Selling wife for fame? Kick out the scumbag and marry the new emperor to enjoy the harem of favors

Chapter 190 First Day
"Your Highness Jin!"

The next morning, Xie Jiu was sitting in front of the bronze mirror doing her hair when she heard Princess Wenxi's cheerful voice coming from the doorway.

With light footsteps, the little girl slipped into the house.

"Wenxi sends New Year's greetings to Empress Jin, wishing her a peaceful and prosperous New Year with all her wishes fulfilled!"

"Come here, come over here quickly." Xie Jiu smiled and waved to her. "Empress Jin also wishes you peace and good health."

Finally, he glanced at Qingfang, who understood and immediately took out a delicate little wooden box from the cabinet in the inner room.

"This is a gift for Wenxi, it's also a New Year's gift. Take a look and see if you like it," Xie Jiu said with a smile.

Princess Wenxi took it, opened it, and her eyes immediately lit up. "What a beautiful necklace!"

Inside the box was a pure gold Ruyi lock necklace. The lock was a filigree lock, adorned with several gold bells. The necklace was engraved with cloud patterns, showcasing exquisite craftsmanship.

It just so happens that Princess Wenxi is wearing a pomegranate red jacket and skirt today, which looks perfectly matched.

In fact, Xie Jiu thought so too, and immediately put it on the little girl himself.

"She's really beautiful! Our Wenxi is such a little beauty!"

"Lady Jin is the most beautiful."

The little girl blushed, her face turning as red as an apple.

After Xie Jiu finished tidying up and had breakfast, he took Princess Wenxi to Weiyang Palace.

The concubines and princesses first gathered at Weiyang Palace to pay their respects to the Empress, then to the Empress Dowager, and finally went to the main hall to meet the wives of officials, namely female members of the imperial family and the families of high-ranking officials in the court.

The only prince, the fourth prince, went to Chengming Hall and accompanied Zhao Xingjin. Because of this uniqueness, Consort Zhuang was so proud of herself that morning.

But this really annoyed the Empress.

However, the Empress brought up the fact that the Fourth Prince was not good at studying and was playful and unambitious, which made Consort Zhuang's face turn ugly again, so she could be considered to have turned the tables.

Xie Jiu watched them bicker silently, not wanting to join in. She only chatted with Consort Liu for a few moments, while Consort Wei and the others exchanged greetings.

Fortunately, it was the first day of the lunar month, so no one dared to be too reckless. They simply talked about it and let it go.

Upon arriving at Fukang Palace, they found Consort Chen accompanying the Empress Dowager, already waiting for them.

The Empress glanced at Consort Chen, feeling somewhat displeased, but she didn't show it. She calmly led the other concubines in bowing.

"When I woke up this morning, I saw that it was snowing outside. I thought I wouldn't see any snow on the first day of the Lunar New Year. I didn't expect it to come on New Year's Eve and only stop this morning. It was snowing quite heavily. A good snow promises a good harvest. What a wonderful snow!"

The Empress Dowager was clearly in a good mood.

"Yes, it's clear that this year will be another year of favorable weather and abundant harvests for the Great Jing Dynasty," the Empress replied with a smile.

Finally, the three princesses were summoned to the Empress Dowager's side and each was given a gift. After this was done, the Empress Dowager led everyone to get up and go forward to meet Zhao Xingjin.

Next came kneeling at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Xie Jiu disliked this activity very much. In the past, as a member of the Xie family, she had to kneel in the palace because Xie Mingshen held a high official position. Later, when she married into the Wu family, which was a marquis's mansion, she still had to kneel in the palace. Now that she had become Zhao Xingjin's concubine, she was even more obliged to kneel.

But one thing is much better than before: this time her position is further forward, and she can kneel inside the main hall, which is much warmer than before.

However, kneeling for half a day, with a break at noon, and then continuing to kneel in the afternoon, is by no means an easy task.

It was definitely tough. But there was one thing that Xie Jiu was looking forward to in her first year of junior high.

That is, during the midday break, the families of ministers who came to the palace to attend the ceremony could sit for a while in the palace of the concubines of the rank of concubine or above.

Of course, most people would go to Weiyang Palace to support the Empress. However, those with family members in the palace could meet with the Empress, which was a way for the concubines to meet with their families.

Nowadays, besides the Empress, only Consort Zhuang and Xie Jiu in the palace can receive this favor. People like Consort Wei, whose rank is low but whose family members can enter the palace, can only find opportunities to get together in Weiyang Palace.

"Qingfang, you're quick, go and meet your sister-in-law. She's never been to Jingming Palace before, and she might get lost."

After Xie Jiu finished his work, he immediately gave instructions.

You are not allowed to bring maids into the palace. If you can't find a place, you can only ask the palace servants.

Fortunately, Xie Jiu was favored by the emperor, and no one in the palace dared to neglect her family. So Qingfang found Fan Shi without much effort. Fan Shi was even led there by a young palace maid.

They also generously gave out tips.

"Young Madam, please come in with me quickly. Our Ladyship has been talking about you since yesterday, she really wants to see you!" Qingfang smiled as she ushered Madam Fan into the palace.

Madam Fan also had a gentle smile on her face, "It's been many years since we last met. I've been thinking of Your Highness. When I came this morning, my husband and son told me to remember to send my regards to Your Highness on their behalf."

As they spoke, they arrived at their destination.

Upon seeing Xie Jiu, Madam Fan was about to step forward to pay her respects, but Xie Jiu stopped her.

"Sister-in-law, there are no outsiders here, so let's not stand on ceremony. It's rare for us to meet, so let's get down to business!"

She wanted to see Madam Fan, but not really to chat about trivial family matters or exchange a few intimate words.

Madam Fan was a clever woman and understood what her sister-in-law meant, so she immediately nodded.

"Well, I'll just ignore all those formalities for now."

Xie Jiu smiled and nodded, while gesturing for Chunrong and Qingfang to leave and stand guard outside, closing the door behind them.

This means that we are temporarily not receiving guests.

Besides the Fan family, there will certainly be other noblewomen who want to pay their respects to Xie Jiu; this is a way of showing respect and acknowledging the importance of the family's status.

At the very least, the families of the ministers who followed Xie Mingshen would definitely come.

However, Xie Jiu didn't really send them away. She just arranged for them to wait in the side hall while she spoke with Madam Fan.

Others can understand this; after all, she's his sister-in-law, so it's normal for her to have things to tell him.

“I understand the message my sister-in-law sent me last time. I guess like you all, Father is probably short of money and can't do business, so he wants to do business with the Xichi people. The Emperor is showing his strength now, and he directly bestowed the marriage at the New Year's Eve banquet. The Prince of Yi of Xichi has also agreed. The marriage is almost a done deal. Now that the two countries have formed a marriage alliance, the Emperor may back down on tariffs.”

While pouring tea for Madam Fan, Xie Jiu took the initiative to start a conversation.

Madam Fan nodded solemnly, “Yes, last time my husband secretly followed my father-in-law to inquire, the Xichi people said the same thing. They said that the tariffs were going to be reduced, so the benefits that were originally promised to my father-in-law would be reduced by 20%. My father-in-law did not agree, so it ended unhappily. But at that time, my father-in-law was probably thinking that this marriage alliance might not be able to go through.”

"So we have to help him out and get him to close this deal with the Xichi people." Xie Jiu looked at Fan Shi with deep eyes and said in a deep voice, "There is someone I cannot see. I would like to ask my sister-in-law to pass on a message for me."

Fan asked seriously, "Who?"

"The fiancée of Prince Yi of Xichi Kingdom, Princess Heyi, Zhao Zhiyu."