Yun Fenghuang felt much better after sending Concubine Xie away, so he asked, "Did Concubine Xie come over and tell her some good news?"
"Not really." Yun Fenghuang said with a smile, "It's just that it's interesting to see her lost look."
Qingdu and others heard the malice towards Concubine Xie in these words, so they politely asked if they no longer need to take care of Concubine Xie
"As before, there is no need to skimp on the status, but there is no need to give too much face." Yun Fenghuang thought for a while and ordered, "Privately call the new concubines to cause some trouble for her. It's not a big deal but The kind that makes you uncomfortable."
If this was normal, if Concubine Xie aroused her anger, she would just deal with it.
Anyway, neither Chunjia nor Duke Yi paid much attention to this concubine of the Yun family.
but…
Now the emperor is about to re-employ the children of the Yun family. It would not be so appropriate if something happens to Duke Yi's biological daughter and grandson.
The most important thing is that Chunjia just went out of her way to help her vent her anger, but she just attacked Concubine Xie, which seemed to be too unconcerned about the emperor's thoughts and arrangements.
Anyway, I just scared Concubine Xie, and if there is a little trouble next, I guess Concubine Xie's life will not be too easy.
As for how Concubine Xie suffered in such an environment, Yun Fenghuang didn't care. This cheap handkerchief never thought about her before. She protected this woman who was safe and sound in the palace until now and is still alive. Having a prince is simply the most benevolent thing, isn't it
In a blink of an eye, it was time to return to the imperial capital. Gu Zhen sent someone to invite Yun Fenghuang to Woxia Tower to speak: "Since the Queen Mother came back from Shanyuan Temple, she has been saying that the phoenix body is against the law, and she has stopped even asking for greetings. But now it is about to Before setting off, you and I always go to say hello, so as to prevent her from being uncomfortable on the road."
In fact, the queen could go alone. The reason why she called the imperial concubine was simply because she was afraid that the empress dowager would raise something difficult for her to answer again, and she hoped that the imperial concubine would be able to handle it if she was present.
Yun Fenghuang knew it well and had no objection, so the two concubines went to pay their respects.
The Empress Dowager asked them to wait for some time before coming out. Their rosy faces did not look like they were sick, but they were nourished by good food and drink during this period, and their bodies became stronger.
Of course, the concubine would not expose her. She still greeted her cautiously like a glass man, and then mentioned the return trip.
"This is not the first time you have come to the palace. Just like in the past, this year will be just like that." After hearing this, the Empress Dowager said lukewarmly, "There is nothing to warn you here in the Ai family. There is just one thing. If you don't come today, the Ai family plans to send someone to summon you in the next two days to ask: It is said that Ming Hui's marriage has been mentioned?"
When this matter was mentioned, Gu Zhen became depressed. He glanced at Yun Fenghuang and saw that she had a low eyebrow and no intention of speaking, so he reluctantly said: "Yes, Imperial Grandmother, His Majesty personally asked about it, saying that the late Emperor was just like this." The legitimate daughter must find a suitable consort. You can’t let your sister miss the flower letter... The Imperial Grandmother Mingjian, neither His Majesty nor the grandson-in-law, have any intention of not being able to tolerate my sister. In fact, because of my sister’s innocence and cuteness, Your Majesty agrees with me. My grandson-in-law wishes that she would be by my side every day. But if we keep my sister in the palace for our liking, how will the late emperor, who is under the Nine Springs, feel at ease?"
The Empress Dowager did not follow Princess Minghui and scold her this time. She seemed to have completely forgotten what happened last time and only said: "Then whose son does Your Majesty prefer?"
Gu Zhen shook his head: "Your Majesty said that the late emperor's legitimate daughter is not a trivial matter. The choice of the consort must be carefully considered. We cannot let my sister suffer any injustice like last time."
The Empress Dowager looked at Yun Fenghuang and said, "Where is the noble concubine? Does the noble concubine know?"
This scene made Gu Zhen's chest hurt with anger. She, the queen, couldn't explain clearly. The empress dowager also asked the concubine, making it clear that she felt that she was not loved and trusted by the emperor, so the emperor would not tell her such things.
Fortunately, Yun Fenghuang also shook his head and said that the emperor was still considering it.
"We'll talk about it after we return to the palace." The Queen Mother nodded and let them go.
After leaving the house, the concubines immediately went their separate ways.
In the evening, Qingshu's wife Cui Lianye came to Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion in person to ask for an audience.
In recent years, Mrs. Cui's presence in the palace has been as strong as Concubine Xie's, and Jia Pingye's presence has been so obvious that Yun Fenghuang doesn't even remember her very much.
She was a little surprised when she heard this. She called someone over and asked her directly what she wanted to do.
Cui Lianye had a very complicated mood when she looked at the noble concubine who was gorgeously dressed.
It's been more than two years. When Baolin first entered the palace, her eyebrows have grown longer, and she has become more beautiful and brighter. She also has the arrogance and calmness in her speech and behavior that only a confident high-ranking concubine can have. What about herself? When you are in your twenties, you are not considered old, but at this time, you are not considered young either.
