At night, in the harem chamber, King Xuan of Qi looked at Zhong Li Chun repeatedly under the candlelight, and the more he looked at her, the more beautiful she became. He asked Zhong Li Chun curiously, “Your Highness, if you are so beautiful, why did you disguise yourself as an ugly girl to enter the palace?”


    Since Zhong Li Chun could not reveal her true thoughts, she said, “There are so many beautiful women in the palace of the great king, if my concubine did not dress up as an ugly woman, could I attract the attention of the great king?”


    “Because of dressing up as an ugly woman, the Queen almost couldn''t enter the King''s palace, thanks to Mei Yu leaving the Queen behind.”


    “I will not forget Princess Mei''s kindness.” Zhong Li Chun smiled faintly.


    “I am also very fond of Mei Yu and Jia Nu,” King Xuan of Qi said, glancing at Zhong Li Chun and tentatively asking, ”I hope that the Queen treats them like sisters, is that okay?”


    “It is possible.” Zhong Li Chun said perfunctorily.


    King Xuan of Qi asked Zhong Li Chun to take a rest with her clothes wide open, Zhong Li Chun said that she had a request, she said to King Xuan of Qi, “I hope that the Great King will take the governance of the country as the most urgent task, and select the virtuous and capable as the first major event, and no longer crave for comfort and indulge in the beauty of the inner palace .......”


    King Xuan of Qi replied casually and then urged her to rest again. Zhong Li Chun said that she had not finished her words and King Xuan of Qi asked her what else she had to do. Zhong Li Chun said, “Before the king revitalizes the state of Qi, he cannot use my concubine''s body for the time being ......”


    “Why is that?” King Xuan of Qi said, “Is the Queen worried that I will once again delay the state affairs because I am enamored of the Queen''s beauty?”


    Zhong Li Chun shook her head, then asked, “Has Your Majesty heard of the story of King Goujian of Yue lying on his back, destroying Wu and restoring his country?”


    “I''ve heard of it, King Goujian of Yue lied down on firewood and grass at night and tasted bitter guts in the day in order to destroy Wu and restore the country, if I were in Goujian''s situation, I could also do the same.”


    “The most valuable thing about the king of Yue is not lying down on firewood and tasting gall. The state of Yue had the stunning beauty Xi Shi, the king of Yue could have kept her by his side, but the king of Yue did not, he gave the beautiful Xi Shi to the king of Wu ...... The king of Yue restrained his desire so much, and devoted all his energy to the affairs of the state, can the state of Yue not be revived?”


    King Xuan of Qi was pondering.


    Zhong Li Chun continued, “The reason why my concubine begged the Great King not to accept my concubine''s body for the time being is that I want to show my determination to revitalize the state of Qi, not only for the Great King, but also for my concubine ......” She looked at King Xuan of Qi, “Great King, when the Qi state is When the state of Qi is revitalized, can we then enjoy our conjugal pleasures to the fullest?”


    King Xuan of Qi was pleased, “Queen, it is rare that you have such good intentions for the sake of my country, I promise you.”


    Zhong Li Chun was relieved and said, “Also, some days ago, the king accumulated too many zhang books, until these zhang books are dealt with, the king should not go to the concubines'' place to spend the night for the time being, okay?”


    King Xuan of Qi laughed, “Don''t worry, Your Highness, if you can be so hard on yourself to revitalize my country, why can''t I, as the head of a country?”


    King Xuan of Qi heeded Zhong Li Chun''s advice and was diligent in his court affairs by focusing on state affairs. He said to the Dafus in the court, “I will give heavy rewards to those who offend my face and point out my mistakes; I will measure the talents of those who are talented; and I will honor those who recommend the virtuous as my guests.”


    Sun Bin came into the palace to see King Xuan of Qi, King Xuan of Qi was so pleased that he immediately appointed Sun Bin as the military advisor and listened to Sun Bin''s advice, ordering Tian Ji to withdraw his troops and recover the border cities when the time is ripe.


