Song Yaozhu had no intention of using Zhai Gewen's matter to blackmail Madam Zhai, but she really had no one in the court who could help her!
We can only... make do with Madam Zhai for now.
The news that Madam Zhai and her eldest daughter-in-law had visited the Prince Xiaoyao's residence spread throughout the capital in no time. Everyone was wondering why Madam Zhai would go to the Prince Xiaoyao's residence.
However, the Prince Xiaoyao's Mansion has indeed been quite prominent in the capital recently. First, they saved the emperor, then the emperor appointed them to a minor official position, and later they even held a banquet.
Although the powerful families in the capital didn't say it openly, they all knew that the Emperor was wary of the Xie family for not having held official positions for so many years. Now, the Emperor had actually allowed Xie Liwei to enter the court, even if it was only a minor seventh-rank official position, which signified a change in the Emperor's attitude towards the Xie family!
Does Madam Zhai's visit mean that Grand Secretary Zhai is about to take sides?
Rumors swirled throughout the capital, but the person involved remained remarkably calm. After the government resumed operations, Xie Liwei went to the Hanlin Academy to report for duty.
He was renowned for his talent in his early years. Although it is unknown whether he has wasted his talents over the years, the people of the Hanlin Academy treat him with great respect because he is Xie Lü's son.
He'd been there all morning, but no one had assigned him any tasks. The Emperor giving him an official position was one thing, but whether he was actually allowed to work was another.
As long as he isn't allowed to work, he won't get a chance to be promoted, and therefore won't gain power.
Xie Liwei was bored, so he went from one government office to another. Today he went to the Ministry of Rites, tomorrow to the Ministry of Revenue, and the day after to the Ministry of War.
They would even spar with people from the Ministry of War, claiming it was for physical fitness. The officials in the Ministry of War were practically in tears. They were good at their jobs, but they were all civil officials! They were only in charge of troop deployment, not actual fighting!
A few days later, several vice ministers went to Xie Liwei's superior and asked him to assign Xie Liwei some work!
Assign tasks to Xie Liwei?
What kind of work could they possibly assign to this prince? Aren't they just creating trouble for themselves?
Unfortunately, this hair-loss-inducing task was assigned to Cao Zhi. Cao Zhi was Xie Liwei's superior, a sixth-rank compiler!
He was a big, simple-minded guy, and he happily assigned him the work he had been doing recently.
Water conservancy is a major issue in Da Chen nowadays, so he is collecting and organizing books on water conservancy from the past, hoping to provide some assistance for the maintenance of dikes in Jiangzhou.
The two men buried themselves in their books, and for a time the six ministries and departments fell silent. They thought it was good that there was no more trouble, and they could finally get to work in peace.
Song Yaozhu was recuperating at the Prince's residence when, on this chilly spring day, the Dowager Consort arrived in a carriage. Her face remained kind, but her eyes held a hint of coldness.
"I saw you had something to say to me at the palace last time, but we couldn't find an opportunity to talk, so I came to see you today. Now that you're further along in your pregnancy, are you finding it easy to take care of yourself?"
"The people in the household are serving you diligently, so Your Highness need not worry. It is I who am now unable to move around easily and can no longer visit Your Highness for casual conversation."
"Sigh, with so many people in my household, how could I be short of someone to talk to? You're such a worrywart, you should really just focus on taking good care of yourself during your pregnancy."
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the Empress Dowager suddenly asked, "Who do you think was responsible for the assassination attempt on the Emperor?"
Song Yaozhu's eyes flickered slightly, but her face showed no sign of anything unusual.
"Your Highness, the Court of Judicial Review is investigating this matter. Until the truth comes out, anyone could be the murderer."
The Empress Dowager's loose skin twitched as she said, "I was wondering why you hadn't been sending me messages lately. It turns out you thought this troublesome situation was my doing."
"What does the Dowager Consort mean? Yaozhu has never had such thoughts."
The Dowager Princess twirled her prayer beads, her tone mocking, "The Princess Consort didn't have such thoughts; you did it anyway, didn't you?"
Seeing that she was still sitting there, Song Yaozhu knew that she had only come to test her.
"Your Highness, as you can see, I am in such a state now. After the incident at Huangjue Temple, I was also quite frightened. I am not responsible for many things in the Prince's mansion. If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me."
The Dowager Princess gritted her teeth and said, "I know you suspect me, but we are in the same boat. How could I do something that disregards the safety of my ally? I thought you didn't want to talk to this old woman anymore. Looking at your listless appearance, it seems you were really frightened at Huangjue Temple that day. I was just being petty."
"Your Highness, please don't say that!" Song Yaozhu said anxiously. "The Xie family has not been favored by the Emperor for so many years. Now that the Prince has finally been able to enter the court as an official, if he can make great strides in the court in the future, he will naturally help His Highness the Prince of Yan. I just hope that His Highness the Prince of Yan can restrain himself. Now that the country is in crisis, we should work together to get through it."
The Dowager Princess stepped forward and took her hand. "Good child, you and the Prince are both good people. It hasn't been easy for you two as a couple all these years."
The two spoke for a while longer, and when the Dowager Consort saw that Song Yaozhu was gradually losing her spirits, she got up to take her leave.
After the Dowager Consort left, Granny Qin couldn't help but curse, "That old hag, how dare she come to our Prince's mansion to show off!"
Song Yaozhu smiled helplessly: "Why can't someone else's son, who commands an army of 200,000, act arrogantly? In the past, the Dowager Consort kept a low profile and didn't want to cause trouble for her son. If she wanted to act with impunity in the capital, even the dog emperor would have to give her some face."
"I can't stand her either!" Granny Qin snorted and said, "That day at Huangjue Temple, she happened to have the most guards, yet she emerged unscathed. She has no shame in saying such things!"
"Alright, Granny, isn't the problem that we don't have any evidence right now?"
Granny Qin pursed her lips helplessly and then said something else: "As you instructed, I have invited the most famous midwife and a wet nurse from the capital to come to the manor. I have also asked Madam Yin to find an experienced midwife and a young lady who has just given birth to be raised on the estate."
Song Yaozhu nodded, and then heard Caijin say, "Your father sent another invitation today, are you still not going to see him?"
Song Yaozhu fiddled with the incense burner, "I won't see it. What if I anger him to death? He'll still say I'm unfilial."
The people inside the room: "..."
That makes a lot of sense.
As the Dowager Princess boarded her carriage to return to the Prince's residence, the old nanny said with considerable worry, "Dowager Princess, this old servant has a feeling that this Princess Xiaoyao may not be as easy to control as before. In addition, now that Prince Xiaoyao has entered the court as an official, she may have other thoughts now."
The Dowager Empress sneered, "I'm not afraid. The Xie family is like a snake bitten once, so they're afraid of ropes for ten years. But if they want to get off my boat, they'll have to stab it open first!"
Seeing that her mistress was full of confidence, the nanny said no more.
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