Chapter 26 The Prince Returns
Nanny Ji led the Empress Dowager into the house.
The Empress Dowager did not continue the conversation, but looked at the furnishings in the house with disgust. A broken chair and an old table were placed in front of the window, and a simple bed was placed in the corner of the wall. There was not even a curtain. There were dense spider webs everywhere on the roof, and the house was filled with a moldy smell.
"You, if you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place!" The Empress Dowager looked at her niece with a complicated expression.
"I only know that your brother is greedy for sex and wine, and is a playboy. Who would have thought that you two siblings would be so foolish!" "If you
like beautiful women, the Jiang family has plenty of money, so you can just buy beautiful concubines. He actually dared to lay hands on palace maids! He really doesn't know what's good for him." The Empress Dowager gnashed her teeth in hatred.
"And you, you are so stupid. Not only did you not restrain him, but you also condoned and even helped him deal with it."
Jiang Qiqiu knew that she was wrong in this matter of her brother, and there was nothing to defend herself. She only sobbed and said, "Qiqiu knows she was wrong, she knows she was wrong..."
The Queen Mother sighed for a long time, "Also, why didn't you discuss with me in advance about arranging Lanxiang to frame the second prince?!"
"Niece, it's all for the Jiang family!" Jiang Qiqiu cried.
"The plans to harm the queen and the prince failed one after another, and I was anxious. I thought about whether I could get rid of the second prince first to make the queen and the prince in chaos."
"I originally thought that the second prince was reckless and careless, and it was easiest to fall into the trap. Who would have thought that Lanxiang failed twice." Jiang Qiqiu's tone was full of regret.
"Aunt, I can't understand why our plans have failed time and time again. It wasn't like this before."
The Queen Mother fell into deep thought after hearing this: Yes, why does it seem that everything has changed? Even Xia Zhengqi, who has been obedient to her for decades, is unwilling to be controlled by her.
There must be some reason behind this, and I have to investigate
it in detail. "Aunt, please rescue me first, and I will help you investigate the reasons."
"If you rescue me, I promise not to act on my own again and I promise to be obedient. This is really not a place for people to live!" Jiang Qiqiu reached out and grabbed the Queen Mother's sleeve, begging earnestly.
The Queen Mother frowned, pulled back her sleeves, and said in annoyance: "It's easy for you to say it with just your lips, but you have been charged with so many crimes, all of which are firmly established. How can it be so easy to get the Emperor to release you from the cold palace?"
"For now, you should stay here. No matter how reluctant you are, you must act like a pious person, recite scriptures and pray for the Emperor every day, and confess your crimes."
"When the time comes, I will arrange for someone to spread this news throughout the palace."
"Wait until your father and brother return to Beijing. When they have made great contributions to disaster relief and are rewarded by the Emperor, let them speak up to plead for you."
"When the time comes, the emperor won't be able to offend your father and brother."
Jiang Qiqiu showed a happy expression and kowtowed repeatedly: "My niece thanks my aunt for her kindness!"
Just after the hour of Yin, Xia Zhengqi and the empress were sleeping soundly in the inner room of Kunning Palace. Suddenly, a few "dong dong dong" sounds of knocking on the window frame came in.
Xia Zhengqi and the empress woke up almost at the same time.
"Your Majesty, the prince and his family are back. They just arrived." It was the low voice of Eunuch Debao outside the window. "
Immediately arrange to go to the Qianqing Palace, I will go right away."
Xia Zhengqi lost all sleepiness in an instant.
After waiting for many days with a heavy heart, he finally got the news that the prince had returned safely.
The empress got up tacitly, helped Xia Zhengqi put on his clothes, and asked the nanny to clean up Xia Miaoyuan.
"Let your daughter help you." The queen whispered to Xia Zhengqi.
Xia Zhengqi smiled knowingly and picked up Xia Miaoyuan.
In the inner room of Qianqing Palace, the prince was exhausted, his face was dark and thin, he sat in an armchair drinking tea, his eyes solemn.
"Chengwan, you are finally back!" Xia Zhengqi handed his daughter to Eunuch Debao, stretched out his hands to hold the prince's shoulders, and looked at him from head to toe several times.
After two months, Xia Zhengqi was worried about the safety of the prince day and night. Now that he finally saw his son back, he couldn't help but redden his eyes, and tried not to shed tears.
At this time, Xia Miaoyuan, who was dazed in the cradle, was suddenly awakened by Xia Zhengqi's voice. Hearing the two words "Chengwan", he shuddered.
[Prince pot! Is it the prince Guoguo who has returned? 】
She opened her eyes wide and turned her round little head to check.
【Wow! It's really the prince Guoguo! Great, Guoguo is back, he's back safely! 】
"Chengwan, are you injured?" Xia Zhengqi asked with restrained emotions.
"No, look, father, I'm fine." The prince turned around and showed Xia Zhengqi.
The prince heard his sister's cheers, and hurriedly hugged her and kissed her chubby little face.
"I'm glad you're okay, I'm glad you're okay. Come on, Chengwan, tell your father in detail about the situation in Jiangxia Province." Xia Zhengqi urged.
"This time when I went to Jiangxia Province, I first sent people to follow the grain transport team. I found that they did not transport the relief grain to the disaster area."
"They sold the good rice allocated by the court to rice merchants, and then bought cheap rice bran and moldy old rice from the rice merchants, transported them to the disaster area, fed them to the victims, and made a profit from the difference." The prince said in a difficult tone.
"What? They actually fed the victims rice bran and moldy rice!" Xia Zhengqi clenched his fists.
"However, even with this rice bran and moldy rice, not everyone in Jiangxia can eat it." The prince paused.
"Grand Tutor Jiang and the deputy envoy took advantage of the price difference of rice and grain, and local officials also took advantage of it, so the rice and grain that actually reached the victims
was very little." "The same is true for the 500,000 taels of silver for disaster relief, which were taken advantage of by officials at all levels. According to my rough estimate, if 100,000 taels of silver were used for reconstruction in the disaster area, it would be very good." The prince sighed.
[Alas, Grand Tutor Jiang is extremely greedy. I remember it was written in the book that if the court allocated money passed through his hands, he would embezzle most of it.]
Xia Miaoyuan blinked his big eyes and recalled.
[Even if the money did not pass through his hands, he would ask for bribes from the officials who handled it. If someone refused to honor him, he would use his power as the Minister of Personnel to retaliate against them. 】
【In the past few decades, he had embezzled enough money to rival a country. The manor he built in other places was as luxurious as the imperial palace. 】
Xia Zhengqi and the prince were both shocked.
In the past, they knew that Master Jiang had gained a lot of benefits by taking advantage of his status as the emperor's uncle, and that he acted quite flamboyantly.
They never imagined that Master Jiang's corruption had reached such an extent.
"Father, call Liu Tiefeng and let him tell you in detail about the disaster victims." The prince hurriedly concealed his inner emotions.
"Okay." Xia Zhengqi responded in a deep voice.
Liu Tiefeng is a 40-year-old middle-aged man with dark skin and a strong body. He looks more like a military general. Days of rushing on the road have made him exude a fishy smell.
"Your Majesty, I, Liu Tiefeng, the county magistrate of Kuqiao County, pay my respects to the emperor!" Liu Tiefeng's voice was cheerful.
"Please stand up quickly." Xia Zhengqi's eyes were red.
"Tell me what you know quickly."