Chapter 302 Feast 1 (Two chapters in one)
In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the banquet at Princess Jiayi's mansion.
The address was chosen to be Yunzhong Garden, and of course, this banquet was called the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet.
In addition to the various famous chrysanthemums that can be seen everywhere in the garden, a mountain of chrysanthemums has been piled up in the garden early on, and even every dish is related to chrysanthemums.
Zhao Shiqing came with Wan Ruyi. As soon as the mother and daughter arrived, they caused quite a stir.
Although she had been canonized long ago, except for a few important figures present that day, not only the various mansions in the capital but also most of the royal family had never seen the legendary Princess Jiabao.
Guessing that Princess Jiabao and her daughter would come to attend the chrysanthemum viewing banquet, the old ladies and wives of each mansion repeatedly reminded their daughters-in-law and daughters before leaving home that no matter how vulgar the behavior of the princess who grew up among the common people was, they should not show any disdain.
This is the eldest daughter of the retired emperor. Regardless of whether she will be favored in the future, at least now, both the retired emperor and the emperor value her.
As for Princess Zhao Shiqing of Nanyang, the old ladies and wives of each family also gave her instructions.
This is the second young lady of Prince Liang’s Mansion. She will certainly follow the rules and etiquette, but most people in the capital have heard that she has been a Taoist nun since she was young!
However, it now seems that the rumors are not credible. This person should not have officially become a monk. Like Princess Jiarou, he is just a lay disciple.
However, the ladies were still worried that their young people did not know the seriousness of the matter and might offend others by accidentally saying the word "Taoist nun".
However, as soon as the mother and daughter appeared, Princess Jiayi, Prince Fu's wife and Lady Yu, the wife of Duke Weiguo, rushed to greet them and were as affectionate as a family.
Then everyone knew that the rumor that the two princesses wanted to strengthen their relationship was true.
Moreover, Prince Fu’s wife proudly told everyone: “Speaking of which, the princess is also the senior sister of my second son. They worship the same female master and are fellow senior sisters and students.”
This is to tell everyone that there is no such thing as a Taoist nun. She is just taking a disciple, not becoming a monk!
Zhao Shiqing was surrounded by a group of elderly ladies. If it were usual, she would have slipped away long ago, but not today. She had to stay with her godmother and help her deal with these ladies.
She also met the Third Prince's wife Feng Jiahe and Princess Huixin, but only briefly. Although the two were of noble status, they were still too young and did not belong to the circle of these ladies.
Therefore, Zhao Shiqing just exchanged greetings with them.
Just where Zhao Shiqing couldn't see, Princess Huixin withdrew her gaze and suppressed the contempt that appeared at the corner of her mouth.
She is just an adopted daughter, but she wants to seduce Xiao Zhen by relying on her beauty.
Princess Huixin thought of the agile figure in front of the candy shop, and a hint of cruelty flashed across her eyes.
"Princess, please pay attention to your manners." A cold voice came from her ears, bringing Princess Huixin back to reality.
This is Nanny Ding, the person sent by Concubine Qiao to accompany her to the banquet.
"Has Young Master Xiao arrived?" she asked softly.
Nanny Ding said coldly, "Young Master Xiao came here with Princess Jiayi, and is currently with the Duke of Dingguo."
Princess Huixin was about to ask again when she suddenly heard a woman's voice from behind the flower wall: "Are you telling the truth? Fan Qiujun was already cuckolding the Second Young Master Qiao before she even got married?"
"Of course it's true. Fan Qiujun has already left the palace and is now living in the Qiao family's villa, waiting to get married. Think about it, Fan Qiujun is from a prominent family and is a female official. If she hadn't done something shameful and dared not see anyone, how could she have lived in the Qiao family's villa before getting married? I heard that the Fan family is very rich and it is easy for them to buy a house in the capital. I even suspect that the Fan family doesn't even know that she is going to marry into the Qiao family." Another woman said.
The woman from before was clearly angry, her voice trembling. "That Fan Qiujun is so shameless! She's a court lady! No, isn't she in the palace? How did she get pregnant?"
Another woman laughed and said, "Who knows? Even though she's a court lady, she's still in the palace. She couldn't have gotten pregnant by having sex with a eunuch, right?"
This statement was almost explicit: the child in Fan Qiujun's belly was most likely the emperor's.
Female officials are not palace maids, and even the emperor cannot visit them at will.
The woman continued, "Although this matter will be criticized, given that person's status, as long as he wants to give Fan Qiujun and the child in her belly a legitimate status, it would only take a word.
