Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 258: Endgame
Seeing Liu Feng and two eunuchs coming forward to "respectfully invite" the queen to return to Kunning Palace, although the queen's face changed repeatedly, she finally turned around and left with forced calmness. Only then did Concubine Yu put away her just ostentatious demeanor and fierce aura, lowered her brows, and became the introverted and gentle palace concubine of the past.
Princess Yongping saw with her own eyes that her mother forced the empress into a dilemma with just a few words, and then made a big mistake by lying. She felt her heart pounding, but the words that the emperor said made her heart rise to her throat again.
"If you want to find fault with the Queen, with your intelligence, you can think of a thousand ways. Why kill a thousand enemies and hurt yourself eight hundred? Let her bring up the bloody past again. Will it be easier for you and Mingyue? If you don't think about yourself, think about Mingyue too! If you are upset about her stirring up trouble, you can come to me or the Queen Mother to ask for justice!"
"Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am the mistress of Yonghe Palace, and I am extremely wealthy and powerful. I don't care about other people's slander. But Mingyue Yunying is still unmarried, and I cannot bear to see her life being questioned and her lifelong affairs slandered! Moreover, Yingying and Zhang Shou are so innocent outside the palace, yet even their marriage, which is almost ready, is being criticized!"
"I have endured for sixteen years. I wanted to get rid of this anger today, but since Mingyue stopped me, it's not that I can't continue to endure it, but in this case, I have to at least scare her! If the emperor came later, I might really put the sword on her neck and make her admit that she was the mastermind behind those things outside!"
Princess Yongping finally took a deep breath. She no longer dared to let Concubine Yu continue, and hurriedly stepped forward to block her mother, bowed her head and apologized: "Father, mother was just angry at the moment, so she acted impulsively, she did it all for me. As for mother causing the Queen to accuse her of the past, it was because the Queen has always been slandering us behind our backs!"
The emperor looked at Concubine Yu, then at Princess Yongping, and could not help but sigh: "A mother is strong for her son. I don't want to say more. Zhang Shou is a good son, but whether there is a marriage certificate or not, since it is Yingying..."
Before the emperor could finish his words, Princess Yongping said categorically : "Whether Zhang Shou has an engagement with the Zhu family is a matter between him and the Zhu family. It has nothing to do with my mother and me! Don't say that I don't want to get married. Even if I really can't get married, I won't be so shameless as to snatch Zhu Ying's man!"
Seeing Princess Yongping had said what he wanted to say, the emperor pulled his neatly trimmed beard awkwardly, then smiled bitterly and said, "Okay, okay, since I have promised you , you can choose for yourself, whether it is the top scholar in civil or military affairs, or a talented person from the people, anyway, you can take a good look at them. However, before you are 18 years old, you have to marry yourself, otherwise the Queen Mother will not be able to stop me."
Concubine Yu knew that the Emperor was implying that the matter could only be delayed for one year, but she still couldn't help feeling relieved.
The emperor had indeed done his utmost to offer such leniency and conditions. But what he said next made her laugh and cry.
"If you really can't pick a candidate, then you might as well consider the son of Duke Qin... that kid Zhang Chen. He boasted to me that he wanted to marry you, and he even wanted to learn to write eight-part essays for this purpose. I picked an old Hanlin to teach him, and I heard that he complained a lot and was learning it with gritted teeth."
The emperor seemed not to notice Concubine Yu's disapproving expression , and said to himself: "Although he admires your stunning appearance and unique personality, he can't really understand you, and we are not in love at all, but at least he is a candidate. Of course, you may be able to choose someone better than this boy. I just said that. It's cold, there's nothing to visit in the Imperial Garden, you can go back!"
Seeing the emperor turn around and walk away, Princess Yongping felt ashamed and angry, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for her mother. When she helped Concubine Yu back to Yonghe Palace, she whispered, "Father won't accompany you back at this time..."
"He's going to the Queen Mother to clean up the mess." Concubine Yu smiled and said calmly, "The Queen Mother has never liked me. She probably thinks that the Emperor was too partial to me back then, which led to the discord between the Emperor and the Empress, and the unrest in the palace. Fortunately, Mingyue, you are a daughter. If you were a son, then I, Concubine Yu, would not be a trouble, but a disaster."
Princess Yongping couldn't help but feel her heart beating violently. Then she repeatedly warned herself not to let her imagination run wild. She forced a smile and said, "Mother is right... Father must have heard the news just now and rushed over. If he hadn't come, things would have been even more troublesome to resolve..."
