Male supporting role is not a stepping stone

After hearing the report from the spy in the Second Prince's Mansion that Rong Yinhua was seriously injured by Shao Yangji, Yang Yan was not surprised at all, but very "kindly" sent the imperial physician to treat her injuries.

Hasn't she always wanted to be favored by Shao Yangji? I believe that she will get what she wants in the future. I just hope that she can be more ruthless and "enjoy" more time.

After that, he no longer paid attention to the male and female protagonists, mainly because he was too busy.

In the past, I watched TV and saw that the emperor had nothing to do all day long and could wander around, meet concubines in the imperial garden, go on a private visit and fall in love with beauties, hunt and bring back beauties, and live a very chic life.

But after Yang Yan became the emperor himself, he realized that all those were lies!

The emperor is just a high-level working dog, who needs to deal with more things every day than when he was the president before. He gets up very early and goes to bed very late, and someone holds a small notebook to record every move.

The attendants were scarier than the paparazzi of later generations. They followed him openly, leaving him no privacy at all.

Of course, if Yang Yan didn't want to do so much work, it was fine. There were kings in history who were lazy about government affairs.

But he couldn't evade his responsibilities. Since he became the emperor, he naturally put the burden of the entire country on his shoulders.

At this time, Yang Yan missed his team of secretaries in his previous life. Both male and female secretaries were capable and helped him share a lot of affairs.

After the coronation ceremony, he began to look for candidates and planned to pull up his team again. Otherwise, if he continued like this, he would be exhausted to death.

Male secretaries were easy to find. The Great Lin Dynasty held an imperial examination every three years, which reserved a large number of talents. With just one word, countless people participated in the selection.

The difficult part was female secretaries. It wasn't that there was a lack of talent. Although there were fewer women studying in this era, there was no shortage of smart and capable women in the palace.

However, they have never been taken seriously. No matter how capable a woman is, she can only work as a female official who manages the lower-level palace maids. It is impossible for her to participate in political affairs. To put it bluntly, she is just a senior palace maid, still a slave.

But it seems that men and women working together are naturally easy to be misunderstood. Even in modern society, where people are relatively open-minded, there is always an ambiguous color for female secretaries, not to mention in this conservative ancient society.

When Yang Yan said that he wanted to select female secretaries, everyone's first reaction was that the emperor should choose a concubine.

The original owner had a good relationship with the Crown Princess. Although it was not a grand and passionate one until death, it was like water, seemingly plain but gentle and long-lasting. In addition, the Crown Princess became pregnant soon after entering the palace, and she had been the only one in the East Palace before.

But now that Yang Yan has ascended the throne, it is different. How can an emperor in the world only guard one woman?

Everyone thought that he had that idea, but was embarrassed to take the initiative to mention it, so they found an excuse to remind him tactfully.

The ministers realized their mistakes in time and began to ask him to select concubines. After all, Emperor Zhengrui was not dead, but became the emperor, so there was no need to wait for mourning.

Yang Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a while. He really didn't have this idea!

He found a female secretary because he thought that women's minds were mostly delicate and suitable for this kind of clerical work. Besides, he had worked with many women before, so he never underestimated their abilities.

Moreover, he liked the modern environment where women also had their own style. He wanted to liberate them from the harem. Now this was his first step.

Unfortunately, no one could understand his idea in this era. The queen mother loved her son and wished that he had more women to serve him. Even the new queen Shi Xiayue, who was supposed to be on the same front with him, supported him to expand the harem.

"Do you really want me to select concubines?" After a busy day, Yang Yan returned to the bedroom and heard that the queen had invited him, so he came to visit her. Unexpectedly, she was talking about this matter.

He couldn't understand the woman in front of him. Logically, after she doubted her identity, she should be happy that he didn't appoint a concubine in order to protect the interests of the two children. Why did she persuade him instead?

"Your Majesty, since I gave birth to Fu'er, my health has not been very good. Now I can no longer have children for Your Majesty, nor can I manage the harem well, so I ask to leave." Shi Xiayue dragged her heavy body to kneel down.

"As for Yun'er and Fu'er, please grant them fiefs and allow me to go to the fiefdom with them to raise them until they grow up."

Since she found those papers, she had doubts in her heart. In connection with the past, she was sure that this person was not the prince she was familiar with.

But she couldn't produce any evidence. Whether it was his behavior or even the secret birthmark on his body that she asked the maid to pay attention to when serving him, they were all the same as before.

