Chapter 516 The Impetuous Consort Song
Song Qing affectionately took her hand, "I was just joking with you. You're really too formal. Back then, Miss Lu and I entered the palace together. We were both originally candidates for the imperial concubines. I never expected that Xuefei would still be all alone. I envy your freedom."
Bringing up the old story made Lu Xuefei quite embarrassed. She said, "The Consort Shu is also very good. Now she has gained status because of her son."
Song Qing's lips twitched. Women who entered the palace could only rise in rank by marrying princes. Thinking about it, it was actually quite pitiful. If the emperor had feelings for them, even without princes, their rank would not be low.
Unfortunately, the emperor had no feelings for her, and she only sat in this position because she gave birth to the imperial heir. The Song family was all happy for her. As the saying goes, when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. The benefits she brought to the Song family made everyone very happy.
However, she spent every night alone in her empty room, where there was nothing but the sounds of her child.
She smiled and said, "I was foolish back then, trusting Ye Susu too much, which almost caused people to misunderstand Miss Lu. Actually, I should apologize to Miss Lu."
Lu Xuefei said, "It's alright, so much time has passed, Your Highness, please don't hold it against me anymore." Mentioning Ye Susu again just makes her feel uncomfortable.
Lu Xuefei changed the subject again, "Why haven't I seen Consort Tang?"
Song Qing continued, "She was banished to the Cold Palace. She used the Third Prince to curry favor with the Empress Dowager, and in the end, she killed the Third Prince... She abandoned your brother to enter the palace, and now being banished to the Cold Palace is her retribution. I heard she's gone mad, hugging a pillow as if it were her child." Lu Xuefei was the daughter of the Minister of Justice, and Song Qing also wanted to cultivate a relationship with her.
Hearing this, Lu Xuefei felt a pang of sadness; these were things unknown to those outside the palace.
Everyone knew that she and Tang Qianran didn't get along. Tang Qianran didn't marry her brother, but she wasn't angry. At most, she felt sorry for her brother, but she didn't want him to end up in such a miserable state. As a mother, she must have been sad to have caused the death of her own child!
Perhaps her current state is truly retribution for Tang Qianran!
Song Qing still wanted to build a good relationship with Lu Tingwei's daughter. She thought Tang Qianran was a bad person, and Lu Xuefei was a person who hated evil. Because the Tang and Lu families did not form a marriage alliance, they became irreconcilable enemies. However, time is the best healer.
The Lu family quickly found a suitable match for their young master, arranging a marriage for her in one fell swoop. Tang Qianran was already a thing of the past for the Lu family; that was just the reality.
No one will stay in the same place and wait for you forever. Young Master Lu has only suffered a little heartbreak, and he doesn't have any great hatred. There's no need to keep dwelling on it.
Lu Xuefei didn't always treat Tang Qianran as an enemy, after all, everyone has their own ambitions.
Song Qing brought up Tang Qianran in front of Lu Xuefei, and Lu Xuefei felt quite embarrassed.
Song Qing even invited Lu Xuefei to her palace to play, her intentions were too obvious. Jiang Fenghua watched silently without saying a word, only feeling that Song Qing was becoming more and more impatient, and she must not do anything foolish.
In fact, Jiang Fenghua disliked Song Qing's ambition for power. Although her father was not a high-ranking official in the capital, he was still an official of some rank, and her uncle was so trusted by the emperor. If Song Qing was down-to-earth and had a prince, he would eventually have a chance to rise in the ranks.
Jiang Fenghua wondered what was wrong with her lately; she seemed restless. Jiang Fenghua then thought of the scriptures that Song Qing had copied and wondered: Could the death of the Third Prince be related to Song Qing?
On the surface, there seems to be no problem, but the perpetrator must be having a lot of trouble at night!
Jiang Fenghua had spoken with General Peng and felt that Peng Fei would cherish the opportunity given to him by the Emperor and would not do anything foolish. However, the Song family might not be so sure. For example, Song Qing's brother had a strong desire to make a name for himself.
She needs to find some time to find out more about Song Qing.
Jiang Fenghua sipped her tea calmly, her demeanor dignified, elegant, and noble. Even though the emperor hadn't visited Chenxi Palace in a long time, no one dared to be presumptuous in front of her.
She had clearly become a qualified and dignified empress.
After the concubines left, Jiang Fenghua led Lu Xuefei into the bedroom.
Lu Xuefei said excitedly, "Didn't Your Majesty always want to create laws specifically to protect us women?"
Jiang Fenghua also became interested, "Let me see it."
So the two of them discussed it again in the bedroom, and Lu Xuefei compiled all of this into a book, which formulated a series of laws to protect women. Among them, women could also file for divorce and receive certain compensation and a share of the family property after the divorce.
Jiang Fenghua saw another one, "Widow?"
Lu Xuefei explained, "A widow is a woman whose husband has died. I have seen many cases where it is very unfair to a woman whose husband has died, and there are many tragedies caused by the unfair treatment of women after their husbands die. It is as if a woman is sold into a man's family once she gets married. I think this is wrong."
Men, however, are different. When a man's wife dies, he can remarry and have many children and grandchildren. But when a woman's husband dies, her in-laws demand that she be branded a chastity arch and forbidden from remarrying for life. Why is this? It's because women have no money or status. If the court could issue a law abolishing chastity arches, or use other methods to restrict such practices, so many tragedies wouldn't occur, and women wouldn't be treated so unfairly.
Jiang Fenghua had already seen the first drafts compiled by Lu Xuefei, and now she had refined them. She took a book, opened a short passage, and showed it to Lu Xuefei, explaining, "Actually, the chastity archway has been abused by later generations. The folk saying that a chastity archway should be erected for a widow after her husband's death has been misinterpreted. People have put women in the shackles of chastity, which has caused more tragedies."
If we focus on the word "integrity," it embodies "moral integrity," like the woman in the book who, after her husband's death, survived independently without relying on men, creating wealth with her own hands. Such a woman is a woman of integrity and deserves praise.
"Hearing what Your Highness said, Xuefei seemed to have a different idea. Optimization is worse than cancellation. This is a good suggestion. I will tell Prince Qi after I leave the palace..."
Jiang Fenghua smiled and said, "You and Prince Qi are very close, you have a good relationship!"
Lu Xuefei continued, "Now Prince Qi is also working in the Court of Justice. He is also very interested in laws and regulations. It just so happens that we..." She didn't say the words "like-minded" but sensed something was off.
Jiang Fenghua asked directly, "How far have things progressed between you and Prince Qi? Is good news on the horizon?"
Lu Xuefei blushed slightly. "We haven't developed anything, we're just friends. He doesn't even know I'm Lu Tingwei's daughter!"
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