"Qiu Hongzhi and Concubine Bian accidentally murdered Qiu Jinzhu?" Qiu Yilan's relationship with the Xihe Palace has become estranged. They are still her natal family in name. After such a big thing happened to her natal family, it is impossible for her not to go back.
Also returning to the province were Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Mingzhu.
Qiu Mingzhu, a concubine, did not have the title of princess, but her reputation was higher than that of Qiu Baozhu, the second princess, all because she had a concubine and aunt. Now Concubine Bian and her son are in tragedy, not to mention her father. Seeing that Princess Yang is about to head the palace, Qiu Mingzhu's whole body seems to be soaked with coptis - even though she arrived at the same time as Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Yilan , but didn’t even have time to say hello to the sisters, and hurriedly ran to Qiu Mengmin to find out the reason for this great change.
However, Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Yilan didn't care about the life or death of anyone in the palace, so they happened to be walking slowly behind to exchange information - Qiu Baozhu's husband had a very low official position, so low that he was not even qualified to travel with him to escape the summer heat. She couldn't get along. The last time she came here was a special trip. She could arrive quickly now because Jiang Yashuang greeted her family not long ago, promoted her county horse, and hinted that she would get it for the couple. A place to escape the summer heat.
So although she was the older sister, her knowledge was very limited. After walking a few steps and seeing only the two sisters around, she asked softly what happened.
After listening to Qiu Yilan's rough words, Qiu Baozhu couldn't help but be shocked: "How is this possible?"
She was not surprised that Qiu Hongzhi and Concubine Bian would actually harm Qiu Jinzhu, but, "These two can stand up against the suppression of my aunt, how could they be so careless?"
"It's your aunt's method!" Qiu Yilan said cheerfully, "It is said that the decoction that poisoned Qiu Jinzhu turned out to be containing two kinds of poisons - one happened to cover up the traces of the other, so Your aunt first went to Concubine Bian and beat Concubine Bian almost to death. However, your father didn't believe it when he arrived. He decided to find a doctor with good medical skills to check the decoction, and then hired an imperial doctor. I took a look, okay! It turns out there is another kind of poison! After another check, Qiu Hongzhi was also dragged into the water!"
Although Qiu Baozhu had no news, she still thought about it after hearing this: "So, what do you mean, the father is now?" Qiu Mengmin said to the outside world that he was so angry with his concubine and his eldest son that he vomited blood and was bedridden. His current health condition is very poor. Worrying.
"Second sister, you have a son and a daughter. You haven't relied on your mother's family in these years in your husband's family. What are you afraid of?" Qiu Yilan said lightly, "It is the fourth sister who should be crying. She is not pregnant until now. This After a year of mourning, who knows how many flowers and plants will be added to the backyard?”
Qiu Yilan has already spoken out about her filial piety, which shows that Qiu Mengmin's fate has been decided.
Qiu Baozhu's expression changed for a long time, and then she said with a mixture of sadness and joy: "He also has this day!"
However, this result did not satisfy her very much, "We agreed before... now the next king of Xihe will be our seventh brother?"
What she wanted was for her mother Li to rest in peace. Although Li's death was forced to death by Lu and Qiu Mengmin, Princess Yang, who had never been married at the time, was not the direct murderer, but the indirect responsibility was unshirkable: the Yang family had another It’s not that they didn’t know that Qiu Mengmin had a wife. If they hadn’t secretly agreed to marry her daughter because they wanted to be the princess, how could Lu and Qiu Mengmin do it
Of course, the temptation of the hereditary king's concubine would not exist without the Yang family but Zhao Qiansun and Zhou Wuzheng. But since it was Princess Yang who got her wish, it was natural for her to bear the wrath of the Li family's daughter. Unless you are dreaming, how can you get benefits without paying the price? !
Not to mention that Princess Yang tortured Qiu Baozhu a lot!
Even when Qiu Baozhu's biological father was about to die, he always said "He will have this day too". How could he think that his stepmother killed her father and became a concubine, so that she could comfort the poor Li family
Qiu Yilan heard the dissatisfaction in her tone and smiled: "Second sister, what else does the Xihe Palace have now besides the title?"
"... Then just wait." Qiu Baozhu thought for a while. It is true that her mother's family is getting worse day by day. She also knows that Qiu Yinzhi's younger brother has no ambition, is arrogant and incompetent. Unless there is an accident, he will not be able to achieve anything. . Even Princess Yang, who was originally a coquettish daughter of an official family and forced her mother to die in hatred to make way for her, her natal family was also in dire straits - leaving the mother and son to survive... just barely.
After all, Qiu Baozhu also knew that the reason why Qiu Jinzhu suffered this fatal disaster was purely because she blocked the further marriage between Queen Mother Gu and Kuang Shihan.
If the Xihe Palace died suddenly, outsiders would inevitably guess that it was Queen Mother Gu or Kuang Shihan's fault.
"After waiting for a while, Kuang Qingwu married Princess Changping. No one can remember the Xihe Palace..." As they spoke, the two of them had already reached the door of the back hall. Qiu Baozhu looked deeply into the back hall, and for a moment he felt resentful. The feeling is beyond words.
But when Xiuyan came out, she had returned to her usual indifferent expression.
"Is Auntie in there? We heard that something happened at home, so we came back to have a look." Seeing Qiu Baozhu's expressionless expression, Qiu Yilan said to Xiuyan.
Xiuyan answered respectfully and invited them in.
When they got to the hall, they saw Princess Yang sitting at the top very haggardly. She told them in a hoarse voice that they didn't have to be polite, and then asked them to sit down.
