Chapter 1874 Qingyan's Counterattack
On the fourth day of the fifth lunar month, Changchun Garden became lively. People came and went in Consort Tong's palace. The ladies of the court presented their nameplates to pay their respects. Qingyan, as Consort Tong's daughter-in-law, sat in the palace after breakfast.
Qingyan looked at the ladies-in-waiting who had come to pay their respects with a smile. Today, the wives of the royal family and the imperial clan had not come, and the Empress Dowager had not made an appearance. Consort Tong, along with the palace concubines, received the ladies-in-waiting with Qingyan.
"Fourth Princess Consort, you seem to be in a very good mood today?" asked the wife of Imperial Censor Liu.
Qingyan tilted her head and glanced at her, dismissing her with a smile.
"Madam Liu, what exactly are you trying to say? Fourth Prince Consort has quite a few things to deal with." The Imperial Censor's wife believed that Yinzhen and Qingyan had a good relationship, but the officials below valued the principal wife more.
What do those censors' wives mean by wanting the selected concubines to enter the palace? If they do, they'll start having multiple wives and concubines again. How can the lives of these legitimate wives be as good as they are now?
"Fourth Princess Consort, you see, the young ladies selected this time are all quite good. Shouldn't you be more virtuous? Don't let outsiders say that the royal family has lost all its rules," said Lady Liu, the Imperial Censor's wife.
Qingyan was having a headache; why was this family involved in everything?
“I think Imperial Censor Liu has really been working hard, even managing to keep the royal family in check.” Qingyan took a sip of tea from the cup beside her. “Madam Liu, I think Imperial Censor Liu should remember the circumstances under which the Master made his oath. Does the Eternal Heaven really take back its oath just because the Master’s status has changed?”
A brief question from Qingyan stunned Madam Liu. She hadn't heard Imperial Censor Liu mention Yinzhen's oath. They were Han Bannermen, so Imperial Censor Liu hadn't even arrived in the capital when Yinzhen made the oath.
“The royal family values oaths very much. Moreover, since Yinzhen took the oath, it cannot be changed without authorization. Most of the censors come from the south. When the fourth prince took the oath, they had not yet come to the capital to serve as officials. Now, they are the ones coming out to talk about the rules…” Consort Tong interrupted Qingyan as soon as she finished speaking.
The censors' wives were all shocked. It turned out that Consort Tong had known about this matter all along. Emperor Kangxi, Consort Tong, and Yinzhen had not expressed their opinions. Instead, it was the censors who were jumping around and causing trouble.
"Yes!" Madam Liu lowered her head and quickly knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness.
Consort Tong's words were too harsh; given Lady Liu's status, she was definitely guilty.
"Your Majesty," said Madam Zhuang, "Madam Liu must have heard the rumors circulating outside and thought they would harm the Fourth Prince's reputation, which is why she spoke them out."
Imperial Censor Liu and Imperial Censor Zhuang were both Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the same year and entered the imperial court in the same year. Therefore, their families had an excellent relationship. When Madam Zhuang saw that Madam Liu was being harassed by Consort Tong, she had no choice but to step forward and apologize.
Upon hearing Madam Zhuang's words, Qingyan glanced at her. Madam Zhuang and Madam Liu, the two wives of the Imperial Censors, were the ones she got along with the least. Whether it was a banquet hosted by the Ulanara clan or the Fourth Prince's residence, these two ladies always looked disdainful and would even feign illness to avoid attending.
As lunchtime approached, all the ladies-in-waiting left, and Consort Tong took Qingyan to the dining hall, giving the two of them time to exchange opinions.
"Little darling, do those two ladies have any grudges against you?" Consort Tong rarely asked Qingyan such questions.
"No, Mother. I remember that before I entered the palace, the two ladies seemed to have some misunderstanding about our family," Qingyan quickly said to Consort Tong.
Consort Tong understood what was going on. Back then, these two had wanted to impeach Fei Yanggu, but Emperor Kangxi had suppressed all the impeachments.
"Little darling, if these two ladies cause trouble again, just turn around and go back." Consort Tong comforted Qingyan for a few words and then let her go back first.
Yinzhen walked in from outside, carrying the twins, one on each side. Consort Tong looked at Consort Tong and Qingyan with a smile on her face.
"Fourth Prince, you've finally arrived. How are the children?" Consort Tong asked, looking at the two little ones.
"Mother, please don't ask me how I am?" Yinzhen said helplessly.
"Alright, stop joking around here. Did you go see those two people?" Consort Tong said that she had expected them to talk back to Qingyan.
"Mother, what's wrong?" Yinzhen asked suspiciously. "The two censors don't seem like such unreliable people, so why would they directly target Qingyan?"
“Someone must have given them some benefits,” Consort Tong said helplessly, holding her two children. “The two wives of the Imperial Censors are very concerned about what’s going on in your inner quarters. As soon as there’s even the slightest rumor outside, they’ll come straight to me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yinzhen understood that these two wives of imperial censors must have been arranged by someone.
"Mother, don't worry, I'll take care of it. I promise I won't cause you any more trouble," Yinzhen said directly.
Seeing that Yinzhen's status was rising higher and higher, the two censors wanted to follow the arrangements of those behind him and hoped to have their daughters enter Yinzhen's harem.
The next morning, just as Qingyan finished dealing with the matters at the villa, Sulan reported that the wives of the two censors had come to pay their respects. Qingyan sighed, thinking, "These two really are like persistent ghosts."
"Sulan, go and invite them." Qingyan wanted to see what these two were up to.
Consort Tong had stated beforehand that she could retort, indicating that the two people's status was irrelevant.
The two wives of imperial censors paid their respects to Qingyan, and she waved her hand, inviting them to sit down.
"Do the two ladies have something to discuss with you today?" Qingyan didn't believe they had come to pay their respects; they must have come about yesterday's events.
The two women exchanged a glance, and they had a slight idea of what was going on. The Fourth Master had probably told them about their situation.
"Fourth Prince's wife, we just wanted to privately advise you that if possible, you should personally speak to Consort Tong about arranging for the Fourth Prince to take in a concubine. People outside are already saying such negative things about you!" said Madam Zhuang.
"It seems that the two ladies have been bribed to say such things. If the two censors were to say it in court, the princes outside the pass would probably be very happy. They would finally have something to do." Qingyan sneered. "Sulan, see the guests out."
"Fourth Princess Consort, we tried to persuade you with kind words, but you still said such a thing. My master said that he will impeach you at the court tomorrow. If you know how to repent, then so be it. If you don't know how to repent, we can make sure you are notorious in the imperial archives," said Madam Zhuang.
"Do as you please!" Qingyan sneered. "Show your guest out. He's not saying anything more, but he's already caused your master to be divorced."
After the two ladies left, Qingyan asked Sulan to dress her in a more plain style and walked directly to the palace. Many people knew that the Fourth Princess Consort had entered the palace in tears, and some people were still inquiring about the matter. As a result, the news that the two Censor's wives had gone to pay their respects spread.
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