Chapter 293 Shame
This was not the first or second time that Empress Xu and Concubine Ye had clashed in public.
Those noble ladies all knew it tacitly. The Emperor only agreed to hold Empress Xu's birthday banquet after Concubine Ye interceded for her. Is it possible that Empress Xu held a palace banquet without Concubine Ye's knowledge?
Looking at Queen Xu's suppressed anger, everyone became even more curious about why this palace banquet was held.
Concubine Ye had a smile of victory on her face. Empress Xu clenched her hands under her phoenix robe and looked at the noble ladies and said, "I'm sure everyone has heard about the drought in Xuzhou and Changzhou. I invited everyone to the palace this time because I hope everyone can do their part..."
After hearing what Queen Xu said, the noble ladies frowned slightly, and their good mood for attending the banquet in the palace was instantly gone.
Queen Xu is using their money to please the Emperor!
Concubine Ye said, "The Queen was here to share the Emperor's worries, but why didn't she invite me along? She didn't leak any information beforehand. Was she afraid that if everyone knew about it, she wouldn't come to the palace anymore?"
Not only did he set traps behind her back, but he also slandered her in person. Queen Xu was so furious that she almost exploded.
Those noble ladies were even more unhappy.
The scene is exactly the same as in the previous life.
Concubine Ye took off the blood jade bracelet on her wrist and said, "I will take the lead. I hope the people of Xuzhou and Changzhou can get relief from the disaster as soon as possible."
The palace maid brought over the tray.
Concubine Ye put down the blood jade bracelet and asked, "How much will the Queen donate?"
The blood jade bracelet worn on Concubine Ye's wrist was given by the Emperor and is very valuable. It is not as valuable as the jasper bracelet worn on Empress Xu's wrist. This palace banquet was hosted by her and she is the Empress, so her donation must not be less than that of Concubine Ye.
Queen Xu took off the bracelet on her wrist and pulled out a phoenix hairpin from her head.
As soon as she pulled out the hairpin, Concubine Ye took off all the gold and ruby hairpins on her head and put them on the tray.
Concubine Ye's move put Empress Xu in a difficult position.
Concubine Ye took off all her earrings. How could Empress Xu not accompany her? In the end, she took off all the jewelry, necklace and ring on her head.
The faces of those noble ladies were extremely ugly. Concubine Ye and Empress Xu were at loggerheads with each other. They had donated so much, so naturally they could not do less.
Especially the wife of Marquis Yongcheng and the wife of Marquis Changping were sitting face to face.
The wife of Marquis Changping took off all the jewelry on her head. Could the wife of Marquis Yongcheng be slower than her?
The others were forced to take off all the jewelry they were wearing, and the trays carried by the palace maids were piled up like a small mountain.
Chen Tang was naturally no exception. Only Concubine Jiang and the Second Madam were feeling lucky. They were lucky that they had listened to Chen Tang's words, changed their jewelry, and didn't feel bad about donating it.
Without their jewelry, those ladies and young ladies lost some of their luster. They were all very upset but dared not say anything.
Looking at the resentment in the hall, Princess Gu'an did not tear the scented handkerchief in her hand.
Queen Xu was so angry that her internal organs ached. She thought that donating a gold hairpin and jade bracelet would be enough, but she didn't expect to donate so much in the end.
Empress Xu knew that she had incurred public anger, and she said, "I feel the sympathy that everyone has for Xuzhou and Changzhou, and the emperor will feel it too."
Chen Tang stood up, looked at Queen Xu and said, "We didn't know that today's palace banquet was for disaster relief in Xuzhou and Changzhou. No silver or money was donated, and only jewelry was donated. The jewelry I wore today was given to me by my husband. These jewelry cannot be used directly, but must be exchanged for silver. Please allow the Queen to redeem it after I return home..."
Empress Xu hurriedly said, "It was my negligence. I thought it was good enough for everyone to donate one or two pieces of jewelry. I will send someone to register the value of the jewelry and present it to the emperor for review."
Chen Tang was helping Queen Xu, after all, money can’t buy love.
If everyone is allowed to redeem these jewels, the dissatisfaction with Empress Xu can be reduced.
But no one spoke up in the previous life. Chen Tang even dared to ask Queen Xu to release Princess Gu'an from house arrest. Why shouldn't she be afraid to say this? It was also the most appropriate person for her to say it.
After all, on the surface, the Jingyang Palace and the princess are on the side of Concubine Ye.
Concubine Ye sat in a high position, and her eyes fell on Shen Tang's face with a cold light. Although this would not help Queen Xu much, Shen Tang dared to help Queen Xu so blatantly, and she didn't know how many ideas he had given to Prince Yu behind his back!
Those ladies and noble ladies were all happy, after all, those jewelries were truly their best. However, Concubine Jiang and the second and fourth wives were a little restless.
Empress Xu immediately ordered the palace maids to invite the people from the Shangjin Bureau over.
The people from the Shangjin Bureau came quickly, starting with Empress Xu and Imperial Concubine Ye, saying, "The jewellery of the Empress and Imperial Concubine is priceless. We can only estimate it based on the forging value..."
"The Queen's jewelry is worth three thousand six hundred taels."
"The Imperial Concubine's jewelry is worth three thousand one hundred taels."
After Empress Xu and Concubine Ye, there came Princess Jinde and Princess Duan, one with 2,800 taels and the other with 2,700 taels.
The people behind took out their jewelry. After the Shang Jin Bureau evaluated the price, everyone put the jewelry on their heads and then sent the silver and money into the palace.
Soon, the maid brought the tray to the princess. The princess's jewelry didn't look the most gorgeous, but it was the most valuable. "It's worth four thousand two hundred taels..."
The ladies were all surprised.
Then there is Concubine Jiang.
Concubine Jiang was reluctant to extend her hand, so the maid said, "Please come in, Concubine Jingyang."
Concubine Jiang raised her hand with difficulty and only took two jade hairpins, but the palace maid said, "These are also for the concubine."
Shang Jinju picked up the jewelry, estimated the price one by one, and said, "One hundred taels."
One hundred taels?
Those noble ladies were all stunned.
Concubine Jiang's jewelry looks expensive, so how come it is only worth one hundred taels?
Concubine Ye asked, "What's going on?"
The head nanny of the Shangjin Bureau said, "This gold hairpin is gold-covered silver, it's not worth much."
Chen Tang, "..."
Madam, "..."
Concubine Jiang's face glowed green.
If she had not hesitated and taken it back directly, everyone would have thought that she had bought a fake. Judging from Concubine Jiang's reaction just now, she clearly knew that the hairpin was fake.
After all, she is the concubine of Prince Jingyang and his cousin. Princess Jingyang's jewelry is the most expensive, but Concubine Jiang wears fake ones, which is too embarrassing.
Well, soon everyone discovered that it wasn’t just Concubine Jiang who was embarrassed, but also the Second and Fourth Wives.
The second wife's jewelry was worth 108 taels, while the fourth wife's was only worth 56 taels.
That was true. Chen Tang felt that they wanted to crawl into the ground right there.
Looking at her eyes, she really wanted to tear out Chen Tang's tendons, skin him and tear his bones apart.
Concubine Jiang wanted to skin Chen Tang alive on the spot. She had never lost face like this in her life. The looks that suspected that they were just glittering on the outside but rotten on the inside made her mouth taste bloody with anger.
Their jewellery was cheap and fake, and their daughters' jewellery was also half real and half fake. Today, the Jingyang Palace had been completely disgraced by them.
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