    Gongsun Yue, who accompanied the army, didn''t know about the change in the palace, he didn''t believe King Xuan agreed to withdraw the army. When Tian Ji took out a personal letter from King Xuan, Gongs Yueun suspected that the letter was forged and wanted to ride back to Linzi to find out the truth. Tian Ji said to him, “If Mr. Gongsun leaves the barracks without authorization, this general can also punish you severely according to the military law!”


    Gongsun Yue sneered, “I am a supervisor sent by the Great King, and my actions represent the Great King; you have no authority to dispose of me.”


    Tian Ji also responded with a cold smile, “Back then, Sima Rang Tho had disposed of the late king''s supervisors for the crime of failing to exceed the time limit.”


    Gongsun Yue knew that Tian Ji was not just talking, he was outnumbered in the military camp, and was afraid that Tian Ji would take the opportunity to get rid of himself, so he sneered at Tian Ji and said, “Although General Tian is not good at fighting, I didn''t expect to play with power, and there is still a set of ...... good, I''ll just let you be complacent for a few days for the time being.”


    Afterward, Tian Guo said to Tian Ji, “Great General, why don''t you take advantage of this to finish him off.”


    Tian Ji said, “We can''t be too hasty, the military division has a letter telling us to stall him first, and then go back and design to get rid of him.”


    King Xuan of Qi was busy reviewing the zhang book in the evening, and was cold to Meiyu. At night, Mei Yu came to see King Xuan of Qi and said resentfully, “Your Majesty has a queen and has forgotten about my concubine.”


    King Xuan of Qi smiled and embraced Meiyu in his arms, he pointed to the piles of pamphlets in front of him and said, “There are so many pamphlets that need to be dealt with in the past few days, and I don''t have the time to deal with them.”


    Mei Yu picked up a volume of brief albums and flipped through them, as if casually asking, “The Queen of Kings, she ...... does she satisfy the Great King?”


    King Xuan of Qi nodded his head and said, “Of course I am satisfied, the queen is in charge of the harem and is well organized, she spurs me on at all times to revitalize the Qi state, I am satisfied with such a queen.”


    Mei Yu''s face reveals an embarrassed look and says, “My concubine means that the queen serves the great king at night ......”


    King Xuan of Qi pondered for a moment and did not speak.


    “The queen looks so beautiful, she serves the great king, must satisfy the great king more than my concubine ......”


    “Her mind is not on that ......” King Xuan of Qi sighed softly and said, ”Her mind is all on assisting me and revitalizing the state of Qi ...... ”


    Mei Yu intentionally provoked: “Such a wise queen is really rare ...... However, then again, the great king is a man, a man without a woman''s ...... companionship will never be physically or mentally pleasant ...... Great King, my concubine will go to the Queen and talk to her about this.”


    King Xuan of Qi did not let her go to the queen and let her stay with him for the night. Meiyu let out a sigh and said, “I wouldn''t dare to do that, I''m afraid that the queen will see it and resent me. ...... However, if the king goes to my residence and the queen doesn''t see it, her heart won''t be confused... ... “She looked at King Qi Xuan and deliberately said, ”Forget it, just take it as if I didn''t say it, I can''t afford to delay your majesty''s political affairs ......”


    After Mei Yu finished speaking, she twisted her delicate body and walked away.


    King Xuan of Qi looked at Meiyu''s figure and could hardly hold himself, saying to himself, “The next one will not be an example.” Saying this, he stood up and followed him out.


    King Xuan of Qi relived his tender dreams on Mei Yu''s sleeping couch. Mei Yu hugged King Xuan of Qi tightly and said, “King, can you sleep beside my concubine every day?”


    King Xuan of Qi said, “I have to deal with many affairs of state, it is impossible to have fun with your favorite concubine every night.”


    Meiyu still pestered King Qi Xuan and said, “As long as the Great King is not dealing with state affairs at night, come to my concubine, okay?”


    King Xuan of Qi nodded his head in agreement, and then held Mei Yu tightly in his arms.


