Chapter 711 The Fourth Princess Consort visits the Jiang family to apologize.

She added, "Tell me about the previous princesses."

Hongxiu asked, "Shall we start from when Your Highness married the Emperor?"

“Just pick out the important points,” she said.

Hongxiu said, "When Your Majesty married the Emperor, he was still a prince, and you were just the Princess Consort of Heng. At that time, the former Princess Consort of Yu was the most annoying. She never spared anyone with her mouth. Who would have thought that she was the truly pitiful one? Not only could she not have children, but she was also beaten by Prince Yu. She was beaten terribly. Your Majesty, don't be fooled by her strength. When Prince Yu beat her, she didn't dare to fight back. Consort Yan called her a hen that couldn't lay eggs, and all she could do was shed tears."

Compared to the Third Prince's wife, the Third Prince's wife is much happier. The Third Prince has a problem with his foot, which is said to be congenital. The Third Prince's wife has no desires and only wants to protect the Third Prince's mansion, which is quite difficult for her.

As for the Fourth Princess Consort, she was just as the Empress described—aloof and unsociable. The Fourth Prince was utterly powerless in her presence. Everyone in Shengjing knew that the Fourth Prince was henpecked and only dared to have affairs. The concubines in his household were either the Fourth Princess Consort's confidantes or people she had found. When the Fourth Prince got a maid pregnant, the Fourth Princess Consort secretly punished him, and the Fourth Prince didn't dare utter a sound.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Fenghua said, "That's not necessarily true."

"What does Your Majesty mean?"

“Is the Fourth Prince really henpecked? Is he really weak and incompetent?” Jiang Fenghua added, “That’s what makes the Fourth Prince so strange.”

Hongxiu said doubtfully, "Everyone says so, and besides, none of the princes are of any use. Only the Emperor is a man of both literary and martial talents, exceptionally brave, and cares deeply for the people. Countless women want to marry the Emperor, isn't it all because of the Emperor..."

"Isn't it because of his imperial status that everyone wants to marry him?" Jiang Fenghua thought. The Xie family's imperial heirs are useless, it's all thanks to Empress Dowager Cheng! According to Granny Wang, she and the late emperor were separated for twenty years. She must have spent all those years dealing with the concubines in the palace!

Hongxiu was stunned for a moment, then realized that the Empress had wanted to marry the Emperor for the same reason.

Hongxiu was also a little embarrassed; she couldn't say that.

Seeing that she was in a daze, Jiang Fenghua said, "Go on."

Jiang Fenghua had asked Hongxiu and the others to investigate the situation of the royal family. At the time, they didn't understand, but they did after the Empress married the Emperor.

She said, "None of the princes are capable of being trusted."

Jiang Fenghua said, "There are many imperial heirs in the royal family, but there are indeed very few who are capable of great things. Don't you find that strange? One or two of them are stupid. The mothers of the princes have raised their sons to be useless. In my opinion, at least the Fourth Prince is not like that. I think he is deliberately hiding his true colors."

Hongxiu said, "The Fourth Prince's mother, Consort Chang, still lives in the palace. The Imperial Household Department usually sends her things. I've heard people mention that Consort Chang moved into the West Palace when she was young, which is essentially the Cold Palace. She herself requested to go to the West Palace. Consort Yan served the late Emperor the longest, but she didn't request to go to the Cold Palace. The late Emperor didn't visit her palace or summon her to his bedchamber. She was driven crazy in the palace and took illegal drugs to relieve her emptiness..."

Jiang Fenghua's thoughts were always on the Fourth Prince. After the late emperor passed away, according to the rules of the ancestors, the Dowager Consorts were allowed to leave the palace with their sons to live out their old age, which was also a way of giving them freedom. But why did Dowager Consort Chang not leave the palace?

Jiang Fenghua said, "Let's go and meet the Fourth Princess Consort!"

-

In the lobby, Zhang Yurou seemed to be staying for breakfast. Since she didn't say she was leaving, Zhang Yumo felt awkward about asking her to go. After all, the two had been so close before, and it wouldn't be right for them to stop communicating over such a small matter.

The maidservant refilled the Fourth Princess's tea several times, and the princess said, "Aunt Jiang, your tea is really delicious, sweet and fragrant. What kind of tea is it? I'll have the steward buy some too."