Logically, she should have dispelled her suspicions, but she recalled that although he was still very kind to her, he was no longer willing to have intimate actions with her, and was so polite that she couldn't help but think too much.

Moreover, the subtle yet lingering affection in the prince's eyes was gone. He was like a changed soul. Although his body was still the same, the person inside had changed.

She also considered that maybe she was just overthinking, and the prince simply didn't like her anymore, but she didn't dare to gamble with the lives of the two children.

If he is not His Highness, but someone pretending to be him, how could he tolerate His Highness's bloodline existing in the world, and even compete for power with his own flesh and blood in the future?

Now all she can do is retreat and take the children away. Although she will not be rich, at least they can save their lives.

"You don't have to do this." Yang Yan sighed and said, "Shao Yangyan..."

Although he didn't know what she was thinking, he guessed that she would make this decision, which must be related to him. After hesitating again and again, he decided to talk to her openly, otherwise, with her current body, if she continued to think and worry, she might not be able to survive for long.

"Your Majesty!" Shi Xiayue interrupted him hurriedly, and even covered her ears in fear and dared not listen.

She never expected that he would take the initiative to admit her guess, but this did not make her happy, but scared her.

Why did this person confess to her? Wasn't it enough for her to give in to this step, and she had to kill him?

"Listen to me," Yang Yan squatted beside her, forcefully pried her hands apart and promised, "I will not take concubines, nor will I marry other wives. Yun'er and Fu'er are the only two heirs in my life."

"You?" Shi Xiayue stared at him blankly, with a look of doubt on her face.

"You are not wrong. I am indeed not the original Shao Yangyan, but this body is still the original one." Yang Yan tried to speak tactfully, "He left this body for some reasons, but I have no ill intentions. I am just here to deal with some unfinished business on his behalf."

Shi Xiayue understood what he meant instantly, and asked with tears in her eyes, "Your Highness has..."

She couldn't say the rest of the words, and covered her mouth with trembling hands. Seeing him nod gently, she couldn't hold back any more, and tears burst out of her eyes.

Listening to her crying, Yang Yan felt helpless. In the original owner's memory, the relationship between the two had always been indifferent, and they were the kind of people who respected each other like guests.

But she is so miserable now. It is obvious that the original owner's feeling is not quite right. This woman should have feelings for him, and the details in the original owner's memory that he has ignored show that he may not be indifferent to her.

It's a pity that the original owner can't come back at all, and the two of them missed each other after all.

Not knowing how to comfort her, Yang Yan can only let her cry and vent all the emotions in her heart.

He doesn't know if it is right to choose to tell her the truth, because he has all the memories of the original owner. It is easy to pretend to be the original owner to dispel her doubts, but he really doesn't want to do that.

He is who he is. If he deliberately pretends to be another person, then what is the meaning of his existence?

So no matter whether Shi Xiayue finally chooses to believe his sincerity, live in peace with him, or always holds doubts and grudges in her heart and tries every means to deal with him, in short, he will not regret today's decision.

Fortunately, she chose the former in the end. Whether she really believed his words or gave up because of the power in his hands, after crying bitterly, Shi Xiayue never said that she would leave the house and take the children away.

After her recovery, just as Yang Yan had expected, she became his queen on the surface and his actual partner, managing the harem and dealing with the ladies according to his wishes.

Yang Yan also kept his promise and soon made the three-year-old Shao Chengyun the crown prince, and invited famous teachers to teach him, training him as the real heir.

The matter of opening a harem was also shelved indefinitely. The emperor didn't have that intention, and the ministers couldn't force him to visit women, right?

Besides, he had two sons. Although it wasn't a lot, there were only one prince in history, and there were even emperors without children. It was useless to talk about offspring.

Later, the queen mother was also persuaded by Yang Yan that the queen must be on the same front with him. Gradually, those who really loved to worry or wanted to take the opportunity to send women from their families to the palace to cling to the powerful, all gave up that idea, and no one mentioned the selection of the imperial concubines.

Yang Yan then began to reform the country, and all the ministers followed his footsteps and became busy, and they had no energy to keep an eye on his harem.

However, the relationship between the emperor and the empress became a legend. Countless girls envied the emperor's deep love for the empress and wanted to find a husband as devoted as him, not knowing that the two they longed for were just a couple in name only.