"Father, have you offended anyone?" Qu Qiuyan asked.
She came over as soon as Qu Zhizhen returned home. She was sitting in the study room and her face didn't look very good.
After not seeing each other for such a long time, Qu Zhizhen's face immediately darkened. "Who did you offend? It's because you entered Prince Jing's Mansion and offended people."
King Jing's mortal enemy is the Crown Prince. If there is anyone else who wants to bring him down, Qu Zhizhen really doesn't know who it is except His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
He stretched out his hand and rubbed his brows, "What did King Jing say?"
Just now in the hall, the people from King Jing's faction not only did not help him, but instead added insult to injury. Thinking of this, Qu Zhizhen felt annoyed.
He became more and more displeased with Qu Qiuyan.
"Father, His Highness wants you to think about who you have offended, and then think about how the prince calmed the emperor's anger. Wasn't this matter originally under the charge of the King of England? Why is he fine and the responsibility falls on you? Could it be related to the King of England?" Qu Qiuyan said.
Pei Yusheng asked her to say this.
She was still willing to shift the blame to another place, especially since it might be related to Qu Moying.
"Bang!" Qu Zhizhen slammed his hand heavily on the table. "It's already this time, and you're still talking about whether these are real or not. This matter is under the supervision of the King of England, and this matter was ordered by the Emperor!"
If possible, Qu Zhizhen would certainly like to let Pei Yuanjun take responsibility, but he doesn't dare to do so now.
“Father… I… I am concerned about you too, you… why are you…” Qu Qiuyan was startled and her eyes immediately turned red with grievance.
Qu Zhizhen calmed down his anger and let out a long breath: "This matter has nothing to do with you. You just need to stay in Prince Jing's Mansion and don't get involved in this matter."
"I thought so too, but Your Highness insisted that I come over to take a look." Qu Qiuyan said while wiping her tears.
Qu Zhizhen really felt that he had raised a fool. Why did he think that this daughter was the most useful one? She was brought up in luxury and was even suppressed by a concubine's daughter in the first wife's mansion for a period of time.
"The most important thing for you now is to manage the inner courtyard of Prince Jing's mansion well. It would be best if you could give birth to a child. Things outside have little to do with you. As long as I'm here... as long as your sister is still the Princess of Ying, the Princess of Jing won't dare to look down on you." Qu Zhizhen reminded him word by word.
Favor, seeking favor, and maintaining favor—this is what this daughter needs most right now.
"Father, the Princess of Jing is so powerful that I cannot compare to her. I could count on you before, but look at you now. My brother has caused such a thing again. You are not happy here either. I cannot hold my head up even in the Prince of Jing's Mansion. How can I let His Highness pay more attention to me?"
Qu Qiuyan complained aggrievedly.
The incident of Qu Mingcheng also made her lose face. In the past, she had a brother who could be relied upon by King Jing for support. But now, because of a lowly woman who was nothing, she had become like this. She had been ridiculed by King Jing's wife several times because of the incident of Qu Mingcheng.
Before, she even showed off to Princess Jing that she had a brother.
"Your brother's matter was set up by that woman... He is young now, so just wait a while. As for you... you should focus on King Jing the most now. Everything else is fake." Qu Zhizhen said in a deep voice. As a father, he couldn't say too much about some things. At this time, he felt that he needed a hostess more and more.
Xie Lian is a smart man and should be able to teach his daughter what to do.
"You go back first. If His Highness asks, just say I don't know either. The King of England... The King of England will check it out." Qu Zhizhen had no choice but to use Pei Yuanjun's banner.
No matter what Pei Yuanjun said, as long as he married his daughter, he could still use this banner at the critical moment.
Qu Qiuyan took this as a definite answer. She nodded, wiped away her tears, and stood up to say goodbye.
Qu Zhizhen waved his hand and asked her to leave. He didn't know how things would turn out. He had a vague feeling that if he lost the position of Shangshu this time, it would be difficult for him to get up again.
He has only been the Minister of Works for a short time, but now he has fallen from power. Compared with other ministerial positions, the position of Minister of Works is less risky.
"Second Master, the lady wants you to discuss the marriage." The servant came in and reported.
"Just let the Madam make the decision on this matter. If it doesn't work, discuss it with Princess Ying. I'm fine with it. I have no objection." Qu Zhizhen said impatiently, and suddenly his eyes lit up, "Is Princess Ying coming over to handle the matter today?"
"The Princess of England has arrived and is discussing things with the Madam inside," said the servant.
After thinking about it, Qu Zhizhen stood up and walked in.
When I arrived at the lady's yard, I heard laughter as soon as I entered. It sounded quite happy, but I became more and more irritated. An inexplicable anger rushed up, and I suppressed it with great effort.
Since the morning court session today, things have happened one after another and I have been in a particularly bad mood. Now when I hear other people laughing, I feel that it is a mockery of myself.
