Chapter 83
◎Two chapters in one◎
It is said that Jiang Bibo outside the palace had been giving alms in the name of Huiyin in the capital for a month, providing porridge, medicine, free clinics, and clothes. It can be said that his presence was great.
However, things were not peaceful in the palace, because there was a difference in etiquette between the Princess of Wei and the Second Princess of Yin. It was not that Huiyin deliberately treated them differently, but simply because that was the way it was in the etiquette, and there was a difference between wives and concubines.
Normally, when something is sent over, no one would go to ask questions about it. But the Grand Empress Dowager was a talkative person. When she heard that Huiyin had sent something, she asked the Princess of Wei and the Second Princess of Yin, "I wonder what the Queen sent?"
In order to show the goodwill of the Queen, the Princess of Wei of course told the Queen the total amount. However, because of this, the Second Princess of Yin felt very uncomfortable. She felt that it was okay in the past. When she was in the Prince of Wei's mansion, her status was indeed not as good as the Prince of Wei. But now that the Prince of Wei was dead, his biological son, the Prince of Yuzhang, was in charge. It was hard to say that the Queen's actions did not involve personal grudges.
But Concubine Yin is definitely not like her sister, who only cares about appearances. She is now just waiting to leave the palace. After leaving the palace, it is almost unnecessary to say whose son will be the head of the family and who will be the real mistress. Now she just has to endure it for a while, but she feels a little uncomfortable in her heart.
When she met Princess Jianjia again, Concubine Yin behaved as respectfully as she did in the royal palace.
This made Princess Jianjia completely confused. She went to her mother and said, "Concubine Yin is doing just as well as she was in the palace. Although I hate them for abandoning us, I heard that they were also in rags. If they hadn't met my father's former colleagues, I'm afraid they would have ended up like us."
After all, she was just a young girl. Although she had complained before, she lived a good life afterwards and the past events faded a lot. Moreover, she also knew that Prince Yuzhang was the biological son of Concubine Yin, and when she lived in the Prince's Mansion, she would have to deal with him.
The Princess of Wei was not as easy to fool as her daughter. She had been the Princess of Wei for many years. Some things were not easy to say in the palace. There were many eyes and ears here. You didn't know who heard it outside and caused unnecessary trouble. Therefore, she took her daughter into the inner room and whispered, "Mother has told you that you must be on guard against others and not trust others too much."
When Jianjia heard this, she became alert and was on guard. She was still young and could not hide her emotions on her face. Even if she tried hard to hide them, clues would show. Of course, Yin Lifang also saw the expression on Princess Jianjia's face and thought to herself that she had been tolerant enough towards the mother and daughter. They still acted like this, as if others had evil intentions towards them.
Not to mention the undercurrents on both sides, Huiyin just had her period, her waist was sore, her legs were weak, and she had sores on her forehead. She couldn't sleep all night, so she lay on the couch and read a book to rest.
The people serving now are all young palace maids. As the eldest aunt, Fugui has a different status and helps Huiyin deal with some important matters.
She was reading a book called "Natural History". After finishing reading, she turned over and felt her eyes were sore. She stood up and changed her menstrual belt. Her waist ached when she walked. She could only tap her waist and said to Nan's mother: "I was so busy those few days when I first came here that I didn't take care of my body. I just relaxed for a while and now I feel uncomfortable."
Nan's mother used a small wooden hammer to massage her shoulders. Seeing that she looked a little tired, she felt distressed: "My queen, you have too many things to do and you have been working non-stop, so you are so tired. You were already tired when you gave birth to the prince, and you can't always rest."
"I twisted it last time when I was riding. I haven't ridden for a long time, so I feel uncomfortable when I ride. I seemed to be fine after lying down for a few days. But I took a carriage to the capital these days and sat for a long time. I kept enduring it, and when I relaxed, I didn't know that I would be like this. To be honest, your majesty has worked harder than me. He is only a few years older than me, and he has been in the army for many years. I don't know how many visible and hidden injuries he has on his body." Huiyin became more worried about her husband when she said this.
