Seeing that the dowry was almost packed, Qi Yuning returned to Prince Qi's Mansion with great fanfare.
This incident caused a huge uproar. Before dusk, the news that Lord Qi was divorcing the Regent had spread among the noble families in Shengjing, and even her dowry was moved back home.
After hearing the news, Lu Baozhu rushed to the Chunjiang Courtyard of Prince Qi's Mansion and asked, "Qi Yuning, why did you go back to your mother's house again? Did my brother bully you?"
"This has nothing to do with your brother."
Qi Yuning said to Lu Baozhu, "The Empress Dowager has issued an imperial decree to make my niece a concubine to Lu Ze. How can the Empress Dowager's niece, your Majesty's cousin, be a concubine? Am I not abdicating my position and letting others take over?"
Lu Baozhu said, "She is just a concubine. Are you stupid? If you give up your position and let someone else take over, wouldn't that be a bargain for the Zhou family?"
Qi Yuning said, "I won't retreat? I'll just watch Zhou's daughter and concubine come to me and disgust me? Do you think I have such a good temper?"
Lu Baozhu said: "Then your divorce is helping the daughter of the Zhou family, isn't it?"
Qi Yuning chuckled and said, "It's precisely because we want to divorce that we can't fulfill her wish!"
Among the Zhou family.
Madam Zhou also heard that Qi Yuning had brought her dowry back to the palace from around the city, and smiled at Zhou Jiayun:
"This Princess Qi is really stupid. She divorced and returned to her parents' home. Isn't this obviously giving up the position of Regent Princess to you?
When you go to the princess's mansion, you can't have the same temper as Qi Yuning, who always goes back to her parents' home to ask for a divorce. If she really loses her position as the regent princess, she will cry wherever she goes."
Zhou Jiayun was not as happy as Madam Zhou. "Mother, the princess asked for a divorce and returned to her parents' home with her dowry. This is not a happy event no matter how you look at it."
Madam Zhou said, "How can it not be a happy event? I don't believe that Qi Yuning has the guts to disobey the Queen Mother's order. If Qi Yuning dares to disobey the order, it will be a good opportunity to settle accounts with the Qi family."
Minister Zhou couldn't help but shake his head: "You are so confused. You want to settle accounts with the Qi family now? Don't forget who dares to settle accounts with the Qi family now? Even Lu Ze doesn't dare to say that he will settle accounts with the Qi family, not to mention that the one the Qi family married is the real princess!"
Madam Zhou said, "Why am I confused again? Why is our daughter not worthy of being a concubine of the regent?"
Minister Zhou took a deep breath.
The next day, Qi Yuning invited all the imperial doctors in Shengjing City to the palace.
The imperial doctors saw that Qi Yuning was full of energy and had recovered better than most women after giving birth, so they were confused about Qi Yuning's intention for a moment.
The older Imperial Physician Li, who had watched Qi Yuning grow up, couldn't help but ask, "Is the princess feeling unwell?"
Qi Yuning said: "The Queen Mother wants her niece to be my husband's concubine and directly issued an imperial decree to grant the marriage.
Miss Zhou is the niece of the Empress Dowager. How could I dare to let her be my concubine? I had to ask for a divorce. I felt extremely uncomfortable when I returned to the palace. You should know what disease I have now, right? "
Qi Yuning glanced at the imperial doctors.
Imperial Physician Li nodded and said, "The princess is angry and sad that her husband was taken away from her, so she is worried and sick!"
Qi Yuning looked at the other imperial doctors, "What do you think?"
"That's right. That's right."
Qi Yuning specifically instructed these imperial doctors to tell others that he was seriously ill. Once the news of his illness spread, there were many different opinions throughout Shengjing City.
Qi Yuning was quietly playing with Lingling with the rattle.
Unfortunately, Lingling still took the rattle and put it in her mouth.
Qi Yuning had no choice but to ask the craftsman to make an unpainted rattle for Lingling to play with, so that it would be safe even if she put it in her mouth.
