Chapter 140 Winter Banquet
In Gyeongbokgung Palace, Concubine Jia was furious because the Queen had given the Winter Banquet to Concubine Li Guifei.
Although her current position as a concubine is lower than that of Li Guifei, thanks to the Fifth Prince, Jia Fei feels that she has been stepping on Li Guifei's head for a long time, and sometimes even the Queen has to give her some ground.
She has a son who is capable of competing for the throne, what does Concubine Li have? The Prince Ning who usually only knows how to play with dogs and walk birds? Without His Majesty's favor, wouldn't the mother and son be nothing?
"The Queen is now busy ruling the country from behind the curtain. I should be the most honorable person in the harem. Everyone knows that His Majesty had already prepared to promote me before he fell ill?! She deliberately let Concubine Li hold the banquet, which is a slap in my face!" Concubine Jia was furious and swept all the expensive and exquisite blue and white porcelain cups on the table to the ground.
The palace maids kneeling on the ground picked up the fragments with their hands trembling with fear, and dared not say a word even though their fingers were bleeding.
The Fifth Prince sat aside, looking more stable and calm than Concubine Jia. "Don't be angry, mother. No matter how much the Queen acts, it can't change the fact that I can stand against the Crown Prince. She is using these little tricks now because she is anxious."
He was anxious but had no other choice but to stab Concubine Jia in this way, neither too lightly nor too severely.
As long as the emperor did not promote Concubine Jia to a higher position, she would always be inferior to Concubine Li. If the queen did this, no one would be able to find fault with it when people told others about it.
This is where her cleverness lies.
Concubine Jia let out a long breath, a flash of resentment in her eyes, and finally looked at her son: "Fortunately you have made me proud, and all these years I have waited for you have not been in vain..."
The Fifth Prince was neither outstanding nor mediocre in the first half of his life. He was just a little bit more "outstanding" than the deliberately low-key Second Prince, and he had a little more opportunities to show up in front of his father.
After all, the crown prince was designated as the crown prince when he was born and was trained with the best resources in the entire Great Zhou. With him as a role model, all the royal children who came after him seemed mediocre.
But this year, for some reason, the Fifth Prince felt as if he had suddenly gained power. Everything he did was going much more smoothly than before. He completed all the tasks assigned by his father excellently, and sometimes he could even find fault with the Crown Prince.
His luck is incredibly good, as if even God is helping him.
If the crown prince was a tall, unclimbable mountain in the hearts of the princes in the past, now the fifth prince has already seen the scenery at the top of the mountain, and he can easily reach it as long as he takes one more step forward.
How can this not make people excited?
In terms of power inside and outside the court, his maternal family, the Luo family, has also been a family of nobility for generations. If it weren't for the emperor's mercy, giving the Shangguan family the opportunity to rise rapidly, how could their Luo family be inferior to the Shangguan family?
Now that we have seized this once-in-a-century opportunity, we must give it our all. If we fail, we will die!
"Okay, mother, for such a small matter, you just need to make a fuss in your own palace. Don't go too far, lest the Queen and the Crown Prince catch us doing something wrong." The fifth prince warned lightly.
Concubine Jia, who had been crying and shouting just now, immediately stopped talking, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said in a flattering and cautious manner: "Mother knows, and will definitely not let you down."
After all these years, what does temporary tolerance mean? As long as her son can sit in that position, she will suddenly become the emperor's biological mother... At this critical moment, she can still keep her composure.
Just bear with it.
......
On the other side, in Minghua Palace, Concubine Li heard the head maid report the movement in Gyeongbokgung Palace. She lowered her head and touched Koudan's white fingertips and sneered, charming and cold: "Why didn't she get angry to death?"
In the past, when Concubine Jia saw her, she was like a mouse seeing a cat, and she wanted to avoid her as much as possible. But this year, she is really proud of herself, and she actually dares to compete with her for power?
The Fifth Prince has made some achievements, but he is still far behind the Crown Prince. He is praised so much and thinks he is so great. Does he dare to covet that position?
As she thought about it, Concubine Li thought of her useless son and rolled her eyes at the person beside her: "Why can't you be a little more ambitious and ask me to be a little more arrogant?"
In the past, she had fought for the emperor's favor through her own efforts. Now that the old emperor is ill, don't the women in the harem have to rely on their son?
Seeing the fierce fight between the Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince, Concubine Li felt extremely conflicted.
She was unwilling to let her son live in mediocrity, but also did not want to join the fight for the throne and take those risks... She only had this one son, and if she really lost the child in the fight like other concubines and noble ladies, she would definitely go crazy.
Feng Jiuzhao took a sip of tea and didn't respond to her words. He closed his eyes and rested calmly: "When the snipe and the clam quarrel, the fisherman benefits. Why are you so anxious, mother? As long as father has not passed away, nothing will be determined."
Concubine Li didn't understand what he was saying, so she shook her head helplessly and said, "I don't know what you discuss with your staff every day. You don't do anything, but you seem to be very busy."
"......" Feng Jiuzhao was speechless after being criticized by his own mother, so he made a joke: "Discuss what to eat today and what to play tomorrow. Life is so short, my son wants to leave in a safe way."
It is better to proceed cautiously. Although he is not involved in the game, everything on the field is now under his control.
Plan carefully and win the battle from afar.
"It's up to you. A simple one is fine. It will save me some trouble." Concubine Li glanced at him and said, "What do you want to see me for today?"
Prince Ning then said seriously, "The winter banquet will be held in two days. Can mother bring Zhaoyang with us?"
"You really care about her, but I see she is always rude to you." Concubine Li snorted, "You asked me to take her, so I took her. Anyway, she is a smart person, and she will not mess things up for me."
"My wife is very steady." Feng Jiuzhao quietly defended Shen Xihe: "She has never messed up anything."
"Is it possible to say that?" Concubine Li was amused by his protectiveness in her words and said sarcastically, "Of course I know your wife is powerful, but when will she be willing to give you a status? Only then will you know your way through."
He calls her "Madam" all the time, but the woman still refuses to marry him. He is really amazing.
Sometimes Concubine Li was really angry and curious. She wondered how this mysterious woman, who refused to even show her face, could control her son.
"......" Feng Jiuzhao was not angry even though his sore spot was touched. He just said: "I said I owed her. Later...she can take revenge in any way she wants. It's all my son's willingness. You are not allowed to embarrass her."
"I know, I know. Go away. You're annoying just by looking at you." Concubine Li waved her hand to chase him away, thinking out of sight, out of mind.
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