The New Year's Day is moving around day by day, and the Lantern Festival is coming soon. Cheng Yujin still remembered that the emperor went to war last year and took the palace concubine to the lamp tower to "have fun with the people". Now that the prince is back, the emperor has no interest in having fun with the people and stays in the palace as usual for the festival.
When Empress Yang saw this, she snorted coldly in her heart.
At the Lantern Festival banquet, Cheng Yujin used to sit on the high platform as the mascot for everyone to visit. What is rare is that this year, Empress Dowager Yang actually attended the Lantern Festival banquet to save face. She sat at the top, and from time to time, she called various ladies and young ladies to see each other.
Yes, it was very obvious that Empress Dowager Yang looked at Zhengfei for the second prince. The Empress Dowager Yang would say that the young lady of the Zhao family was virtuous, and the lady of the Li family was quiet and beautiful. In this way, there is nothing the people in the capital can't understand. Dou Xiyin was hanged for seven or eight years, and now she has been completely abandoned by the Queen Mother Yang.
As a result, a gust of wind blew in the capital, and some people flocked to it, and some people made their daughters sick. Everyone has their own opinions and attitudes about this, but there is no doubt that one thing is unified.
That was Dou Xiyin, the Dou family, who became a complete joke in the capital.
Cheng Yujin said in all fairness, and felt that what Empress Dowager Yang did was really inappropriate. Since she didn't have this intention at the beginning, don't give Dou Xiyin hope, hang her for seven or eight years, and drag her from a young girl to an older married woman. Now that Dou Xiyin has reached her nephew, in the 13th and 14th years when it was the most suitable age for discussing relatives, Dou Xiyin and the Dou family were all thinking of the second prince, and they never asked for a son-in-law at all. Now Empress Dowager Yang suddenly said that she didn't mean it. At first, she just saw the two children were cute and playful, and the marriage contract was not counted, which was too much.
But the choice you make is your own responsibility. Even if Mrs. Yang is not authentic, it was Dou Xiyin who ran to the palace every day, and it was Dou Xiyin who looked down on other men. Now, sowing melons yields melons, and sowing beans yields beans. The imperial concubine can’t make it, and she has also missed a good opportunity to discuss relatives. Dou Xiyin can't blame others besides himself.
Cheng Yujin is a person who can see clearly. She is ruthless to others, and she is also the same to herself. She does not have two sets of standards for others and herself. But unfortunately, Dou Xiyin is obviously not like this.
Cheng Yujin saw Dou Xiyin quietly go out of the door in the corner of her light, but she didn't move her brows, as if she hadn't seen it.
Dou Xiyin was suffocating in the hall, she couldn't bear it anymore, so she went out to breathe. She walked forward bitterly in the cold wind, stepping on her footsteps loudly and hard all the way, imagining the faces of those unsightly ladies under her feet, until a stick of incense went wild, and finally calmed down.
Before she knew it, she was already far away from the banquet. Dou Xiyin stood in the cold wind, looking at the red walls and green tiles that she was most familiar with in the past seven or eight years, the towering palace city, she felt pitiful and pathetic.
She originally thought that she also belonged to this palace. So every time he entered the palace, Dou Xiyin felt honored when he looked at the towering red walls, the splendid glazed tiles, and the strict access control. Because she knew that she would be the mistress of all this. The highest honor and honor of a woman in the world will belong to her.
Dou Xiyin never thought that he would marry someone else, let alone that the second prince would marry another woman. She believed Empress Dowager Yang so much, how could she know that Empress Dowager Yang was lying to her.
Well now, Empress Dowager Yang openly slapped the Dou family and Yang Yan in the face, Dou Xiyin became the laughing stock of the capital and faced the dilemma of not being able to marry. After hearing the wind, the Dou family was suspicious, and waited and watched for a while. Seeing that the Empress Dowager Yang really planned to choose a concubine for the second prince, they panicked. Yang Yan took the lead and hurriedly showed Dou Xiyin her son-in-law. Only then did she realize that a good candidate had been picked out a few years ago, and the rest were crooked melons and cracked dates. Either the behavior is bad, or the family is a den of wolves and tigers, and there are even some people whose status and family talents are far less than that of the Dou family. At this moment, they are all rushing up to try to pick up Dou Xiyin's ready-made leak.
