Chapter 376 Pampered
In his fight for the throne, the Prince of Qi needs the help of Marquis Changping, but Marquis Changping was able to gain a foothold in the court thanks to Concubine Ye. Concubine Ye has no sincerity towards the princess, so how could she be so devoted to Marquis Changping?
The princess did not do anything to hurt Concubine Ye, and Xie Guimo was seriously injured while saving Prince Qi. The prince of Changping Marquis cheated on Prince Qi, and the difference between them was obvious.
As a result, Concubine Ye sided more with the Marquis of Changping. Chen Tang was very puzzled. If Concubine Ye showed her sincerity to the Marquis of Changping and treated the princess like this, Xie Guimo and the prince would not have failed to help the Prince of Qi.
With the help of the prince, the position of crown prince would have been in the pocket of the Prince of Qi long ago. How could it be the Prince of Yu's turn to fight for it?
What Chen Tang thought about it was that the way Concubine Ye treated the princess was too different from the way Concubine Ye treated the Marquis of Changping's Mansion, as if they were not the same person.
The princess was really disappointed by Concubine Ye. When she heard Concubine Ye kneeling and begging the emperor, she didn't even bat an eyelid. Mother Yun waved her hand, and the maid who reported the matter left.
But as the maidservant here withdrew, another maidservant came in from outside and said, "Princess, Princess Jinde is here."
Why is Princess Jinde here?
The princess stood up to greet her, and Chen Tang went with her.
When they walked to the garden, they saw Princess Jinde coming towards them from afar. She was dressed in a palace dress, looking elegant and graceful. Now that her daughter was back and she was about to have a grandson, Princess Jinde had never been in such a good mood in all these years.
The princess and Shen Tang bowed to Princess Jinde. Princess Jinde helped the princess up and looked at Shen Tang and said, "You don't have to be so formal with me in the future."
Chen Ran didn't come up, so Chen Tang asked, "Is Third Sister feeling better from her morning sickness?"
Princess Jinde said, "I'm not vomiting much, but I can't sit in a carriage. I feel dizzy when I sit. Otherwise, you have to come with me to the Jingyang Palace."
Looking at Chen Tang's slightly bulging belly, Princess Jin De said, "It's good that you don't have to suffer from morning sickness. The baby in your belly will grow faster."
Princess Jin De suffered a lot from morning sickness in those days, but it was a bitter experience. Her child died at birth and his body could not be found. She suffered for fifteen years. She didn't expect that the suffering would be rewarded with happiness. It was like a dream.
The princess invited Princess Jinde to the Peony Banquet for tea and asked with a smile, "Why did the princess suddenly come to the Jingyang Palace? Is there something?"
Princess Jinde smiled and said, "I went to the palace yesterday to pay my respects to the Queen Mother. The Queen was there too, so we chatted for a while. You haven't been to the palace for a while. The Crown Prince saved Prince Yu's life twice, but she wanted to thank you in person but never got the chance."
Not only Empress Xu, but also Princess Jinde and the Queen Mother knew that Concubine Ye had sent people to invite the princess to the palace many times.
Now, the princess refused to enter the palace when Concubine Ye invited her. Even when she entered the palace to attend the banquet, she was in a hurry to leave the palace for something and did not talk to Concubine Ye alone. This had never happened before. The princess did not give Concubine Ye face, so it was difficult for Queen Xu to invite the princess to the palace even if she wanted to find her.
But Xie Guimo saved Prince Yu again and again, and Empress Xu felt inexpressibly grateful to the princess. Thinking that Princess Jinde's mansion was close to Prince Jingyang's mansion and might even pass by the gate of Prince Jingyang's mansion, she asked Princess Jinde to come and tell the princess.
The princess laughed, "Prince Yu is the king, and Mo'er is the minister. This is how it should be."
Although this is what he said, he pretended not to know, and no one could say anything bad about the Prince of Jingyang.
Princess Jinde was really curious about why the relationship between the princess and Concubine Ye suddenly took a turn for the worse. It seemed like it started when the Jiang family got into trouble. But didn’t the princess go to the palace to ask Concubine Ye for help in order to save the life of the girl from the Jiang family?
However, Princess Jinde did not ask, which shows that she still had some sense of propriety.
As they chatted, they came to the topic of the death of the Marquis of Xiping. There was something that Chen Tang had been holding back for a long time, and he couldn't help but ask, "The Emperor doted on Concubine Ye so much, and Concubine Ye knelt down to beg the Emperor. Will the Emperor be lenient with the Marquis of Changping?"
Princess Jinde said, "Nine out of ten times, yes."
Chen Tang blurted out, “Why does the emperor favor Concubine Ye so much?”