Nan's mother comforted him, "Don't worry, His Majesty is young and will be fine."
Huiyin knew that Xiaonan's mother couldn't say anything meaningful, so she smiled when she heard her comforting words: "Mom, for so many years, you have married me so far to Xuzhou, and now you are accompanying me to the palace. When the world is at peace, I will give you a house so that you can enjoy your old age."
As long as you are a human, you will have desires. Even your biological parents can be snobbish, let alone those who are not your biological children. If someone follows you and is loyal to you, it is because they are kind, but you must repay this loyalty.
Mother Nan, as the wet nurse, was not as happy as expected. Instead, she shook her head and said, "It is better than anything else that you allow me to stay by your side. You were the girl who grew up in my eyes, and now you are the empress who rules the country. I can't do anything, but it would be nice to be able to talk to you and relieve your boredom." In fact, how could Mother Nan not know that Huiyin was a sentimental and righteous person? The more this happened, the more Mother Nan didn't want to go out.
If nothing else, it would be better for her to follow such a loyal and righteous master than Shen Du.
Let alone anything else, look at Dong Shun, I heard that he must be regretting it. Not everyone can tolerate this gap when they go out. When they are with the Empress, even the Prince has to respect them, but when they go out, they are all masterless, and after a while, who will care about you?
These Southern mothers know this better than anyone else.
Nan's mother knew, and Huiyin knew, too, that freedom was important, but not everyone had the talent to survive outside. Even those who had achieved fame, had some background, and had some savings might not necessarily live as they wished. When people were unhappy, they loved to reminisce about the past.
The master and servant talked about some private matters, and Huiyin's mood improved a little. She even ate an extra bowl of water shield soup at noon. She used to dislike vegetable soup the most.
After the meal, Jing'er and Zhan'er came to pay their respects. Jing'er was young, and perhaps because he was crowned the crown prince, he looked much calmer. After paying his respects, he walked to Huiyin with smooth steps. Zhan'er followed behind his brother, and as always, he deliberately hid behind his brother and suddenly ran out to scare her.
"Come here, come here." Huiyin pulled her sons one by one, looking left and right, and felt love no matter how she looked at them.
Jing'er touched Huiyin's forehead like a little adult and said, "Your mother's forehead isn't hot, so it should be fine."
Huiyin chuckled, feeling relieved knowing that her son cared about her, but she still explained, "Mother is not feeling well because of the long journey in the carriage. She will be fine after a few days of rest. Don't worry."
With her sons by her side, Huiyin felt much happier.
The next day, she allowed Ji to visit the palace. When the mother and daughter met, Ji told them everything that had happened outside: "Your brother's wife went to Qinghe yesterday to inquire about it for you. Don't worry, Your Majesty."
Huiyin blew away the tea foam, then remembered that her period had come, so she put it down and said with a smile, "If I don't trust her, how can I leave things to her? I'll find something for her to do, so that she won't always think about other things."
"You, what are you doing..." Ji always felt that her daughter's words seemed to have a hidden meaning.
Huiyin shook her head: "I won't say more, are the places in the capital peaceful?"
"Be content, very content. The wife of the Marquis of Wuning has been giving alms everywhere for you. Now people outside say that you are like a bodhisattva. The rest of the mothers stay at home all the time, and no one would be ashamed to go out and socialize." People's hearts are hidden in their stomachs. Ji felt that those who smiled the happiest on the surface might have the most evil thoughts in their hearts.
Take Crown Prince Li Heng for example. When Ji Shi thought of this, she said to Huiyin, "You may not know this yet, but Deyin couldn't have a baby in the palace because she drank a lot of cold things. I heard that the pregnancy-maintaining medicine she drank after each sexual intercourse might have problems, and it might have been caused by the Crown Prince."
Huiyin said calmly, "Why did the prince give it to her?"
Ji said, "Maybe he didn't want her to get pregnant. He was probably afraid that after your father saw the child, he would ask the emperor to order the princes to be executed."
But when she finished speaking, she felt something was wrong: "Then why is Wei Liangdi also pregnant?"