Seeing Qu Zhizhen coming in, Qu Moying stepped forward and bowed: "Father!"
Qu Zhizhen nodded: "You are too polite, Princess."
He walked over and sat down on a chair beside him, his brows tightly furrowed, and it was obvious that something was wrong.
"What's wrong? What happened?" When the lady saw his expression, she couldn't help but put away the smile on her face and asked with concern.
"It's nothing important..." Qu Zhizhen hesitated.
"Just tell me if you have anything to say. There are only your mother and daughter here, and they are not outsiders." The lady scolded unhappily.
"Mother, the emperor told me today that I took something from Empress Yuan's palace. I heard that Empress Yuan once liked it, but it doesn't look valuable. A clerk brought it to me, and I put it away carelessly. I don't know where I put it. The emperor reprimanded me for it."
Qu Zhizhen had a terrible headache.
"Where did you put it?" the lady thought it was true and asked.
"I don't know either. I just put it there casually. It's not a valuable thing. Who knew it would cause such a thing." Qu Zhizhen looked at Qu Moying, frowning, "I wonder if the princess can ask His Royal Highness the King of England to explain it for me. I... really don't know anything about this."
She looked so innocent that Qu Moying felt sarcastic in his heart.
This cheap father really is always thinking about taking advantage of me.
He gave birth to me but didn't raise me. Only when I use him will I remember that he is my father!
"Although Ying is the princess of England, I'm afraid... she still can't... Why don't you go and ask His Royal Highness the King of England to explain to the Emperor."
Although the lady was worried about Qu Zhizhen, she also felt that what Qu Zhizhen said was wrong. How could her little granddaughter influence the King of England
If this person is made unhappy again, he doesn't know how his little granddaughter will live in the British palace.
"Mother, I just asked the British princess to mention it."
Qu Zhizhen said irritably.
"Even if you want to bring it up, you should be the one to bring it up. What's the point of letting the princess bring it up?" the lady scolded.
"It is certainly more convenient for the princess to raise the matter than for her son to do so. Even if her son wants to see the King, he may not be able to do so." Qu Zhizhen said unhappily.
He had a very smooth time during this period. Except for the matter of Qu Mingcheng which troubled him, everything else went smoothly. His colleagues also respected him, which made him very happy. Minister Liu was now his subordinate, and he felt like a daughter-in-law who had finally become a mother-in-law, and he was very proud of it.
But today, he was reprimanded by the Emperor in the court, and so many censors stood up one after another, as if he had done something unforgivable.
After the court session, many officials looked at him with gloating and mocking eyes.
When he returned home, his stupid daughter dared to come and inquire about the news.
Now even her mother was protecting her daughter wholeheartedly, but no one had ever thought about her. The irritation in her heart immediately subsided.
He had been suppressing it again and again before, but now he felt that he could no longer suppress it.
"The princess is in charge of the inner court of the King's Palace. Important matters in the court are handled by men. Do you think the King would bring up such an important matter with the princess? If the princess brings it up rashly, it might anger His Royal Highness the King. But it's different if you bring it up."
The lady was really worried about Qu Moying. She always felt that Qu Moying's life would not be easy after marrying into the King of England's palace. A man like His Royal Highness the King of England did not seem to be a kind and gentle person. Her little granddaughter had suffered since she was a child, and now that she was married to the King of England, she had to live a good life and not get involved in such messy things.
Besides, this kind of thing is indeed not something that the women in the inner courtyard should be involved in.
"Mother, do you think that this kind of thing will anger the King of England?" Qu Zhicheng said unhappily.
Qu Moying raised her eyes to look at him, seeing that he could hardly control his anger. His face had turned ashen. She looked at the old lady coldly, knowing that she was about to explode. Her long eyelashes fluttered twice, then slowly fell down. She continued to look at the handkerchief in front of her, listening quietly to the conversation between the mother and son.
"You must know what it was like when the princess married the King of England, right? It may be a little better now, but it will take some time for the King of England to take it seriously. If you go to the princess when you get into trouble and ask her to intervene, the King of England will be angry."
The old lady said earnestly that she, like most people, felt that Qu Moying would have some say in the Prince of England's palace only if she gave birth to a child. At this time, it was better not to do anything and say nothing. Besides, this matter was not a matter of life and death, and the old lady felt that her son could handle it himself.
Seeing that the old lady repeatedly helped Qu Moying, and the meaning of every sentence was to let her solve the problem at hand, the resentment immediately burst out, and she stood up suddenly with her hands on the table, staring at the old lady and said: "Since mother said so, what else can I say, but mother, don't forget that you will only be well when I am well."
After saying that, he pulled the teacup off the table and walked away angrily...
Behind him, the old lady looked at Qu Zhizhen's receding back in disbelief, her lips trembling, but she couldn't say a word...