The Male Lead's Harem Belongs to Me (GL) - Chapter 24.2
The matter of opening a shop wasn’t urgent. What was more important at the moment was the Hundred Flowers Banquet a few days later.
Unwilling or not, the day finally came. Early in the morning, Jiang Han got up and dressed herself, and got on the carriage with the other concubines.
After saying goodbye to Liu Shuwei, the carriage swayed forward.
Gu Hanyun yawned, looking lifeless, “I hope we won’t be at the same table as Princess Consort Qin and Prince Qin’s concubines this time.”
Chang Qianjiao also sighed, “And Princess Consort Xiang and Prince Xiang’s concubines.”
Yu Weiwan only sighed and didn’t speak.
The current emperor was benevolent and didn’t kill his brothers after ascending the throne. Instead, he gave them the title of prince. Princes Xiang and Qin were older, so the emperor let them be idle princes, with only titles and no real power. Qi Ze, titled Prince Qi, was the youngest of the emperor’s brothers and was practically raised by the emperor, so the emperor was closer to him and gave him more power.
Princes Xiang and Qin had married early, and their mansions had many princesses and concubines, and many children. With so many people, it was difficult to control them, so it was very chaotic. There were all kinds of concubines and princesses in their mansions.
In previous years, Gu Hanyun and the others were most reluctant to be at the same table as them. The reason was that those people always asked them all sorts of questions, the favored ones tried to find a sense of superiority from them, and the unfavored ones wanted to find some comfort. Of course, there were also those who enjoyed watching the show. Talking to them was very tiring.
No matter how unwilling they were, they still arrived at the palace gate.
As the saying goes, enemies often meet on a narrow road. Jiang Han and the others had just gotten off the carriage when they met Princess Consort Qin and her concubines.
Princess Consort Qin was a dignified and wealthy woman with a mean face, wearing gold and silver and a head full of pearls and jewels. Every step she took, the ornaments swayed three times.
Jiang Han felt tired just looking at her, but Princess Consort Qin didn’t feel it at all. She swayed her steps and walked towards Jiang Han, “Oh, isn’t this Princess? Why are you dressed so simply today? Didn’t your prince give you any rewards?”
As she spoke, she sized up the charming women behind Jiang Han, a flash of jealousy in her eyes, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, I’m not saying this, Princess, but if you don’t keep an eye on your prince, he’ll only have more and more concubines in the future, and they’ll be younger and younger. Look at me, our prince still likes to give me surprises after so many years. Look at these, they’re all gifts from our prince.”
Princess Consort Qin’s behavior of sowing discord right from the start made Jiang Han feel a little helpless. She casually glanced at the pile of concubines behind Princess Consort Qin and said, “Don’t worry, Princess Consort Qin. Our prince doesn’t have the energy to take concubines like Prince Qin. He’s focused on the tasks assigned to him by His Majesty.”
Jiang Han’s words, firstly, satirized Princess Consort Qin for still having so many concubines even though she kept an eye on Prince Qin, and secondly, satirized Prince Qin for not having a proper job.
Princess Consort Qin’s smile couldn’t hold back anymore. She gave two fake smiles and left with her concubines angrily.
After they left, Chang Qianjiao behind Jiang Han teased, “I thought the Princess was a soft-spoken person, but I didn’t expect you to be able to anger Princess Consort Qin away. I underestimated you.”
Jiang Han raised her head, then deflated, “We’ve only just arrived at the palace gate and we’ve already had such a scene, sigh.”
“Forget it,” Jiang Han suddenly said, “Since we can’t beat them, then we’ll join them.”
Gu Hanyun asked in confusion, “What do you mean by joining them if we can’t beat them?”
Jiang Han smiled mysteriously and whispered a few words in their ears. After hearing them, they were all a little shy, “Wouldn’t that be a little inappropriate?”
Jiang Han waved her hand, “Think about how we were asked speechless questions by them before. Now it’s our turn.”
They hesitated for a moment, looking at each other, and finally followed behind Jiang Han.
At that time, the Empress Dowager gathered all the women together, said a few nice polite words, and then let everyone enjoy the flowers, write poems, and make couplets.
Princess Consort Qin had lost the battle at the palace gate and was feeling uncomfortable. She thought that she would definitely make Jiang Han speechless the next time she saw her. So what if their prince had a job? Having a job meant that their prince had less time to spend with them. So what if her husband had more concubines? Wasn’t she still the most favored one?
The more Princess Consort Qin thought about it, the angrier she became. Just as the Empress Dowager announced that they could enjoy the flowers freely, she prepared to provoke them again. However, what she didn’t expect was that before she could find Jiang Han, Jiang Han brought her three concubines to find her.