    Afterwards, Mei Yu said to Jia Nü disdainfully, “I had thought that the saltless woman had such high means, but I didn''t realize that she couldn''t pleasure men at all, and no matter how beautiful a woman who can''t pleasure men looks, men won''t stay with her.”


    Zhong Li Chun learned that King Qi Xuan had gone to Meiyu''s place to spend the night, and chided King Qi Xuan, saying, “My lord, have you forgotten your oath to revitalize Qi?”


    King Xuan of Qi coughed lightly and said, “No.”


    “Then why did the Great King travel to Princess Mei''s place to spend the night before he had finished dealing with the Sentence Book?”


    “Princess Mei is not feeling well and I went to visit her.”


    Zhong Li Chun said sensibly, “Your Majesty, male pleasure and female love are commonplace, I only dare to be harsh on myself, I dare not be harsh on Your Majesty, but we have a word in advance, state affairs come first, pleasure comes second. If we don''t keep our word, how can Qi be revitalized?”


    “Your Highness, this will not happen again, okay?”


    “The Great King is the head of the country, the Great King has the final say.”


    “In the harem, it''s still the Queen''s call.”


    “Since the Great King says so, I will make three rules of engagement for the concubines in the palace.”


    The next morning, Zhong Li Chun gathered the concubines in the palace and said to them, “Nowadays in Qi, there is a strong enemy outside and a rebellion within, in order to make the Great King concentrate on the affairs of the dynasty, this Queen has three rules for the concubines in the harem: Firstly, the Great King shall not be interfered with during the night if the Great King has any zhengzhu (奏冊) to be approved; secondly, the Great King shall not be stayed overnight when the Great King is tired; thirdly, if the Great King stays overnight, it shall not delay the Great King''s early morning court. Thirdly, if you stay overnight, you shall not delay the king''s morning court. If there is any violation of the law, the palace law will be dealt with and severely punished. Do you understand?”


    “If the Great King hasn''t finished approving his pamphlets but has to spend the night in my concubine''s room, what will my concubine do?” A concubine asked knowingly.


    “Persuade the Great King to go back.” Zhong Li Chun calmly said.


    “What if the Great King doesn''t listen?”


    “Send someone to tell this Empress, and this Empress will persuade the Great King to go back.”


    “What if the Great King does not listen to the Queen either?”


    “The Great King is a wise ruler, knowing the reason for the prosperity of the country and moving to strengthen the country, the Great King will not not listen.”


    Another concubine, intending to make things difficult for Zhong Li Chun, asked, “If the Great King forces his concubines to violate the Queen''s covenant, who should the Queen dispose of?”


    Zhong Li Chun said, “The Great King is true to his word, the Great King has favored the three rules of the covenant, the Great King will not break his promise.”


    The concubine said, “The Great King is a man, and a man cannot be separated from a woman, if the women around the Great King will not serve the Great King, the Great King will find it difficult to serve himself and violate the Queen''s covenant law ...... If this is the case, what should the Queen dispose of?”


    Zhong Li Chun''s face sank and said, “Don''t worry about it, I have my own way.”


    Mei Yu didn''t give Zhong Li Chun''s covenant a second thought as she said to Jia Nü, “I''m going to go find the Great King tonight, let''s see what she dares to do to me!”


    Jia Nü advised, “Sister had better not confront the Queen directly, she is after all the head of the Harem, and if there is a stalemate, the Great King will not be able to speak up for sister.”


    Mei Yu coldly smiled and said, “I don''t directly confront her ...... I want the great king to come to me, see what she dares to do to me?”


    In the evening, Jia Nu was entrusted by Meiyu to see King Xuan of Qi, who was reviewing the zheng book, Jia Nu said, “Meiyu would have liked to come to see the Great King with my concubine, but ......” she swallowed back the latter words.


    King Xuan of Qi put down the pen in his hand and asked, “Is she also afraid of the Three Rules of the Covenant?”


    Jia Nü shook her head and said, “No, she is sick.”


