Chapter 95 Chapter 95 The famous wife of the Duke.
"That!" Manxi pointed to the north.
Yan Ke leaned back in a chair in the courtyard and explained, "Er Pang is the Second Prince."
Jasmine was puzzled: "Isn't the second prince's name Youji?"
Yan Ke: "Youji is my real name, Erpang is my childhood name."
"So that's how it is. Doesn't that mean the eldest prince should be called Dapang?" Jasmine couldn't help but laugh.
Yan Ke was helpless and wanted to remind her that discussing the royal family was a serious crime. But seeing her happy, he decided to let it go for now. "The eldest prince's full name is Qi Siliang, and his nickname is Xiaopang."
"Little Fatty? People who don't know him would think that Little Fatty is younger than Second Fatty. By the way, why is one called Youji and the other Siliang? I know Youji means protecting the country and protecting Daqi. But what about Siliang..."
Jasmine had just asked the question when she suddenly thought of it.
"The Imperial Concubine is called the Liang Imperial Concubine? That's what it means. His Majesty also..."
Seeing her grandfather's eyes, Jasmine swallowed the rest of her words.
She covered her mouth again: "I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again."
She knew not to talk about it.
Yan Ke sighed. His Majesty wasn't such a stingy person, he thought. What couple wouldn't discuss things privately?
"You can say whatever you want in front of me. But don't talk nonsense outside."
Jasmine nodded vigorously.
Manxi also pointed in the direction of the palace, indicating that he wanted to find Erpang.
Jasmine coaxed her, "Let's not go look for Erpang, okay? Man'er, come play with Daddy. You left Daddy to play by yourself. Daddy must be so pitiful."
Yan Ke was speechless.
Manxi's little hand waved out a shadow: "No, Dad, find Erpang!"
Jasmine glanced at her grandfather and thought for a moment, then said to Manxi, "But mom just came home. There's no one to play with her." Manxi's smiling face was troubled for a moment, and she pointed at her father, "Dad and mom are playing! Man'er is looking for Erpang!"
It's not easy to fool a little girl. Jasmine is pleased that her daughter is smart, but she's also worried that she might be deceived when she grows up.
"Madam, madam, a eunuch has come from the palace to look for you!" Xiuhong hurried into the main courtyard.
Jasmine went to meet the eunuch, who claimed to be Eunuch Fulu in the Imperial Concubine's Palace, and came to convey the Imperial Concubine's wish, inviting her and Manxi to enter the palace.
Eunuch Fulu whispered to her, "The Second Prince was clamoring to see Miss Man'er and was rolling around. The Imperial Concubine had no choice but to send a servant to deliver the message. Madam, please forgive me."
Jasmine nodded and skillfully took out a purse and handed it to her father-in-law's sleeve.
The purse was extremely heavy. Eunuch Fulu felt that if he didn't accept it, he would not be able to sleep for several days and nights.
After trying to refuse twice, but finding that he couldn't get away with it, Eunuch Fulu thanked him with an embarrassed look on his face.
Jasmine lowered her voice and said, "Don't be polite, eunuch. This is all I should do. Man'er must have caused you a lot of trouble in the palace. You will have to take good care of this girl in the future. This is nothing."
"Don't worry, Madam. I will do my best to take good care of Madam Man'er!"
...
To enter the palace, she had to dress formally. She was now the Duke's wife!
After Jasmine finished getting dressed, she went to ask her grandfather, who had been sitting by her side watching her get dressed for a long time. "How do you feel, Grandpa?"
Today she wore her most treasured red metasequoia-colored, inner-collared skirt, and a dark red, twined-branched outer cape. She wore her hair in a high bun, with an intricate golden hairpin slanting through it. She also put on makeup.
Just now he had only seen half of the profile, but now that he had gotten closer and seen it, Yan Ke was so shocked that he was speechless.
He couldn't help but reach out and poke Jasmine in the face. Jasmine stepped back subconsciously, but was still touched by him.
"What are you doing?" She had put on her makeup with great difficulty!
Yan Ke showed her the powder on his fingers and asked, "Will it all disappear if the wind blows?"
Jasmine was speechless: "No. Is it ugly?"
"I'm not ugly. Even if I were to walk down the street, I'm afraid I wouldn't recognize you."
Jasmine looked at herself in the mirror and muttered, "It's just right."
At this time, Eunuch Fulu came to ask what happened. Jasmine couldn't keep the eunuch waiting for long, so she ran out in a hurry.
Yan Ke was still thinking of giving a few more instructions, but it was too late.
As soon as she arrived at the Imperial Concubine's Palace, Manxi broke free from her mother's hand and ran towards a palace gate. It was obvious that she had been there many times and was familiar with the route.
Jasmine hurried to catch up. A dignified-looking palace maid appeared out of nowhere. "Don't worry, Madam. The Second Prince is practicing calligraphy in the side hall. Madam Man is used to it, so he'll be fine. Please follow me this way."
Jasmine had been dazzled by the sight as soon as she entered the palace gates, her heart pounding. Now, entering the Imperial Concubine's Palace, she found it even more exaggerated.
"Is this the Imperial Garden?" Jasmine almost wanted to slap herself after asking. The words "Handan Palace" were clearly written on it, so how could it possibly be the Imperial Garden?
The maid smiled and stepped back.
Jasmine thought she was being mocked, so she kept silent. Just as she was about to say something, she heard a voice behind her: "This is the Imperial Concubine's Palace. If the Duke's wife likes the flowers here, I can give you some."
Jasmine turned her head, lowered her eyes, and bowed, "I pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine."
Yuan Liangliang pretended to be mysterious and said, "Madam, look up and see who I am."
Jasmine looked up: "Long time no see, Madam."
Yuan Liangliang couldn't laugh anymore: "You... knew it was me?"
Jasmine: "The shop belongs to the Madam, and the silhouette hanging on the wall is the same as the Madam's. I can't find out which mansion the shop's head shopkeeper is from, so I will know."
Yuan Liangliang suddenly felt very bored. "I thought that since Madam is so smart, she should pretend to be smart and please me."
Jasmine: "But I think Your Majesty is used to hearing nice things, and she definitely doesn't want to hear them again."
Yuan Liangliang thought about it and felt that this was true. "Alright, come with me."
The two of them sat under a thorn peach tree admiring the flowers. Erpang had finished practicing his calligraphy and appeared hand in hand with Manxi. They first swung on the swing together, but after swinging for a while, Manxi said it was too crowded and pushed Erpang down because she wanted to swing alone.
Erpang was carried down by the palace maid. He said angrily that he didn't want to play anymore, then ran to the other side and sat down on the fox fur carpet to play other fun things.
Manxi was pushed and swung by the palace servant for a while, and felt bored. She stretched out her hand to ask the palace servant to carry her down, then ran to the carpet and reached out to grab the spinning top in Erpang's hand.
Jasmine gave the imperial concubine an awkward smile: "The child is still young, please don't mind, Your Majesty."
Yuan Liangliang didn't care much at first, but after hearing her words, he felt a little unhappy. He took a sip of tea and said, "I thought Madam would say to go back and teach him well, but it turned out not to be the case."
Jasmine: "I didn't have a happy childhood, so I want my daughter to be happy throughout her life. There are some things she'll understand when she grows up. Your Majesty, I think I'm okay. Man'er has the Duke's guidance, Your Majesty's words and deeds, and she'll have a teacher in the future, so I think she'll be fine."
"What do you mean by 'are you okay'?"
Yuan Liangliang hadn't encountered such a shameless person in a long time, and he couldn't help but retort her: "Where is it? May I ask who is the famous Duke's wife in Kyoto?"
Jasmine's expression was solemn. "Could it be that Your Majesty also thinks I'm terrible? If so, why did you hire me to work in the shop?"
