Chapter 034
The gifts sent by the generals were all very substantial. Shen Jin selected some interesting ones and handed the rest to Chu Xiuming. She had everything she needed in the palace, so she asked Nanny Zhao to pack up a lot of unused things and send them to Chu Xiuming. She didn't even keep the silver at the bottom of the box. Anyway, the palace would distribute allowances every month, which were enough for Shen Jinhua to use.
This action made Chu Xiuming feel warm in his heart and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He just told people to put it away. He felt that the young lady really underestimated him.
However, Chu Xiuming did not explain anything. He just loved his little girl very much at night, and only coaxed her into falling asleep after making her cry.
Compared with the love and affection in the border town, the capital was not so peaceful. Emperor Cheng looked at the secret report in his hand, threw it to the ground, smashed everything on the table, and said, "What are they going to do! Are they going to rebel? Do they still have me as the emperor in their eyes?"
Eunuch Li even slowed down his breathing. "No." Emperor Cheng stood up and walked around in the study. "We can't let the Chu family take charge of the military power anymore. Those bastards only recognize the Chu family and don't take me seriously at all. We must find a way to let the Earl of Yongning return to the capital."
The Earl of Yongning who returned to the capital was like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, but even Eunuch Li knew that Chu Xiuming would not easily set foot in the capital, just like that time. It was difficult to find an excuse that Chu Xiuming could not refuse to get him to come back, but who knew that halfway through, Chu Xiuming would fight back against Emperor Cheng, the barbarians were invading. Even if Emperor Cheng insisted on letting Chu Xiuming return to the capital, I am afraid that the ministers would oppose it to the end.
"Hasn't the Chu family always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic? How come it has become like this when it comes to me?" Emperor Cheng gritted his teeth and said angrily, "They are born to be rebellious. This is simply treasonous..."
Eunuch Li lowered his head and said nothing. Suddenly, Emperor Cheng stopped and his expression changed again and again. "Li Fu, do you think Chu Xiuming still remembers..."
Eunuch Li didn't dare to reply, and Emperor Cheng didn't continue talking, but his expression became even uglier, "At the beginning, we made sure that there was no..."
"Yes." Eunuch Li said, "There are seventy-three people in total, including..."
Emperor Cheng nodded when he heard this and simply said, "Check again, and clean up all the relatives and friends of those servants for me again."
Eunuch Li had no choice but to agree. Since Emperor Cheng registered, he had been purged several times. Not only relatives and friends, but even neighbors and villagers had been purged. However, Li Fu knew that Emperor Cheng was suspicious and conceited, and he could not say anything against it.
"Chu Xiuming must come back." But Emperor Cheng was still worried and said through gritted teeth, "He must come back. Li Fu, have you come up with any ideas?"
Li Fu lowered his head and said, "I am stupid."
"I don't blame you." Emperor Cheng sighed and said, "Chu Xiuming is too ignorant. Summon Prime Minister Chen."
Li Fu knew that if he helped Emperor Cheng to come up with ideas now, he would certainly be praised, but regardless of whether it succeeded or not, it would leave a bad impression on Emperor Cheng afterwards.
If he succeeds, it means he has ulterior motives; if he fails, it means he is incompetent. The reason why Li Fu has been able to stay with Emperor Cheng for so long is not only because of their past friendship, but more importantly, he knows when to be smart and when not to be smart, so that Emperor Cheng can rest assured.
Prime Minister Chen is the father of the Empress of Emperor Cheng, and the greatest contributor to Emperor Cheng's ascension to the throne. He has some respectability in the palace and came over quickly.
Emperor Cheng waited for Prime Minister Chen to pay his respects before calling him to stand up and asking directly, "Prime Minister, do you have a way to force Chu Xiuming to return to the capital?"
Prime Minister Chen frowned, thought for a moment and said, "I remember that Prince Rui's birthday is about to come." He knew in his heart that Emperor Cheng was taboo about the Chu family, or rather, he was taboo about the Chu family's prestige in the army. Since he ascended the throne, in order to weaken the Chu family, he suppressed the power of military officers. The status of military officers in the court was increasingly inferior to that of civil officials, and the contradiction between the two continued to deepen.
