Back at the palace, Jiang Changning said to the Concubine Dowager, "Mother, the Queen Mother gave me a piece of moonlight satin for no reason. I always feel that something is fishy."
"I thought so too." The concubine looked at Jiang Changning approvingly. She was indeed a girl from a noble family. Her knowledge was better than those girls from lower-class families.
If Qiao got the Moonlight Satin, she would be dizzy and ecstatic.
"Does mother have a reliable doctor?"
"Do you want to see if the material is stained with some medicine?" The concubine was also an expert in house fighting, and she understood it immediately.
Jiang Changning looked at the concubine with bright eyes and nodded vigorously.
"I'll take care of this, you go back to the yard and rest."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, mother." Jiang Changning knew a little about pharmacology, but everyone has their own expertise, so it would be better to ask a doctor to check it out.
Another reason was that she subconsciously didn't want the Toffee to know that she understood pharmacology.
The concubine was really quick in her work. The next evening, she told Jiang Changning with a grim look on her face, "There is a kind of medicine called Meixi on the satin."
Jiang Changning knew about the drug Meixi, which is a drug that can instigate infertility.
She gripped the handle of the fan tightly, her face full of curiosity, "This medicine name sounds so erotic."
"This drug has another name, peerless elegance." The concubine sneered, "People who are poisoned by this drug will become more and more beautiful, charming and seductive, but no matter how much they indulge themselves, they will not get pregnant."
If you can't give birth to children, you will be extinct.
Jiang Changning was incredulous. "Why? Why would she do this? After all, I saved her before."
The Concubine Dowager remembered what Prince Jin had told her, that Jiang Changning was the Queen Dowager's savior, and if he hadn't used some tricks, the Queen Dowager would not have pointed Jiang Changning to him.
The Queen Mother was immersed in her charm on the moonlight satin. The person she really wanted to deal with was Prince Jin, not Jiang Changning.
It was the Prince of Jin's Mansion that dragged Jiang Changning down. If a woman cannot give birth to a child, no matter how high her rank or how noble her status is, it is all in vain.
The concubine's heart softened, she took her hand and patted it gently, "She is not a good person, her methods are despicable and mean. It is said that she aborted the children of several concubines of lower rank."
"I, I saved a vicious woman." Jiang Changning said with a sad face.
"It's not your fault. Who would have thought she would be that kind of person? You meant well."
Jiang Changning sighed, and the concubine continued: "Fortunately you listened to Yu'er and were on guard against her."
"I'm in the inner house and I don't know anything, so of course I have to listen to the prince." Jiang Changning let her misunderstand.
"Okay, don't think too much about this. From now on, you should thoroughly investigate all the materials that come out of the palace."
Jiang Changning nodded, "I understand, mother."
"Go back to the yard and rest. We have to attend the funeral tomorrow."
"My daughter-in-law is leaving."
It started raining in the middle of the night.
The temperature has dropped a bit and is much cooler than the previous few days.
But once the rain started, it never stopped. It was still raining in the morning and it was getting heavier.
This is quite unfriendly to the mourners.
Although the weather was hot and the rain didn't make me feel cold, it was wet and uncomfortable.
Those who rode in carriages were still relatively lucky, but those who rode horses or walked were miserable.
The concubine's tomb is a hundred miles away from the city, and one has to stop and go on the way. Even if there is a carriage, one cannot use an umbrella to shelter from the rain while kneeling to listen to the sacrificial speech.
We had to stop every ten miles to listen to the sacrificial words. Standing in the rain, it didn't take long before we were soaked through.
When he got back to the carriage, he was soaked. Although there was a clean towel in the carriage, he could only wipe the rain off his face.
When they reached twenty miles, they got off the carriage and repeated the same process as when they reached ten miles.
After they had reached thirty miles, Jiang Changning got off the carriage and looked up at the sky. "The sun is out."
Standing in the rain, it wasn't long before I was soaked all over.
Wiping the rain off his face, Jiang Changning asked the concubine in a low voice, "Mother, are you okay?"
The concubine frowned, her face was a little pale, she said weakly: "It's okay."
At some point, the Crown Prince's wife of Changshan came over to kneel. She tugged at Jiang Changning's sleeve and said, "They say that Concubine Xiang is not virtuous and doesn't care about future generations."
According to superstition, the dead have spirits, and if the weather is good when going up the mountain, the funeral procession will not suffer.
"Rain falls from the sky and the ground gets wet. This is God's business. What does it have to do with Concubine Xiang? Besides, who here is the descendant of Concubine Xiang?"
The Princess of Changshan was stunned for a moment, "What you said seems to make sense."
After the sacrificial text was read, everyone got on the carriage and continued on their way to the concubine's tomb.
Forty miles, fifty miles, sixty miles, eighty miles, ninety miles, and the last ten miles, the rain finally stopped and the sun became brighter.
The sun shines down and the rain evaporates, and it feels like the sky and the earth are a big steamer, and people are the buns and steamed buns in the steamer.
"Oh no, the old master fainted."
Before the coffin was sent into the underground palace, the first person to collapse was the old Grand Tutor who was nearly 70 years old.
Fortunately, there was an imperial physician with us, so we quickly asked him to come over and treat the patient.
After some tossing and turning, the old master woke up.
Concubine Xiang's coffin was also sent into the underground palace, and the paper ceremonial objects were burned, and everyone could finally return to the city.
After entering the city and returning to the mansion, the first thing Jiang Changning did was to take a bath and change clothes.
The temperature was high and on the way back, my clothes were half wet and stuck to my body, making me feel very uncomfortable.
The next day, bad news came from the Grand Tutor's Mansion that the old Grand Tutor had passed away.
Well, an old concubine died and an old tutor took her place.
The old master has the merit of following the emperor, and he is a serious and upright person.
The emperor was happy when he died, as there was one less person he had to worry about.
Prince Jin was not at home, so Jiang Changning went to the palace to express condolences on behalf of the Prince Jin's Mansion.
When she met the Crown Princess of Changshan who was also there to pay her respects, she asked, "Tell me, what is this?"
"It's fate. No one wants this to happen." Jiang Changning sighed.
The days that followed were idle and boring. Since Prince Jin was not in the palace, the concubines stayed quiet.
Banquets and music were banned for a year, and no invitations were sent to her from various prefectures to attend flower-viewing parties or tea-tasting banquets.
On this day, I received another letter from the Prince of Jin. From the time he left home in mid-May to now in late June, I have received a letter from him approximately every three days.
The letter was written to the concubine, and the content was simple, just to report safety.
Along with the letter came gifts, which were local specialties from various places along the way, as well as some small gadgets.
The concubine did not care much about local specialties and gadgets, so naturally she did not know the thought that Prince Jin put into them.
These were all the things Jiang Changning had seen and eaten when he went to Beijing from Hangzhou.
This time, we gave away Hangzhou specialties: 20 Hangzhou fans, 10 purple clay teapots, and two chicken blood stone sculptures.
Even though Jiang Changning was not the kind of person who felt pity for others, she would still be moved and softened when she saw Prince Jin carefully selecting a gift for her to comfort her homesickness.
For the first time, he took the initiative to say, "Let the messenger boy come in. I have something to ask him."
(End of this chapter)