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

Chapter 87 Tea Serving
Inside the Jade Palace, the dragon and phoenix wedding candles were burning brightly.

The little Zhang'er in Rong Yi's arms had bright, round eyes.

Rong Yi carried Xiao Zhang'er around and around until he was so tired he was about to fall asleep, and Xiao Zhang'er finally fell asleep as well.

Rong Yi handed Xiao Zhang'er over to the wet nurse outside and returned to the bridal chamber, where he saw Lu Jinshi, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, already asleep.

Rong Yi walked over to Lu Jinshi's side and called out softly twice. When Lu Jinshi did not wake up, he scratched Lu Jinshi's waist.

Lu Jinshi woke up instantly and said, "Rong Yi!"

Rong Yi pulled Lu Jinshi into his arms and said, "I knew you were faking it. From now on, don't call me Rong Yi, call me husband..."

Lu Jinshi sat in Rong Yi's lap and whispered, "Husband."

Upon hearing Lu Jinshi's soft and sweet address of "husband," Rong Yi placed his hand behind Lu Jinshi's head and kissed her red lips.

Lu Jinshi knew that she couldn't refuse today, so she let herself sink into it.

After all, besides his good looks, Rong Yi is... pretty good too.

A heavy rain fell on a summer night, the sound of rain hitting the windows drowning out all the other sounds coming from inside the bedchamber.

Lu Jinshi didn't know when the flickering red candle would go out. She only knew that she was too tired to move in the end. She didn't want the palace maids to come in and serve her. In her dazed state, it seemed that Rong Yi was the one who served her while she washed up.

Although the washing up process, which should have taken only fifteen minutes, seemed to take an hour.

The next morning, Lu Jinshi was awakened by Rong Yi's soft voice calling his name.

Lu Jinshi, her eyes reddening, looked at Rong Yi in front of her and asked, "When is it?"

"It's almost dawn, time to get up and dress up. We'll be serving tea to our grandmother, father, and mother later."

Lu Jinshi yawned and complained to Rong Yi, "You knew I was going to serve tea today, but you didn't restrain yourself at all last night."

Rong Yi laughed and said, "Who told you to make me celibate for almost three months since you returned to Chang'an?"

"You're bringing this up again?" Lu Jinshi snorted.

Rong Yi said, "Get up first, and come back to sleep after the tea ceremony."

Lu Jinshi yawned, forced himself to get up, and took a sip of strong tea, which restored some of his strength.

At 1:15 AM, Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi went to Shou Kang Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.

Upon seeing the two who had arrived, the Empress Dowager smiled and said, "My judgment is excellent. The two of you stand together and are a perfect match. You should both produce many offspring for the royal family and give birth to several good-looking children."

Lu Jinshi blushed slightly and said, "Yes, Grandmother."

Seeing Lu Jinshi's blushing face, Rong Yi smiled gently and said, "Grandson will work hard. Grandmother, please don't complain that you have too many children and can't take care of them all."

The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "No matter how many children you have, I can take care of them all."

Lu Jinshi blushed, but she didn't really take the Empress Dowager's words to heart. She didn't plan to have many children. Having another daughter would be enough. However, Lu Jinshi didn't argue with the Empress Dowager and just agreed.

After serving tea to the Empress Dowager, Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi went together to the palace of the Imperial Noble Consort.

His Majesty was also in Consort Rong's palace, where many other concubines were also seated.

Upon entering the palace, Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi knelt and offered tea to Emperor Huiyuan and Consort Rong. Afterwards, Lu Jinshi offered tea to each of his four virtuous and kind mothers, receiving generous rewards in return.

Rong Shuang smiled and looked at Rong Yi and Lu Jinshi, saying, "You two have finally become a couple. In the future, you two should live in harmony and help each other with love."

Lu Jinshi and Rong Yi exchanged a glance and smiled at each other, saying, "Yes, Mother."

Emperor Huiyuan looked at the other concubines and said, "If you have nothing else to do, you may all leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After all the concubines had left, Emperor Huiyuan looked at Rong Yi and said, "You got married yesterday, yet you imprisoned your father-in-law in the Dali Temple?"

Lu Jinshi said, "Your Majesty, it was I who instructed Your Highness to do so. The He family members disregarded the imperial edict and deceived the imperial edict. Their intentions deserve to be punished. I hope Your Majesty will issue an edict to severely punish the He family members."

Emperor Huiyuan said, "The He family did indeed defy the imperial edict and attempted to switch the Seventh Prince's consort, but considering the He family's illustrious military achievements and your reputation, I will spare the lives of the He family members. I will only strip them of their title of Marquis of Yongxing, reclaim their imperial mansion and estate, and imprison them for half a month as a warning to others..."

Lu Jinshi chuckled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Consort Rong said, "The ancestors of the He family were once very powerful, so how come their descendants have become like this? Alas."

Emperor Huiyuan said, "Our ancestors' influence is so great that they dare to disregard even me. I will have the Grand Secretary issue an edict."

Emperor Huiyuan then got up and left.

Lu Jinshi then bowed and respectfully saw Emperor Huiyuan off.

After Emperor Huiyuan left, Consort Rong smiled calmly at Lu Jinshi and said, "Jinshi, I heard from His Majesty that you asked him to make me Empress?"

Lu Jinshi nodded and said, "Mother, you should have been Empress long ago."

Rong Shuang shook her head and said, "I don't want to be Empress anymore. Every time I want to be Empress, countless troubles are caused, and His Majesty's reputation is damaged. I don't want to implicate Yi'er because of my position as Empress. You don't need to mention this matter again."

Lu Jinshi said, "Mother, it is because you are the Empress that you will not implicate my husband. It is only if you are not that you will implicate my husband."

“Since ancient times, the heir apparent has always been chosen based on the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Choosing the most virtuous or benevolent heir would only lead to disputes. Your Majesty intends to make my husband the heir apparent, but a heir apparent who is neither the eldest nor the legitimate wife is no different from a sitting duck. You need to be the Empress to ensure my husband’s position as heir apparent is secure.”

Rong Shuang looked at Lu Jinshi and smiled, "Establishing an empress is not that easy. After failing time and time again over the years, I really don't want to cause any more trouble. If it's for the position of crown prince, well, once I'm gone, if His Majesty wants to posthumously confer the title of empress on me, I'm afraid no minister will object."

Lu Jinshi said, "Mother, on such a joyous day, you must not say anything discouraging."

Rong Yi also said, "Yes, Mother, you can leave the matter of choosing an empress to us. If we have to choose between the crown prince and you, both Jinshi and I will choose you."

Rong Shuang smiled with relief and said, "I don't ask for anything else now. I just hope you can have more children while I can still help you take care of them."

Rong Yi said, "There's no rush to have children. Zhang'er is only nine months old. It wouldn't be fair to him to rush to have a younger brother or sister."

Lu Jinshi raised an eyebrow and looked at Rong Yi, who hadn't said that last night.

Rong Shuang smiled and said, "That's right. Jinshi, you should take good care of yourself. You were all exhausted yesterday, so go back and rest."

"Yes, concubine."

After leaving the Imperial Noble Consort's palace, Lu Jinshi raised an eyebrow at Rong Yi and said, "Why aren't you in a hurry to have a child anymore?"

Rong Yi whispered in Lu Jinshi's ear, "I've finally been able to have sex again, I don't want to have to go back to being a vegetarian for several months..."

Lu Jinshi blushed and stepped on Rong Yi's foot, saying, "I want to leave the palace and go to the Dali Temple prison."