"Will it be useful?" On Emperor Cheng's birthday, he issued an order for Chu Xiuming to come back, but Chu Xiuming did not come back, and Prince Rui was just a prince with no real power.
Prime Minister Chen said, "Mrs. Yongning is the daughter of King Rui, so she should come back to celebrate her father's birthday."
"What I want is the return of the Earl of Yongning." Emperor Cheng did not think that Chu Xiuming would return to the capital for a woman.
Prime Minister Chen lowered his eyes slightly and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the wife of the Yongning Earl defended the border city for the Yongning Earl, so the relationship between the two is naturally different. This is just a test. If it doesn't work, you can spread the news that the Yongning Earl is not filial and is often neglectful to his father-in-law and his wife. The wife of the Yongning Earl is very righteous. Your Majesty should reward her stepmother and biological mother."
Emperor Cheng immediately understood what Prime Minister Chen meant. His eyes lit up and he smiled, "That's right. Issue an order to summon Princess Rui and..."
Eunuch Li whispered, "The wife of the Earl of Yongning was born to Chen, the concubine of the Prince of Rui."
"Princess Xuanrui and Concubine Chen come into the palace, and tell my queen to treat them well. They can live in the palace until the wife of the Earl of Yongning returns to the capital." Emperor Cheng said in a deep voice.
Prime Minister Chen and Li Fu both knew that this was unreasonable, and the Queen was also Prime Minister Chen's daughter, so naturally she didn't want to embarrass her daughter, so she just said, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better to let Princess Rui and Concubine Chen serve the Queen Mother."
These two people are the empress dowager's daughters-in-law, so it is legitimate for them to be by her side.
Emperor Cheng's eyes flickered before he smiled and said, "The Prime Minister is indeed very thoughtful. Just go to the Queen Mother's place and have them enter the palace tomorrow. Li Fu, you will go to the Prince Rui's Palace in person to issue the decree later."
"Yes." Li Fu's attitude became even more respectful. After all, he was treating Princess Rui and Concubine Chen as hostages. If Earl Yongning really didn't let his wife come back, and something happened to Princess Rui and Concubine Chen, Earl Yongning's wife would naturally hold a grudge against Earl Yongning. If there was unrest at home, it would also affect Earl Yongning, after all, Earl Yongning had to go to the battlefield frequently.
As for the current Lady of the Yongning Marquis, I am afraid that the Yongning Marquis would not dare to let her die suddenly, because the credit for defending the border town should also be attributed to her.
Emperor Cheng looked at Prime Minister Chen and said with a smile, "My niece, although you can't tell anything special about her on weekdays, is actually quite a character."
Prime Minister Chen understood the meaning of Emperor Cheng's words, which was to let him spread rumors praising Shen Jin secretly, but at the same time attribute the credit to Emperor Cheng himself, "The wife of the Earl of Yongning is indeed of royal blood, and was personally conferred the title of Princess by His Majesty."
Sure enough, Emperor Cheng nodded with satisfaction, and directly asked Prime Minister Chen to write the imperial edict. He also sent someone to find the empress dowager and asked her to issue an imperial decree, requiring Princess Xuanrui and Concubine Chen to serve the emperor in the palace.
Li Fu did not dare to delay at all and immediately took the imperial edict to Prince Rui's palace. After hearing the imperial edict, Prince Rui was full of doubts, but he still accepted the edict respectfully. When did Emperor Cheng actually care about his birthday and say that the palace would hold a grand celebration for him? It was not a birthday celebration. Even when he celebrated his birthday two years ago, Emperor Cheng only gave him some things as rewards.
Immediately after hearing the Empress Dowager's decree, Emperor Cheng stopped thinking about the birthday celebration and asked, "Is the Queen Mother okay?"
