Chapter 160: The Empress's legitimate son, if the former Empress's child were still alive...
Hearing her own queen mention Lu Danruo, Nanny Duan subconsciously wanted to speak up and give her some advice. Lu Danruo was spoiled and willful, and didn't look like a smart person. She hoped that instead of succeeding, she would bring trouble to the queen.
Instead of choosing Lu Danruo, it would be better to think about how to encourage Cen, the wife of the Duke of Wei.
As a mother-in-law, she had been unable to control her daughter-in-law since she came into the family, and her situation had become increasingly difficult, forcing her to return to her parents' home. This humiliation and embarrassment made her doubt that Cen Shi didn't hate Cui Lingyan as a daughter-in-law and wanted to teach her a lesson.
"Your Majesty, if you have this intention, why not instigate Cen?"
Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Concubine Shu.
"No matter what, Cen has been the Duke's wife for so many years. Don't assume she's easy to control just because she's in a difficult situation. I do want to teach Cui a lesson, but I don't want to cause any trouble and implicate Ze'er."
Concubine Shu ordered, "Send someone down to make arrangements. Be careful not to let Lu Danruo know that I'm behind this. Oh, and the Cen family is in a tough spot right now. If you send someone to add fuel to the fire and make Cen's sister-in-law beg for help, it will only make things even more awkward for both of them. People like that always have a hard time themselves and can't stand seeing others doing well, especially when that person is their daughter-in-law."
Nanny Duan replied yes and went downstairs to make the arrangements.
......
Zheng Sui sat quietly in the carriage outside the palace, with no expression of joy or anger on her face.
After a long while, she finally said, "Let's go back home."
Fu Yue, the maid, saw her expression and couldn't help but say, "Cui Linghui was practically driven out of the palace by the Empress Dowager. From now on, it will be difficult for him to come into the palace often. Young lady, you should be happy."
She felt that His Highness asked the young lady to bring Cui into the palace today, thinking that it was giving Cui face. However, Cui was not liked by the Queen Mother, and she even said that in the future a mother could enter the palace only if she had a son of noble status. This made Cui lose face, but why did the young lady seem unhappy?
Zheng Suining looked at her like this and said calmly, "Why are you so happy? Even if Cui Shi was only driven out of the palace, even if Cui Shi lost her life, His Highness would only have me by his side. Does that mean my situation would be better?"
Fu Yue opened her eyes wide in confusion, thinking that the girl's words were strange. Which new bride doesn't want to win favor, let alone the girl who became the consort of the second prince.
Before she could figure it out, she heard her daughter say with a hint of bitterness, "Haven't you figured it out yet? Our prince isn't a kind person at heart. He doesn't necessarily think highly of Cui, but he treats her like a toy. Whether it's him doting on her and staying at her place these past few days, or even sending someone to tell me, his legal wife, to bring her into the palace with him, it's clear he's just having fun."
It goes without saying what Zheng Suining meant by "watching for fun". The Second Prince Xiao Ze was not a good man to begin with. He was cold and cruel in nature. So when the girl became the Second Prince's consort, she fell into a quagmire and could not have any good future.
After thinking about this, Fu Yue felt a sinking feeling in his heart. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he didn't know how to say it.
Zheng Suining closed her eyes, her voice filled with fatigue. "Let's take it one day at a time. I endured life like this in the Marquis' Mansion before. Now I'm just enduring it in a different place. As for His Highness, you maids don't need to show too much favor and try to win favor for me, your mistress. It will only make things more embarrassing."
Hearing her say this, Fu Yue's eyes turned red and she couldn't help asking, "But, but tomorrow when the young lady returns home, if His Highness doesn't accompany her, Madam and the Second Young Lady will not know how to ridicule and criticize her, and the Marquis will also think that the young lady is incompetent and can't even earn this little face in front of His Highness.
Fu Yue wanted to say something more, but she saw Zheng Suining close her eyes and remain silent. Her breathing soon became steady, and she fell asleep so quickly. For a moment, her heart ached, and she felt a little sorry for her daughter. In the end, she said nothing, let alone woke her daughter.
The young lady is right. Everywhere is a struggle. With His Highness's mentality, how can he truly care about anyone? Even if the young lady is not favored now, she is still the principal wife. Even if His Highness wants to maintain his dignity, he must give her the due allowance and respect. Although life is not very good now, and there are still some rumors in the mansion, saying that His Highness neglects her and treats her worse than he treats Cui, a concubine, but no matter how difficult it is, it can only be like this. His Highness will not take the young lady's life.
As for the future, don’t think about it for now. Just take it one day at a time. Thinking too much will make it difficult to live the present.
Thinking of Cui Lingyan, the wife of the Prince of Weiguo, whom she met in the Cining Palace today, Fu Yue felt a surge of envy in her heart. If only the girl could be as lucky as Cui. It was obviously a marriage that others did not want, but Cui changed her situation with this marriage. Her life now is truly enviable, and she has also won the favor of the Queen Mother.
Fu Yue was envious, but she also knew that Cui Lingyan's life was so good only because of the good character of Weiguo's son, Lu Bingzhi, who wouldn't take his anger out on Cui. If his own prince were to encounter such a situation, even if he knew Cui Lingyan was innocent, he would definitely humiliate her and embarrass the Ningshou Marquisate.
