Chapter 142 The Queen Mother's Triple Intentions
After sending the sachet, Rong An has not been seen since, and there has been no news from the imperial city.
Both Empress Dowager Jiang and Bai Yuxin said that it was probably some urgent matter at the court and the emperor was busy at the moment, so Meng Yan should not take it to heart.
Meng Yan's heart was as calm as water, and there was no disturbance in Chunze Zhai.
The love and hatred of her previous life had long been like a thing of the past to her, and she had let go of all the love and hate. Holding on to the pain of the past would only make herself suffer in the end.
Giving the sachet as a gift had some meaning of letting bygones be bygones, and it was also a way of expressing one's intentions, telling Lu Haozhi in a tactful way that what was done was done.
As for her and Lu Haozhi, they will just let things take their course in the future.
Just as Empress Dowager Jiang warned her that day, everything in the world should be just right. Forcing things to be extreme will only harm others and yourself.
After several busy days, the flower viewing banquet was finally prepared.
That afternoon, Meng Yan woke up from her nap and went to Shou'an Academy to pay her respects to the empress dowager, and then told her about the arrangements for the banquet.
After she finished, Empress Dowager Jiang lowered her head and took a sip of the tea leaves. She said without comment, but smiled and said, "After talking for half a day, your mouth must be dry, right? Try some of the jasmine tea leaves I just brewed."
Having been with the Empress Dowager for a long time, Meng Yan was familiar with her temper. She knew that she would always chat about daily life before saying anything, so she smiled slightly, picked up the Ru kiln lotus-shaped tea bowl beside her and took a sip. The fragrance was indeed refreshing.
But when Empress Dowager Jiang asked, "Yan girl, have you been tired these days?"
Meng Yan quickly smiled back, "Although it's a bit busy, it's not a big deal."
Empress Dowager Jiang listened with a look of satisfaction on her face. She nodded and smiled, then asked, "Then do you know why I insisted on holding this flower viewing banquet?"
Meng Yan didn't expect the Queen Mother to ask this question, and she fell silent for a while.
She had thought about this earlier, while sewing under the lamp at night. The court was currently facing a turbulent time: the war in the southwest was at a stalemate, the locust plague in Shanxi and Shaanxi had not yet subsided, and now the epidemic was gradually escalating. At this critical juncture, it seemed inappropriate for the Empress Dowager to hold a flower viewing banquet.
However, Empress Dowager Jiang had served the late emperor for many years. Despite being the daughter of a prominent family, she personally washed and cooked for the frontline soldiers during the late emperor's rebellion. This willingness to endure and endure filled Meng Yan with admiration. The late emperor had personally praised the empress dowager for her kindness, virtue, and understanding of the broader situation. How could a woman of such character suddenly disregard the situation and indulge in pleasure? The empress dowager's actions must have a deeper meaning.
Empress Dowager Jiang did not ask any further questions. She smiled and drank tea, letting her think on her own.
After a while, Meng Yan finally spoke slowly and carefully, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for overstepping my bounds. I thought your flower-viewing banquet was meant to appease people."
Empress Dowager Jiang's eyes lit up slightly, and she smiled faintly, "Go on."
Having said this, Meng Yan put aside her concerns and said, "The current situation is unstable. In addition to the war and locust plague, the epidemic in the capital is also getting worse. I even heard that entire families in the suburbs of Beijing have died from the disease. With such a situation, the princes and ministers in the court are bound to be panicked. Your Majesty is organizing a banquet now to announce to everyone that the Emperor is the true dragon emperor, blessed by heaven, and will lead everyone through this difficult time. These words are of course not easy to say to the court officials, but it is just as well to show them."
Empress Dowager Jiang nodded, "What else?"
Seeing the docile expression on the Queen Mother's face, Meng Yan calculated that she had said nothing wrong, so she continued, "That's the first point. Secondly...Excuse me, Your Majesty, do you intend to use this banquet to ask these wealthy families to contribute money?"
The current situation has happened in my previous life.