Concubine Yu smiled and did not respond to Princess Yongping's words that were obviously biased towards the emperor. However, today Princess Yongping did not call her mother or mother concubine, but directly called her mother, which was rare in the past, and she was naturally relieved.
Didn't she know that the emperor had come for them? So, she was not dissatisfied, but was very grateful for the emperor's favoritism towards them over the years. In fact, until now, when she thought about entering the palace, she still felt that it was destined.
She had clearly tried every means to avoid being selected, and the Queen Mother clearly didn't like her at all, but she actually made it all the way from the preliminary round to the final round, and was eventually chosen to enter the palace along with several other women.
In the first two or three years, the emperor and the empress lived in harmony. As a little beauty, she was happy to live alone. But who knew that the empress would change her temperament after giving birth to two sons. The emperor turned to several concubines in anger. She found that the emperor was completely different from what she had imagined. He was neither a dictatorial king nor a scheming supreme ruler, but a very real man.
She had her share of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, as well as depression and helplessness. She was a human being, not a god, so she quickly got rid of her fear and became herself again. It was also because of this that she became the most favored concubine at that time. The blunt sword that had not been sharpened was given to her by the emperor after he learned that she was good at sword dancing. The two of them even danced with swords in the Yonghe Palace to entertain themselves until she was confirmed to be pregnant.
Those days were truly the happiest days for her since she entered the palace.
Moreover, because of the emperor's indulgence, her close friend Jiu Niang, who was married to Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing, also often went to Yonghe Palace. When they found out that they were both pregnant and were about to give birth, they jokingly made an appointment to get married. Afterwards, they begged the emperor to give in and let the two of them go to pray together.
She said she was praying for blessings, but in fact, she wanted to get some fresh air because she hadn't left the narrow courtyard since she entered the palace. So, when she found that the emperor and Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing suddenly appeared and accompanied her and Jiu Niang, she was extremely happy.
After that, joy turned to sorrow. She and Jiu Niang knew that the situation was urgent, so they insisted on driving away the two men and the guards, and then joined forces to kill people for the first time in their lives to break out of the siege... Then, they met the destined noble person, the widow Zhang, who was holding a sickle, as murderous as they were covered in blood, and also pregnant.
How they helped each other escape through the side door, how they returned to Widow Zhang's house, and how they took off their bloody clothes, some of which she still remembers, but some of which she can't remember clearly. She only knows that when she managed to get to Widow Zhang's house, she was already showing signs of labor, and so was Jiu Niang.
This time, despite the fact that she was also suffering from severe abdominal pain, Widow Zhang asked Wu to go to the midwife's house next door, break open the door and drag the drunk woman over...
At that time, she and Jiu Niang secretly swore that if mother and child were safe, they would treat Widow Zhang as their biological sister in the future, and their children would become sworn sisters if they were of the same sex, and would be engaged in marriage if they were of the opposite sex. But she didn't expect that things would turn out like that in the end.
In a trance, Concubine Yu seemed to see the dying figure, and her words of entrusting her son to her parents rang in her ears again. And when she learned from Wu that Widow Zhang had a rough life, her sense of guilt became even stronger.
Compared with her and Jiu Niang, she was a woman with a truly unfortunate fate.
It was not until she heard Princess Yongping's voice that Concubine Yu came back to her senses and smiled at her daughter beside her.
"You don't have to think too much. Your father has always been a responsible person. Even if the Queen Mother blames me for this matter, it won't be too much. As for the Queen... She herself raised her two sons to be like that. These days, they are like mad dogs. If it is really verified, she may not be able to keep her seal!"
After hearing this, Princess Yongping was a little bit unbelievable, but when she saw Concubine Yu's cold face, she couldn't help but subconsciously ponder her father's true thoughts. When the mother and daughter returned to Yonghe Palace, several palace servants hurriedly came to greet them. The leading maid chanted "Amitabha" several times before she took the lead and knelt down.
"Your Majesty, it was you who stopped everyone from staying in Yonghe Palace and went to Qianqing Palace to report the news. If we followed you and the princess to the Imperial Garden, it would not only be useless, but the Empress might even use it to blackmail you. But no matter what, it was all because of the incompetence of us servants..."