In the past, how could Dou Xiyin and Yang Yan like this kind of person, they would feel dirty when these people lift their shoes. But now, these turned out to be Dou Xiyin's best choices.
How ironic.
Dou Xiyin was trembling with anger, and Yang Yan cried for several days, and ran back to complain to her parents. Of course Yang Fucheng felt sorry for the eldest daughter. When the eldest daughter was married, his official position was still low. He told Yang Yan that he chose the Dou family who was very ordinary in all aspects, while the youngest daughter became the queen. The gap between the two daughters is really too big. Therefore, Yang Fucheng has been indebted to the eldest daughter all these years. If he can marry his granddaughter to the second prince, while consolidating the power of the Yang family, he can also make up for the eldest daughter's family. Happy to see it happen.
However, Yang Fucheng did not expect that the Empress Dowager Yang actually went back on her word and stabbed her own family.
Mrs. Yang cried all day long and wanted to get justice for her eldest daughter. Yang Fucheng couldn't bear it, and she was very angry with Empress Dowager Yang in her heart. Empress Dowager Yang's son is dead, and there is no blood under her knees. It is all up to the Yang family to continue her wealth and honor, but Empress Dowager Yang repays them like this. Yang Fucheng is now the first assistant, the youngest daughter is the queen, and the second prince is also the direct descendant of the second prince, but the queen mother said that the second prince should choose a concubine, and that if you see each other, you will see each other, even the serious Empress Yang. Grandma couldn't even interrupt.
More and more, it came to this.
Yang Fucheng was full of anger, and the backlog of dissatisfaction over the years also emerged little by little, and it gradually became an explosive trend. Empress Dowager Yang has become more and more arrogant in recent years, and I am the only one who respects me. Relying on the kindness she gave to Yang Fucheng in the past, she unscrupulously supports Yang Shoufu to do things. If it wasn't for this incident, Yang Fu didn't realize it in Chengdu. He has been thinking about these things for so long.
But Empress Dowager Yang is his sister after all, the highest-ranking empress dowager in the harem, the emperor and Yang Fu can't do anything to Empress Dowager Yang. Therefore, Yang Yan cried and made a lot of trouble at home, looking for life and death. Yang Fucheng couldn't do anything to change the situation except to subsidize his eldest daughter in private.
Yang Yan is still unwilling to take a break, and runs to her parents' house every day, but Dou Xiyin's heart is cold.
At this moment, Dou Xiyin looked at the familiar and unfamiliar red wall, and couldn't help being slightly dazed, not knowing what to do. Perhaps because she stood for too long, the people on the other side of the palace wall thought that there was no one around and started talking presumptuously.
"Why did the second prince suddenly go to Lingyuan Pavilion?"
Second prince? Dou Xiyin's ears moved, and she couldn't help but hold her breath and listen carefully.
On the other side of the palace wall is a corridor, these two palace maids did not expect that there were people standing behind the wall, and they spoke without any scruples. I just heard another voice say: "The second prince is not to be publicized. Today's Lantern Festival, the sage is happy, feasting all the ministers, the second prince is drunk, he doesn't want to spoil the sage's interest, so he goes to Lingyuan Pavilion to sober up and let the eunuch Go get some hangover soup."
"Doesn't that mean that there is no one around the second prince?" The voice at the beginning sighed, "The second prince is alone in Lingyuan Pavilion, let alone drunk, and there is no one around to serve, what if something happens? "
"What's going on in the palace?" Another person didn't care, suddenly lowered his voice, and said mysteriously, "Have you heard that the empress dowager is going to choose a concubine for the second prince?"
