Chapter 339 The Crown Princess with Ease
Jiang Fenghua recounted the events at the Eastern Palace as usual, emphasizing the matter of having Granny Wang adjust Consort Song's diet, but there was nothing else to say.
Granny Wang naturally kept it in mind. She would investigate slowly after today to find out who dared to do such a thing under her nose.
Unexpectedly, the Crown Princess had sharp eyes and immediately noticed that Consort Song had gained weight, and she foresaw the consequences.
Although the Crown Princess was young, she was quick-witted and intelligent, which made her admire her even more.
When she first entered the Jiang family to teach the Crown Princess court etiquette, she learned it in one go and did it quite well.
Jiang Fenghua was naturally unaware of what Granny Wang was thinking. She carefully examined the register that Granny Wang had handed over and felt that Granny Wang was very capable. The fact that Empress Cheng had sent Granny Wang to the East Palace to "monitor" her was like adding wings to a tiger.
Granny Wang and Granny Xi have served the Empress for so many years, yet Empress Cheng has never noticed their merits. If Empress Cheng had put in a little more effort, it would have been easy for them to help her win the Emperor's favor!
Of the ten women who entered the palace this time, Jiang Fenghua bestowed titles upon four Liangyuan, two Zhaoxun, and four Fengyi according to their family background and status.
The Eastern Palace already has two third-rank concubines, Zhu Zhenzhen and Tang Qianran, so any more people entering the palace can only be assigned to lower ranks.
According to the ancestral system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Crown Prince's secondary consorts are of the second rank, and two can be selected. Now that there is already a secondary consort named Song, there is still one vacancy. They dare not even dream of becoming the Crown Princess, so everyone is vying for the position of the other secondary consort.
Under normal circumstances, unless the Crown Prince is particularly fond of her or the Emperor and Empress bestow special titles upon her, the concubines who enter the palace must be promoted gradually from the bottom up. Therefore, Su Tingwan is a special case.
The four ladies-in-waiting of the fourth rank were Gao Qingtong, Helan Yanran, Pan Nianru, and Shu Yan. Among them, Gao Qingtong's father had the lowest official rank, but he was the first to be summoned to the emperor's bedchamber.
The two officials, Zhang Jingjing and Wen Lu, were both seventh-rank Zhaoxun. Their appearances were not considered exceptionally beautiful, but their family backgrounds were decent, as their fathers were both honest officials.
The four ninth-rank imperial concubines were Zhao Yuntong, Chen Jiawei, Wen Yu, and Fang Yao. Among them, Zhao Yuntong was the illegitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue. She came from a high-ranking family and was of decent appearance. She entered the palace only to maintain balance in the court.
The eldest daughter of the Zhao family had just married Prince Yu and become his wife, and now the illegitimate daughter had entered the palace. Jiang Fenghua deliberately gave her a low rank. In fact, Jiang Fenghua also had her own plans for letting the Zhao family daughter enter the palace. What she wanted was the position of Minister of Revenue. She would decide who would have the financial power of the Great Zhou in the future. It all depended on how this illegitimate daughter behaved in the palace.
From the moment Jiang Jinyan entered the Ministry of Revenue until now, she has been meticulously planning for the Jiang family's future. The Emperor's bestowal of the title of Marquis of Wu'an upon Jiang Jinyan was merely an extra reward; the title of Marquis of Wu'an grants him status but not real power and is of little practical use.
Initially, none of the Zhao family girls wanted to marry Xie Yu; they all wanted to enter the palace and marry the Crown Prince. However, Xie Yu was, after all, a prince, and marrying him would make her a princess. The Zhao family also wanted to seize this opportunity, so they chose the beautiful Zhao Yuntong to marry Xie Yu.
Zhao Yuntong was naturally unwilling to marry Xie Yu, that scumbag, which led to Zhao Yunhui sleeping with Xie Yu later on, and in the end, Zhao Yuntong was the one who benefited.
It was Jiang Fenghua who sent Luo Ziqiong to find Zhao Yuntong, which led to Zhao Yunhui getting into Xie Yu's bed. Otherwise, Zhao Yunhui would have been surrounded by the Zhao sisters and the palace maids from Consort Zhao's side. Without Zhao Yuntong's help, it wouldn't have been so easy for Zhao Yunhui to get into Xie Yu's bed, and the matter wouldn't have been so easy to accomplish.
