Late at night, in front of the Qingning Gate of the palace, a sedan chair slowly stopped, surrounded by many palace servants. The queen sat on it, wearing a dragon and phoenix pearl and jade crown and dark blue clothes. Even with only the dim light of the lanterns of her attendants, it still brought out a hazy brilliance on her jeweled and colorfully embroidered clothes.
She got off the sedan chair and glanced at the eldest and second princes who were walking along the side of the carriage. A trace of deep anger appeared on her face. However, she did not lose her temper at this time and place. She took a deep breath and ordered someone to knock on the door and ask for an audience. However, Xu Shanggong, who was beside her, came to the door to inform her of her purpose, but the inside hesitated for a moment and did not open the door.
"Empress, the Emperor is chatting with the Queen Mother. He said that even if the sky falls, we can talk about it tomorrow."
Faced with this obvious rejection, the queen took a deep breath and looked at the second prince with a stern look. Under her glare, even though the second prince was furious, he could only hesitantly step forward and knock on the door himself, saying that he came to apologize. Under the queen's silent urging, the eldest prince, who felt unlucky, could only knock on the door as well.
However, the two brothers talked until their lips were worn out, and they only whispered that they would report first. But the reply that came out in the end was still the same as before: "Empress, you should take the two princes back. The emperor said that it is too late, and we can talk about it tomorrow. In addition, please ask the eldest and second princes to go to court together tomorrow morning."
Although the two princes were close to adulthood and occasionally attended court together, they could only listen and could not attend every day. If the emperor allowed them to attend court together at other times, the two brothers would be so happy that they would even compete with each other and trip each other up. But at this moment, when they heard this order, they suddenly felt a pang in their hearts.
Especially the Second Prince, who had gotten into trouble today after drinking, was extremely worried. At this moment, he heard the Queen's voice from behind: "The Emperor refused to let me and my son in. Didn't the Queen Mother give any instructions?"
Yuquan had come to the Qingning Gate in person. She was one of the few female officials in the palace who was older than the age limit. She had been with the Queen Mother for more than 30 years. When she heard the Queen's words, which were secretly mocking the Queen Mother for not speaking up for the eldest and second princes, she was immediately furious. But she knew it was not appropriate for her to come forward at this time, so she winked at the eunuch at the door.
The eunuch could only cough dryly and said, "Empress, the Queen Mother said that children and grandchildren have their own blessings. She is now enjoying her old age and doesn't care about so much. Empress, you have a family background of learning and are good at educating children. Naturally, there is no need for her to say more."
The words "good parenting" were like a heavy slap in the face, making the queen's face turn pale. She took two steps back, turned around, got on the sedan chair without saying a word, and then slammed the armrest heavily, saying one word from between her teeth: "Go!"
The eldest prince was not willing to be tied up with the second prince, but his intention was exposed by the queen and he was scolded. He snorted and rushed to the side of the sedan chair, smiling and whispering to comfort and explain. Although the second prince also hurried over, when he got to the other side of the sedan chair, he was greeted by the queen's painful reproach.