Chapter 670 Mother and Daughter Join Forces to Tear Apart Consort Hui
“I’m not anxious. I know these rumors won’t break my mother. I’m just angry and sad for her.”
Wei Jia sighed, "I'm just angry that the old lady made such a big fuss about it!"
"She's your mother, doesn't she think about you at all?"
Upon hearing this, Qiao Qinghe immediately understood what Wei Jia was angry about.
She smiled. "What she said is true. Besides, I don't care what she says about me, so why should I be angry?"
Seeing Qiao Qinghe's nonchalant attitude, Wei Jia frowned deeply.
She knew that her mother was plotting something with Princess Huaiyang, which was why she allowed the rumors about her mother to spread like wildfire.
However, it's one thing for outsiders to gossip about my mother, but for my own mother, Old Mrs. Qiao, to say the same thing is going too far.
Seeing Wei Jia remain silent and have a gloomy expression, Qiao Qinghe sighed, "If you really can't get over it, then go to the Qiao residence and cause a scene. Let them be wary of you."
Hearing this, Wei Jia's expression softened slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Then can I use my influence to scare the Qiao family and say that you want to sever ties with them?"
Qiao Qinghe smiled, "Of course."
In that case, her older brother should keep a closer eye on the old lady in the future.
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Wei Jia finally showed a slight smile.
***
In the palace, Li Sanqi was accompanying the Empress in her bedroom to discuss the wedding arrangements for Prince Chu and Wenxi, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yongchang.
Just then, Consort Liu Hui arrived.
After exchanging greetings, Consort Liu smiled and asked, "What are Your Majesty the Empress and the Seventh Princess busy with? Is there anything I can help you with?"
Li Sanqi said with a smile, "My mother and I are busy with my fifth brother's wedding. We won't trouble Consort Hui with your help."
The Empress was growing increasingly disliked Consort Liu and was too lazy to talk to her anymore. So she cut to the chase and asked, "Just say what you want to say, I'm busy."
Consort Liu was not angry. She smiled and said, "It was my bad timing that disturbed Your Majesty the Empress."
The Empress frowned.
Consort Liu dared not continue with the pleasantries and quickly stated the purpose of her visit: "I have come to ask Your Majesty the Empress for two matters."
The Empress glanced at Consort Liu, thinking to herself that the recent tormenting of her seemed to have had no effect, as she still dared to come to her for help.
However, she also became somewhat interested in what had drawn Consort Liu's attention.
Tell me about it.
Consort Liu hurriedly said, "The first matter is the marriage between Prince Qi and the fifth daughter of the Liu family."
"The late Princess Qi has passed away more than a year ago. I think that such a large Qi Prince's mansion cannot be without a mistress, so I would like to ask Your Majesty for grace to set a wedding date for the Prince Qi and Miss Liu."
"It has been quite some time since Princess Qi passed away." The Empress thought for a moment and then nodded. "Since the marriage was arranged a long time ago, it's not a complicated matter. I'll speak to His Majesty later and have the Ministry of Rites choose an auspicious day."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Consort Liu Hui bowed sincerely in thanks.
The Empress waved her hand. "Didn't you say there were two things? What's the other one?"
Consort Liu remained silent for a moment, then adopted a troubled and embarrassed expression.
Seeing this, the Empress impatiently shooed them away: "Since you haven't figured out what to say, go back and think it through before you come back."
Upon hearing that the Empress was dismissing her, Consort Liu dared not linger any longer and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I had already made up my mind before I came. Please grant me your permission."
The Empress curled her lip, still putting on airs in front of her, ha!
Seeing that the Empress did not continue to send people away, Consort Liu breathed a slight sigh of relief, but at the same time she felt extremely uncomfortable.
Back when Consort Zhao was still alive, how good was the Empress to her? She was always kind and gentle, never complaining, showing dislike, or being impatient with her, and never even uttering a harsh word to her.
But thinking about it, it makes sense, since the crown prince was still alive back then.
The Crown Prince is too domineering. Not to mention her, even the Empress has been made to cry by the Crown Prince several times.
Therefore, the Empress supported her and her son to slightly counterbalance the Crown Prince.
Now that the Crown Prince has been deposed, the Empress's son, the Prince of Chu, and her son, the Prince of Qi, are now on the same level and are both strong contenders for the position of Crown Prince.
It's normal for the Empress to be wary of her and suppress her now.
Consort Liu comforted herself for a moment before saying with a wronged tone, "The late Princess Qi was unlucky; she passed away shortly after giving birth to her son, leaving the child all alone and helpless."
"King Qi is useless too. He can't even protect his own child and just watches as the Qiao family takes the child away."
"I originally thought that with Princess Qi dead and the Qi family without a mistress, it might not be a bad thing to entrust the child to the Qiao family for care."
"Therefore, I made a five-year promise with Madam Qiao back then."
"But now, only a year has passed, and the child, the child has been raised to be like that!"
At this point, Consort Liu couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, you must have heard about the rumors about the child these days, right?"
"Your Majesty, I truly feel sorry for the child!"
"We implore Your Majesty to make the decision and allow the Qiao family to return the child to the Qi Prince's residence!"
As she spoke, Consort Liu knelt down with a thud and gave the Empress a deep bow.
Consort Liu lay on the ground, crying bitterly.
But the Empress curled her lips in disdain, "Consort Liu, you'd better put away your little schemes."
"You think you can take advantage of me?"
Consort Liu suddenly looked up at the Empress, her face showing a bewildered expression as if she didn't understand what the Empress was talking about.
"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty? How could I possibly dare to use Your Majesty the Empress?"
The Empress scoffed, "Didn't you want me to step in and ask the Qinghe Lady's Mansion for the child on behalf of the Qi Prince's Mansion?"
"Ha, who in the world doesn't know how much Lady Qinghe values that child?"
"You've made me step in, aren't you just making it clear you want Madam Qinghe to hold a grudge against me?"
"Consort Liu, Consort Liu, you wanted to incite hatred towards Huaiyang in the Enping Marquis's household, thereby cutting off the possibility of the Enping Marquis supporting the King of Chu."
"Now they want to use me to make Old Madam Qiao hate me, and then hate King Chu."
"At the same time, you can also easily hold the child in your hands as a bargaining chip, threatening Old Madam Qiao and the forces behind her to be used by Prince Qi!"
"Heh, you guys have quite the scheme!"
"But you don't think that you and your son are the only smart people in the world, and everyone else is a fool, do you?"
Consort Liu's thoughts were exposed by the Empress, but she showed no sign of panic.
She looked at the Empress in astonishment. "What are you saying, Your Majesty? I am just an ignorant woman. How could I possibly think of such things?"
"Your Majesty, I was thinking that since Your Majesty is the head of the harem and the mother of the nation, and the son of the Prince of Qi is also a royal heir, his affairs should naturally be decided by Your Majesty."
"That's why I've come to Your Majesty the Empress for help."
"Who would have thought that Your Majesty would misunderstand me to this extent!"
In the end, Consort Liu couldn't help but cry out in grievance.
However, she had only cried a few times when she heard Li Sanqi ask her in surprise, "Huh? Consort Hui is saying that the matter of the Prince Qi's heir needs to be decided by the Empress Dowager. How come when the Princess Qi passed away a year ago, Consort Hui didn't even ask the Empress Dowager before discussing the matter of raising the Prince Qi's heir with the Qiao family?"
"Back then, why didn't Consort Hui realize that the Prince of Qi's heir was a member of the royal family?"
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