Chapter 405: The Last Palace Fight Champion
[Someone has fainted, I won’t give you the chance to gloat over his misfortune! 】Su Qianqian smiled at the system’s mistake.
Madam Qin could hardly suppress her smile: If this continues, there won’t be many people left for the court celebration.
Fortunately, the time had come, and the eunuchs at the inner palace gate sang: "Ladies of honor, come to see me and pay your respects!"
All the ladies of honor stood in line according to their rank, and followed the eunuchs into the hall with serious expressions and silence.
Su Qianqian: Why does it feel like a memorial service...
Su Qianqian's seat was relatively close to the front. The women of the royal family had already entered the inner hall first. Even the court greetings were divided into levels, with royal family members taking priority over women of other surnames.
The Empress Dowager and the Queen sat in the upper seats in the hall, and the ladies of honor were not allowed to look up or see them. Su Qianqian followed the crowd and knelt when others knelt, kowtowed when others kowtowed, and stood up when others stood up.
At this time, you can see the appearance of the Queen Mother.
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor did not resemble each other at all, but their coldness, harshness and unfathomable nature made them seem like they were cast from the same mold, and their temperaments were completely synchronized.
The empress dowager should be in her sixties. She had deep nasolabial folds on both sides of her nose, and drooping eyes and lips. She looked a dozen years older than Madam Qin.
Sitting next to them were the imperial concubine and several other ladies, as well as the eldest princess and several princesses. The wife of Duke Xuan was a princess, and because of her special status, she was also present. This time of the year was her proudest moment.
"Celebrating the New Year, everything is renewed. I have been living in the inner palace for many years, and rarely see the ladies. Even these faces have become new."
The Queen Mother's eyes swept across the faces of the ladies and stopped on Su Qianqian.
"Mother, that is the wife of Marquis Wuning. This is her first time to come to the palace to pay respects this year, so naturally, you find her unfamiliar."
The Queen followed the Queen Mother's gaze and whispered the introduction.
"This is the famous wife of Marquis Wuning. She looks gentle and kind, but she behaves in a way that is somewhat like her grandmother."
It was unclear whether the Queen Mother's words were praise or criticism, but Su Qianqian was already in the Queen Mother's eyes. Even the proud wife of Duke Xuan couldn't help but look at her a few more times.
The eldest princess had no expression on her face, and she sat with her eyes lowered as if in a trance.
"Thank you for the compliment, Queen Mother. I am honored to be able to be a little like my grandmother. Queen Mother, you have good taste!"
Su Qianqian took it as a compliment and thanked him, and praised herself at the same time.
"Grandmother, please don't believe the sweet words of Marquis Wuning's wife. She is the best at fooling people and pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger!"
Princess Zhaoyang gritted her teeth and reminded the Queen Mother.
"Thank you for your praise, Princess. I still need to work harder and live up to your expectations!" Su Qianqian thanked with a smile again.
"You..." Princess Zhaoyang was so angry that her eyebrows were about to jump.
"Ladies, you have worked hard to manage the backyard, allowing the court officials to focus on government affairs and assist Your Majesty with all your heart and soul. I would like to thank you for your efforts. I wish you all a safe and prosperous new year."
The Queen Mother interrupted Princess Zhaoyang and the celebration came to an end. The ladies of honor once again expressed their gratitude and filed out.
"The ladies of the Wuning Marquis' Mansion, please stay and talk to me." The Queen Mother suddenly said.
Madam Qin and Mrs. Du were already preparing to leave, but they stopped in their tracks when they heard the empress dowager's words, and then obeyed the order calmly.
When Du's sister-in-law, Lady Mi, wife of Marquis Dingyang, heard that the empress dowager had left people in Marquis Wuning's mansion, the corners of her lips curled slightly.
Because of her brother's matter, she saw that Mrs. Du was still ignoring her. She felt even more upset when she thought that she was the princess's future mother-in-law, but the princess did not respect her as an elder.
In the hall, besides the three generations of the Qin family, there were only the royal family women and the empresses and princesses. The Queen Mother gave them a seat and then said in a gentle tone:
"Don't worry. I usually only focus on reciting scriptures and chanting Buddha's name, and I have not been close to you. When I saw you today, I thought of the past and felt sad. I didn't realize that we have become grandmothers and great-grandmothers."
"The Empress Dowager is right. Decades have passed in the blink of an eye, and I have been driven to old age by my children and grandchildren." Madam Qin nodded in response.
"Speaking of children and grandchildren, Marquis Wuning was a young hero who made great contributions to the pacification of the northern border by the Great Qi. Having such a grandson is truly the envy of others."
The Queen Mother raised her eyes and glanced at Su Qianqian: "But I remember that Wu Ning Hou is two years older than the Crown Prince, but he still has no children. It was fine in the past because of the war, but now he has been back to court for half a year, so we can't delay any longer."
【Um? The Empress Dowager even wants to interfere in the bedroom affairs of her subjects? What should I do if I can't delay any longer? Should I step aside and let me... take care of everything for the Marquis? 】
Su Qianqian was bored and complained nonsense in her heart, but her expression was obedient and docile.
The Queen and the four concubines sitting over there raised their lips imperceptibly, and their smiles finally looked more sincere.
"The Empress Dowager is right. When I return home, I will urge you not to waste your time any more. Diligence leads to excellence, while laziness leads to neglect. Every profession has its specialty. You must work harder and not slack off in the future."
Su Qianqian humbly accepted the advice and made a solemn promise. The queen's smile deepened, and the queens, princesses and the wife of Duke Xuan sitting in the audience were all shocked.
The Queen Mother originally wanted to see Su Qianqian feel ashamed so that she could say the rest of the words, but she was stunned by Su Qianqian's impassioned speech. What should she say next?
Do they have to work so hard to cram people into the room?
"The wife of Marquis Wuning is quite straightforward... Then I'll wait for your good news... I'm a little tired too, so you guys should stop accompanying me and go away."
The Empress Dowager had a somewhat stiff expression. She raised her hand, frowned, and pinched her brows, and spoke with a dull tone.
The Queen stood up, led the concubines in paying respects to the Queen Mother, and then left Ci'an Hall with a group of people.
[Oh my God, there is such a big piece of news. The emperor is not the empress dowager’s biological son? No wonder……
The empress dowager adopted the emperor to gain the trust of the late emperor, and treated the emperor even more attentively than her own children. Finally, she was promoted from a small noble concubine to the head of the four concubines because of her son. The emperor was made the crown prince, and the empress dowager was finally proud of herself. 】
[How is this possible? If this is true, how could the palace cover it up and allow the Queen Mother to cover up the truth with one hand? You can't fool the emperor. 】
Su Qianqian didn't believe it. It was not uncommon for the royal family to raise the sons of other concubines, and there was no need to conceal their identities. Why did the empress dowager alone raise the adopted son as his biological mother, and the late emperor also concealed it for the empress dowager?
[The emperor's biological mother had a special status. After being carried into the palace, she became depressed and eventually became ill due to worry. The empress dowager was originally arranged by the emperor to serve the sick beauty, but she was soon laid off. The sick beauty passed away after giving birth to the emperor.
The Queen Mother was reluctant to lose this opportunity, so she took the initiative to request to raise the child on behalf of the Sick Concubine. The late Emperor agreed after careful consideration, and killed all the palace maids who knew that the Sick Concubine had given birth to a child. 】
Su Qianqian was so busy eating melons that she didn't notice that the Queen and the four concubines had slowed down their pace...
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