Chapter 3 The Villain Comes to Give Gifts

The Queen: My daughter is so accurate.

"Come, let the Empress hold her, this is the first little princess of our Xia family in this generation!" The Queen Mother took Xia Miaoyuan from Xia Zhengqi, with a smile on her face.

[Ah... Old woman, don't touch me! Don't hold me! Stay away from me!] Xia Miaoyuan

kicked her two chubby legs hard, waved her two little hands randomly, and suddenly burst into tears, crystal tears popping out one by one. [I don't want bad people to hold me

! Waa ... "Yes, yes, in more than ten years, there is only one little princess!" Concubine Jiang agreed, lowering her head and rolling her eyes in disgust. "Qi Qiu, quickly ask someone to bring in the gift." The Queen Mother ordered while coaxing Xia Miaoyuan with a little embarrassment. When Xia Miaoyuan heard the word "gift", her crying stopped abruptly, and her little face twisted desperately to look outside, with a few tears still hanging on her face. [Quickly present the gift to this princess! You all have to give me more gifts, roo roo roo! ] "Ahem..." The Queen laughed wildly in her heart when she saw this, and hurriedly took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth, pretending to clear her throat. Concubine Jiang made a gesture, and several eunuchs carrying gifts immediately stepped forward. A young eunuch announced loudly: The Empress Dowager sent six pieces of brocade satin, six pieces of gold jewelry, a pair of jade bracelets, and a pair of sandalwood bracelets. Concubine Jiang sent two pieces of brocade satin, a pair of gold bracelets, a pair of gold hairpins, and a pair of golden unicorns. [Tsk, the gifts are so perfunctory. That's right, you didn't prepare gifts in advance, and you didn't even want me and my mother to be alive. Hahaha, yesterday's plan failed, you must be very frustrated, right?] Xia Zhengqi frowned slightly: Plan failed? What plan? The plan of the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang? "Thank you, Empress Dowager, and thank you, Sister Jiang." The Queen suppressed her smile. The Queen Mother teased Xia Miaoyuan while deliberately showing concern: "Queen, I heard that your carriage suddenly started running wildly yesterday? It was really scary!" "Yes, it really scared me. I don't know why, the horse suddenly got scared." The Queen touched her chest with a handkerchief, with fear on her face. "Did you encounter anything unusual on the road?" The Queen Mother asked. "Now that I think about it, everything was normal on the road, and there was nothing unusual." The Queen lowered her eyes. Concubine Jiang pretended to be puzzled: "They are all famous horses trained by the horse trainers in the palace. How could they suddenly get scared?" "No matter how tamed a horse is, it is still an animal. How can it be guaranteed that it will never make mistakes?" The Queen looked indifferent. [Mother is so smart. Before you are sure of defeating the villain, it is wise to play dumb. 】 【Humph, you two witches, don't you know why Ma was frightened and ran away? You two acted very well, it would be a pity if you didn't become actors. It was you, Concubine Jiang, who came up with the idea of ​​drugging Ma. The drug was found by your father, Grand Tutor Jiang. 】 【You Jiang family, you have tried to kill my mother several times so that Jiang Qiqiu can be the queen and the fifth prince can be the crown prince. You are so vicious. Xia Zhengqi's heart shuddered , his legs went limp, but he managed to hold back his anger, laughing and saying, "Okay, okay, the Queen has just been frightened, let's not talk about that in advance, the more we talk, the more scared she will be, and it's not good for her health." "Okay, okay, let's not talk about that for now. The Queen and the Princess are more important than anything else." The Queen Mother forced a kind smile. " Queen, take good care of yourself. I and Qi Qiu will take care of the affairs of the harem, you don't have to worry about it. We won't disturb you to rest." The Queen Mother said, handed the child to the wet nurse, and gave a wink to Concubine Jiang Gui. Concubine Jiang Gui also bowed and said goodbye. The aunt and nephew left together. Finally, they dealt with the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang. Now that they finally left, Xia Zhengqi and the Queen breathed a sigh of relief. Xia Zhengqi turned to look at Xia Miaoyuan, wanting to hear more about the secrets of the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang, but she had fallen asleep. Forget it, even if it is a baby that is different from others, it is still a newborn baby after all, and it is always sleepy. He sat down next to the Queen, put his arm around her shoulders, and said softly: "Ruoyu, just take good care of yourself and let the wet nurse take good care of our Miaoer. I will find out what happened yesterday, don't worry." The Queen's eyes lit up, and she looked at Xia Zhengqi affectionately. She and Xia Zhengqi were a young couple who spent a period of youth together and had a true relationship. But in recent years, due to the instigation of the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang, Xia Zhengqi had a misunderstanding with her and had a rift with her. As time went by, their feelings became distant. It has been a long time since the Emperor has been so gentle and affectionate to her. Thinking of this, the Empress couldn't help but have tears in her eyes and nodded to Xia Zhengqi. In the study, Cheng Feng and Ying Chen stood respectfully in front of the Emperor's desk. They were Xia Zhengqi's most trusted confidants and also extraordinary secret guards. They had been following Xia Zhengqi since he was 12 years old and still the third prince. Xia Zhengqi said solemnly: "Cheng Feng, Ying Chen, pick some smart ones from the secret guards to follow Master Jiang. I want to know his every move. Also, pay attention to his connection with the Empress Dowager and Consort Jiang." Cheng Feng and Ying Chen took the order and left. Xia Zhengqi called Debao in from the door: "Debao, pick a few loyal and smart eunuchs and maids, and from today on, monitor the Empress Dowager and Consort Jiang without anyone noticing. Report anything you find out immediately." Debao looked puzzled and was about to ask, but when he saw the emperor's gloomy face, he quickly swallowed his words, replied "yes" respectfully, and left. After Xia Zhengqi gave these instructions, he was a little dazed for a moment. He knew that the Empress Dowager disliked her legitimate wife Xiao Ruoyu and disliked her because she was a foreign woman. So, when the Empress Dowager stuffed her niece into the palace, he obediently accepted it. Over the years, disputes occurred from time to time between the Empress Dowager and the Empress, but he did not think much about it, just thinking it was a conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, just like in ordinary families. Every time he tried to smooth things over and appease both sides. He thought it was a muddle and let it go. He never expected that the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang Guifei would actually want to kill Ruoyu and even want to seize the legitimate wife.

If the daughter's prediction was accurate, the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang set up a plot to murder the Empress, and then Concubine Jiang ascended to the throne and the fifth prince became the crown prince.

Then five years later, who would be the one who killed him, the crown prince, and the second prince? Could it be the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang as well?

The emperor's forehead was covered with cold sweat. It was too scary. He didn't dare to think about it anymore.