Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 679 Visit
In Qingning Palace, the Queen Mother had long known that the Madam Tai and Jiu Niang had entered the palace one after another. When Jiu Niang came, she even brought a strange man to Qianqing Palace, but she had been restraining her emotions and did not send anyone to Qianqing Palace to inquire. Sure enough, her wait was not in vain. The Madam Tai and Jiu Niang finally came in person and brought her a piece of news that she had not expected and could indeed be said to be extremely shocking.
Unlike Yuquan, whose face changed drastically, the Queen Mother seemed very calm and even laughed: "Sure enough, the closer it gets to the end of the year, the more messed up things become. I don't know if it's the devil's doing or if Erlang is really unlucky!"
The Madam Tai did not speak, and Jiu Niang had always felt awkward in Qingning Palace, so she was even more taciturn than when she was in Qianqing Palace. The silence of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did not affect the Queen Mother's mood. She sighed slightly, but asked directly: "Is the Emperor going to summon the people on that boat now? The city gates were closed, so how did they get them in?"
"I asked Yingying to go in person." Although the Queen Mother's eyes suddenly turned fierce, Jiu Niang remained calm. "The city gates are locked, and officials are not allowed to enter or leave the city unless it is an emergency such as a military matter. At this time, it is more appropriate to let Yingying make an excuse to go out of the city to see her eldest brother, rather than using the master's name. And Dalang is in charge of the Five Cities Military Department and has the right to pass, so it is easy for him to bring people into the city."
"The Queen Mother might say that Yingying shouldn't be involved in such things, but she's not a child anymore and she has to make decisions based on priorities. If we hide everything from her, we're underestimating her. As for the family, I've entrusted it to Erlang and told him about the general situation. If he never has the opportunity to be independent, how can he grow up?"
The Madam had previously ordered Zhu Hong to go, but now after hearing what Jiu Niang said, she also felt that her daughter-in-law was more thoughtful, and immediately agreed, "Empress Dowager, Jiu Niang's measures are very appropriate. It is better for Yingying to go out of the city at this time. Others will say that this girl is domineering and arrogant, but she is used to it anyway . Yingying is rough on the outside but meticulous on the inside, and she will definitely be able to do it well."
"Of course she can. As long as this girl wants to do it and is willing to do it, she can do everything." The Queen Mother sighed helplessly, with a hint of regret in her voice. "I just hope that she will not get involved in these messy things, and just be a perfect couple with her ideal husband."
"There is no such thing as a couple who are detached from the mundane world. If there is, it's not Shou and Yingying."
This time it was the dowager's turn to make fun. She even mentioned Zhu Ying's unhappy return today as a joke, and sure enough, the empress dowager laughed. But after laughing, the empress dowager immediately remembered the time when the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law entered the palace, and immediately ordered Yuquan to ask someone to serve the meal. When Yuquan went out and came back, he brought another piece of news.
"Someone from the Qianqing Palace said that the Emperor has asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince to have dinner together. Please don't worry, Empress Dowager."
"Thank God!" The Queen Mother finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her son knew him best. Although he was often careless and eccentric, the Emperor was a very emotional person. Sometimes he would even forget his position as a monarch and would be more persistent in being a son, a brother, a friend, and even a father.
Now that the emperor had recovered from his possible grief, she knew that what she had to pay attention to next was the reaction of the outside world and the aftermath. Therefore, after letting the lady and Jiu Niang have dinner at her place, she heard that they did not intend to wait for Zhu Ying to return home together, but wanted to leave first, so she did not try to keep them.
"If Yingying insists on going back, the emperor will naturally send someone to take her back. If she wants to stay in the palace, whether it's Qingning Palace or Qianqing Palace, there are plenty of places for her to stay for a night, so you don't have to worry."
She ordered Yuquan to personally escort the two to Qingning Gate and then send them out of the palace in two sedan chairs. The Queen Mother then focused on how to deal with the situation. Therefore, when Yuquan came back, she saw the Queen Mother who looked like a Buddha statue under the candlelight.
She quietly extinguished some of the other candles, making the light in the room even dimmer. Then she came to the Queen Mother holding a cloak and asked softly, "Queen Mother, do you want to wash up and go to bed, or stay here for a while?"
The Queen Mother ignored Yuquan's question, and did not mention the foot bath she had to do every night. She pondered for a moment and then answered the question: "I remember that after Concubine Jing moved out of Kunning Palace, she seemed unwilling to move to the six palaces in the east and west, so she moved to Xian'an Palace behind Qingning Palace?"
Yuquan was slightly stunned, then nodded: "That's right, because Concubine Jing was noisy at first, the servants were afraid that she would disturb the Empress Dowager, so they often let her drink calming decoctions."
