The day after Jiang Yashuang had a long talk with Qiu Yilan, the charges against the Dou family were confirmed, and the outcome was exactly as Jiang Yashuang said - the whole family was executed, and family members under the age of sixteen were exempted from death according to the law, but all Official sale, the kind that cannot be redeemed.
A few days ago, he was still a noble man who was arrogant, but he fell to this level in a blink of an eye. Thinking of what her husband said, Qiu Yilan couldn't help but feel guilty.
When I went to the third room to help, I found an opportunity to go to see He Shuijin alone and said to her: "Although Nineteen did not guess the truth, he has always been suspicious. Yesterday, he beat me again. He actually suspected Went to the government, you said...?"
He Shuijin understood what she meant and said cautiously: "Don't worry, I understand why there is no way for an egg to be completed under the whole family! If I really don't care, why should I ask you to keep it a secret when I was in Dizi Mountain? This matter, It will always be limited to the backyard of this three-bedroom house!”
Qiu Yilan breathed a sigh of relief: "Sister-in-law, don't blame me for being petty. It's true that the Tao family, the Dou family, and the Duan family fell so suddenly and quickly. Even though I was a bystander, I felt uneasy!"
"Why am I not?" He Shuijin sighed, feeling the same way, "It's cold at high places - so we all need to take care!"
"It's my turn to advise my sister-in-law to take care of herself." Qiu Yilan looked at her pale complexion. Although she knew that part of it was due to the powder, the two dark spots at the moment were definitely not drawn with charcoal, but were caused by the past few days. Due to hard work, "The day after tomorrow is the New Year's Eve banquet. Do you want my sister-in-law to take leave?"
A banquet is given on New Year's Eve, and given the current prominence of the Jiang family, anyone who wants to go, big or small, is eligible.
However, even if you, as a descendant, do not need to be nervous at the banquet, it is definitely time-consuming and energy-consuming to participate in this complicated ceremony with strict makeup and formal clothes.
With He Shuijin's current responsibilities and her health condition, it is really not suitable for her to attend this banquet.
Fortunately, she didn't mean to force herself. She shook her head and said, "I have sent someone to tell the elders not to go. After all, there is a mountain of things at hand, and I don't dare to worry about it now." If she could go to the New Year's Eve banquet, wouldn't it be known to others? Does she still have some energy left? How to combine work and rest next? What should I do if I don’t combine work and rest, and when I’m exhausted, I watch other people give birth to a son for my husband, or even close my eyes and give up my position to the next person? !
Qiu Yilan didn't know that she was thinking about these problems fiercely in her heart, so she breathed a sigh of relief on her behalf: "That's fine, it's really best for my sister-in-law to rest for now."
"If you meet Fu Bing when you enter the palace, stay with her!" He Shuijin suddenly said.
"Sister-in-law, are you still worried that she can't think about it? Zhuang Man and Ah Xing visited her last time. When Zhuang Man came to see me later, she said that she sincerely hoped that Ah Xing's brother and Yongfu would grow old together!" Qiu Yilan said with a smile, "Oh, Or is your sister-in-law afraid that she will hate you? It shouldn’t be the case. Fu Bing was not unhappy with her at first, but just out of anger. "
He Shuijin shook his head and said: "Although Fu Bing has a little temper, he still understands the general situation. Otherwise, why would he get into the eyes of Fourth Aunt? It's not that I'm worried about other things, but - if you think about the current situation, Fu Bing, as the seventh prince, My soon-to-be fiancée, who knows if someone will plot against her at the table?”
She lowered her voice, "Not only the Queen Mother's group, but also our own side, there are many people who want to be in the palace in the future! So I asked you to stay with her more. If someone wants to harm her, I think there will be You can always block some for her!"
Qiu Yilan suddenly realized that she was indeed inexperienced and far less considerate than He Shuijin, so she asked humbly: "Then do we still need to pay attention to other people and things?"
