Chapter 488 Uprising
The virtuous prince considered himself the most distinguished guest in the residence of the Minister of Personnel. Who else could he be welcomed personally by the Minister's wife?
According to etiquette, the Shangshu's wife was the birthday girl and had an imperial decree, so she only needed to wait inside for the guests to congratulate her. If the guest was of higher status than her, she did not need to go out to greet him. She could only greet him after he entered the room.
The Shangshu Mansion mobilized such a large number of people that those who didn't know the inside story would think that someone was coming from the palace.
The virtuous king had a very good relationship with the Minister of Personnel, so he presented the gift in person.
Now, seeing that the Minister of Personnel was completely focused on the distinguished guest who was about to visit, he signaled his entourage to take the gift to the special gift-receiving area in the front hall for registration.
"Master Yin, what other distinguished guests have come to the mansion?"
The virtuous prince stared at the wrinkled face of the Minister of Personnel with an inquiring look.
Zhang Weiping said that his supporters have already changed their minds.
But he didn't believe it.
These ministers have been planning for him for many years and have put in countless efforts. Why would they withdraw at the last minute?
He asked word by word, "Don't you need to go to greet them?"
The Minister of Personnel did not expect that the virtuous prince would be released from house arrest and come to attend his wife's birthday party in person.
Now, I happen to meet the Princess of Guangling.
Just as he was about to speak, he heard the guests exclaim, "The Princess of Guangling is here."
The wise king turned his head suddenly and saw the minister's wife following Shen Qingtan with a smile on her face. The relatives in the mansion were also very enthusiastic and were talking to Shen Qingtan.
As they approached, the virtuous prince heard the words of the women in the Shangshu Mansion: "Princess, when my grandmother woke up this morning, she heard a bird chirping outside the window, announcing good news."
"She hurriedly called in her maid to help her dress and wash, and immediately drafted a note and told my mother to send it to you to bring you joy."
The old lady laughed so hard that her teeth showed. "You idiot, you're actually making fun of your own grandmother."
"How dare your granddaughter tease you? What I said was all sincere." The young girl supported the old lady and acted coquettishly, actually trying to please Shen Qingtan: "You are worried about the princess's health. The first person you think of when encountering something is the princess. Look, when you came back from burning incense at the ancestral hall, there was a lotus with two stems blooming in the lotus pond. When you saw it, you asked Qinxiang to cut it and wrote a note, asking your granddaughter to send it to the princess. It's a double happiness."
These flattering words turned into an invisible slap in the face of the wise king.
He only received one invitation from the Shangshu Mansion, which he received three days ago.
And Shen Qingtan actually received three messages.
According to the customs of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the host would only send three invitations to the most distinguished guests.
The first post is made three days in advance to show respect to the guests.
The second post was delivered on the day of the banquet.
The third invitation is sent one hour before the banquet. The purpose of doing this is to greet the distinguished guests halfway and to show the importance attached to them.
In comparison, the more the Shangshu Mansion cares about Shen Qingtan, the more perfunctory it is to him.
This old guy actually betrayed him.
Everyone's expression became very subtle.
The Minister of Personnel has clearly switched sides to Prince Guangling.
The wise king felt the eyes of the crowd secretly glancing at him, and his face suddenly darkened. He wanted to turn around and leave, but he couldn't.
He had never suffered such humiliation before. Once he sat in that position, he would definitely wipe out the entire family of the Minister of Personnel.
The Minister of Personnel was not afraid of the virtuous king. After all, he had defected to Zhao Yi and was bound to draw a clear line between himself and the virtuous king.
If you try to take advantage of both, you will end up with nothing.
He made a gesture of invitation: "Your Highness, please come in and take a seat."
The virtuous king said with a forced smile, "Lord Yin is quite capable."
He flicked his sleeves, took two steps forward, stopped at the threshold, looked back again, and met Shen Qingtan's gaze.
Shen Qingtan was very surprised, as if he didn't expect that the wise king would also come.
When the old lady saw Shen Qingtan stop and look towards the front hall, she followed her gaze and saw only the angry back of the wise king.
"My old man used to be a subordinate of the virtuous king, and there is some connection between us." The old lady denied any connection with the virtuous king: "Today is my birthday, and the virtuous king came to celebrate my birthday out of our past friendship."
Shen Qingtan nodded slightly and went to the inner courtyard with the old lady.
The situation in the court has changed dramatically recently, and the ladies of each family are using the birthday banquet to inquire about the news.
The status of their husband's family is not as high as that of the Minister of Personnel, so they have always followed the Minister's lead.
Now that the Shangshu has turned to the side of Prince Guangling, where is their master?
They couldn't make up their minds, but the entire birthday party was full of compliments to Shen Qingtan, and the atmosphere didn't cool down.
Shen Qingtan felt unprecedented enthusiasm from the ladies of various families.
By the end of the birthday party, her cheeks were a little stiff from smiling.
Shen Qingtan suppressed his tiredness and said goodbye to the old lady.
The old lady took a brocade box from Qinxiang and put it into Shen Qingtan's hand. "When I was young, I was weak and often bedridden. My parents asked for two pills for me. I took one pill and my health improved greatly. I also became pregnant with our first son. Now I have one pill left. You can take it to recuperate."
Shen Qingtan was stunned. The old lady gave her fertility pills?
"Old lady, you..."
"Princess, I still have guests to entertain, so I won't see you off."
The old lady did not give Shen Qingtan a chance to refuse and asked her eldest daughter-in-law to send Shen Qingtan out of the house.
Shen Qingtan got into the carriage holding the brocade box, still a little dazed: "Liu Yue, did the old lady misunderstand something?"
Liu Yue covered her mouth and chuckled, "Most new brides in every family will have good news within a year or two. You and your son-in-law have been married for so long, and there's still no sign of pregnancy. It's inevitable that others will have many speculations."
Shen Qingtan touched her belly and said, "How can I get pregnant when the prince is away on business?"
Liu Yue knew the reason why her master couldn't have children.
At first, the son-in-law was in poor health and the couple was unable to consummate their marriage.
After the son-in-law finally recovered, the couple left their hometown and came to Northern Qi.
Now is a turbulent time, and it is even less suitable to have children.
The master's words clearly show that he is thinking of his son-in-law.
The master and servant returned to Prince Guangling's Mansion. Shen Qingtan put away the brocade box and wrote down in a letter everything that had happened in the Minister of Personnel's Mansion today, telling Zhao Yi.
Judging from the current situation, the overall outcome will be determined.
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On the other side, the virtuous king realized the crisis, left the Minister of Personnel's Mansion, and hurried into the palace to discuss with the Emperor of Northern Qi.
Eunuch Liu entered the palace and announced, "Your Majesty, the virtuous king has arrived."
The Northern Qi Emperor was worried about the matter of the virtuous king. When he heard that the real master had arrived, he shouted angrily, "Let him get out of here."
Eunuch Liu quickly invited the virtuous king into the hall.
Upon entering the palace, the virtuous prince immediately complained, "Father, your greatest fear is for court officials and the heir apparent to form cliques and factions. My brother, the emperor, has gone so far as to win over court officials, cultivate his own power, and openly defy your orders. Is he planning a rebellion?"
The Northern Qi Emperor's face darkened. How could he not know why the virtuous king was trying to deceive Zhao Yi behind his back?
He hasn't even cleaned up his own mess yet and now he's causing trouble for him.
The Emperor of Northern Qi considered himself wise and resourceful, so how could he have given birth to such a stupid child?
Before he could say anything, he heard the eunuch outside the palace report: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister and the Chief Censor have come to see you. They say there's urgent news from the local areas: the people in various places have revolted."
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