    King Xuan of Qi''s heart stirred and asked with concern, “Did you ask the Imperial Dafu to look at her?”


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.“No need to ask the eunuch, she is thinking about the king, she does not see the king for a day, she can not eat or sleep ...... a woman can not eat or sleep and still can not be sick?” Jia Nü sneaked a look at King Qi Xuan and continued, “If the Great King can stay at her place for a night tonight, her illness will naturally get better.”


    “I still have so many preaching books that I haven''t approved, how can I leave ......” King Qi Xuan was in a difficult situation.


    “Your majesty don''t be difficult, I''ll go back and tell Meiyu to wait for two more days ...... “ Jia Nü sighed, ”Meiyu is also really, she is too infatuated with your majesty, and people being infatuated is a disease... ...”


    Jia female so say, Qi Xuan Wang can no longer sit down, he put down the zhang book to visit the beauty of the jade.


    As soon as she saw King Xuan coming, she jumped into his arms.


    King Xuan of Qi asked with concern, “Mei Yu, how is your illness?”


    “Your Majesty, my concubine''s illness was caused by missing the Great King, and as soon as the Great King came, my concubine''s illness was cured.” Mei Yu said, pulling King Qi Xuan''s hand to the sleeping couch and sat down, “Great King, tonight my concubine will definitely make Great King extra satisfied.”


    King Xuan of Qi said, “Mei Yu, I can''t sleep here with you tonight, I''ll sit with you for a while and then go back, there are still a lot of zhengzhi waiting for me to approve.”


    Mei Yu hugged King Xuan tightly and said, “There is still tomorrow, it is not too late for the Great King to approve them tomorrow.”


    “What is done today must be done today, otherwise, how can the country be revitalized?”


    Mei Yu let go of King Xuan of Qi, purposely put on airs and said, “Your Majesty, I know that Your Majesty is afraid of the Queen, if that is the case, I will never make things difficult for Your Majesty, I will zoom the King back.”


    King Xuan of Qi was displeased in his heart and said, “I am the head of a country, how could I be afraid of her?”


    “The Queen''s covenant, the Great King obviously likes my concubine, yet he dares not stay in my concubine for the night, what is it if he is not afraid?”


    “This is not fear on my part, this is upholding the majesty of the Queen.”


    Mei Yu pouted her lips unhappily, “The great king only cares about the majesty of the queen, but doesn''t care about my concubine''s affection, if my concubine doesn''t have the great king''s favor, she has no taste in her food, no sleep in her sleep, and no fun in her life....... Forget it, it''s no use to say all this to the great king, who has an endless number of concubines, and such a beautiful queen. It doesn t matter whether there is a beautiful jade or not ...... Great King, you go ......”


    King Xuan of Qi looked at Mei Yu speechlessly.


    Mei Yu looked at King Xuan and said, “Your Majesty, let''s go, the Queen doesn''t let Your Majesty spend the night at the concubines because she wants to keep Your Majesty by her side ...... The Queen needs Your Majesty too ......”


    Hearing this, King Qi Xuan''s eyes flashed with lust, “No, she doesn''t need it, no ......”


    He said picking up Mei Yu and putting her down on the sleeping couch ......


    The morning sun was already high, King Xuan of Qi and Meiyu were still sleeping soundly with their arms crossed. A palace maid woke up Mei Yu and told her that it was already time for the king to go to court. Mei Yu looked at King Xuan of Qi lying beside her and said to herself, “I just won''t tell the king to get up, let''s see what she dares to do to me.”


    King Xuan was late for court, and it was inevitable that the Dafus would not stop talking about it. Dr. Gao said, “The king has not been diligent in the court affairs for a few days, but he has become inert again, I don''t know why?”


    The state Dafu said, “Perhaps the king is indeed unwell today.”


    Dr. Yan said, “Yesterday when I sent the royal scroll to the king, the king was still fine, how could he suddenly feel unwell? He must have had too much fun last night.”


    Dr. Guodao said, “I heard from the temple that the queen has three rules for the concubines, and if anyone delays the morning court by staying with the king, he will be severely punished.”


