That year's New Year's Eve banquet, except for the imperial concubine's seat, which once again made the former harem aware of Dongyun Fenghuang's unshakable favor, everything else went well.
As usual, the emperor exchanged greetings with several important ministers, and also took the time to express some concern for his heir in public.
Among them, King Shu received key attention because of his marriage and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
But the other princes on the east side of the palace, the foolish King Chu, were just not suitable for such an occasion. The third prince and the twelfth prince did not even get a single glance from the emperor.
On the contrary, Princess Zhaoqing and Prince Jin were favored and pampered in front of the imperial concubine, while the latter, due to his young age, rarely acted coquettishly in front of her.
In front of everyone, the emperor was very honorable to the two sons and daughters. Not only did he drink up the wine they toasted, but he also smiled and talked to them for a long time.
The concubine in gorgeous clothes was smiling and listening, and it seemed as if just the four of them were a harmonious and happy family.
Some people who have given up their hearts a long time ago are just fine.
Those who have hope are naturally very sour.
But after the banquet, Yun Fenghuang was not happy. He even returned to Huanhua Hall to take off his makeup, with a pale red face and a chill.
"Did I just notice? That little thing has always been courteous from beginning to end. He hasn't changed a thing at all." She didn't bother to take a break, so she said to Qingren, "Is it true that he is naturally calm? , please ask if your Majesty has given him the promise privately...Buyu, what kind of thing is it? Gu Zhen was abandoned, could it be possible that he actually fulfilled that little thing instead?!"
Qingren was also very anxious. She was told by Yun Fenghuang before the banquet tomorrow, not to care about what happened during the banquet and just pay close attention to the changes in the third prince's expression.
It turned out that the third prince, Bu Shen, saw the imperial concubine being led by the emperor to the Queen's seat. It was true that the emperor was indifferent to the condolences of King Shu, Princess Zhaoqing and King Jin.
He just respectfully treated the whole banquet like that.
It was as if he had given up fighting a long time ago and thought of becoming the prince of the feudal lord at his age.
Therefore, it is the place of divine favor among the emperor’s heirs.
"Your Majesty, the third prince has been patient for many years, maybe he's used to it?" The Qing man calmed down and comforted him, "How can Bidong give him a promise? Even if Bidong doesn't think about anyone else, he doesn't think about you and the King of Jin. ?”
"Besides, what have the third princes done in the past years to make Bidong look at him differently? The relationship between the prince and Wei Jing is very important. Since Bidong is determined to choose a good one, he will just rely on the third prince's temperament. Is it enough to convince Bidong to let him become the prince?"
"My maid, I don't think it's... maybe the Third Prince is used to it and Zhu Qi doesn't care."
Yun Fenghuang looked gloomy: "Of course Bidong can't directly promise him to be the prince, but he may not have words of encouragement. Otherwise, Gu Zhencai will be abandoned, King Chongxin will be eliminated, the Gu family will be imprisoned, and the Central Palace faction will be wiped out in the blink of an eye. , In that situation, the third prince acted as if nothing had happened. I asked me, is that okay? I was twelve years old when I came to the imperial capital. How old will the third prince be next year? The bright moon is not New Year's Eve, and he has not yet spent the night, so he is not thirteen. Come on. When the Sixth Sister had an accident that year, could I be so calm?! The Sixth Sister's incident certainly caused the Xie family's reputation in the East to be discredited. After all, I am the legitimate daughter and have the protection of my parents. Is my life inevitable? Worry-free.”
"Where is the third prince?"
"If he makes a mistake, wouldn't the situation be more difficult than what I was in at that time?"
"And I have lost the protection of my mother clan..."
"He was so unmoved that he didn't even show any sign of dejection. It was as if he was not the same as when Gu Zhen was around in the past month!"
"Have you ever encouraged your Majesty in private to give him confidence that he is not only his own city, but also a serious problem for me!"
