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

Chapter 176 You swear

Upon hearing this, King Qi frowned and said, "What? Lu Jinshi actually agreed to help you get a divorce?"

Princess Qi said coldly, "Your Highness, please be mindful of your address. That is the Empress. How can you address her by her full name?"

The Prince of Qi frowned and said, "She is truly delusional, just like Aunt Mingzhu, always doing outrageous things! I don't believe she can make you divorce me! These concubines were all bestowed by His Majesty, how could I refuse them!"

Princess Qi said dejectedly, "I've seen through you. You are His Majesty's own brother. If you were to refuse His Majesty's offer now, he might not necessarily disagree. I'm afraid you don't want to refuse at all; you just want these beauties to come to your residence!"

King Qi frowned and said, "Don't talk nonsense."

Princess Qi went inside with tears in her eyes to pack her luggage.

King Qi watched as his queen packed her luggage and asked, "Why are you packing your luggage?"

Princess Qi said, "I'm going back to my parents' home. I can't bear the thought of so many women in the palace, and I can't bear the thought of my beloved husband having so many other women in his heart..."

King Qi frowned and said, "I'm giving you the dignity of a principal wife. How can these women possibly surpass your status? If you divorce me, you will no longer be the high and mighty Queen of Qi, and you will never be able to remarry."

You said that the current Empress Dowager divorced Prince Zheng, but Mother later married Father. If you divorce me, you will never be able to remarry and will only live a miserable life. Your maternal uncle's family will certainly not allow you to act recklessly!

Princess Qi snorted coldly and said, "Compared to taking care of your many concubines and raising your illegitimate children, I'd rather get a divorce. Even if no one wants to marry me, I have money to support a few handsome young servants..."

Upon hearing this, the King of Qi raised his hand to slap the Queen Consort.

Princess Qi raised her head and said, "Your Highness is quite capable. Now you've even beaten your wife. Go ahead and hit her! If you do, I'll immediately go to the palace and beg Her Majesty the Empress to intervene!"

King Qi was furious and withdrew his hand, saying, "You have been corrupted by the Empress and Princess Mingzhu. Since ancient times, men have been allowed to have three wives and four concubines. Now you are thinking of divorcing your wife and keeping a handsome young servant. Do you even know what propriety and shame are?"

Princess Qi said, "Just because it has been so since ancient times, does that mean it is right? If I had been born twenty years earlier, and I had seen Princess Mingzhu divorce her husband over taking a concubine, I would admire her, but I would not have followed her example."

But today, the Empress holds power, and she has the ability to change the age-old tradition of men having multiple wives and concubines. How can I possibly hold her back? I can clearly escape this predicament, so why must you confine me to the inner palace, leaving me sleepless and ultimately a resentful woman confined to my chambers?

Princess Qi, while packing her luggage, said, "Make way."

King Qi reached out and grasped Queen Qi's hand, saying, "Stop fooling around."

"I'm not being ridiculous," Princess Qi said, tears streaming down her face. "My eldest brother and sister-in-law are so loving, and His Majesty and the Empress are such a devoted couple. Yet I'm the only one with so many concubines. How can you expect me to bear this?"

King Qi took a deep breath and said, "But that is obeying the imperial decree, that is disobeying the imperial decree. His Majesty has just ascended the throne... If I disobey the imperial decree, what should I do if he punishes me?"

Princess Qi said, "You just can't bear to part with those concubines, and you can't bear to part with your wealth! Then let's just get a divorce."

Seeing his weeping wife, the King of Qi felt a headache coming on. "Stop crying! I'll go to His Majesty tomorrow to protest the imperial decree. If His Majesty is furious, we'll both become commoners. Would you be happy with that?"

Princess Qi cried even harder, "You're being mean to me!"

King Qi was utterly helpless. He pulled his wife into his arms and said, "That's enough. I'm not being harsh with you. I didn't know you were so resistant to the concubine. You've been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood and have received the upbringing of a lady from a respectable family. How can you be so jealous?"

Princess Qi tearfully recounted, "In the past, I knew that powerful men in this world inevitably take concubines. As the principal wife, I should be a good wife and mother and manage the household for my husband. But now, the husbands of the Empress and the eldest sister-in-law are even more powerful than you, and they have never taken concubines."

Prince An was also incredibly powerful. Over the years, he only had one wife, Princess An, and he never took a concubine even though he had only one son. The Lu family was now reduced to just this one branch.

I thought I would be like my mother, respected by my father, and that he would take concubines one by one, eroding my love for him as they entered the household, leaving me only with the position of the mistress of the house, suppressing my joys and sorrows, and being able to be indifferent to my husband after my heart died.

But things are different now. I don't want to live my life like my mother. Her Majesty the Empress has told me I have a new life. I can't tolerate you taking concubines one after another..." Prince Qi wiped away Princess Qi's tears, saying with heartache, "Don't cry. Consort Lin just gave birth to my child. I can't let her leave the Prince Qi's residence, but from now on, there will be no other woman in the inner courtyard besides Consort Lin."

Princess Qi wiped away her tears with a handkerchief and said, "Really? Swear it."

King Qi said, "If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning."

Princess Qi couldn't help but smile.

When the King of Qi saw her, he burst into laughter through his tears and said, "You and I have been arguing for a whole year. You mustn't argue anymore in the future."

Princess Qi said, "Then you can no longer submit a memorial requesting His Majesty to select concubines..."

"How could I dare?" King Qi said. "If His Majesty were to hold another selection of concubines, he would surely bestow those daughters upon me as my consorts."

Princess Qi smiled.
-
Early the next morning.

Lu Jinshi's condition had clearly improved.

Rong Yi was still worried about Lu Jinshi, so he handled official business in his bedchamber.

Upon hearing that the Prince of Qi was requesting an audience, Rong Yi frowned and went to the Zichen Palace.

Inside the Zichen Palace, Qi Wang made Rong Yi kneel down and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to rescind the decree that bestowed a concubine upon me. I do not wish to take any more concubines. Please rescind the decree."

"Sixth Brother, didn't you say that royal bloodline is important?"

Prince Qi said, “Father Emperor gave birth to seven of us brothers. Even if our third brother loses his life, even if each of us brothers has a child, the royal bloodline will not be weak. Besides, His Majesty and Empress are still young, and they will surely be able to add more bloodlines to the royal family in the future.”

Rong Yi said, "If any court official proposes in the morning court session that I select concubines..."

King Qi said, "Your Majesty, I will certainly help you silence those gossipy mouths!"

Rong Yi said, "Then I will withdraw the imperial edict."

King Qi was surprised that it was so easy for His Majesty to withdraw the imperial edict. He kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you for your great kindness."

After Prince Qi left, Rong Yi returned to his bedchamber and said to Lu Jinshi, who was recuperating, "Prince Qi will definitely not mention having me select concubines again in the future. He won't shed tears until he sees the coffin."

Lu Jinshi smiled and said, "King Qi is willing to compromise because he loves Princess Qi. But there are many men in this world who do not love their wives. In the future, you will still be asked by court officials to choose a concubine."

Rong Yi gripped Lu Jinshi's hand tightly and said, "From now on, I will have my brothers, the Prince of Qi and the Prince of Jin, to stop me."

Lu Jinshi couldn't help but smile.

It took Lu Jinshi half a month to fully recover from this illness. As the weather gradually turned cooler, there were quite a few more female students at Lingxiao Academy recently.

The increase in students was a gratifying thing for Lu Jinshi.

The books he compiled were also published in bookstores, and the new books sold extremely well.

Zhang'er is becoming more and more sensible and has started to talk. The little boy, who is just over two years old, is quite talkative after he can talk. Princess Rongjin, who can't talk yet, seems to be more talkative than Zhang'er. She has been babbling since she was only half a year old.

Lu Jinshi suddenly felt that the harem had become much more lively.