Xiao Qin'er went to the palace to pay her respects, which was like going through hell.
Empress Pei was not polite to her and got angry with her on the spot.
Gu Jiu and Ouyang Fu, who had come to the palace to pay their respects, were also affected.
"How dare I, a person of such stature, burden Xiao Zhaoyi's elder sister with paying respects to the emperor at the palace on time? Wasn't it nice to stay at her parents' home for the past six months? Why not just stay there and return to the palace?"
After hearing these words, Xiao Qin'er was trembling with fear and was about to cry.
She knew that she would be implicated by her family.
There was no choice but to kneel down and apologize.
"My daughter-in-law was unwell and was recuperating at her parents' home. It wasn't that she deliberately didn't come to the palace to pay her respects, but she didn't dare to come until she was well again, fearing that the illness would spread."
Empress Pei snorted coldly, "You dare say I'm sensible? Do I have to reward you?"
"My daughter-in-law doesn't dare."
"What are you afraid of? Back in the palace, you dared to pretend to obey but secretly disobey. Now that no one is in charge, one or two of you don't even take me seriously. What kind of queen am I?"
"I, your daughter-in-law, acknowledge my guilt. Please calm down, mother."
Now that things have come to this, what should we do?
Gu Jiu and Ouyang Fu could only kneel down together to apologize.
I don’t know how much anger Empress Pei had been holding back, but this time, she vented it all on them.
Ouyang Fu was fine, as she had to pay her respects to Concubine Shen later, so she could take the opportunity to escape.
Gu Jiu and Xiao Qin'er could only endure it.
Empress Pei waved her hand and said, "Second Master's wife, please withdraw first. I dare not keep you for too long, otherwise the virtuous concubine will come to His Majesty and cry, saying that I have treated you harshly."
"My daughter-in-law doesn't dare." Ouyang Fu bowed her head and apologized.
"Let's go, let's go. I still want to talk to my two dear daughters-in-law."
Ouyang Fu bowed and said goodbye.
As soon as Ouyang Fu left, the hall became quiet.
Empress Pei didn't say anything, and neither did Gu Jiu and Xiao Qin'er.
The atmosphere is tense.
After nearly a cup of tea, Empress Pei finally spoke up and said, "Everyone, stand up and sit down to talk."
"Thank you, Queen Mother."
The two of them supported each other and sat on the chairs.
Empress Pei snorted coldly, feeling depressed.
She stared at Xiao Qin'er, "What on earth are you, the Xiao family, thinking? Are you deliberately sending someone into the palace to cause trouble for me?"
"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood. The Xiao family has absolutely no intention of causing trouble for you." Xiao Qin'er answered cautiously.
Empress Pei looked at her with a half-smile. "Then tell me what's going on with Concubine Xiao. What if she gives birth to a boy or a girl someday?"
Xiao Qin'er gritted her teeth and said, "No one can threaten my mother's position. Not even if she has a little prince."
However, Xiao Qin'er had other thoughts in her mind.
Emperor Wende had many women, but for many years, none of them had given birth to a son or daughter. It was very likely that Emperor Wende was not in good health and could not conceive.
In this way, naturally no little prince or princess would be born in this harem.
Thinking of this, Xiao Qin'er secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Xiao Qin'er only knew one side of the story.
She didn't know that Emperor Wende had already recovered.
In the past, no women in the palace's backyard became pregnant because Emperor Wende did not need them to become pregnant.
Emperor Wende wanted to use the illusion of infertility to deceive the late emperor and make him feel guilty towards him.
Now, the late emperor has passed away.
Emperor Wende no longer had any worries.
He could make his concubines pregnant at any time.
Queen Pei laughed sarcastically, "What did your parents tell you?"
Xiao Qin'er hesitated for a moment before saying, "My mother said that since other nobles have sent their daughters to the palace for selection, the Xiao family can only make the same decision as everyone else."
"Not a single word of truth." Queen Pei didn't give Xiao Qin'er any face at all.
Xiao Qin'er felt wronged, but she could only endure it.
Empress Pei smiled and said, "Alright, go see your Concubine Xiao. I won't keep you here any longer."
Xiao Qin'er was speechless, and it took her a long time to find her voice, "My daughter-in-law didn't go to visit Xiao Zhaoyi."
Empress Pei was not grateful. "Whether you watch it or not is your business. I have no right to interfere. I need to speak to the eldest brother's wife now. Please leave."
Xiao Qin'er bit her thin lips lightly, tears welling up in her eyes.
Empress Pei issued an order to expel her. What could she do?
She could only get up and take her leave, planning to go to the Cining Palace.
Once Xiao Qin'er left, Gu Jiu was the only one left.
Queen Pei stared at her.
Gu Jiu's expression was calm. "I wonder what instructions my mother has for you?"
"You are the eldest daughter-in-law. You have to keep a close eye on the situation in the palace."
Gu Jiu was surprised, "But what happened?"
Empress Pei said, "The third, fifth, and sixth sons are still unmarried. His Majesty intends to arrange marriages for them. Please keep an eye on them for me."
Huh?
Did Emperor Wende become rich? He actually spent money to arrange marriages for his sons.
Gu Jiu asked, "Your Majesty, have you chosen your marriage partner?"