"I know, it is said that the Empress Dowager has summoned many young ladies into the palace today. Is the second prince concubine among these people in the future?"
"Definitely yes. Let's hurry up and wait in the main hall. Maybe we'll succumb to the future second prince concubine."
"But it doesn't mean... is Miss Dou the prospective imperial concubine..."
"Hey, tell her. She's just a flamboyant girl now. You can see that she is still dressed in fine clothes and food, and she is very powerful, but she can't talk about a good marriage. This is the most beautiful time of her life. Look at her. , she still has to go downhill. After two years, I am afraid that even her livelihood will be a problem. Who will remember who she is? She has fallen all the way, and she will not even be qualified to enter the palace to carry shoes for the second prince and concubine. Does the princess still care about her?"
"You're right, after all, she's not a serious young lady of the Yang family. The Yang family only held her because she was the second prince concubine. Now that she is no longer, how long will she support her? With the Dou family alone, what kind of person is she? "
"… "
The voice gradually faded away, and the two palace maids walked away while talking. From the beginning to the end, Dou Xiyin hadn't even seen each other's face, but she was trembling with anger.
But the mere two palace maids, how dare they say such a thing to her! But after Dou Xiyin was angry, she found out in despair that they were right.
Dou Xiyin pinched her fingernails into her palm unknowingly. She couldn't do that. She had to find a way to save herself.
Eternal Life Palace.
Du Ruo quietly entered the door, attached to Cheng Yujin's ear, and whispered something. Cheng Yujin just nodded after hearing this, without saying a word, as if she didn't know anything.
She was still smiling and the hustle and bustle in the stands, all beings in the stands, graceful and dignified, with a soft and gentle smile, no one could pick out the crown princess.
Halfway through the banquet, someone suddenly walked in in a hurry and whispered something to Queen Yang. Empress Yang's expression changed, and she didn't care about the scene, so she hurriedly left the table.
Of course, everyone in the audience saw it, they didn't take it seriously, they just thought that something happened suddenly in the palace, and Empress Yang went to handle the palace affairs.
But after a while, a forty-year-old grandmother entered the hall, bent over and said something in the ear of Empress Yang. Empress Dowager Yang's face suddenly turned cold, and there was a hint of anger on her expression. At this time, a young lady was teasing in front of Empress Yang, she prepared a load of witty remarks, but looking at Empress Yang's expression, she didn't dare to say anything for a while.
Empress Dowager Yang drooped the corners of her mouth and stood up with the help of her grandmother. Following her movements, the people in the Yongshou Palace all quieted down together. Empress Dowager Yang stood in front of the throne, and she hooked her lips without smiling, and said, "Aijia is tired, let's go first. Crown Princess."
Cheng Yujin stepped forward in response, and said with a thousand blessings: "My son is here."
"The queen is not here. You are temporarily watching the Lantern Festival banquet. If you have anything to do, bring it back and ask Ai's family."
"Yes." Cheng Yujin lowered her head and said, "My son obeys the order."
After Empress Dowager Yang finished speaking, she went out with the help of the mammy. Everyone in the hall looked at Empress Dowager Yang's back, and for a long time they could hear the needle dropping quietly.
Cheng Yujin raised her hand with a smile and said, "The Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager leave the table for a while, while the ladies continue to feast."
Following Cheng Yujin's words, the hall continued to be lively again. Although the many ladies present were holding up their wine, they were quietly thinking about the anomaly of the Queen and the Queen Mother today.
At this moment, I don't know who was the first to find out that Yang Yan was no longer there.
Concubine Shu's eyes swept around, but there was no sign of Yang Yan. Concubine Shu was itchy, and taking the opportunity to toast, she quietly came to Cheng Yujin and asked, "Prince Concubine, what's the matter? Why did the Empress and Empress Dowager both leave the table?"
"How do I know about the Empress Dowager and the Queen's own family?" Cheng Yujin picked up her wine bottle, gestured to Concubine Shu, and smiled, "Concubine Shu, please."