Seeing Jiang Han again, Princess Consort Qin narrowed her eyes and was about to mock her, but Jiang Han directly said, “Oh, isn’t this Princess Consort Qin? Our prince said that he saw Prince Qin when he went to the Seven Treasures Pavilion to investigate a case last time. I wonder what Prince Qin was doing there. Maybe he was also investigating a case. I don’t mean anything else, just saying it casually.”
Princess Consort Qin’s face turned green. She naturally knew about Prince Qin going to the Seven Treasures Pavilion, but it was different when Jiang Han said it in public.
Her face changed and she was about to speak, but Chang Qianjiao stepped forward and said, “Wow! Princess, all these jewels are gifts from Prince Qin, right? They must be worth several hundred taels of silver, right?”
Princess Consort Qin’s anger instantly turned into smugness. She sneered, “Yes, these jewelry are all gifts from our prince. I told him not to give them to me, but he insisted on giving them. You… oh, why are there only a few? Is it because Prince Qi treats you badly?”
Princess Consort Qin was extremely proud, thinking that she had finally won back a round.
Chang Qianjiao smiled calmly and said, “The prince doesn’t give us things very often. After all, he’s busy with official duties every day. The last time we sisters were buying rouge, the prince paid for us. It wasn’t expensive, about five hundred taels of silver for four or five boxes of rouge.”
Princess Consort Qin’s mouth twitched. Gu Hanyun stepped forward and said, “Yes, it wasn’t expensive. By the way, Princess Consort…”
Gu Hanyun stepped forward and lowered her voice, “Princess Consort, how is your prince at night? Our prince is so energetic. He’s busy with official duties during the day, and he’s also… seven times a night.”
Gu Hanyun made it up as she went along. Anyway, bragging didn’t cost anything, and she was just making things up.
Princess Consort Qin, who hadn’t been favored for a long time, was speechless.
Yu Weiwan saw that the time was right, so she stepped forward and said to the concubines behind Princess Consort Qin, “Sisters, your figures are so good, slender and slim, unlike us…”
As she spoke, Yu Weiwan’s face showed some distress, “These days, our princess is afraid that we won’t eat well, so she makes us meals every day, and we’ve all gained a lot of weight.”
The concubines behind Princess Consort Qin were all shocked, some envious and some disbelieving. Princess Consort Qin’s eyes twitched, and she couldn’t say a word. In terms of looks, strength, job, and favor, her husband was no match for Jiang Han’s husband.
That was fine, but even when comparing herself, she couldn’t compare to Jiang Han.
Princess Consort Qin gritted her teeth and said, “My elder brother is a civil official in the court, but he dared to fight a tiger face to face alone last time, just to peel off the tiger skin and make me a shawl.”
She didn’t believe that anyone in Jiang Han’s family could compare to her brother.
Jiang Han sneered, and Princess Consort Qin glared at her, her voice sharp, “What are you laughing at?”
Jiang Han calmly dusted the dust off her clothes and said, “My third brother dares to eat feces. Does your elder brother dare?”
Princess Consort Qin: “!!!”
Yu Weiwan: “!!!”
Everyone present: “!”
••••
After the Hundred Flowers Banquet, Yu Weiwan and the other two were still in a daze. At the Hundred Flowers Banquet, they had completely won. Wherever they went, the princesses and concubines avoided them, and no one even sat at the same table with them during the meal.
After returning home, Yu Weiwan even returned to her courtyard in a trance, without even eating the snacks made by Liu Shuwei, which made Jiang Han feel very guilty.
However, she was obviously not someone who thought too much. After eating the snacks, she washed up and went to sleep. She was really exhausted from the tongue battle with the crowd today.
At the same time, stories of the “seven times a night” Prince Qi and the “daring to eat feces” general’s young son began to spread throughout the capital. Jiang Han was completely unaware of this.
It wasn’t until the next day, when Jiang Mai arrived with a smile and dismissed Gu Hanyun and the others, that Jiang Han realized something was wrong. Just as she was about to run away, she was grabbed by Jiang Mai.
Jiang Mai smiled slightly, his fingers already pinching Jiang Han’s ear, “Sister, there are rumors in the capital that I dare to eat feces. Do you know how that happened?”
Jiang Han blinked, “Bro… brother, listen to my explanation.”
The next second, a heart-wrenching scream came, “Oww… brother, you’re my only brother…”
“Don’t pull, don’t pull… oww, I’ll go out and clarify for you right away!”
Jiang Mai finally let go, but his fingers were still on Jiang Han’s earlobe, his tone dangerous, “How are you going to clarify?”
“I’ll say, say…” Jiang Han scratched her head, “Say you don’t dare to eat feces.”
Jiang Mai: “…”
Author’s Note:
Jiang Mai: Let’s just die together.
Jiang Han: No, brother, you’re my only brother.