    Gao Daifu said, “Those who can make the great king happy not to think about politics must be the concubines favored by the great king, although the queen is smart, but after all, she is a woman, and she is a new queen, the three rules of the covenant are just words,.”


    The state Dafu sighed: “In that case, the queen is also powerless over beauty ......”


    The Dafus discussed for a long time, and King Xuan of Qi finally went to court.


    As soon as King Xuan of Qi left the harem, Zhong Li Chun immediately ordered the temple to gather the concubines together, and with a murderous look on her face, she said to the concubines, “Only the day before yesterday did the Queen announce the three rules of the covenant, but last night someone blatantly violated the covenant, not only disturbing the King''s reading of the scrolls, but also inducing the King to spend the night, and delaying him from going to the court, if the Queen lets it go, then all of the concubines will follow suit, and how can the King, who is so addicted to beauty, be able to devote himself to dealing with government? How can the King be so absorbed in beauty that he can''t devote himself to the government? When will Qi be revitalized?” She swept a glance at Meiyu, “Therefore, this Empress must punish those who violate the law with the palace law!”


    Mei Yu was full of unconcern and said to Zhong Li Chun, “Your Highness, last night''s incident, it wasn''t my concubine who went to the Great King, but the Great King who came to my concubine, if Your Highness wants to deal with it, she should deal with the Great King, not my concubine.”


    Zhong Li Chun asked, “Princess Mei, if you don''t let Princess Jia lie to the Great King about being sick, can the Great King go?”


    Mei Yu replied, “It can go. The Great King said that my concubine knows how to serve the Great King ...... while some people don''t ......” she said, slanting a glance at Zhong Li Chun.


    Zhong Li Chun wanted to be angry but stopped and asked again, “Then, what is the matter with delaying the Great King''s morning court today?”


    Mei Yu thought that Zhong Li Chun''s anger was suppressed by her own words, and said complacently, “The great king slept too late last night because he liked my concubine ...... It''s no wonder that the great king couldn''t get a woman to be considerate for many days, and it was naturally doubly pleasurable for him to see my concubine, so my concubine couldn''t bear to wake up the great king. ”


    Zhong Li Chun then asked, “In that case, it was because you didn''t wake up the Great King that the Great King was delayed in going to court?”


    Mei Yu smiled and replied, “Of course!”


    Jia Nu, who was beside her, pulled Mei Yu a bit and whispered, “Don''t admit it ......”


    At this time, Mei Yu did not put Zhong Li Chun in her eyes at all, she pretended not to hear, and continued to say carelessly: “The king for the sake of the country, so laborious, sleep for a while more, what can be fussed about, is not just an early morning court, so that those Dafus wait for a while more is also just ...... ”


    Zhong Li Chun interrupted her and said, “Alright, don''t talk about it, this queen understands everything.” She said to the several temple men standing beside her, “Pull Princess Mei out and strike her to death with a messy cane.”


    The crowd could not help but stare.


    Two monks stepped forward to hold Mei Yu, who then reacted and asked in panic, “Queen, what do you want to do?”


    “This Queen has already said,” Zhong Li Chun said word for word, ”Pull out and strike to death with a messy cane!”


    Mei Yu, shocked and angry, struggled and cried out, “You ...... you can''t be rude to my concubine ...... without the permission of the Great King!”


    “Harem matters do not need to go through the Great King.” Zhong Li Chun snorted coldly and ordered the temple people to pull Mei Yu out.


    Mei Yu cried out, “Saltless Lady, you are jealous, jealous that the Great King likes me ...... Saltless Lady, you are jealous ......”


    Jia Nu knelt in front of Zhong Li Chun and pleaded for Mei Yu. The concubines fell on their knees in front of Zhong Li Chun, begging Zhong Li Chun to forgive Mei Yu. Zhong Li Chun swept a glance at them and asked sternly, “What do you all mean? Is it to make this Queen''s three rules of the covenant null and void, and then you all can also violate the covenant without being punished, just like Princess Mei?”


