By the end of September, the weather had gradually turned colder, and gauze clothes could no longer be worn. The Princess of Chu changed into a white stand-up collared undershirt, and covered it with a scarlet Satsuma long jacket. She was being helped by her servants to wash her hands.
After washing her hands, she took out a few incense sticks from the long tube on the incense table and bowed devoutly towards the Buddha statue. Then she came out and sat in the flower hall to listen to what was happening below.
Although it was a royal palace with a lot of income, it also spent a lot. With constant social interactions and gifts, money was spent like water these days. She frowned, sighed, closed the account book, and gently pressed her temples with her hands.
Seeing this, the head aunt beside her hurriedly asked everyone to leave and called a little girl in to massage her legs. She said, "Don't worry, we thought about this before we came to Beijing. Once we return to Beijing, there will be places to spend money everywhere."
Princess Chu drank a mouthful of barley soup and felt very annoyed: "That's right, drinking water really feels like drinking gold. I don't know when we can go back to our own place. This month, just dealing with those eunuchs in the palace is a headache!"
She couldn't help but complain: "Liu Zhen's appetite is simply too big. He dared to ask for five thousand taels this month... Last month, his godson got married, and we sent him a house in Hebei to congratulate him. Next month, his nephew will have his coming-of-age ceremony..."
The aunt in charge didn't dare to interrupt her and could only advise her: "The prince knows everything, so don't worry about it."
When the King of Chu came back in the evening, he asked her, "Did Liu Zhen come to ask for money again?"
Princess Chu hummed, "He really doesn't know how to restrain himself. His appetite has been growing bigger and bigger these days. He seems to want to eat us all alive. Cao An was not so bold before."
The King of Chu didn't seem unhappy. He saw the Queen of Chu sighing, leaning back on the couch and shaking her head, "These are just small matters. Just get rid of him. There's nothing we can do about it. After Cao An falls, he's the most important one. He will be the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department sooner or later. If we don't get along well with him, we'll have a lot more trouble."
Princess Chu also knew this truth, and hummed: "But you can't resist such a method. Haven't you found this man's weakness yet?"
To form an alliance, it is not enough to just give silver and money. The right way is to use both soft and hard tactics. It was the same when we dealt with Cao An in the past.
But this Liu Zhen is so slippery that he keeps asking for money but is absolutely unwilling to help them with anything. He is so cunning that it makes people feel annoyed.
"Don't worry, it will be soon." The King of Chu sneered, "He thought my money was so easy to get, hoping to get something for nothing, but he underestimated me. After a while, I will let him know my methods."
Since he said so, he must have a way to deal with Liu Zhen. Princess Chu breathed a sigh of relief, nodded with a smile, and talked about other things: "By the way, there was no movement after the last incident at Huilongguan. Could it be that Concubine Feng didn't believe it?"
They faked a scene and had someone catch Old Madam Wei and Old Madam Fang talking in a side room, pretending that someone who was unaware of Concubine Feng was eavesdropping outside.
I don’t know what the effect is, and whether Concubine Feng believed it.
More than half a month had passed, and there was still no movement from Concubine Feng, so Princess Chu was worried that she had failed.
Speaking of this, the King of Chu smiled: "It won't be impossible. Others may not know Concubine Feng, but you don't know her personality, right?"
Princess Chu knew this, of course: "I get nervous when you mention this. She and Queen Ming were as close as one person back then, and she looked down upon us. How many times have I been bullied by her without any resistance? This person..."
People always said that Concubine Feng had a good relationship with the Ming family, and was as close to Empress Ming as a sister. She took refuge in a Buddhist temple and placed her faith in gods and Buddhas because of Empress Ming's death. However, no one thought that Empress Ming died, but she was not affected at all.
Moreover, she took refuge in the Buddhist temple, while the Third Prince rose to prominence...
Putting aside the death of the eldest prince, Princess Chu knew that it was her husband's work.
But what about the death of the second prince
How he died is really only known by heaven and earth.
The King of Chu's eyes darkened. "This person is very resourceful and can judge the situation. It's fine when there is no conflict of interest, but once someone blocks her way, she won't care about other people's lives. She pretended to be Guanyin before because the third prince was the only adult prince who survived, but now, the third prince is dead..."
One can imagine Concubine Feng's anger, which must be enough to destroy the world.
Princess Chu could imagine how angry Concubine Feng would be, and couldn't help but feel a little worried: "But she's not stupid... After all, the matter between the Third Prince and the Feng family is closely related to us..."
"She doesn't know." The King of Chu put his hands behind his head. "She only knows what we want her to know. Anyway, what she knows now is that Queen Fang is pregnant and has a close relationship with the Wei family. And the suffering of the Feng family was caused by Cao An."
This is why we have to bribe Liu Zhen and not offend him.
Who is the most useful person in the palace
These are the rootless eunuchs.
They are with the noble people all year round and have the best chance to speak.
It couldn't be easier to let Liu Zhen think of a way to let Concubine Feng know that Cao An and Cao Wen are also closely related to the Wei family.
The King of Chu guessed correctly.
While the couple were discussing these matters and how to please Liu Zhen, Concubine Feng was very angry in the palace.
The statue of Guanyin that she had been worshipping was smashed to pieces by her. She stepped on the fragments with a gloomy expression that was frightening.
A full quarter of an hour later, she came out of the small Buddhist hall and sternly ordered people to bring up the eunuchs and palace maids who had left the palace earlier.
They were already dying of hunger, and collapsed on the ground without any strength left.
Concubine Feng sat on top and asked them coldly, "Did you really hear correctly? Did Old Madam Wei really say that to the old woman from the Fang family?"
The maid hadn't responded yet, but the eunuch quickly crawled to his feet, struggled a few times and kowtowed: "Really, really! I dare not lie..."
He was so hungry that he felt dizzy and had no strength to speak.
Concubine Feng remained motionless and steady, and only snorted coldly after a while.
The Wei family had been silent for so many years, and she thought that the Wei family was a dead snake and there was no need to fight them anymore. However, she did not expect that this poisonous snake was just hibernating, and once it attacked, it would be so cruel as to eat people alive.
But why did the Wei family have to bite her when there are so many people to bite
She couldn't figure it out and a creepy sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth.