Su Yao handed the choice to Concubine Pang, whether to keep the peace and make a small matter small, continue to haggle with the court officials and sacrifice some of his daughter's interests, or to lay the matter out to the court officials and simply break off relations.
It is really difficult for Concubine Pang to make a choice.
No one wants to offend the censor. The censor has a special status and their mouths can kill people.
But if we back down, then the Eleventh Princess's marriage will never be satisfactory.
As they were talking, the Eleventh Princess came in, holding a crystal plum vase with a few plum blossoms in it, which were very bright and beautiful.
Seeing Su Yao was there, the eleventh princess was very happy: "Oh, my nephew's wife is here? Come and see my flowers."
She now likes to tease Su Yao, and asks Su Yao to call her aunt whenever she sees her.
Originally, she was going to call her that. What happened in private was a private matter, but she couldn't let people talk about her in public. So Su Yao called out naturally, "Yes, aunt."
The Eleventh Princess found it very interesting and laughed a few times.
She is very naive, at least when it comes to feelings, she is really naive.
Concubine Pang looked at her and saw that she was pretty, sensible, bright and beautiful, like the plum blossoms that were now in full bloom on the branches. Thinking that her daughter might end up like those princesses who married poorly, with a restless family and no happiness, the gloom in her heart grew a little heavier.
She had already made up her mind.
But before making a decision, Concubine Pang made a special visit to the Fifth Prince.
The Fifth Prince had just paid his respects in front of the Emperor, and when he heard Concubine Pang asking for his greetings, he hurried over: "Is there anything I can do for you, Mother?"
He was filial, and Concubine Pang comforted him in her heart: "It's nothing, it's just that there is one thing that mother can't make up her mind, so I want you to come over to discuss it together."
After saying that, Concubine Pang told the Fifth Prince about the candidates for the Prince Consort.
Su Yao also told the Fifth Prince about what the people he had found out had done.
The Fifth Prince made his attitude clear from the beginning: "Of these people, Lu Yongning is narrow-minded and talkative, so he must be eliminated first. Chen Xianyi is hypocritical and ruthless, saying one thing to your face and another behind your back, so he must not be kept either. There are also a few others who seek fame and reputation and hurt others behind their backs. Their motives were not pure from the beginning. If they really become the son-in-law of the emperor, Eleventh's life will not be easy."
This is also what Concubine Pang is worried about.
She nodded and lowered her eyes: "These five won't work, but..."
But even if their infighting this time gets out, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will do it all over again.
After all, the court officials still wanted to be in charge. They wanted the royal family to follow the ancestral system so that they could benefit from it.
The fifth prince also saw it very clearly. He did not evade the question and said directly: "Mother, we cannot indulge them! This matter concerns my sister's lifelong happiness. It is not a joke. If the first choice is not good, it can be bribed once, and it can be bribed later. What's the point of just changing people? We don't know what kind of people will be replaced. What we should do is to seize the initiative in our own hands. We should choose the candidates for the prince consort ourselves."
Concubine Pang was very pleased that he could say this. She sighed and said, "Mother knows this truth, but..."
But doing so would inevitably expose the conspiracy behind this, and if that happened, it would be really going against the court officials.
The Fifth Prince will not have a good reputation.
Those censors will definitely scold him.
The Fifth Prince knew what Concubine Pang was worried about. He suddenly smiled and said, "Mother, I'm already prepared. Why are you still worried? Who am I? I'm just a vassal king. I don't have any troops to support myself, and I don't plan to do anything wrong. As long as I don't commit these two deadly crimes, no matter if it's my father or Ah Heng, how could they treat me badly?"
He wants to be a free and easy prince, what's wrong with that
Concubine Pang was stunned for a moment. When she saw her son smiling brightly, she came to her senses belatedly and couldn't help laughing.
Yes, why is she still unconsciously timid
She is now a concubine, and she has no further hope. In this case, why should she be afraid of offending the court officials? !
What's more, it can help Su Yao.
If Su Yao can accomplish this, he will become famous and everyone will know how decisive the Crown Princess is.
She was so worried about gains and losses that she didn't think these things through.
She glanced at the fifth prince and said, "You have thought it through."
"Of course I have to think it through. Besides, even if I have that hope, should I just sell my sister?" The fifth prince said frankly, "I can't do that."
Concubine Pang felt a little sad and a little relieved.
Her son is really amazing. He is so smart and will definitely not lose to Xiao Heng.
But her son is so kind and has a conscience.
Thinking of Prince Zhuang and the Second and Third Princes, Concubine Pang's resentment faded a little.
No matter what, it's always a happy thing to raise a son like this, better than raising those inhumane things, right
She smiled.
The next day, when Su Yao came over, Concubine Pang whispered to Su Yao, "I have made up my mind about this matter. Yaoyao, please tell everyone about how Lu Yongning and his men bribed others, and also tell everyone about what happened in the other palaces. I want to choose a suitable husband for Eleven again."
Su Yao had already anticipated Concubine Pang's choice, so he was not surprised and responded with a smile.
Then Su Yao signaled the three provinces to take action. Soon after, Lu Yongning learned that he was pushed into the well by Gao Dachun from Yongxiu, Jiangxi. However, the eunuch in charge accepted money from Gao Dachun and planned to make a small matter out of it, saying that it was Lu Yongning who fell.
Lu Yongning was also removed from the list of five.
He almost lost his life and ended up losing his place. Lu Yongning was furious. He caused trouble in the other palace and had a fight with Gao Dachun.
As a result, the matter could no longer be covered up and became known to everyone.
When they heard that someone in the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were accepting bribes to select a husband for the princess, the censors found it unbelievable. After learning the whole story, they submitted memorials to impeach the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for embezzling money and accepting bribes.
The matter caused a lot of uproar, as it concerned his own daughter, the Eleventh Princess, who had always been favored. Emperor Yuanfeng was furious and ordered the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation.
The Dali Temple intervened and quickly found out the forces behind Lu Yongning, Chen Xianyi and Gao Dachun.
When Emperor Yuanfeng heard that his daughter's husband had become someone else's capital for making money, he was so angry that he laughed.
Concubine Pang also cried: "They said they were following the ancestral system. I thought the court officials had good intentions, but who knew they were using my daughter as a way to make money! These people are so hateful and abominable! They are so excessive. Do they think there is no one in our royal family?!"
This is contempt for imperial power.
The initiative is no longer in the hands of officials.