Chapter 1393 Concubine Rou and Concubine Yun!
Although she was physically in pain that night, Chen Rouer was still secretly happy in her heart. After all, she could be said to be the first of the new concubines in the palace to be favored by the emperor, which was also a kind of leading in a sense.

And then Chen Rouer welcomed a bigger surprise in her life. She had just been in the palace for less than three months, and she was canonized as a concubine by Ye Mingsheng after serving him in the emperor's bedchamber. The whole palace was in an uproar when the news came out. No one expected that Chen Rouer would be promoted so quickly!

Some even think that she will replace Bae Ji-soo and become His Majesty's new favorite!

To be honest, although Chen Rouer was very confident in her looks and felt that she could capture Ye Mingsheng with her beauty, she did not expect that she would be promoted to the top so quickly. She was named a concubine less than three months after entering the palace. This made Chen Rouer feel like a pie in the sky had fallen from the sky!
The fawning of the palace maids, eunuchs, and maids, as well as the envious and jealous looks of the concubines of the same period, greatly satisfied Chen Rouer's vanity. She secretly had a bolder idea in her mind. She was young and spoiled, and she became even more arrogant in the palace.

However, Chen Rouer's happiness did not last long, because she realized a cruel fact. After Ye Mingsheng promoted her to concubine, he seemed to have forgotten her and never came to see her again!

This was undoubtedly a basin of ice-cold water to Chen Rouer's gradually heated heart...
Chen Rouer was unwilling to believe that Ye Mingsheng had forgotten about her after taking her in. She was unwilling to become an ignored character in the harem like the other concubines.

Instead of waiting passively like a wife waiting for her husband, Chen Rouer would rather take the initiative. After staying in the palace for a few months, she also learned some of the situations.

She knew that Ye Cheng, as the director of the Attendant Department, was a trusted minister of Ye Mingsheng, and Zhang Hu was a personal guard beside Ye Mingsheng. Although these two people did not hold high positions, as close ministers, they often appeared beside Ye Mingsheng and were people Ye Mingsheng trusted.
So if these two people said a few good words for Ye Mingsheng, Ye Mingsheng might think of her, Chen Rouer!
Therefore, while Chen Rouer was complaining in her heart that Ye Mingsheng was a stinky man who was easily bored with the old and easily pleased with the new, she started her plan!

Although Chen Rou'er was a little bit arrogant, she still had some brains. She knew that as a concubine, she should avoid having private contact with close ministers, especially since these two were normal men.
So she did not go to find Ye Cheng herself, but told her elder brother Chen Hui who stayed in Yijing about her idea.

Chen Hui was very supportive of his sister's approach, and he immediately took the silver to Ye Cheng and Zhang Hu's homes, five thousand taels of silver to Ye Cheng and one thousand taels of silver to Zhang Hu. However, what Chen Hui did not expect was that Ye Cheng and Zhang Hu both declined Chen Hui's kindness and asked Chen Hui to take the silver back.

Chen Hui had limited talent in studying and had failed the imperial examinations in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, he had always been in charge of the family business. In a G-oriented system like Daqian, giving gifts to G members could be said to be part of Chen Hui's daily work.
Chen Hui was also familiar with this, and he had done his homework before giving gifts. Although Chen Rouer asked him to give silver to Ye Cheng and Zhang Hu, these two people were different!

Ye Cheng is the director of the Imperial Guards Department and is now a third-rank official. His status is much higher than that of Zhang Hu, a guard!

The gift to Ye Cheng needs at least three thousand taels of silver. If it's less than three thousand taels, you can't even enter his house, let alone meet Ye Cheng!

Chen Hui also knew that his sister's entrustment was of great importance, so he did not be stingy and only took three thousand taels, but gave five thousand taels. Chen Hui thought that Ye Cheng would definitely agree to such a good deal for just a few words and five thousand taels of silver.

However, after he met Ye Cheng as he wished and explained his purpose, Ye Cheng flatly refused. At first, Chen Hui thought that Ye Cheng was waiting for a good price, so he took out another three thousand taels. But this time Ye Cheng directly said that this was not a matter of money, and then served tea and sent him away!

After being turned down by Ye Cheng, Chen Hui also went to Zhang Hu's house. Compared with Ye Cheng, who had a prominent status, Zhang Hu, who was just a personal guard and a seventh-rank official, was a little-known figure in the court, and basically no one gave him gifts!

So when Zhang Hu first saw Chen Hui giving him a gift, he was a little surprised. However, after learning the purpose of Chen Hui's visit, compared to Ye Cheng's flat refusal, Zhang Hu was a little hesitant. After all, one thousand taels of silver was not a small amount of money for him, a seventh-rank guard.

As Ye Mingsheng’s personal bodyguard, although he had a good income, his annual salary, allowances and bonuses added up to two hundred taels of silver, which was even twice the annual income of an ordinary seventh-rank county magistrate. However, in Yijing, a city where everything was expensive, he could hardly be considered a rich man...

So under the temptation of one thousand taels of silver, Zhang Hu was shaken, but after some ideological struggle, he finally rejected Chen Hui. Seeing this, Chen Hui also added five hundred taels, but Zhang Hu still gave a negative answer!

Chen Hui also felt that Zhang Hu was just a seventh-rank guard. Even if he was a close minister of His Majesty, fifteen hundred taels of silver was the maximum he could get. It was enough for him to work for several years without eating or drinking. After all, he was not a big shot like Ye Cheng and did not have much influence around His Majesty!
Although the Chen family is rich and willing to give gifts to pave the way for things, money cannot be wasted like this, so Chen Hui did not raise the price again but chose to leave!

Half an hour ago, Chen Rouer learned that neither Ye Cheng, Zhang Hu, nor big brother Chen Hui had been dealt with!
Chen Rouer was also very angry about this, she didn't expect her elder brother to be so stingy. He usually spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on gambling and drinking without saying a word, so why was he so stingy now?
Although she was very angry, Chen Rouer had no better solution. When she first entered the palace, in order to please the empress dowager, she spent eight thousand taels of silver to buy a jade Buddha to present to the empress dowager.

In addition, as a Jiangnan native, Chen Rouer was not accustomed to Yi Jing's food, so she specially hired several cooks from Jiangnan to cook for her in the palace. She was usually extravagant with money, and in order to win people's hearts, she also spent a lot of silver. As a result, after only three months in the palace, she had only more than 6,000 taels of silver left out of the 20,000 taels of silver she had!

And her father won’t be able to send money again until at least January next year, so Chen Rouer will have to save money in her future life in the palace...
So facing her stingy brother, Chen Rouer was helpless. She was in a bad mood and could only come to the Imperial Garden for a walk to relax.

After walking for about half an hour, Chen Rouer felt a little tired and decided to go back to her own courtyard to rest. However, after walking a few steps, Chen Rouer saw a courtyard in front of her that was very noisy, as if someone was coming in and out.

Seeing this, Chen Rouer became curious and asked Chunsheng, her personal maid:

"Whose yard is this in front?"

Chunsheng looked at him twice and said hesitantly:
"It seems to be Concubine Yun's courtyard?"

"Princess Yun? Murong Xinyun?" "Yes! It's her!"

Chen Rouer walked over immediately after hearing that. She had always been paying close attention to the news in the palace. Murong Xinyun was already one of the best among those selected girls in terms of appearance and family background. Moreover, she also had a cousin who was a royal concubine. So even before she entered the palace, Chen Rouer had regarded Murong Xinyun as a competitor and had been paying attention to her quietly.

After entering the palace, Murong Xinyun was a little quiet at first. At that time, Chen Rouer was quickly promoted to concubine, so Chen Rouer also forgot about Murong Xinyun.

However, just when Chen Rouer was feeling complacent and thought she could replace Pei Zhixiu, Ye Mingsheng gradually forgot about her and had an ambiguous relationship with Murong Xinyun, which undoubtedly made Chen Rouer jealous. In the eyes of Concubine Rouer, the reason why she was forgotten by His Majesty was because of Murong Xinyun...
If it weren't for you, a bitch, who seduced His Majesty, how could His Majesty have forgotten me?
Chen Rouer, who has been raised and cared for by her family since she was a child, is not a good person. If someone else did this, she would have used some shady means to let them know how powerful she, Chen Rouer, is!

