In Ci'an Palace, Wan Jinlan had lunch with the Empress Dowager and then talked about the purpose of their visit today.
Wan Jinlan told the empress dowager everything Yu Qi had said. Although she was not terribly shocked, she did look grim.
After the Queen Mother calmed down, Wan Jinlan continued, "Mother, last night, the Prince of Guangling broke into the palace..."
She recounted what had happened last night and then asked the Queen Mother what to do.
After hearing this, the Queen Mother was furious: "Prince Guangling is so audacious! If I hadn't asked him to go to the vassal state..."
The Queen Mother never expected that it was Prince Guangling who had brought her son to this point. If it hadn't been for her, would Prince Guangling have had the opportunity to go to his fiefdom?
"Mother, Princess Kangning..." Wan Jinlan didn't finish her words, her tone worried.
The Queen Mother's expression was calm. After a long while, she said, "You should go back home first. I will take care of Kang Ning's affairs."
Ten days would not be enough even if we wrote to Prince Guangling to negotiate terms.
Wan Jinlan said no more, bowed and left.
After Wan Jinlan left, the Queen Mother rubbed her head and said, "Send Eunuch Wen here."
An old eunuch with one eye blind came and listened to what the Queen Mother said. He asked speculatively, "Your Majesty, do you want me to make arrangements? Princess Kangning is now living in the North Palace, guarded by the Imperial Guards."
Eunuch Wen has been with the Empress Dowager for decades and their relationship is extraordinary.
The Queen Mother pondered for a long time, resting one hand on the small table in front of her. "Go and prepare first. Don't make any noise. I will notify you when to act."
After Eunuch Wen withdrew, an elderly maid beside him said, "Your Majesty, why don't you tell His Majesty about this? If His Majesty learns of what you have done, he will surely be furious."
The Queen Mother shook her head and said, "I can't say."
The relationship between her and the emperor has gradually become more subtle over the years.
If she told the emperor and the emperor disagreed and wanted to use Feng'er to control the Prince of Guangling and influence the war situation, what would she do?
The old nanny opened her mouth, then closed it again, unable to hold back, saying, "Your Highness has been worthy of His Majesty over the years. If you had told His Majesty directly, he would not have ignored His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi."
The Queen Mother coughed suddenly, her cheeks flushed red. The old nanny was in a panic for a while, but after she calmed down, the Queen Mother warned her, "Don't ever say such things again in the future."
She couldn't grasp the emperor's thoughts now, nor could she afford to bet on what choice he would make. The only person she could trust was herself.
But if this matter is exposed later, the trust between her and the emperor will be in jeopardy.
But she had to do so. She had to abandon Feng'er once before, and this time, she wanted to be a good mother.
Most of the palace maids and maids in Ci'an Palace were elderly people who had followed the empress dowager for many years and had experienced many hardships together. The empress dowager naturally trusted them.
"When the weather gets cold, the Empress's arthritis will flare up. You must take care of yourself." Xia Liu helped the Empress Dowager back to the bedroom.
The Queen Mother lay sideways on the couch and sighed, "I am old after all."
"Your Majesty, please take a rest first. I will go and see if the tonic soup is ready."
After leaving Ci'an Palace, Wan Jinlan went to Yongfu Palace.
My aunt looked much the same as always, though a bit more relaxed. The recent situation in the palace seemed to have had no effect on her at all.
Although she has been taking care of Xiao Feng in the mansion recently, she also has some understanding of the situation in the palace.
Now, in the palace, it was not only my aunt who had fallen out of favor, but all the concubines could basically not see the emperor. The emperor now openly favored Concubine Lai.
Lai Guiren was promoted to imperial concubine, and no one in the palace or the court objected.
Among the concubines who have been able to survive in the palace for many years, and the officials who have stood firm in the court for many years, which one of them does not have a keen eye?
Judging from the emperor's series of reactions after Prince Rui's accident, whether it was out of sympathy, compensation, or other reasons, the emperor could let Concubine Lai do whatever he wanted. After all, it was just a concubine position, so it could be regarded as compensation for Concubine Lai's grief for losing her son. Prince Rui was dead, so what did Concubine Lai's status matter?
No one in the harem or the court objected, and Concubine Lai's promotion to concubine seemed like a trivial matter. For Wan Jinlan, this matter had even less to do with her.
Anyang's marriage has been arranged, and the partner is Zhou Shi'an, the grandson of Taifu Zhou.
Anyang was not happy.
"When the marriage proposal was all the rage, the Zhou family didn't make any comments. Only after it was over did Zhou Shi'an come to see me. Tell me, why did Mother agree to this marriage?"
There is a war in the south of the Yangtze River, the Rong people north of Beiyuan are not very stable, and there is a famine in the west. The capital seems to be stable. Wan Jinlan always feels that it is good for Anyang to get married first. If something goes wrong again and the princess needs to marry, wouldn’t it be bad luck again?
Wan Jinlan comforted him, "Your marriage was once a matter of national importance. How could Grand Tutor Zhou allow Zhou Shi'an to have any contact with you? Would you be happy if he did something like Chen Congbai?"
Anyang glared at her, saying that she was really bringing up something that was irrelevant.
She likes heroic men. Although she doesn't hate weak scholars like Zhou Shi'an, she is not that fond of such a prince consort.
"Besides, you are a princess, and Zhou Shian is easy to control. If you ask him to go east and he doesn't go west, what else can you be dissatisfied with?"
Anyang snorted, "I'm a princess. No matter who I choose as my consort, he has to obey me. Zhou Shian, who looks frail, it's not difficult to make him obey."
Wan Jinlan didn't know what to say, so he simply left the palace.
After leaving the palace, she returned to the mansion. When she was in Jinchun Hall, her second aunt spoke to her in a sarcastic tone.
After leaving Jinchun Hall, Wan Jinlan asked his mother, Second Aunt, what happened.
Shen Qing didn't want to mention the dirty thing, but his daughter was not an outsider, so he said it anyway.
It turned out that it was Lin’s sister-in-law from her mother’s family who made a scene at the mansion yesterday.
Lin's elder brother has been working with Wan Feng in the southwest in recent years, and Lin's nephew from her mother's side has recently been competing with Wan Feng for Wan Feng's new concubine. Lin's nephew climbed over the wall into Wan's house at night and startled Pei, who was diagnosed with pregnancy and was almost scared to death.
Wan Muxing beat Lin's nephew with a military stick and gave him a hundred strokes. This matter was heard by Lin's eldest sister-in-law in Kyoto.
Mrs. Lin felt that Wan Muxing was too harsh and almost died, so she came to ask for an explanation.
"Sister-in-law is actually pregnant," Wan Jinlan said in surprise, then said unhappily, "Second Aunt's family actually came to our house and demanded an explanation?"
Shen Qing was also very unhappy. If the eldest sister-in-law of the Lin family was a normal person, she would not have made a fuss at the mansion. Besides, competing with her uncle for a concubine was not a glorious thing. It was so shameful that everyone in the mansion knew about it.
She knew her eldest son well. He had always been the most steady person since he was a child. If he dared to beat them with a hundred military sticks, it meant that the nephews and nieces of the Lin family deserved to be beaten.
Chen Qing could understand Lin's unhappiness, but why was he being so sarcastic towards her daughter? Who owed her anything?
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