The previous emperor established the Great Zhou dynasty, employing numerous families. These families have now become powerful and intertwined, with the majority of land and tax burdens falling into their hands. Even after Lu Haozhi ascended the throne, he faced numerous obstacles. First, the regent was executed, and then, war broke out in the southwest. For the sake of appeasement, he remained unable to touch these families. To make matters worse, the epidemic ravaged the treasury, leaving the state treasury empty. Lu Haozhi once asked the ministers at court what they should do. They either feigned deafness, cried poverty, or offered wicked schemes to extort the people's wealth.
Meng Yan remembered clearly that at that time, every time Lu Haozhi came down from the court, he was filled with anger.
The harem was forbidden from interfering in government affairs, and Liang Chengbi never questioned matters at court, simply doing her best to serve with attentiveness. She had no idea how she had gotten past this hurdle. She had only vaguely heard that the Empress Dowager had played a significant role in the matter, with Liang Chengbi's maternal family also contributing significantly. It was precisely because of this that, despite not being favored by Lu Haozhi in her previous life, Liang Chengbi had remained firmly in her position as Imperial Noble Consort.
At this time in her life, Empress Dowager Jiang asked her to prepare a flower-viewing banquet. She had a vague guess in her heart, but the matter was too sensitive. Since the Empress Dowager did not say anything, she pretended to be ignorant.
In the eyes of these superiors, showing off one's cleverness may not necessarily be a good thing.
Empress Dowager Jiang burst into laughter upon hearing her words, nodding her head repeatedly, saying, "As expected of you, little girl Yan. My love for you is not in vain, because you understand my mind. Very good, very good. When the day comes, we two must cooperate well and go begging together! Those aristocratic families have been getting rich over the years, each owning countless lands and estates, and supporting so many able-bodied men and slaves. When the country is in trouble, they're pretending to be deaf and dumb! I've been unable to help you these past two years, otherwise I would have gone to each of them and pulled their beards!"
Seeing that she had guessed correctly, Meng Yan couldn't help but smile slightly, but her hands slowly slid down from her knees, "Your Majesty the Queen Mother is in the prime of life, how could you be unable to do what you want? It's just that the country is in danger, and I can't help. I feel guilty."
Empress Dowager Jiang gradually stopped laughing and looked at her with a slight curve at the corner of her lips. "Don't say that now. Your brother is fighting for the country on the frontier. You are able to serve an old woman like me in the harem. It is already the best your Meng family can do."
Before she could finish her words, Empress Dowager Jiang asked again, "Girl, what is the third one?"
Meng Yan's eyes widened unconsciously. Apart from these two things, the Empress Dowager actually had a deeper meaning?
After pondering for a long time, she still couldn't figure it out, so she could only shake her head honestly, "Your Majesty, I'm stupid and can't figure it out."
Empress Dowager Jiang smiled and said, "If you can't think of it, then go back and think about it slowly. If you really can't think of it, I will tell you in person after the flower-viewing banquet is over." As she said that, she picked up the tea bowl.
Seeing this, Meng Yan had no choice but to get up and leave.
After she left, Zang Xiu came over and told the little palace maid to clear away the tea bowls and fruit plates, and smiled at the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, this is your best effort to cultivate the Imperial Concubine."
Empress Dowager Jiang raised her lips slightly as she spoke calmly, "She is the Emperor's favorite, and I truly do like her. During her time back in the palace, I've observed with a cold eye that she's become much calmer than before. She's no longer impulsive and reckless, and she thinks things through more carefully, no longer obsessed with the Emperor. However, if she wants to wear the phoenix crown right now, she's still a little short of the right skills." At this point, she let out a long sigh, "She's not like Wang. Wang was virtuous, a rare example of a virtuous empress, but that's entirely because she had no affection for the Emperor. Yan'er is the Emperor's favorite, and Hao'er is truly happy to have her. But the more this is the case, the more difficult things become. Things in this world are always lacking in one way or another; it's always hard to have both."
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