Before she could finish her words, Concubine Yu said calmly, "Everyone, get up. No need to say anything more. It's right for you to stay in Yonghe Palace. Otherwise, when I was at loggerheads with the Queen, I wouldn't have been able to take care of you. Maybe I would have really used a sword against her, which would have been troublesome. Let's stop here for today. Close the palace gate and let the kitchen prepare dinner!"
During the reign of Emperor Taizu, the six palaces and Kunning Palace all had their own small kitchens, but as misfortunes arose, fewer and fewer concubines had small kitchens, which was also seen as a symbol of the concubines' status in the palace. Now, it was not surprising that Concubine Yu ordered dinner to be prepared, but she actually ordered the palace gates to be closed, which made everyone panic.
Could it be that with such a big thing happening, the emperor wouldn’t come tonight?
Princess Yongping saw Concubine Yu walking straight in, but she was a thoughtful person, so she took a step slower, waved to the head maid and several other palace servants to come over, and briefly told them about what happened in the Imperial Garden today. Anyway, this matter would spread sooner or later, so instead of letting people guess and ask, it would be better for her to make it clear.
After she finished telling the whole story and saw that everyone had different expressions, she said in a deep voice: "Mother is seeking justice for me this time, so she went against her normal behavior and confronted the queen. But the matter has passed, so you should behave yourself from now on and don't cause trouble again!"
Hearing this, everyone in Yonghe Palace could only smile bitterly. Concubine Yu had caused such a big incident that they wanted to shrink their heads and pretend to be invisible. Who would dare to cause trouble? They were not the ignorant Second Prince!
While the Yonghe Palace was busy closing its doors to digest the scene of his own queen showing off her power, the emperor was trying to eliminate the impact of this incident in front of the Empress Dowager in the Qingning Palace. Of course, the emperor did not forget to send someone out of the palace to inform the Grand Madam and Jiu Niang about this matter. After all, there were many people in the Imperial Garden at that time, and the Queen's slander against Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou could not be concealed.
When Liu Feng truthfully told the Queen that she was so angry at Concubine Yu that she was at a loss as to what to do, and later spoke ill of Princess Yongping and Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou's life stories, and that Concubine Yu took an unopened blunt sword and frightened the Queen so much that she screamed that she wanted to assassinate her, the Lady Dowager listened while turning the Buddhist beads in her hand, and finally smiled and shook her head.
When Jiu Niang heard the Queen claiming that she had stolen her husband, she couldn't help but curse her for lying.
Liu Feng, who was ordered to deliver the message, did not dare to remind Jiu Niang that the person she scolded was still the mother of a country. Since he had already delivered the message, he was ready to leave. But at this moment, he heard a crisp laugh coming from outside.
"A Shou, you've been playing the lute to a cow with my second brother in Ziyan Pavilion for so long, you must be tired, right? Come in quickly!"
Following the sound, the door curtain was raised high. Zhu Ying, who entered first, stepped aside and waited for Zhang Shou to come in. Then she smiled and lowered the curtain. When Liu Feng saw this young lady coming, he dared not stay any longer and immediately said goodbye with a dry laugh. After he left, Zhu Ying frowned and said, "Why does this eunuch Liu seem a little afraid of me? He hides when he sees me? Grandmother, mother, what happened?"
Zhang Shou saw that the lady was still smiling kindly, but Jiu Niang looked angry, so he knew that something must have happened in the palace. Sure enough, under Zhu Ying's soft and hard persuasion, Jiu Niang finally told the truth. This time, Zhu Ying was immediately furious, and after a round of back and forth, she lost her temper.
"Does she still look like the queen? She can just change her name to gossip, but she even dares to say such nonsense... Wait, is she the one behind those imperial censors? Is she crazy? I thought it was the eldest or second prince who backed them up. How can she, a queen, be even more stupid than me?"
When Zhang Shou heard Zhu Ying even scolded himself, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Sure enough, the next moment, the young lady woke up as if from a dream, but she was only annoyed for a moment, and then she said fiercely: "She has done so many things wrong, I don't believe she can get through this safely this time! Ah Shou, didn't you say before that Ah Liu had someone investigate the cases where the censors were sued? There was no result?"
Zhang Shou immediately thought of Ge Yong's speculation about Ah Liu's behavior, which made him wonder when he saw that boy before, wondering if he was just pretending to be sultry and was really evil, or if simple and rough methods would work better... Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard Ah Liu's voice: "Master, do you and the young lady have time to go out for a walk?"