Concubine Shu understood, she drank the wine with interest, and did not ask any further questions. And Cheng Yujin just made a pretence, poured the glass to accept the wine, and didn't drink it seriously.
Cheng Yujin looked down at the sake in the glass. The water was clear, reflecting the surrounding carved beams and painted pillars, and gold powder painted gold. Cheng Yujin put down the wine bottle and thought inadvertently, she still has a lot of things to do today, but she can't be delayed by the wine.
Drunk wrong.
On the afternoon of the Lantern Festival, the time passed while everyone was absent-minded but pretending to be peaceful. Cheng Yujin has been staying in Yongshou Palace to preside over the overall situation, and his speech and behavior are very appropriate. Everyone also suddenly discovered that the Crown Princess was such a perfect mistress, she was not stage fright in hosting the overall situation, and some unexpected details were handled better than the Queen.
The Crown Princess does not compete for the top on weekdays, and everyone is accustomed to seeing that the Crown Princess is well-mannered, like the most beautiful and most iconic mascot of the royal family. But when the Queen and the Empress Dowager were not around, her ability was not inferior to anyone else's.
After Empress Yang and Empress Dowager Yang went out, they didn't come back all afternoon. Cheng Yujin smiled smartly and dignifiedly throughout the whole process, as if she didn't notice what was going on in the palace. It wasn't until she returned to Ciqing Palace that Cheng Yujin restrained her smile and asked, "Where's Your Highness?"
"His Royal Highness is still feasting with the saint in the Qianqing Palace and has not returned yet."
No matter what the emperor does, he always has Li Chengjing by his side. In these large banquets, Li Chengjing is bound to accompany the emperor. Although it is troublesome, but from these details, the attitude of the emperor can also be seen. Cheng Yujin nodded, thinking that she had waited all afternoon, and it would be nothing to wait for a while. Cheng Yujin first went to the clean room to take a bath and wash, and when she came out, she found that Li Chengjing had returned. There was still a slight amount of water vapor on his body, and he wanted to take a shower in another clean room.
Seeing Cheng Yujin coming out, Li Chengjing spread his hands to her. Cheng Yujin sat next to Li Chengjing and asked, "Your Highness, how is it?"
Li Chengjing had just taken a shower, and the tips of his hair were slightly damp. He was only wearing a middle shirt, with a slender neck exposed at the collar, and a fair and thin chest could be vaguely seen. Li Chengjing wrapped Cheng Yujin's hand with one hand, placed it on his lap, and nodded slightly: "It's done."
Cheng Yujin couldn't help raising her eyebrows, she seemed a little anxious, but she held back: "What happened outside?"
"Second brother accidentally got drunk and went to Lingyuan Pavilion to sober up quietly. Some eunuchs around him went to get sober soup, and some went to prepare hot water, but no one stayed with second brother. During the time when she was busy outside, Miss Dou entered Lingyuan Pavilion by mistake. The second brother was unconscious after falling asleep, and after drinking wine, he was full of energy, and then…”
To Cheng Yujin, Li Chengjing didn't say too much detail, but Cheng Yujin was able to connect what happened in the afternoon with these clips. Cheng Yujin rolled her eyes and said, "So in the afternoon, Empress Yang left the table in a hurry to deal with Dou Xiyin and the second prince? It's just that in the end, the matter couldn't be suppressed, so Empress Yang was disturbed?"
"That's right. Later, Yang Shoufu also passed by. The emperor was not very happy when he heard the wind, but he didn't say anything. I followed the emperor in the afternoon. I don't know exactly what happened to Lingyuan Pavilion."
Cheng Yujin nodded and said seriously: "This is natural. After the Queen Mother and the Queen Mother left the table, the concubine was ordered by the Queen Mother to preside over the overall situation in Yongshou Palace. She was incapable of doing everything in the afternoon, and did not pay attention to Miss Dou's movements. This happened. No one wants to see this kind of thing, but Miss Dou was a childhood sweetheart with the second prince, and there is no guesswork between them. Although it is detrimental to the royal family's reputation, it is also a beautiful thing to have a lover finally marry."
