouth and asked with some doubts. Since Zhang Qing is the eldest son of the Duke of England, he must be the prince in the future. The son of the prince looks like this. Could it be that the public has a brain problem?

"Why don't you care? But he couldn't hold back his old lady, so he thought of another stupid trick." The old lady Chen showed a sarcastic smile on her face as she said: "After four years of beating and scolding, the British public really took the old lady There was no other way, so I tried to find a way to keep my son in the mansion first. Coincidentally, the British lady thought that her son was not close to her, so she might as well give birth to a grandson for herself. Therefore, Zhang Qing, the 12-year-old elder beside him, The servant girl has two big bellies."

Chen Manrou's mouth couldn't close again, 12 years old, can his man's things work?Immediately, Chen Manrou thought of the Dream of Red Mansions again. Jia Baoyu seemed to be the bed sheet of an eleven or twelve-year-old and an attacker?Or nine or ten?

So, a 12-year-old child can also give birth to a child, right?
"Zhang Qing's reputation is already notorious. Naturally, no one in the capital is willing to marry him." After finishing speaking, the old lady Chen looked at Chen Manrou: "If there were only the Zheng family, we would naturally not be afraid, but the British Although the government has fallen, it is still able to speak in the capital. Coupled with the marriage of the British government, the Chen family has no choice but to guard against it. Therefore, if the critical moment comes, you will be the last backer of our Chen family .”

Chen Manrou nodded: "Grandmother, I know all of this, but I want to ask, our family and the women in the palace are not friends, right?"

The old lady Chen reached out and touched Chen Manrou's head: "You can enter the palace with confidence and boldness. In this officialdom, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. What's more, women in the harem can sometimes save a family, and sometimes But it has nothing to do with the court."

Well, having said so much, in fact, what the old lady of the Chen family means is that the existing enemies should be guarded against, and the enemies that may appear in the future may also have the opportunity to join forces, and they may be friends now, maybe in the future became an enemy.

Really, the great philosophy of life.Chen Manrou sighed, and moved towards Old Madam Chen: "Grandmother, who is the person I want to bring into the palace?"

"Jin Huan and Dui Yue, the big maids around you, their deeds of prostitution are in your hands, and their family's deeds of prostitution are in my hands. Don't worry, if they are loyal, I will not treat their families badly. If you are unfaithful..."

Old Mrs. Chen was also a heroine back then, she was naturally not a limp woman who could help Mrs. Chen to support the Chen family lineage.

Chen Manrou nodded, pinched a few melon seeds and peeled them for Mrs. Chen. The two of them didn't speak, one peeled the melon seeds and the other ate them. After sitting for a while, the old lady Chen got up: "It's getting late, don't you still have to embroider?" Purse? Hurry up, the purse should not be sandwiched, but you have to make a mark that you can recognize yourself."

"I see, grandma, I'll see you off." Chen Manrou supported the old lady Chen with a smile, and sent her to the gate of the courtyard. Seeing that the old lady Chen came to pick up the old lady Chen, she saluted from a distance, then turned and went back to the courtyard .

From then on, Chen Manrou only did some needlework in her own yard, or wrote a few letters to her parents and younger brother, and said a few words to her elder brother, never leaving the yard.Three days later, the imperial decree arrived at the Chen family.

(End of this chapter)