Zhao Xifang left her parents' home in a daze and returned to Prince Yu's Palace.
When he returned to the palace to pay his respects to the Princess Dowager of Prince Yu, he was almost hit by a ball thrown from somewhere when he passed by the garden.
Zhao Xifang, who was already in a bad mood, looked even uglier, and asked sternly, "What's going on?"
"Mother." The eldest princess and the eldest son came over and called out with their heads down.
The maids and old women who followed the two men all knelt on the ground trembling with fear.
Zhao Xifang was furious when she saw her daughter playing with Fang Youting's son. "Why are you with him?"
"My grandmother asked me to take my brother out to play." The eldest princess whispered.
Zhao Xifang sneered, with a flash of resentment in her eyes. Damn the old woman, using her legitimate daughter to step on the illegitimate son's feet. "You are the princess, not his maid. Now go back to the piano room and practice."
"Yes." The eldest princess quickly left with her maid and old woman.
Zhao Xifang walked up to the eldest son and lifted his chin. "The eldest son of Prince Yu's Mansion is really amazing. A bastard, he actually asked his eldest sister to stop practicing the piano and play with you."
The eldest son was frightened by Zhao Xifang's fierce look and burst into tears.
"Useless thing." Zhao Xifang withdrew her hand in disgust and wiped it with a handkerchief.
"Send him back to Concubine Fang's courtyard and ask Concubine Fang to take good care of him. If he dares to disturb the eldest princess again, I will skin him alive."
"Yes." The servants quickly took the eldest master away.
Zhao Xifang walked into the courtyard of Prince Yu's Dowager Consort with a stern face.
"Why did you come back so late?" asked the Princess Dowager of Prince Yu.
Zhao Xifang said, "I am sending my mother home late. Please forgive me, mother."
Prince Yu's Concubine frowned slightly, "I don't mean to blame you."
"Mother, if there is nothing else, your daughter-in-law will go back first." Zhao Xifang didn't have the energy to deal with the concubine.
"I have something to ask you. Have you found a master yet?" asked the concubine.
"I have already arranged for him to enter the palace in early October."
After all, Zhao Xifang was the legitimate wife who was married through a formal matchmaker. After some warnings, the household supplies in the mansion were returned to her, and Fang Youting was also able to help manage them.
But Zhao Xifang would never allow anyone to give her too much power, so she let Fang Youting be in charge of the laundry room.
The laundry room can be said to be the least profitable place in any government office.
There was a flash of surprise in the concubine's eyes. She thought Zhao Xifang would continue to delay. "That's good. It's okay. Go back to your room and rest."
"My daughter-in-law takes her leave." Zhao Xifang bowed and walked out.
As soon as she left, someone reported to the dowager concubine that she had frightened the eldest master to tears in the garden.
The concubine sighed, "There is a mountain between our belly and our heart, after all, they are not my biological children."
"The princess hasn't come to her senses yet. It will be fine once she figures it out in the future," the old nanny advised.
"I also hope that she can figure it out sooner. Only if the siblings have a good relationship, Deyin will be able to return to her parents' home." The concubine had good intentions, but unfortunately Zhao Xifang did not understand. She just felt that the concubine was mistreating her daughter.
At the same time, Jiang Changning asked Xiulan, "Have you taken note of the families who brought people into the palace today?"
"Don't worry, madam." Xiulan put the washed grapes next to her hand. "There are only a few families who brought people in. I remember them all."
Jiang Changning smiled and picked a grape to eat. She was still confident that Xiulan was doing the job.
On this day, Emperor Xuanzhi came to Qiyuan Palace very late. Jiang Changning had already gone to bed. Except for the lanterns hanging at the palace gate which were still lit, the entire palace was shrouded in twilight.
"Your Majesty, do you want to knock on the door?" Chang Changzhong asked.
"knock."
The Queen Mother wanted to have someone enter the palace today, but he was too busy to have dinner with the Queen. If he didn't go in to accompany the Queen tonight, she would probably think too much.
The door was knocked open, and the eunuch guarding the door was startled, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
When he arrived, Xiulan and others would naturally be called up.
After Emperor Xuanzhi finished bathing, he entered the palace and saw Jiang Changning sitting on the bed with a blanket wrapped around him. "I woke you up after all."
"Your Majesty, why are you busy until so late?" Jiang Changning asked with a frown.
"I wanted to review all those memorials, so I've been busy until so late." Emperor Xuanzhi threw off the quilt and went to bed.
"Your Majesty, it will be morning tomorrow. It's not urgent, so there's no need to stay up late." Jiang Changning rolled into his arms, "Go to bed."
Emperor Xuanzhi smiled and said, "Go to sleep."
The couple sleeps in each other’s arms and has sweet dreams until dawn.
The next day, the Queen Mother couldn't wait to tell Jiang Changning, "The palace is lonely. I think Chu Jing is a good girl. I want to bring her into the palace to live for a few days."
"Mother, this is not appropriate." Jiang Changning disagreed.
"What's wrong?" The Queen Mother's face darkened.
"She has no relationship with your mother, and she is about to reach the age of 15. Bringing her into the palace to stay for a while will damage her reputation. Please think twice before doing so." Jiang Changning bowed.
"Queen, it is a taboo for women to be jealous."
Jiang Changning stood up and said, "If the Queen Mother wants to pick someone up, then go ahead. After all, many people have died silently in this harem."
The Queen Mother slammed the table heavily, "Are you threatening me?"
"It's not the first time." Jiang Changning turned around and walked away.
The Queen Mother hit a wall with Jiang Changning, but she did not give up and told Emperor Xuanzhi that she wanted to bring Chu Jing into the palace.
Emperor Xuanzhi disagreed, "If the Queen Mother finds the palace boring, why not take her to Mount Wutai to live for a while."
Mount Wutai was the place where several empresses dowagers retired in their old age to recuperate their bodies and minds.
The Queen Mother's face changed slightly when she heard this. "You want to drive my mother to Mount Wutai?"
"What are you saying, mother? How could I chase you to Mount Wutai? I think Mount Wutai has beautiful scenery. Since you married me, you have lived in the capital for a long time and have never left the capital. I really wronged you."
"My son has to take care of government affairs and cannot accompany my mother. The queen has to manage the harem and take care of three children, so she cannot serve my mother either."
"My mother likes Chu Jing so much, so I think that as long as she accompanies her and makes her happy, I will feel relieved."
The Queen Mother stared at the eloquent Emperor Xuanzhi for a long while and said, "I will not go to Mount Wutai."
"Then Chu Jing won't be able to stay with her mother." Emperor Xuanzhi said regretfully.
"I don't need her to accompany me. I want my three grandchildren to accompany me." The Queen Mother said angrily.
After Emperor Xuanzhi appeased the Empress Dowager, he returned to the Qinzheng Hall to review memorials. However, as he was reading, he suddenly threw the imperial pen to the ground.
Chang Youzhong stepped forward, picked up the imperial pen, and stepped aside.
"Go and call Cao Jiang to me." Emperor Xuanzhi said.
Chang Youzhong went out and asked the eunuch to call Cao Jiang over.
Emperor Xuanzhi ordered Cao Jiang, "Send someone to Fujian to see what happened to Zhao Youping and Zhou Duxin?"
The memorial just submitted was Zhao Youping impeaching Zhou Duxin. This is the fifth memorial.
Emperor Xuanzhi had already withheld four copies of the memorial, and had already made his attitude clear. Yet, this Zhao Youping still submitted a memorial, which was completely ignorant of current affairs.
My teeth have been hurting for the whole day and I don’t understand why it still hurts when all my teeth are almost falling out
(End of this chapter)