East Palace.
An Qingran heard that Prince Ning had left, and she felt relieved. She didn't know that Dongfang Jin went to see Prince Ning. Of course, even if she knew, she would think it was natural, because Dongfang Jin suspected that there was something else going on, so it was possible that he thought Prince Ning was framed. But in her heart, it didn't matter. In the previous life, Prince Ning also helped Prince Kang do a lot of bad things. They were in the same group. She would be happy whoever left.
What's more, Qin Xiangning also followed him, and she was willing to see such an ending.
Regarding the grudge between the Qin family and herself, she felt that she was not wrong and there was no need to feel uneasy.
What she is most concerned about now is the affairs of Lou Wanyue and Dongfang Run. She doesn't know how the two of them are doing now.
So, she simply posted a notice and invited both her aunt and sister-in-law into the palace.
Dongfang Ruoxue was dressed very brightly, in a bright red dress that looked like Lou Wanyue's style, which made An Qingran look sideways: "What's wrong? You are dressed as a bride, am I missing something?"
Dongfang Ruoxue refused to give in when she heard this: "Qingran, you bullied me again."
An Qingran pursed her lips and looked at Lou Wanyue again, only to see that she had a plum petal on her forehead today, her eyebrows were curved, and her eyes were full of spring. An Qingran seemed to understand something.
The two sisters-in-law were talking lively. This time, Erlou Wanyue would occasionally interject without any complaints. Dongfang Ruoxue was just as lively, but she only said a few words before stopping and looking around: "Crown Princess, why don't you see the Crown Prince?"
"The prince has been very busy."
"But we should eat at noon."
"I probably accompanied the emperor to eat in the imperial kitchen. These past few days, he was particularly busy and the emperor was in a bad mood."
"Yes, after all, King Ning was exiled." Lou Wanyue understood the situation very well.
Dongfang Ruoxue waved her hand and said, "No matter what he does, anyone who does something wrong must pay the price."
An Qingran nodded: "Yes, Ruoxue is right."
"I'm going to go see the Queen Mother, you guys chat." Dongfang Ruoxue pushed Lou Wanyue, "You seem to be hiding something from me. I won't agree when I find out what it is. However, since you think it's necessary now, I won't ask anymore. I'll just accept your request."
Having said this, he walked away gracefully.
Seeing her leave, An Qingran said, "Look at you now, is everything going well?"
Lou Wanyue smiled, a little embarrassed: "Fortunately, he is better than before, and his words are not so cold...I shouldn't have said those words last time in Yuehua Temple."
"No, you should say it. You should have said it a long time ago. I don't mind. At least I can help you if you say it." An Qingran said confidently. In fact, she knew that there were limits to what she could do, and she didn't know whether she could help or not.
Lou Wanyue smiled faintly, and An Qingran discovered that she loved to laugh more and more, and she was really beautiful when she laughed.
"Qingran, you only care about taking care of us, but you can't think about your own affairs, right?"
"What's my matter?"
"Why isn't your stomach moving yet?" After asking this question, Lou Wanyue smiled apologetically, "You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not." An Qingran knew that she could give birth, because in this life, she didn't fall into the water, and no one would feed her cold soup. She was very healthy, but she was not ready. On the other hand, many things depended on fate. "I will have a child. I'm too busy now, so I'm not in a hurry. But you have to hurry up."
"I hope so too." Lou Wanyue lowered her head, her neck flushed.
"By the way, is there anything else I can help you with? Just ask. Do you want to continue using the rouge you used last time? I have mixed up another good medicine today..."
"If I can only capture him with the help of drugs, I would rather not use it." Lou Wanyue felt that her self-esteem could no longer bear it. Why did everyone think that if the two of them were together, they had to use drugs to solve the problem? An Qingran meant well, and the Queen Mother also meant well, but this kindness made her feel really embarrassed. Dongfang Run obviously also understood the Queen Mother's intentions, and he treated her even colder afterwards, which made her feel like a knife was stabbing her heart.
"I know. Of course I won't give you any more medicine. These are just for nourishing your body. When the time comes, it's most important for you to get your body in good shape and give birth to a healthy baby. And now your relationship with Dongfang Run is getting better. Obviously, he knows your good points. You just need to stay true to yourself." An Qingran took out a small jade bottle while speaking. "This contains tonic medicine, including snow frog and ginseng. You only need to take a small sip every day. Seven consecutive days is a course of treatment. After taking it, stop taking the medicine for seven days."
Lou Wanyue took it and put it away carefully: "You are thinking about me like this, but I have no way to repay you. I really don't know how to thank you."
"We are sisters, so don't be polite. Seeing you two living in harmony together makes me happier than anything else." An Qingran said this sincerely. She didn't want Lou Wanyue to misunderstand her.
