Chapter 680 Xie Shang is a social butterfly
After leaving the side hall, Jiang Fenghua saw that it was getting late and the Lantern Festival banquet was about to begin, so she prepared to go to the banquet. However, she still wanted to find out some things and asked Xie Shang to ask the Thousand-Faced Gentleman to come out and help her with a small matter.
But Zhang Yurou's gentle demeanor towards Xie Shang made her want to vomit. Didn't she know that Xie Shang was a married woman? She was even Xie Shang's sister-in-law!
Xie Shang didn't know what she was angry about, so he caught up with her and said, "Ruan Ruan, why are you ignoring me?"
Jiang Fenghua said directly, "What happened outside the palace gates today is related to the Fourth Princess Consort."
Xie Shang smiled slightly, "So you suspect that she is the one who secretly contacts Su Qingqing. What is the evidence? What is her purpose? Su Qingqing wants to cause trouble for you, but the Fourth Princess Consort has no grudge against you. Xie Yang is a member of the Xie family, he is a prince, and the Su family is already a stray dog. The Fourth Princess Consort has no need to help her!"
Jiang Fenghua had no evidence either, because according to the information from A Chong, they did not recognize the voices of the noble ladies present as the female voices they had heard before. She said, "In short, judging from today's events, I feel that she also wants to deal with me and the Jiang family."
“Zhang Yumo is her cousin. Because of this relationship, Zhang Yurou stood by Zhang Yumo’s side and accused Jiang Jinyan as a member of her family. She perfectly avoided suspicion, but secretly instructed Li Shao’s wife, Shu Xue, to take the lead. That day, they both saw Jiang Jinyan and Bai Yuhan together. Zhang Yurou is really quite clever.”
Xie Shang asked again, "Why did she do that?"
"Because she admired Xie Shang, who was a big, flirtatious butterfly."
Xie Shang was completely speechless. "What are you talking about? I'm busy with state affairs every day, with memorials piling up like mountains. I don't have time to attract butterflies. If I were to attract butterflies, I would only attract Ruan Ruan, this pretty little butterfly."
"Stop grinning like that, I'm talking about serious matters."
"What I said is true. I'm sure no one likes me." Even if Zhang Yurou had some feelings for him, that was many years ago. He doesn't like her, so how did Ruan Ruan find out? Who told her?
"Ruan Ruan and I will live our lives peacefully and not worry about others."
"I can ignore it, but I don't care who it is if anyone dares to hurt my family. Fortunately, Xiao Chu and Yan'er are alright today, and Yuan'er is also alright. If anything happens to the three of them, I will take her daughter with me." Jiang Fenghua said coldly.
"From now on, we will have people protect the children at all times. We have watched Yi'er grow up. She is the only legitimate daughter of the Fourth Prince's mansion and was spoiled and raised by the Fourth Princess. Yi'er is also of Xie's blood. In the future, I will urge the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Princess to teach the little princess well."
It's customary to open a school in the palace. The Xie family has many children, and I intend to cultivate them into pillars of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The children of the Third Prince's household are all grown up and should also enter the palace to study. The Second Prince's household also has a princess, so I have issued an imperial decree ordering Jiang Jinyan's daughter to enter the palace to accompany Yan'er in her studies. Several intelligent and studious relatives of the Xie family can also be selected to enter the palace for intensive training..."
Jiang Fenghua ignored his rambling and thought of something else: "Shu Yan and Shu Xue are cousins, and the Shu family and the Jiang family have some grudges. I wonder what role Shu Yan and her father played in this. The Bai family is also very suspicious..."
Xie Shang noticed that she had too many ideas in her head. "The Bai family are merchants, and they live far away in Jiangzhou. The Vice Minister Shu you mentioned served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue for many years. Back then, he was vying for the position of Minister of Revenue..."