Jasmine had always believed that she and the Imperial Concubine were kindred spirits, and that she was admired by the Imperial Concubine. But now she didn't care and spoke the truth.
Could it be that she misunderstood?
Yuan Liangliang certainly couldn't tell her the truth: "When I recruited you, I didn't know who you were. I kept you because I thought you were suitable. Later I found out that you were the concubine of Duke Yan, but it was too late."
Jasmine didn't believe her nonsense. She smiled sincerely and said, "It seems that the Empress and I are very compatible."
Yuan Liangliang also looked at her and smiled.
The two chatted for a while about their children and recent events. Before they parted, Jasmine said, "If your Majesty has any errands in the future, please let me know. I will be at your service."
After hearing this, Yuan Liangliang had nothing to understand.
Seriously asked: "Did you guess it?"
Jasmine nodded. "After all, my master can be quite annoying sometimes. But he has always been sincere to His Majesty, to the country, and to the people."
Yuan Liangliang sighed, "I didn't say anything bad about him. But I'm not a mean person, am I? Your man, on the other hand, has repeatedly warned Your Majesty not to come to me. I thought he would change his ways after you came back this time, but who knew he would come to warn Your Majesty again just two days ago."
Jasmine pondered for a moment and then spoke, "What are you advising Your Majesty about? Are you trying to persuade the people not to favor concubines over wives?"
Yuan Liangliang didn't expect that she had guessed it again. Nodding: "That's right."
Jasmine quickly added, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Leave this matter to me."
Yuan Liangliang's eyes lit up. "You mean, you can help me persuade the Duke not to look for His Majesty?"
Jasmine shook her head. "What I mean is that I will find a way to reduce the trend of favoring concubines over wives. While it's impossible to completely eliminate it, there's hope of at least reducing it. Then Your Majesty can rest easy."
...
Originally, His Majesty had assigned the task of correcting the custom of favoring concubines over wives among the people to the Duke, but the person in charge left just as the matter was getting started.
But His Majesty did not let the matter go. He handed it over to another minister in the court. After two years of hard work, there was no result at all. The minister was even bribed and given many beautiful women by people from all over.
For fear that His Majesty would find out, the minister locked the beauty in a dark room. The beauty of course refused to agree. The minister was afraid that the beauty would ruin his plans if she got out, so he killed her and buried her.
Then the matter was exposed. It is said that the person who investigated the matter was Li Youyou, the legitimate son of Li Fuyin, who was the second master in Jingzhao Prefecture, and the bodies of the beauties were examined by the fifteenth princess.
After the minister was discovered, he hanged himself on the spot.
The matter of correcting the customs of the people had to be put on hold again.
Now that the Duke is back, although the vicious concubine has taken the position, everyone in Kyoto knows that the other concubines in the Duke's mansion are just decorations, and only this vicious concubine is the real concubine.
Now that my concubine has become the Duke's wife, that couldn't be better. Your Majesty thinks this is a done deal.
When His Majesty discussed this matter with the Duke, the Duke agreed, but on the condition that His Majesty set an example and visit the Queen's Palace more often.
In front of all the ministers, Your Majesty had no choice but to agree.
After hearing this, the Imperial Concubine had no choice but to look for Jasmine. She had thought of making some use of the waste. But she hadn't expected this woman to be so powerful.
The imperial concubine thought again, it would be better to be powerful.
When they were about to leave, Erpang and Manxi held each other's hands and were reluctant to go. They had been fighting over a spinning top just a moment ago, but when they heard they were going to separate, they became friends again.
Jasmine tried to coax him for a long time but failed, so the imperial concubine said that Manxi should stay in the palace.
Jasmine no longer wanted to be separated from her daughter, so she had to compromise.
But she had only taken two steps when Manxi saw her mother's back and panicked. She followed her, clattering: "Mom! Mom, come home!"
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