latelenovela Chapter 672 Why is my cousin so happy?
Chapter 672 Why is my cousin so happy?
At the same time, what happened at the palace gate also reached the ears of Empress Dowager Cheng of the Cining Palace.
Today is the Lantern Festival and she is not planning to attend the banquet. When she heard that the incident was related to the Jiang family, she said calmly, "This incident is aimed at Jiang Jinyan. How could Jiang Fenghua let the Jiang family suffer? Let's see, maybe Jiang Fenghua is up to something again."
Nanny Xi stood aside and dared not say a word, because the person who came to deliver the message to the Empress Dowager was a confidant trained by the Empress Dowager herself. Because she was close to Nanny Wang and they were from the same group of elderly people serving the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager now hated Nanny Wang and was also on guard against her.
The Empress Dowager did not go anywhere, and did not even go to Shoukang Palace to pay her respects to the Grand Empress Dowager. It seemed that she had really behaved herself and stayed in the palace in a daze every day.
Even the Emperor had said that the Empress did not need to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager, so no one in the entire palace dared to say that the Empress was disrespectful to the Empress Dowager.
At this time, a palace maid came in to report, "Your Majesty, Concubine Chang is here."
Empress Dowager Cheng pondered for a moment. What was she here for?
When the late emperor was still alive, Chang's health was not good and she moved to the most remote palace in the West Palace to recuperate. She gave birth to the Fourth Prince. When the late emperor passed away, Chang was named Concubine Chang. When the emperor ascended the throne, he issued an imperial decree to let the Concubine Chang leave the palace and live with the prince to enjoy her remaining years. However, Chang did not go to the Fourth Prince's mansion. She fasted and chanted Buddhist scriptures in the West Palace for the late emperor.
Empress Dowager Cheng said calmly, "Please come in!"
Chang was wearing a plain dress, with no extra jewelry on her hair. She knelt respectfully in front of the empress dowager and said, "I pay my respects to the empress dowager."
Empress Dowager Cheng said calmly: "Get up!"
Concubine Chang added, "Today is the Lantern Festival. I made several flavors of glutinous rice balls for the Queen Mother to try. I remember that the Queen Mother likes to eat glutinous rice balls with fillings the most, especially those with peanut and sesame fillings."
Empress Dowager Cheng paused and said, "The imperial kitchen sent the dumplings, why did you make them yourself?"
"I remember when I first entered the palace, I went to the imperial kitchen to eat glutinous rice balls and was caught. It was the Empress Dowager who interceded for me. I remember that the Empress Dowager also likes to eat glutinous rice balls with peanut and sesame fillings, so I wanted to invite the Empress Dowager to eat glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival."
While scooping the glutinous rice balls, Concubine Chang said, "I have lived in the palace for more than 30 years. The Queen Mother is very kind to the concubines in the harem and is also very good to me. I am very grateful for the Queen Mother's care."
Empress Dowager Cheng was embarrassed and said, "I have forgotten all about it. Why am I talking about this?"
Empress Dowager Cheng found it a little strange to hear her say this. She had never thought about being kind. People are selfish, and she is selfish too.
The eldest prince was the emperor's favorite, but unfortunately he was short-lived. The second prince was lustful and was almost disabled in the palace. The third prince was born lame. The fourth prince was timid and cowardly and had no opinion of his own. She also looked down on the other princes. The previous emperor had many concubines and children. As long as they were incompetent and did not compete with her son for the throne, she could be a virtuous queen.
Concubine Chang personally handed a bowl of glutinous rice balls to the Queen Mother, "Queen Mother, please taste my cooking skills to see if they have deteriorated."
Empress Dowager Cheng's eyes were full of doubts. She glanced at Nanny Xi, who stepped forward to take the dumplings and put them on the table. "Concubine Chang is so thoughtful. Let me serve the dumplings to the Empress Dowager."
Concubine Chang took the bowl again and said, "If the Queen Mother is not hungry, then I will eat this bowl first. There is more in the jar. It is the filling that the Queen Mother likes to eat. I made some more thinking that you can eat it together."
After she finished speaking, she picked up the bowl and started eating the glutinous rice balls. The aroma of sesame and peanut butter wafted out, which whetted people's taste buds. Empress Dowager Cheng also swallowed her saliva. Chang was a good cook and her snacks were also good.