Vice Minister Shu indeed had the best chance, but in the end, the Emperor directly awarded the position of Minister to Jiang Jinyan. Vice Minister Shu may have been unhappy, but Jiang Jinyan's appointment as Minister was an imperial decree and also due to his superior abilities; Vice Minister Shu could not refuse.
“The Shu family and Censor Zhu are also relatives, so Censor Zhu strongly recommended that Vice Minister Shu be appointed to the position of Minister.” Jiang Fenghua added, “Did the Zhu family also want to marry another daughter into the palace?”
Xie Shang said, "Who said that? The Zhu family's daughter is Shang Hong's sweetheart. You can ask Granny Wang and the others in the palace. Let's go to the banquet first, so as not to keep everyone waiting."
Xie Shang took her hand and headed towards the banquet hall.
Jiang Fenghua even recalled that Helan Yanran had told her that Shu Yan already suspected her, and that they had acted quickly to make Helan Yanran fake her death. Today, Shu Yan recognized Bai Yuhan as Consort Han. The daughter of Minister Shu is really restless!
In the end, she stopped making a fuss because someone gave her advice: Was Vice Minister Shu really willing to accept not getting the position of Minister?
Jiang Fenghua glanced at Wuxin. She already knew from Hongxiu that Wuxin was one of their people. If Hongxiu sent someone to keep an eye on Shuyan, it would easily arouse suspicion. It would be better to have Wuxin send someone to Shuyan to find out what she knew.
Upon arriving at the banquet hall, Gao Qingtong and Song Qing had already arrived. Everyone stood up and bowed to the Emperor and Empress, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" and "Long live the Empress!" three times.
Xie Shang led Jiang Fenghua by the hand and slowly walked towards the high seat. Only after they were seated did Xie Shang say, "My dear ministers, please rise and sit down."
After everyone expressed their gratitude, they took their seats. Only after the emperor and empress arrived did palace maids and eunuchs serve food and wine. Songs and dances were also brought to the stage. First, the palace dancers led the first dance, and finally, the master of ceremonies announced the list of performers for the Lantern Festival celebrations.
In addition to the performances prepared by the Imperial Household Department for the concubines, the families of court officials also had to showcase their talents. Every year, such a large-scale event always featured beautiful women displaying their talents before the emperor.
Everyone was working very hard, giving their best and showing their best, which only attracted the emperor's attention.
Xie Shang considerately served food to Jiang Fenghua, whose eyes occasionally glanced in the direction of Zhang Yurou and the Fourth Prince.
Sitting between them was Xie Ruoyi, who had stopped crying. Around her neck hung a pure, transparent jade pendant; the emperor was truly generous.
Xie Ruoyi's innocent and naive appearance was indeed endearing. She still believed that Yan'er would not lie. Yan'er was well-behaved and sensible, and she could take care of her younger siblings at such a young age.
Gao Qingtong also looked at Jiang Fenghua, only to see her staring at the Fourth Princess's daughter. In fact, after bringing the Second Princess back to the palace, she had asked the palace maids who served the princess about the situation at that time.
Gao Qingtong didn't want her daughter to come to the front palace, so she had the wet nurse and palace maids take the second princess to Kunning Palace to play with Princess Yan. Since her daughter was young, the servants didn't dare to let go and stayed with the second princess in the courtyard.
They saw that the Fourth Prince was originally being cared for by his wet nurse, but at that time the wet nurse seemed to have gone to get the Fourth Prince some supplementary food. Suddenly, the little princess pushed the Fourth Prince around to play, and pushed him towards the lotus pond. Who would have thought that the little princess would deliberately push the Fourth Prince into the water? They were also terrified and dared not offend anyone afterward, so they didn't say anything.
Fortunately, Princess Yan ran over. They were just children, and the accident happened in the blink of an eye.
Who would believe that a five or six-year-old girl would do such a thing? They were all too scared to say anything. Everyone thought that the little princess was just being naughty.
It was only after returning to the palace that Consort Gao found out. She wanted to tell the Empress herself that she had witnesses who proved that the young princess had pushed the fourth prince into the water.
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