Meng Qi returned to her quarters and allowed Yuan Dong to remove her headdresses one by one. In less than a morning, she felt even more exhausted than she had been teaching all day recently.
After he finished speaking, the emperor burst into laughter. While asking him to stand up, he asked Prince Rui if he was satisfied with the marriage he had arranged for him.
Standing slightly behind Song Chengze, she couldn't see his expression, but she could hear his steady voice. It was nothing more than the emperor's reputation, and he wanted to live a good life with her.
The Queen Mother pursed her lips and took over the topic, saying that she should thank Concubine Xiang for this match made in heaven.
Concubine Xiang turned her head and looked at the Queen with some disdain. Before she could reply, Prince Duan put the snuff bottle under his nose and smelled it, then asked Prince Rui why there was no red decoration in the mansion yet. Could it be that he was only saying that he was satisfied with the marriage arranged by the Emperor?
When the emperor heard this, he turned to look at the empress and asked her to pay more attention to it. Since Concubine Lian was not feeling well recently, she, as her mother, should make the decisions on other matters.
The Crown Prince also instructed the Crown Princess, saying that since she was the eldest sister-in-law and it was not convenient for the Queen to leave the palace, she should go out more often to see if there was anything missing so that she could ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare it.
At that moment, several other princes also told their wives to express their opinions, and then go to Prince Rui's Mansion to take a look and help with the arrangements.
A sarcastic smile appeared on Meng Qi's lips. The prince's marriage was handled jointly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Clan Affairs, so there was no need for them to show up.
Today, taking advantage of her marriage to Song Chengze, several people started to compete with each other openly and secretly.
The Empress wanted to use this as an excuse to make Prince Rui resent Concubine Xiang for interfering in his marriage. However, Prince Duan turned the tables on the Empress by not paying much attention to Prince Rui's marriage and not personally attending to Concubine Lian's illness.
The Crown Prince smoothed things over, making Prince Rui understand his concern and getting the Emperor to praise him for his generosity.
In her previous life, she'd merely been a spectator, never capable of such thorough analysis. It was because she'd been reborn that she realized how much deception and intrigue were hidden in the back-and-forth conversations of her past life. And she'd always been the one who didn't understand. Even after doing her homework in this life, she still nearly got caught.
At this thought, Rong Zhaoyi's face became clearer. It turned out she had achieved the title of Zhaoyi before his marriage. She had been selected into the palace along with Wu, the concubine of Prince Rui. Of that batch of selected women, the Emperor kept only a few; half had been awarded to the princes who had established their own palaces.
Prince Rui married Lady Wu, the daughter of a prefect in Jiangnan. Lady Wu proved incredibly fertile, giving birth to Prince Rui's eldest daughter, Wu Nongyu, the following year. Prince Rui's preference for his daughter over his two sons was clear. Lady Wu also reaped numerous benefits, especially after the crown prince ascended to the throne. Prince Rui's power grew, and members of the Wu family began to hold official positions in the capital.
Back then, Rong was still just a beauty. She served the emperor several times, but she didn't conceive. Later, due to the emperor's frequent headaches, he rarely summoned concubines to serve him. Except for the Empress's visits on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, the few who had served him in Qiandi could occasionally accompany him.
Meng Qi carefully recalled why this Rong family member was promoted to the position of Zhaoyi. She couldn't help but stroke her forehead. In her previous life, she didn't even understand who was friendly with who among the women in the Rui Palace, let alone this palace.
In their previous life, when they first got married, the competition among the princes was intense. The Crown Prince was their biggest target, but because of his legitimate status and his humble and yielding nature, he never competed with his brothers. Besides his childlessness, they had no way of finding a way to attack him.
Therefore, Prince Rui, who was on good terms with the Crown Prince, was their target. However, Prince Rui had always been neglected and used to treating himself as invisible. Sometimes, he would deliberately find fault too much, which would inevitably cause the Emperor's displeasure.
Although the emperor did not value Prince Rui, and could even say he disliked him, he was his biological son after all. It was not wise to repeatedly provoke Prince Rui, who the emperor considered to be honest and dull.
Therefore, Meng Qi's appearance gave them an opportunity, especially the female relatives. In her previous life, Meng Qi had indeed satisfied them, doing things that embarrassed Prince Rui several times and made everyone laugh, giving them the opportunity to attack Prince Rui or even the Crown Prince.
Yuandong had just combed Meng Qi's hair when Qinxiang's voice came from outside, saying that Nanny Sang had arrived.
Yuan Dong walked to the door and lifted the cotton curtain. Nanny Sang walked in with a smile on her face. She bowed to Meng Qi and said, "The Empress had originally prepared lunch today and wanted Princess Yong'an to accompany Fourth Miss Meng for dinner. But just now, someone from Qionghua Palace came to say that Concubine Lian wanted to invite Fourth Miss Meng for lunch. The Empress sent this old servant to tell Fourth Miss Meng to go there in the sedan chair from Kunning Palace after one stick of incense. She doesn't need to report to the Empress. She can just go there in the evening to accompany the Empress for dinner."
Meng Qi nodded, thinking about how she had carefully asked the Queen after everyone had left whether she needed to visit Concubine Lian.
The queen was a little surprised at the time, perhaps because she didn't expect that she would be so indecisive that she would ask her this.
In reality, it made sense for her to go. After all, she was the future daughter-in-law, and knowing her mother-in-law was ill, she had to go. But if she didn't go, she wouldn't make a difference. She was now the fourth daughter of the Huainan Marquisate, and had been invited to stay in the palace by the Empress. And just now, when the Emperor was here, he had mentioned Concubine Lian's illness and asked Prince Rui to see her, but he hadn't mentioned asking Meng Qi to go as well.
The empress looked at the bewildered Meng Qi and suddenly felt that inviting her into the palace for a few days was completely unnecessary. A woman so clueless, so foolish, and possessed of other men's affections, was worth neither winning over nor guarding against. A daughter-in-law like that wouldn't even bother to think; she'd create opportunities and leverage for others, and then she'd just watch the fun unfold.
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