"Be careful later. I also met Princess Qin of Prince Zhuang when I was young. She was just a little girl of five or six years old at that time..." Mrs. He still had a deep impression of her. She shook her head unhappily when she recalled what happened back then. "But she was very competitive. It was because one of her cousins fell in love with a Persian cat that Prince Zhuang had at that time. Prince Zhuang gave it to her, and she threw the cat into the lake without telling anyone."
Mrs. He witnessed this incident with her own eyes. Later, Prince Zhuang and the cousin of the Qin family searched everywhere for the cat but couldn't find it, but she acted as if nothing had happened.
She was only five or six years old at that time, and Mrs. He disliked her very much since then.
Su Yao understood something after hearing this. She knew how vicious Qin was. After King Zhuang ascended the throne, he no longer favored Qin alone. His favorite was a Zhaoyi named Wang. That Zhaoyi Wang was promoted to Zhaoyi within just one year of entering the palace. She became pregnant with the royal heir and became the most popular person for a while.
But just three months later, Wang Zhaoyi died suddenly in the palace.
No one else knew the inside story of this matter, but Su Yao knew it - because the person who helped Qin solve this matter was Cheng Dingan, who was serving as the commander of the Yulin Guard in the palace at that time.
Cheng Ding'an bribed the eunuchs in Wang Zhaoyi's palace and tampered with the snacks that Wang Zhaoyi presented to him.
The emperor fainted in Wang Zhaoyi's bedroom, and it was found that it was a problem with the snacks. However, by the time the imperial physician found the problem and the Yulin Guards went to arrest the eunuch, the eunuch had already committed suicide.
Wang Zhaoyi had no way to defend herself, so Qin took advantage of the emperor's failure to react and dealt with the matter with great force. In the end, Wang Zhaoyi, who was once favored by the emperor, did not even have a grave.
It turns out that she has been like this since she was a child. Su Yao nodded. At this time, a eunuch came out to lead the way. She followed behind Mrs. He with lowered brows and eyes, looking like an ordinary girl.
The banquet was held in the Taiji Hall. When Mrs. He and her companions arrived, they were quickly led into a side hall, where musicians and others were already waiting, but the princesses did not see any of them.
As soon as Mrs. He entered the hall, the hall suddenly became quiet.
Although she had not been to the capital for many years, there were always old friends among them. Soon someone recognized Mrs. He and they exchanged glances with each other.
Ladies from the imperial court were usually arranged to host banquets in this side hall, which was not unusual. However, when the empress was still alive, Madam He was always among the people in the main hall.
Now times have changed and everyone feels emotional.
However, despite this, Mrs. He had not been to Beijing for many years. Now, as soon as she arrived, she was ordered by the emperor himself to attend the palace banquet. Although most of the people in the side hall were ladies of the royal family, they were basically of super-rank and most of them were related to the royal family. They were all very discerning people, and no one showed any abnormality.
Lady Pingguo took the lead in greeting Madam He, and then looked at Su Yao beside Madam He, somewhat surprised: "Who is... ..."
Mrs. He smiled and explained calmly, "This is my granddaughter. She grew up with me."
Old Mrs. Pang narrowed her eyes. She knew everything about the Wang family. She also heard Mr. Wei mention that there was a girl by Mrs. He's side who was always by her side. Now it seemed that this was the girl.
It’s a bit strange to say. Mrs. He has her own granddaughter, so why does she treat her granddaughter-in-law like a treasure
But since they had already been introduced, Mrs. Pang smiled and waved to Su Yao, and naturally took off a bracelet from her wrist and put it on Su Yao's hand: "It's a little gift, take it and play with it."
She was Concubine Pang's mother, the old lady of the Duke Ping's Mansion. How could the things she was allowed to bring into the palace for a banquet be something she could really play with? Su Yao knew at first sight that the thing was very valuable and hurriedly tried to refuse it.
But Old Mrs. Pang held her hand and said lightly, "Okay, you cannot refuse a gift from an elder, so take it." After that, she and Mrs. He looked at each other and smiled.
A catastrophe was originally averted without a trace. Not only did the Pang family not suffer any losses, they also successfully eliminated Qin Chen, their archenemy and the troublesome thing. Mr. He had done the Pang family a great favor, so naturally the Pang family had to return the favor. It was inevitable that they would be close in the future, and giving such a small thing was really nothing.
The two talked for a while, and suddenly there was a loud music. Old Madam Pang listened for a moment and said, "The banquet is about to begin."
With Old Madam Pang taking the initiative to approach, the people in the hall became more relaxed and started to talk to Madam He one after another.
Mrs. He has become much more tactful than when she was young. No matter what people ask her, she always has a smile on her face, which makes people sigh for a moment. You know, Mrs. He was very arrogant back then.
The atmosphere was harmonious, and suddenly someone laughed: "Times have changed. If it were in the past, we wouldn't have the chance to talk to Mrs. He."
These were clearly normal words, but the tone didn't sound right. Su Yao looked in the direction of the voice and saw a plump woman in her forties. He frowned slightly, but didn't remember seeing this person before.
In her previous life, she was not liked by Cheng Dingan, so she was restricted in many places.
Otherwise, considering the age of this noble lady and the fact that she could sit in this side hall and lead the banquet, she should have been able to see him normally.
Mrs. He didn't say anything, she just lowered her head, picked up the cup and took a sip.
The man became more and more sarcastic: "See, I said that Madam He was very arrogant. No one dared to offend her back then. I didn't expect that the Queen has been gone for so long. I heard that you started to believe in Buddhism after becoming a widow, but I see that your temper hasn't changed much."
No matter how stupid you are, you can still hear the deep hostility in these words.
Mrs. He glanced at her sideways, her face indifferent: "You are not as comfortable as Mrs. Du, you are happy and healthy." She paused, then smiled: "I wonder if your family's property has been divided up?"
Mrs. Du was immediately furious. She pointed at her with a purple face and wanted to say something, but was stopped by a lady with a long face next to her.
Mrs. He's expression turned cold. Seeing Su Yao looking up at her, she explained casually, "It's nothing. We just didn't get along well in the past."
Just as he finished speaking, a eunuch walked in from outside, looked around the hall, and asked in a loud voice: "Is Mrs. He, the wife of the late Shandong Dengzhou Guard Commander, here?"
The hall suddenly became quiet.
At this moment, Mrs. He had already seen the face of the person who came clearly. It was not the eunuch Xia who always followed the emperor. He looked unfamiliar, but the color of his clothes was red.
There are regulations on the attire of eunuchs, and those who can wear red are even fewer. Therefore, the eunuchs who can wear red are respectfully called "eunuchs wearing red", which represents a very high status among the eunuchs.