Empress Dowager Cheng said, "Madame Xi, please serve me a bowl as well. I see that the Concubine is a little hungry after eating."
Concubine Chang's palms began to sweat, and she quickly fed the remaining dumplings in the bowl into her mouth.
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Here, Jiang Fenghua and his group also arrived outside the Golden Throne Hall in a mighty manner. At this time, the square outside the Golden Throne Hall was surrounded by civil and military officials, and everyone was talking about someone beating the drum to file a complaint to the emperor.
Lin Feng said that there were many people outside the imperial city watching the excitement. Shang Hong led the Imperial Guards to surround the imperial city, and the Five Cities Army was also maintaining order outside the imperial city. It can be seen how serious the incident was.
When everyone saw the Queen coming, they all bowed and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."
Seeing that all the ministers were there, Jiang Fenghua asked someone at random, "Is the emperor in there?"
The person who answered her happened to be Lu Tingwei, who said, "The emperor has kept the princes in the main hall. The people outside the palace are making a lot of noise, and it seems they are well prepared." The emperor knew that there were people making trouble outside the palace, but he did not have them arrested for interrogation.
"Thank you," she said.
Wu Xin hurried out, "Your Majesty, please invite the Queen and Lord Jiang in."
Jiang Jinyan and Jiang Fenghua appeared at the door of the Golden Palace at the same time. Xie Shang, wearing a dragon robe and sitting on the dragon throne, stared at Jiang Jinyan with deep eyes.
The next moment, the emperor threw the memorial on the imperial desk in the direction of Jiang Jinyan. The emperor's deafening curse resounded throughout the hall, "Jiang Jinyan, look at what you have done."
Jiang Jinyan picked up the memorial on the ground, his eyes full of disbelief, and denied: "Your Majesty, I didn't do that. They slandered me. I was wronged. How could I have a concubine?"
"The memorials impeaching Minister Jiang are piling up. Is this true? The girl's family is beating drums outside to protest their injustice and look for their daughter. Tell me, how can I help you this time..."
Xie Yu mocked, "Marquis Wu'an has a concubine, and the matter has become so serious. We can't just ignore it because Lord Jiang is the Queen's elder brother! Who said that the emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people? How come..."
Jiang Fenghua stared at Xie Yu with cold eyes, and in an instant, Xie Yu dared not say anything more.
He said: "I am just telling the truth, I didn't say anything else..." He was still afraid of Jiang Fenghua, and a good man doesn't fight with a woman, so forget it.
The Third Prince was very happy to stand in the Golden Palace. He didn't know why the Emperor wanted them to stay. He thought they were just coming to the palace to attend the Lantern Festival banquet. He didn't expect that there would be a commotion outside the palace.
The Fourth Prince looked timid and afraid of trouble. He asked, "Is there some misunderstanding?"
The Tenth Prince and the Ninth Prince are also here.
Ever since Concubine Zhao was sent to the imperial mausoleum for burial, the Zhao family was demoted to commoners, and the Ninth Prince was useless. He was idle all day long. He was also watching the show, wishing that Jiang Jinyan would also be demoted to a commoner. The Ninth Prince said, "What misunderstanding is there? If Lord Jiang wants to take a concubine, he should do it openly. Keeping a mistress and killing people to silence her is too cruel. She has come to your door."
The Tenth Prince said, "Your Majesty, I think this matter is suspicious. I believe that Lord Jiang is not a person who would keep a mistress, let alone kill anyone."
Jiang Fenghua pleaded: "Your Majesty, my brother must have been wrongly accused. I dare to guarantee it with my life. Please investigate it clearly."
Xie Shang said in a cold voice: "Jiang Jinyan caused such a big mess, I will definitely investigate it strictly. Not only are there people outside the palace shouting at Jiang Jinyan to return his daughter, but there are also onlookers watching the excitement. This matter today must be resolved by Jiang Jinyan himself."
No matter what, Xie Shang didn't want the Xie family to collude with outsiders to harm the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Zhang Yumo and others who stayed outside the Golden Palace also heard the emperor inside the palace getting angry.
At this time, everyone had their own thoughts. Worry flashed in Zhang Yumo's eyes. She looked in the direction of the Fourth Princess, only to see a barely perceptible smile suddenly appear at the corner of her lips.
She thought to herself: Why is my cousin so happy?