“Wait a minute!” An Hongzhuo did not intend to let him go. The bodyguards in front of the door heard the noise and immediately blocked Su Yu’s way.
“Wangye, Su Yu is just a cook, it’s really not worth the trouble for Wangye.” Su Yu still didn’t understand when he saw the guards holding weapons.
He's afraid that King Mu had been watching him for a long time, and what happened at home was most likely this person’s doing.
King Mu didn’t seem to hear the irony in Su Yu’s words and smiled.
“This King has long admired Su Gongzi’s craftmanship, but I never had the opportunity to meet him before. When this King learned that Gongzi will soon become family with this king, Oneself naturally wanted to help out a little.”
Su Yu looked at the sword on the bodyguard’s waist and sat back helplessly.
“Su Gongzi, don’t worry. This King has no other intentions.” An Hongzhuo put on an amiable smiling face.
“Actually, I’m just curious, how come the State Teacher consented to choose a male Fei this time? After all, His Majesty's temper…”
When the words “State Teacher” were mentioned, there was a momentary distortion in those long and narrow eyes.
His Majesty’s temper? The mention of this aroused Su Yu’s curiosity, After all, he was about to be married off to that man, but he knew nothing about him, it made him a little apprehensive.
An Hongzhuo was very good at talking, seeing that Su Yu was interested, he said what he wanted. According to King Mu, His Majesty was weak and sickly, moreover, he was ruthless and tyrannical, being very hard to please.
When Su Yu entered the palace, he was afraid he’ll suffer hardships, so if he needed help in the palace, he can come to him. At the same time, he will help Su Yu take care of his legitimate mother and concubine sister outside the palace.
The more Su Yu listened the more unhappy he became. This was clearly threatening him!
“Oh! Elder Brother, I’ve found you!” Just then, the door of the private room was suddenly pushed open, and a chubby body squeezed in.
It was none other than King Zhao, An Hongyi, who had not been seen for many days.
Su Yu stood up with a sense of relief.
“Your Highness, I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
King Zhao opened his eyes wide.
“Go home quickly, the things I sent to you are about to arrive… Eh? What is this?”
“This is…” Seeing King Zhao’s sharp eyes grasp the silver banknotes on the table, King Mu’s complexion suddenly changed.
“Ah, Elder Brother, you’ve also added to Su Yu’s trousseau. Haha, it’s not easy for the royal family to marry a male concubine. Muhou will be very happy to know that you are so diligent.” An Hongyi smiled broadly and shoved the silver banknotes into Su Yu’s hand.
“Hurry up and take it, the additional dowry that Elder Brother gave must be accepted no matter what. Isn’t that right, Eldest Royal Brother?”
King Mu’s face was as black as a bottom of a pot, and he said gritting his teeth. “That’s right…”
Before Su Yu could react, he was pushed out of the private room by King Zhao, urging him to hurry home to have a look.
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When Su Yu absentmindedly walked back to the Su Residence with three thousand silver taels in his hand, he found that he could not enter the Su Residence anymore… Because the royal bestowment had finally arrived.
The Imperial Family Fei was equivalent to the concubines of the common people. There weren’t three letters and six rites, but there was still a reward.
This kind of reward usually was a token of one’s appreciation, the Empress Dowager provides a part, and the Empress also sends some tokens, to show she thinks highly of the family. However, this time was evidently not the same.
The small front courtyard of the Su Residence was already full of all kinds of things, and the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were still carrying one thing after another. Damask silks, coral pearls, it was a dazzling sight.
“The congratulatory gift of King Zhao’s Wangfu has arrived--” Li Daren himself served as a ceremonial officer in front of the door.
The housekeeper of King Zhao’s Wangfu came to give the congratulatory gifts in person. Seeing Su Yu, he promptly stepped forward to greet him.
“Niangniang, why are you standing here?”
“Wangye asked me to come back and see... Is this it?” Su Yu blinked and held King Mu’s three thousand taels banknote in his hand.
“The reward from the palace has arrived, it is natural for Wangye to also send some additional dowry.” The housekeeper smilingly said the royal reward and the noble’s congratulatory gifts can all be counted as the Imperial Concubine dowry.
Su Yu swallowed his saliva, the Imperial Family is too generous, ba!
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Imperial Palace, Ci’an Palace.
