Chapter 83 The Empress happily hosts a family banquet
After Xie Shang left, Su Tingwan glared angrily at Jiang Fenghua. She must have said something to A Shang that made A Shang hate her so much.
Granny Xi was also startled. She had never seen Prince Heng lose his temper with Consort Su, let alone seen him so worried about the Empress.
Jiang Fenghua appeared before Su Tingwan with a dignified and imposing air. She stared at Su Tingwan with unwavering eyes, her expression cold and her aura intimidating. "Consort Su, do you think the Prince wouldn't know that you've been impersonating me and swindling people everywhere?"
Su Tingwan looked surprised and quickly denied it, "What did you say? I don't understand."
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Anyway, Consort Su signed it. It's written in black and white, and there's no way to deny it."
Su Tingwan panicked completely. It was Yunfang who came up with this idea. She said, "Why can you use... the prince's money, but I can't?"
“You can use it, but you can’t misuse my name, Jiang Fenghua.” Jiang Fenghua’s eyes were cold and deep. “Back then, Consort Su kept insulting singing girls. I thought you were so noble. I never expected that Consort Su would spend more money in two months than an ordinary person could earn in a lifetime. How noble must you be to buy so much gold, silver and jade ornaments?”
Su Tingwan blushed with embarrassment, but she was still unconvinced. If it weren't for Jiang Fenghua, Xie Shang would have married her as the Princess Consort of Heng, and then everything in the Prince's mansion would have been hers.
She said, "You used it too, so what right do you have to criticize me? You're the daughter of a junior tutor. How much salary does Junior Tutor Jiang have to allow you to buy gold and silver? The clothes you wear must cost at least several hundred or a thousand taels of silver. Didn't you also buy them with the prince's money?" So what if she used it? Xie Shang had spent a lot of money on her before and had never complained.
Su Tingwan thought it was just a small matter.
"As expected, she's a hopeless blockhead," Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice. "Granny Xi."
"This old servant is here." Granny Xi knew from Princess Heng's demeanor that she was not someone to be trifled with.
"What punishment does Mother Empress want for her?" she asked.
Granny Xi hurriedly said, "This old servant has discovered that the concubine's body has been touched by someone, and she has not returned to the mansion at night. The Empress is worried that she has been defiled by disreputable people, so she ordered this old servant to prepare a contraceptive soup."
Jiang Fenghua's heart trembled slightly. She hadn't expected that in the short time Xie Shang had gone to pick her up, she could have managed to seduce him into bed.
Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
Granny Xi added, "Your Highness need not concern yourself with this matter. We servants will handle it. We will not disturb Your Highness's ears."
"His Highness just said that if Consort Su resists again, he will send you back to the Su residence, and you will have to go by yourself." Granny Xi was good at twisting Xie Shang's words, but judging from the prince's aura just now, no matter how the empress punishes Consort Su, he will not protect her.
Su Tingwan was terrified. She didn't want to be sent back. Xie Shang wouldn't treat her like that; he was just saying it in anger.
Jiang Fenghua turned and went into the bedroom. Just thinking about how Su Tingwan had corrupted her two children in her previous life, and even made them hate and despise her, made her heart ache as if it were being cut by a knife.
No one knows what it feels like to be hated and insulted by your own child. She was heartbroken and felt like she was living a life worse than death.
She once didn't want to live anymore, but when she thought of her two children, she let go of Xie Shang, but she could never let go of her children. No matter how badly they treated her, they were her life. She forced herself to live until she was thirty-five years old before passing away.
So what if Su Tingwan can't give birth to this child? What does it have to do with her? Besides, it's not even known whether she's pregnant or not.
In her previous life, Su Tingwan did indeed give birth to a concubine's daughter in the Heng Prince's mansion. She was spoiled rotten and became even more noble than the legitimate daughter.
In this life, she wants her child to be born amidst Xie Shang's anticipation, to grow up lovingly under his care, and she will never repeat the mistakes of her previous life.
Jiang Fenghua didn't care how Su Tingwan was given the contraceptive soup.
The news of what happened at Kunning Palace and Chenxi Palace reached the ears of everyone in the palace, and they just laughed it off.
Consort Su has suppressed the Empress for so many years. Now that Consort Su has been sent to the Cold Palace, the Empress must teach her niece a lesson.
It's all because her niece has bewitched the Empress's son. The Empress had to make concessions before agreeing to take her into the palace as a concubine. Who would have thought she would be so ignorant of etiquette and so lacking in self-awareness?
The most pitiful one is Jiang Shaofu's daughter. So what if she is the Princess Consort of Heng? She still can't win her husband's favor. This is a phrase that everyone would mention when they met in her previous life, as if to express the infinite sorrow in her heart.
However, in this life, people will say that Princess Heng is well-educated, dignified, noble, and exceptionally beautiful, and that His Highness Prince Heng dotes on her.
The Empress suddenly decided to hold a family banquet, inviting all the concubines to attend at Kunning Palace. She even sent people to inform the princes, princesses, young princes, and princesses to come to the palace together.
Everyone was surprised. Why would the Empress host a family banquet today, since it's not a holiday or New Year?
However, since the Empress invited everyone to attend, no one dared to refuse. Although she was not favored by the Emperor, she was still the head of the harem and the Empress who ruled the country.
So Jiang Fenghua and Xie Shang stayed in the palace.
The banquet hall was filled with the emperor's sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters, and the concubines who had not left the palace for a long time also took their seats.
Even Consort Wang, who had been neglected by the emperor, and Consort Ya, the emperor's new favorite, were invited, making the entire palace exceptionally lively.
Wang Meiren possesses a delicate and refined beauty, so pitiful that one feels a pang of sympathy for her, making one want to protect her at first glance. She is like a light and elegant ink painting, with a unique charm, like a lotus bud about to bloom, gentle as water, and serene as jade.
However, ever since Consort Ya entered the palace, Consort Wang has also fallen out of favor.
Consort Ya had striking features, with particularly large, captivating eyes that exuded a seductive charm that could mesmerize anyone. She was unconventional and refused to wear the clothing of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but the Emperor didn't force her. Instead, he had a garment from the Chaoxi Kingdom made to fit her figure. Her slender waist was exposed, and a lustrous pearl adorned her rounded navel, its soft sheen dazzling allure.
The moment she entered the main hall, she instantly attracted everyone's attention; even Xie Shang's eyes were glued to her.
Jiang Fenghua handed Xie Shang a cup of wine, "Your Highness."
Xie Shang withdrew his gaze, awkwardly accepted the wine cup, and took a small sip. "The people of Chaoxi Kingdom are truly civilized!"
“The Kingdom of Chaoxi is a matriarchal society. I’ve heard that women in their country can marry several men at the same time,” Jiang Fenghua said.
"The Princess Consort also knows something about the Kingdom of Chaoxi," Xie Shang said softly.
“When my elder brother returned from his travels, he talked most about the local customs and culture. I only heard a little bit about it occasionally.”
Jiang Fenghua remembered that in her previous life, this Consort Ya fought fiercely with Consort Su because she was the emperor's favorite. However, Consort Ya was ultimately defeated. With no princes in the palace and the emperor's death, her fate was naturally tragic.
Originally, if Consort Su hadn't been sent to the Cold Palace, she was prepared to help Consort Ya, but now there's no need for that.
Looking at Wang Meiren again, her eyes seemed to be filled with venomous hatred, and she didn't bother to hide it. Perhaps she shouldn't have made it so obvious.
Jiang Fenghua didn't care about the emperor's harem; she only wanted to manage her own little world.
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