Queen: My daughter is very accurate in her predictions.
"Come, let the Empress Dowager hold her. This is the first little princess of our Xia family's generation!" The Empress Dowager took Xia Miaoyuan from Xia Zhengqi with a smile on her face.
[Ah...old woman, don't touch me! Don't hug me! Stay away from me!]
Xia Miaoyuan kicked his chubby little legs hard and waved his little hands around. Suddenly he burst into tears, and crystal tears fell out one by one.
[I don’t want to be hugged by a bad guy! Wah…]
Xia Zhengqi was stunned: Bad guy? The Queen Mother is a bad guy? Why is Miao Er so resistant to the Queen Mother?
Queen: My daughter, please at least pretend.
"Yes, yes, for more than ten years, there is only this little princess!" Concubine Jiang agreed, lowered her head and rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Qi Qiu, quickly have someone bring in the gifts." The Empress Dowager gave the order while coaxing Xia Miaoyuan with a little embarrassment.
When Xia Miaoyuan heard the word "gift", her crying stopped abruptly. She twisted her little face to look outside with a few tears still hanging on it.
[Hurry up and present your gifts to this princess! You all need to give me lots of gifts, roo roo roo!]
"Ahem..." Seeing this, the queen laughed wildly in her heart, and hurriedly took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth, pretending to clear her throat.
Concubine Jiang made a gesture, and several eunuchs carrying gifts immediately stepped forward.
A young eunuch announced loudly: "The Empress Dowager sent six pieces of brocade, six pieces of gold jewelry, a pair of jade bracelets, and a pair of agarwood bracelets. Concubine Jiang sent two pieces of brocade, a pair of gold bracelets, a pair of gold hairpins, and a pair of golden qilins."
[Tsk, the gift is so perfunctory. That's right, you didn't prepare any gifts in advance. You didn't even want my mother and I to be alive. Hahaha, yesterday's plan failed. You must be very frustrated, right?]
Xia Zhengqi frowned slightly. "Plan failed? What plan? The plan of the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang?"
"I thank the Queen Mother and Sister Jiang." The Queen held back her laughter.
The Empress Dowager teased Xia Miaoyuan while deliberately putting on a look of concern: "Queen, I heard that your carriage suddenly started running wildly yesterday? It was really scary!"
"Yes, I was really scared. I don't know why the horse suddenly got frightened." The queen touched her chest with a handkerchief, with fear on her face.
"Did you encounter anything unusual on the way?" asked the Queen Mother.
"Now that I think about it, everything was normal on the road, there was nothing unusual." The queen lowered her eyes.
Concubine Jiang pretended to be puzzled: "They are all precious horses trained by the palace horse trainers. How could they suddenly get startled?"
"No matter how docile a horse is, it is still an animal after all. How can we guarantee that it will never make mistakes?" The queen said calmly.
[Mother is so smart. Before you're absolutely sure you can defeat the villain, playing dumb is the wise choice.]
"Hmph, you two witches, don't you know why the horse was frightened and ran away? Your acting is so convincing, it would be a shame if you didn't become actors. Wasn't it you, Concubine Jiang, who came up with the idea of drugging the horse? And that drug was painstakingly found by your father, Grand Tutor Jiang."
"You, the Jiang family, have repeatedly tried to kill my mother so that Jiang Qiqiu can become the queen and the fifth prince can become the crown prince. How vicious!"
Xia Zhengqi's heart trembled, and his legs went weak, but he suppressed his emotion and said with a smile, "Alright, alright, the Queen has just been frightened. Let's not talk about that for now. The more we talk, the more scared she will become, and it won't be good for her health."
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about that for now. The safety of the Queen and the Princess is more important than anything else." The Queen Mother forced a kind smile.
"Queen, you should take good care of your health. I and Qiqiu will take care of the affairs of the harem, so you don't have to worry about them. We won't disturb your rest." After the Empress Dowager said this, she handed the child to the wet nurse and gave Concubine Jiang a wink.
Concubine Jiang also bowed and said goodbye.
The aunt and nephew left together.
After finally dealing with the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang, and now that they had finally left, Xia Zhengqi and the Queen both breathed a sigh of relief.
Xia Zhengqi turned to look at Xia Miaoyuan, wanting to hear her talk about the secret of the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang, but she had fallen asleep.
Never mind, even if it is a unique baby, it is still a newborn baby after all, and it will always be sleepy.
He sat down next to the queen, put his arm around her shoulders, and said softly, "Ruoyu, just take good care of yourself and let the nurse take good care of our Miao'er. I will definitely get to the bottom of what happened yesterday, don't worry."
The queen's eyes suddenly lit up and she looked at Xia Zhengqi affectionately.
She and Xia Zhengqi were a young couple who spent their youth together and had a sincere relationship.
But in recent years, due to the instigation of the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang, Xia Zhengqi misunderstood her and developed a rift with her. Over time, their relationship became distant.
Come to think of it, it has been a long time since the emperor has been so gentle and affectionate towards her.
Thinking of this, the queen couldn't help but feel her eyes turn red and tears welled up in her eyes. She nodded at Xia Zhengqi.
In the imperial study, Cheng Feng and Ying Chen stood respectfully in front of the emperor's desk.
The two of them were Xia Zhengqi's most trusted confidants and also highly skilled secret guards. They had been with him since he was 12 years old, when he was still the Third Prince.
Xia Zhengqi said solemnly, "Cheng Feng, Ying Chen, pick some smart ones from the secret guards to follow Grand Tutor Jiang. I want to know his every move. Also, keep an eye on his connections with the Empress Dowager and Noble Consort Jiang."
Cheng Feng and Ying Chen accepted the order and withdrew.
Xia Zhengqi called Debao in again and said, "Debao, pick a few loyal and clever young eunuchs and palace maids. From today on, you must secretly monitor the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang. Report anything you find immediately."
Debao looked puzzled and was about to ask, but when he saw the emperor's gloomy face, he quickly swallowed his words, replied "yes" respectfully, and retreated.
After Xia Zhengqi gave these instructions, he was a little dazed for a moment.
He knew that the Empress Dowager disliked her legitimate wife, Xiao Ruoyu, and despised her for being a foreigner. So, when the Empress Dowager sent her niece into the palace, he obediently accepted.
Over the years, disputes had occurred from time to time between the Empress Dowager and the Empress, but he hadn't thought much of it, thinking it was just a conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, just like in ordinary families.
Every time he would try to smooth things over, trying to appease both sides, thinking that it would just pass without any further ado.
He never expected that the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang would actually want to kill Ruoyu and even want to seize the throne.
If her daughter's prediction is accurate, the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang will plot to murder the Queen, after which Concubine Jiang will ascend to the throne and the Fifth Prince will become the Crown Prince.
So who would be the one who killed him, the Crown Prince, and the Second Prince five years later? Could it also be the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang?
Cold sweat oozed from the emperor's forehead. It was too horrible. He didn't dare to think about it anymore.
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