"Why are you so nervous? Sister-in-law is the one who knows the rules best." Jiang Changning smiled meaningfully, "Sister-in-law, if you want to enter the palace, you have to hurry up. If the palace gates are closed soon, you won't be able to enter."
"Ms. Jiang, don't be so proud." Mrs. Qiao turned away, and the servants she brought with her let go of Liu Ye and left with her.
"Am I proud?" Jiang Changning asked.
Xiulan suppressed her laughter and said, "The princess is not proud."
Liu Ye knelt down and said, "I didn't do my job well. Please punish me, Princess."
"She is the master and you are the slave. You confronted her head-on and caused her to come and demand accountability. You deserve to be punished," Jiang Changning said with a cold face.
Liu Ye kowtowed without saying anything.
As expected of someone trained by the Queen Mother, he has good sense.
Jiang Changning exhaled lightly, "I'll punish you by making you wear a hundred silk cords."
Liu Ye's tense body relaxed, "Yes."
"Fangju, ask Chunlai to invite a doctor to come in and see Aunt Zhou."
Only after you recover from your illness can you chase the person away.
It is inhumane to kick out the patients.
After giving the order, Jiang Changning turned back to the warm room and continued reading her notebook.
In the afternoon, the second wife of Baling Palace, Mrs. Jiang, handed in a visiting card, wanting to visit Jiang Changning at the palace.
"Just say I'm busy and refuse." Jiang Changning didn't have time to entertain the people who wanted to send a concubine to King Jin. She was busy completing the task King Jin had given her. "Fang Ju, go get that colorful glass cup."
Zhou is in good physical condition. In two days, she will be able to come and pay her respects to Jiang Changning.
Jiang Changning looked at Zhou with complicated eyes. As a chess piece, she felt the same way about Zhou's fate, but she had to take action.
After setting up the trap for a few days, Jiang Changning told King Jin that night, "Tomorrow Zhou will be banished to the manor because she accidentally broke my beloved glass lamp, and I was furious and banished her to the manor."
Looking at Jiang Changning who was speaking expressionlessly, King Jin chuckled and raised his hand to touch her head, "I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Feeling the warmth above his head, Jiang Changning pulled the corners of his mouth hard and said with a fake smile: "It's good to be able to help Yong Zhou."
"Ningning is a good wife." Prince Jin said with a smile.
The next day, as planned, Zhou was knocked forward by the maid, pushing the glass cup that was placed there down, and it fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
The glass cup had been there for several days, and Zhou would never have imagined that it was a trap set for her.
"It seems that Aunt Zhou's illness has not yet recovered. She can't even stand steadily." Jiang Changning said with a cold face and displeasure.
"Princess, it was the little maid who bumped into me, and that's why I couldn't stand steadily. My illness has recovered." Zhou defended herself.
The little maid knelt on the ground and said, "Princess, I didn't bump into Aunt Zhou."
Zhou insisted that it was the maid who bumped into her, causing her to lose her balance and swoop over, knocking over the glass cup.
The maid insisted that she had not hit Aunt Zhou, but Aunt Zhou wrongly accused her and said, "If I had hit Aunt Zhou so hard, there would definitely be marks on her body. I beg the princess to examine Aunt Zhou's body to clear my name."
Jiang Changning stared at the maid for a long time without saying anything, as if he was wondering whether to agree to her request.
After a long while, Jiang Changning said, "Mrs. Park, take Aunt Zhou to the side room for a physical examination."
"Princess, although I am only a concubine, you cannot humiliate me like this." Aunt Zhou said with tears in her eyes.
"I was trying to find out the truth, but you said I was humiliating you. It seems that she didn't lie. She didn't bump into you. You deliberately wanted to knock over my glass cup." Jiang Changning slapped the table and said, "Someone, drag Zhou away and lock her up in the woodshed."
"Princess, I didn't..." Zhou's mouth was covered.
The maid came in to clean up the pile of broken glass on the floor. Jiang Changning said with lingering anger, "I treated her kindly, but she took advantage of me."
Park and Liu advised, "Princess, please calm down. Zhou is sick and confused. Your Majesty, please be magnanimous and punish her lightly."
One of them said, "The princess is kind-hearted. She asked a doctor to prescribe medicine for Zhou. Zhou is grateful to the princess and would not intentionally break something that the princess loves. She must be weak and unsteady, so she accidentally broke the glass cup."
"You mean I asked her to come and pay her respects despite being sick?" Jiang Changning asked coldly.
"That's not what I meant." Liu knelt down in fear.
Jiang Changning said expressionlessly: "There is nothing for you to do now, go back to the yard and rest."
"I'll take my leave." After the two concubines left, Jiang Changning took her maid to Liuxuanyuan to pay her respects to the imperial concubine.
Jiang Changning deliberately told her about Zhou's argument and breaking the glass cup, and asked in distress: "Mother, I have been married to the mansion for less than a month, and there is no rule on how to deal with a concubine who disrespects the mistress. Please teach me."
On the surface, Zhou was the concubine given to Prince Jin by the Queen Mother.
The Prince of Jin obviously did not intend to tell the Concubine Dowager the truth. If Jiang Changning dealt with Zhou without considering the Concubine Dowager's opinion, the Concubine Dowager would definitely feel uncomfortable.
Jiang Changning's attitude of asking for instructions from the Concubine Dowager really pleased her.
"She dared to disrespect the mistress. You can punish her however you want. It's best to punish her severely to prevent the others from causing trouble." The concubine dowager essentially dislikes concubines.
Of course, there is a difference in attitude towards one's husband's concubine and one's son's concubine.
"Zhou seems to be quite honest. He wouldn't do such a crazy thing, right? I'm afraid there's something else going on here." Qiao said.
Jiang Changning chuckled, "I didn't expect that my sister-in-law knows the prince's concubine so well."
There is something wrong with what you hear.
If you think about it more carefully, that is the biggest problem.
"We live in the same house, so we should know a little bit." Qiao argued.
"Sister-in-law, there's no need to be modest." Jiang Changning still had sarcasm in his words.
Qiao was silent for a moment, then asked, "How does the county lady plan to deal with Zhou?"
"Sister-in-law really cares about Zhou." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
Qiao held her breath and glared at Jiang Changning angrily.
Jiang Changning turned a blind eye and drank tea leisurely.
After having breakfast with the Concubine Dowager and chatting for a while, Jiang Changning returned to Rujingyuan, Qiao went to take care of the housework, and Princess Kangren went to the study to attend classes.
"Call Chunlai over." Jiang Changning ordered.
After a while, Chunlai came over trotting, "Princess, I greet you."
"You've worked hard these days." Jiang Changning gestured to Xiulan to give the purse to Chunlai, "When you're not on duty, go have a few drinks."
"It is my duty to serve the princess. It is not hard for me." Chunlai half bowed and said, "Thank you for the reward, princess."
"Take people to send Aunt Zhou and her maidservants to the farm outside the city." Jiang Changning said directly.
"Yes." Chunlai took the order and took his men to force Aunt Zhou and her two maids into the carriage.
(End of this chapter)