"Since He Qing entered the palace, she has served me very well. Now that she has passed away, I feel terrible."
Inside the palace, He Yi's stepmother, Madam He, was summoned by the Empress Dowager. The He family were now just commoners, so the Empress Dowager's summons must mean there was something to discuss.
“Ah Qing is always like this at home; she knows how to behave and how to conduct herself.”
Mrs. He wiped her eyes with a handkerchief; she was truly crying. How could she not cry when her own daughter had died?
It's one thing to die, but to be disemboweled in front of so many people in the harem—how cruel!
"I have also heard about the matter between the He family and the birth mother of the Prince of Zhenbei. It has to be said that a concubine's daughter is a concubine's daughter. She can never be respectable. Even though her status has been raised now, she is still lacking and has no manners at all."
The Empress Dowager first laid the groundwork by telling Madam He that she was going to deal with He Yi, but as the Empress Dowager, she couldn't do it herself, and that Madam He would probably have to help.
Madam He didn't respond. The Empress Dowager could criticize He Yi, but she couldn't, mainly because the Prince of Zhenbei's slaps hurt a lot.
"I can currently command a small contingent of the Imperial Guards, which were given to me by the Emperor when he ascended the throne."
"Madam He, do you wish to avenge your daughter?"
Regardless of how He Qing died, the Empress Dowager knew that Madam He, a woman with a narrow mind who only cared about matters in the inner quarters, would definitely pin the blame for her own daughter's death on the Prince of Zhenbei.
"I will obey Your Majesty's orders."
The woman knelt before the Empress Dowager and gave the old woman a deep bow.
The Empress Dowager raised her arm, gesturing for the palace maid to help her up, and then spoke.
"It is an old story. The former crown prince left behind a son, who is the Marquis of the Southwest. I'm sure everyone in the capital knows this."
“Recently, the Marquis of the Southwest has not been very peaceful; he is probably still eyeing his father’s throne.”
"His Majesty cannot act against a mere orphan, so I had to come."
"I've heard that the He family has a family heirloom worth a thousand gold pieces, enough to buy a city. I wonder why it disappeared after He Yi left. As the legal mother, Madam He should investigate this matter thoroughly."
The Empress Dowager's idea was that a direct investigation of Lan Tingche was impossible, but as long as they found a pretext to enter the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, what they found and how they found it was not important.
The person can be brought back to the palace directly.
Lady He was rather slow-witted and didn't quite understand the Empress Dowager's meaning. She frowned and spoke cautiously.
"Your Majesty, the He family has no family heirloom..."
The Empress Dowager's smile froze on her face. She took a deep breath and slowly said...
"If I say it's there, then it is. It's just that I'll have to trouble Madam He and Master He to make the trip."
"I will obey Your Majesty's decree."
The people of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion did not expect that the Empress Dowager would target He Yi, after all, the two had nothing in common.
These past few days, He Yi's stepmother and biological father came to scout the area, but they hesitated to make a scene outside the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion. It was only after the Empress Dowager sent over a portion of the Imperial Guards that she could mobilize.
“He Yi, the birth mother of the Prince of Zhenbei, eloped with a guard in her family when she was sixteen years old. She took the family heirloom with her when she left. Now that the He family is in dire straits, my wife and I have swallowed our shame and come here to ask for it back.”
He Yi's own father has no shame. What does he care about face at this point? He can still enjoy his old age if he can do his job as the Empress Dowager well.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to survive as an ordinary citizen for the rest of his life, nor would he be content with that.
"Who is it? Making a scene at the gate of our Prince's Mansion? Let me see which shameless gossip is this. Do you believe I'll tear you apart with my bare hands?"
The old night watchman of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion came out, with his hands on his hips and his fingers raised in a delicate, alluring manner.
The key point is that the fighting power of that mouth is unmatched by ordinary people.
We all come from the palace, and when it comes to verbal sparring, apart from the eunuchs of the Imperial Censorate and the Imperial Household Department, who can outwit these eunuchs in the inner palace?
The surrounding crowd bustled around watching the spectacle, and what they were saying was...
"Did the Prince of Zhenbei's parents elope?"
"These two people say so, but I think I heard that the Prince of Zhenbei beat Madam He before. It's rumored in the capital that this stepmother was not good to the Prince of Zhenbei's biological mother. She always bullied her when she was a child and even wanted to kill her."
"They're about to kill your illegitimate daughter, why aren't you running away?"
"Then why not make the woman a concubine? There are so many people here, one spit from each of them could drown someone."
Few people said anything bad about He Yi, but this spectacle was too good to pass up.
Madam He stepped forward and said to the old eunuch at the door.
"She eloped and became a concubine. Marrying without the consent of her parents is extremely despicable. So what if she is the birth mother of the Prince of Zhenbei? Now our He family no longer pursues her eloping. We only ask that the He family heirloom be returned to my old age so that we can live out our old age in peace."
Besides Steward Wang, there was also Cen Ang's godfather, and all the other eunuchs ran out.
Let's see what these two shameless people have to say.
"You still want to take her as a concubine? Everyone, go ask around on the street where the He family lives. When our Madam He was sixteen, how many people knew that the He family had this illegitimate daughter?"
"That's right. Back then, everyone said, 'Oh, the He family's daughter is beautiful.' But when Miss He was taken out, she was just average-looking. It's obvious who they were referring to when they said she was beautiful."
"As for the family heirloom, our master is now the Prince of Zhenbei. The Prince of Zhenbei's family is vast and powerful. Do you think they need your little thing? You keep calling me lowly. Do you believe that if you say one more word, a few of us will scratch you?"
“They’re just a bunch of eunuchs. Please let Madam He come out and speak.”
He Yi's biological father still had some sense at this point. He knew that arguing with them was useless. If they continued to argue, Huo Xiaolong would return from court. Once the Prince of Zhenbei arrived home, not only would the Imperial Guards be no match for them, but even all the troops in the capital under the Empress Dowager's control would be defeated.
"What to say? What is there to say?"
He Yi was surrounded by the girls from the brothel when she came out. Chun Ying was playing with the children in her mother-in-law's room, while the noise outside was annoying.
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