“Empress Dowager, do you see, His Majesty is taking the stance of marrying the Empress to take a Fei, ah!” The exquisitely made-up Lu Guifei sat beside the Empress Dowager with a sad face.
“Where can it be compared to marrying an Empress?” The Empress Dowager slowly sipped her tea, not paying any attention to it.
Lu Guifei gritted her teeth, got up, and knelt down by the Empress Dowager’s knee. “Gumu, when I entered the palace, the royal family merely bestowed eight treasures, but now that Fei received the bestowment of thirty-two treasures. What will other people think of this! ”
The Empress Dowager glanced at Lu Guifei.
“Aijia did not send any reward today.”
Lu Guifei snapped her head up and looked at the Empress Dowager in disbelief. The Empress Dowager did not send a reward, in other words, the thirty-two bestowments were all sent by the Emperor!
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Zhao Shi’s hands trembled when she received the gift list presented by Zhao Daren. After living half a lifetime, she had never seen so many treasures and almost fainted with joy.
In the early morning, after the royal rewards arrived, they were followed by King Zhao’s congratulatory gifts as well. In the afternoon, the noble families got the news and also sent additional dowries one after another.
Su Yu finally came back to his senses. He, found, himself, rich!
It was like winning the lottery. He changed from a poor wretch to a millionaire overnight.
Compared to the royal reward, the 1000 taels of Marquis Changchun’s Shizi and the 3000 taels that King Mu threatened him to accept were nothing!
Su Yu held tightly the Pisces jade pendant at his waist and slowly raised the corners of his mouth. He suddenly came to accept the matter entering the palace. This was a highly paid profession, with more money to live and less care for retirement pensions.
After retirement, you can continue to be a senior official, you just had to treat the Emperor as a big boss. Just for today’s “Entry Red Envelope”, he had to serve the Emperor well!
Therefore, Su Yu, who had ignited his fighting spirit, happily took back his 200 taels of private savings, bought the best scallops and sea crabs, and prepared to make some expensive snacks for Sauce.
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The royal carriage arrived at the Su Residence early. It had a multi-colored imperial canopy with four golden bells ringing in all directions, and the eight corners were decorated with incense sachets.
Su Yu, dressed in magnificent scarlet clothes set foot on the carriage. The whole journey was vacillating and staggering, with drumming music and shengs blown, and went straight to the forbidden city.
The royal rewards followed the carriage as the dowry, which was Su Yu’s private property. One by one, they were carried directly into the palace.
Passing through Shenwu Gate they entered the Taiji Palace Hall.
Su Yu got off the carriage and the ceremony of bestowing the Fei title directly began.
The Taiji Palace Hall was actually an open square, it was located on the high platform behind the main hall of the former dynasty. It was made of black and white stone bricks that together formed a huge Taiji diagram.
The Empress Dowager, dressed in a bright yellow Phoenix gown, stood on the fish eye of the “Yin Fish”, Su Yu walked to the fish eye of the “Yang Fish”, and everyone knelt down and worshipped.
The complicated and solemn rituals dazzled Su Yu, so he had to move his gaze to the cool and collected Empress Dowager.
According to the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, if you were a female concubine, you had to kneel at the feet of the Empress Dowager, at the fish eye of the “Yin Fish”, and the Empress Dowager would personally put on the golden Buyao, which symbolized the Fei position. While the male concubine would stand opposite to her, waiting until the ceremonial official sang the tune, knelt down, and worshipped, and then the ceremonial official would exchange the symbol of the Fei position with a gold-inlaid jade crown.
The Empress Dowager’s face was calm and looking at Su Yu’s eyes, there was neither joy nor sorrow, as if it was just routine, instead of marrying her son a concubine.
The ceremonial official sang: “The Su clan’s child Jin Tang has a proper behavior and appearance, and has a virtuous moral character. The Empress Dowager decrees he is to be sealed as Xian Fei.”
Hearing this, Su Yu quickly knelt down and kowtowed, in fact, he was secretly relieved. Fortunately, he still had a formal title, if he was directly named Su Fei, then everyone would call him “Su Niangniang”. All day long like living in the world Fengshen Yanyi [TL_Note: The Investiture of Gods, referencing Su Daiji.], how could he still have face to go on?