"After the fifteenth sister came back from Dizi Mountain, she stayed outside the city for a long time because she was sick and needed to rest. She probably won't come back this time." He Shuijin didn't hide his secrets and told her in detail, "With her absence, we have one less person here who can fight with Princess Yan and Princess Zhou. But you also know that she is not only powerful to others, she is not much better to her own people! So not coming back is actually a big deal. Good thing! But something happened to the Dou family, and the eldest aunt must be in a bad mood! We can't argue with her, and telling people to report it to my grandfather would make it worse. So be careful with your words, and don't irritate the eldest aunt or sister-in-law! !”
He added, "I don't know whether Princess Lu will participate this time, but if she is smart, she should participate! After all, her position as the princess is actually the fourth aunt and grandmother out of love to give the Tao family the last dignity! What if? Claiming to be sick this time will not only make Fourth Aunt unhappy, but will also miss the opportunity for Fourth Aunt to give her dignity - Fourth Aunt is always the concubine appointed by King Lu. She has done nothing wrong herself. In front of everyone, Fourth Aunt is indispensable. How about promoting her? So if she participates, be careful not to mention anything that makes her uncomfortable. "
Qiu Yilan murmured in her heart: "You want to give the Tao family the last dignity out of love? I think you are throwing away an unimportant prince to paralyze the Tao family, right? Whether it is the Queen Mother's party or the Tao family, it seems that Queen Jiang actually abandoned Zhuang Man , the Miss Shi family also wanted to choose Tao Yibin as Princess Lu. She must have felt that this was because the queen and Mrs. Tao were thinking about the Tao family. Who would have thought that by that time the Jiang family was already digging a hole for the Tao family. Woolen cloth?"
Fortunately, King Lu and King Qi are similar, they are both honest and weak types. Otherwise, I don’t know how Tao Yibin would live his life
He Shuijin explained some things that a daughter-in-law should do and pay attention to when going to such a banquet, and finally said with a smile: "I wonder if the eighth sister-in-law will also feel unwell. If she goes, then you can just follow her. . Sister-in-law Eight never breaks the rules!”
"That's true, but Sister-in-law Eight finally got pregnant. She's not even three months old yet. I'm afraid grandma will let Sister-in-law Eight spend New Year's Eve at home just to be on the safe side!" Qiu Yilan said with a slight smile.
She really got her guessing - Mrs. Tao announced the next day that the four granddaughter-in-laws, Xiao Tao, Shi, He Shuijin and Sheng Shishui, were not among those attending the New Year's Eve banquet.
Among them, the reason for He Shuijin's absence was tacitly understood; little Tao's reason was because she got pregnant, and Mrs. Tao was afraid that something would happen to her, so she decided not to go out; Sheng Shishui had two reasons: The first is that her daughter is still young and she is worried about leaving; the second is that Mrs. Tao is worried that Jiang Yadan's backyard will take advantage of everyone in the family to have a banquet. .
Among the four grandson-in-laws, Shi's reason is more complicated: she started complaining of illness when He Shuijin asked her sisters-in-law to help with the accounts. Basically, her illness was cured by He Shuijin without the help of her sisters-in-law. Everyone is aware of this, but it is not hard to blame Mr. Shi - after all, no one who has lost his biological son can accept frequent encounters with people who are related to his son's suicide.
And Mrs. Shi didn't argue with He Shuijin, she just didn't want to see her sister-in-law, so as not to arouse sadness.
So the elders also pretended to be ignorant, and Mrs. Tao just thought that she was also sick and could not attend the banquet.
Everyone who was attending the banquet began to prepare. In fact, they had already prepared their clothes and other items. After the list was finalized, they took it out and checked it again.
In the blink of an eye, in the evening of the next day, the female relatives, all dressed up according to their grades, gathered in the back hall to wait for Mrs. Tao. When it was almost light, they all gathered around the old lady and got into the car and entered the palace.
On this day, Mrs. Dou and Mrs. Xiao Dou both came with force. Qiu Yilan looked at the aunt-nephew and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who were so haggard that they almost had to be supported by a maid to move. She speculated that they were not claiming to be sick. By insisting on entering the palace, he probably wanted to follow Empress Jiang's path and try to give the remaining members of the Dou family a chance of survival
It's just that Duke Qin has decided to abandon the Dou family in exchange for Jiang Tianao's innocence, so they will probably be disappointed during this trip.
