Extra 2
The Queen said to the Emperor with a smile, "Yes, I mentioned this to my mother a few days ago. My mother meant that the Crown Prince is old enough and choosing a concubine should be up to him. The most important thing is to choose someone who suits his heart."
The emperor stroked the beads in his hand and asked, "What do you think of Su Qingqing?"
The smile on the queen's face froze immediately.
The Emperor looked at the Empress as if he were watching a play. "I think Su Qingqing is not bad. However, she may have suffered a lot of injuries during the wars she led in the wars in recent years. Although she is good, it may not be easy for her to get pregnant. It seems that the Su family has a daughter who is about the same age as Su Qingqing. What's her name?"
The queen's heart fell into the ice storage.
When Su Qingqing returned to Beijing this time, they made many detailed plans to pair Su Qingqing and the second prince.
What does the emperor mean by this?
Are you going to give the prince face?
The queen clenched the handkerchief in her hand, trying her best to suppress her emotions, and just smiled and said, "She is Su Yunyun, only slightly younger than Su Qingqing, and she is of marriageable age.
It’s just that Su Yunyun was born to a concubine of the Su family. Although she was later promoted to a co-wife, in the end…”
In a decent family, who would elevate a wife to a middle-class man?
If this isn't an insult to the wife, then what is?
Although outsiders may not say anything about the legitimate status obtained in this way, they will definitely look down on it behind the back.
Logically speaking, the queen would be happy to see such a person marry the prince, but this person is Su Qingqing's sister after all. If she marries the prince, wouldn't it mean that the entire Su family is on the prince's side?
The Queen acted like a loving mother and said, "I'm afraid she's not even worthy of being a concubine. Your Majesty, you should at least consider the Crown Prince's reputation."
The Emperor smiled and looked at the Empress. "Do you have a choice for the Second Prince's princess?"
The Queen thought about the Emperor's intentions and didn't dare to say anything . She just said, "How could he go before his brother? It doesn't make sense that the Crown Prince hasn't married yet, but he got married first."
The emperor said, "I think the eldest daughter of Qin Taifu is quite good."
The queen felt a pang of pain in her heart.
What does the emperor mean by this? Does he want to force a marriage?
The daughter of Qin Taifu is good, but can Qin Taifu's power compare with Su Qingqing's?
"this……"
Before the Queen could speak, the Second Prince, who was supposed to be drinking with the courtiers, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and interrupted, "Your Majesty, thank you for your grace. I like the young lady from the Qin family very much."
The Queen was nearly thrown to the ground by his blunt words. "What nonsense! Today is General Su's triumphant banquet, and your brother isn't here. You can't represent the other princes in treating General Su well, so why are you making such a fuss here?"
The second prince simply fell to his knees.
His kneeling attracted the attention of other people in the hall. The hall fell silent and everyone looked in his direction.
The emperor looked at the second prince with great interest, pretending to be displeased, "What are you doing?"
The Second Prince clasped his fists and said, "This son has long admired Qin Wanru, the eldest daughter of Grand Tutor Qin, and I beg Your Majesty to grant us a marriage!"
Inside the hall, Imperial Tutor Qin was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly stood up, stepped forward, and knelt to pay his respects. "Your Majesty, please be advised. My daughter, Wanru, has not yet reached the age of marriage."
The emperor laughed, like a loving father scolding his disappointing son, "Listen to what you are saying, Miss Qin hasn't even reached the age of marriage yet, and you are ruining her reputation."
Qin Taifu immediately said, "I dare not. It is my daughter's blessing to be favored by the Second Prince. Unfortunately, she is not so lucky and is still young."
The Second Prince said sincerely, "I am willing to wait."
Inside the hall, there was an indescribable silence for a moment.
The Queen was about to make the Second Prince mad. "What are you doing? Why don't you get up? You can't do this to a girl's reputation."
After saying this, the Queen turned to the two sons of the Duke of Zhenguo who were sitting at the table and said, "Why don't you take the Second Prince downstairs to sober him up!"
The Second Prince still wanted to fight for it, but Imperial Tutor Qin turned and bowed to him. "I'm grateful for your kindness, Second Prince, but I dare not hide the truth. At the end of last year, Wanru fell seriously ill. A Taoist priest said that Wanru's fate was a bit strange. If we want a peaceful and happy future, we need to wait five years before getting married."
Since his father had said so much, the second prince didn't say anything more.
What's more, his goal today has been achieved.
His mother, the Empress Dowager, and the Duke of Zhenguo both want him to marry Su Qingqing, but he really only likes Qin Wanru. Qin Wanru will be coming of age next year, and he can wait, even if it takes five years.
He just makes his attitude known first.
Without waiting for the two young masters of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to come and help him, the second prince kowtowed to the emperor himself and left the table first, using the excuse of being drunk.
As soon as he left, the arrangements that the Duke of Zhenguo had previously made, such as having the Second Prince send someone home while Su Qingqing was drunk, had to be abandoned.
The emperor had seen enough of the show and was too lazy to say anything more to the queen.
After the banquet, Su Yunhe originally wanted to ask Su Heng to help Su Qingqing return home, but Su Qingqing was worried about the incident with the Crown Prince, so she just said that the army had not made arrangements yet, and asked Wang Yu to help her leave the palace.
After leaving the palace and getting on the sedan chair, Wang Yu reported the news he had gathered in detail, "...After the incident with the bandits, the Queen Mother held a banquet in the palace. The Crown Prince was being plotted against, and he had a conversation with a noble who had just entered the palace.
The noble lady asked the prince for directions, and the prince showed her the way. After that, nothing happened. But that afternoon, the noble lady came to His Majesty crying , saying that the prince wanted to molest her.
His Majesty was furious and had the Crown Prince under house arrest for half a month. The Crown Prince then opened a business and built a mansion outside. Even though he was under house arrest, at least he was in his own mansion and his life was not hard.
If I lived in the East Palace, I would be very sad."
Su Qingqing was halfway through the march when she suddenly received a notice to suppress bandits. She felt strange at the time because March was not the season for banditry, and everything had been peaceful before. How could there suddenly be bandits?
Later, we received another notice saying that the bandits had been wiped out by local authorities.
Since she had no involvement in it, she didn't take it seriously. Unexpectedly, there was such a thing going on.
Want to harm Rong Que?
It would be fine if she didn't know, but if she did, there was no way she would let these people be so happy.
Su Qingqing thought for a moment before giving Wang Yu a few instructions, "...You don't have to do this yourself. Go to the Broken Red Mansion and explain the matter to Mother Du. She will naturally know what to do."
Prince's Mansion.
In the middle of the morning, Rong Que was giving orders to Ming Lu when Ming He rushed in again from outside.
"Your Highness! Something happened."
Rong Que's first instinct was to think that something had happened to Su Qingqing, as Ming He was so anxious. "What happened to her?"
Rong Que almost jumped up from his chair.
Minghe shook his head. "It's not General Su who's in trouble, it's you, Your Highness. There are rumors circulating out there saying that Your Highness is not Your Majesty's biological son, but the orphan of the former Crown Prince Longyu."
