Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 435: Qinse
Although Zhu Ying usually liked to join in the fun, after the emperor had made such a clear statement, she immediately pulled Zhang Shou's sleeve without the lady's reminder. Zhang Shou also didn't want to stay in such a delicate place at such a delicate time, so he planned to leave immediately. But at this moment, the lady got ahead of them.
"Your Majesty, it's a rare opportunity to come to the palace. I plan to go to Qingning Palace to pay my respects to the Queen Mother and discuss how to celebrate the birthdays of Princess Yongping, Yingying, and Zhang Shou. I will take them both out first." The lady bowed her knees slightly and then said frankly, "I will report all the details to the Queen Mother."
The emperor was indeed worried that the empress dowager would come in person or order someone to summon him to Qingning Palace for questioning after learning about this matter - after all, he didn't want to endure it any longer. So why would he not be willing to take on the difficult task of informing the empress dowager of the whole story? So, while nodding his head in agreement, he added a few more words.
"Please tell my aunt that I am disheartened and have no choice but to depose the queen. However, as we have been married for many years, I should give her some respect, so I plan to depose her as Consort Gong and move her out of Kunning Palace. But from now on, I will not appoint another queen. As for the affairs of the harem, if my mother is unable to handle it, let Mingyue assist her."
When the Second Prince heard his father once again clearly express his intention to depose the Queen, his heart had sunk to the bottom. But when he heard that the Emperor was determined not to appoint another Queen, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope - because in that case, at least all the princes would be illegitimate sons, and the two young and ignorant children, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, would not be able to dominate him.
But when he heard that the emperor did not choose a concubine but let Princess Yongping take care of the palace affairs, he was shocked and angry, and at the same time, he felt deeply regretful. His elder brother, who was used to pretending, had a good relationship with Princess Yongping at least on the surface, but he did not like his sister who was always acting like a talented woman, so he and Princess Yongping had no friendship at all!
After he secretly "invited" the chef of the Yangzhou Guild Hall to his home as if by kidnapping, he tasted the food and thought it tasted good. He also heard that the Queen was on a hunger strike in the palace, so he finally decided to act like a filial son in order to earn back some reputation for himself. So he planned to send some delicious food into the palace, so that his mother would not starve without the imperial kitchen .
Who knew that something went wrong? He just heard the Queen was vomiting and having diarrhea and shouting that someone was poisoning her. In order to protect himself, he suddenly had an idea and shouted that it was Zhang Shou who framed her. But he never thought that this would lead to such serious consequences!
The Madam Tai naturally didn't care about the Second Prince's anger and regret. Since the Emperor asked her to pass on a message to the Empress Dowager of Qingning Palace, she naturally agreed. However, the Emperor's instructions just now were really extraordinary. After she took Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying out of Qianqing Palace, she couldn't help but sigh at her granddaughter and future grandson-in-law who were supporting her on both sides.
"It takes time for the ice to freeze three feet thick to form."
Zhang Shou knew that she was lamenting that the upcoming event of deposing the empress was not sudden, but because the emperor's accumulated dissatisfaction with her reached its peak today, thus completely ruining the relationship between husband and wife. However, he did not want to comment on such palace affairs at all, and simply remained silent.
Zhu Ying whispered softly, "I heard from Concubine Yu that the Queen was not like this back then... She was a well-known daughter of a wealthy family who was dignified and virtuous."
The lady shook her head but said nothing. The empress dowager really saw the influence of the empress's mother's family in the reign of Emperor Yingzong, and heard of the empress's reputation, so she decided to appoint such a empress for the emperor. Of course, the emperor was really satisfied with such a empress at that time. The best evidence was that he had not visited other concubines for three or four years after the marriage.
But because she had tasted the feeling of being the master of the six palaces and had been held in the palm of the emperor's hand for many years, the queen naturally forgot to put on the disguise of being virtuous, and her jealous and mean side gradually revealed itself. But she didn't expect that when she stopped hiding those ugly shortcomings and there were other women in the palace, how long would she be able to have a good life?
As for what happened after that, it can be said to be a vicious cycle. Of course, the empress was wrong, but the emperor was not without fault, and the empress dowager was also not without fault. Taizu of this dynasty once said that if the emperor has desires but no emotions, he can take in beauties and have many children. If he has emotions but no desires, and only favors one person in the harem, the other concubines can be sent to marry others. As for the heirs...Are there not many royal families with the surname Zheng in the world?
