My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 124 The Crown Prince's Concubine
After obtaining the painting, Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi prepared to leave the Liang residence.

Lu Jinshi felt a pang of pity when he saw Madam Liang's red and swollen eyes. His senior brother had died, but no one cared about how his widow and orphan would survive.

If Liang Wen really had an affair with Consort Rong, then he truly deserved to die.

As Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi were about to leave, Madam Liang said to Lu Jinshi, "Seventh Prince's Consort..."

Lu Jinshi asked, "What's wrong?"

Madam Liang said, "It's alright, it's alright."

Lu Jinshi turned to look at Madam Liang and said, "Sister-in-law, just say what you need to say. There's no need to be so polite with me."

After considering for a moment, Madam Liang said, "Jinshi, your senior brother received a letter yesterday before he went to the palace. After reading the letter, he seemed to have already made up his mind that he was going to die. He said a lot of things to me, such as telling me to take good care of the child. At that time, I felt something was wrong, but I never thought it was his last words..."

Madam Liang knelt before Lu Jinshi and said, "I don't believe Liang Wen would commit suicide to obstruct His Majesty's investiture of the Empress. He was prepared to die before he went. He must have had his reasons. He certainly didn't want to commit suicide. Please find out who the real culprit is. I beg you."

With tears in her eyes, Madam Liang knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

Lu Jinshi helped Madam Liang up and said, "Sister-in-law, I know there are other people behind this, but Brother Liang may not be innocent either. You should take good care of yourself. If you are short of money, just come to me."

Madam Liang kept shedding tears and said, "Thank you so much, Seventh Prince's Consort."
-
His Majesty's investiture of the Empress is one of the most joyous events in the Great Sheng Dynasty, and a grand investiture ceremony should have been held.

However, Empress Rong was frugal, and she donated all the money used to hold her coronation ceremony to couples in Chang'an who had grown old together.

In a short time, many couples who had grown old together received three taels of silver from the government.

Three taels of silver was not a small sum for ordinary people, and praise for Empress Rong gradually increased in the streets.

In the past few days, Lingxiao Academy, where Lu Jinshi is located, has seen many students coming to study, including some who had just gone to Jinming Academy during the Spring Festival.

However, Lu Jinshi no longer intended to recruit male students, so there were quite a few female students coming to Lingxiao Academy.

Lu Jinshi has been going back and forth between the academy and the palace every day these past few days, so he's been quite busy.

Days passed by, and soon it was past the beginning of autumn and into July.

Once July arrives, Lu Jinshi will be even busier, as the Chang'an Autumn Examination is just around the corner. Although the Autumn Examination is merely a stepping stone to the Spring Examination, in reality, its difficulty is not much lower than that of the Spring Examination.

In particular, the imperial examinations in Chang'an were teeming with talented individuals.

Lu Jinshi has been leaving early and returning late at the academy these past few days. If it weren't for his status, Lu Jinshi would have liked to live at the academy with Rong Yi.

On the Qixi Festival, the Empress would invite noble ladies from Chang'an to the palace to celebrate the festival.

As the Empress's daughter-in-law, Lu Jinshi could not miss the Girls' Festival, so she arranged for the academy to have a day off on the Qixi Festival.

On the night of the sixth day of the lunar new year.

Rong Yi blew on a freshly written article to dry it and handed it to Lu Jinshi, saying, "The article is finished. Perhaps you can take a rest now?"

Lu Jinshi glanced at it and chuckled, "Okay."

Rong Yi climbed into bed, pulled Lu Jinshi into his arms, and said with a faint smile, "Fortunately, the autumn examinations are almost over, so you don't need to be so busy anymore..."

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "After the autumn examination, you will enter the imperial court, which will be even more dangerous... After all, Prince Jin is so much older than you."

Rong Yi smiled faintly, "If I can achieve success in the autumn imperial examination, my father will surely make me the crown prince." Lu Jinshi said, "Are you so sure?"

Rong Yi nodded and said, "Yes, my father has wanted to make me the crown prince these past few days, but I refused. I thought that if I passed the imperial examination in the autumn, it would be more legitimate for me to be crown prince."

Lu Jinshi smiled faintly and said, "Then I congratulate His Highness the Crown Prince in advance..."

Rong Yi lowered his head and gently nibbled on Lu Jinshi's earlobe, saying, "If I were the Crown Prince, I wouldn't be able to accompany you to the academy to teach every day like I do now."

Lu Jinshi said, "It's alright if you can't come with me, as long as you don't forbid me from teaching at the academy."

Rong Yi said, "Since I have agreed to your request, even if you are the Crown Princess, you can still teach at the academy."

Looking into Rong Yi's eyes, Lu Jinshi reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling faintly, "If Father and Mother blame me, you must take full responsibility for me."

Rong Yi nodded and said, "Mm."

Looking into Rong Yi's deep eyes, Lu Jinshi's heart involuntarily quickened. She had to admit that Rong Yi was a good husband in this respect. He knew what it meant to be the Crown Princess, yet he still allowed her to leave the palace to teach.

Lu Jinshi then took the initiative to offer a kiss, a rare occurrence for him.

Rong Yi was quite pleased to see Lu Jinshi taking the initiative, but he quickly took the initiative and held Lu Jinshi's head, deepening the kiss.

"No, tomorrow is the Qixi Festival, the festival for girls. I have to go to Fengkun Palace to help my mother celebrate this special day for the noble ladies in Chang'an."

Rong Yi whispered in Lu Jinshi's ear, "It's just a little treat tonight, nothing too much."

For several days in a row, Lu Jinshi and he went out early and returned late at the academy. In addition, Lu Jinshi had been on his period for about half a month.

Tomorrow is a day off, and Rong Yi naturally doesn't want to let Lu Jinshi go.

Lu Jinshi half-heartedly reached out and tightly gripped Rong Yi's back. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep, only that Rong Yi had broken his promise before she went to sleep, and that he hadn't gone too far in satisfying his cravings.

He has clearly gone too far.

Lu Jinshi got up at dawn to dress and get ready. She arrived at Fengkun Palace at three quarters past dawn, but she didn't expect that the noble ladies and young women who came to visit had arrived even earlier than her.

Just as Lu Jinshi was about to enter the courtyard of Fengkun Palace, he heard two girls' voices coming from inside.

"Sister, my mother said that although today is Girls' Day, it is actually a day to choose a concubine for the future Crown Prince. Why are you dressed so plainly... Haven't you always been fond of the Seventh Prince?"

"Simplicity is not necessarily bad."

"Everyone outside is saying that His Highness the Seventh Prince will definitely become the Crown Prince before his twentieth birthday..."

"This time, Her Majesty the Empress is hosting a festival for daughters, which is probably just to see who will be the Crown Prince's concubine in the future. She will not make a decision on the concubine today. Dressing up so extravagantly and having your mind on your face is even more inappropriate."

Lu Jinshi, who was outside the door, heard the young ladies' discussions inside and frowned slightly.

Indeed, if Rong Yi becomes the crown prince, it won't just be these noble ladies and young women eyeing his position as the crown prince's concubine; there will probably be quite a few officials in the court also coveting it.

Lu Jinshi frowned as he entered the courtyard.

The two young ladies who had been discussing earlier knelt down repeatedly when they saw Lu Jin enter, saying, "Greetings, Seventh Prince's Consort."