Chapter 202 Spices
In the past, such a lively palace banquet would have been the favorite event for the Zhenguo Gong Party, but now it is completely different.
The Duke of Zhenguo is still imprisoned in the Tianlao, and the Second Prince has not recovered from his depression due to Qin Wanru's death.
He didn't even show up at such a palace banquet.
The Queen originally wanted the Second Prince to marry Rong San, and use the power of the Rong'an Marquis' Mansion to revitalize the Second Prince's party.
But before she could bring up the matter, rumors were already rife that Rong San was going to marry the third prince.
The royal family did not want to have a scandal about two men competing for one woman. Because of this, the queen was so angry that she couldn't eat for several days.
As a result, the Rong'an Marquis Mansion is now in trouble.
The Queen sat beside the Emperor, looking at Su Qingqing and Rong Que not far away with a complicated expression.
The fall of the Rong'an Marquisate was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Third Prince, and also a vent for the Second Prince's party.
But now, looking around the whole court, it seems that the prince's party has always had the upper hand since Su Qingqing got married.
If this continues, the Second Prince will really have no chance at all.
Holding the wine cup, the Queen smiled at Su Qingqing and said, "It's been half a year since the Crown Princess got married. You must be missing home."
Su Qingqing didn't know what the Queen was up to, she just knew that it was definitely not a good thing, so she smiled and said, "The prince and I are in a harmonious relationship, and I forgot to miss home for a while."
The emperor was sitting on one side. Hearing he immediately laughed, "So you drove out the envoy from your country? It can't be that he said something bad about the prince."
Su Qingqing looked at the kind-looking emperor and was more wary than she was of the empress.
The two boxes of trinkets sent by Zhao State were delivered to the palace at the order of the Emperor.
Su Qingqing knew exactly what this meant.
But she looked coquettish at this time, "Yes, I drove him out because he said bad things about Your Highness."
All the court officials pricked up their ears.
The faces of several envoys from Zhao State suddenly turned ugly, and Jiang Hui's face turned pale, "Your Majesty."
Su Qingqing rolled her eyes and said, "You don't have to hide it. I haven't done anything wrong and I have nothing to be afraid of."
As she spoke, Su Qingqing clasped her fists towards the emperor.
"Father, please be aware that this man once attempted to tease me at a banquet in the palace of Zhao State, and was banished to the frontier by my father.
I don't know why he was asked to come on a diplomatic mission to the Great Yan Dynasty this time. However, no matter what the reason is, I will not forgive him, and certainly will not invite him to a banquet in the Prince's Mansion. Naturally, I will directly drive him out.
If Father thinks that what I did was wrong..."
After a pause, Su Qingqing's neck stiffened.
"I won't change that either."
Jiang Hui had never expected that their princess would actually say such a thing that would damage her reputation in front of all the civil and military officials in the palace of the Great Yan Dynasty.
Can he say that this person is stupid or what else can he say!
Not only Jiang Hui was shocked, but almost everyone in the entire hall, except Rong Que, was stunned.
The Minister of Rites was the first to react. He stood up and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, I am a talkative old minister, but if I hadn't said anything, I would have been unhappy today.
What a noble status the Crown Princess holds; she will be the future mother of the country.
I can’t possibly expect that in the future, when people talk about the past of the Queen Mother of the Great Yan Dynasty, there is actually such a filthy thing.”
After saying that, he changed the subject and rushed towards Jiang Hui in a stern voice.
"Our Crown Prince sincerely asked for marriage, but you married a princess whose reputation was damaged. What is your intention?"
Jiang Hui: …
He came to the Great Yan Kingdom to deal with Su Qingqing, but not in this way.
It was Su Qingqing, on the other hand, who looked at the Minister of Rites with a smile on her face.
"Your Excellency is really a forgetful person. Have you forgotten that the reason I was able to marry His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was entirely due to my ability to climb into bed?"
boom!
The hall, which was already filled with whispers, suddenly erupted in discussions, with accusations and insults coming one after another.
The queen had been suppressing her anger for half a year, and at that moment she felt refreshed.
She sat on a high place like watching a play, listening to the comments of the court officials and their families below about Su Qingqing.
The emperor's face darkened and he glared at Su Qingqing unhappily, "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Su Qingqing stood up and proudly glanced at all the courtiers who were talking about her. She snorted, "Are you surprised? What I just said, wasn't it the rumor that spread like wildfire when I first got married to the Great Yan Kingdom? Were you all deaf and didn't hear it before, or did you all lose your memory? Why are you so shocked now?"
A straight shot was thrown out, and some people immediately shut up, but more people scolded Su Qingqing for being so unself-respecting.
This is exactly what Su Qingqing was waiting for.
“Why do I not love myself so much?
Then we have to ask the woman that the noble Third Prince loves, Dou Ziruo, the eldest daughter of Lord Dou Xun of Zhao State.
It's no secret that Dou Ziruo had used some means to lure me into the Crown Prince's bed.
Right, sir."
Xiang Zheng's eyelids twitched when his name was suddenly called.
If the Third Prince had not spread the word that he was planning to marry Dou Ziruo, Su Qingqing's accusations today would mean nothing.
But the third prince happened to spread the news.
Xiang Zheng stood up and said, "I am only here to accompany the Crown Prince in choosing a concubine. As for how to choose, it is up to the Crown Prince himself to decide.
As for the frame-up , I don’t remember it.”
Su Qingqing sneered at Xiang Zheng, "You don't remember, right? Then I will recall it for you, Lord Xiang."
As she spoke, Su Qingqing turned around and ordered, "Good luck."
Xiang Zheng suddenly felt panicky and his bad premonition became stronger and stronger.
Originally, they were preparing a grand gift to entertain Rong Que and Su Qingqing today, but they didn't expect that things would come to this point before they could even make an effort.
Jixiang took out a cloth bag from his sleeve, took a few steps forward, and dropped the bag directly on the ground in the middle of the banquet.
The cloth bag was opened, revealing a piece of incense inside.
Su Qingqing took a look at the incense and said to the emperor, "When I was caught cheating on my son in bed, this incense was burning in the room.
We don’t have this kind of incense in Zhao Country.”
Xiang Zheng's brain exploded.
It was indeed he who had someone secretly replace the incense. The reason for replacing it was to prevent Dou Ziruo from marrying Rong Que and to push Su Qingqing out.
At that time, he thought Su Qingqing was a fool with only good looks.
This is the straw bag he carefully selected!
But this incense, he had someone deal with it during the chaos, how did it end up in Su Qingqing's hands.
Su Qingqing glanced at Xiang Zheng and asked, "Master Xiang, don't you feel familiar?"
Xiang Zheng was immediately startled, "I don't know what your Majesty is talking about."
Su Qingqing said slowly, "You don't know? It doesn't matter, I will help you remember!"
Su Qingqing said, clasping her fists, and turned to the emperor, "There was a guard who accompanied Lord Xiang to Zhao State at that time. I hope Your Majesty can arrest and interrogate this person immediately. As for who this person is, the guards that Lord Xiang brought with him at that time should be on the list of envoys. You can find out by looking through it."