"I don't know about that, but it's a good thing that the former prince died, which is a relief to the people." Huiyin took the cherry preserves beside and ate them.
In fact, Huiyin knew this very well. At the beginning, it was the Lu and Zheng families who were fighting, but he was able to fool them for so long because Lu Xiaoxiao and Zheng Deyin could not find out. Wei Liangdi was a smart person. She found out but refused to drink. If she really had a child, the prince would not dare to do anything excessive.
But she couldn't say these things, otherwise it would be considered as superstition.
Ji nodded and said, "Yes, wait until your elder sister recovers and finds someone to marry. She is still young and it is not good for her to stay at home all the time."
Huiyin was very tolerant on this point: "She is like this now, let her be. If she is afraid of repeating the same mistakes, who can stop her from having a meal as a virgin?"
Ji thought that Huiyin had never been bullied by her sister-in-law and sister-in-law. If they bullied her, she would definitely fight back. But it was very difficult for Deyin. They had nothing to do with each other. Who would want to support an idle person? So, she said, "She is different from the queen."
"Back then, she was eager to arrange the prince's marriage, and together with grandmother, she tried to stop me from marrying the Prince of Huaiyin. Now, they have failed. I seemed to be lenient with her, but I was just too lazy to pay attention to her. Also, she didn't really commit a serious crime, so I gave her a way out. But mother is different from me. She is hard on the outside but soft on the inside. Don't really pity her. If our prince hadn't ascended the throne, could you have kept your position as Madam Zheng?" She was worried that her mother was too honest and really took Deyin's matter too seriously.
Just give her a bite to eat and a sufficient allowance, there is no need to give her too many instructions, when she is really well off, she will still be close to her mother. These words were indeed very selfish, but she would not deny her true thoughts in her heart, this Xu was not quiet, and was making trouble at home all day long.
I remember that Zheng Fang told Li Cheng about Yin Lifang in order to let him take the initiative, but Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Xu were not so simple-minded. Mrs. Xin said that the two of them were thinking of letting Yin Lifang take away their favor.
She didn't think Yin Lifang posed any threat to her, but people outside didn't know. How could she tolerate the fact that someone who benefited from her dared to do such a thing?
Ji suddenly realized: "Yes, sometimes I feel sorry for her, but wasn't this pity also something she asked for?"
Knowing that her mother had heard it, Huiyin smiled and said, "Mother, it's not easy for you to come to the palace. Today, the people from the Imperial Food Bureau have presented some delicious dishes. Let's enjoy them together."
Ji said happily, "I don't know what they do. We eat more outside and less in the palace."
"There are only a few dishes on the table that I like. The others are just good to look at. Some dishes are cooked with great care, but taste bland." Huiyin could only say quietly that this is the rule, and there are some rules that you just have to follow.
Sure enough, when Ji was having his meal, he found that the table was full of food. However, dozens of people were watching him while he was eating, and if he took a few more bites, his plate would be taken away. It was really a torture.
After the meal, Ji asked, "Your Majesty, are you suffering from eating like this all day long?"
Huiyin smiled and said, "It's not that we always eat like this. It's just that you happened to meet me today. I also have a small kitchen here, and the small kitchen is full of my chefs. But we can't always use the people in the small kitchen and leave the big kitchen too idle."
Ji thought so too. She couldn't stay in the palace for long. After dinner, she knew Huiyin still had her period, so she asked her to rest more and left the palace. After leaving the palace, she did not go home first, but went to her eldest son's house.
At this time, Pei Shuo had just returned from the palace and was having dinner with Xin. The two of them even drank a few cups together.
Xin looked at the lychee pork tenderloin on the table and said, "Master, use more of this. The pork tenderloin is sliced thinly and is very flavorful."
But it was said that Xin was a good drinker. Pei Shuo would usually drink a few glasses of wine with her. Seeing her face flush after a few glasses, he smiled and said, "That's all I drink. Look at you, you're flushed again."
Just as Xin was about to speak, someone outside said that the mistress was coming, so they hurriedly rinsed their mouths and went out to greet her.