After Lou Wanyue left, Dongfang Jin just came back and said, "You guys have been walking around quite frequently recently. Aren't you afraid that Lou Wanyue might misunderstand you?"
"What's the misunderstanding?" An Qingran asked deliberately with raised eyebrows.
"Like...what do you mean, are you trying to take this opportunity to see someone..." He tangled his fingers in her dark hair, a sour look on his face.
An Qingran was really helpless. She looked at him with a smile: "Does the prince think that everyone is as petty as you?"
"Okay, I care about you, but you say I'm narrow-minded..." Dongfang Jin refused, hugged her in his arms, and started to act like a spoiled child.
An Qingran really had no way to deal with this big kid, so she could only pat him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, stop playing tricks. I haven't asked you yet, has Prince Ning left?"
Dongfang Jin nodded: "Yes, but I always feel that this matter will not end like this."
"Do you still think that Prince Ning didn't do this?" An Qingran certainly didn't have a good impression of Prince Ning.
“It’s hard to say, I just have a very strange feeling. I’m afraid that the emperor feels the same way, otherwise he would not exile Prince Ning in the name of a fiefdom. After all, a person with a fiefdom is also a king, and he can be rewarded in the future, while criminals are completely different.” Dongfang Jin is very smart, with sharp eyes and cleverness.
An Qingran sighed: "Marrying you means marrying trouble and danger..."
Dongfang Jinban looked at her seriously over her shoulder: "Are you regretting this?"
An Qingran was also a little nervous because of his expression: "It's just a joke."
"Don't make such jokes. I already felt guilty, and now I'm even more sad. Please don't look down on me, okay?" Dongfang Jin's eyes were pitiful, like a puppy who was about to be abandoned by his owner.
An Qingran felt a pang in her heart and hugged him: "Okay, I won't say it again in the future."
Dongfang Jin embraced the beauty with a smug smile in his eyes.
The days have become quieter.
There were no major events for several days, and An Qingran just started distributing silver as usual. All the things to be distributed to the border had been distributed, and now the concubines in the palace were told to reduce their salaries by half so that they could save money for the New Year.
The other half will be distributed after new taxes are collected after the New Year. However, the palace ladies will still be paid according to the rules and no deductions are allowed.
During this period, An Qingran was mainly investigating and punishing the people below who withheld the salaries of the palace servants. She actually caught two of them and punished them severely. The palace servants were pitiful to begin with, and it was not worth it to have a crooked mindset to take advantage of them with a few dollars. Her iron-fisted approach to this matter earned An Qingran the name of "mean", but Emperor Yunqi was very supportive of her approach.
The palace hasn't been reorganized like this for many years.
This reminded him of Queen Yun. When she was around, naturally no one dared to do anything small.
Concubine Xian had been ill for a long time, and the Imperial Hospital had seen her several times, but there was no improvement. Emperor Yunqi did not blame her for Prince Ning's matter, but instead asked people to see him twice. Concubine Xian's mood improved a little, but she cried day and night, and didn't know what else she could do. She just started to save money, thinking that Prince Ning had gone to a remote place and would be short of food and clothing, and she hoped she could subsidize him.
Therefore, she was very dissatisfied with An Qingran's decision to pay half of her salary, but she knew that this must be the emperor's intention, so she kept silent.
However, the laughter that kept coming from the Jiaoxiang Palace really irritated her. In fact, she was far away from the Jiaoxiang Palace, and the so-called laughter was nothing but her hallucination and imagination. After all, the fact that the emperor had bestowed a name on Dongfang Lin was already known to the whole court, not to mention the palace, which was a place of right and wrong.
The child has now become a knife in her heart. Her grandson is already five months old and she will soon meet him, but she is still An Qingran!
She didn't believe what her daughter-in-law said. How could she fall by herself? If her child was still alive, the emperor would at least consider the child's sake and not send them to such a far place.
However, there is something that hurts her heart right now: the Crown Prince's Consort Lou Wanyue is pregnant.
When she heard the news, she snorted coldly. Any woman can give birth to a child. What's so great about that? However, when she learned about the reward from the empress dowager, she was no longer calm. At this time of tightening her belt, the empress dowager sent silk, jewels and other things to mend her clothes. According to the palace servants, it took up fifteen large boxes, which was almost as much as the dowry. But Concubine Xian knew that the empress dowager's treasures must be more valuable than the dowry.
Lou Wanyue was shocked when she received the reward. She watched all the boxes being opened in front of her eyes. The glittering jewels made her squint. Princess Shou said, "Run'er, help Wanyue go in and have a rest. She might catch a cold standing here. She might also be tired. I'll have people move these rewards to your room box by box. You can check them before putting them into storage."
"Let mother handle it, and we'll see what happens later." Dongfang Run said.
"This is the Queen Mother's intention. If it gets to her ears, it would be disrespectful. You go back and I will make the arrangements."
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