The news that Qi Yuning had returned to her parents' home with a serious illness spread throughout Shengjing City within three days. Especially since it was a national mourning period and there were many New Year holidays and banquets, the rumor spread like wildfire throughout Shengjing City.
Zhou Jiayun recently attended a banquet with Mrs. Zhou and found that others no longer had the same enthusiasm for her as before, but were only indifferent.
"Have you heard? This Zhou family is really capable! They just left the country to mourn and they are already competing with Princess Qi for her husband!"
"When did Princess Qi become so good-tempered? If the late emperor was still alive, who else but Princess Lu would dare to steal Princess Qi's things? Would they want to die?"
"It was after your majesty treated Zhonglie well that the Zhou family's in-laws, tsk tsk... directly snatched the princess' husband."
"Zhou Jiayun is pretty, but how could she be so mean? She even forced Princess Qi to become seriously ill by trying to steal someone else's husband!"
"The Qi family army was in the North City to protect the territory of Dasheng and expand the territory for Dasheng. But they actually bullied Princess Qi in Shengjing City and forced the newlyweds to divorce!"
"Princess Qi is still a princess, but she was bullied like this. If she were an ordinary woman, wouldn't she be forced to death? It's a pity that Minister Zhou is also the Minister of Rites, but he raised such a shameless daughter who bullies people and forces divorces!"
"The princess just gave birth to a child, and they forced her to divorce like this. It shows that the Zhou family is really shameless."
Zhou Jiayun felt her face flushed as she listened to the rich girls pointing fingers at her.
"No, no, miss."
The maid ran to Zhou Jiayun in a hurry and said, "It's bad, young lady! Five censors are kneeling at the palace gate, asking the Queen Mother to withdraw her decree of marriage!"
Zhou Jiayun frowned and said, "What does this have to do with the Censor? It's just an imperial decree granting marriage."
Queen Mother Zhou in the palace was being reprimanded in the palace of Queen Mother Qin.
The Queen Mother Qin angrily scolded: "I am not dead yet, and you dare to bully Yuning? The Qi family has avenged your husband's daughter, and how about you? Is this how you repay Yuning?
"Yu Ning has been ill for three days! If anything happens to her, do you want your Zhou family and our royal family to lose face? Is your Zhou family's daughter so despicable that she has to steal someone else's husband?"
Queen Mother Zhou was scolded by the Grand Empress Dowager so much that she could hardly raise her head and said, "I never wanted Yuning to divorce. I just wanted Jiayun to be an insignificant concubine."
The Empress Dowager said angrily, "When you were in love with Prince Duan, what would you have thought if I had arranged for you to have my niece as a concubine for no reason? We are all women, don't you understand what your niece is thinking?"
Queen Mother Zhou knelt down in front of the Grand Queen Mother and said, "Mother, I am also thinking about Zhao Jie. The Qi family will be a great threat to North City in the future. That's why I thought of marrying my niece to Lu Ze so that I can contain the Qi family..."
The Empress Dowager was furious when she heard this. "You are so confused. You have always been honest. Did the Zhou family tell you to use Zhou Jiayun and Lu Ze's marriage to contain the Qi family?"
Queen Mother Zhou replied, "Yes!"
The Empress Dowager said: "The young prince of the Qi family in Beicheng is my grandson, and Ze'er is also my grandson. They are cousins. You want to destroy the Lu and Qi families by marrying your Zhou family's daughter to Lu Ze. What are you dreaming of?
Also, if Qi Yu'an or Ze'er had any rebellious intentions, would your son still be able to ascend the throne now?
The Zhou family is Zhao Jie's cousin, and the young master of the Qi family army is also Jie'er's cousin. They are all cousins, and cousins of aunts are closer than cousins of uncles. In the end, we all prosper and we all suffer. You don't even know that you are being used as a gun."