Everyone noticed that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the eldest house were very different from the usual public appearance, but they all remained silent. Obviously no one is a fool, and the Dou family is in tragedy, but Mrs. Dou and Mrs. Dou have long been married to the Jiang family. Both of them have their own sons to support them. According to Qin Guogong's style of always attaching great importance to the blood of the Jiang family, they will not He was abandoned because of the collapse of the Dou family.
The public ridicule at this moment will actually arouse the dissatisfaction of Qin Guogong, which will gain sympathy points for Dafang.
In a silence that was different from the noise in previous years, the female members of the Jiang family entered the palace.
The preferential treatment that Mrs. Tao received was that she could rest in a warm palace without waiting at all. Watching Queen Jiang receive many noble ladies - of course, as the granddaughter-in-law, they all stood...
As the only granddaughter-in-law whose mother-in-law was not around, Qiu Yilan naturally stood behind Mrs. Tao, glanced around, and was slightly surprised: "Princess Chunfu didn't come?! Now the Queen and Mrs. Tao will definitely ask questions. - Qiu Feng, you are miserable!"
Sure enough, the queen wanted to deal with the ladies. She glanced at the seat prepared for Jiang Qizheng several times and had nothing to say. Mrs. Tao was just chatting quietly with a few nearby Yipin Gaomings here. It was easy to take time out. She turned around and asked Qiu Yilan: "Why hasn't Zheng'er arrived yet? Go out and ask if it's snowing too much and you will be delayed on the way." ?”
If she was really delayed, she would be so angry with Qiu Feng that she would fall ill or not want to go out.
Qiu Yilan smiled bitterly in her heart, but she had no choice but to accept the job.
Fortunately, when I went out of the palace to ask, a palace official said: "Just now, a message came from the palace gate, saying that the chief historian of Princess Chunfu's Mansion was asking for an audience at the palace gate. It was said that Princess Chunfu twisted her foot when she was about to go out, so she had to I apologize. I also want to speak out for the Prince Consort. He is worried that His Highness is alone in the house, so he cannot come. "
She thanked the palace man, went back to the palace, lay on Mrs. Tao's shoulder and repeated her words. Mrs. Tao was slightly surprised when she heard this: "How serious is the sprain?"
"The palace official said it's not a big problem, it's just that I can't land for two or three days."
"Well, it shouldn't be a big deal." The old lady felt relieved, with a smile on her face, "As long as everything is fine, just don't come if you don't come. It's not a big deal... I feel relieved that the prince-in-law cares about Zheng'er so much. "
Qiu Yilan smiled stiffly: "You're right!" She couldn't imagine how angry the Jiang family would be when the truth was revealed in the future.
"It's better to persuade my brother to take Qiu Feng away earlier!" She thought painfully, "With Qiu Feng gone, Chunfu can still act well... Add in the fact that Qiu Feng is in front of her every day to stimulate her, no wonder she hides from her parents everywhere. ! How can it go on like this? ”
It can't be delayed any longer!
Qiu Jinglan said before that he would solve the problem, but it had been so long since he had seen Jiang Qizheng happily return to her parents' home. I was afraid that either he would fail in his attempt, or he would fail in his early journey to the west. In short, Qiu Yilan decided that he must find her in the first month of the year. Showdown between Jiang Qizheng and his wife!
Just as he was thinking about how to persuade this awkward couple, a crisp voice suddenly sounded: "Princess Ningyi?"
Qiu Yilan turned her head and saw a beauty in palace clothes walking not far away with a smile to greet her - this person was slightly plump and looked very good. She was none other than Princess Yan Tang Xinqiong!
… Naturally, the intention is not good!
After the two met, Tang Xinqiong smiled and said: "I heard that my cousin Ruan Qingyan is still on his way to be appointed governor of Shasha? You should give him a heads up, so as not to imitate some people..." His eyes glanced at Dou who was not far away. Family name, Xiao Dou family, it means a lot, "Chang Shi has the right to enter the Zhenxi Army warehouse. I hope you can alert your cousin not to make mistakes for yourself, let alone for the country!"