Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 642 - 598: Always Look at the Long-Term (1)

Li Yu En shook his head, "The Empress has always had this soft temperament, you already know that."

"Whose daughter is the imperial concubine?" Li Yuwen thought of something important and immediately asked.

She wanted to know who became so arrogant in the Capital after she left, daring to step on Cui Yinglei?

The only one who can bully Cui Yinglei is Li Yuwen!

Li Yu En said, "Chengye said, the imperial concubine is the daughter of the Yu Wen Family of the Marquis Zhongyi Mansion. She has a brother who became Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, named Yu Wen Zan."

"What? The daughter of that impoverished Yu Wen Family? That family, two years ago, couldn’t even afford to repair their front gate and had to borrow from others. How did Cui Yinglei end up being bullied by the daughter of that family?" Li Yuwen was so angry she held her head, "I don’t know what to say, Cui Yinglei, oh Cui Yinglei, how can you be so useless?"

Empress Cui Yinglei is the eldest daughter of the legitimate main branch of the prestigious Cui family in the Capital.

Li Yuwen is the eldest legitimate daughter of the Lu Ling Royal Mansion.

One is the daughter of a wealthy family that has been prosperous for centuries, one is the Great Princess of the Royal Family.

Both come from noble backgrounds, with relatively equal status.

However, Cui Yinglei and Li Yuwen have completely different temperaments.

Because the Cui family is wealthy and comes from a prestigious family, she could become a regular guest like a Commandery Princess or Princess among the concubines of the Imperial Palace.

The noble Cui Yinglei inevitably received the flattery and adoration of many, and because she was young, beautiful, talented, and versatile, many high-ranking young men in the Capital considered her the ideal marriage partner, drawing envy from many unmarried noble girls.

Those from weaker families secretly plotted against her, while stronger families directly set tripping stones in her path.

Cui Yinglei was not skilled at arguing with others, nor in scheming, and often cried in frustration. Gradually, she seldom went out, and stopped participating in the gatherings of noble girls in the Capital.

However, such matters, when placed on Li Yuwen, were handled with ease.

Everyone who openly or secretly schemed against Li Yuwen was subdued by her.

Those bold enough only dared to curse her behind her back, the timid ones would turn away at first sight.

There was a saying among the people that the Capital had two flowers, one was an epiphyllum and the other was a peony.

They said that Cui Family’s Cui Yinglei was the epiphyllum, beautiful yet shy and timid, only daring to bloom quietly at night.

While Li Yuwen was the peony, blooming brightly under the sun, blooming vigorously, blooming dominantly, so much so that all other flowers paled in comparison to her.

The two were often compared, which sparked Li Yuwen’s interest in Cui Yinglei, the timid epiphyllum.

At a banquet in the Imperial Palace, Li Yuwen proactively sought out Cui Yinglei to converse.

She discovered that Cui Yinglei was better than her in some areas, like playing the reversed pipa and restoring damaged guqin scores, things Li Yuwen could not do.

If it were another lady, possessing skills that could surpass Li Yuwen, she would exert all her strength to trample Li Yuwen underfoot.

Forcing Li Yuwen to resort to violent means to make the other listen.

But Cui Yinglei seemed disinterested in trampling others. When someone tried to incite them by saying she was more intelligent than Li Yuwen, Cui Yinglei merely smiled lightly, said nothing, and never spoke ill of Li Yuwen behind her back.

Such magnanimous behavior made Li Yuwen regard her with new eyes.

Three years ago, Cui Yinglei was crowned Empress.

Li Yuwen felt a pang of worry for her.

How could a timid woman who only sulked in her room after being schemed against by other women survive in the harem where knives were unnecessary?

Thinking of Cui Yinglei’s meek demeanor, Li Yuwen’s sense of justice was ignited.

In the three months before Cui Yinglei entered the palace, Li Yuwen tirelessly ran to the Cui family every day, telling Cui Yinglei the taboos of the Imperial Palace, how to manage the women of the harem, and how not to be schemed against or bullied.

At first, Cui Yinglei was indifferent and did not want to learn.

But with her gentle temperament, she dared not provoke the strong-minded Li Yuwen.

After a barrage of lectures from Li Yuwen, Cui Yinglei reluctantly began to heed her advice.

After Cui Yinglei entered the palace, the Little Emperor Li Can appointed three concubines that year.

At that time there was no imperial concubine in the palace, and the three concubines came from ordinary backgrounds, not needing Cui Yinglei to take action, the nannies and elder aunts by her side were enough to make them behave obediently.

But what Li Yuwen could never have expected was, that in just one and a half years after she left the Capital, an imperial concubine from the almost forgotten and declining Marquis Mansion Yu Wen Family had made Cui Yinglei, a woman from a century-old prestigious family, so helpless.