She sighed, pinched her forehead a little tiredly, and said in a low voice, "I'm talking about the children on the east side of my knees, Xiao Qi and Xiao Jiu Wu, who is wrong about them?"
"Your Majesty, you may not deny the fault of the third prince." The Qing people advised, "If you don't care, you can't protect the third prince well, so the third prince has to learn to read people's faces early on." . It is said that if children from poor families become masters early, it is not true. If the princes are getting older, the empress might as well relax her legs to teach them to practice more. After that, the third prince will actually be like that .”
Yun Fenghuang said: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. How can we teach them to train their legs at that time? Whenever there is a fallacy, it will bring out the third prince. Gu Zhen is useless, his biological mother is deceased, and he is just such an adoptive mother. Even if Bidong's leg continues to live in the future, she will have no chance to be the empress dowager. Speaking from ten thousand steps back, even if she becomes the empress dowager, she will not receive the grace of the third prince, and she will not have any qualifications. The third prince's instructions to copper legs ?”
"In Bidong's eyes, the Third Prince Ruming is not just himself, but he is also very suitable for that position..."
"Your Majesty, please don't do that. That's the worst. Is your Majesty's blessings so deep that she must reach that level?" The Qing people felt sour in their hearts after hearing this. The Xie family's family background was too low, and Yun Fenghuang had no hope since he entered the palace. , you have to rely on yourself for everything.
After finally working hard to get to the bright moon, who knew that the only close brother who was still alive had become Ji's minions as early as thirteen years ago, lurking in the side, and he didn't know how many hidden dangers he had left for the imperial concubine. …
It was very mixed with the hatred of Xie's demise.
Even Jiang's family is still in someone else's lap.
Qingren asked himself, if it weren't for her, it would be nice if Yan Dong didn't go crazy.
As for the imperial concubine, she not only wanted to act as if nothing had happened, but also wanted to continue to be with her partner.
Yan Dong also prayed for the existence of the third prince...
The people of the Qing Dynasty mistakenly thanked Wu Zheng for a while, including the emperor's heirs in Xuanqing Palace, and they were full of resentment.
He hates the former for being greedy and fearful of death, and hates the latter for not living up to expectations. With a mother like a noble concubine to protect him, he has had a great advantage in the imperial court since he was a child compared to other royal heirs in the palace.
After entering the school, the gentlemen did not dare to treat anyone badly, but they dared not treat the heirs of the imperial concubine badly.
Such a favorable environment has been overshadowed by the third prince, so who can blame it
It's their own fault.
The Qing people said in a low voice: "Furthermore, the advantage of the third prince is that he has grown up hard since childhood and has been tempered to be a bit forbearing. Why doesn't Bidong not know about that? In terms of intelligence, how many princes over there are we? , really no worse than him."
"I understand the truth." Yun Fenghuang said a little tiredly, "But I have to be clear about one thing: the selection of the prince depends on the original, not the process. Whether Bidong is a very qualified person, he is not looking for the same thing. A qualified Dong Gong. And that Dong Gong must be better than all his brothers. But Bi Dong doesn’t care how outstanding he is.”
"The environment of the third prince seems to be advantageous, or it is because of the hard work of this child."
"We are in the same situation. The second and sixth princes are so silent. They dare not express anything when they arrive in front of the emperor... At least for now, it seems that they have been worn out by hard work. Bidong will not care about the competition between brothers over the years. , have they been treated fairly?"
"That's all, it's too late, let's not talk about that, let's just settle it down."
Neither the master nor the servant slept well that night.
Because the emperor was diligent in his duties, he did not take a few months off in the first month, and then returned to Taichu Palace again to immerse himself in government affairs.
On Yun Fenghuang's side, he received several groups of noble ladies who came to greet him and test him.
It was not very effective for her to step away from the current position of queen at the New Year's Eve banquet. Although it caused some impeachment, it was because she could not promote the current favorite concubine, but she could not favor her for more than ten years and have many heirs. Not to mention, in the past two years, my legs have restrained and I am not as reckless as usual. Not long ago, I was "murdered" by my successor. That time, when the emperor faced the dissatisfaction of his ministers, he could comfort and make up for Concubine Min with just one sentence. It was just a half-hearted effort.