When Pei Shuo saw Ji, he stepped forward and supported her: "My mother, why are you here today? Your son was drinking with your daughter-in-law, and I asked your daughter-in-law to order a few more dishes from the kitchen." He asked Xin to go downstairs quickly and ask people to prepare the dishes, and Xin also pretended to leave in a panic.
But Ji told them not to rush. "I just went into the palace and had a meal with the queen. I just came out of the palace and came to see you."
Ji walked into the house facing her son and daughter-in-law, and saw that their dining table had not yet been cleared. She knew that if she didn't eat, they would definitely not eat either, so she just kept company, so she reluctantly drank a glass of wine and ate with them.
After the three of them sat down, Ji said first, "I see that the queen has been in poor health recently. Many of the palace maids and eunuchs around her are from the previous dynasty. I don't know if she can sleep well. I am very worried about her. Even I can't sleep."
The enemy is either within ten steps or thousands of miles away. The concubines of the previous dynasty can be dismissed, but the palace maids and eunuchs of the previous dynasty are too large to be completely eliminated. If one of them goes wrong, the Empress will be in trouble.
Since her younger son was now following the emperor to the battlefield, she had no choice but to talk to her older son.
Pei Shuo hesitated for a moment and said, "Don't worry, I will be in front of the Queen and the Prince more often and will definitely protect them. As for those people you mentioned, some of them cannot serve you closely. The Queen also brought a lot of people from the palace with her. The cook in the small kitchen and the people who serve her are all her personal servants."
"I feel relieved when you say that. Today the queen gave me a few leather jackets as a present, and I was just about to bring them to your wife." After hearing what her son had said, Ji returned to the topic of family matters.
Xin was delighted to hear this, for she was not from a poor family, but she was dressed decently.
Moreover, the more high-class the family is, the more grand it may seem, but in fact the mistresses are very careful.
At the end of the conversation, the three of them tacitly agreed not to mention Dong. Pei Shuo would not mention a concubine in front of his mother, and Xin would not mention it either. As for Ji, she would not ask about a concubine in front of her daughter-in-law.
But after Pei Shuo sent Ji away, he still went to see Dong. Dong asked someone to wipe his face with a handkerchief and made a sobering soup. Pei Shuo, who was lying on the bed, saw this and said, "You are still pregnant, so don't bother."
"I stay in my room all day long. I have nothing to do. What am I busy with? But you are busy enough. Grandma said you are busy outside now." Mrs. Dong said with a smile.
Pei Shuo shook his head: "This is a big deal. Some people are always trying to cause trouble. I have to surround the important areas of the capital so that no one can get in or out. Otherwise, it would be bad if someone bumps into the queen."
These were not things that Dong could have a say in.
Cui Yuehuan went to her mother's house to ask for help, but she didn't know that when she came back, her father, who had always been kind, had just recovered from a serious illness. Her mother, Madam Cui, said, "Your father was angry and sick. He asked your brother to come back from the Wei family, but your brother refused. He also wrote a letter saying that the emperor treated our Cui family harshly and asked us to go to Wei Duo."
"Dad, Mom, that Wei Duo, who is called the Prime Minister of Daye, is actually a thief of Daye. He wants to steal the country. It's true that he has been kind to you, but you have to turn from darkness to light. The emperor is your nephew, will he really treat you badly? It's just because of you that the emperor can't confer a title on our family." Cui Yuehuan was very anxious after hearing this.
Cui Xun put the handkerchief on his forehead and said, "We are us, your brother is your brother, and the emperor is too cruel to our family."
"If the emperor conferred a title on us, your elder brother would see that the emperor really treats our Cui family well, so how could he not come back?"
Cui Xun was still angry and felt humiliated.
Cui Yuehuan also knew that her family had complaints, but she had married into the Zheng family, so she had no say in whether the title was given or not. But she couldn't say that, so she could only say, "Now that the emperor is away on a military expedition, he can't take care of many things. I heard that even if it was the Xun family, if the Empress Dowager hadn't visited the emperor several times, the emperor wouldn't have given the title so quickly."
