"Qianyi Pavilion, Qianyi Pavilion..."
"Love is shallow and kindness is even thinner. Your Majesty is so cruel to me." Lady Zheng looked at the tables and chairs in Qianyi Pavilion with despair. No one had lived here for a long time. Even if it was cleaned, there was still a lingering moldy smell.
"My queen." Bai Shao reached out to support her.
"Shut up!" Lady Zheng slapped her in the face and looked at her with bloodshot eyes: "How can a beauty be called the queen? Do you want to kill me? You all want to hurt me!"
"You all want to kill me, yes, you all want to kill me..." Lady Zheng sat on the chair with shaking hands: "You all have wanted to kill me since I was a child."
She bit her nails, thinking about her youth, and her heart calmed down a little.
Don't panic, don't panic, things haven't gotten to the worst yet.
She also has Yan Ze.
Yes, she also has Yan Ze.
The successive demotions of Prince Qi and his son shocked the court officials. Before they could plead for Prince Qi, His Majesty issued another decree to strip Prince Qi's maternal family of their titles and throw all adult men and women into jail.
"Your Majesty." Sun Yichun, the head of the Sun family, stepped out of the line in front of everyone and said, "I wonder what crime the Zheng family has committed?"
"To murder the royal bloodline." Emperor Longfeng looked at Sun Yichun and asked, "Are you going to plead for the Zheng family?"
Conspiracy to harm the royal bloodline?
All the court officials were secretly shocked. How much had the emperor found out during the days he had locked the princes in the palace?
There were also many civil officials who did not believe what Emperor Longfeng said. The Fourth Prince had been both civil and military, benevolent, filial, elegant and upright since childhood. How could he possibly collude with the Zheng family to plot against other princes?
This must be a conspiracy between the other princes, or... His Majesty is deliberately suppressing the Fourth Prince.
Some people secretly looked at Ming Jingzhou. In recent months, His Majesty has been praising the Ming family everywhere, clearly paving the way for the Fifth Prince.
"Your Majesty." Ming Jingzhou seemed not to notice the gazes of the crowd. He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to make a report."
"Please speak, my dear Minister Ming." Emperor Longfeng nodded to Ming Jingzhou.
"Although the Zheng family has committed a serious crime, they are the Fourth Prince's maternal ancestors, and are related to the royal bloodline, so this is no small matter. I think that the officials of the six ministries should assist in handling this case and give the Zheng family a clear verdict." Ming Jingzhou bowed, "This will also clear the Fourth Prince's name and prevent him from being implicated by his maternal family."
Emperor Longfeng nodded slowly and said, "Ming Aimin's words make sense. I will follow your words and let the six ministries and the Dali Temple work together to handle this case."
The officials who were unaware of the situation could not help but feel a little moved after hearing what Ming Jingzhou said. The Ming family was really too upright. As the future in-laws of the fifth prince, they were actually protecting the innocence of the fourth prince at this time.
A few old foxes who had guessed some of the inside story had strange expressions on their faces.
Ming Jingzhou was not pleading for the Fourth Prince at all. He had clearly guessed what others were thinking and stood up to defend His Majesty's image of fairness.
However, few people thought that he was helping the Fifth Prince, because the Fifth Prince's experience in the Ministry of Rites had spread to the ears of all officials in the six ministries.
It is different because you have followed the dragon. If anyone else dared to do it, they would have angered His Majesty long ago.
On the second day after Concubine Ning was demoted to a beauty, all the concubines above the fourth rank in the harem waited obediently at the gate of Mingyue Palace early in the morning to pay their respects to Concubine Su.
Jiuzhu got up in the morning and walked out of the courtyard. She was shocked to see the concubines dressed according to their rank. These concubines didn't look very young. They stood there with their eyebrows lowered and their eyes downcast, not making a sound.
A concubine noticed Jiuzhu and gave her a friendly smile before continuing to wait with her head down.
Jiuzhu followed the wall and ran into the main hall in two steps.
Concubine Su was having breakfast. When she saw her come in, she smiled at her tenderly and waved, "Jiuzhu, are you here? Sit with me and have some breakfast."
Xiangshen served Jiuzhu the porridge and said, "Miss, please try this porridge and see if it suits your taste."
"Thank you, Auntie." Jiuzhu took a spoonful and said, "It tastes good."
"If you like, drink one more bowl." Xiangshen smiled and helped her pick up some side dishes: "If the county master wants to eat or drink anything, just tell me."
Jiuzhu nodded, and she hesitated for a moment: "My queen, outside..."
"We are all here to pay respects to the Empress." Xiang Xian explained with a smile, "Miss Ming, don't worry about these. There are many rules between the concubines in the palace. You will have a headache just listening to them. After the court session, I will ask the palace maid to accompany you to Zhangliu Palace to play with His Highness."
Jiuzhu looked up at Concubine Su Guifei, who rubbed her temples and sighed, "If you are curious, you can stay and listen later..."
"Then I'd better go play with His Highness." Jiuzhu felt a little cold on her back and ate a lot faster.
Seeing that she was quite frightened, Concubine Su suppressed her smile, and when she put down her chopsticks, she asked the palace maid to accompany her out.
"Why are you scaring her?" Concubine Su glared at Xiangshen with a smile: "Look, she even eats less breakfast than usual."
"How can this be blamed on me alone? Your Majesty, you are also an accomplice." Xiangshen helped Concubine Su wash her hands. "It's obvious that you didn't want those concubines to bother Miss Ming, so I became the evil one. I didn't expect to be complained about. Poor me, no one sympathizes with me, no one loves me."
"Blame me, blame me." Concubine Su laughed out loud: "Come quickly, two people, give Aunt Xiangxian a leg massage to calm her down."
The other palace maids saw this and came forward with chattering and laughter, making the atmosphere lively.
The laughter was heard outside the palace gate, but the concubines waiting outside did not even have the courage to look up.
They were afraid, afraid to follow in Zheng's footsteps.
In the past, the Imperial Concubine was the most favored of the harem, and she would never even look at them. She was not interested in what they did or said, and she even rarely let them go to pay their respects.
Gradually, they came to Mingyue Palace less often, and at most they would visit on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, because everyone knew that the imperial concubine did not care about these empty formalities.
Until two days ago, the Imperial Concubine made Zheng kneel down in the Mingyue Palace to plead guilty. The next morning, Zheng lost her position as a concubine and was banished to the legendary "cold palace". They suddenly realized that they had lived such an easy life in the past few years only because the Imperial Concubine did not care.
If she wanted to control them, all she had to do was say a word or a nod.
After an unknown amount of time, the main hall door finally opened again, and Aunt Xiangshen, who was beside Concubine Su Gui, came out and saluted them: "This servant greets the ladies, ladies, please enter the hall."
Concubine Su sat upright at the top, looking at the concubines who walked in neatly in two rows, and nodded with a smile: "They are all old acquaintances of the Qian Mansion. There is no need to pay respects. Please take a seat."
"Your Majesty is tolerant. We cannot take advantage of your tolerance and forget our own rules." Concubine Min bowed to Concubine Su in a proper manner: "I and my sisters pay my respects to Your Majesty."
"No need to be polite." Concubine Su raised her hand and motioned them to sit down. She glanced behind Concubine Min and said, "Why is Concubine Xu here? Is she feeling better?"
"Thanks to Empress Lao for worrying about me, I am doing fine recently." Concubine Xu was less than fifty years old, but she already had white hair on her temples. She did not sound energetic when she spoke.
"It's rare that so many of you are here today." Concubine Su looked at everyone and said, "In terms of age, I should call most of you sisters."
The concubines all said they dared not.
"Those who can sit here all have children." She looked at the few women below. In the ten years since His Majesty ascended the throne, no woman has ever entered the harem. "We are all women, and we know how difficult it is for women. Over the years, I don't like to learn those methods of torturing women."
The concubines held their breath and dared not answer.
"But there are some things that you may have guessed even if I didn't tell you." Concubine Su Gui's eyes became fierce: "I don't care about those things. It doesn't matter which of you reached out first, but from today on..."
She paused and looked at these women who didn't dare to look her in the eye: "Live a good life, don't learn from Zheng Shi, understand?"
"We will follow the Queen's instructions!" The concubines were so angry that they dared not speak.
"Everyone, please leave." Concubine Su picked up the tea indifferently and said, "If someone else is so blind as to send something that shouldn't be sent to me next time, you can continue to copy scriptures, cultivate your character, and accumulate virtue for yourself."
The concubines left Mingyue Palace nervously. Zhang went up to Concubine Min and said, "My Lady Min, what does Concubine Gui mean by that?"
"How should I know?" Concubine Min said unhappily, "If you have time to ask me these things, why not go back and ask your good daughter what's going on with her husband's family?"
If it wasn't for the servant of Princess Roude's uncle's family who suddenly went crazy and assassinated Yun Yanze, how could so many troubles have arisen?
Thinking of this, she smiled sarcastically at Zhang Concubine. What an idiot! She still cares about these things now.
Zhangpin's face turned pale instantly. She was anxious and angry, but she didn't dare to lose her temper in front of Concubine Min. Which lunatic caused all this?
Now, no one gained anything, and instead Su Meidai was provoked.
"Say less." Concubine Xu coughed twice and whispered, "The Royal Concubine is not angry with others for no reason. As long as you have not done anything that violates the palace rules, how can I embarrass you?"
"Before the incident at the Royal Stables, has Her Majesty ever made things difficult for you and me?" After saying a few words, Concubine Xu began to cough non-stop, and her face turned much paler.
"Yes." Concubine Min said with a smile: "Sister Xu is indeed a few years older than us, and she sees things more clearly than us. If that's the case, why did Sister Xu come with us today to pay respects to the Royal Concubine?"
"If you want to flatter the Imperial Concubine, go to her and tell her. It's no use telling us." Concubine Min sneered, "Who are you pretending to be?"
After saying this, she got on the sedan chair and left without looking back.
Concubine Xu looked at her back, sighed softly, sat down on the sedan chair tiredly, and wrapped herself tightly in a thick cloak. Only then did she feel a little warmer.
"Your Highness is reading a book?" Jiuzhu walked quietly to the inner courtyard of Zhangliu Palace, looked at the Prince Chen who was sitting under a tree reading, waved to the two female officials behind her, and whispered: "Two sisters, let's go to the outer courtyard to sit for a while, don't disturb His Highness."
She bent her waist and tiptoed out, and only after she was sure that the prince could not see or hear her did she ask the maid, "My two sisters, has the prince always been so hardworking? It must be very hard."
"Yes." A female official nodded without blushing or beating her heart: "Your Highness has been diligent and motivated since he was young. Sometimes he even forgets to eat in order to read."
Buying the best fighting chickens and the most powerful crickets, and striving to be the best is also considered progress.
Storybooks are also books.
People from Mingyue Palace never lie.
Jiuzhu was about to speak when she suddenly heard a cat's cry from somewhere.
The cry was so piercing and terrifying, like a baby crying. Jiuzhu couldn't help but look around: "Where is the cat?"
The two female officials had been in the palace for a long time. When they heard the cat's cry, they knew something was wrong. They smiled and said to Jiuzhu, "County Master, please sit down for a while. We will go and look for it."
As soon as the two of them left, Jiuzhu saw King Huai walking out of the yard carrying a tabby cat with blood on its feet.
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