The old lady did not take credit for it, and said modestly: "Your Majesty, you are too kind. This matter is not my credit. I just ordered people to bring the infected people to Shitou Village. Shitou Village is very close to the capital. Once an epidemic breaks out, the capital will have to pay attention to it."
The noble concubine nodded with satisfaction. "It's hard for you to come up with this plan. This way, the people will panic and question and blame the court and those in power. At the same time, Xia Zi'an can be killed in Shitou Village. It's a very clever plan to kill two birds with one stone. By the way, where did you recruit these epidemic patients from?"
"Now that the first step has been taken, the next step is how to arrange for Xia Zian to go to Shitou Village." The old lady said, but deliberately avoided the last question from the noble concubine.
The noble concubine took a sip of tea and pretended not to know, but she thought in her heart, "Old fox."
She raised the corners of her lips and said, "I have already gone to the palace to see the Empress Dowager today. The Empress Dowager personally proposed that Xia Zian go to the epidemic area. However, it is just an idea. She is still hoping that the Huimin Bureau and the imperial physician can come up with a solution."
"No one can think of a solution. Once you are infected with this zombie disease, you will die." The old lady laughed triumphantly.
"Wait a few more days, I will talk to her then. Once the Empress Dowager is moved, you can let the Prime Minister take action." said the Royal Concubine.
The old lady held a string of Buddhist beads in her hand and said, "Amitabha, everything depends on your majesty."
The noble concubine held the cup and glanced at the old lady calmly, "You and I have a common enemy. Let's get rid of this enemy first, and then we can talk about future cooperation. But if you help me, once the eighth master succeeds, I will ensure that your family will be rich and prosperous forever."
"With my frail body, I will obey the orders of the noble concubine." The old lady was quite shrewd. She said that she obeyed the orders of the noble concubine, but did not mention the prime minister's mansion.
The noble concubine seemed not to hear it either, and said with a smile: "The old lady is indeed quick-witted, I like her very much."
The old lady looked at her confident look and suddenly an idea came to her mind. Perhaps, their cooperation could not only revolve around Xia Zian.
Now Xia Wan'er has been disliked by the Crown Prince, and the old Queen Mother has been slow to give orders. If the Crown Prince is an unreliable person, it is better to place hope on Prince Nan Huai.
With a mother like the Noble Concubine, Prince Nan Huai's chance of success is no less than that of the Crown Prince. Besides, the Empress Dowager has always been dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, and has always been thinking about her sisterly relationship with the Noble Concubine. In fact, for the Prime Minister's Mansion, taking refuge with the Noble Concubine would be a very good way out.
However, we cannot be impatient now. We should wait and see if the Empress Dowager will issue an edict.
The old lady left first, but the noble concubine was in no hurry to leave.
The retainer Afu said, "Noble Concubine, this old lady in the Xiangfu is very cunning, you should be careful."
The noble concubine said calmly: "Everyone in the world is busy seeking profit. As long as a person has greed in his heart, he can definitely be taken advantage of."
"But she has already agreed with the Master, and is now cooperating with you just to deal with Xia Zian. We should still be cautious, and it's right to be more on guard against her."
The noble concubine glanced at him and said, "You are not as clear-minded as Sizhu. If Sizhu was here, she would not have said such a thing. Haven't you seen it clearly? The empress dowager doesn't like Xia Wan'er at all, and she also saw that the queen wanted to win over Xia Huaijun, so she has not agreed to this marriage. Although the queen has decided on the marriage, the wedding date has not been set. This marriage will not be successful. Once it fails, Xia Huaijun and the tutor will definitely turn against each other. He has been in contact with the tutor for so long, he must know a lot of things over there. Once he surrenders to me, how much benefit it will bring to me, don't you understand?"
Ah Fu said flatteringly: "It is because I am stupid that I did not think of this. I am not as smart as Sizhu."
The noble concubine sighed softly, "Sizhu is a smart person, but she doesn't share the same mind as me. She has been with me for so many years and knows my mind, but she chose to betray me in the end. What's the use of being smart? I have enough smart people around me. What I want is your loyalty."
"I will remain loyal to the Concubine Dowager." Ah Fu swore.
The noble concubine took a sip of tea slowly, with a sharp light flashing in her eyes, "As long as the people around me are loyal, once they turn their backs on me, their fate will be as bad as silk and bamboo."
Ah Fu thought of Sizhu's tragic death and felt a chill in his heart, but also felt a bit gloating. She brought this upon herself. She didn't recognize her own identity and thought it was good to rely on the prince. She also thought that the noble concubine would be reluctant to kill her.
"What are you laughing at?" The noble concubine suddenly asked in a cold voice.
Ah Fu was startled and quickly restrained his expression, "I just remembered some things about Aunt Sizhu when she was alive, so I smiled. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
He knew that although the Imperial Concubine had executed Sizhu, she would not tolerate anyone saying anything bad about her, let alone gloating over her misfortune, so he hurried to explain himself.
The noble concubine said coldly: "Afu, just do what you should do. It's useless. It's useless to think about it."
Ah Fu's heart trembled, "Yes!"
He felt very unwilling in his heart. He knew what the noble concubine meant by this sentence. It was impossible for him to reach the same level as Sizhu.
But why? Sizhu had already betrayed her, why did she still think of her kindness
If you still remember her kindness, why do you want to kill her
After the old lady returned, she had a profound conversation with Prime Minister Xia.
"The Noble Concubine is a good way out, but we have already spent too much energy on the Crown Prince. It would not be cost-effective if we turn to the Noble Concubine at this time." Prime Minister Xia obviously disagreed.
The old lady said, "I'm not asking you to surrender to them right now, but I'm asking you to be more careful and not offend either side for the time being. Anyway, although the two sides have different goals, they have the same goal. The Grand Tutor wants to confuse the people, and the Noble Concubine wants to kill Xia Zian, which is also our goal. At least, what we are doing now will not offend either side."
Prime Minister Xia hummed, "Let's wait and see. At least, if Xia Wan'er can marry the prince, then I will be the father-in-law of the emperor, and I will also be the prime minister, surpassing the Taifu."
"You can't think like that. The position of the father-in-law is always empty. We don't want such empty titles. Without real power, everything is fake. Your position as prime minister is almost empty by the regent. Otherwise, we wouldn't have reached this point today. Son, remember that our Xia family is small and weak now. We need a deep-rooted backer to stand firm. The regent and the noble concubine are always mother and son. He will be a little cautious about the noble concubine and will leave some room for everything. Therefore, if we follow the noble concubine, our situation will be better than following the tutor."
Prime Minister Xia saw that his mother had made up her mind and said, "Okay, I will consider it carefully."
"The most important point," the old lady said calmly, "is that we no longer have to rely on Xia Wan'er, an outsider. The humiliation you endure is also a humiliation to me."
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Xia clenched his fists. Yes, this was a humiliation for him.
(End of this chapter)