    Jia Nu said, “Your Majesty, the Great King favors Princess Mei, if the Queen executes Princess Mei without the Great King''s approval, the Great King will not be indifferent.”


    Zhong Li Chun''s tone changed and said, “You are using the Great King to threaten this Queen, right?”


    Jia Nü busily said, “I don''t dare to threaten the Queen, I am reminding the Queen that it would be more appropriate to wait for the Great King to return before disposing of Princess Mei.”


    Zhong Li Chun said, “That''s good, next time you break the covenant, this queen will wait for the Great King to return to dispose of you, this time, this queen''s words have been spoken and will never be retracted.”


    The Dafus in the court praised the queen when they heard that the queen delayed the great king''s morning court because of Meiyu, and struck Meiyu to death with a messy cane. Dr. Gao exclaimed, “This queen is truly marvelous! In the future, those concubines will never dare to use beauty to pester the king again ...... marvelous! It''s marvelous ......”


    Sun Bin was walking past him, Gao Da Dafu pulled Sun Bin down and asked “Mr. Sun, what do you think?”


    Sun Bin said with emotion from the bottom of his heart, “Of course it''s marvelous, such a queen can win over a thousand armies and tens of thousands of horses!”


    King Xuan of Qi was furious at Meiyu''s death, he questioned Zhong Li Chun, “Queen, you caned my beloved consort without my permission, do you still have me in your eyes?!”


    Zhong Li Chun was nonchalant and replied, “The king has already given his approval.”


    “Nonsense! I don''t even know about this matter, when did you give your approval?”


    “When I formulated the three rules of the covenant, I received the Great King''s approval: anyone who violates the covenant will be dealt with by the palace law and severely punished.”


    King Qi Xuan was dumbfounded for a moment, and after a moment said, “That was for concubines in general, Mei Yu is my beloved concubine, and cannot be discussed in the same breath as them.”


    Zhong Li Chun said, “The Great King did not say that a beloved concubine could violate the covenant law, nor did he say that a beloved concubine violating the covenant law would not be dealt with by the palace law.”


    King Qi Xuan stammered, “I did not say ...... but, as a queen, you should know the position of Mei Yu in my heart.”


    Zhong Li Chun said faintly, “Of course I know that if the Great King has Princess Mei with him, he can forget about everything, including matters of the court and the revitalization of Qi, that is why Princess Mei does not take the covenant law into consideration and tramples on it arbitrarily, and if I don''t dispose of Princess Mei, the concubines in the palace will follow suit and pester the Great King, so how can the Great King deal with matters of the state and revitalize the state of Qi?”


    King Xuan of Qi was speechless.


    Zhong Li Chun then said, “If Your Majesty does not want to revitalize the state of Qi, my concubine can admit my fault to Your Majesty and offer my concubine''s life for the life of Princess Mei.”


    King Xuan of Qi immediately compromised down and said, “I have no such intention whatsoever, what I mean is that ...... you should wait until I have retired from the court before disposing of Princess Mei.”


    “Your Majesty, my concubine is impatient, and I can''t for a moment allow those who trample on the covenant to get away with it; if your Majesty thinks that my concubine''s character is not suitable for being a queen, you can expel my concubine from the palace.”


    King Xuan of Qi needed Zhong Li Chun for his throne and for his country, and he had to acquiesce to what Zhong Li Chun did.


    From then on, no one of the concubines dared to violate Zhong Li Chun''s covenant.


    Press: “Pointing at the mulberry tree and cursing the locust tree” is the twenty-sixth of the Thirty-six Stratagems, which is commonly interpreted as “killing the chicken to warn the monkey” and “knocking the mountain to shake the tiger”. Throughout history, the army commanders often use this plan to establish the majesty, strict military discipline; the big countries often use this to deter small countries to comply. Zhong Li Chun kills Mei Yu and shakes the harem, so that the concubines dare not disobey Zhong Li Chun. To find out what happens next, please read the next installment: “Interlocking Stratagems”.