She had wanted to ask this question for a long time. She always felt that the emperor's favor for Concubine Ye was not normal. It is said that love for the house extends to the people in it. The emperor doted on Concubine Ye so much that the status of the empress and the imperial concubine became a joke. Normally, the emperor should be extremely fond of Prince Qi, but he secretly asked Xie Guimo to investigate the Changping Marquis' Mansion.
Just like Concubine Ye, the Emperor's approach is also very divisive.
Marquis Changping is the support of the Prince of Qi in his bid for the throne. Once the Marquis Changping's Mansion falls, the Prince of Qi will not necessarily lose the chance to become the crown prince, but his hope will be much smaller.
The emperor gave Chen Tang the feeling that the emperor only favored Concubine Ye, but was not very interested in making Prince Qi the crown prince.
It is impossible to say that the emperor favored Concubine Ye in order to protect the queen. Half of the harm suffered by the queen was caused by Concubine Ye, and half was caused by the emperor protecting Concubine Ye.
Apart from anything else, the birthday celebration of the Queen of a country was hastily held because Concubine Ye helped to speak to the Emperor. This alone made the Queen unpopular with the Emperor.
Concubine Ye is a vicious and cruel woman who does not deserve the emperor's favor. But the emperor just dotes on her, as if he is blind.
Of course, Shen Tang only dared to mutter this in his heart but didn't dare to say it out loud.
Chen Tang asked the princess, but the princess shook her head and said, "Noble Concubine Ye has been favored since she entered the palace, and has been the same for twenty years."
Princess Jinde looked at the princess, "Princess Jingyang, do you know why Concubine Ye is favored?"
It sounded like she knew...
The princess shook her head.
Chen Tang looked at Princess Jinde, "Does the Princess know?"
Princess Jinde nodded, "I heard about this from the empress dowager. When the emperor was eleven years old, he followed the late emperor on a southern tour. He was assassinated in Junzhou and rolled down the hillside. It was Concubine Ye who saved his life. Because of this life-saving grace, the emperor doted on Concubine Ye, and the empress dowager turned a blind eye."
When Concubine Ye entered the palace, she was the pampered concubine in the harem. The Empress Dowager couldn't stand it. She felt that Empress Xu was better than Concubine Ye in every way, so why didn't the Emperor like Empress Xu and only favored Concubine Ye?
Later, Concubine Ye made a mistake and fell into the hands of the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager wanted to severely punish Concubine Ye, but the Emperor pleaded for her. The Empress Dowager scolded the Emperor harshly. The most taboo thing for an emperor was to favor only one person, so the Emperor had no choice but to tell the Empress Dowager about this old story.
Not many people knew about this, and Concubine Ye never told anyone else about her life-saving grace to the Emperor, so only a few people in the palace knew about it. However, Princess Jinde grew up under the empress dowager's care and was deeply loved and trusted by the empress dowager. Princess Jinde sometimes couldn't stand Concubine Ye's arrogance and domineering behavior. The empress dowager was afraid that she would conflict with Concubine Ye. Even she, the empress dowager, had to avoid Concubine Ye, let alone Princess Jinde.
In order to prevent Princess Jinde from displeasing the emperor, he told her about this.
But Princess Jinde did not expect that even the princess did not know about the fact that Concubine Ye had saved the emperor. The princess was not told about this. Such a thing must be told, in case Concubine Ye angered the emperor someday, the princess could use the grace of saving her life to beg the emperor to forgive Concubine Ye.
He said that he was repaying the favor by saving his life, and others said that the effect was much better.
The princess said, "I know about this. When Concubine Ye was still in Junzhou, she wrote to me and told me about this, but I didn't know that the person she saved was the emperor. She hasn't mentioned this for so many years. I'm afraid Concubine Ye herself doesn't know about it."
Chen Tang, "..."
Fortunately, they didn't know that Concubine Ye's father died while saving the Duke of Zhenguo. The Duke of Zhenguo and his son all died on the battlefield, but Concubine Ye always wanted to repay the favor. If Concubine Ye knew that she had saved the emperor, wouldn't she be so proud of herself?
But the emperor could recognize Concubine Ye, so why didn’t Concubine Ye recognize the emperor?
Could it be that the Emperor saw the princess's previous experience and therefore did not tell Concubine Ye about this? He kept it in mind and doted on Concubine Ye, but was also afraid that Concubine Ye would become too spoiled? This possibility cannot be ruled out.
The Emperor therefore doted on Concubine Ye for twenty years. If Concubine Ye knelt down and begged the Emperor to show leniency, the Emperor might actually agree.
It’s just that the Xiping Marquis’ Mansion is in such a miserable state that the Emperor must at least take into account the public opinion.
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