However, in all these years of this dynasty, even if there was a king who favored one person, he never really dispersed the harem...
The lady sighed to herself as she walked. When they entered the Qingning Palace, Yuquan, the female official beside the empress dowager, had come out to greet them. She followed them in with a smile and saw the empress dowager sitting on the soft couch in the middle. She stood up quickly when she saw her. She walked forward and bowed first. When the empress dowager pulled her to sit on the couch beside her, she did not exchange pleasantries but relayed the emperor's words and told him in detail what she had seen and heard in the Qianqing Palace before.
Although there had been news coming out of Qingning Palace since the incident, and even Zhu Ying had hurried to Qianqing Palace after learning about the incident there - it was the Empress Dowager who had instructed her to go and comfort the impatient Emperor a little, but at this moment, upon hearing these latest details, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but rub her brows gently with her fingers, feeling indescribably upset.
She wanted to drag it out for a long time, so that the emperor would not leave a reputation of deposing the empress. Throughout history, emperors who deposed empresses would have their good reputations ruined. Even Han Jingdi and Han Guangwu, who were known as wise rulers, left behind criticism for deposing empresses. But now it seemed that this step was inevitable. Fortunately, the emperor did not plan to appoint another empress, which could barely shut up some people.
However, it was really a fantasy that the emperor planned to let Princess Yongping, rather than any other concubine, to manage the harem... This was not the time when Princess Eyi was in charge of the harem and raised Emperor Zhao of Han!
As she was thinking, the empress dowager suddenly noticed the little movements of Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying who were standing beside her.
Zhu Ying was seen pulling Zhang Shou's sleeve with one hand and shaking it slightly. Zhang Shou gently waved his hands as if trying to break free. Finally, he dropped his hands as if in compromise, allowing Zhu Ying to pull his sleeves like this, and even patted her hands gently, as if to comfort her to stay calm.
After a slight pause, the empress dowager suddenly realized the reason behind Zhu Ying's little action.
It turned out that she had not told them to sit down! As for the palace maids in Qingning Palace, they were probably so shocked by what the Madam said about abolishing the empress that they had forgotten about it.
Thinking of the past when the emperor and the empress had such a harmonious relationship and had shown all kinds of intimacy in front of her, the emperor had also neglected the concubines, but in the end the two of them still ended up like this. Now seeing the affection between the two children, the empress dowager could not help but be stunned for a moment, and then she said, "Zhang Shou, you and Yingying should sit down and talk."
Zhu Ying had always been used to being unrestrained in front of the Empress Dowager, her great aunt. She just wanted Zhang Shou to be less formal. When she heard this, she immediately smiled, pushed Zhang Shou forward and sat down together, and then said, "Empress Dowager, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. It's my, Shou's and Mingyue's birthdays soon. Grandmother just told the Emperor that she wanted to discuss with you what to do about our birthdays!"
The lady frowned immediately. The emperor was about to depose the queen, and she was just using this as an excuse to see the queen mother. How could Zhu Ying take it seriously? Zhu Ying was usually willful, but she was always very sensible!
However, to her surprise, Zhang Shou also smiled and said, "Empress Dowager, Yingying has suggested to the emperor before that since the imperial chef selection will begin soon, the first day of the preliminary round should be set on August 15. Firstly, the Mid-Autumn Festival is lively, and secondly, it is a good thing to celebrate with the people. As for us, we are just going to go there to have some fun on your birthday."
At this point, he said sincerely: "Besides, since there are so many things going on in the court and the palace, why not make the first day even grander? If we can use this excitement to dilute the recent gloom of the capital, it would be great."
At this moment, the Lady Dowager and the Queen Mother exchanged glances at the same time, and suddenly realized something.
How to celebrate birthdays was secondary - Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were already seventeen, and they were too young to celebrate their birthdays. However, this day was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and combined with the so-called imperial chef selection competition...
That would indeed divert the attention of the people as much as possible! Let them put more interest in such a grand event instead of talking about the royal family's secrets.
The lady clasped her hands together gently, then smiled and said, "When I was in the Qianqing Palace, I heard that the emperor had just retained the chef from the Yangzhou Guild Hall in the imperial kitchen? This news should also be released, so that those people outside will definitely go crazy!"
The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment: "If this is publicized, wouldn't the news of the Queen being poisoned also spread widely?"
