The Queen Mother wanted two granddaughters to keep her company, and Emperor Jingming naturally had no objection, so he turned around and mentioned it to the Empress.
The Queen hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "It is a blessing for Fuqing and the others to be able to accompany my mother."
Ever since she knew that Princess Fuqing's eye disease was caused by someone and that she almost lost her life at the banquet, the empress cherished her daughter very much. Although it was a glorious thing to accompany the empress dowager, she didn't want to do it in her heart.
However, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not refuse the emperor's proposal. The prince's incident was a huge blow to the emperor, and no one dared to go against the emperor's wishes at this time.
"Your Majesty, please take a rest." The bloodshot eyes of Emperor Jingming made the Empress very distressed. She put these thoughts aside for the time being and advised softly.
Emperor Jingming forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, please take a rest. I will return to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."
The queen wanted to persuade him again, but she moved her lips and swallowed her words silently.
What the emperor needs at a time like this is peace and quiet, which cannot be persuaded by just a few words.
After Emperor Jingming left, the Empress called Princess Fuqing and said, "In the future, when you go to the Empress Dowager's place with Fourteenth Prince, remember to go in and out with Fourteenth Prince."
Princess Fuqing looked puzzled and asked, "Do I need to go in and out with my fourteenth sister?"
The Queen Mother's request is a little strange.
The queen smiled and stroked Princess Fuqing's dark hair: "The queen mother is majestic, your fourteenth sister is timid, you are the elder sister, you should take better care of her."
Princess Fuqing finally put her doubts to rest and responded earnestly: "Don't worry, mother. I will take good care of my fourteenth sister."
The queen looked at her daughter and sighed quietly in her heart.
She shouldn't have thought too much, but Fuqing was her destiny, and she had to think more because of the fear of losing it.
Aunt Duo had been in the Empress Dowager's palace for many years. How could she know that there were no other problematic people in Cining Palace? Moreover, the maid who instigated the prince to use a puppet to commit treason was obviously not a simple person, and whether there was someone behind the maid had not yet been found out.
Now the situation in the palace is very complicated and she has no choice but to be cautious.
The queen was also very angry about this.
She was supposed to be the mistress of the harem, but she was passive everywhere and became an easy target.
After sending Princess Fuqing away, the Queen called the Fourteenth Princess over.
After using herself as bait to capture Aunt Duo, Princess Fourteen finally got over her worries. After recuperating over the past few days, her health has improved a lot and her face has gradually regained the rosy look of a young girl.
After paying respects to the Queen, Princess Fourteen waited quietly for the Queen to speak.
"I called you here today because I have something to tell you."
"Please speak, mother."
"The Queen Mother thinks Cining Palace is too lonely and wants you and Fuqing to go there often to keep her company."
The Fourteenth Princess was stunned and looked at the Queen.
There are many princesses in the palace. It is normal for the empress dowager to name Thirteenth Sister when she wants her granddaughter to accompany her, but it is really unexpected that she named her.
Her mother committed a crime, which is ultimately a stain on her.
"It is a great honor to accompany the Queen Mother, and it will be of great benefit to you in the future. However, you have personally witnessed what happened to Madam Duo, and you should know that Cining Palace may not be as peaceful as it appears on the surface, so you should be aware of this."
Princess Fourteen shuddered and nodded slowly: "Fourteen understands."
The Queen sighed and said, "Fourteenth, Fuqing is simple-minded. When we go to Cining Palace together in the future, you have to be more careful..."
"Don't worry, mother. Princess Fourteen will do it." Princess Fourteen agreed without hesitation.
This world is inherently unfair. She has no way of choosing her birth, nor can she blame her mother who always cares about her. She can only live more cautiously and work harder than others.
The only thing to be thankful for is that the Queen Mother does not act solely on her likes and dislikes. As long as she abides by her duties, she can at least live well. If she can meet a prince consort with decent character in the future, it will be her good fortune.
The queen smiled and said, "I know you are a good child. Go down."
The Fourteenth Princess left, and the Queen was still in a state of ups and downs.
Concubine Chen was the murderer who harmed Fuqing. She couldn't be very fond of Concubine Chen's daughter, but from the perspective of the empress, she admired children like Fourteenth.
Smart, responsible, knows what he wants, and knows how to stick to the bottom line.
If all the harem were like this, she would have one less thing to worry about.
No matter what, she would feel more at ease knowing that Fourteen was accompanying Fuqing to the Cining Palace. It is better to be cautious.
Emperor Jingming returned to the Qianqing Palace and sat in a chair in a daze.
At this moment, he did not think about the suitable candidate for the successor, nor did he think about the turmoil that the death of the crown prince would bring to the court. His mind was blank.
"Your Majesty, please have a cup of tea."
Emperor Jingming looked at Pan Hai and suddenly asked, "Is it the puppet that Erniu found?"
Pan Hai was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded with a "yes".
Emperor Jingming was silent for a long time, his voice full of fatigue: "I have said before, meritorious service should be rewarded, faults should be punished, Erniu——"
Pan Hai added: "The Queen Mother rewarded General Xiaotian with a gold necklace."
"Really?" Emperor Jingming paused and murmured, "That's good."
At this moment, if he rewarded Erniu, it would probably cause a lot of speculation, and he didn't want to consider the matter of setting up a reserve at all.
Emperor Jingming stared at Pan Hai, feeling as if he had many questions to ask, but he couldn't bring himself to ask them.
Pan Hai lowered his eyelids, avoiding the gaze of Emperor Jingming, and sighed deeply in his heart.
He could actually guess what the emperor wanted to ask.
Your Majesty, do you want to ask about the circumstances under which the Crown Prince was sentenced to death?
He witnessed the entire process, from the prince shouting to see the emperor to the prince drinking the poisoned wine and dying.
It can be said that it is a good death!
Having followed the emperor for so many years, he couldn't count how many times the emperor had been angry with the prince. It could be said that the emperor's gray hair was all caused by the prince's anger.
Now that the crown prince is dead, the emperor is no longer bound by the shackles of establishing a legitimate heir. It would be a blessing for the country and the people if he could choose a talented and virtuous prince to be the crown prince.
Of course, as a eunuch, he couldn't really worry about the country. He just hoped that the emperor could be happy and live a few more years. That was the good fortune of people like them.
After hesitating for a long time, Pan Hai said, "Your Majesty, I received a letter from the south that the Honglu Temple Minister and others who were sent to Wu Miao are about to return to the capital."
In order to investigate whether the trouble caused by Mom Duo in the harem was related to the Wu Miao tribe, Emperor Jingming sent the Minister of Honglu Temple and others to the Wu Miao tribe in February. Now, more than half a year has passed, and it is time for them to return.
Pan Hai brought this up at this time because he was afraid that Emperor Jingming would be obsessed with the Crown Prince's rebellion and hurt himself, so he wanted to divert some of his attention.
Emperor Jingming really shifted his attention: "When will they arrive?"
"It will only take three to five days."
"As soon as you come back, let them come to see me."
Pan Hai quickly responded.
The palace returned to its cold silence for a while. No one in the palace dared to go out. They waited in fear for the shadow of the crown prince being sentenced to death for treason to dissipate over time.
Jiang Si was able to relax for a rare time and took Ah Huan back to her parents' home.