Chapter 290 Banquet
Inside the house, Chen Tang sat on a small couch embroidering, and occasionally looked up at the clepsydra.
I just went to have lunch, why haven’t you come back for so long?
I don't know how many times I looked over there. When I heard Xie Guimo's footsteps, Ginkgo looked up and said loudly, "Crown Princess, the Crown Prince is back."
Why are you talking so loudly? She is not deaf and can hear clearly.
Chen Tang glared at Ginkgo, who withdrew tactfully. Xie Guimo walked in and asked with a smile, "Are you waiting for me?"
Chen Tang's ears turned red, "No..."
However, the meal took too long. Just as Chen Tang was about to ask, Si'er came in and said, "Crown Princess, there's news from the palace that the Queen will host a banquet the day after tomorrow and invites the wives of officials above the fourth rank to attend..."
Chen Tang, "......???"
In her previous life, Empress Xu also held a palace banquet at this time. A group of noble ladies dressed up appropriately and wore their favorite jewelry into the palace, but they were all forced to donate them for disaster relief. They all smiled when they entered the palace, but had long faces when they left. Even Chen Tang was unhappy.
But why are we holding a palace banquet now?
Chen Tang looked at Xie Guimo, "Didn't Chen Qi remind Prince Yu?"
Xie Guimo also felt strange, "It's such a small matter, Chen Qi will be able to handle it."
As for Prince Yu, he couldn't stand Young Master Qian's excuses, but he didn't say anything. After all, Young Master Qian was the son-in-law of Marquis Yongcheng. Even if he knew that Young Master Qian was threatened by Prince Qi to poison his father-in-law for the sake of the Qian family, Marquis Yongcheng couldn't ignore his daughter and beat his son-in-law to death.
But they couldn't beat him to death, and he wouldn't be able to escape half-death. The secret guards showed up and beat Young Master Qian so badly that his nose and face were swollen, and his parents didn't recognize him.
Young Master Qian begged desperately, but Marquis Yongcheng was so furious that he ordered his men to drag him out, stuff a cloth in his mouth, and hang him upside down on a tree.
Marquis Yongcheng felt a chill run down his spine, and said to Prince Yu, "My uncle was wrong in choosing such a useless son-in-law. This time, it's all thanks to Prince Jingyang..."
Yesterday he said he would go to Xuzhou and Changzhou to provide disaster relief. Prince Yu felt something was wrong but he didn't say anything until this morning court session. After observing the prince's words and expressions, he decided to trust the Prince of Jingyang. Marquis Yongcheng didn't dare to think that Prince Yu didn't trust the Prince of Jingyang very much and chose to listen to his uncle. With such a harmful son-in-law around him, he might really go there alive but not come back alive.
He was also shocked and frightened by the fact that Prince Jingyang was so well-informed.
Marquis Yongcheng was glad that Empress Xu and Princess Jingyang had never fallen out, and that Prince Jingyang did not side with Prince Qi. Otherwise, Prince Qi would have had the full support of Prince Jingyang, and Prince Yu would have had no chance of becoming the crown prince.
Prince Yu said, "Such a big thing, Minister Qian may not be unaware of it. If he is disloyal once, he will be useless a hundred times. It is better not to let them and their son know about important things in the future."
Marquis Yongcheng nodded.
Fighting for the throne is no joke, he is betting the entire fortune of the Yongcheng Marquisate. In the future, either his family will be wiped out or he will rise to the top. There is no other possibility.
He will not be careless just because Young Master Qian is his son-in-law. He will be more cautious. The dogs around him can bite more fiercely and it is hard to guard against them.
Prince Yu had nothing else to do, so he prepared to say goodbye. Marquis Yongcheng saw him out of the palace. Just as he reached the gate, a guard rode over and said, "Your Highness, the Queen will hold a banquet the day after tomorrow to entertain the wives of the civil and military officials..."
Prince Yu, "……!!!"
Prince Yu's heart skipped a beat.
He felt that his mother would not be so stupid as to offend those noble ladies for the sake of disaster relief, but Xie Guimo sent someone to remind him that Prince Yu should ask the Queen not to interfere in the matter just in case.
However, there is a serious drought in Xuzhou and Changzhou, and the court is in urgent need of disaster relief. My mother rarely entertains the wives of officials, so why is she holding a palace banquet today?
The more Prince Yu thought about it, the more worried he felt. "Why hold a banquet?"
The guard shook his head, "Not sure..."
Because the guards knew that Prince Jingyang did not allow the Queen to hold a banquet, Prince Yu hesitated on whether to tell the Queen about this. The guards knew this, so when they heard the news, they hurried to tell Prince Yu.
Prince Yu was also anxious to know the truth, so he jumped on his horse and went straight into the palace.
Prince Yu was glad that he was a legitimate prince. Even though he had a separate residence, he could still enter and leave the harem. He went straight to find his mother.
Fengluan Palace.
Empress Xu sat on the phoenix chair, her heart ached with anger and she covered it with her hands.
Madam Zhao was worried, "Madam, don't let yourself get sick from being angry. Let's ask an imperial physician to take a look."
Queen Xu waved her hand.
The maid went in and said, "My lady, Prince Yu is here."
Queen Xu had an even worse headache.
In the morning, Prince Yu came specifically to remind her not to hold a banquet to ask the wives of ministers for donations in order to help his father solve his problems. Empress Xu was still a little angry, thinking that she, the mother, was so stupid in the eyes of her son, who didn't even know what could be done and what could not be done, and her position as queen had been snatched away by someone else long ago.
There is no need to ask, the reason why Prince Yu came here must be for this matter.
"Let him in."
The maid left, and soon Prince Yu came in, not even bothering to greet him, and asked, "Didn't the Queen Mother promise me..."
Empress Xu said, "My mother has agreed to your request, but your sister has not."
Prince Yu's face froze, and his voice rose, "Is it... Gu'an?"
Empress Xu said, "Your sister was instigated to go and advise your father to have your mother hold a banquet and invite the noble ladies of Kyoto to the palace to have them donate money for disaster relief."
"It was your father who agreed and sent someone to pass on the message, so that mother knew about it. There is no room for maneuver. It was mother who was careless about this matter."
Empress Xu knew that her daughter Princess Gu'an wanted to contribute to her brother's bid for the throne. She had protected her daughter too well, causing her to underestimate the intrigues in the harem. If there really was a good opportunity to make a contribution, those people would have gone to the emperor long ago and would not have waited for her to go. Now the emperor agreed and gave orders.
She, the queen, is just pretending to be sick. With Concubine Ye here, the palace banquet will be held as scheduled.
It's really unpleasant to know that you are being plotted against but be unable to do anything about it.
Empress Xu looked at Prince Yu and asked, "How did you think of telling your mother not to do such a thing?"
Empress Xu had asked this question in the morning. Because Prince Yu thought the reminder was unnecessary and was afraid that Empress Xu would be suspicious, he did not tell her that it was Xie Guimo who sent someone to remind him.
He is the Prince of Yu, how could he have no ability to distinguish? It would be fine if he believed in other things, but he believed that Prince Jingyang suspected that his mother would do such a stupid thing, and his mother would definitely not be happy.
But the fact is...
This proves that Prince Jingyang’s instructions were not redundant at all.
Prince Yu rubbed his brows and said, "It was Prince Jingyang who sent someone to remind me. I guess he heard rumors that someone was plotting against my mother, but I didn't expect that they would start with my younger sister..."
Even after being warned, he still fell into the trap. Prince Yu even suspected that Prince Jingyang was calling him stupid behind his back.
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