Jing Huaixu sighed and first advised Consort Zheng, "Alright, you're always with the Empress Dowager, and you didn't even notice her having these thoughts. What's the use of crying later?"
Consort Zheng protested, "Even if I knew beforehand, what could I do? Once the Empress Dowager has made a decision, I have no choice but to comply. It's not like His Majesty doesn't know."
"I am not blaming the Empress Dowager. The marriage alliance between the two countries is a major event. Since Jingning has been chosen, I have nothing to say regardless of whether the other party is blind or deaf."
"But the Jade Emperor is too old. Even if Jing Ning becomes Empress at such a young age, she may not have the opportunity to become a mother. Once the Jade Emperor is gone, she will be left alone in the deep palace, which will be lonely."
"It's hard to say whether the new emperor of the Jade Kingdom will treat Jingning well. Shouldn't Your Majesty think about Jingning's future?"
Before Consort Zheng poured out her grievances to Jing Huaixu, she had already discussed it privately with Empress Dowager Zheng.
Empress Dowager Zheng was Jing Huaixu's biological mother. Even if all the responsibility was placed on Empress Dowager Zheng, Jing Huaixu would find it difficult to excessively blame his biological mother.
Consort Zheng could bring Jing Ning along as the victim in this matter, and Jing Huaixu would surely feel sorry for the mother and daughter.
“Once you marry out of the country, there’s no going back. Jingning will be nothing more than a decoration in the Jade Kingdom. She’ll be confined to the Jade Kingdom for the rest of her life. What kind of future do you think she has?” Consort Zheng’s words were too frivolous, and Jing Huaixu was displeased.
Jingning's cries suddenly turned more desolate, not for any other reason than that her grandmother and mother wanted to sacrifice one of her to give Jinglu more leverage.
Even now, she still has to stay here and act alongside her mother. Jing Ning is filled with sorrow, but unfortunately, she dares not die.
Consort Zheng, supporting herself on the table, pulled Jing Ning to kneel before Jing Huaixu, her voice trembling with tears and pleading.
"It's just a backup plan, to give Jingning more confidence. She'll need to eat and drink for decades to come, and we can't rely solely on the Jade Kingdom for support. I'd like to ask for more dowry for Jingning, and I beg Your Majesty to grant my request."
After going around in circles, it turned out to be this. Jing Huaixu looked at Jing Ning with affection and readily nodded.
"That's natural. Although the Ministry of Rites has its own standards for a princess's marriage, I am Jingning's father, and I will allocate some silver from my private treasury to give Jingning as a dowry."
Consort Zheng was clearly not satisfied with this, so she turned her face away and deliberately belittled herself, thus shifting the blame onto Jing Huaixu.
"What use is silver alone? If there aren't any good things to display, the people of Yu Kingdom will think that Princess Jingning, who is born out of wedlock, is not favored. But if they laugh at the poverty of Jing Kingdom, then His Majesty will lose face."
"Wan'er, you don't need to provoke me," Jing Huaixu chuckled, calling out Consort Zheng's maiden name. Now that she's older, she's lost much of her tender feelings and can deal with things more rationally.
"Jing Kingdom has just recovered, and it's good enough if it has any silver. All the best things have been used to exchange for money. If it doesn't recover in time, I, the emperor, will be penniless. Where would we have any high-quality things to display?"
Consort Zheng: "You don't have any, but the Empress has them in her private treasury. The Empress is the mother of the nation; how could she not have one or two treasures?"
"Your Majesty, I know that when the late Emperor betrothed the Empress to you, he bestowed many treasures upon her because she was the daughter of his Grand Tutor. The Empress also possessed a nine-phoenix crown adorned with pearls."
"Zheng Wan!" Jing Huaixu called her name again. Thinking of the Empress's hard work during the day, his eyes were no longer full of sadness as before, and he had a hint of reprimand for Consort Zheng.
"Over the years, the Empress has never neglected my children. In order to manage the harem, she was so busy that she didn't even have time to personally teach Jingyi, leaving her exhausted."
"Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager still favors your children, keeping Jingyi at arm's length with the Changshou Palace and opposing her frequent visits to the Yongshou Palace, which has spoiled her and made her reckless."
"I would never take anything that belongs to the Empress unless she is willing to take it."
Jing Huaixu's sudden outburst of anger actually made Consort Zheng very resentful. Those who knew her said she was Jing Huaixu's favored concubine, but that was compared to Consort Cheng. Jing Huaixu treated her with only a little more cousinly affection.
Compared to the Empress, Jing Huaixu not only loved her but also respected her. When she was young, Consort Zheng could not take him seriously, only thinking that because Jing Huaixu came to her palace more often, she was the most important person in the palace.
Unfortunately, youth faded, but the Empress remained virtuous, causing Jing Huaixu to feel guilty towards her.
Consort Zheng's favor was insignificant.
She suppressed her dissatisfaction, appearing utterly innocent.
"I didn't specifically want anything from Her Majesty the Empress. If Her Majesty doesn't give it to me, I wouldn't dare to insist."
"But Your Majesty, could you please say a few good words to the Empress? The Empress has the Crown Princess as her daughter-in-law, a princess from the Yue Kingdom. The Yue Kingdom is wealthy. If the Empress speaks up, wouldn't the Crown Princess, as her sister-in-law, be able to pick out one or two treasures?"
Jing Huaixu was shocked that Consort Zheng had actually hit Yue Jiang with something. This was even more outrageous than the Jing Palace being reduced to begging on the streets tomorrow.
He stood up abruptly and rebuked, "Incomprehensible! You don't know how Yue Jiang became the Crown Princess? Using her things to bribe Jing Ning, An Guo would laugh his head off. Such short-sightedness."
After saying this, Jing Huaixu turned and left.
Consort Zheng looked at Jing Huaixu as he suddenly left, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Jingning burst into tears: "Mother, I'm already married to such a person, so I don't need a generous dowry."
Consort Zheng glared at Jingning: "What do you know? This is your Empress Dowager wanting to explore Yue Jiang's thoughts and see if she is willing to get close to the Longevity Palace. It seems that your Empress Dowager needs to come in person."
The Eastern Palace.
When Jingyan returned from the hot spring room, he saw that Yuejiang had placed a pot of wine in the hall.
Yue Jiang seemed to have already drunk some water; glistening water droplets still clung to the corners of her mouth, her eyes held a slight buzz, and her normally snow-white skin was tinged with a thin pink.
Upon seeing Jing Yan approach, Yue Jiang leaned on the table and walked toward him, but she stumbled and fell into Jing Yan's arms shortly afterward.
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