Chapter 322 Taking advantage of an issue
"Zhu's second son sent a letter to the Imperial Concubine?"
Concubine Wen looked at the unfamiliar eunuch: "Which palace are you from? Why would Zhu's second son ask you to pass on the letter to the Empress?"
The eunuch bowed slightly: "I'm Xiaoganzi. I used to serve the Empress. After the Empress passed away, I've been in charge of sweeping the Fengxian Hall and guarding the Empress's spirit tablet. Concubine Wen, I'm a member of the Zhu family."
He took out a token. There was indeed a red character engraved on the token. Concubine Wen had seen it on Fenyun before.
She took the letter half-believingly: "But the Imperial Concubine has been living in Chengqian Palace these few days and has not come back."
Xiaoganzi looked anxious: "But this letter, the person sent by my Erlang to deliver the letter said it is extremely urgent and cannot be delayed for a moment. Empress Wenfei, I cannot leave Fengxian Hall for too long, and I cannot enter Chengqian Palace. Could you please deliver it to her quickly?"
After she left, wouldn't Concubine De be crowned king in Hexi Palace?
But the little eunuch didn't look fakely anxious...
She stamped her feet and said "Ouch", then turned around and ordered Mu Tan: "You must keep a close eye on Concubine De and don't allow her to run around. It's best to close the door. If you can't stop her, then follow her wherever she goes. Do you understand?"
Mu Tan nodded: "I will stay by Concubine De's side."
Xiao Ganzi said it was extremely urgent, so Concubine Wen felt that she had to believe it. What if it concerned the life of the queen...
she just ran away.
Fortunately, Hexi Palace and Chengqian Palace were not far from each other, so she ran there quickly: "Go, go in quickly and tell them that Concubine Wen wants to see her urgently."
Jiang Xinyue thought that Concubine De had something to do, so she quickly summoned Concubine Wen in. She was frightened by her sweaty appearance: "What's wrong with you? Is Concubine De going to kill you?"
Concubine Wen waved her hands, gasping for breath, and before she could say anything, she threw the deformed letter in her hand: "Yuzhou... A letter from Zhu Erlang of Yuzhou... One hundred thousand... Extremely urgent."
Jiang Xinyue quickly handed the grape ice bowl to Shuangjiang, raised her hand to take the letter and tore it open.
Zhu Erlang wrote in a vigorous handwriting on the paper: "There is a drought in Yuzhou. Someone took advantage of it and hid a stele under the silt in the dried-up lake. The stele is engraved with the words 'Misfortune from Heaven, Jiang Dai Shen Xing'. An official from the Ministry of Justice came here to play and took the stele back to the capital. If I stop him, the Emperor might suspect that the Empress is forming a clique for personal gain. So I wrote a letter to the Empress, asking her to make plans early. The stele should arrive in the capital on the same day as the letter. I wish the Empress well."
The signature was Zhu Qianyi, and there was a seal that could not be forged over
his name. Jiang Xinyue's heart skipped a beat, and the words that Concubine Wen had said to her before popped up in her mind. The official from the Ministry of Justice that Zhu Qianyi was talking about was the one that Concubine Wen mentioned in the palace. He had asked for leave from her father for a long time and was a spy arranged by Duke Cheng.
She looked at Concubine Wen: "When the emperor went to Hexi Palace yesterday and told you to move to the palace, did you tell the emperor about that?"
Concubine Wen nodded: "Yes, I did..."
The emperor was a busy man and it was rare to see him in the harem. Concubine Wen had been thinking about what Jiang Xinyue had told her. She finally got to see the emperor, so she would talk about the move first. She must take care of Jiang Xinyue's affairs.
So she pretended not to understand and said that there was a chief official in the Ministry of Justice who asked for leave from her father because Lord Jiang went to the temporary palace, but her father was afraid that Lord Jiang would come back and cause trouble for him, so he didn't want to agree. The chief official knelt and begged, and her father agreed only when he had no choice.
Who knew that the chief official had been gone for several months, and her father was so scared that he wrote to her to complain.
The emperor also asked the Ministry of Justice who the other person in charge was besides Ma Yiyang, and how he could be so absent from his post.
Concubine Wen replied at that time: “He should be a disciple of Duke Cheng’s Mansion!”
The emperor turned his head and stared at her: “Why?”
“Because my father found it strange when he saw that the chief official took leave and went to Duke Cheng’s Mansion. But he just happened to see it at that time and thought it had nothing to do with him, so he ignored it. But when I think about it, Concubine De was very unhappy because Concubine Imperial Noble took her position as the head of the four concubines. I think it’s strange that this chief official works under Minister Jiang but is Duke Cheng’s man.”
Concubine Wen has been in the palace for more than ten years. She has always been straightforward and never beats around the bush. When she said this, it didn’t make people think that Jiang Xinyue instigated her.
Concubine Wen thought for a moment and said, "After the emperor left the court today, he left my father and Minister Jiang in the study to discuss matters."
They were discussing Duke Cheng and the official in charge, right?
The emperor is a man of today's affairs, and since he has discovered Duke Cheng's clues, he will never discuss it again.
Stone tablet!
The stone tablet engraved with "Misfortune from heaven, Jiang replaces Shen Xing" also entered the palace today.
Jiang Xinyue tore up the letter and gave it to Jiang Chuan: "Burn it."
The remaining concubines also stepped forward with concern: "Do you want us to go together?"
Jiang Xinyue shook her head: "No, you have to pretend that you know nothing, I can go alone."
It's not about pretending to be pitiful in front of the emperor. It's about the country, pretending to be pitiful is useless.
She is going to intercept the official in charge of the Ministry of Justice.
After the horse galloped into the imperial city, it stopped at the gate of the imperial palace. Doctor Hu had already received the news and was waiting inside the palace gate. Empress Defei wanted to kill all the members of the Jiang family today.
This stone tablet was not newly carved, but Empress Defei asked Chengguo Mansion to prepare it shortly after Jiang Xinyue became favored.
Before the emperor knew about the drought in Yuzhou, Chengguo Mansion had already received a secret report, so Chengguo sent people to transport the stone tablet into the city, dig up the riverbed, and bury the stone tablet.
If Empress Defei had not stabbed herself in order to get out of the matter of abusing and killing concubines, she would have come in person today.
Before Doctor Hu came, Empress Defei asked him to be careful of the imperial concubine.
What to be careful of?
She just relied on her beauty to fascinate the emperor, and she was no match for his queen.
She didn't know that Lin was going to bring the stone tablet into the palace today, so how could she stop him?
After receiving Lin's call, Doctor Hu asked four eunuchs to move the stone tablet out of the carriage and carry it up. Duke Cheng was naturally not allowed to show up, as he couldn't let the emperor think that this matter was related to the previous dynasty.
Although their original intention was to bring down the Jiang family, they had to put on a show.
The long palace corridor was empty, and the washed silver-black floor tiles and walls were flashing with silver light. A feeling of uneasiness surged into Doctor Hu's heart: "Strange, it wasn't so quiet when I came here!"
"I have ordered people to seal the entrance, so of course it's quiet."
The seductive figure of a woman came towards them slowly. "Doctor Hu, why is he not serving Concubine De in the side hall of Hexi Palace instead of here?"
She looked behind Doctor Hu with a playful look. "Isn't this Director Lin from the Ministry of Justice? My father's subordinate. When did he become so close to Concubine De's people?"
As she spoke, she walked faster and faster until she came towards them.