Chapter 684 The Grand Wedding
Qiao Qinghe took a deep breath to calm the turmoil in her heart before saying, "You're right. But the Empress Dowager is, after all, Princess Huaiyang's own grandmother who watched her grow up!"
“He has doted on Princess Huaiyang since she was a child…”
How could she do that?
Wei Jia reminded her, "Mother, have you forgotten the scar that Princess Huaiyang has always had on her face?"
Upon hearing this, Qiao Qinghe understood everything.
The scar on Li Sanqi's face wasn't large, and it wouldn't be difficult to remove it completely, but she insisted on keeping it.
Perhaps this is a reminder not to forget the matter of marriage alliance.
Li Sanqi would poison the Empress Dowager, which suggests that the Empress Dowager may have done something to wrong Li Sanqi during the marriage alliance.
What's next? The Empress? Emperor Xiaozhao?
Qiao Qinghe dared not think about it, yet she couldn't help but think about it.
Once Li Sanqi actually takes action against the Empress and Emperor Xiaozhao and ascends to that position, will he still be Li Sanqi?
No! Li Sanqi has already made a move against Emperor Xiaozhao!
How could she forget that Li Sanqi had already made a move against Emperor Xiaozhao!
"Mother, please don't think so much," Wei Jia advised. "Right now, it would be most beneficial for us if Princess Huaiyang ascended to the throne."
Qiao Qinghe gave a wry smile. "Maybe."
***
Three months passed in the blink of an eye. And the New Year quietly passed by while we were in mourning for the Empress Dowager.
Perhaps because they had been suppressing their emotions for too long, as soon as March arrived, joyous occasions began to emerge from all the families and households in the capital.
First, the King of Chu married Wenxi, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yongchang, as his principal wife.
Following suit, the King of Qi also married the fifth daughter of the Liu family.
Of course, the King of Chu was at the height of his power, and on the day of his wedding, the guests who came to congratulate him almost wore out the threshold of the King's mansion.
However, the wedding day of the King of Qi was a day when the house was deserted.
The contrast was so stark that King Qi smashed half of the bridal chamber on the day of his wedding.
The reason it's described as half is because when he was halfway through smashing it, Miss Liu Wu stepped forward to stop him, but he ended up smashing her head instead.
This matter was later leaked out.
Some people say that King Qi might regret allowing Liu's illegitimate daughter to murder his late wife.
Now that the power of the former Princess Qi's family is gone, hasn't the Prince Qi lost power?
Yes, ever since Consort Liu Hui was demoted, Prince Qi lost the support of the Qiao family and the protection of Consort Liu Hui, the speculation about the death of Princess Qi, which had been forcefully suppressed by Prince Qi's mansion, has been brought up again.
This time, no one was afraid of the power of the Prince Qi's mansion anymore. In addition, the Yongchang Marquis's mansion deliberately spread the news that the late Princess Qi had died a violent death.
Soon, the King of Qi was impeached by the censor for injuring his wife on their wedding day, which also implicated the cause of the late Queen Qi's death.
When the two incidents came together, the censors were practically declaring that the Prince of Qi was cruel and tyrannical by nature.
This time, King Qi wasn't as lucky as Qiao Qinghe; when he faced impeachment, someone would defend him.
As a result, the Prince of Qi, who had just been married for only two days, was punished by Emperor Xiaozhao and confined to his residence for three months.
Let's get back to the topic.
In addition to the King of Chu and the King of Qi taking wives, Li Sanqi also got married.
The prince consort was none other than Fu Wenqing, the newly appointed top scholar who had met Qiao Qinghe once before at the Painting Corner Tower.
When Qiao Qinghe attended Li Sanqi's wedding, she saw this Mr. Fu again.
However, unlike his previous panic and embarrassment, Fu Wenqing, after becoming the top scholar and then the emperor's son-in-law, now exudes an air of pride, confidence, and power.
When toasting her, he merely nodded slightly, took a small sip, and then turned around to warmly exchange pleasantries and toast with the people from the Yongchang Marquis's residence.
The key point is that Fu Wenqing had already offered a toast at the Yongchang Marquis's residence.
However, seeing him heading towards Qiao Qinghe, Madam Wen deliberately waved to him, and Fu Wenqing gave Qiao Qinghe a perfunctory answer and scurried over.
Seeing this, Madam Zheng couldn't help but frown.
Qiao Qinghe was also slightly surprised.
I originally thought he was a decent young man, and even considered betrothing Qiao Ning to him. Who would have thought that he would be such an opportunist and sycophant?
"Didn't Princess Huaiyang carefully investigate his character before choosing him as her husband?"
Madam Zheng muttered a complaint under her breath, then laughed at herself.
How could I not inquire about something like this?
Qiao Qinghe gave a wry smile.
Not to mention Li Sanqi, even she investigated Fu Wenqing thoroughly.
However, apart from being unmarried in his twenties and being somewhat ambitious, Fu Wenqing, as discovered at the time, did not have any other problems.
This shows that everything has a traceable pattern.
Before long, Wenxiu hurried over, bowed respectfully to Qiao Qinghe, and then whispered, "The princess knows that the old lady has been neglected, and has specially instructed me to apologize to the old lady on behalf of the prince consort."
"Please, Madam, do not be angry."
Qiao Qinghe smiled indifferently, "Your Highness is overthinking it. Please go back and tell Your Highness that it's nothing serious. I didn't take it to heart."
Wenxiu said a few more kind words to Qiao Qinghe before taking her leave.
After everyone left, Madam Zheng said, "It seems the princess is keeping a close eye on everything that's happening here!"
Qiao Qinghe smiled and said, "This was prepared in advance."
As he spoke, he gave a meaningful glance.
Madam Zheng quickly followed Qiao Qinghe's gaze and looked over.
Sure enough, over there, another maidservant beside Princess Huaiyang was walking towards another lady who had been slighted by the prince consort.
Looking around, he saw many maids standing around him, all of whom were prominent and well-known to Li Sanqi.
Seeing this, Madam Zheng was taken aback and asked, "Since the princess is so distrustful of her husband's actions, why does she insist on making him her husband?"
Qiao Qinghe smiled and said, "Isn't it said that you can know a person's face but not their heart? Perhaps when the princess took a liking to this person, he wasn't like this at all?"
While talking to Madam Zheng, Qiao Qinghe's eyes were fixed on what was behind Madam Zheng.
Madam Zheng nodded slightly: "You're right. By the time this person's true colors are discovered, it will probably be too late for the princess to back out."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Wenqing walked over with a gloomy face.
"Madam Zheng, Madam Qiao, as elders, isn't it inappropriate to talk about people behind their backs like this?"
Madam Zheng looked embarrassed.
Qiao Qinghe remained calm, "Your Highness, you are mistaken. We spoke to your face, not behind your back."
"Moreover, since the Prince Consort dares to treat us differently from the people of the Yongchang Marquis's mansion, he should know that none of us are easy to mess with."
"Trying to surrender to the Marquis of Yongchang's mansion by humiliating us, isn't that a huge disregard for us?"
"Why don't you go and ask Madam Wen of the Yongchang Marquis's residence if she dares to make a scene with me in public?"
Fu Wenqing's expression changed, but he dared not say anything more. He only gave Qiao Qinghe a deep look before turning away.
On the other side, upon seeing the situation, Madam Wen curled the corners of her lips.
Princess Wenxi of Chu, who was sitting next to her, unconsciously frowned.
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