Chapter 197: Jiangshan as Marriage (Two Chapters Combined into One)
Of course, Zhao Shiqing didn't know about Xiao Zhen jumping into the lake.
If she knew, she might find a shaman to perform a dance for Xiao Zhen.
The little girl's mentality, she quite likes to see Xiao Zhen's helpless look.
Because Feng Jiahe had used her offspring to test the Third Prince, the next day, the Third Prince lost his patience and went to the palace to see Concubine Qiao.
Now the outside world thinks that the third prince often enters the palace to regain the favor of Emperor Yongjia, but they don’t know that the real situation is not so.
With Concubine Qiao's whispering, Concubine Li's deliberate goodwill, and the contrast with the Fifth Prince, Emperor Yongjia's attitude towards the Third Prince has relaxed somewhat. However, compared with the Third Prince's case of taking human life lightly, the Fifth Prince's disrespect to his sister-in-law regardless of the occasion is simply a trivial matter!
Even if Yan Xia can find out the mastermind behind this case, the Third Prince will never be able to clear himself completely. He was dragged into mud instead of water. Even if he struggles to get ashore with great difficulty, he will still have mud on his feet and cannot wash them off.
Emperor Yongjia knew this very well, but the third prince did not think so.
When he was a child, no matter what he did, Concubine Qiao would always be there to protect him;
When he grows up, no matter what he does, the Feng family will support him.
All this made the Third Prince mistakenly believe that as long as he had Concubine Qiao and Feng Ke, as long as he got rid of the annoying Crown Prince, the annoying Fifth Prince, and the useless Fourth Prince, it was only a matter of time before the crown was placed on his head.
In fact, in the eyes of Emperor Yongjia, he was in his prime and it was too early to pass on the throne. A crown prince was needed for the stability of the dynasty, so he appointed a crown prince early. After one crown prince was deposed, another one could be appointed. He only appointed a crown prince, not an emperor.
So in my opinion, no matter who becomes the crown prince, he is just a crown prince, not the future emperor.
This crown prince was appointed for all civil and military officials, for the common people, for the soldiers at the border, and even for the enemy countries and rebels who attempted to lay hands on the Great Yong Kingdom, but not for me a hundred years after my death.
Therefore, this prince cannot have any obvious flaws, or at least no one in the court or the country can find fault with him. Only in this way can I have peace of mind and the energy to consolidate the throne. While waiting and observing the changes, I can make sure that I am not cultivating a true successor.
This successor may be the crown prince or another son.
With this idea in mind, Emperor Yongjia took the incident involving the third prince very seriously.
However, the third prince did not know that he could enter the palace now, and from the words of Concubine Qiao and Feng Ke, he could also feel that his father's attitude had softened.
Life is a coexistence of hope and disappointment. Some disappointments cannot be reversed. However, because of the occasional dazzling sunlight shining on the snow-capped peaks, the thousands of golden rays reflected can temporarily blind people's eyes, and they think that hope and luck have come to them.
Upon learning that the third prince had entered the palace again, Emperor Yongjia pretended not to know and said, "Let him be. I'm just waiting for news from Yan Xia."
When the Third Prince saw Concubine Qiao, he told her about Feng Jiahe's temptation. Concubine Qiao sighed and lowered her voice: "Actually, mother thinks that having a child with her would be a help to you."
Although Emperor Yongjia already had a grandson, he did not have a particularly close relationship with him. However, the situation was different for the third prince. If he had a son, Concubine Qiao could bring the child into the palace and take advantage of the opportunity when Emperor Yongjia came to her to let the grandson and Emperor Yongjia become close.
Sometimes, a lovely grandchild can do more than a thousand calculations.
The Third Prince's face turned pale. "No, I don't want my son to be born from Feng's belly. She is not worthy!"
The third prince will never forget the days when he humbly asked for advice and humbled himself in front of Feng Ke.
He did not have a strong and powerful family, so since he could remember, Concubine Qiao had been trying her best to find external help for him.
In order to make him stand out from the other princes and gain Feng Ke's attention, Concubine Qiao used almost all her tricks, and he even said to the unruly, willful and self-righteous girl against his will: "I will give you my lifelong love and the kingdom as a betrothal gift."
Whenever the Third Prince thought of what he had said to Feng Jiahe, he wanted to strangle Feng Jiahe to death.
This bitch, is she worthy of being compared with Jiangshan?
In the future, when my kingdom is stable, she will serve as fertilizer for my kingdom, and I will even think she is not fertile enough.
You want to give me a son? Dream on!
Seeing the ferocity that flashed across his eyes, Concubine Qiao guessed what he was thinking.
She had also seen this kind of expression in the eyes of the young Emperor Yongjia.