"In reply to Your Highness, the Queen Mother is fine, she's just a little depressed, so I specially ordered the two ladies to come into the palace." Li Fu said with a smile on his face.
Prince Rui responded and secretly stuffed his purse into Eunuch Li's pocket. Princess Rui was gentle and said with some worry on her face, "Why don't we pack up and go to the palace now, mother..."
Li Fu looked at Princess Rui's attitude, squeezed the purse in his hand again, and then said, "Princess, don't worry. The palace will send a car to pick you up tomorrow."
Prince Rui nodded and said, "Princess, you and Chen should hurry back to pack your things. I will also go to the palace to pay my respects to my mother early tomorrow morning."
"Yes." When Princess Rui saw Prince Rui speak, she didn't say anything else.
Concubine Xu was filled with resentment. Why did the Queen Mother specifically choose Princess Rui and Chen? Who was Chen? She twisted the handkerchief with her fingers, gritted her teeth and said nothing.
After seeing Li Fu off, Prince Rui followed Princess Rui to the main courtyard. Concubine Xu and Concubine Chen followed naturally. Concubine Chen was very nervous because she never said a word to the Empress Dowager when she paid her respects every New Year. Why did she be chosen specifically this time?
When they arrived at the main courtyard, Concubine Xu couldn't help but speak, "Your Highness, why don't you let the fourth and fifth girls follow the princess to serve the Queen Mother? They have no other skills except sweet talk. Sister Chen doesn't like to talk on weekdays, so it will be better to have the fourth and fifth girls here."
Concubine Chen lowered her head and said nothing. Princess Rui glanced at Concubine Xu with a half-smile, what a fool! She thought it was a good thing and insisted on going forward. Chen might not want to go, so Princess Rui had no intention of paying any attention to Concubine Xu.
Prince Rui was not a fool. He knew in his heart that something was going to happen. After hearing what Concubine Xu said, he was furious and said, "Go back to Haitang Courtyard."
Concubine Xu was stunned for a moment, and dared not say anything more. She lowered her head and bowed and left. However, as soon as she left the main courtyard, her eyes turned red, and she felt jealous and hateful in her heart.
Prince Rui looked at Concubine Chen, then looked at Princess Rui and said, "You guys... I'll find a way to bring you back in two days."
Princess Rui pursed her lips and smiled. Although Prince Rui had a lot of problems, it was precious for him to say this. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Chen and I will take good care of our mother in the palace."
"I will accompany you to the palace tomorrow, and I will talk to mother to take care of you more." Prince Rui moved his lips. He actually guessed that it was probably Emperor Cheng's idea, otherwise the mother who always ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures would never issue such an imperial decree. "It won't be too hard. Mother has people to serve her, and she usually stays in the small Buddhist temple."
Princess Rui responded softly. Prince Rui said a few more words and then left. Princess Rui looked at Concubine Chen and said, "You don't have to think too much. Go back and pack some common things, then go to the palace and stay with me. Choose more plain clothes."
Concubine Chen agreed, and left when she saw that Princess Rui had no other instructions.
Princess Rui lowered her eyes slightly and told Cui Xi to pack up her things. Then she leaned back on the beauty couch and sneered in her heart. These were really some tricks left over from some women.
After the imperial edict arrived at the border town, Shen Jin was anxious and angry. She returned to her room and couldn't help complaining, "What's going on? Why was my mother taken to the palace? What if someone in the palace bullies my mother?"
Chu Xiuming's face was calm, and he said, "When you return to Beijing, your mother and mother will naturally be able to return to the Rui Palace."
Shen Jin's eyes widened and his mouth moved. Chu Xiuming heard it clearly. What Shen Jin was talking about was how the tricks were the same as those used by Concubine Xu.
Chu Xiuming laughed after hearing this. In Shen Jin's mind, the most unreasonable and wicked person was Concubine Xu. Shen Jin actually despised Emperor Cheng's methods so much. He didn't know how Emperor Cheng would feel if he knew about it.
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