The carriage slowly headed towards the Second Prince's residence and soon disappeared from view.
It was almost the afternoon when Lu Bingzhi came to the Cining Palace from the Qinzheng Palace. The empress dowager did not keep the two of them for long. After talking for a while, she asked Lu Bingzhi to take Cui Lingyan out of the palace.
After Lu Bingzhi and Cui Lingyan left, the Queen Mother asked the maid beside her, "Did someone find out? Why did Cui Linghui come into the palace with Zheng today? Although Zheng is the eldest daughter who lost her mother, I don't think she is that intolerant. She wouldn't be so tactless as to deliberately bring Cui Linghui with her to show off her status as the principal wife and embarrass her."
When the nanny heard the Queen Mother say this, she seemed to be hesitant to speak.
The Queen Mother glanced at her and said, "Just tell me what you've learned. Why are you hesitating like this? At most, I've misjudged Zheng and failed to see her true character."
After hearing what the Queen Mother said, the nanny could only reply, "To answer your Majesty, it was not the Second Prince's wife who did this intentionally. It was the Second Prince who sent a message to Zheng, asking her to bring people into the palace to pay respects to Concubine Shu."
"I heard that the Second Prince didn't consummate his marriage with Zheng on the wedding night. He only drank the wedding wine with her before going to Cui's place. Yesterday, he was no different, showing no respect to his wife Zheng. Now everyone in the palace knows that Zheng, the Second Prince's consort, is not favored. His Highness disliked her from the moment she entered the palace. Some say it's because she's the eldest daughter of a deceased mother, and that His Highness has always been unhappy with the marriage, but he didn't dare disobey the decree granting the marriage. That's why he didn't go to the wedding on the day of the wedding, and now he's giving Zheng the cold shoulder, deliberately favoring a concubine to embarrass her."
When the Queen Mother heard her words, her expression instantly turned ugly.
"This bastard! How can he be worthy of the status of a prince? With such a temper, it's no wonder that the emperor dislikes him."
"It's all because of Concubine Shu, his mother, who didn't teach him well and cultivated this kind of personality. He wasn't so absurd a few years ago, but he has become even more outrageous in the past six months."
The Queen Mother's words were indeed rather harsh. Although the nanny did not dare to respond, she agreed with her words in her heart and felt that it was Concubine Shu who had failed to teach her son Xiao Ze well.
If Concubine Shu had not entered the palace to serve the emperor, nothing would have happened.
The late Empress died in childbirth, leaving two children dead. Since then, the Emperor has not favored Concubine Shu, and even treated the Second Prince, Xiao Ze, her daughter, with indifference. At the time, rumors circulated in the palace that Concubine Shu had angered the late Empress to death, and Concubine Shu's reputation was not good. The Second Prince, raised in such an environment, naturally had a twisted temperament. He had been acting pretentiously in the past few years, but in the past six months, having disliked the Emperor, he had become increasingly unbridled, acting as he pleased.
Although Zheng's status sounds noble if she marries him, the Second Prince is not a good husband. The couple is not getting along now, and there will probably be trouble in the future.
The nanny soothed him, "Don't worry about this. No matter how absurd the Second Prince is, it's Concubine Shu's fault for not disciplining him properly. If anything goes wrong, the Emperor will take care of it. Don't let your anger ruin your health because he has two other sons."
The nanny suggested, "Why don't the Queen Mother get closer to the eldest or third prince? The eldest prince is filial, and the third prince is eight years old now and seems to be very smart."
She has served the Queen Mother for many years, and there are some things that others may not be comfortable saying, but she does not need to worry about them.
As expected, the Queen Mother didn't blame her after hearing what she said, but she just shook her head slightly. "I only care about the harem, and I don't want to get involved in these matters. Not to mention that the Emperor is in good health, even if he is ill, he has his own arrangements. It is not my turn to interfere. If I show that I prefer a certain prince, wouldn't it cause unrest and even instability in the court?"
"I feel that the current situation is just right. The Emperor holds absolute power. Even if Xuan'er and Ze'er have thoughts, they can only think about them in their hearts. Who dares to show these thoughts openly? As for Xu'er, he is still young. If he has thoughts, it is Zhaopin's own thoughts. But she wants to win more favors and ask the Emperor to visit Xu'er more often. Zhaopin is not stupid. She knows that her son is young and has no qualifications to compete. For her, it is just a matter of taking sides. But if you take the wrong side, there will be a price to pay. That's why I don't see her getting close to Shunfei or Shupin. She can see it clearly. Would I think of stirring up trouble and causing trouble for the Emperor?"
"It would be even more unworthy if it caused a rift between the Emperor and me and my son."
At this point, the Empress Dowager sighed softly, wondering what had occurred to her. She couldn't help but say, "If only the late Empress's child were still alive. If that child were still alive, he would be the Empress's legitimate son. The Emperor would have been incredibly kind to that child, even if he hadn't let the late Empress down. He might even have been offered the position of Crown Prince. Just look at how much he indulged and doted on Chun'an, and you can imagine how much he would favor that child. It's a pity that fate played such a trick on him, and that child didn't have that blessing."
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