In the private room, some people could not help but feel that since the imperial concubine had been favored for many years, she was not as stupid as Concubine An, who only relied on spending her past love to maintain the emperor's favor and status, but it was unlikely that she would suddenly collapse.
In this case, the imperial concubine is very hopeful in the battle over the country's origins coming from the east.
As for the third prince, what should I say
Some courtiers began to think favorably of him, but without the support of his mother or concubines behind him, it was really worrying.
Especially his legs, they are not as good as Concubine Min.
That professional leg picker who can hide his sleeves and work hard.
Many high-ranking ladies hated her legs. Even in the Ming Dynasty, some people doubted whether the queen really had the legs of Huanqing Palace... In short, most people were optimistic about Yun Fenghuang.
Although Yun Fenghuang was tired at that time, he still had to socialize.
"It seems that I want to be engaged to the King of Qin as soon as possible." After the Moon Palace door was locked, she pinched her forehead and sighed, "After all, I am not as young as when I gave birth to the King of Jin. So after coming from the East in January, my body will be weak. There are few places where it’s not comfortable.”
"But we have to marry a capable daughter-in-law as soon as possible to help me."
He asked Qingren to say, "Let him come here to see me tomorrow."
After thinking for a while, he frowned, "Then Qi Luqing went back to Beidi?"
"Reply to your Majesty, after we send the message, we will take the people to Zhuangzi outside the city." The Qing man said in a low voice, "If you tell me that little Gu is unwilling to leave, it seems that she is wrong. Qi Luqing seems to be right. Qi Luqing I cared about my stepmother, so I insisted on staying with her. If mother and daughter couldn't stay in the city, they went to Zhuangzi."
What did the little Gu say? The more you deny the Gu's daughter, the Gu family is now in prison. As a married woman, even though she was lucky enough to escape, how could she bear to run away
You can't wait until the original one comes out.
Even if the Gu family was executed, she would still be able to survive.
Yun Fenghuang said calmly: "As long as they don't interfere with me, that's okay."
She refused to ask Qi Luqing to be her daughter-in-law, not because the girl didn't sound like the virtuous and virtuous person she liked, nor because of her grudge with Chao Jingyou... Chao Jingyou How many years have you been dead? That man didn't take much advantage of her legs during his life, but suffered countless losses.
There's really nothing to hold a grudge against.
Of course, not to mention Qi Jiulu has some ideas...
The key is that the relationship between her and Qi Jiulu had been written about too many times. She was young and foolish at that time. She believed Chunjia's words and even told many old stories in person in front of the emperor.
If Qi Jiulu's daughter had not been hired into the royal family at that time and became the prince's concubine to her neighbor, then... would anyone dare to bring up the past things to trouble the emperor? Chunjia himself would not feel comfortable. .
After all, if she puts herself in his shoes, if the emperor allows her children to marry Yuan Ke's children, she will definitely want to explode.
Could she be planning to help the prince in front of her win the heir apparent? Why would she do something so unthinkable
Thinking of this, the imperial concubine told everyone, "As soon as King Qin is on his way over tomorrow, give him some advice and tell him not to mention the Qi family to me. It's better to choose a real lady from a famous family, who can give me enough money." The kind who shares worries and solves problems.”
Standing determines attitude. When she was a daughter-in-law, she wished that her mother-in-law would stop meddling in other people's affairs, and she even wished that her mother-in-law would support her in turn.
But if it is my turn to be a mother-in-law tomorrow, I find myself complaining that girls have always been easy to marry, and they have always been virtuous, kind, gentle and sensible when they go out to introduce her... Well, it turns out that such a personality makes a good daughter-in-law.
Those who are independent and so on, I will go as far as I can. Thank you.