Feng Jingyuan still remembers the scene in the palace that day when the Fourth Princess Consort accused Yan'er of pushing her daughter. She was even unwilling to admit that it was her daughter who pushed Yan'er and Xiao Chu into the lotus pond.

Feng Jingyuan said, "It's not a precious tea. It's just wild tea made by rubbing leaves picked randomly from the mountains. It's mainly used to reduce internal heat, so people with excessive internal heat can drink more of it."

Zhang Yurou looked a little embarrassed. She usually drank the finest tea, the kind that was a tribute to the imperial court. When had she ever drunk wild tea from the mountains?

Her eyes suddenly turned red, and she said, "It's good to cool down. It's all because Yu Rou didn't teach the child well and spoiled her from a young age. I gave birth to a daughter and couldn't give birth to a son, which made Yi'er disliked by her father from a young age. So I thought I should love her more. Who knew she would turn out like this? I'm also afraid that she will suffer grievances outside and that no one will support her."

Zhang Yurou's use of the child to appeal to sympathy was indeed very effective. Feng Jingyuan said, "What's wrong with having a daughter? A daughter is also her mother's precious baby after ten months of pregnancy."

Zhang Yurou said, "So Mo'er gave birth to Xiao Chu, and Xiao Chu is loved by the whole Jiang family. Lord Jiang and Aunt Jiang don't mind that she gave birth to a daughter. You all love Xiao Chu very much, and we are really envious."

Zhang Yumo glanced at Feng Jingyuan furtively, feeling extremely embarrassed. "Cousin."

"Are you embarrassed? You and Lord Jiang will have children in the future. Now you have a daughter, next time you'll have a son. It's good to have both a son and a daughter."

Feng Jingyuan said, "Mo'er's next child will also be a daughter. Our Jiang family will love her just the same. It's the same whether it's a son or a daughter."

Zhang Yurou felt that she was talking without understanding the situation, but she smiled and said, "Aunt Jiang really loves her daughter-in-law."

Just then, Jiang Fenghua came out from the backyard, "I wonder if Consort Chang also loves the Fourth Princess Consort the same way!"

Upon hearing the name Consort Chang, Zhang Yurou's eyes flickered slightly, as if a hint of panic flashed across her face. She quickly stood up from her seat and bowed, "Your Majesty, I am sorry for your rudeness. I did not know that Your Majesty had left the palace."

"Please sit down, Fourth Princess Consort. I'm just out of the palace on some business." Jiang Fenghua didn't want to be too intimate with her.

In her view, something unusual must be going on.

The atmosphere changed somewhat as soon as Jiang Fenghua arrived.

Zhang Yurou had been instructed by Xie Yang to be extremely cautious in front of Jiang Fenghua and not to reveal any flaws.

She asked, "Why did Her Majesty the Empress suddenly leave the palace?"

"I came out of the palace to deal with the matter of Jishantang. Many people in Jishantang have been poisoned and died. They were all a group of pitiful people. I don't know who has a grudge against a group of poor people and wants to poison them." Jiang Fenghua sighed, "Imperial Physician Mei and the people from the Imperial Hospital have been busy trying to detoxify them. Jishantang is my life's work. I only hope that there will be fewer wronged souls and vengeful ghosts in Shengjing City."

Zhang Yurou unconsciously felt a little nervous. "It is quite pitiful."

"It was Consort Su who poisoned it. She admitted it to me herself. I didn't expect her to still be alive. What I didn't expect even more is that Consort Su was also in contact with the Empress Dowager. They conspired to harm the people in Jishantang. I am heartbroken." Jiang Fenghua spoke without hesitation. All this information had been entered into the Imperial Clan Court's files. If the Fourth Princess and the Fourth Prince really wanted to investigate, they could find out.

Zhang Yurou's expression didn't change much after hearing this, indicating that she already knew.

Jiang Fenghua stared at Zhang Yurou's face, noticing that her skin seemed taut. She continued, "She's really lucky. She escaped again. No matter how hard they try, they can't wipe out the remnants of the Su family. That's why they had someone rescue her. The person who died wasn't Consort Su at all; someone impersonated her and died in her place."

Zhang Yurou blurted out, "How could she still be alive?"

"Actually... she's not dead. The Emperor is secretly ordering her arrest." Jiang Fenghua covered her mouth. "Mother, sister-in-law, please don't tell anyone!"

The two nodded. "We won't talk nonsense."