Li Chengjing didn't speak, raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at her and smiled. Cheng Yujin didn't panic in such eyes, and glared at him unhurriedly: "What are you laughing at?"
Li Chengjing shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I just sighed that the Crown Princess had good temperament. You must not provoke the Crown Princess in the future."
Cheng Yujin snorted softly and said, "His Royal Highness has won awards, but it is not as good as His Highness's teaching."
The two of them each pretended to express their innocence. No one will know better than them what is going on today, but these two people are wicked, but they can still say "I don't know", "No one wants to see this happen. ".
After a while, Cheng Yujin asked, "Your Highness, what will the Yang family do after that?"
Li Chengjing didn't care about this and said unhurriedly, "That's the matter of the Yang family. You can't write two Yangs in one stroke, the palm of your hand is flesh, and the back of your hand is also flesh, and whoever Yang Fucheng will choose is their own. What does it have to do with us?”
Cheng Yujin nodded lightly, knowing that Li Chengjing's goal had been achieved, and it didn't matter who the last second prince was. Even if the second prince was drunk at the banquet, there would not be no one around. Even if he was really busy, how could Dou Xiyin be so coincidental that he happened to walk in just when everyone was out
More coincidences are not coincidences, but inevitable. Cheng Yujin and Li Chengjing, one inside and the other outside, both pushed quietly. Cheng Yujin was responsible for provoking Dou Xiyin and then sending her out of the inner palace. As for Lingyuan Pavilion, it was not something Cheng Yujin could get.
But looking at the effect, Li Chengjing's arrangement is very subtle and ingenious. Both of them had a clear alibi, and they were just pushing it secretly, swaggering in, and stripping off their clothes, it was Dou Xiyin himself who had a relationship with the second prince. She was not dazed and forced. What does what she did have to do with others
Li Chengjing was of course unwilling to see the second prince marrying a powerful relative, but to put it bluntly, no matter how powerful the power was, the imperial power would not be stronger. A mere Dou Xiyin is not worth Li Chengjing's special calculations.
What Li Chengjing really wants to do is to tear open a hole in front of all the ministers, so that the world can see that the Yang family is not monolithic, and the empress dowager Yang and Yang Shoufu are already at odds. As for Dou Xiyin, it was just an addition.
Li Chengjing squeezed Cheng Yujin's fingers and said pointedly: "The Yang family suddenly became prosperous, but the upbringing within the family has not kept up. Now it's just a granddaughter, and there will be more retribution for the Yang family in the future."
Cheng Yujin immediately thought of a person, and she had heard of it, so she asked tentatively, "Your Highness, are you talking about Yang Xiaoyu, the grandson of Yang Shoufu?"
Yang Xiaoyu... has a very good reputation in the capital, bullying men and women, eating, drinking, prostituting, gambling, and everything. He is the only one in the Yang family's generation, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is Madam Yang's eyeballs and lifeblood. Dou Xiyin is just Yang Yan's daughter, so she can take off her clothes and stick to the prince. Yang Xiaoyu is the only grandson of the Yang family, her grandfather is the first assistant, her aunt is the queen mother, her aunt is the queen, and her grandmother and mother are always responsive to him. You can also know what kind of person Yang Xiaoyu will grow into.
Yang Xiaoyu was so arrogant that he dared to kick a stall in the street and beat people, and molested the family members of court officials. Many people in Beijing have suffered from his anger, but Yang Shoufu and Empress Dowager Yang are all around, and the bitter masters dare not speak out, and no one dares to speak out.
Li Chengjing smiled and said, "That's the matter of the Yang family, I don't know."
In the past, the Yang family used only one hand to cover the sky, and they could bless Yang Xiaoyu and could not survive without the world. However, raising Gu will eventually have a backlash, and I just hope that the Yang family can always cover the sky with one hand.