But although Chen Rouer is spoiled and willful, she is not stupid and her IQ is still very high!
Not to mention that Murong Xinyun has a cousin Murong Qingwu who is a noble concubine in the palace, Murong Xinyun’s second uncle Murong Yuliang is the governor of Jianghuai in Daqian. The provincial governments and the provincial procuratorates in Jiangnan and Huainan are all under his jurisdiction!
The Chen family is in Jiangnan. Although the Chen family has deep connections in Jiangnan, they are obviously not enough in front of Murong Yuliang, the governor of Jianghuai. Therefore, Chen Rouer is afraid to take action. After all, if Murong Xinyun finds out and the Murong family blames her, she, Chen Rouer, and the Chen family will be in trouble.

Although Chen Rouer didn't dare to take any action due to the power of the Murong family, her jealousy and hatred towards Murong Xinyun grew day by day.

The young Concubine Rou even thought that men are fickle and love new things. His Majesty must have been tired of those imperial concubines. If Murong Xinyun hadn't existed, His Majesty might have focused all his attention on Chen Rouer alone. Then she could have her way in the palace...
Therefore, there was a noise in Murong Xinyun's yard. Although Chen Rouer didn't know what happened, she had to take a look!
After all, if something bad happened to Murong Xinyun, Chen Rouer would be very happy!

With this kind of expectation and gloating heart, Chen Rouer brought her maid and nanny to the gate of Murong Xinyun's courtyard. At this time, several eunuchs were moving some bird cages and flower pots into Murong Xinyun's courtyard.

Looking at the beautiful flowers in the flowerpots and the strange birds in the birdcages, Chen Rouer felt a little disappointed, but she still called a little eunuch and asked, "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing?"

The young eunuch also recognized Chen Rouer, and immediately spoke:
"Your Majesty, I heard that Concubine Yun likes flowers and birds, so I specially gifted her some rare flowers and birds for her to enjoy!"

He had always thought that Murong Xinyun had snatched away his beloved Chen Rouer, and his face immediately turned very ugly when he heard this. At this time, Murong Xinyun also walked out of the yard and greeted the eunuchs with a smile and said:
"You must be tired from moving things this summer. I asked them to prepare some tea for you. Come in and have some!"

Hearing Murong Xinyun say this, several young eunuchs immediately complimented him:
"Thank you, Madam Yunpin, for your consideration!"

"Thank you, Madam Yunpin, for the reward!"

"Empress Yunpin is a very good person!"

··········
··········
Chen Rouer, who was standing aside, found these noises more and more irritating, and at this moment Murong Xinyun also noticed Chen Rouer and her group.

Because Chen Rou'er was a concubine and she was a concubine, Murong Xinyun took the initiative to go over and salute:

"Greetings to Her Majesty Concubine Rou!"

Although Murong Xinyun was bowing, in Chen Rouer's eyes, Murong Xinyun was showing off the emperor's favor for her. Chen Rouer was even more furious, but she still retained a bit of rationality. She knew that she couldn't afford to offend Murong Xinyun, so she said nothing and turned around and left with her people.

Seeing Chen Rouer's face livid and silent, Murong Xinyun was also somewhat puzzled. Then he thought of the eunuchs around him and asked:
"Did any of you offend Concubine Rou?"

"No! Concubine Rou just arrived and asked us what we were doing!"

Murong Xinyun felt a little confused when he heard this, but he didn't take it to heart and went back to the house immediately.

Chen Rouer returned to her own courtyard with a lot of anger in her heart, and she found a random excuse to vent her anger on the two palace maids.

Listening to the sound of the whip hitting the two palace maids, Chen Rouer seemed to see Murong Xinyun being punished in front of her, and the anger in her heart was gradually released.

After beating the two maids with thirty lashes, Chen Rouer ended the punishment. After struggling for a while, she found 1,500 taels of silver from her own treasury and handed it to her personal maid Chunsheng, saying;
"Give this 1,500 taels of silver to my eldest brother Chen Hui, and ask him to collect 3,000 taels of silver and give it to Zhang Hu..."

(I have to say that our book friends are pretty good. I did want Chen Rouer and Murong Xinyun to clash, but since it was guessed, I felt a little frustrated, so I changed the plot. I hope you all like it!)