The two sisters did not have a good relationship with her. They had exchanged the inside story of the incident in the palace on the road. At this moment, facing Princess Yang, the nominally saddest but actual beneficiary, neither of them had the interest to talk.
After a few words of conversation, when I asked about Qiu Mengmin, both sisters Yu Qing and Yuli asked to go visit and attend to the illness. Only then did Princess Yang's haggard, sad, and despairing and numb expression change: "Normally, with your filial piety, I It's very wrong. But you don't know that the prince was so angry with those bastards that he vomited blood in public. Later, he was helped into the inner room and he vomited two large bowls of blood while holding the edge of the bed... "
Speaking of which, he took the handkerchief and nodded at the corner of his eye, "No matter how much tranquilizer he drank these past two days, he couldn't sleep! He didn't really fall asleep until this morning - but I hope he can have a good sleep."
Qiu Yilan had originally been talking about it, but now she just followed the trend and said: "In this case, we can't disturb uncle's arrangement."
Princess Yang was about to answer when she suddenly heard Qiu Baozhu whispering in a feigned surprise: "Father, can't you interrupt us now? Then the fourth sister just came in and said she was going to see our father?"
"What?" Princess Yang frowned when she heard this and looked at Xiuyan, "Is there such a thing?"
Xiuyan also looked surprised: "I haven't heard of this!"
"Go and take a look!" Princess Yang looked annoyed, "Filial piety must also be measured. Can the prince be disturbed now?!"
Qiu Yilan turned the bracelet on her wrist without making a sound. From the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of joy flashing across Qiu Baozhu's expression - Princess Yang had booked her status as a widow. Did she take good care of this other courtyard? Did she know that Qiu Mingzhu didn't come to her place? Did you go to Qiu Mengmin's place right after you came
The two masters and servants are now pretending to be surprised and don't know, fearing that they plan to tell others in the future: "The princess just suffered the pain of losing her daughter, and it was found out that it was the fault of her family. She is so sad that she can't express it! How can she still have the energy?" Controlling the servants? The seventh young master is young... And who would have thought that the fourth lady would be so inconsiderate to the prince? The prince was so angry that he could hardly fall asleep. When the fourth lady ran over like this, the prince... could anything happen to the prince? ?"
"Poor Qiu Mingzhu!" Qiu Yilan sneered in her heart, "I'm really so anxious that I don't want to think about Qiu Mengmin's three sons. The only one who can inherit the king's title is Qiu Yinzhi! She hasn't passed up Princess Yang yet. If you’re allowed, go and see Qiu Mengmin first. If you can’t see her, forget about it. If you can, you’ll fall into a trap!”
Qiu Baozhu deliberately brought up this topic, obviously to follow Princess Yang's arrangement and push Qiu Mingzhu into the pit. After all, she, Qiu Mengmin's first wife and legitimate daughter, lived the worst life among the daughters of the Qiu family. As the eldest sister, none of her biological sisters respected her as the eldest sister! Now that the situation has changed, it is her turn as the older sister to teach her younger sisters a lesson!
After a while, Xiuyan brought someone to seize Qiu Mingzhu. As soon as she entered the door, she knelt down and apologized: "The fourth lady did enter before the second and fifth princesses and went directly to the prince! The maid didn't know anything about this. , It’s really dereliction of duty…”
Princess Yang didn't want to hear what she had to say and asked directly: "How is the prince doing now?"
"Replying to the princess, the prince was asleep before, but the fourth lady came over and said that he came to visit on the princess's order. Old slave..."
"Bastard!" Princess Yang interrupted her mother-in-law angrily, "I didn't even know she was coming back, so how could I let her come in to visit?! What did I warn you in the first place? The prince fell asleep easily, so don't disturb him! There are thousands of mountains and rivers in this courtyard? Why don't you come and check before letting her in?"
"Nonsense!" Qiu Mingzhu screamed at the same time, "I never pretended to be the princess! When I arrived at my father's courtyard, they let me in directly. I didn't know that my father -"
Qiu Yilan covered the untouched tea and looked at each other with Qiu Baozhu, knowing that the matter would be settled at this point.
... That evening, Qiu Mengmin, king of Xihe, passed away.
The concubine Bian who poisoned Princess Ningtai died long before Empress Dowager Gu issued the order to dispose of her. Of course, even so, her identity as a concubine was removed and she was buried with the rites of a commoner.
Qiu Hongzhi, who was almost beaten to death by Princess Yang, was also charged with murdering his sister and angering his own father to death. He was also destined to die.
Naturally, Qiu Mingzhu's end was not good either. Her husband's family hired her because her aunt was a beloved concubine. Now that her backer was gone and she was charged with a crime that caused her own father to not survive, she was ready. He gave her a letter of divorce for some reason!
... Qiu Maozhi, the eighth son of Concubine Bian, died in infancy. The date of his death was vague and the reason was unclear. However, everyone had a tacit understanding and did not mention it. They just lamented the tragedy in the Xihe Palace and lamented the relationship between Princess Yang and the new Xihe Prince Qiu Yinzhi. of misery.
The marriage promise that Kuang Qingwu made in the palace, in front of Queen Mother Gu and Queen Jiang, was forgotten like this, as if it had never happened.
However, the public opinion caused by the tragedy at Xihe Palace did not last long. The new news that King Zhou was about to get married and that the seventh prince would be enthroned quickly turned it into old news.
When the summer vacation was over and on the way back to Beijing, everyone was concerned about the two upcoming royal weddings.