Qi Sheng held up his head and looked at me.
I happened to be looking at him as well, and I just couldn"t figure out why such a perfectly healthy stud like him would lose interest in woman. Everyone knew that throughout history, heroes who survived countless battles usually ended up being screwed by beautiful women, and this was especially true for the Emperors…
I didn"t know whether Qi sheng was a hero or not, but he was surely a rarity among the Emperors.
While I was still thinking, those concubines, with Concubine Huang at their lead, swept in. They claimed they wanted to visit the little princess, but when they approached Qi Sheng, their eyes kept wandering to his direction.
Concubine Huang, being the most audacious woman among them, squeezed her way in as if she wanted to tease the princess, and pressed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s firmly on Qi sheng"s arm.
Qi Sheng frowned slightly and stepped aside, placing the princess back to the hands of the nanny.
Concubine Huang felt rather embarra.s.sed. She simply stood there with a blushing face, not knowing what to do next.
I felt rather sorry for her, and so I cleared my throat, signaling the nanny to go back to the chamber to feed the princess. Then, I instructed Lv Li to bring tea to Qi Sheng and the concubines.
Qi Sheng swept a look at me and took his leave, claiming that he had to address some state affairs.
I thought with Qi Sheng gone, those women would surely follow suit. To my surprise, they didn"t move and looked as if they wanted to say something to me. But instead of opening their mouths, they kept looking at each other and remained silent.
I always hated guessing women"s thoughts, and so I blurted out, "Is there something you want to say to me?"
Concubine Huang was the most straightforward of them and she stood up from the chair and said, "Your Majesty, we have something to say to you in private, if you would allow us."
Surprised, I looked at Lv Li, who was also befuddled by this sudden request, not knowing why she would seek private audience with me.
But since she made the request, I simply could not refuse her. So I waved my hands, gesturing Lv Li and Xie Yi to leave the room.
When we were alone, Concubine Huang unexpectedly knelt down in front of me, and her move triggered the domino effect as all the other concubines all turned to me and knelt down.
Normally, they would only do that when we were celebrating the Spring Festival, and so I lunged forward and asked, "What"s all this about? It"s not Spring Festival yet!"
Concubine Huang looked at me with reddened eyes and pleaded, "Your Majesty, please allow us to serve in the nunnery as nuns to pray for the health of the royal family."
What the heck? Nuns? Are they doing this because they think I am hogging Qi Sheng"s affection all to myself?
This is so unfair! I have been in the court for nearly three years, and all this time I have only slept with him twice. Not to mention the intermission between those two nights is almost as long as that of the Olympics!
Concubine Li was the most scheming of them. She held up her head to looked at me and then lowered down again, crying, "Your Majesty, we know you have always been such a lenient and loving Empress to us, and for that we are forever in your debt. But even so, we still have our aggrievances. Ever since the Emperor ascended to the throne, he had not once visited us. We thought, since we are no longer in the Emperor favor, we might as well leave. This way the Emperor can bring in new ones that are more to his liking."
As she was saying that, all the other concubines started speaking in agreement with what she said.
This was utterly unexpected. If the harem were a company, then the situation right now could be described as a bunch of managers clamoring to quit all at once, pushing me, the general manager of this firm, to a corner.
I had to find a way to appease those managers.
"Get up, all of you. I am sure we can work something out. I know it have been hard on you recently."
I helped them get up and escorted them back to their seats.
At times like this, you cannot agree with them and take their sides, unless you want to be the champion of their cause and lead those managers into an open rebellion.
Do I want to rebel against Qi Sheng? Of course I do. But not with those women, I won"t.
I cleared my throat and started defending Qi Sheng, "I understand your aggrievances. But the Emperor has simply been too busy these days. Ever since he took the throne, he has been putting out fires all over the realm. It"s either the provocation from the north, or the rebellion in Yunxi. Even if the Emperor wants to visit you, he simply doesn"t have the time. Plus, our Emperor has dedicated to becoming a good ruler, and as a good ruler, he has to be a bit restrained when it comes to women. It"s not just you who seldom see him. He rarely visits his harem…"
As I was saying those words, I was becoming less and less confident.
What does visiting harem have to do with being a good ruler? Throughout history, all the good rulers I know frequently visited their harems and fathered many sons. Also, most of the Emperors, save for a few under special circ.u.mstances, could not resist the charm of beautiful women. Why is Qi Sheng any different than his counterparts?
Those concubines remained silent and they all looked at me.
The way I saw it, they were not some innocent women. They knew I was not favored by the Emperor and yet they came to me anyway. Moreover, I was still in recuperation and they didn"t bother to wait until I felt better.
I was rather infuriated by this thought, so I swept a condescending look at them and said, "The Emperor is busy and so it"s only natural that he can"t visit all of you. I understand your frustration and I will try to persuade the Emperor to visit you more. You, on the other hand, can reconsider your request. If you still want to go to the nunnery, I will not stop you."
Not expecting that I would actually agree to their request, they all felt stunned.
I immediately figured out what I was dealing with. Turned out, they didn"t mean what they asked, and they only wanted to threaten me.
And with that, I decided to play along and scare them a bit, "You have all gotten used to wealthy life and I fear the thrift way of living in a nunnery might not agree with you. Tell you what, why don"t I ask the Emperor to build a new nunnery with great view for you, and you all can go there and keep each other company."
After finishing those words, I beckoned in Lv Li, instructing her to find a construction spot right away.
Lv Li was no fool and although she answered my command, she didn"t move right away.
Those women looked at each other and they all hurriedly stood up, saying that they only came up with that idea on a spur of the moment and that they wanted some time to rethink about this issue.
I didn"t want to push them and so after a moment of feigned hesitation, I agreed, "Well, probably for the best. Once you make up your mind, we will revisit this issue and talk about where you want to go."
I didn"t expect that since they left, up until the end of the year, I still hadn"t received their reply on this matter. On the other hand, Qi Sheng"s visit to my palace had become ever more frequent, and he would come to visit the little princess every now and then, sometimes holding the princess himself.