After a while, Princess Changping walked in gracefully and bowed down at the foot of Danqi: "My dearest son, please wish my mother a happy life!"
Qiu Yilan saw her from a distance at last year's Wanshou Festival, but she didn't pay much attention at the time. Now she took a closer look and saw that her eyebrows were like green feathers and her face was like a hibiscus; she had a fairy bun with double rings and a flower crown on her head; Wearing an apricot red double-breasted jacket with narrow sleeves, the bellyband embroidered with goose-yellow begonia flowers is exposed on the chest. The arms are tied with brocade silk, the waist is tied with a colorful ribbon, and the skirt is tied with a green and tea-white skirt. The corners of the skirt are secretly tied with golden bells. When walking, With the sound of bells, it reveals a bit of girlish liveliness in its elegance and calmness.
"After all, she was cultivated by Empress Dowager Gu herself." In terms of appearance, Chang Ping is not as refined as Yong Fu, but in terms of demeanor, the elegant and graceful Princess Chang Ping is more in line with the image of an imperial daughter in ordinary people's imagination than the out-of-touch Princess Yong Fu. Qiu Yilan looked away and thought to herself, "Of course this is because Queen Mother Gu raised her in the hope that she would be useful. Naturally, she would not like Queen Jiang to raise Princess Yongfu. But if it hurts, Princess Yongfu can do whatever she likes."
But the queen asked indifferently: "What's the matter with you coming here?"
"I'm going back to my mother, my daughter is here to tell you the good news on the order of the Imperial Grandmother!" Princess Changping said respectfully, which surprised both the Queen and Qiu Yilan, "Just now, the second sister-in-law was a bit unbecoming when she paid her respects to the Imperial Grandmother. , the imperial grandmother ordered the imperial doctor to diagnose that the second sister-in-law is more than a month pregnant!"
"Really?" After hearing these words, Queen Jiang's face darkened!
Bei Que Hall was silent for a while. Although Qiu Yilan, who was sitting at the bottom, was calm and silent, from the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Princess Changping's forehead, and a little bit of cold sweat was oozing out, which showed the panic in the seemingly calm Jinzhiyuye at this moment. .
Qiu Yilan didn't know very well that Queen Jiang had been tricked by Queen Mother Gu when she was young, so it was difficult to have heirs. Therefore, she had always hated things like Queen Mother Gu's side of having children. I just thought that the Queen promised to give Princess Changping a decent surrender gift so that the Seventh Prince could continue to overpower the King of Zhou. As a result, Princess Changping immediately came to report that Princess Yan Tang Xinyao was pregnant... You must know that the Queen's niece Jiang Qiyun married before Tang Xinyao. There's no movement yet!
"Whether it is intentional or not, Princess Changping is a slap in the face right now." Qiu Yilan muttered in her heart, "I wonder if the queen will be so angry that she will not pave the way for the seventh prince, but also want to look good to her. ? But no matter how domineering the queen is, she won’t be willful in such a serious matter, right? "
She was pretending to be waiting for the queen to regain her composure, but Princess Changping knew very well that the queen was not simply unhappy or angry at all. She was probably being reminded of the most regretful thing in her heart, so she looked at her nose and heart, and she was extremely well-behaved. !
After a long time, Empress Jiang said expressionlessly: "In that case, let's do it according to the rules." After saying that, she glanced at the little maid at the door of the palace and said, "Go tell Madam Lin."
Lin is the Queen's confidant and the one who manages the Sixth Palace on behalf of the Queen.
Princess Changping carefully thanked the Queen for her kindness on behalf of Tang Xinyao. Only then did the Queen say softly: "Get up and talk."
Princess Changping, whose legs were already numb from her knees, still didn't dare to take it lightly. She kowtowed again before she dared to get up. She tried hard to maintain her posture and not expose the numbness in her joints: "My son, thank you, my mother!"
"Chang Ping, it's time for you to descend." Queen Jiang's seemingly careless words made Princess Chang Ping's face suddenly change. "There are many civil and military officials in this dynasty, as well as new scholars, are there any that you like?"
Princess Changping forced a smile and said: "I would like to thank my mother for her care! It's just that I was raised and cultivated by the imperial grandmother, and now I can't bear to leave the imperial grandmother, so..."
