Chapter 100 Angering the Queen Mother
The one-month confinement was over, and the guards outside the Hexi Palace left before Jiang Xinyue came out of the palace.
Emperor Xuanwu took advantage of the awkwardness with the Queen Mother and built a small kitchen in the Hexi Palace, seemingly out of spite. Others thought that Concubine Zhen was lucky to benefit from the confrontation between the emperor and the Queen Mother.
In fact, the emperor felt sorry for Jiang Xinyue and was afraid that someone would poison her meals. It was also the bowl of saffron and Tremella soup that made him alert.
The Mirror Division has been investigating for almost half a month. The suspicious people in the kitchen have been thoroughly investigated. All the tortures have been used, but they still can't find out who is behind the scenes.
In the emperor's harem over the years, the only children who grew up were the eldest princess, the second princess, the third prince, and the fourth prince who had been forgotten.
The fourth prince is six years old this year, and there have been no princes or princesses in the palace for four years.
They all gave birth shortly after becoming pregnant.
One or two would be fine, but if all of them were like this, it meant that someone was plotting to harm these pregnant concubines.
Concubine Zhen was his beloved, and he would never allow Concubine Zhen to get into trouble under his nose.
So the day when the confinement in Hexi Palace was lifted was also the day when the small kitchen was built.
"The emperor is getting more and more ridiculous."
After Empress Dowager Wu settled Concubine Shu, she returned to the main hall of Kunning Palace. She was extremely angry but tried hard to suppress her feelings: "What is Concubine Zhen? She is a mere concubine's daughter, and it
is the highest honor for her to be a noble concubine. Yet he treats her like a treasure. I cannot even touch her." Nanny Gui had been Empress Dowager Wu's personal maid before she entered the palace, and now she is the highest-ranking nanny in the palace.
She brought a cup of warm tea and said on behalf of Empress Dowager Wu: "Your Majesty also knows that she is just the daughter of a fifth-rank official. No matter how much the emperor dotes on her, she will only be one of the four concubines. You are the Empress Dowager. It is not a big deal for you to punish her. Even if the emperor is angry, he can still do something to you, right?"
The Great Yan Dynasty attaches great importance to filial piety. Empress Dowager Wu is the biological mother of the emperor. When the Wu family was liquidated, the emperor had already been known as cold-blooded and ruthless. If he did anything to Empress Dowager Wu again, people in the world would point at him and scold him for being unfilial. The reason
why Empress Dowager Wu dared to go against Emperor Xuanwu was because the emperor could not do anything to her.
Empress Dowager Wu's anger subsided a bit after hearing her words: "You are right. The emperor was much more crazy about Concubine Shu than he is now about Concubine Zhen. But I think the emperor is exactly the same as his father. He loves every woman he sees. If I hadn't been reluctant, the position of empress dowager would not have been my turn."
That's why she let Concubine Shu follow her old path to whet the emperor's appetite.
Thinking about it, Empress Dowager Wu got angry again.
If Concubine Zhen hadn't appeared halfway, Concubine Shu would still be the only woman in the emperor's heart.
Now... now their years of planning have been ruined by Concubine Zhen.
"Empress Dowager, Concubine Zhen is outside seeking an audience." Empress
Dowager Wu was so angry that she had nowhere to vent, and Jiang Xinyue came to her door.
"She dares to come?" Empress Dowager
Wu slammed her hand heavily on the low table beside her, and the Samadhi True Fire could have burst out from her head: "What is she doing here?"
The eunuch lowered his head, not daring to look at Empress Dowager Wu's expression: "Empress Zhen said... said that the emperor rewarded Hexi Palace with more than ten kilograms of the top-grade Dahongpao from Jiuyun Mountain, and thought... thought that Kunning Palace didn't have it, so I brought a few kilograms for you, the Empress Dowager, to taste."
Isn't this an obvious provocation?
"Wow!"
The sound of cups and porcelain falling to the ground came from the inner hall. Jiang Xinyue patted her belly, afraid to scare the baby in her belly.
After a while, a little maid came out: "Empress Concubine Zhen, the Empress Dowager invites you in."
The maid opened the curtain, and Jiang Xinyue walked in with Xi Que and Xiao Xuanzi, with a smile on her face that Empress Dowager Wu didn't like.
"Your servant pays respects to the Empress Dowager, and I wish you the best of luck."
"Humph!"
"If you don't get angry, I will be the best of luck."
Empress Dowager Wu deliberately didn't ask her to stand up, just to make her kneel for a while longer. It is said that she offended Concubine Li not long after entering the palace, and was punished to kneel for half a day, which broke her knees. Now the emperor ordered the Imperial Hospital to nurse her.
Why didn't she kneel to death?
"What are you saying, Empress Dowager? How dare I anger you? I respect you enough."
Who is Jiang Xinyue? What is she doing here today?
She came here specifically to anger Empress Dowager Wu, so how could she let her show her power?
So, while she was talking, she stood up and sat down on the right side of Empress Dowager Wu.
"How dare you!"
Seeing this, Nanny Gui immediately scolded: "The Empress Dowager hasn't asked you to get up, let alone given you a
seat. Concubine Zhen doesn't take the Empress Dowager seriously. Is she dissatisfied with the Empress Dowager?" "Ah! Nanny Gui knows that the Empress Dowager will ask me to get up, and she also knows that the Empress Dowager will give me a seat!"
She tilted her head with an innocent look: "But when I saw that the Empress Dowager didn't ask me to get up, I thought she forgot! I have always been considerate and will not let the Empress Dowager feel guilty."
Blame it!
Empress Dowager Wu was almost forced to burst out with dirty words by Jiang Xinyue's shamelessness, but her good upbringing made her hold back.
Jiang Xinyue waved her hand, and Xi Que brought the red wooden box in her hand and presented it directly to Nanny Gui.
"This is what the Emperor gave me yesterday. I kept some for myself, and the rest is brought to you, the Empress Dowager."
What this means is that the Dahongpao here is the inferior goods left after Jiang Xinyue's selection. Empress
Dowager Wu looked into the box opened by Nanny Gui, and her head was buzzing.
Sure enough... Sure enough, she shouldn't have had any hope in Concubine Zhen.
The mahogany box contained a pile of tea stems and some fine tea dregs.
There is no Jiuyunshan Dahongpao in Kunning Palace, but she is the Empress Dowager. Any good things from the Palace Household Department and the Monk's Palace are closely related to her. Is she a beggar? Want to drink the dregs sent by Jiang Xinyue?
"You give me..."
"Mother!"
Empress Dowager Wu had her hand raised high, holding a teacup with a white background and blue flowers. If Emperor Xuanwu hadn't shouted at her, she would have lowered her hand.
"Your Majesty!"
Jiang Xinyue threw herself into Emperor Xuanwu's arms, pinched her arm, and sobbed with tears in her eyes.
Empress Dowager Wu widened her eyes: Has it started? Has it started again?
The familiar feeling of being dominated by Zhenpin's cunning acting skills came again.
"Mother, Zhenpin is still young. If there is anything she did wrong, you can teach her, but please don't let me see you always speaking ill of her or beating her up in the future. This is beneath your status and too indecent."
Empress Dowager Wu:?
Has she not had time to do anything yet?