But Fan Qiujun was sent out of the palace, and she even found the honest man Qiao Ergongzi. Tsk tsk tsk, there is only one reason for this: someone doesn't want this matter to be known by that person.
The woman opposite her exclaimed, then suddenly realized: "So that's what it is! What a vicious plan!"
Princess Huixin, who was on the other side of the flower wall, also understood at this moment.
If Concubine Qiao wants to consolidate the position of the Third Prince, she cannot allow any other prince to be born in the palace. Moreover, Fan Qiujun is not only young and beautiful, but also a well-known talented woman. Not only will she take away the emperor's favor for Concubine Qiao, but the son she gives birth to will also affect the Third Prince.
So when Concubine Qiao learned that Fan Qiujun was pregnant, she concealed the matter, sent her out of the house, and let her nephew take over. In this way, even if the emperor knew about this one day, he would pretend not to know for the sake of his face.
Princess Huixin was panic-stricken. She didn't expect Fan Qiujun to be so bold as to climb onto the dragon bed under Concubine Qiao's nose.
On the other side of the flower wall, Wu Yanyan was shaking with anger. Who was the Second Young Master Qiao?
That is her white moonlight!
She knew that it was impossible for the Wu and Qiao families to marry, so she accepted her fate!
What you can't get is the best.
In Wu Yanyan's heart, the Second Young Master Qiao was as sacred and inviolable as a god.
But now, that bitch Fan Qiujun actually deceived the Second Young Master Qiao like a fool and trampled on his dignity.
This matter cannot be tolerated, absolutely cannot be tolerated!
Wu Yanyan no longer had the heart to appreciate the chrysanthemums, nor did she have the mind to show off in front of the newly crowned Princess Nanyang. She had only one thought in her mind: how to expose Fan Qiujun's sinister intentions.
Since the child is the emperor's, he must be returned to the palace. Either there will be two deaths, or the mother will be killed and the child will be kept.
Of course, if the emperor couldn't bear to part with the beauty, he could also take her in. There were three thousand beauties in the palace, and she wouldn't be one more.
In short, Mr. Qiao must never be cuckolded, and even more so, he must not be a sucker.
Wu Yanyan thought of her father, Censor Wu, but since the matter involved the harem, her father would not impeach her without solid evidence.
What can we do?
Wu Yanyan was extremely anxious.
At this time, the best friend who had just been chatting with her about gossip had already arrived in front of the Third Prince's Consort Feng Jiahe.
She nodded slightly, and Feng Jiahe knew that it was done.
Ever since the Princess of Qingchuan married far away, Feng Jiahe had no one available around her. As the Fourth Prince completely lost power, the Third Prince's position became more stable, and more and more ladies wanted to get close to Feng Jiahe.
For example, the person in front of you is one of them.
She thought that after this incident, she would become a popular figure around the Third Prince, and like the Princess of Qingchuan, she would be able to help her father and brother, and even get a good marriage.
She now wished she could take out her heart. Of course, she couldn't take out her heart, but she could betray Wu Yanyan.
Feng Jiahe concealed the mockery in her eyes. She was just the second daughter of a fourth-rank official. If it weren't for her best friend Wu Yanyan, Feng Jiahe would have had no idea such a person existed.
If she can betray her best friend who she grew up with, she will be able to betray others in the future.
Feng Jiahe will not use her. After this time, she will find a reason to get rid of her.
Wu Yanyan went to find her mother and told her that she was not feeling well and wanted to return home early.
Mrs. Wu came with her two daughters-in-law and a daughter. Being an imperial censor is bound to offend people, and Mrs. Wu also wanted to take advantage of today's opportunity to repair the relationship with the ladies of various mansions.
Seeing that her daughter was about to leave, she asked her daughter-in-law to talk to the nanny beside the eldest princess and apologize on her daughter's behalf.
The early departure of a lady did not attract any attention. Wu Yanyan hurried out of Yunzhong Garden, but did not return home directly.
She has always been bold, especially when she was angry.
She hired a dozen women to go to the Qiao family's villa to catch the adulterer!
The Qiao family was not of high birth. Although they had an imperial concubine, their sons and nephews were not prominent in the court and acted in a low-key manner.
Even this villa was not built as an official residence. On the surface, it looks like an ordinary house.
The Qiao family is not native to the capital. When relatives from other places come to the capital, they are arranged to live here. When there are no relatives, only the family’s servants live in this house.
Therefore, even the neighbors around did not know that the Qiao in Qiao's house was the Qiao in Concubine Qiao.
Wu Yanyan was attracted to the Second Young Master Qiao. When she accidentally learned that the Qiao family had a villa here, she would often stop here, hoping to meet the Second Young Master Qiao by chance.
