Lady Qingyang closed her eyes weakly, her face pale: "Your Majesty, I obey."
After leaving Cikang Palace, Lady Qingyang rushed to Kunning Palace to discuss countermeasures with Xia Xueyi.
Xia Xueyi was completely confused, and only understood at the very end, somewhat incredulous:
"You mean, Zheng Jinlian from the laundry department was sent to the Emperor by Father?"
Lady Qingyang nodded weakly: "When Xu Pengju got into trouble, we felt something was wrong, so we used this trick to surrender to the emperor."
"With this merit of supporting the new empress dowager, the emperor will probably not make things too difficult for you and our Xia family."
"Why is Zheng Jinlian at the Xia family's house?" Xia Xueyi was completely confused.
Lady Qingyang was a little speechless, and then gave a brief explanation.
“When Su Wanwan got married and left the capital, Zheng Jinlian followed her. We used a method to detain her.”
Xia Xueyi frowned: "How could that be? Not long after Zhou died, the Zhang family went to Zhou's estate to cause trouble, just to find Zheng Jinlian."
She had a deep impression of this.
At that time, the Empress Dowager had just left the country to mourn, and the Zhang and Zhou families, who were related to the Empress Dowager, started fighting each other.
The death toll was enormous, alarming the Shuntian Prefecture and the late emperor, and causing a great uproar in the court.
Lady Qingyang, unwilling to dwell on the past, went straight to the point: "The Empress Dowager now wants us to kill Zheng Jinlian. What should we do about this?"
Xia Xueyi froze, her face turning deathly pale.
This is pushing her to her death.
Lady Qingyang held her hand and comforted her, "It's alright, there must be other ways."
...
The main hall of the Su family.
Yang Ting spoke eloquently: "This year, Shandong is suffering from a severe drought, and there are refugees everywhere. If we use the autumn grain for disaster relief, I'm afraid the border reserves will be insufficient next year, which could become a disaster."
Lu Xingjian remained calm, his gaze fixed on the map on the screen, settling on the southern coastline, a barely perceptible glint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.
"Let's deal with the immediate difficulties first, and we can talk about next year's problems next year."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "However, we must prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation to inflate prices and profit from the national crisis."
Yang Tingwei felt a chill run down his spine, and couldn't help but secretly marvel at the speed at which the emperor had grown.
He already acts like a seasoned politician, handling all kinds of affairs with ease.
"Your humble servant obeys."
Yang Ting has been appointed Minister of Revenue in Beijing, and resolving disaster relief issues is his first task upon taking office.
After a brief pause, he subtly expressed his views on the matter of the emperor's birth mother.
Lu Xingjian seemed unconcerned: "I understand."
He then picked up the teacup.
Yang Ting didn't say much more and took his leave.
Lu Xingjian returned to the second courtyard and saw Zhou Wanxiu standing at the door of the east wing with a tray in her hand.
On the tray were teacups and a plate of steaming osmanthus cake.
Zhou Wanxiu's face beamed with a bright smile: "Cousin, this is osmanthus cake that I made myself. Please try it."
Lu Xingjian showed no emotion on his face and let Zhou Wanxiu into the living room.
After sitting down, he took the teacup, held it to his nose, and gently sniffed it.
A hint of nervousness flashed in Zhou Wanxiu's eyes. She swallowed hard and asked, "This is your favorite pre-Qingming Longjing tea. How does it taste?"
Lu Xingjian stared at the light brown tea, a cool, faint smile playing on his lips, his voice quiet and serene.
"The exquisite intoxication from the Western Regions has no antidote."
Zhou Wanxiu's face turned pale instantly.
Linglongzui was an aphrodisiac that her brother Zhou Shuyan had found for her. He said it was colorless, odorless, and had a strong effect.
Su Wanwan will probably be busy at the Minister of War's house until dark today.
There are no other women here, so if Lu Xingjian is under the influence of aphrodisiacs, he can only seek her out for relief.
Once he's had his fill of pleasure, he'll definitely take responsibility for her and give her a proper status.
I won't distance myself from her anymore.
I just didn't expect him to notice.
Lu Xingjian's sharp, cold gaze finally fell on Zhou Wanxiu:
"I left you here to keep an eye on her, but you're full of shady ideas that can't be brought to the table."
Go back to your Zhou family.
Zhou Wanxiu's body trembled, and she knelt down with a thud. She crawled to him, hugged his knees with both hands, and cried like a child with tears streaming down her face.
"Your Majesty, cousin, I was wrong, please don't be angry."
"I will still listen to you. I will follow her wherever she goes. Please don't send me away, okay?"
Lu Xingjian ruthlessly shook off her hand, his voice cold and indifferent:
"Don't think that no one knows your little schemes. I'm too lazy to expose them because I don't want you to fall out and hurt her feelings."
"Kneel down and leave."
Zhou Wanxiu looked up at him in disbelief, her eyes brimming with tears.
He kept her in the palace and then sent her to Su Wanwan's side, all just to avoid hurting Su Wanwan.
It turned out that, in his heart, she held absolutely no weight.
But.
On what grounds?!
Back in Qingning Palace, Su Wanwan gave me all the good food and fun things!
Even the little bronze general, which was the Crown Prince's favorite, would eventually belong to Zhou Wanxiu after passing through Su Wanwan's hands.
Now that she's grown up, she's destined to be just a foil for the two of them?!
...
Because of the thorough preparations made beforehand, Su Wanwan mainly helped Madam Qiu and Madam Yu entertain the ladies today.
The auction of items was also in full swing.
At the luncheon, she couldn't resist the social obligation and drank a few glasses of wine, her whole face turning rosy.
Fearing that she might not be able to hold her liquor, Madam Qiu had someone escort her to a side room to rest.
Su Wanwan was walking along the covered walkway when someone blocked her way.
"You're Su Wanwan?"
A young girl dressed in a red, waist-length ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) looked her up and down with hostility.
With a high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and large eyes, she has the typical features of a person of mixed ethnicity, and her bright and flamboyant appearance makes her a rare beauty.
"Who is this young lady?" Su Wanwan didn't recognize her.
The girl in the red dress shifted her gaze, a sly glint in her eyes:
"I am Lady Yu, the daughter of Lord Yu Yong of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
Her actual surname is Ma, and she is on good terms with the fourth young lady of the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion, so she came to stand up for her and teach Su Wanwan a lesson.
"I'm here to warn you to stop bothering Gu Ziyu. He's about to get engaged!"
Su Wanwan smiled gently: "Miss Yu, please be careful with your words." After saying that, she walked past her and continued walking forward.
Yu Ji was met with a polite but firm rebuff, leaving her embarrassed and angry. She shouted, "Stop!"
"Who doesn't know you're promiscuous, love visiting brothels, and have affairs with men?"
"With your character, how could you possibly be worthy of Young Master Gu?"
Some noblewomen who were resting and chatting in the houses around the veranda all looked over when they heard the commotion.
Su Wanwan stopped, looked coldly at Yu Ji, and slapped her hard across the face.
Didn't your parents teach you to be polite?
She seems to have a good temper, but she's not someone who lets others bully her.
Yu Ji was stunned, not expecting that the seemingly gentle and weak Su Wanwan would suddenly launch an attack.
Su Wanwan ignored her and followed the guide to the lounge.
She knew things wouldn't go so smoothly today; someone would definitely stir up trouble.
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