Chapter 46 The Prince's Failed Rebellion
He Fei mistakenly believed that the emperor was suspicious of Zhang Xiaojia and thought she was a soul from another world, but he never expected that Liu Wen was actually a person who knew nothing about history.
The Emperor personally visited the Ganning Palace. The Empress Dowager greeted him with a broad smile: "Your Majesty, how did you find time to come to my place today?"
The emperor waved his hand gently, signaling his attendants to withdraw. When only the mother and son were left in the hall, he slowly sat down and said, "I have come to visit my legitimate mother today."
The Emperor sat down and said solemnly, "A few days ago, I ordered Lin'an to give the young uncle a potion that would kill him. I know I've let you and the young uncle down in this matter, but I have no regrets. In this position, I have no choice but to act this way."
The Queen Mother's gaze grew deep. She looked at the Emperor quietly and said calmly, "Your Majesty, you should know that the late Emperor also gave me a potion that would kill my heirs. Why do you want to let my young uncle suffer the same fate?"
The Emperor took a deep breath and said, "This is to prevent Jia Jia from treating you and the young uncle. Jia Jia's medical skills are superb. I will never allow you to have offspring to avoid trouble in the future. You can also think of this as a guarantee that the young uncle will never have children in this life. If you are ever wronged, I will take you back."
After the New Year, I have already arranged that you will go to the royal temple to pray for the late emperor. I will arrange for someone to dress you up and someone will put on your makeup. You can appear in Kyoto freely.
After hearing this, the Queen Mother was silent for a long time, and finally just sighed softly.
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Everyone on the street had a smile on their face; even the harsh winter weather couldn't dampen the joyful atmosphere of welcoming the New Year.
Meanwhile, every household and mansion was immersed in a bustle of activity, and Prince Jing's residence was no exception. Zhang Xiaojia was busy handling various household chores, including preparing supplies for the New Year, cleaning and tidying up the courtyards, buying new clothes for the servants, and preparing New Year gifts for various places.
After the Little New Year, the Imperial Observatory selected an auspicious day, the emperor ordered the seal to be sealed, and various ministries and departments also sealed their seals one after another.
This means that office activities are suspended.
Zhang Xiaojia is busy arranging the sending of New Year gifts to various places. The imperial palace, the various princes' palaces, and some mansions with whom he has connections all need to send gifts. Even though these gifts may eventually be stored in the warehouse, the gift-giving procedure is still indispensable.
Giving New Year gifts has its own specific etiquette, following the principle of giving gifts first to the elders and then to the younger ones, and first to the more respected and then to the less respected. Elders are not required to give New Year gifts to younger ones. Therefore, New Year gifts from Prince Jing's Mansion are mainly sent to the Imperial Palace, the Emperor's uncles, the Third Prince, and several princesses.
As for the delivery method and specific content of the New Year gifts, there are also established rules. Zhang Xiaojia handled it according to the practices of previous years.
The importance of gifts should be carefully considered. If they are too heavy, it will seem like you are showing off; if they are too light, you will easily be ridiculed.
After several days of consideration, Zhang Xiaojia drew up a list of New Year gifts and handed it over to his servants to carry out.
Of course, the rewards given by my caring maid are also indispensable!
As for the guards and secret guards, they are even more indispensable. All these matters must be properly handled by He Fei.
If you want people to be wholeheartedly and work for you regardless of everything, even in this era where imperial power is supreme and as unshakable as the sky, just relying on some vague and unrealistic pie in the sky to fool people can cost them their lives!
The most appropriate thing to do is to actually give them real money.
Fortunately, she was the only woman in He Fei's vast backyard. She only had to give her parents the proper gifts according to the New Year etiquette. Her gift was well-behaved, not expensive or practical at all, but presentable enough. Finding such gifts for her parents was the most tiring task.
Bai Zhi's expression changed slightly, and she hurried to the farm on horseback. When she saw Zhang Xiaojia, she quickly dismounted, bowed, and said respectfully, "Princess, I wish you all the best."
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaojia's eyes flashed with doubt, and he quickly asked: "Bai Zhi, what happened? Why did you rush here so anxiously?"
Bai Zhi's expression was extremely solemn as she replied, "My Lady, Princess Anguo has returned to the capital. Her maid, He Hua, hurried to the mansion and tearfully claimed that Princess Anguo had been imprisoned in the home of the Duke of Hengguo. She also accused the Duke of Hengguo of favoring his concubine over his wife."
At first, I was filled with doubts, unwilling to believe these outrageous words. But remembering that you had previously instructed me to send an invitation to Princess Anguo, I decided to go to the Duke of Hengguo's mansion in person and invite Princess Anguo on your behalf.
However, I did not get to see Princess Anguo in person as I had hoped. But to my surprise, I saw the precious hairpin you once gave to Princess Anguo on the head of one of the concubines of the Prince of Hengguo.
Zhang Xiaojia immediately realized that Princess Anguo was her childhood playmate, who was four years older than her and had taken care of her since she was a child, like her own sister.
A strong anger suddenly surged in her heart. Princess Anguo, how could the emperor allow others to bully her if she was called Anguo? How could such a pig-brained person be considered the Duke of Hengguo?
Bai Zhi took a breath and continued, "When I saw this, I immediately sent An Wu to investigate. After some investigation, An Wu learned that the concubine that Lady Hengguo had given to the Crown Prince was actually the daughter of Lady Hengguo's sister. Furthermore, Princess Anguo's son tragically drowned a year ago, and her daughter is terminally ill. After this concubine took charge of the household, she not only refused to seek medical treatment for Princess Anguo's daughter, but also seized Princess Anguo's dowry."
Zhang Xiaojia was furious. He slammed the teacup in his hand to the ground and shouted, "An Yi, I don't care what you do. When I make a scene at the Duke of Heng's Mansion, you must bring the Chief Censor to me! An Er, go find the Martial Virtue Envoy and ask him to use his power to help me! An San, you must go to Kyoto immediately. I want everyone in Kyoto to know about the scandal of the Duke of Heng favoring his concubine and killing his wife! Captain Liu, take your three teams and follow this county lady to destroy the Duke of Heng's Mansion!"
"Yes, I obey your command!" Everyone answered in unison and left.
Zhang Xiaojia quickly changed into casual clothes, jumped on her horse, and galloped all the way to the Duke of Heng's mansion. As soon as she arrived at the door, she saw the Wude Division Envoy and a group of people waiting for her there.
When the Wudeshishi saw Zhang Xiaojia coming, he immediately stepped forward to pay his respects.
Zhang Xiaojia didn't dismount. He looked at the Wude Envoy and asked, "Does the Emperor know you're coming?"
The Wudeshishi immediately replied, "The Emperor has said that this time, the Wudeshishi is ready to obey your orders at any time."
Zhang Xiaojia waved his whip and said, "Smash the door of the Duke of Heng for me."
"yes"
After a while,
The door collapsed
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