At that time, Emperor Yongjia was still the second prince. He was not yet proficient in martial arts. At least, he could still reveal his desire for the throne and his murderous intentions towards his brothers and sisters in front of her, his partner.
However, now, she had not seen such a ferocious look in Emperor Yongjia's eyes for a long, long time.
Concubine Qiao felt a sense of loss in her heart. She didn't know since when Emperor Yongjia started to be wary of her.
She always thought that she was ruthless and ungrateful enough, but a woman's ruthlessness was nothing in front of a man.
Just like Concubine Li who schemed all her life, she waited until her son became emperor, but still could not sit on the throne of Empress Dowager while she was still alive;
Just like herself, everyone knew that the emperor doted on her, and she had been with the emperor the longest, but the position of queen had never been hers, and she had become the target of public criticism. No one in the harem did not hate her or be on guard against her.
"No, don't be willful about this matter. It's okay for you to have a child with her. With this child in hand, the Feng family will assist you to the greatest extent. In the future, when you ascend to the throne, with this child, the Feng family will continue to be loyal to you. My son, you will have many women and many children in the future. Look at Prince Jing. If it weren't for the woman your father once cherished, how could he have established the Eastern Palace so early? But now, who still cares about him, Prince Jing, and who still remembers his biological mother?"
The Third Prince remained silent for a long time before he said, "My son has someone he likes, and I want to bring her into the palace..."
Before he could finish his words, Concubine Qiao interrupted him coldly: "No, before Feng Jiahe gives birth to your eldest son, no woman can be brought into the mansion unless she is chosen by the Feng family."
The third prince thought of Lang Yuyu, the person chosen by the Feng family. In order to prevent Lang Yuyu from entering the family, he went to great lengths to make Feng Jiahe hate Lang Yuyu. Without him personally stepping in, Feng Jiahe made Feng Ke give up the idea.
But after getting rid of Lang Yuyu, Wang Yuyu and Sun Yuyu, the Third Prince felt that there was no end in sight. The Feng family was like a mountain, pressing him so hard that he couldn't breathe.
The more pressure the Feng family brought to him, the more he hated Feng Jiahe.
Who would have thought that the beautiful Feng Jiahe had already become hateful and like a demon in the heart of the third prince.
No one knows a son better than his mother, Concubine Qiao sighed again.
"Which girl do you like? Mother, let her enter the palace and be a lady-in-waiting by my side."
The third prince's eyes lit up. Being a female official beside his mother would not only protect her, but also allow her to see him from time to time!
"Mom, my son likes the girl from the Fan family..."
The scandal between Prince Jing and Princess Huiming implicated many people. In addition to those in Yujing Palace, the Prince's Eastern Palace, and those around Princess Huiming, a group of people from other palaces were also released.
Among these people, some had reached age, and some were implicated by other people, such as being from the same hometown as a palace maid in Yujing Palace, or having a consort relationship with a eunuch in the Prince's Palace. In short, after that incident, either those who were carried out or those who were released from the palace had vacancies in almost every palace.
Unlike palace maids, female officials not only come from clean backgrounds, but also have official positions in their families.
Although Fan Qiuyun's father was a businessman, the Fan family had produced a Jinshi (a scholar in the imperial examination). She was beautiful, well-educated and well-mannered, and fully met the selection criteria for a female official.
Concubine Qiao had made arrangements in advance, and Fan Qiujun entered the palace smoothly. After the initial training, she was assigned to Concubine Qiao's palace. Although she started as a seventh-rank female official, it was the easiest and most promising job.
She was only responsible for reading to Concubine Qiao.
There are always places in the harem that Emperor Yongjia cannot see. For example, Fan Qiujun's entry into the palace was something that Emperor Yongjia never noticed.
A lowly female official of the lowest rank could not even appear before Emperor Yongjia, but the news that Concubine Qiao had people read to her reached Emperor Yongjia's ears. For this, he praised her a few words and asked someone to send a batch of storybooks to Concubine Qiao.
What? A storybook about a talented scholar and a beautiful woman is not worthy of being published in a refined manner?
I don't watch it, and my sons don't watch it either, but what's the harm in letting Concubine Qiao watch it? It's better to let her indulge in this invisible and intangible love between men and women than to be obsessed with helping her son to seize the throne.
Emperor Yongjia wished that all the women in the harem, except the empress, would be addicted to this so that he could have peace of mind.
As for the Queen, that's certainly not possible. Otherwise, how could she have the mind to manage the harem for me?
Feng Jiahe felt a little regretful when she heard that Fan Qiujun was chosen to be a female official.
Once a female official became a member of the imperial court, she had to be 25 years old before she could leave the palace, and she was not allowed to get married during this period.