“Henceforth, you will be the master of the first palace. You should serve the Emperor with all your heart, do not fail the Emperor’s benevolence.” The Empress Dowager said such a sentence in a neutral tone, and the ceremony was considered complete.
Su Yu kowtowed and thanked her, then a carriage came to pick him up and sent him directly to his palace.
The imperial harem can only confer four Fei’s, two Guifei’s, and one Empress, there was no limit to the number of others.
The Fei’s can monopolize one palace, and the palaces that can be selected belong to the West Palace, being available the Bixiao Palace, Yuxiao Palace, Zixiao Palace, and Yexiao Palace.
The rest of the concubines watched the light red carriage heading to the Yexiao Palace, and one after another twisted the handkerchiefs in their hands.
Although Yexiao Palace was not the largest, it was the easternmost in the West Palace. In other words, it was the closest to the Emperor’s bedchamber.
Su Yu had no idea of this and was admiring his new living quarters with curious eyes.
Yexiao Palace was very spacious, with one main hall, four side halls, and thirty-six palace rooms. The Imperial Palace in Da’an was very different from the Imperial Palace in Beijing that he visited in his previous life.
The Imperial Palace was solemn and dignified, and the main hall of the Imperial Palace was completely barren. Obviously, the royal family in Da’an thought differently, just look at the luxury of King Zhao’s Wangfu.
In the front courtyard of Yexiao Palace was an artificial lake, with a white jade stone nine-curved bridge, pavilions, and decorated eaves. Layers upon layers, it was extremely beautiful.
There was a water lily planted in the lake, it was now in full bloom. The snow-white petals and the tender yellow lotus heart complemented each other. The beauty of the lake is breathtaking.
The palace room was even more magnificent, with blue jade for the table, red sandalwood for small tables, huge windows that reached the ground, and red carved pillars and beams.
Su Yu was dazzled, in order to not lose face, he tried to keep his face expressionless and cold, but in fact, he was screaming in his heart.
“Got rich, got rich!”
Walking slowly to the front of the main hall, Su Yu took a deep breath and stepped in.
“Greetings to Su Niangniang!” A clear and loud voice rang out, and Su Yu stumbled.
“Niangniang, are you alright?” The source of the voice immediately appeared in front of Su Yu and gave him a hand.
It was Xiao Shun, the eunuch who waited on him in Xunyang Palace a few days ago.
Wang Gonggong thoughtfully transferred Xiao Shun to him and assigned him two first-class palace maids, four second-class palace maids, and four little eunuchs.
There was no eunuch in charge because the chief eunuch had to be appointed by the concubines themselves. For the time being, Yang Gonggong was sent to serve him.
After taking a bath and dressing with the help of the servants, Su Yu changed into a relaxed set of normal clothes. At the time for supper, Su Yu thoroughly experienced the treatment of a seven-star hotel.
Having to only open his mouth to be fed and hold out his hands to be dressed. After dinner, there were little eunuchs massaging his legs and talking gossip, the day could hardly be any better.
“Xiao Shun, what do you think the Emperor will do if he called me to serve him?” Su Yu’s only worry was to serve the Emperor.
No matter how much he psychologically prepared himself, he really can’t do it.
“Niangniang, don’t worry.” Xiao Shun took a private look and said quietly.
“This slave heard that His Majesty never summoned anyone to sleep.”
“Ah?” Su Yu’s eyes widened.
The Emperor was twenty years old and never summoned anyone to serve him? Coult it be that…
All kinds of guesses flashed through his mind and finally settled in the column of “Cannot have sexual intercourse”.
So it was like this, ah… Su Yu secretly snickered. Then his job became “a lot of money, no work, and take care of the elderly”.
So he closed his eyes with peace of mind, if Sauce could come to him tonight, his life would be complete.
“His Majesty has decreed that Xian Fei will serve him tonight.” A loud voice pierced the sky, waking up Su Yu, who was half-asleep and even woke up the majority of the palace.
Muhou -> queen mother addressed by princes /princesses)
three letters and six rites -> A traditional and genuine Chinese marriage should follow a basic principle of the “Three Letters and Six Etiquettes” in the past. Even now some customs are still followed. The “Three Letters” include the Betrothal Letter, Gift Letter, and Wedding Letter. The Betrothal Letter is the formal document of the engagement.
Gumu -> One’s father’s sister
shengs blown -> a free reed wind instrument with vertical bamboo pipes