"Your younger brothers and sisters have also reached the age of marriage. If you don't come down, are you going to block their good life?" The queen interrupted her coldly.
Princess Changping almost wanted to vomit blood. This reason made it impossible for her to evade the perfunctory explanation, so she had to say: "My mother suddenly mentioned this matter today. I am really confused and have no clue. Please give me a few days to think about it!"
Under normal circumstances, she should say something like "the mother decides everything, and children and ministers are subject to the orders of the mother." This not only conforms to the mainstream thinking of this era of "parents make the decision in marriage matters", but also shows that she is reserved and pure and does not want men at all - But for an aunt like Queen Jiang, who knows if she will be quickly promised a mess by the Queen as soon as she says such words... Even if she is not a mess, she is still a dispensable person
Therefore, after weighing the matter, the princess did not care about being secretly teased by others, and directly said, "Since you, Queen Mother, gave me the opportunity to choose by myself, I will think carefully about choosing a good one."
"That's right, you were raised by my mother, so you want to go back and discuss it with her." Empress Jiang narrowed her eyes and looked at her playfully, "Then you go back and give me a confirmation letter in two days."
"... I thank my mother for her thoughtfulness!" Unexpectedly, Princess Changping couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly kowtowed to thank her.
After Princess Changping left, Qiu Yilan also proposed to resign.
Empress Jiang's expression turned grim when she heard that Tang Xinyao was pregnant. She didn't keep her here anymore and just said: "I have prepared the meeting gift for you after you entered the house. As for the sixteenth daughter-in-law, I will give it to you later." If you bring some nourishing food from the storehouse, you can say that I reward her."
"Yes!" Qiu Yilan agreed. Seeing that the queen had no other words to say, she bowed and left, following the palace attendants out the door.
When she got outside and saw the Queen's greeting gift to her, a row of jewels and silks, she couldn't help but laugh or cry: "I came into the palace today and took a carriage..." Even if I was willing to walk back, I couldn't fit it in!
"Don't worry, I have just sent people to look for the Eighth Young Master Jiang in the Royal Forest Army. Please ask the Eighth Young Master to find you a palace carriage and find a few people to drive it with you." Ni Jin, a familiar palace lady, came up and said, "I used to do this when the empress had many rewards."
Qiu Yilan thanked her hurriedly and picked up a jade bracelet to give her as a gift - her status was no better than before. Who in the government and the public didn't know that the queen loved Jiang Yashuang's nephew the most? Ni Jin refused to accept it at this moment: "I have already taken many benefits from you, young lady, how can I ask for something as precious as yours now? I am just sending someone to run an errand."
"If you don't accept it, you're going to have an affair with me. I brought this bracelet to the palace specifically for you today. Do you think it looks better on your wrist?" Qiu Yilan pretended to be unhappy, but Nijin was really serious when she saw her. She wanted to give it, so she happily accepted it, and she whispered a few words to her in return: "Although it is said that every young lady will receive a reward when she comes to see the empress for the first time. But no one else has as much as you. , Not as good as this! It shows how much the queen likes the young lady!"
"This is because the empress loves Nineteen. How can I be so virtuous and capable?" Qiu Yilan did not take this seriously. In the eyes of the empress, the first junior must be Princess Yongfu, the second is Jiang Yashuang, and the third is Chunfu. Princess... and then the other nieces and nephews, nieces and nephews... So many blood relatives are here, niece-in-law? God knows where? This special honor at the moment is nothing more than a wife being valued more than her husband.
However, as a young granddaughter-in-law, the greeting gift exceeded that of the sisters-in-law above... Qiu Yilan couldn't help but wonder if Queen Jiang did this on purpose
"Even the queen hopes that the conflict between our house and other houses can be more acute?" They are also nieces and nephews. The youngest niece received the most generous greeting gift. In a normal family, the first one to bear the brunt is of course Qiu Yilan. It will cause jealousy and dissatisfaction among the sisters-in-law.
but…
Right now, this is affecting more than just the backyard!
Queen Jiang is already a quasi-Queen Mother in the eyes of some people in the Jiang family. How important is her attitude towards her family
Dafang, who has already enjoyed the preferential supply of resources from the Jiang family, Sanfang, who has been believing for many years that as the eldest son, he should not be inferior to his cousin... and Liufang, who has not yet revealed his clear ambitions, but cannot ignore the past. Room and eighth room…
Will they be willing to watch Queen Jiang become the Queen Mother and still favor Jiang Yashuang and Sifang as before
"That's right, attacking in groups makes the Queen's support even more important." Qiu Yilan laughed in her heart, "It seems that everyone wants to help us when we need it!"
Do you want to give them a heavy snowfall first
Nijin didn't know what was going on in her heart, but she still smiled and said, "I love the Nineteenth Young Master, but I also like you very much."
After saying a few words, seeing that she was far away from the people around her, she lowered her voice and revealed, "I really didn't expect Princess Yan to be pregnant first, but now Princess Qi is embarrassed."
Qiu Yilan said with a smile: "Children are all destined to be together. Maybe there will be good news about my fifteenth sister tomorrow?"
"What you said is true." Ni Jin said thoughtfully, "But... my servant has heard some news."
"Can you tell me?" Qiu Yilan asked, but she knew that Ni Jin was willing to say this just to tell herself.
Sure enough, Ni Jin's voice was even lower: "You must not tell anyone else! Otherwise, if the empress knows that your servant is so talkative, she will definitely not be able to spare her!"
"Look what you said, how could I harm you?" Qiu Yilan said lightly.
"...I heard that Princess Qi thought that King Qi was cowardly and incompetent. Since her marriage, she rarely allowed King Qi to enter the inner room, and always let him stay in the study." Ni Jin echoed, "She even asked King Qi when there was no one around... Repeatedly There were beatings and scoldings... The queen found out two days ago and called her over to scold her. However, the maid looked at Princess Qi's expression when she left and didn't seem to listen. "
Qiu Yilan was surprised on her face: "Isn't she... bullying King Qi too much? After all, he is her husband!" But she was not surprised at all in her heart: "Jiang Qiyun's arrogant and domineering nature... Son, she can’t even accept that her biological cousin is more beautiful than her, let alone her mother’s dream of honoring the world was shattered. However, King Qi is weak and mediocre, and his biological mother is also humble... How can he not be angered and bullied by her? "
"Who says it's not the case?" It can be seen that Ni Jin sympathizes with King Qi, "His Royal Highness King Qi is loyal and honest, and he dare not say anything when he is wronged. I heard from people that I often see His Highness King Qi secretly talking in the garden in the middle of the night. Crying... This is... too pitiful... After all, it's the blood of the Tian family!"
The corner of Qiu Yilan's mouth twitched: "The eldest son of the emperor in his twenties was forced to this point? Is Jiang Qiyun really just doing things for her own pleasure and not caring about the life and death of others? However, if she really wants to force this prince out, she will do something good. , Can she do it by herself? What an idiot!"
But this was definitely not the right thing to say. She could only say: "Fortunately, the Queen is fair and strict, and with the Queen's pity, Sister Fifteen will probably restrain herself a lot in the future."
Just as Ni Jin was about to speak, a palace official came over and said, "The carriages, horses and manpower have been prepared. Do you want to go back now, madam?"
Of course Qiu Yilan would go back now. Although she wanted to see if Nijin had any other news to tell her, the queen didn't leave any food, so she would inevitably look ignorant if she stayed here for a long time.
Ni Jin sent her to the palace gate as usual, and the two of them exchanged pleasantries before saying goodbye. The carriage left the square in front of the palace and turned into the street. Qiu Yilan felt a little hot, so she asked Su He to lift a corner of the car curtain to let in some wind. , while holding the handkerchief to his forehead, suddenly a burst of rapid horse hooves rolled past!
Su He suddenly exclaimed, and Shen Shui, who was in the car with her, teased her: "Are you afraid of just the sound of hoofbeats?"
"The person who passed by just now seems to be the Eighth Young Master!" Su He, who was always sharp-tongued, did not bother to argue with her at this moment, and hurriedly pulled Qiu Yilan's sleeve and said, "He is still wearing the uniform of the Royal Forest Army... He is looking in the right direction. Go back to the palace!"
"Something happened at home?!" Qiu Yilan's heart sank, and she ordered the coachman in a deep voice, "Quick! Don't worry about the things in the car behind you, go back quickly!!!"