Qi Yuning coughed a few times and put his hand on his head and said, "Empress Dowager, I feel dizzy and uncomfortable, and my heart is also very stuffy. I won't stay with you for long. I will go back to my room to rest first."
Queen Mother Zhou looked at Qi Yuning's back as she stood up and left, frowning, "Yuning, flowers don't last forever, do you really have to go against me?"
Qi Yuning listened to the threat of Queen Mother Zhou and laughed awkwardly: "I have never thought of going against you, Queen Mother. I respect you as the Queen Mother, but I don't want to give in again and again. You should have heard of my reputation a long time ago.
When I was in confinement after giving birth, Zhou Jiayun flirted with Lu Ze, and I really held back for your sake.
If you had discussed the matter of appointing Zhou Jiayun as a concubine with us instead of issuing an imperial decree directly, I would not be seriously ill now.
You didn't even discuss it with me, and you wanted to place a girl from the Zhou family as a concubine. You are also a girl, and you have also been in love with Prince Duan. Don't you understand how I feel?"
Qi Yuning said respectfully again: "I have never thought of doing anything against you. I have already asked for a divorce and given up the position of Regent Princess to your niece. As long as you dare to sit in this position, you can sit as you like.
I respect you so much, yet you still accuse me of being against you. I am really wronged!"
Empress Dowager Zhou took a deep breath, left Prince Qi's Mansion, and returned to Ci'an Palace.
Then I heard the palace maid coming to report that Madam Zhou had arrived.
Empress Dowager Zhou repeatedly ordered Madam Zhou to come in.
Madam Zhou burst into tears as she entered the room, "Empress Dowager, there are rumors out there that Minister Zhou didn't teach his daughter well and is unworthy of being the Minister of Rites. What should we do?"
"I don't know where a group of people came from, and they all scolded Jiayun in front of my Zhou Mansion. She was a lowly person, bullying people and forcing them to divorce, and stealing people's husbands... We don't ask for the position of the regent concubine anymore, we don't ask for it anymore."
Madam Zhou pretended to cry and said, "I just wanted to be a concubine, but I didn't expect that Princess Qi would humiliate us like this..."
Queen Mother Zhou frowned upon hearing this and said, "Now it's not up to you to ask for the position of concubine or not. I just came back from Prince Qi's mansion, and Qi Yuning said that the only way to settle this matter is to marry Zhou Jiayun out of Shengjing City and marry her to an ordinary citizen, not into Shengjing City. If Jiayun wants to stay in Shengjing City, she can only find a marriage with an equal status and become a concubine!"
Madam Zhou was extremely shocked and shouted angrily, "Qi Yuning, this damn thing, actually humiliated my daughter like this. Although Your Majesty has to rely on the Qi family for support now, Your Majesty will grow up and become fully fledged one day. She actually dared to let Your Majesty's cousin be a concubine. She is so arrogant! Isn't she afraid that one day she will lose her wealth and status?"
Queen Mother Zhou took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty is still young. Now we can only do as Qi Yuning wishes to calm down this incident. The princess's mansion is getting married soon. If Qi Yuning waits until the day of Prince Lu's wedding and doesn't return, then our Zhou family's reputation will be completely disgraced in front of all the nobles in Shengjing."
Mrs. Zhou was really crying at this moment, "What should I do? My daughter Jiayun is so beautiful that even if she married a prince or noble as her principal wife, it would be a casual choice. It's such a pity to only be a concubine..."
Queen Mother Zhou said, "I did think about this on my way back to the palace. You and I are worried about letting Jiayun marry a commoner from another place. Now in Shengjing City, the only one who is willing to let Jiayun be a concubine is Prince Jin."
Queen Mother Zhou picked up the teacup beside her, sipped the tea in it and said, "It just so happens that the Prince of Jin's mansion has no principal wife, so the concubine is the same as the principal wife."
Madam Zhou said, "Prince Jin? After all, Prince Jin has treated my Jiayun badly."
Queen Mother Zhou frowned and said, "You said earlier that marrying Jiayun to Lu Ze as a concubine was for your majesty's sake. Now marrying Jiayun to Prince Jin is also for your majesty, isn't it?
After all, Prince Jin is Lu Ze's uncle. After Jiayun married Prince Jin as a concubine, the Zhou family can still use Prince Jin to suppress the Qi and Lu families."
Madam Zhou recalled that Prince Jin was five years older than Lu Ze, which meant he was eleven years older than Jiayun. He did not have the overwhelming power that Lu Ze had in the court. Although he was a prince, he was ultimately a prince whose fate was over and who had made no achievements in the court.
Marrying Prince Jin as a concubine was too unfair to Zhou Jiayun.
Empress Dowager Zhou saw Madam Zhou's expression and asked, "Why are you still unwilling?"
Madam Zhou said helplessly, "Everything is up to you, Madam."
…
In Prince Qi's mansion.
After Lu Ze entered Chunjiang Courtyard, he saw Qi Yuning holding Lingling and teasing her and asked, "I heard that the Queen Mother came to the palace in person today?"
Qi Yuning smiled faintly and said, "Here they are. I thought they wouldn't be so anxious."
Lu Ze said: "The Queen Mother has withdrawn her decree. You should return to the Princess's residence as soon as possible."
Qi Yuning snorted and said, "I'm not that kind to make you upset on New Year's Day. I gave Zhou Jiayun two choices. One is to marry a commoner outside Shengjing City, and the other is to marry a man in Shengjing City as a concubine. When she decides on the marriage, I will return to the princess's mansion when I recover from my illness."
Lu Ze said, "After the court session begins, I will find an incident to banish Uncle Zhou from Shengjing City. He will never be able to enter the court again in his life. Why are you still caring about Zhou Jiayun's marriage?"
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "It won't be easy to demote the Minister of Rites, right?"
Lu Ze smiled softly and said, "Uncle Zhou was promoted as an exception. It is not difficult to demote him. If it doesn't work, how many more years can the old man of the Zhou family live? When Uncle Zhou is in mourning, I will not assign him any more tasks.
Now that the Queen Mother has withdrawn her decree, the Zhou family's reputation has been ruined, and you have gotten rid of your anger, you should hurry up and take Lingling home."
Qi Yuning thought about it and finally stopped pretending to be sick. After all, Lu Yun's marriage was imminent, and she couldn't just ignore everything. She had to give some face to her sister-in-law when she came into the family.
The next morning, Qi Yuning followed Lu Ze back to the princess's residence.
Princess Pingrou saw Qi Yuning coming back, and took Lingling from Lu Ze and said, "I was just about to go to the palace to ask the Queen Mother to return my daughter-in-law to me, and you're back now. Baby Lingling is finally back."
Qi Yuning said: "I'm sorry to have made mother worried these days."
Princess Pingrou said, "It's good that she's back. That girl from the Zhou family is really shameless."
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze returned to the room. When Qi Yuning was about to help Princess Pingrou to lecture the chef for the wedding banquet in a few days, Xiaoman ran in in a hurry, "Princess, it's bad, it's bad!"
Qi Yuning looked at the anxious Xiaoman and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Man said: "Empress Dowager Zhou issued an imperial decree early this morning, granting Zhou Jiayun to Prince Jin as a concubine. Prince Jin has already accepted the decree, and Zhou Jiayun will become Prince Jin's concubine..."
Qi Yuning sneered: "The Queen Mother chose the most important concubine for her niece. I guess she is still unwilling to accept it!"
Xiao Man said: "Then have we really offended the Queen Mother? Your Majesty is still young now, but when His Majesty grows up..."
Qi Yuning smiled and said, "There is still a lot of room for growth. It is enough for us to do our own duties well."
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