Chapter 641: The Deposed Princess Strikes Back at the Female General 88
Song Yan had been looking for an opportunity to talk to Ji Yunhuan, and now he finally had the chance to speak up for Ji Yunhuan.
He ignored his brother's dissuasion and said loudly: "Miss Ji is right! Forcing a girl in public is not a gentleman's behavior. Since Miss Ji is unwilling, His Royal Highness Prince Rui should give in."
"I am not very talented, but I know a little about the zither, and I would like to invite Miss Ji to play a piece of music with me to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday."
Song Mo didn't hold his silly brother back and could only sigh deeply.
The situation was so complicated that the Song family took every step carefully. However, this younger brother's mind was full of romance, and he kept muttering about "a beautiful lady is a good match for a gentleman" all day long.
Whenever he gave more advice, his brother would bite back and say that he despised Miss Ji because she was a second-time bride and was a conservative!
This has nothing to do with how many times Miss Ji has been married. Ji Yunhuan is tied to the power of the Duke's Mansion. Prince Rui is unwilling to give up Ji Yunhuan, and Prince Yi is also eyeing her covetously. Ji Yunhuan herself is a second-rank general and has underworld forces behind her. It is destined not to be peaceful.
His silly brother, did he really think that he could win Ji Yunhuan's heart by giving some gifts and saying some sweet words? It would be useless except to offend Prince Rui and Prince Yi!
Yuwen Yi looked at Song Yan gloomily, feeling very annoyed.
Even an unrelated young boy could speak for Huan'er, but Huan'er didn't let him talk too much at the banquet, saying that talking too much would lead to mistakes, so she told him to shut up if he couldn't speak.
Song Yan really hasn't given up yet, he remembered it!
Prince Rui turned his head and glared at Song Yan. "Yun Huan is just shy, but she must be willing in her heart. Why are you interfering in the matter between me and Yun Huan? Yun Huan will not play along with you."
Song Yan was full of passion, risking his life for love, and argued: "Miss Ji is no longer the Princess of Rui. She is a free person. As long as she wants, she can play with anyone. But His Royal Highness the Prince of Rui has married a new princess, so if he wants to play with her, he should go to Princess Su."
Ji Yunhuan pressed her eyebrows. She didn’t understand why Song Yan was meddling in other people’s affairs. Wasn’t it chaotic enough?
Yuwen Yi could hardly hold back any longer, so Ji Yun happily cut the Gordian knot and suggested, "Since both of you want to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday, why not play a song together? The sound of the zither and the flute go perfectly together, what do you think, Queen Mother?"
Prince Rui looked at the Queen Mother pitifully and called her "Grandma", his eyes full of pleading.
Over the years, no matter what he wanted, he only had to ask the Queen Mother, and she would soften her heart and agree to everything.
The Queen Mother was already a little unhappy watching this farce, "Then let's do as Huan'er said."
Prince Rui was a little incredulous, "Grandma, my grandson wants to play with Yun Huan, so please help me."
The Queen Mother's expression turned cold. "Are you really filial, or are you here to harass Huan'er under the pretext of playing music?"
"Rui'er, you were not like this before. A real man should be able to take it and let it go. Now that you have made your choice, you should not be wavering and indecisive. You should not disturb Huan'er anymore."
Prince Rui didn't dare to make trouble anymore and played a song for the Queen Mother in an orderly manner.
Song Yan was plucking the strings of a musical instrument beside him, his eyes always on Ji Yunhuan. Although he failed to play with Miss Ji, he did help her out, and she would surely be grateful to him.
Prince Rui presented the Queen Mother with a birthday gift, a jade Buddha statue that had been consecrated. He personally held it before the Queen Mother and said with a smile:
"My grandson started preparing last summer, searching for precious jade and hiring the best craftsmen to carve it. The key is to place it in the Leiyin Temple so that it can be imbued with Buddha nature. I asked the abbot to chant sutras and offer sacrifices every day, and I also often go to the Leiyin Temple to worship the Buddha statue. This Buddha statue has received a lot of incense and is quite spiritual. It will definitely help grandma live a long life."
The Queen Mother liked this birthday gift very much.
It’s not because she believes in Buddhism so much, but because of her grandson’s thoughtfulness. He started preparing for it before the New Year, which shows that he cares about her as a grandmother.
The Queen Mother stroked the Jade Buddha and couldn't let it go. "Rui'er is so thoughtful. Grandmother should enshrine it in the small Buddhist hall of Kunning Palace so that you can see it often."
As soon as Ji Yunhuan heard it, she knew that Prince Rui was talking nonsense. Last summer, she was still Prince Rui's Consort. She knew all the affairs in the palace clearly. Prince Rui had not prepared any Buddha statues at all.
This Buddha statue must have been bought by King Rui recently. He deliberately brought it back from Leiyin Temple and pretended that it had been enshrined for a long time.
King Rui said that he had been offering sacrifices for a long time, so naturally the people in Leiyin Temple would not expose it.
After making the Queen Mother happy, Prince Rui mentioned the Patrol Battalion seemingly inadvertently, "My grandson invited the Jade Buddha to the capital a few days ago, and fearing that something might go wrong, he asked the Patrol Battalion to protect him."
"My grandson only has a group of royal guards around him. There are many places where we need people on weekdays. In the past, we could use the guards of the Duke's Mansion, but now they are gone. It is really not enough. Grandmother, can you hand over the patrol camp to my grandson?"
There are not many troops in the capital, and the capital's baggage troops are stationed outside the capital. They are not allowed to enter the city without an imperial decree, otherwise it will be regarded as treason.
There are the Imperial Guards in the palace and the Patrol Battalion for security in the capital. These are the two largest forces. The Imperial Guards are naturally controlled by the emperor, while the leader of the Patrol Battalion was promoted by the empress dowager and is most obedient to her orders.
After the emperor took power, there was no change of personnel. The empress dowager gave up power very decisively. The emperor did not want people to think that he was narrow-minded and could not tolerate the talents promoted by the empress dowager, so the patrol camp maintained the status quo.
No matter how much the Queen Mother favored Prince Rui, she was still very clear-headed when it came to court affairs.
"Is there anyone in the capital who dares to bully my good grandson? It's useless even if you ask for the patrol battalion. The patrol battalion is full of rough men. They usually just catch bandits. It's dirty and tiring. I don't want Rui'er to suffer this."
"If Rui'er needs anything, such as the wedding last time and the Buddha statue this time, the patrol camp will naturally send people to maintain order according to the rules. There is no need to manage the patrol camp and suffer in vain."
"You are still young, and you will have plenty of opportunities to gain experience in the future. Right now you are too busy with the Ministry of Personnel to handle everything, and you can't bite off more than you can chew. Just ignore other things and take it step by step."
Prince Rui asked three times, but the Queen Mother still refused to give him the patrol camp, and he had been resentful for a long time.
He wanted the patrol battalion so that it would be loyal to him, not to do these trivial matters.
Why could Yuwen Yi lead an army of 300,000? Both the Western Expedition Army and the Northern Border Army were in Yuwen Yi's pocket. He didn't ask for the Beijing baggage army, but only for a small patrol battalion. The empress dowager kept making excuses.
The Queen Mother said that she loved him the most, but in fact she was biased towards Yuwen Yi!
Prince Rui lowered his head, assuming an attitude of listening obediently.
"Grandma is really thoughtful. Rui'er has learned a lesson."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