Zhu Ying understood what the lady meant and couldn't help but say with a smile, "Empress Dowager, what grandma meant was that she wanted to let people know that the so-called poisoning was purely the Queen's own doing and was actually a fabrication. That's why the Emperor not only kept the chef in the Imperial Kitchen but also let the news spread. That's exactly how open and magnanimous he is."
As she spoke, she raised the corners of her mouth: "Even if it's a gag order, all kinds of news will spread out later. Why don't we give it a push and divert other people's attention from the so-called palace secrets to other things? Food is the first necessity of the people. By selecting imperial chefs, ordinary people can also experience the world's delicacies and various ingredients. I think this is quite interesting."
"You, whatever Zhang Shou said, you agreed to!"
The Queen Mother said something in a half-smile, but seeing Zhang Shou still sitting there calmly with a frank expression, she swallowed back the teasing that was on the tip of her tongue, and then said thoughtfully: "Since the Emperor has agreed before, this matter is not a bad idea."
Zhu Ying's eyebrows lit up immediately. Although she didn't like the queen, what did she care about the dethronement of the queen? She had finally waited for the second birthday she would spend with Zhang Shou, and she didn't want to be ruined by these messy things!
So, without thinking, she walked up to the Queen Mother and sat down next to her, smiling and acting coquettishly.
"Empress Dowager, although the Emperor has given his approval and allocated some money, the news has spread, and Ah Shou has also asked Old Master Liu to help, but there is no such thing as too much money, and even less such a thing as too many people. You have money to contribute, and people to contribute. Can you just give us some money and people from your fingers? That way, I can use your name to say that the Empress Dowager also approves of this kind of selection."
"You, not only are you a worry to me, but you also love to stir up trouble. What can I say about you?"
The Queen Mother was so angry at Zhu Ying's roguery that she almost laughed. She reached out and poked the girl who used to be a little pink ball. When she turned her head and saw Zhang Shou smiling and enjoying himself, she finally softened her heart. At her age, and having experienced so many things, seeing such a kind-hearted golden boy and jade girl, how could she not be touched?
"Yuquan, go open my box and weigh out fifty taels of gold. Tell the outside world that the emperor wants to select the imperial chef fairly, and I support it very much. But since he has taken the imperial kitchen back to the palace and no longer has the Guanglu Temple in charge, and has opened the inner treasury to do this, then I, as the empress dowager, might as well come to help and give fifty taels of gold as a subsidy."
For Zhu Ying, who had received countless good things from her elders since she was a child, fifty taels of gold was really nothing. She had endless red gold necklaces, South China Sea pearls of all sizes, jade of various textures, gems polished by skilled craftsmen from Ceylon and other places in Southeast Asia, and jadeite that had been tributed to her by a small state in the southwest since Emperor Taizu...all were sold by the box.
But the fifty taels of gold given by the Empress Dowager at this time represented her approval of what she and Zhang Shou had done, so she naturally went over happily and took Zhang Shou to thank them together. Then, she made the excuse of leaving room for the lady and the Empress Dowager to talk, and smiled as she took Zhang Shou out first.
As she left, the Queen Mother sighed, "I really hope that as Yingying said, people will forget about the dethronement of the Queen."
"It's impossible to forget, but it's possible to pay less attention to it." The lady's opinion was naturally cautious, but then she laughed, "When Zhang Shou first made a fuss about this matter, he wanted people to stop focusing on the affairs of Cangzhou, Guanglu Temple and Jiuzhangtang. But he didn't expect that suddenly there would be such a big thing as deposing the queen. How much effect it can have depends on how big a fuss they can make."
A place like the imperial palace is not suitable for whispering. In fact, Zhang Shou just followed Zhu Ying to visit Qingning Palace for a while - and it was not a very spacious place at all. In fact, they finished the tour in less than a quarter of an hour - and then the empress dowager ordered someone to call them in, and it turned out that the lady was going back home.
In addition to the fifty taels of gold that Zhu Ying had forcibly "demanded", Zhang Shou also received a She inkstone and a chicken blood stone seal - he could not tell whether the former was good or not, but at first glance he realized that the latter was very valuable. As for the reason for rewarding him with these two things, the Queen Mother directly used the best reason - birthday gift. Zhu Ying simply left with a box of good things.
When they left the palace, Zhang Shou, who did not ride in a sedan chair this time, said goodbye to the lady, but asked Zhu Ying to go with him. When they arrived at Xiao Cheng's house and saw Lu Sanlang, Zhang Shou said directly: "Lu Sanlang, show your best ability. For the first primary election on August 15, you must create the biggest momentum in advance!"