Empress Pei shook her head. "I'm choosing. Keep an eye on these three for me."
"Mother, could you please tell me specifically how we should monitor them? Should we prevent them from wandering off, or should we not intervene?"
Empress Pei smiled softly, "You should intervene when you should, and stay out of the way when you shouldn't. Do you understand the proper balance here?"
Gu Jiu naturally knew it.
The third prince, the fifth prince, and the sixth prince were all born out of wedlock.
When it comes to the illegitimate prince, Empress Pei is naturally more cautious than caring.
Gu Jiu bowed and accepted the order, "Daughter-in-law understands. Daughter-in-law will arrange to keep an eye on them."
"That's great. Did Xiao Qin'er and the Fourth Prince quarrel when she returned to the palace?"
"There was no quarrel. Judging from the appearance of my fourth brother's wife, she must be recovering."
"It's been so long, it should have healed by now." Empress Pei leaned back on the soft pillow, "You may leave."
"My daughter-in-law is leaving."
After coming out of Weiyang Palace, Gu Jiu prepared to leave the palace directly.
As for the Cining Palace, since today was not the first day of the new year, she was too lazy to go there to pay her respects.
Empress Dowager Xiao never liked her at any time.
She wouldn't go over and cause trouble.
Moreover, if Xiao Qin'er went to Empress Dowager Xiao, she might have an argument with Xiao Zhaoyi.
As an outsider, she naturally stayed as far away from the Xiao family's affairs as possible.
But I didn't expect to meet Ouyang Fu when I left the palace.
"What a coincidence. My second sister-in-law is really quick."
Ouyang Fu smiled bitterly, "Her Majesty the Concubine was in a bad mood, so I didn't dare to sit for long."
Gu Jiu raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Recently, many people in the palace have been in a bad mood."
"Yes! The old ones are forgotten when new ones appear. The concubines who left the palace almost all fell out of favor. Now in this palace, only the new ones laugh, and the old ones cry."
Ouyang Fu said with deep feeling.
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "It's been like this for a long time. We don't have to worry about the ladies. They are fine."
Ouyang Fu was amused. "With wealth and status, they have it all. Thinking about it this way, the ladies are indeed doing well. We two are worrying for nothing."
Gu Jiu nodded, "That's right. After all, we don't have any sisters entering the palace. It's better than the fourth brother's wife. There's no need to be so embarrassed."
Ouyang Fu said, "Before in Weiyang Palace, I felt bad for Fourth Brother's wife. That scene was so embarrassing."
Gu Jiu smiled and said nothing. There would be more embarrassing times in the future.
When Concubine Xiao gives birth to the little prince, we’ll see, there will be another commotion.
The two of them left the palace together, each got on a carriage, and set off back to the palace.
After returning to the palace, the first thing Gu Jiu did was to call Qian Fu for questioning.
"Your Highness the Third Prince, Your Highness the Fifth Prince, and Your Highness the Sixth Prince, what have you been busy with recently?"
Qian Fu bowed slightly and said, "Madam, His Royal Highness the Third Prince is busy with his duties all day long and is highly appreciated by the higher-ups. The court officials all say that His Royal Highness is steady and down-to-earth in his work."
Gu Jiu pursed his lips and smiled, saying insincerely, "This is truly cause for celebration. The Third Prince is finally beginning to show his talents."
Qian Fu continued, "As for the Fifth and Sixth Princes, they both have no jobs. Apart from studying, they spend their time fooling around outside."
"Where does the money come from?"
Being a playboy also requires money, okay.
Even that pitiful amount of royal title and salary is not enough to cover one month's expenses.
Qian Fu thought for a moment before saying, "Someone made an offering to the two Your Highnesses, and neither of them refused."
The so-called contribution was nominally registering the property under the names of the two princes. In reality, they were just providing some money to support the two princes and making an early investment.
As the saying goes, one should be grateful for what one has received and one should be soft-hearted when one has received something from someone.
Others spend money to support you and pay for your extravagant expenses. So when others need it, shouldn't you also give something back?
If you are spending other people's money, then you should not feel resentful when others act recklessly and fool around outside under the name of prince.
If he doesn't use the title of prince to do whatever he wants, where will he get the money to support the prince?
In this way, it is indeed easy for the prince to make money.
The premise is that you can bear the consequences.
Gu Jiu couldn't help but frown when he heard this. "Your Highness the Fifth and Sixth Princes, did you both accept other people's offers?"
"Exactly."
"Does your Highness know about this?"
Qian Fu nodded. "His Highness knew about it from the beginning and privately reprimanded the two Highnesses. He didn't do anything about it after that. His Highness said he couldn't handle it."
This is indeed Liu Zhao's temper.
Knock once, it’s up to you whether you listen or not.
If something happens, don't look for him.
He didn't kick someone when he was down, which was his way of being loyal to his brother.
Gu Jiu pondered for a while, wondering if Queen Pei also knew about this and wanted to take the opportunity to attack the two princes?
She ordered Qian Fu, "Find the person who surrendered to the two princes and give me a copy of their information."
Qian Fu was surprised, "Madam wants to take care of this matter?"
"Whether I care or not depends on the situation. But I have to understand. Just bring the information and don't ask about other things."
"I obey your command."
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