Queen Mother Zhou suddenly realized that many people could not think of Princess Zhao Shu for a while, but she had forgotten that the future prince of the Qi family was indeed Zhao Jie's cousin.
"Mother, what should I do now? There are rumors flying around outside, and the censor is still kneeling outside the palace. I..."
The Empress Dowager said, "What should we do? Why don't you quickly withdraw the imperial decree? Don't make this matter known to the North City and make the Qi family army feel disappointed, or let the people of the world scold the royal family for being ungrateful."
Empress Dowager Zhou said, "I will withdraw my order right away."
The Empress Dowager said: "It is not enough to just withdraw the order. You should go visit Yuning in person and ask her what she wants."
Queen Mother Zhou replied, "Yes."
The Empress Dowager said: "Also, the late emperor only gave the edict of succession to Qi Yuning. I'm afraid that it was Yuning and Lu Ze who helped Ji'er ascend to the throne.
Instead of trusting your mother's family who relies on you, you might as well trust Ze'er and Yuning. After all, if they want to rebel, they can do so now!
You also experienced the pain of losing your daughter and husband at a young age. Now that your son has become so rich, if it is really for your son's good, you should not interfere in political affairs. You are not cut out to manipulate political power.
Jie'er has become an emperor at such a young age, it is enough for you to be a loving mother."
Queen Mother Zhou nodded repeatedly and went to Prince Qi's mansion to visit Qi Yuning in person despite the fact that it was already dusk.
When Qi Yuning saw Queen Mother Zhou coming, she claimed to be sick and asked Queen Mother Zhou to wait for two quarters of an hour. It was not until dark that she arrived at the reception hall of the palace. "Thank you for waiting for a long time, Queen Mother."
"Yuning." Queen Mother Zhou looked at Qi Yuning and said, "I am relieved to see that you look okay."
"Yu Ning, I really don't want you to divorce me. Don't worry, I won't force any concubines to Lu Ze. You should go back to the princess's mansion as soon as possible, and don't be angry. I feel very sorry for your illness."
Qi Yuning looked at Queen Mother Zhou and said, "Queen Mother, I have made such a big fuss about this matter today, and I have never suffered such injustice since I was a child. I don't know how the Zhou family persuaded you to issue this imperial decree to grant the marriage, but I can't just watch the Zhou family bully me like this."
Queen Mother Zhou said: "Yuning, I have already apologized to you..."
Qi Yuning said: "My lady, I cannot bear this grievance in vain, nor can I suffer this illness in vain.
"Miss Zhou wants to be a concubine, doesn't she? You can arrange a marriage for her as a concubine, and the matter will be settled!"
"This..." Queen Mother Zhou said, "Yuning, you are also a girl. Jiayun is still a sixteen-year-old girl. Isn't it too unfair for her to be someone else's concubine?"
"You don't feel wronged to be Lu Ze's concubine?" Qi Yuning said sarcastically, "Now I feel wronged to be a concubine."
Queen Mother Zhou was shocked and said, "Yuning, Jiayun is only a sixteen-year-old girl after all. It was the family who decided to let her be Lu Ze's concubine."
Qi Yuning said, "When I was still in confinement, she flirted with Lu Ze. Don't talk about a 16-year-old girl! Miss Zhou flirted with Lu Ze in front of me who was in confinement. Did she ever think that I was just a woman who had just given birth?
Now, one option is to marry Miss Zhou to a commoner as his principal wife, and keep her away from Shengjing City. I will just ignore her and not bother her. The other option is that if Miss Zhou wants to stay in Shengjing City, she can only be someone's concubine.
When you issue an order to marry Miss Zhou, I will return to the Princess's Mansion the same day I recover from my illness. The longer I delay, the worse the reputation of the Zhou family will be. You decide!"
"Yuning..." Empress Dowager Zhou looked at Qi Yuning and said, "Jiayun is your Majesty's cousin after all. Even if you consider it for your Majesty, please forgive her this time!"
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