The shadow cast by the salt administration deficit case over the capital city had finally passed, and the officials who had been keeping their heads down finally relaxed when they saw that there was indeed no intention of settling scores later.
After Qingming Festival comes the Dragon Boat Festival. Around the Dragon Boat Festival, there is an endless stream of weddings and marriages. The sound of firecrackers can be heard all day long. If you don’t know, it would seem that this year’s New Year is celebrated a few months later than in previous years.
Where there are happy ones, there are unhappy ones.
The gate of Princess Changying's mansion has not been opened for several months.
At this time of year in previous years, the princess's mansion would always hold an elegant gathering and flower show. The princess liked those bright and charming girls the most, saying that they were all like flowers on branches.
But this year the princess's mansion was completely quiet and deserted.
Princess Chang'an sighed, frowned, and checked the gift list one by one, handed it to the aunt in charge, and asked the chief secretary: "Has it been delivered?"
The chief official of the princess's mansion nodded and said, "They were all sent over, but Princess Changying was not seen. I heard that she was ill."
He was indeed sick. Li Shao was half of Princess Changying's life. Now that her son died in such a hurry, how could she recover immediately? Princess Chang'an looked even more worried. After a long time, she said "I know" and asked the chief secretary to deliver Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings to each household.
He turned around and saw his daughter. He waved to her and called her over: "Tomorrow I will take you to the palace to kowtow and send off the festival. Are you ready? You should also prepare well."
She straightened the clothes of Xianrong County Lady and looked at the pair of twisted white jade bracelets on her daughter's wrists, which made her hands look even more crystal clear and round. She smiled and said, "Go and see Gui Niang more often. She has encountered misfortune now and I'm afraid she can't recover for a while. You two have always been good friends in the past, but you can't let your relationship become estranged like this."
Princess Chang'an is always so considerate in everything and never flatters the powerful and looks down on the weak.
Xianrong County Lady glanced at her, bit her lip and whispered yes. After a while, she asked her hesitantly, "Is it... Is it that Gui Niang's matter can't be resolved?"
She had never expected that the incident at Li Gui's mother's home would be so serious.
In just a few months, the status of Princess Changying's Mansion plummeted, and now it has been downgraded to a princess's mansion. Li Shao's death was like adding insult to injury for Princess Changying, but what was even more terrifying was that Li Shao's death made Emperor Longqing even more dissatisfied with Princess Changying's Mansion - Li Shao died on the way back to the capital secretly. If he hadn't died, he would have really run back to the capital.
But if he ran back to the capital, wasn't he deliberately challenging Emperor Longqing
Xianrong County Lady didn't think it was a pity. Li Gui Niang was just a fool. She could never resist provoking others with just a few words. If Princess Changying and Li Shao could control such a person, it would be fine. But they just indulged her. If something went wrong, no one could blame them.
Princess Chang'an smoothed her daughter's hair, looked at her meaningfully, leaned back lazily in her chair and laughed, "What do you think? With all this going on, who would His Majesty dare to give her to?"
This chess piece seemed to be completely useless.
Since it is useless, it is naturally of no use.
It's not that it's impossible. My daughter's good reputation as a friendly sister has to be spread through her.
Princess Chang'an smiled and said, "Okay, mother knows what you are thinking and will definitely make your wish come true."
Princess Xianrong blushed with shame, and she held her mother's arm without saying a word. After a long while, she responded in a low, muffled voice, "Yes."
But when she went to the palace to deliver gifts the next day, Princess Chang'an was not able to see the Queen, but met Concubine De instead. She was very surprised.
Concubine De just smiled. She was now more than five months pregnant. Because she wore thick clothes in winter, her pregnancy was not very obvious. There was only a slight bulge in her belly. She was quite friendly to Princess Chang'an: "Your Majesty is not feeling well. I will take charge of the palace affairs now."
Princess Chang'an was very worried: "Is the queen unwell? We should take care of her..."
Concubine De put down the gold-painted white porcelain teacup in her hand and shook her head slowly: "I'm afraid it's because you've taken too much care of the little prince. The imperial physician said it was just a cold, which is not a big deal. It's just that the queen is not feeling well, so she is too lazy to see people..."
After saying this, he waved his hand to call over a palace maid and asked them to go to Fengyi Palace to inform them.
Sure enough, when the little palace maid came back, she reported that the Queen Mother said there was no need to pay her respects, as she was not feeling well and asked Concubine De to take care of everything.
Princess Chang'an's heart skipped a beat.
Queen Fang was fine a few days ago, why did she suddenly say she was not feeling well
Because the palace affairs were handed over to Concubine De, the Empress refused to even complete the three-month confinement and got up after only one month. But now, how long has it been since she was taken back, and she is willing to let her out again
What happened
Princess Chang'an's heart was beating fast all the way. When she returned to the princess's mansion, she still felt cold hands and feet.
After he calmed down and thought about it, he sent someone to find the chief secretary.
Changle was favored by the late emperor, and Changying was used to flattering others, but she was not without support. She married into the Yuan family, her mother's family. Although the Yuan family was not as good as the Li family in Nanjing, the family members were all civil officials, and their ancestors had produced two ministers. The people under them were not as powerful as their ancestors, but they had good vision.
So she has always behaved herself well over the years and has never made any mistakes.
After a pause, she asked: "Recently, the Fang family..."
She thought about it and felt that if the rumors outside were true, then there was no one more stupid than Queen Fang.
The chief historian nodded, and seeing Princess Chang'an frowned, he said, "If what you said is true, then it is probably true."
The Fang family made such a fortune that they could not hide their activities at all. They spent lavishly on their daughter's wedding, wishing the whole world knew about it. They also bought houses and land everywhere, and said they wanted to return home to repair their ancestral temple. They even invited a fortune teller to return to their hometown.
How come no one has passed it on
It was spread privately that the Fang family was relying on being the young prince's maternal family and was now starting to tremble.
These rumors are getting more and more intense outside, but the Fang family can still sit still and act without restraint. Such a family...
The Chief Clerk closed his eyes and said, "You should wait and see what happens. I'm afraid this matter is not something we can interfere with, so just pretend we don't know."
Originally I thought the wind had stopped and the rain had stopped, but now it seems that the wind and rain have not stopped yet, and there may be even bigger thunder to come. Right now, the most important thing is to keep myself from getting my feet wet.
The rest can be figured out later.