Most women of twenty-five already have children. Although the female officials can marry into wealthy families after leaving the palace, some will be arranged to marry by the masters of the palace, and even be granted imperial decrees. However, there are no good men who are still unmarried at such an age. The so-called good marriages of these female officials are mostly to be concubines.
Thinking that Fan Qiujun would become someone's stepmother in the future, Feng Jiahe couldn't tell whether she felt sorry for her or was secretly happy.
She looked at the Third Prince and said, "Miss Fan will be 25 when she leaves the palace. I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to find a good husband by then."
The Third Prince came over with a smile and said, "That's none of our business. Just remember that I am your beloved husband."
Feng Jiahe smiled with her eyes curved, and threw herself into his gentle embrace...
The third prince thought that apart from him, Fan Qiujun and Concubine Qiao, the only one who knew the truth of the matter was Concubine Qiao. However, he didn't know that there was a person he didn't know who was paying close attention to the progress of the matter every day, to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep.
For example, now it’s time for dinner, but Xiaoguai hasn’t come back yet. Zhao Shiqing is so anxious that she has no appetite.
For a big eater like her, not eating at mealtime is a very unusual thing.
So much so that not only Ling Bo, but even Zhen Wuduo thought that their precious granddaughter was sick.
"Go out and see if there's anybody selling candied haws. Go get some!"
This is appetizing!
Zhen Wuduo is not an old man from a wealthy family. He doesn't care about what he can't eat from roadside stalls. He grew up by the sea and even eats raw fish. His precious granddaughter can't eat rice, so of course the first choice is candied haws, which is both delicious and appetizing.
There is nothing that cannot be done with money. The man selling candied haws had already closed his stall, and Niuqiu came home and put the money on the table. The whole family got busy, some were making candy, some were stringing fruits. In short, Niuqiu came back carrying a full shelf of candied haws!
It’s cold now, so it won’t melt and you can eat it after leaving it overnight.
So everyone ate candied haws while waiting for Xiaoguai to come back.
After waiting for a long time, Xiaoguai finally came back. Looking at his bulging belly, Zhao Shiqing gave him a big teasing.
"You heartless little thing, don't you know you have an old mother who is waiting for you?"
Xiaoguai: ...
No one else knew what the "mother and son" talked about. In short, Zhao Shiqing was satisfied, but also looked gossipy. She couldn't wait to share the news that Xiaoguai brought back with her good grandfather.
Zhen Wuduo: ...
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year, and the people from Prince Liang's Mansion also arrived in the capital.
The people who came this time were old acquaintances. In addition to Mr. Weng, a civil servant from the Prince of Liang’s Mansion, there was also Meng Hu.
They had two tasks: one was to escort Zhao Tingxuan back to Liang after the New Year, and the other was to bring gifts.
Giving gifts to the emperor and to the royal family in Beijing, to put it simply, is equivalent to the exchange of gifts between relatives, which is also allowed by emperors of all dynasties.
Not only did Prince Liang's Mansion come to present gifts, but the other seven princes did the same. Even the silent Prince Jing sent people to the capital.
In addition to these vassal kings, several small vassal states also sent people to deliver New Year gifts.
Therefore, this time of year is the busiest time for the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple and Honglu Temple.
In the past, the crown prince was responsible for receiving these envoys, but now there is no crown prince, and the fourth prince is observing politics in the Ministry of Rites, so this task fell on him.
No one thought this was just a coincidence, including the Third Prince, who all knew it.
The Queen had thought of this day from the very beginning when she arranged for him to work in the Ministry of Rites.
If we were to say who is the most complacent person in the capital right now, it would definitely be the Fourth Prince.
The third prince was in a bad mood, so he went to the palace to pay his respects to Concubine Qiao.
Feng Jiahe said hurriedly, "It has been a while since I last went to the palace to pay my respects to Mother. I will go with you."
The Third Prince said hurriedly, "Go back to your mother's house and see what your father-in-law thinks. I came to the palace to see if I could see the emperor."
Feng Jiahe knew that he was troubled by the Fourth Prince's affairs, so she said sympathetically, "Okay, then I'll go back to my parents' home. Don't worry too much, your health is more important."
The Third Prince kissed her on the cheek and said with a smile, "Of course my health is important. I also want..."
......
The third prince walked out of the yard and a black shadow flashed before his eyes. He looked up and saw the eagle hovering above his head.
He was delighted, and the resentment in his chest dissipated.
As long as the eagle is there, the throne will be there!
He excitedly got into the carriage and heard the young eunuch say outside, "Hey, isn't that Master Zhen's carriage? Is Master Zhen here to visit the Third Master?"
The third prince leaned out of the carriage window and saw the eldest son of the Zhen family, Zhen Gui, getting out of the carriage.
The third prince was overjoyed. The fifth prince was crippled, and Zhen Gui’s purse would belong to him from now on!
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