"It's been several days now, and the Emperor still hasn't attended court."
"Alas, ever since the news broke that the Emperor had been poisoned, he seems to have been staying in the Qiankun Palace, spending all his time with the portrait of the Empress."
"Empress Jingxian has been gone for more than ten years, and our Emperor's affection for her remains unchanged. This is truly remarkable. In an ordinary family, the children would already be able to recite the Analects of Confucius."
After the court session ended once again, the officials gathered in small groups to discuss the matter. The emperor not only didn't attend court, but he also didn't appoint the crown prince to lead the court, which made these officials start to consider other things.
Is this crown prince truly capable of inheriting the throne?
The Empress Dowager is a criminal. Even if the charge of plotting against the imperial heir is not established, the charge of murdering the Empress cannot be escaped. Moreover, the Emperor's attitude is currently unclear, and they, as his subjects, do not want to take sides so quickly.
If the Crown Prince and Gao Ping end up in the same situation, wouldn't those who supported the Crown Prince be purged?
"The imperial examination is tomorrow, and the emperor can't possibly not show up."
Several senior officials also gathered together to discuss matters.
"The Emperor can't possibly be absent from such an important event as the Imperial Examination. Let's come back tomorrow and proceed as usual."
"If only Prince Xuan could resolve this case sooner," Wang Xuan sighed, his hands behind his back. In the past few days, not only had the Emperor not attended court, but Prince Xuan had also not come.
King Xuan didn't not want to go; he simply couldn't leave.
In a fit of rage, the Emperor had Gao Ping's tongue cut out. He spent a whole day and night in prison before he learned that her life had been saved, and only then could he drink a sip of water.
They saved Mo Yu, but forgot about Gao Ping who was also there!
Gao Ping lost her tongue and had no anesthetic to relieve the pain. In addition, she developed a fever due to excessive bleeding and was in a coma all day.
"It's difficult to apply medicine to this wound, and she can't eat anything. I don't know if she can make it through." The doctor sighed. "If all else fails, we'll have to feed her liquids through her nose."
Therefore, after another ordeal, Gao Ping barely managed to save her life.
"She's really lucky to be alive." Song Yaozhu didn't want her to die now either. Compared to a quick death, living in agony is torture.
"Now the two of them can be considered as 'evil people being punished by evil people'."
Xie Liwei leaned against the chaise lounge, comfortably enjoying peanut cheese pastry paired with this year's new tea, a truly unique experience.
"Are you done with things at the Cui family's place?"
"It's nothing serious, there's no need for me to personally oversee it."
Song Yaozhu glanced at him and asked, "What is your relationship with the Peng family? Why are they so devoted to you?"
She thought about this problem for a long time, but she still couldn't figure it out.
The Peng family were the imperial merchants of the Great Chen Dynasty and also the richest family in the Great Chen. But this status was not given by the emperor; it was earned by themselves. From the time when war raged, the Peng family cultivated good relationships, refrained from profiting from the chaos of war, and took in many talented but homeless people.
Later, when the Great Chen Dynasty was established, everything was in need of rebuilding. The Peng family, with their outstanding connections, obtained a lot of goods and became the imperial merchants of the Great Chen Dynasty.
This shows that such a family has a rich history and upholds its family traditions. But why would they listen to Xie Liwei?
Xie Liwei kept everyone in suspense, saying, "It's not that I'm unwilling to tell you, sister. This isn't just my secret; we also need to ask the Peng family's opinion, don't we?"
Song Yaozhu sneered and told him to get lost.
Xie Liwei didn't leave, but the Song family's wedding invitations were delivered to their door.
The wedding date between Song Hanzhi and the Lu family has been set; they plan to get married at the end of May.
"Is this time of year so rushed?"
"They said they were worried that if they waited any longer it would be summer, and vegetables and meat wouldn't keep well, plus there would be many mosquitoes, and they didn't want to neglect their guests," Granny Qin relayed the Song family's words. "Your Highness, are you going?"
"Go ahead, let's go see what's going on!"
She didn't think her cheap older brother's new sister-in-law would be easy to get along with. She also had no idea what state the Song family was in now.
The Song family is currently in a very unsightly situation because of Song Hanzhi's wedding.
Luo Fu is currently in charge of the household affairs of the eldest son's family. Logically speaking, her brother-in-law's marriage has nothing to do with her. However, the second and third sons of the Song family believe that this is the eldest son's business, and the family can only contribute five hundred taels from the common funds, with the eldest son's family having to pay the rest themselves.
The first wife's money was already largely depleted when Song Wenyue entered the palace, and later, Song Qingyuan's remarriage consumed almost all of the remaining funds. Now they're being asked to pay for it themselves? They need to be able to afford it!
"Now that the First Madam is not in charge, and the Master is also indifferent to this matter, spending his days drinking outside. They've handed this mess over to you, Young Madam, clearly intending for you to foot the bill! What kind of logic is this, using your dowry as a cover!" the maid said indignantly.
Luo Fu naturally thought the same way, but still said, "Now that I have married into the Song family, I am also a member of the Song family. If I don't express my opinion, how can they consider me as family?"
"But we can't be made to suffer this loss!" the maid sighed. "This servant doesn't believe that the master doesn't have some private savings!"
Luo Fu didn't believe it either. He had been an official for so many years; he should have accumulated something. The key was that the other party was unwilling to share it.
"I'll go and see my mother-in-law again."
Madam Song now spends her days eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist prayers, staying indoors and not concerning herself with household affairs. Song Chengzhang initially had some complaints about her, but later, seeing that his daughter-in-law managed the household quite well, he stopped interfering.
The couple now live separate lives.
After hearing her daughter-in-law's purpose, Madam Song remained silent for a while before saying, "I've given all my savings to Wenyue."
Song Wenyue was in very poor condition at that time. Fearing that she would have a difficult childbirth, Lin took out all her private savings and had someone buy a century-old ginseng for emergencies.
She really has no money now.
“Mother, the invitations have already been sent out, and the wedding banquet will definitely be held. However, the family only has five hundred taels of silver, so the banquet will naturally not be of a high standard. It’s not that I can’t use this amount of money to do things, but I’m afraid of being laughed at.”
"This..." Madam Lin hesitated. She also wanted her son's wedding banquet to be beautiful, but she didn't have any money right now!
“I have a solution, but I dare not tell my grandfather.”
"Tell me about it."
“My grandfather was a renowned scholar in Da Chen, and his calligraphy and paintings were worth a fortune. Unfortunately, he regarded wealth as dirt and refused to condescend to sell his works. I think that if my grandfather were willing to sell one of his paintings, it would solve our immediate problem!”
This idea wasn't hers to come up; she overheard the old women in the courtyard gossiping and complaining. She herself thought it made sense—what's the use of seeking fame and fortune if it can't feed a family?
“That won’t do! Your grandfather hates it when people use money to evaluate his calligraphy and paintings. If he finds out, he’ll be furious.”
"Then let's not let Grandfather know," Luo Fu chuckled.
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