Madam Cui glanced at her husband, then said to her daughter, "Your father is the emperor's uncle, and the Xun family is one level further away. And the Zheng family is our in-laws, but they didn't help us. Yes, your father didn't go to Xuzhou, but that was because your father was old, didn't he send your second brother to help?"
When she said this, even Cui Yuehuan couldn't stand it anymore: "Mother, the Zheng family took the land of Jizhou to seek refuge. My brother went there after the Prince of Huaiyin conquered Jizhou. He didn't pass the imperial examination, but he was arranged to be an official. Even if the emperor is angry, can you still be stubborn with him? Even my father-in-law kneels neatly and never acts arrogantly in front of the emperor."
The situation was at a standstill for a moment, and it was Mrs. Cui who helped to ease the situation. She deliberately interrupted and asked Cui Yuehuan what had happened recently and how she got home.
Cui Yuehuan then said seriously: "The queen has just entered the palace, and the people around her don't know the details, so I was asked to investigate. I think my parents are familiar with this place, and it would be great if you could help. When the time comes, the queen's words for our family will be more effective than ten words from others."
In fact, Cui Yuehuan said this without any confidence. She was also afraid that her father would really be angry. Madam Xu in the family was such an old woman. If it weren't for her status as an elder, she would not like the Madam.
Unexpectedly, Cui Xun stood up and said seriously: "Leave this matter to me, I will go with you to handle it seriously and investigate their background and assets thoroughly. I will go now."
This made Cui Yuehuan dumbfounded: "Dad, didn't you just recover from a serious illness?"
“You have to stay active after recovering from a serious illness, otherwise you will get sick.” Cui Xun lost the title he had obtained. He is now doing worse than the Xun family. How could this be possible?
Seeing that her father agreed, Cui Yuehuan was also happy.
Little did they know that there was a conspiracy behind the scenes. Wei Duo was listening to Cui Dalang saying, "There's news coming from my father. He's helping Li Cheng's wife Zheng to investigate the backgrounds of these people in the palace. This is a good deal for us."
Wei Duo had certainly inquired about it. He said that Li Cheng was a brave warrior and had many cunning schemes, but there was only one thing that was worthy of praise, which was his deep love for his wife Zheng. Zheng was said to be a beauty of national beauty, the most beautiful woman in Jizhou, and countless men fell in love with her. However, among so many beauties, Zheng was able to control Li Cheng.
He has always been unscrupulous in doing things, so how could he do anything to get this done? If Zheng Shi got into trouble, and Li Cheng's two sons were all captured, then Li Cheng would definitely surrender.
"Okay, okay, Changqing, this news comes at the right time." Wei Duo smiled and pinched his beard.
Cui Dalangjun smiled and said, "My spies have already copied down a copy of the list. It's up to the Prime Minister to decide how to arrange it."
He was so cautious because he was afraid that something would go wrong and Wei Duo would blame him. Wei Duo also admired his tact and made careful arrangements. The reason why Wei Duo was able to win for so many years was because he was very good at gathering intelligence. At that time, he completely disintegrated all the people on Xie Jiuyi's side. He even burned all of Li Cheng's food and grass back then, and now he had to put his skills to use.
A few days later
In the Linde Palace, Huiyin saw that Cui Yuehuan had completed the matter in just one month, and she immediately praised her, saying, "I didn't expect my sister-in-law to be so efficient."
"I am nothing. Some people asked my family to help investigate. Your Majesty, just rest assured." Cui Yuehuan quickly told about the Cui family's achievements.
Huiyin of course understood the meaning of the song: "Thank you very much, I understand, I will tell the emperor when the time comes. It just so happens that I have a few pieces of white silk left for you to take back and make a quilt. You can come to the palace often to talk to me in the future. I am sorry to bother you with this matter."
Cui Yuehuan happily stood up and bowed to express her gratitude.
【Author's words】
I broke my promise today and will update twice a day. I am not feeling well, so I will give everyone a red envelope.
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