Because of the decline of his father Cui Wan's power and the emperor's neglect, he bloomed like a flower in a lonely corner.
If it keeps blooming like this, it can be considered that it has maintained its aloofness from beginning to end.
But ever since he took over the Second Prince, it was destined that this attitude would be impossible to control.
"Empress, I am here for the second prince." Cui Lianye calmed down and said again, "The second prince suffered a lot of damage before. The imperial doctor said that it would be best to have the best official Yan to help him. The second prince wants to make up for it. The official swallows there are not as good as those here, so I have the courage to come and ask the queen to give me some."
Yun Fenghuang glanced at her unexpectedly and said, "Why do I think this is worth a trip in person?"
Just ask her how much she wants.
Cui Lian hurriedly said that the second prince was too young to eat much: "My queen, just give me some."
Yun Fenghuang asked the Qing people to go to his storehouse to get some: "Because I am about to leave for home, there are not many things prepared in Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion. You can let the second prince eat, and when I return to the palace, I will The palace will ask someone to send it to you again."
"Thank you, empress." Cui Lianye looked a little embarrassed, as if he remembered the difficulty and displeasure he had made towards Yun Fenghuang in the past, so he felt ashamed and thanked him again and again, and said that when the second prince is well, he will definitely bring him over to thank him in person. Thanks to the concubine's grace, she resigned and left.
After she left, Yun Fenghuang asked the Qing people: "What's going on with Mrs. Qingshu? She is a wife after all. Cui Wan hasn't fallen yet, so why can't the best officials eat it?"
"It's not that we can't eat." The Qing people quickly explained, "It's just that we suffered some disasters last year, and there weren't many good officials who came to pay tribute. The Empress Dowager and the two Empress Dowagers definitely want it." The first one was selected, and then came down to you, the empress. Then there are the current empress Shu Fei, empress De Fei, and Luo Zhaoyi. Some people have divided their points. When they go to Mrs. Qingshu's place, their appearance may not be so good. In the end, it is As the head of the palace, according to the instructions of the empress, everything is given to me. Even Concubine Xie has not been left behind."
In the past two years, Yun Fenghuang has actually made the final decision in palace affairs. She has a rule that unless she orders it, the proportions in each place should be as much as possible. She is not allowed to withhold favors because of sparse favors. Otherwise, once discovered, the person in charge will have a plan. Don't even think about having a good time.
Even though Qingren was a close servant, he did not dare to disobey. At this moment, he was of course afraid that he would be thought to have taken advantage of Cui Lianye's things.
"Since the second prince has come to her, it would be better to give it to her in the future." In fact, this explanation is half true and half false. The best officials are carefully selected, and it is indeed impossible to have everything, but There is no problem in supplying the chief ministers—the families of important ministers can all receive rewards, so how can the concubines in the palace not get enough
The main reason is that Mrs. Qingshu has not been favored during this period, and her mother's family has also lost power. Although Yun Fenghuang has ordered not to take any deductions, the person in charge does not want to please her.
So I gave her the second-class one.
For someone as grand and favored as Yun Fenghuang, from the time she became Jieyu, many of the benefits she received were the same as those of the fourth concubine...
Yun Fenghuang knew this tacit understanding and had no intention of getting to the bottom of it. After all, this was human nature.
If we look at it carefully, she is still the beneficiary, so there is no need to burn bridges.
Anyway, as long as the people below her can't be singled out openly, she won't care about it. Originally, as a concubine, if her ability to compete for favors is not up to par, it is natural that she will be so close.
She is a very kind person who does not allow any deductions to be made.
Well, the main reason is that I don’t want some people to come out and cause trouble just for the sake of good taste.
After all, in such a big palace, who knows that there is no one like me. I didn't want to cause trouble, just because I felt that life was uncomfortable, and then...
Anyway, she doesn't need to pay for these things. What's wrong with spending money from the inner treasury to fulfill her generosity
At this moment, Yun Fenghuang said calmly, "Although the second prince's biological mother is the daughter of the guilty minister, he is still the flesh and blood of His Majesty. He suffered so much at the hands of Concubine Shu before. It is really pitiful. It is rare for Mrs. Qingshu to be considerate to him. Let us also take care of it so that His Majesty will not worry about it."
Everyone felt that Chunjia did not care about the emperor's heir, but they agreed after the imperial concubine said so.
After all, if there is any prince besides King Qin that they are most willing to take care of, it is the second prince and the third prince.
Because of these two biological mothers, Chunjia and other ministers would never let them have the chance to take over the East Palace unless absolutely necessary.
They won't even be given the chance to take charge in the future...
In this way, taking care of these two people is the least risky, and it can also show the kindness and thoughtfulness of the noble concubine.
A few days later, it was the day when the emperor and the empress dowager returned to the imperial capital. The journey was generally safe. The reason why I said it was overall was because Yuan Xianfei was not able to handle the bumps on the way and had a fetal infection.
After diagnosis by the imperial physician, he was deemed not suitable to continue moving forward.
