Chapter 210 The Queen Mother Still Likes This
Chen Ning walked around slowly to get the ice. As soon as she entered the Cining Palace, she saw a palace maid waving at her hurriedly from a distance. She symbolically quickened her pace. When she got closer, she saw the palace maid anxiously saying, "Why are you so slow, my lord? The Queen Mother has been waiting for you for a long time."
"I'm not familiar with the palace, so I'm walking slowly."
Of course, Shen Ning would not say that she was taking a walk... As a former office worker, she knew very well that the more she slacked off, the more she had to appear diligent and responsible, and her posture had to be in place first.
Brought into the palace by the palace servants, Shen Ning quickly confessed her crime, and then saw the Queen Mother dismiss the attendants and let her come forward.
"Has the Queen looked for you?" The Queen Mother was very direct and obviously had no intention of playing coy with a minor character.
Shen Ning blinked and nodded: "Replying to the Queen Mother, the Queen did look for this servant. I wanted to come and answer you, but the Queen said she had already sent someone to tell you."
Anyway, don't blame her.
Empress Dowager Zhou sneered and said, "I know you have hundreds of thousands of kilograms of top-grade raw silk. Just name your price. I don't mind the small amount of money... But if you want to help others make things difficult for me, then consider whether you have the strength to live."
In the past, how could the Queen Mother personally inquire about such a trivial matter? However, this time, it happened and the Queen caught her... Not wanting to be caught, the Queen Mother had to condescend to find Chen Ning in person.
Queen Mother Zhou had a cold expression on her face as she looked at Chen Ning indifferently, secretly wondering how she would reject the Queen Mother after receiving instructions from Queen Wei.
After all, she has the support of the Queen and Prince Ding, so it would not be surprising if the girl from the Shen family became arrogant.
But just when Queen Mother Zhou was ready to give this Shen girl a good beating, she saw Shen Ning smiling and saying, "Your Majesty, you are too kind... Some of the raw silks of this servant originally belonged to the weaving and dyeing bureau, so naturally they should be returned to their original owners."
Chen Ning said seriously, "I bought it for eight coins of silver, and now I will sell it back for eight coins of silver. What do you think, Queen Mother?"
The blows Empress Dowager Zhou had prepared were all blocked. She choked for a moment, then sneered: "What are you trying to do?"
Chen Ning was silent for a moment, then spoke sternly, "I dare not deceive the Queen Mother. I don't know how the people in the Prince's Mansion responded to the Queen Mother, but from the beginning to the end, they wanted to scheme against me... Before the maritime ban, they deliberately placed a large order to deceive me into purchasing tens of thousands of kilograms of raw silk. After the ban, they broke the contract and then wanted to buy back the raw silk that was left in my hands at a low price."
Shen Ning said slowly, "This trip back and forth will cost tens of thousands of taels of silver... Empress Dowager, these tens of thousands of taels of silver are almost the entire fortune of this minister and my mother."
The Queen Mother was slightly startled: "Is this true?"
Shen Ning nodded: "Not a single word of falsehood."
Then, she told the Queen Mother everything about how Shen Xiang and Old Madam Shen had plotted against her...
"The reason they are holding back and refusing to sell it back is because they harmed me first. It is absolutely not their intention to oppose you, Your Majesty. Please understand."
Shen Ning spoke clearly and logically, and the Queen Mother frowned as she listened: "Then Madam Shen is your grandmother, why would she deceive and frame you along with outsiders?"
Shen Ning smiled bitterly: "Not all grandmothers are as concerned about the younger generation as you, the Queen Mother... Besides, my grandmother didn't like my mother from the beginning."
At this point, Shen Ning told the Queen Mother about Shen Xiuhe's secret of raising a concubine without Xie Yunqing's knowledge, and deliberately giving the concubine's daughter to Xie Yunqing to raise for more than ten years, including Shen Chong's scheme to harm Shen Qingbai and Shen Nian's drugging that caused Shen Chengxi to have his leg trampled by a horse...
The more the Queen Mother listened, the uglier her expression became. Finally, she slammed her hand on the table and said, "What a shameful thing!"
Empress Dowager Zhou was high and mighty, and it was impossible for her to scheme against others for petty gains. Only then did she realize that the cause of this disaster was that the Prince's Mansion had done something evil and tried to defraud others of their money, but ended up losing more than it gained, and she was put in a passive position.
And it brought shame to her!
Chen Ning said respectfully, "Every word I have said is true. If you, Queen Mother, wish, you can verify it clearly. I have no intention of opposing you, and I know that you will not take advantage of your subordinates for the sake of petty profits. Therefore, I will sell the 50,000 kilograms of raw silk back to the weaving and dyeing bureau at the original price, so that you will not be implicated by those short-sighted people."
Queen Mother Zhou naturally knew that Shen Ning didn't dare to talk nonsense about such things. After all, if she could find out the truth by simply checking, she would only dig her own grave if she lied.
only……
"The Queen came to you, you should understand what she meant. So... why did you choose to help me?"
Queen Mother Zhou looked at Shen Ning quietly.
Chen Ning's expression was respectful and frank: "If the Queen really wanted to protect me after using this minister, she would not let anyone know that she came to find me... She acted like this just to force this minister to arouse the Queen Mother's dislike and suspicion, forcing her to choose to depend on her. But this minister is brave and does not want to be forced to make a choice."
Shen Ning smiled: "I don't want to harm anyone, not to mention that you, Queen Mother, have done me a favor, so I naturally know what to do."
"I have done you a favor?" Queen Mother Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Where does this favor come from?"
Chen Ning said solemnly, "Your Highness Prince Ding and I are in love, but I know that my status is not high enough and I will definitely face many hardships. Fortunately, the Queen Mother has granted us marriage... Isn't this a great grace?"
Empress Dowager Zhou's expression froze slightly.
grace?
She was angry at the time and thought that the Seventh Brother just wanted to protect the Shen girl, so he deliberately arranged the marriage between the two... She didn't expect that she was taken advantage of by the Seventh Brother without any intention.
This makes me angry just thinking about it. Now this Shen girl says this is grace?
Queen Mother Zhou snorted coldly, "Do you think I'm stupid? Don't you hold a grudge against me for wanting to marry you to Zhou Ping?"
"Your Highness dare not."
Chen Ning said respectfully, "Regarding the marriage, I know that the Queen Mother was deceived... Sister Xu was close to that concubine's daughter, Chen Nian, and for some reason she was also quite hostile to me at the beginning. That's why she urged the Queen Mother to appoint me to your nephew."
She spoke gently, "Your Majesty, you care deeply about your only nephew. I understand your kindness. Others would think that I, a widow living in the countryside, should be grateful for your favor... Your Majesty, you did not intend to harm me. It was simply that someone took advantage of your deep love for my nephew. How could I bear a grudge?"
Chen Ning's words were 70% true and 30% false... This whole heartfelt talk, mixed with both truth and lies, actually touched Empress Dowager Zhou deeply: "So, I did do a good deed by accident... Is that why you are grateful?"
Shen Ning kowtowed: "Your humble servant thanks the Queen Mother for your help."
Queen Mother Zhou snorted, "Do you think that if you tell me all this, I will take you under my wing and protect you?"
Shen Ning shook her head: "What this subject said is from the heart. As for the Queen, this subject has a clear conscience and has never made any mistakes, so she is naturally not afraid."
Of course, this was a lie, so that the Queen Mother could see that although she was cunning, she was also honest and upright.
After all, if the Queen Mother thought she was too sensitive, cautious and careful, it would be difficult for her to like her.
Chen Ning acted like a straightforward person who clearly distinguished between right and wrong and didn't want to take sides, with an attitude of "I don't want to cling to anyone's thighs"... In fact, he had already set his sights on the Queen Mother's golden thigh.
However, this matter must of course be done slowly and steadily.
By the evening, Shen Ning realized that her heartfelt performance during the day was not in vain. The Queen Mother asked Xu Wanqing and Shen Nian to go to the small Buddhist temple to copy scriptures, and asked her, who had an "injured back of the hand", to go back and rest.
Shen Ning saw the wound on the back of her hand that had begun to scab and would heal in a few days, and she raised the corners of her mouth happily.
As expected, the Empress Dowager was used to the roundabout and ambiguous style of the harem, so her straightforward and revealing style from the beginning was still very novel and she was quite receptive to it...
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