Su Wanrou was forced to marry and leave the palace. Jiang Changning was a little surprised. "Why would the Queen Mother agree to this?"
This is the first beautiful girl selected by the Queen Mother. Even if she is not given a high rank, she must stay in the palace to share the Queen Mother's favor.
"I convinced her." Emperor Xuanzhi said with a smile.
Jiang Changning smiled, "I know you convinced her, I just want to know how you convinced her."
"It's a secret."
Jiang Changning's eyes flickered, "Then what does Your Majesty want in exchange for telling me this secret?"
"That depends on what the Empress does." Emperor Xuanzhi raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not that curious." Jiang Changning didn't agree with him and turned to walk inside.
"It's good to be more curious." Emperor Xuanzhi said behind her.
"Oh no, curiosity kills the cat." Jiang Changning shook his head.
Emperor Xuanzhi asked: "Why does curiosity kill the cat? Can't it kill the dog?"
The couple discussed this sentence for a long time, but Jiang Changning ultimately failed to figure out how Emperor Xuanzhi convinced the Empress Dowager.
In the next few days, several more concubines were pointed out to the palace. Emperor Xuanzhi never summoned the concubines to sleep with him, which made the concubines feel uneasy.
"Your Majesty will not send us all to the palace, will you?"
"There's nothing wrong with pointing out that there's nothing wrong with that."
"I don't want to be told off."
"Can we decide on this matter?"
"Ms. Feng is the best. She is the only one who has caught the eye of His Majesty."
"It's a pity that His Majesty hasn't summoned her in all these days."
"Su Xiunu was the first one chosen by the Queen Mother, and now she has left the palace."
"Being the Princess of Runan isn't bad either."
"She's just a princess of a county, nothing special." This is a concubine with higher ambitions.
"Oh, even the Princess of a County doesn't look down on you, so why do you still want to be the Imperial Consort?"
"After entering the palace, who doesn't hope to fly to a high position? Do you want to be driven out of the palace in disgrace?"
Several people with different opinions started arguing, and someone tried to smooth things over by saying, "Okay, okay, stop talking. Aren't you tired after learning the rules for a whole day?"
"Go back to your room and rest. We have things to do tomorrow."
"I wonder if it will be the Queen Mother or the Empress who will ask the questions tomorrow?"
"It might be your Majesty who asked the question."
The concubines talked and then dispersed to go back to their rooms to rest.
Nothing happened that night. The next day, the Queen Mother asked all the concubines to gather in the Imperial Garden, but no one knew what they were going to do.
Jiang Changning and Emperor Xuanzhi were not enthusiastic about this matter; only the Empress Dowager was interested.
But the Empress Dowager ordered people to invite Emperor Xuanzhi, and she still did not let Jiang Changning attend, under the pretext of "taking good care of the pregnancy".
Jiang Changning didn't care. If they didn't let her go, she wouldn't go. She just ate and drank in Qiyuan Palace, which was quite leisurely.
In the Imperial Garden, the Queen Mother ordered the dancers from the music troupe to perform.
Amid the melodious sounds of stringed instruments, sixteen dancers danced gracefully with cheerful steps. Their voluptuous figures attracted everyone's attention with every gesture, and the other beauties were fascinated.
Emperor Xuanzhi had a calm expression as he ate the fruits on the table.
The Queen Mother smiled and deliberately told him about these concubines, "Although Liu Xiunu is young, she knows etiquette very well."
"Tian Xiunu's father and brother are both talented people, and their family has a large collection of books."
"Qin Xiunu."
Emperor Xuanzhi gave face to the empress dowager. He would look at whoever she pointed at, making the concubines' hearts flutter.
The Queen Mother was secretly delighted when she saw this, and after the dancers finished their performance, she selected a few more beauties to perform their talents.
Some of them were reciting poems or composing couplets, while others were playing the musical instrument and singing songs, and their performances were all outstanding.
But Emperor Xuanzhi showed no interest in them. The empress dowager thought for a moment and said, "Bring me some pen and ink. The poems and couplets you just wrote are all good. Miss Feng, I heard that you have outstanding calligraphy, so you can write them down."
She remembered that Jiang Changning's calligraphy was good.
"Yes, Madam." Feng Sui couldn't refuse, nor did she want to refuse, "I am not talented, so I will show you my ugliness."
Feng Suiben looked a bit like Jiang Changning, and today she was wearing a white jacket, a pale blue middle shirt, a pale blue folded skirt, and a pale blue gauze outer cover.
With her hair tied up in a bun dotted with a few blue flowers, she looks delicate and graceful, and looks even more like Jiang Changning.
Emperor Xuanzhi narrowed his eyes slightly. He remembered that when he first met Jiang Changning, she was dressed like this.
How did this concubine know about this
He didn't think that the Queen Mother would investigate the matter, so it must have been someone close to Jiang Changning who leaked it. How courageous they were.
He actually dared to snoop into the Queen's past in order to grab his attention.
Emperor Xuanzhi was already thinking about how to find out who was betraying Jiang Changning.
The Queen Mother asked, "The Emperor's handwriting is truly extraordinary. How about the handwriting of Feng Xiunu?"
Emperor Xuanzhi was just about to take the piece of paper with the poem on it to read it when the wooden table on which the fruits were placed suddenly shook violently and then fell over.
"Oh no, there's an earthquake!" Emperor Xuanzhi reacted immediately.
The Imperial Garden is still relatively empty, but Jiang Changning is still in Qiyuan Palace!
"You guys protect the empress dowager." Emperor Xuanzhi ran towards the Qiyuan Palace.
"Emperor, Emperor, where are you going?" The Empress Dowager failed to catch Emperor Xuanzhi immediately.
"I want to go see Ningning." Emperor Xuanzhi was anxious and called out Jiang Changning's maiden name in public.
The empress dowager stared blankly at Emperor Xuanzhi who was running away. He cared so much about Jiang, even if she forced a few beautiful girls on him, she was afraid they would not be able to share Jiang's favor.
The concubines all looked pale, and no one knew whether they were frightened by the earthquake or because they were disheartened by the fact that Emperor Xuanzhi cared so much about the Empress.
When Emperor Xuanzhi rushed to Qiyuan Palace, Jiang Changning had already escaped under the protection of Xiulan and others.
The Qiyuan Palace was renovated a few years ago and is very sturdy, so it is not greatly affected by the earthquake.
Seeing Emperor Xuanzhi who was a little out of breath, Jiang Changning asked with concern: "Your Majesty, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Are you hurt?" asked Emperor Xuanzhi.
Jiang Changning shook his head. "I'm fine. Oh, my sons are still in the study."
Emperor Xuanzhi's heart skipped a beat, but he still tried to comfort her, "With Lord Huang here, nothing will happen."
Jiang Changning was still worried because he didn't see his son, but the aftershocks started again, and the shaking was so severe that it was impossible to move.
After a while, several eunuchs brought three children over. The children's faces turned pale with fear. When they saw Jiang Changning, the prince remained calm, but Xiaobai and Xiaoqian rushed over and shouted, "Mom."
"Don't be afraid, my two dears. Daddy and mom are here." Jiang Changning hugged his two sons and comforted them softly.
Xiao Qian cried, "Mom, it was so scary. I was almost hit by the shelf."
Emperor Xuanzhi glared at Xiaoqian's eunuchs.
The palace was fine after the earthquake, but many houses in the city collapsed and countless civilians were killed or injured. Several officials were unlucky and had their heads broken and bleeding, including Prince Yu.
(End of this chapter)