Chapter 170 Gualiu enters the palace
Now that things have come to this, she won't accept an apology and I can't do it myself.
It's just that I was involved in taking her life in my previous life. If she wants revenge in this life, she can take it after the matter is over.
She was just a crippled body, and she had lived long enough.
The emperor came out of Yanqing Palace, the sunlight shone on his face, and he looked relaxed, obviously the question had received an ideal answer.
Concubine Duan was right. No matter who gave birth to a child, it was still his or her own child.
However—the pomegranates must be preserved, and new patterns must also be drawn.
The emperor got on the sedan chair and was about to say he was going to the Yikun Palace when Su Peisheng said:
"Your Majesty, Prince Guo has just entered the palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager, and is now waiting in the Yangxin Palace."
The emperor nodded and drove to the Yangxin Palace.
Prince Guo came today for Meng Jingxian.
"…I wonder if my brother still remembers that a few years ago the Queen Mother wanted to arrange a marriage for me."
"Meng Jingxian, the daughter of the Duke of Pei." The emperor nodded while folding his Buddhist beads. "I remember the Queen Mother said that she met you when she was a child and fell in love with you, but you didn't agree. Why are you suddenly talking about her today?"
Prince Guo lifted his robe and knelt down, saying solemnly, "Huanbi's family background is not high, but she and I have a close relationship. I don't want to disappoint her..."
"What do you mean? Haven't I already arranged marriages for you?"
Prince Guo continued, "I don't want to let you down. I only want to marry her in this life and never take a concubine."
The emperor understood what Prince Guo meant, "Are you worried that the Meng family girl will also marry you after hearing about this?"
He could see Prince Guo's feelings for Huanbi, but it was just a matter of marrying a relative, so sincerity was the least important thing. If the Duke of Pei asked for a marriage for his daughter, the emperor would agree out of appeasement of his old ministers.
"I am just an idle prince. Miss Meng's father is a duke. The Meng family is of high status. The Duke of Pei is very prestigious in the court. He probably looks down on me."
Prince Guo deliberately emphasized his status as a prince and stressed that the Duke of Pei, who was born into a military family, was extremely prestigious. He intended to cut off the possibility of marriage between the Meng family and himself through the emperor.
"I came here today to talk about this because I am afraid that the Meng family will complain about me rejecting Miss Meng and marrying a little maid. I ask you to appease them in advance so that your relationship with the Meng family will not be affected because of me."
Everything is done for royal considerations and is reasonable.
It is a good thing for the prince who interfered in state affairs in his previous life to take the initiative to draw a clear line between himself and the Duke's Mansion.
The emperor was quite pleased and raised his hand to let him stand up. "I allow you to do so."
"Thank you, my brother."
"I am curious, how did you and Huanbi know each other?"
Prince Guo lowered his head and smiled slightly, looking a little embarrassed.
In order to allay the emperor's suspicion, he started the story from their first meeting in the Old Summer Palace to their meeting at the Tonghua Terrace after returning to the palace, and also of several other chance encounters in between.
The emperor paid attention to Prince Guo's expression. Whenever he talked about Huanbi, the tenderness in his eyes was not fake.
Things in the world are generally like this. One move can affect the whole body. At that time, she was not so fond of nobles, so she naturally did not dare to leave the table easily. This gave her maid the opportunity to run into the prince and form a good relationship with him.
The next day, the emperor summoned the Duke of Pei to the palace to play chess and drink tea, and mentioned the matter of arranging a marriage for his daughter.
Mr. Meng had not yet heard about Prince Guo and Huanbi's affairs. He just felt sorry for his daughter and said that she had not yet refused to get married. He wanted the emperor to help his daughter find a matchmaker and continue this good relationship.
The emperor did not say it explicitly, but he hinted that it was inappropriate for the prince to marry into the Duke's Mansion.
The Duke of Pei was not a fool. The emperor came to power by stepping on the blood of his brothers. He knew very well how deep his hatred for his brothers was.
A few days later, the news that Huanbi's mother was included in the Wuya clan's family tree spread, and Meng Jingxian also learned that Prince Guo was going to marry the second daughter of the Zhen family.
She made a fuss at home, hoping that her father would submit a memorial to the emperor, using the Meng family's achievements to ask for a favor for herself, even if it was just the position of a concubine.
If he had not met the emperor before, Mr. Meng would have agreed, but the emperor's attitude had been made clear in advance. He loved his daughter and cared more about the interests of the family.
The marriage between Meng Jingxian and Prince Guo in this life has come to an end.
The emperor granted marriage and married her in a formal ceremony, so the three books and six ceremonies were indispensable.
When the Ministry of Rites asked about her name, Huanbi could no longer be called Huanbi.
In her previous life, she was the adopted sister of Concubine Xi and the adopted daughter of Zhen Yuandao. She followed the character "玉" instead of "女" and chose the name "Yuyin". This time, her mother was included in the genealogy of the Wuya clan and her status was improved. She could also follow the character "玉" instead of "女" like other daughters of the Zhen family.
The matter of naming should be left to the Ministry of Rites.
However, Prince Guo intervened and personally proposed a name for the future Prince Guo Fu Jin: Jing, which means both good character and appearance as well as talent.
Huanbi changed her name to Yujing and left the palace to live in Zhen Mansion.
After all, the child was not her own. The empress dowager had already suffered a great loss at the New Year's Eve palace banquet, allowing a woman of unknown origin to enter her mother's family tree. When she learned about this, she was too lazy to say anything more.
However, I heard that Miss Meng was so heartbroken over this little thing that she even fell seriously ill.
The Empress Dowager then asked the Empress to invite all the ladies in the palace and outside the palace to listen to opera in Changyin Pavilion after the Lantern Festival.
Since the year after that, the Empress seemingly undermined the power of the Imperial Noble Consort, and made all decisions in the harem herself, with Consort Jing assisting her and Consort Hui providing assistance. In fact, she did not want Nian Shilan to worry about these trivial matters.
So that she can focus on taking care of the baby.
Seeing that she was going to give birth next month and the Queen Mother obviously disliked her, Nian Shilan was too lazy to go out.
An Lingrong was of low status, had a humble family background, and her father had passed away. The Empress Dowager didn't care whether she went or not, so she didn't go to Changyin Pavilion, but came to Yikun Palace to talk to the Empress.
"I heard that in addition to the concubines in the harem and the concubines of the princes, several young ladies who have not yet left the palace have also been invited."
【Hmph, Sima Zhao's intention. 】
Nian Shilan laughed and said, "The Queen Mother is going to choose a sister for you."
An Lingrong was peeling an orange for the Empress, with an uncontrollable smile on her face: The Empress is really humorous.
[In my previous life, the first newcomer to the palace was after the Nian family fell from power. The Queen arranged for it, and Gua Liu, who missed the selection due to illness, entered the palace as the daughter of a meritorious official who quelled the rebellion of Prince Dun. But this time, it was the Queen Mother who stepped in. ]
It turns out that Gualiu is not a groom, but a concubine?
[I wonder if that little bastard Gua Liu is among them this time? ]
[The girl in my previous life dared to sit on the sedan chair and insult me. This time I will let her know how powerful I am! ]
When An Lingrong heard that this man had no respect for the inferior and had the audacity to humiliate the empress, she lost all her good impression of him.
Gualiu...such a familiar name.
She remembered that the queen once said that it was this bastard who poisoned her in her previous life!
Okay, let’s take revenge on both counts. Gualiu, you shouldn’t have come to the palace.