But neither Chunjia nor the Empress Dowager, the entire Sixth Palace and the accompanying ministers could stay and wait for her.
So in the end, he was settled in the inn and left with the imperial doctor and others to take care of him, that was all.
Originally, Gu Zhen's intention was to leave a concubine to take care of Yuan Zhiniang since she was pregnant and had too much time to take care of.
However, after asking the concubines what they wanted, no one was willing. Yuan Zhiniang herself said that it was not necessary, as long as the palace steward was by her side.
In the end, the matter was settled.
It's not that Yuan Zhiniang's popularity is so bad, it's mainly because of Yun Fenghuang.
The empress dowager had been fighting with her loving mother the empress dowager for many days over the matter of conferring the fourth concubine on the niece of the empress dowager. In the end, the emperor personally reconciled the situation and managed to save the face of the Tian family without going too far.
Whoever stays with Yuan Zhiniang now may be grateful to Yuan's aunt and nephew, but will definitely arouse the disgust of the imperial concubine.
Even if Gu Zhen was not the queen, she wouldn't want to say this. She didn't have much objection to Yuan Zhiniang, but she had a big objection to Yuan Zhiniang. As much as she hated the house, Empress Gu actually didn't like Yuan Zhiniang either.
Furthermore, who knows what the consequences will be if Yuan Zhiniang gets pregnant this time. If there is something wrong with her, the person who is left to take care of her may have done something wrong and it will not be worth it.
So the queen agreed to Yuan Zhiniang's suggestion and let her stay alone at the inn to rest. When the situation stabilized before continuing to the imperial capital, all the concubines breathed a sigh of relief.
This was especially true for the newly promoted concubines, who were afraid that the queen would pick on them and name them to stay and take care of Yuan Zhiniang.
So the empress left Yuan Zhi Niang with the imperial doctors and palace guards, and then continued to serve the empress dowager back to the palace. After a lot of hard work, the Sixth Palace went to pay respects to the two empress dowagers who stayed in the palace "due to illness" .
Everyone was already familiar with this kind of scene. Anyway, they just told each other how hard they were doing, asked about the current situation, said a few polite words, and then they dispersed.
But today, the empress dowager, a loving mother, asked the concubines many questions about the palace, and then tactfully expressed her regret for having been detained in Chunyou Palace for the past two years.
Empress Gu then gave her some very stylized comfort based on her condition. The face of the loving empress dowager instantly turned cold, and she turned to talk to Concubine Shu.
After he left her, Gu Zhen quietly asked Yun Fenghuang: "What do you think the empress dowager means?"
"What else could it mean?" Yun Fenghuang had known the inside story all along, and it was not difficult to guess what Empress Dowager Yuan was thinking at this moment. He sneered slightly, "The situation of the two empress dowagers is that they can't help but travel hard, so even though it's hot in the summer, they can't Go to a palace that is not too far away, let alone Fuyang County. But staying in your own palace for many years is boring enough. In this case, why not hold a banquet for them in the palace and do some singing and dancing, it is best to Please let the children of Xingningbo Mansion come into the palace so that our loving mother, the Empress Dowager, can enjoy the happiness of a family?"
Gu Zhen frowned and said, "Is it possible that the empress dowager, a loving mother, wants to let the Yuan family's son, the eldest princess Shang Minghui, please?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang was speechless at her thoughts. After pondering for a while, he said, "Your Majesty never said this."
Gu Zhen was worried and said, "Do you have any way to push back on this matter? I don't think it's appropriate."
"Minghui treated your empress like that, do you still think about her?" Yun Fenghuang glanced sideways at her, trying not to smile, "And with Minghui's silly look, it's a good thing that the consort and his family have no abilities. , otherwise even the late emperor’s only legitimate daughter may not be able to protect her for a long time.”
"Even so, you still don't know about the grievances between the empress dowager and the commoner Ji Sheng?" Gu Zhen looked around and saw that no one else dared to come closer to listen to the empress and the concubine, so he whispered, "If Ming Hui How can life be easier after entering the Yuan family? I know that you have only been in the palace for a short period of time and have not received Minghui's favor, but just treat it like I beg you and try to stir up this matter. I owe you a favor, how about it? And if this matter comes to pass, it will not be a good thing for you. If you want your loving mother, the Queen Mother, to let her nephew Shang Minghui, in addition to possibly wanting to take revenge on the commoner Ji Sheng, you also most likely hope to use Minghui's status to benefit the Ningbo Mansion! Do you hope that Xingningbo Mansion will prosper?"
Yun Fenghuang looked at her for a while, then smiled meaningfully: "Okay."
Naturally, the imperial concubine would not refuse such a favor in exchange for doing nothing, but such a straightforward acceptance made Gu Zhen stunned for a while before turning his head suspiciously.
The Sixth Palace then went to Jiashan Palace.
The Empress Dowager Qu's side has always been more deserted, but today she was extra straightforward. She had people stop her at the door, using the excuse that she was not feeling well, and only allowed the empress and the concubine to come in to pay their respects, while the others were dismissed on the spot.