The Queen Mother did not want the Emperor to bear the reputation of forcing and killing his son. If she had not seen that everything was irreversible, she would not even want the Emperor to depose the Queen. But since deposing the Queen was a foregone conclusion, and she issued the decree in her own name, then now she had to take care of the eldest and second princes, a pair of brothers in distress.
The second prince was fine. Although he was repeatedly reprimanded and punished by the emperor and her, he was not like the first prince, who caused such a big mess in Cangzhou. It was not difficult for him to choose a wife. But the first prince... Ask any respectable family in the capital city who would marry their daughter to him? The former queen... should be called the deposed queen now. The girls she liked were all promised to others out of fear.
If the Queen Mother had been like that, she would have put all these families on a list and kept them in mind for the rest of her life, but now that she was old and the eldest prince was indeed hateful, she had to put it aside for now. But even though the eldest prince's marriage became a problem and the emperor had once left him alone, she had not forgotten.
However, she did not think that Hong Shanchang, who openly wrote a letter to the emperor about this matter, had any good intentions. She once thought that he had ulterior motives, and that Hong was naturally a woman with improper thoughts. But at this moment, the empress dowager finally understood that it was not wrong to say that people had ulterior motives, and it was also right to say that people had improper thoughts, but that intention was not what she thought, and the improper thoughts were not what she thought!
The Queen Mother rubbed her brows tiredly, and then said calmly: "Okay, I know everything you said. Yuquan, reward Hong with a piece of Lu silk and send her out of the palace."
Yuquan agreed hastily and then walked towards Hong. Seeing that Hong knelt down calmly and saluted without any panic or humility, she thought of her words and actions in front of the empress dowager just now, and could not help but praise her in her heart. After she led the people out of Qingning Palace, she immediately ordered the palace maid to go and pass on the message.
A piece of Lu silk is so heavy, you can't let her or Hong herself carry it out of the palace, right
Obviously, someone had to record it and send it to the palace gate for people to see and spread. Of course, compared to this, she personally accompanied Hong out, which was a relatively clear attitude. She also knew that this was completely different from the initial attitude of the Queen Mother towards Hong.
However, after Yuquan took the still calm Hong out of Qingning Palace, the empress dowager suddenly turned to look at Zhang Shou and said with a half-smile, "Zhang Shou, do you know who I was thinking of when I saw Hong talking so eloquently just now? It was you. Although I didn't see how you lobbied the emperor with my own eyes, the emperor, Grand Tutor Ge, and Hua Qi all mentioned you many times."
She paused, ignoring Zhu Ying who was immediately anxious after hearing her words, and said directly: "Do you think that what Hong wants is similar to what you want?"
"She does look a bit like me. I thought so before."
Zhang Shou shrugged and smiled, his attitude was relaxed and calm, as if what he was talking about had nothing to do with him. At the same time, he noticed that Zhu Ying behind him put her hand on his shoulder in a hurry, so he reached out and patted her hand gently, as if to comfort her not to think too much, but then he simply looked up and looked directly at the empress dowager.