Roude also didn't want to see the Ming family's daughter who was fostered outside. In her opinion, people who grew up in small places always had a smell of mud that could not be washed off.
But the reality forced her to bow her head.
Ever since the incident happened in the family of the Prince Consort's uncle, she and the Prince Consort have been implicated. Some people even suspected that she was involved in this matter because she had a bad relationship with the Fourth Prince's biological mother.
Today, Concubine Su...Empress Su granted them permission to leave the palace to meet the Prince Consort. Only then did she realize that the Prince Consort's family had been controlled by the Jinwu Guards, and even her request to summon the Prince Consort to the Princess's Residence was rejected by the Jinwu Guards.
She knew that this matter had far-reaching implications and many people did not dare to intervene. The only people she could ask for help were Queen Su and Prince Chen.
Empress Su had never been harsh to the princes and princesses, but she wasn't necessarily close to them either. Prince Chen was even less likely to give her face, and might even laugh at her wild ideas in public.
So she could only place her hope on Ming Jiuju.
Everyone in the capital knows that Empress Su is very satisfied with Ming Jiuzhu, her future daughter-in-law. Not only does she praise her everywhere, she also tells the ladies of state to take good care of her.
On New Year's Eve, Prince Chen personally brought Ming Jiuzhu into the palace. The two of them were very intimate and had a good relationship.
Some people speculate that the reason why Empress Su treated Ming Jiuzhu so well was to show goodwill to Bu Wenchen and to demonstrate their close attitude towards civil officials. However, whether it was out of true love or forced by the situation, it was enough to prove Ming Jiuzhu's status in the hearts of Empress Su and her son.
If she can’t ask Prince Chen for help, she can still ask Ming Jiuzhu for help.
Girls from small places are much easier to coax and deceive than those who are brought up in wealthy families.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu looked at Princess Roude, then at the gift box on the table, wondering what her intention was.
"The county lord and my fifth brother are getting married soon, and I don't have anything good to give you. I'll give you this headdress to add to your box." Roude smiled warmly, "Please don't reject it, county lord."
A gift box?
But the gifts are given by the bride's relatives. Princess Roude is your Highness's elder sister, so what gifts should we give her?
"Princess, please open it and take a look. Do you like it?" Princess Roude hid her disdain well. She heard that the county lord had come to the palace early in the morning to congratulate the queen in order to please her. She was very naive. Her precious black cat-eye stone head mask would surely tempt her...
"Thank you, Princess." Jiuzhu opened the box and took a look. What was inlaid on the jewelry? It was pitch black. The hairpin given to her by His Highness and the Queen looked better.
She closed the lid and handed it to Chunfen behind her: "I'm sorry for the expense, Princess."
That's the reaction?
That's it?
The surprise that Roude expected did not appear. She took a deep breath and said, "Excuse me, County Lord, do you like this set of jewelry?"
"Well, it's not bad." She couldn't reject someone's kindness, as that would hurt her feelings. Jiuzhu smiled at Roude and thanked her again.
I don't believe it!
Your eyes don't show any interest at all!
Roude took another deep breath and said, "As long as the county lord likes it."
Then the two of them were speechless. Roude pretended not to notice the awkward atmosphere between them and tried to keep the topic: "Excuse me, where are Lord Ming and Madam Ming? Why don't you see them?"
"My father is still in the Ministry of Rites, and my mother is still at the tea party." Jiuzhu picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea: "If Your Highness wants to see them, please wait a moment."
"No, I came here to see the county lord today." She came here because she found out that Ming Jingzhou and Shen Ying were not at home. With them around, how could she trick Ming Jiuzhu into agreeing to her request?
"Oh." Jiuzhu nodded.
Roude: “…”
Why only oh?
Now that things have come to this, wouldn't a normal person ask, what do you want from me?
Why didn't she ask?!
"County Lord." The other party didn't ask, but Roude couldn't help but mention it. She gritted her teeth and continued, "I came here today to ask for something."
Jiuzhu blinked at her but didn't ask her what was the matter.
Roude almost broke her teeth, but it was okay, she could still hold on.
"I think the county lord knows that my husband was involved in a case..."
"What case?" Jiuzhu blinked her innocent eyes and looked at Roude with a smile: "I don't know."
have no idea?
Don’t know?! Even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe this.
"It's understandable that the county lord didn't know." Roude smiled and told the story of how her uncle-in-law was involved in the assassination of the fourth prince: "My uncle-in-law is a person who knows nothing. How could he have the courage to participate in the conspiracy to murder the prince? Now the Jinwu Guards surround the uncle's house every day. When other people see it, they really think that he killed the fourth prince. Don't you think this matter is a big deal..."
"Spring Equinox, refill the princess' tea." Jiuzhu listened with great interest and motioned for Roude to continue.
Roude looked at Jiuzhu's curious eyes: "...
When she was a storyteller?
"So can you please help me put in a few good words in front of my fifth brother and ask him to be flexible." Roude smiled and said, "Of course, I will definitely not let the county master suffer in vain. After the matter is completed, I am willing to give the county master another 2,000 taels of dowry."
Two... two thousand taels?!
Jiuzhu's heart trembled. This princess is really rich.
"But..." She threw the two thousand taels out of her mind: "The princess is your highness's sister. If you have anything to say, just tell your highness directly. Why do you need to let me pass on this message?"
And it costs so much money, it's too much. Are people in the capital so generous with their money?
Hearing this, Roude almost couldn't keep the smile on her face. She suspected Ming Jiuju was deliberately mocking her.
Looking at the other person's confused eyes that couldn't tell the truth from the false, even though he was from a small place, he had learned the pretentiousness 100% from the people in the capital.
Roude forced a smile and said, "Fifth brother has a straightforward personality and may not listen to what others say. But you are different, County Lord. You are his soon-to-be princess. As long as it's you who says it, he will definitely be willing to listen."
Jiuzhu understood. This was what her mother had mentioned, the famous flattery method in the capital.
First, flatter people until they forget themselves, and then foolishly help them run errands...
"I just thought about it, two thousand taels is still not enough for the decoration. For a person as iconic as my sister-in-law, I, as her elder sister, should spend at least three thousand taels to make her look presentable. What do you think, County Master?"
Jiuzhu thought that was a lot of money and she was scared.
What kind of words would cost three thousand taels to convey?
"Your Highness, you are joking. I will tell you about what happened today. You don't need to put on more makeup." Jiuzhu raised the teacup and signaled to see the guest off.
Roude's face darkened. Should she tell Yun Duqing what happened today?
Is this something that can be said straightforwardly?
"Since the county lord is not convenient, I will not force him. As for what happened today, don't tell my fifth brother, so as not to upset him." Roude stood up and said, "Goodbye."
After leaving Minister Ming's residence, Princess Roude got into the carriage and the smile on her face fell. She turned around and asked the maidservant: "Do you think this Ming Jiuzhu has a problem with her brain?!"
She told Yun Duqing everything. Did she really think Yun Duqing would treat her wholeheartedly?
She wanted to see if Ming Jiuzhu could still trust him like this when Yun Duqing had many concubines.
Outside the city gate.
"Sir, we have arrived at the capital." The servant jumped off the carriage and asked the people inside: "It seems that something has been posted at the door, and many people are gathered around to look at it."
"Assign someone who can read to take a look at what's written on it." The man in the carriage lifted the curtain and saw the bright yellow paper with the notice on it, with dragon guards around it. His face was slightly moved.
What big event happened in the palace that required an imperial edict to be posted outside the city gate?
"My Lord." The book boy came back after reading the imperial edict and said happily, "It's good news. Your Majesty has made Prince Chen's biological mother the empress!"
"What?" The man jumped off the carriage, squeezed in front of the imperial edict, and read the words on it from beginning to end.
The Emperor actually appointed Su as his empress, so wouldn't Prince Chen be his legitimate son?
He stood there in a daze for a while.
"Do you want to watch it or not?" Someone pushed him aside and said, "If you don't want to watch it, move aside."
"Who is this Concubine Su? She has been taking care of the harem for Your Majesty for so many years, and she has no regrets even when Your Majesty neglects her."
"I know, I know. I heard that this Concubine Su is an unrivaled beauty, and looks like a fairy."
"You know what this means? Not only do I know that she is beautiful, I also know that she gave birth to a good son who is both civil and military. Your Highness, do you know this?"
"I know, I know. She's the tyrannical prince who came down from heaven, suppressed bandits, won the imperial examination, and has a pretty fiancée. No wonder the emperor wants to make her the empress. She must be very remarkable to have raised such a great son."
Suppress bandits?
Be the top scorer in the exam?
Cute fiancée?
The domineering prince?
The man in the blue shirt listened to this conversation in astonishment, thinking there was something wrong with his ears.
Did he really just work in another place for two years?
Why has Prince Chen become so famous among the common people?
When did the imperial examination take place? He knew the number one scholar this time, and it wasn't the Prince of Chen, right?
There was also the suppression of bandits. This matter was not mentioned in the letters his family wrote to him. Why were these people so confident about it?
Is this capital city still the capital city in his heart?
"Hey, I heard a piece of gossip. Did you guys hear it?"
The tip of the man in green shirt's ears twitched, and he glanced at the expressionless dragon guard.
Is it really appropriate to talk about these royal gossips in front of the Dragon Guard?
"What news? Tell me quickly."
"I heard that something shocking happened on New Year's Eve."
"Go on, don't waste time."
"A witch concubine was executed because she was jealous of the talent of the overbearing prince and wanted to kill him. As a result, the wise and powerful Lord Wansui found out that she not only wanted to harm the prince, but also killed the biological mother of a certain princess. Lord Wansui sentenced her to death."
"Tsk, I thought it was some big event. It's just the Zheng family thing, boring."
The execution of the evil concubine?
Zheng family?
The man in green shirt became more and more confused as he listened. What was the relationship between the demon concubine and the Zheng family? In the past, some officials in the capital seemed to like to call Concubine Su the demon concubine in private?
Why does it seem like this isn't what these people mean?
"Third Young Master!"
"Third Young Master!"
Several men dressed as stewards walked towards him quickly, their faces full of smiles of reunion after a long absence: "Finally we've waited for you. Greetings to the Third Young Master."
"Are your parents okay?"
"All is well, all is well. Madam guessed that you would arrive in Beijing soon, so she arranged for people to wait for you at the city gate every day these days. Finally, she did not miss you."
The man in blue shirt continued to ask, "Miss, are you getting used to your life after returning to the capital?"
"My lady is fine too." The servant replied, "My lady is at home and she thinks about you every day. It snowed in the capital before and she was worried that the roads would be slippery and difficult to walk on, and that you would have a hard time walking."
The man in green, Ming Jiyuan, the third son of the Ming family and Jiuzhu's biological brother, looked at the bustling capital city and could not hide his excitement, for he could finally see his sister.
It’s a pity that just when he returned to Beijing, his sister was about to get married, and her husband was Prince Chen.
"Is the person in front of you the third son of the Ming family, Ming Jiyuan?"
Ming Jiyuan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Prince Chen riding on horseback.
He was a little surprised that Prince Chen actually took the initiative to greet him?
I looked at the sun in the sky. It was fine. It was still rising from the east.
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