I saw Nanny Ji supporting the Empress Dowager into the house.
The Empress Dowager did not respond, but just looked at the furnishings in the room with disgust. A broken chair and an old table were placed in front of the window, and a simple bed was placed in the corner. There was not even a curtain. The roof was covered with dense spider webs, and the room was filled with a musty smell.
"You, if you had known this would happen, you wouldn't have done it in the first place!" The Queen Mother looked at her niece with a complicated expression.
"I only knew your brother was a womanizer and drunkard, a dissolute dandy. I never thought you two could be so foolish!"
"If you like beautiful women, the Jiang family has plenty of money, so you can just buy beautiful concubines. But he actually dared to lay his hands on the palace maids! He really doesn't know what's good for him." The Queen Mother gritted her teeth in hatred.
"And you, you're so stupid. Not only did you not restrain him from doing this, you condoned it and even helped him deal with it."
Jiang Qiqiu knew she was wrong about her brother's situation and had no excuses. She just sobbed, "Qiqiu knows she was wrong. She knows she was wrong completely..."
The Empress Dowager sighed deeply, "Also, why didn't you discuss this with me before you arranged for Lanxiang to frame the Second Prince?!"
"My niece is doing this for the Jiang family!" Jiang Qiqiu cried.
"My plans to harm the Queen and the Crown Prince failed one after another, and I became anxious. I thought about whether I could get rid of the Second Prince first to throw the Queen and the Crown Prince into disarray."
"I originally thought that the Second Prince was reckless and careless, making him the easiest to fall into the trap. But I didn't expect that Lanxiang failed twice." Jiang Qiqiu's tone was full of regret.
"Aunt, I can't understand why our plans keep failing. It wasn't like this before."
The Empress Dowager fell into deep thought after hearing this: Yes, how come everything seems to have changed? Even Xia Zhengqi, who had been obedient to her for decades, refused to be controlled by her.
There must be a reason behind this, and I need to investigate it carefully.
"Aunt, please rescue me first. I will help you investigate the cause of this."
"If you rescue me, I promise not to act on my own again and I will be obedient. This is really not a place for people to live!" Jiang Qiqiu reached out and grabbed the Empress Dowager's sleeve, begging earnestly.
The Queen Mother frowned, tugged at her sleeves, and said in frustration, "You say it so easily with just a few words. You've been charged with so many crimes, and they're all firmly established. How can it be so easy to get the Emperor to release you from the cold palace?"
"For now, you must stay here. Regardless of whether you feel like it or not, you must act repentant and recite scriptures and pray for the emperor every day, confessing your sins."
"When the time comes, I will arrange for people to spread this news throughout the palace."
"Wait until your father and brother return to the capital. When they have made contributions in disaster relief and are rewarded by the Emperor, then have them plead for you."
"When the time comes, the Emperor won't want to offend your father and brother too much."
Jiang Qiqiu's face lit up with joy as she kowtowed hurriedly, "Thank you, auntie, for your great kindness!"
Just after the hour of Yin, Xia Zhengqi and the Queen were fast asleep in the inner chamber of Kunning Palace when suddenly a few knocks on the window frame were heard.
Xia Zhengqi and the queen woke up almost at the same time.
"Your Majesty, His Highness and the others are back. They have just arrived." Eunuch Debao's low voice came from outside the window.
"Immediately arrange for it to be sent to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. I will go there right away."
Xia Zhengqi lost all sleepiness in an instant.
After waiting for many days with a heavy heart, I finally received the news that the prince had returned safely.
The queen stood up quickly and tacitly, helped Xia Zhengqi put on his clothes, and asked the nanny to tidy up Xia Miaoyuan.
"Let your daughter help you." The queen whispered to Xia Zhengqi.
Xia Zhengqi smiled knowingly and picked up Xia Miaoyuan.
In the inner chamber of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Crown Prince was dusty, with a dark and thin face. He sat in an armchair drinking tea with a solemn look in his eyes.
"Chengwan, you are finally back!" Xia Zhengqi handed his daughter to Eunuch Debao, stretched out his hands to hold the prince's shoulders, and looked him up and down several times.
Two months had passed, and Xia Zhengqi had been worrying about the prince's safety day and night. Now that he finally saw his son back, he couldn't help but have his eyes red, and almost shed tears.
At this time, Xia Miaoyuan, who was drowsy in the cradle, was suddenly awakened by Xia Zhengqi's voice. When he heard the word "Cheng Wan", his whole body shuddered.
[Prince Pot! Is Prince Pot back? ]
She opened her eyes wide and turned her round little head to look around.
[Wow! It's really Prince Guoguo! Great! Guoguo is back, and he's back safely!]
"Cheng Wan, are you hurt?" Xia Zhengqi asked, controlling his emotions.
"No, look, father, I'm fine." The prince turned around and showed himself to Xia Zhengqi.
When the prince heard his sister's cheers, he quickly hugged her and kissed her rosy little face.
"That's good, that's good. Lai Chengwan, quickly tell father about the situation in Jiangxia Province in detail." Xia Zhengqi urged.
"This time when I went to Jiangxia Province, I first sent people to follow the grain transport convoy. I discovered that they had not delivered the relief grain to the disaster area."
"They sold the good rice allocated by the court to rice merchants, and then bought cheap rice bran and moldy old rice from the rice merchants, transported them to the disaster area, fed them to the victims, and made a profit from the difference." The prince said with difficulty.
"What? They actually fed the victims rice bran and moldy rice!" Xia Zhengqi clenched his fists.
"However, even with this rice bran and moldy rice, not all the victims in the river can eat it." The prince paused.
"Grand Tutor Jiang and his deputy envoy took advantage of the price difference of rice, and local officials exploited them further, leaving very little rice for the victims."
"The same is true for the 500,000 taels of silver disaster relief funds, which are exploited at every level. According to my rough estimate, if 100,000 taels of silver out of the 500,000 taels are used for reconstruction in the disaster area, it would be very good." The prince sighed.
[Alas, Grand Tutor Jiang is a monstrous corrupt official. I remember reading in the book that whenever the imperial government funds passed through his hands, he would embezzle the majority.]
Xia Miaoyuan blinked her big eyes and recalled.
Even if the money didn't pass through his hands, he would demand bribes from the officials who did. If they refused to pay him a generous tribute, he would use his power as the Minister of Personnel to retaliate against them.
[Over the decades, he had embezzled enough wealth to rival a nation. The estates he built in other places were as luxurious as imperial palaces.]
Xia Zhengqi and the prince were both shocked.
In the past, they knew that Grand Tutor Jiang had gained a lot of benefits by taking advantage of his status as the emperor's uncle, and he acted quite ostentatiously.
They never imagined that Grand Tutor Jiang's corruption had reached this level.
"Father, call Liu Tiefeng over and ask him to tell you in detail about the victims." The prince hurriedly concealed his inner emotions.
"Okay." Xia Zhengqi responded in a deep voice.
Liu Tiefeng was a 40-year-old middle-aged man with dark skin and a strong body. He looked more like a military commander than anything else. Days of traveling had given him a strong earthy smell.
"Your Majesty, I, Liu Tiefeng, the magistrate of Kuqiao County, pay my respects to Him!" Liu Tiefeng said in a cheerful voice.
"Please get up quickly." Xia Zhengqi's eyes were red.
"Tell me what you know."
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