Chapter 165 The Bitter Days of Princess Yu
When Jiang Fenghua arrived at Consort Yan's palace, she felt that it was very deserted and there was no one in the courtyard.
There was only one woman squatting in the corner. When Jiang Fenghua approached, she saw that it was Princess Luo Ziqiong of Yu who was washing clothes. Her fingers were frozen stiff, and her whole hand was red, as if she had frostbite.
"Princess Yu," Jiang Fenghua called out to her.
Luo Ziqiong was completely numb from the cold. When she heard the sound, she turned around and saw Jiang Fenghua standing not far from her.
She asked awkwardly, "What brings Princess Heng here?"
Jiang Fenghua glanced at the mountain of clothes piled up in front of her and asked, "Why are you washing clothes?" They were obviously the clothes of a palace maid.
Princess Yu spoke calmly, as if it were a common occurrence, "Nothing much. My mother-in-law is ill, and as her daughter-in-law, I should take good care of her. Washing her clothes is also essential."
"Stop washing, come with me!" Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice.
Princess Yu's hands kept moving. "Princess Heng, you don't need to pity me." She couldn't not wash, otherwise Consort Yan would find all sorts of ways to torment her. Washing clothes here was a way to keep quiet. It was cold outside, and no one wanted to come out and watch her.
Jiang Fenghua stopped trying to persuade her and headed straight for the main house. As soon as the door was pushed open, she saw the palace maids gathered together, eating melon seeds and chatting.
In fact, the palace maids all felt cold and were too lazy to go out and help Princess Yu with her work; they all slept soundly in their rooms.
Consort Yan is out of favor and has not had a good time in the palace these past few years. Everyone in the palace is opportunistic and sycophantic, so the palace maids are indifferent to her and lazy in everything they do.
Now that Consort Yan is going to set rules for Princess Yu, they are even happier to have some peace and quiet.
Seeing this, Lianye muttered in Jiang Fenghua's ear, "Even if Consort Yan is not favored and her life is not easy, she can't take it out on Princess Yu! No matter what, they are from the same clan and she is still Prince Yu's legal wife. She makes the palace maids slack off inside and makes Princess Yu do laundry outside. I have never seen such a perverted person before."
When the palace maids saw Jiang Fenghua arrive, they simply gave a perfunctory bow and then sat back down by the stove to warm themselves and chat.
Even Ao Xue couldn't stand it anymore, so she kicked away the melon seeds in front of the palace maids, which startled them so much that they immediately stood up.
Jiang Fenghua said coldly, "Go and inform Consort Yan that I have arrived with an imperial edict. Tell her to come out and receive it."
An elderly nanny hurriedly went into the inner room.
A moment later, Consort Yan slowly emerged. How could the Emperor possibly remember her, much less send Princess Heng to deliver any imperial edict? Unless the sun rises in the west. "Fake imperial edicts are punishable by death. Princess Heng, coming to my palace to show off your power, you must have come to the wrong place."
Consort Yan, supported by her nanny, sat down in the main seat, looking as if she were truly seriously ill.
Jiang Fenghua hadn't had much interaction with Consort Yan. In her previous life, Consort Yan moved to Prince Yu's residence after the Emperor's death, so she didn't know much about her character, let alone that her relationship with Princess Yu was so bad.
In her past life, she was already struggling to take care of herself, so how could she possibly care about others?
Jiang Fenghua said calmly, "I am not here to deliver the imperial edict to Consort Yan. Of course, the Emperor's imperial edict will never reach Consort Yan in this lifetime. After all, the Emperor has no business with Consort Yan. The imperial edict is for Princess Consort Luo Ziqiong of Yu."
Consort Yan was taken aback, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes, and then asked, "What does the Emperor want with her?"
Consort Yan was quick to criticize, "Luo Ziqiong has lived for twenty years and is utterly useless. As a woman, she can't even give birth to a child. She has lived in vain. Yu'er must have been blind to marry her."
"Your Majesty, please watch your words! We are all women. She is both your niece and your daughter-in-law. Why make things difficult for her?"
"I am referring to my daughter-in-law. What does she have to do with Princess Heng? When Her Majesty the Empress is ill, she has two daughters-in-law serving her. When I am ill, can't I have my daughter-in-law come to the palace to serve me?"
"Why is there such a difference between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law? Am I not a mother-in-law myself?" Consort Yan had already inquired about it. The Empress had made Consort Su do a lot of work, and she was just following suit.
Jiang Fenghua had never seen such a muddle-headed person before. She thought Consort Yan was simply insane; she was mentally ill.
"Please invite Princess Yu to receive the decree!" Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice. "I am here on the Emperor's orders. If Consort Yan delays the Emperor's important affairs, I'm afraid she will have no choice but to stay in the Cold Palace."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be lying, Consort Yan was angry but dared not say anything more. But why would the Emperor seek out Luo Ziqiong? What ability did she have?
She said to the palace maid, "Go and call the Princess Consort in to receive the imperial decree." I want to see what kind of imperial edict Jiang Fenghua has received.
As soon as Princess Yu entered, she glanced at Jiang Fenghua, not understanding what she was going to do.
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Princess Yu, please accept the decree."
Princess Yu knelt respectfully on the ground, "Your Majesty, I receive the imperial decree."
Jiang Fenghua glared at Consort Yan, who had no choice but to kneel down, and the palace maids behind her also knelt down.
Jiang Fenghua announced loudly, "By imperial decree, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince are ordered to assist Princess Yu in preparing supplies to be sent to the border... Princess Yu shall leave the palace immediately."
Princess Yu was stunned and couldn't react for a moment.
Jiang Fenghua said, "His Majesty knows that you have done a lot of work in the flood relief efforts in Jiangnan and have made great contributions. This time, he trusts you, Second Sister-in-law. Princess Yu, why don't you quickly accept the decree? If you do it well, it will be a great achievement."
Princess Yu knew that Jiang Fenghua must be helping her, and she said, "Your Majesty, I accept the decree. I will certainly live up to your expectations."
Consort Yan was also dumbfounded. How could the Emperor possibly ask her to handle such an important matter, and even ask the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince to assist her? What merit or ability did Luo Ziqiong possess?
She wanted to say something sarcastic, but then she remembered that Jiang Fenghua couldn't possibly be forging an imperial edict, especially not in the palace.
Luo Ziqiong walked up to Consort Yan and said, “My father has decreed that I leave the palace immediately. I will no longer be able to take care of my mother in the palace. If my mother is still ill, she should go back to bed and rest. I will return to the palace to serve her after I finish my work.”
Since she wants to be sick, she can stay sick. Anyway, no one will come to Consort Yan's palace except to torment her.
If Consort Yan doesn't torment Luo Ziqiong, she has nothing to do; having a son is like not having one at all.
After leaving the palace, Jiang Fenghua asked her, "Why do you have to wrong yourself like this and let her do whatever she wants? She's obviously trying to humiliate and torment you."
Princess Yu smiled and gave Jiang Fenghua a slight curtsy. "Thank you, Princess Xie Heng, for saving me. If you hadn't come, I really wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer. Her methods of torturing people are so varied and sadistic; she takes pleasure in torturing me."
"Then why are you still putting up with it?" Jiang Fenghua said directly. "Her son is unkind to you, and she is unkind to you. Why cling to the position of princess?"
“How many women in the world don’t covet the position of a princess?” Luo Ziqiong said. “Don’t try to persuade me. I know in my heart that what everyone covets is not the position of a princess, but the glory and wealth of the royal family.”
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