When Luo Ziqiong found Zhao Yuntong, Xie Yu was flirting with the two sisters, Zhao Yuntong and Zhao Yunhui. He wanted both of them. In the end, Xie Yu slept with Zhao Yunhui, which didn't bother him. She was also the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family. If the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family married him, Minister Zhao would have to help him as his son-in-law. Unexpectedly, he was directly dismissed from his post.
It's clear that Zhao Yuntong is not a kind person, but she doesn't know that Jiang Fenghua is behind it all, which is why Jiang Fenghua didn't interfere with Luo Ziqiong and Xie Yu's squabble.
Originally, the daughters of Empress Cheng's family were also eligible to participate in the selection. However, Jiang Fenghua suddenly received a letter from Jiang Jinyan on behalf of the Cheng family. The Cheng family took the initiative to express their unwillingness to let their daughters enter the palace and expressed their sincerity to Jiang Fenghua.
She thought that the people of the Cheng family did not want a woman from the Cheng family to enter the palace, which must be because they had suffered enough from the misery that Empress Cheng had brought them. They did not ask Empress Cheng to intercede for them, so they probably hated Empress Cheng, their aunt, very much!
In fact, Empress Cheng's entry into the palace did not help the Cheng family at all. On the contrary, it caused the Cheng family's later generations to have a difficult career and blocked official paths. The relationship between Empress Cheng and the Cheng family only ended with the generation of Old Madam Cheng and General Cheng Yong.
Empress Cheng's greatest achievement in her life was giving birth to Xie Shang, such a capable prince. With this one thing alone, she defeated all the women in the world. Therefore, all the women who entered the palace wanted to give birth to imperial offspring, creating an unsolvable vicious cycle.
Jiang Fenghua gazed at the beautiful women below, a gentle and magnanimous smile always on her face.
She asked Gao Qingtong gently, "Is Consort Gao still getting used to the meals delivered by the nannies?"
When Gao Qingtong was called out, her pupils contracted slightly. Did the Crown Princess know something?
She said softly, "I haven't had much of an appetite lately, so I haven't been eating much."
Jiang Fenghua said with concern, "If you don't have a good appetite, please ask the imperial physician to come and take a look."
Before Gao Qingtong could speak, Granny Wang had already sent someone to invite her.
As soon as the person left, Gao Qingtong hurriedly said, "I'm fine, Your Highness, there's no need to call the imperial physician. I just caught a cold, that's why I don't have a good appetite." She didn't dare to eat anything the Crown Princess had sent, in case it made her unable to conceive.
Jiang Fenghua glanced at her and noticed her nervousness. Zhu Zhenzhen had been unusually well-behaved lately, and she seemed to be getting quite close to this Gao Liangyuan.
The Gao family was also a scholarly family, and Gao Qingtong had some talent in reading. Therefore, she was somewhat famous when she was young and naturally a bit arrogant, but she was too trusting.
Zhu Zhenzhen used her high-definition pupils to sneak into Chengguang Hall. She thought that if she could deceive all the servants in Yuling Palace, they would not know what she had done. However, she did not expect that Wuxin, who was by Xie Shang's side, was her person. Even if she knew about these things, she would not care and would act as if nothing had happened.
Zhu Zhenzhen just wanted to have an heir to satisfy the Zhu family's ambitions, didn't she?
Jiang Fenghua sneered. Zhu Zhenzhen will never have a child in this lifetime. No matter how much she struggles, I will make her know the consequences of going against me.
Jiang Fenghua smiled and said to Zhu Zhenzhen, "It has been three months since Consort Zhu miscarried. I think Consort Zhu's body has recovered enough to be ready to serve the emperor. I said before that as long as Consort Zhu takes good care of her body, she will have the opportunity to conceive the emperor's child again in the future."
Zhu Zhenzhen sat quietly to one side, her heart filled with hatred for Jiang Fenghua. Upon hearing her words, she quickly stood up and said, "This concubine thanks the Crown Princess."
Zhu Zhenzhen thought: She didn't need Jiang Fenghua's arrangements at all. She just needed to wait until she was pregnant before letting the Crown Princess know. She thought the Crown Princess's face would be very happy at that time.
Women in the imperial harem only have more opportunities in the future if they give birth to their own child. For example, Empress Cheng rose to power by relying on the crown prince.
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