Therefore, she was very familiar with this villa.
Being familiar with the route, the women found the place easily.
These women came in a large group, cursing all the way, attracting a lot of people. When they arrived at the Qiao family villa, they were followed by a large group of onlookers.
In the house at this time, in addition to the servants of the family who originally lived here, there was also a nanny and four maids sent by Concubine Qiao to keep an eye on Fan Qiujun.
The servants of that family did not know Fan Qiujun's true identity and only thought that she was a distant relative of the Qiao family. Therefore, when the women broke in, they pointed out Fan Qiujun's residence.
A moment later, Fan Qiujun was dragged out of the house. The nanny and the maid knew that the visitor had bad intentions, but they could not reveal their identities. The more time passed, the more they could not bring up Concubine Qiao.
Fan Qiujun was slapped more than ten or twenty times, and her cheeks were swollen. The women still felt it was not enough, so they started punching and kicking her until they saw blood flowing from under her skirt. Only then did they stop. Fearing that they would get into trouble, they ran away faster than rabbits.
Wu Yanyan had long since changed out of her fancy dress for the banquet. She wore a thorny hairpin and a cloth skirt, her face painted sallow. Hiding among the onlookers, she shouted, "Hey, isn't this Ms. Fan? Didn't she become a court lady in the palace? Why is she here? Hey, why is she bleeding?"
In fact, Fan Qiujun is not from Beijing. She has been in Beijing for less than two years and not many people know her. The reputation of a talented woman was created for herself when she was following Lang Yuyu and wanted to curry favor with Feng Jiahe.
The common people in the market had never heard of the talented lady Fan, but they had heard the word "female official", a female official in the palace!
"She must have had a miscarriage! Oh my God, let's go get a doctor! If it's too late, the baby might not be saved!"
"But why is the palace lady here, and why has she been caught committing adultery?"
The people arranged by Wu Yanyan in advance added fuel to the fire and continued to make things worse until the servants carried the people in, and then everyone dispersed.
Fan Qiuyun lost her baby and had a miscarriage.
The news that the female official was pregnant and hiding in a house outside the palace, and was caught in adultery, spread throughout the capital at the fastest speed.
Wu Yanyan finally got on the carriage back home. Looking at the Qiao family villa that was no longer visible, she gritted her teeth.
"Fan Qiujun, you slut, now that you've lost your child and your reputation is ruined, the one in the palace won't want you anymore. Just wait for death."
Yes, things have developed to this point. Whether it is the emperor, Concubine Qiao, or the Fan family, what they have to do is to kill Fan Qiujun.
As for the marriage with Mr. Qiao, it certainly doesn't count.
Wu Yanyan still felt unsatisfied, so she took out another two hundred taels of silver to spread the news faster and wider.
Wu Yanyan was unaware that she was being used, but Fan Qiujun had already thought of what she didn't know.
Concubine Qiao would not make her pregnancy public. The only ones who knew about it were Concubine Qiao and the Third Prince.
From Concubine Qiao's instructions to her, it can be seen that even the Qiao family was kept in the dark about this matter.
So what happened today was by no means an accident, but was planned by someone.
Is there any need to ask who is the mastermind behind this?
It’s either Concubine Qiao, the Third Prince, or the mother and son working together!
The little affection that Fan Qiujun had for the Third Prince had disappeared the moment she was sent out of the palace.
For that man, she entered the palace as a lady-in-waiting, and for that man, she had an affair in the palace. However, that man allowed her mother to marry her to someone else, and even now, he wanted to kill their child.
The child is the evidence of the man's depravity. If he wants to be the emperor, he cannot leave any evidence.
So the mother and her child were to be sacrificed.
But why?
When Fan Qiujun heard someone in the crowd reveal her identity, she knew that the matter could no longer be concealed. If the child died, she would also die.
But why?
She was also a rich lady, and she was also raised in pampered circumstances. When she left her hometown, she wanted to become a princess. Later, when she failed to become the Princess of Liang, she came to the capital, also wanting to be the prince's consort.
Fate was unfair to her. In order to eliminate her competitor Lang Yuyu, she destroyed Feng Yalan. In order to marry into the prince's mansion, she compromised and entered the palace as a female official.
In the end, she got nothing and lost her life.
Why? Why?
The doctor asked her to stay in bed and rest for a short period of time. She pretended to be in a bad mood and sent the nanny and maid away. Those people were now panicked. They were anxious to report to Concubine Qiao, and no one cared about Fan Qiujun.
What else can a woman who just had a miscarriage do?
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