The Queen Mother knew why the former Queen, now Concubine Jing, wanted to move to Xian'an Palace, which was originally used to house the Queen Mother and the Concubines. She was the one who deposed the Queen for being unfilial, and for the Queen who had always relied on her, this was probably the most difficult thing to accept, and she would feel that she had been betrayed the most. Therefore, the Queen must have been crazy about seeing her.
She stood up slowly and said casually, "I haven't visited her since she came here. Let's go and see her now."
Yuquan was shocked. What kind of person is the empress dowager? If others don't know, how could she not know? Even if she was in power behind the scenes for a short period of time, only less than eight years, she was able to smoothly hand over power to the emperor under such circumstances, how could she be a kind-hearted person who cares about old feelings?
Didn't you see that even the Queen Mother's own brothers have not been able to set foot in the capital in these years? What's the big deal about deposing the Queen? Just because Concubine Jing failed the Queen Mother's kindness and expectations and raised the eldest and second princes to what they are now, the Queen Mother has long been disappointed with them.
But Yuquan did not dare to persuade the Queen Mother not to go to Xian'an Palace at such a late hour, because she knew very well that the Queen Mother hated being advised the most. So she could only hurriedly put on a cloak for the man and followed him to ask, "Queen Mother, do you want someone to go to Xian'an Palace first to tell them? And ask a few more people to light the lamps and prepare?"
Seeing that the empress dowager had acquiesced, Yuquan hurried out to give instructions, and in the end, she even called on six imperial attendants from the Qingning Palace to accompany her. When she returned to her room, she saw that the empress dowager had an extra string of Buddhist beads in her hand.
Knowing that the Empress Dowager's belief in Buddhism was just a pretense, and that things like Buddhist beads were mostly used to suppress anger and calm one's mood, she immediately broke out in a cold sweat. After helping the Empress Dowager change into a pair of thick leather boots and a mink coat over her cloak, she helped her out of the door and got into the warm sedan chair. After lowering the curtain, she couldn't help rubbing her hands.
The emperor is meeting with the witnesses of the Song family in the Qianqing Palace. Even if he really knows what is going on here, he probably won't come here, not to mention the third and fourth princes. If the queen mother really wants to do something... who can stop her?
But it was too late to think about these things now. She could only pray in her heart that the deposed queen would not go crazy after hearing the news. Because with the queen mother's seemingly calm but actually unpredictable mood, it was really unknown what she would do!
Xian'an Palace had been locked at night, but since Yuquan had sent an urgent message, when the queen mother's sedan stopped in front of the gate, the gate had already been quietly opened. Several older palace servants came out and saw the curtain of the sedan was raised, and the queen mother seemed to be getting out of the sedan. The leader hurriedly stepped forward to stop her and said, "Queen Mother, it's dark in the courtyard, just have someone carry the sedan to the front of the main hall."
Looking at the dark courtyard , the Queen Mother did not insist. The expenses of the palace have always been simple. That is, when the emperor goes to a palace every night, he will light stone pillar street lamps in advance on the road he must pass. The other palaces will also be dark at night, not to mention the Xian'an Palace where no one will come.
When the warm sedan stopped again, she bent down and stepped down from the sedan with the help of Yuquan. When she finally stood in front of the thick blue silk quilted door curtain, she asked, "Is Concubine Jing asleep now?"
The Queen Mother was coming. Even if Concubine Jing was really asleep, she would be woken up by the tossing and turning. Not to mention that Concubine Jing was now completely upside down, sometimes talking nonsense, sometimes being stupid, and she really hadn't gone to bed yet. Therefore, the older palace servant who followed her hesitated for a moment, and finally told the truth.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Concubine Jing is writing a letter in her room."
This answer really exceeded the Queen Mother's expectations. Writing a letter? After being deposed, how could someone still send a letter outside the palace? Thinking about it, it was ridiculous. She frowned and asked, "Who was the letter written to? Who sent it out after it was written?"
"No one... No one sent it out. I have a whole box of letters." The palace servant glanced at the empress dowager cautiously and said in a low voice, "Since she got paper and pen, Concubine Jing has been much more obedient. Although she still says some crazy things all day long, most of the time she is writing letters desperately. Some are written to the ministers, some are written to the retired elders, and some are written to the royal family members..."
The Queen Mother finally understood. Since the letters could not be sent out, she would let Concubine Jing write them. After all, people would not make a fuss and it would save a lot of trouble. As for sending the letters to her and the Emperor, no one would do that because she and the Emperor hated to be informed. The Emperor even made it clear when he moved to the palace.
It is said that the emperor ordered that he should not be bothered with the matter of Concubine Jing anymore. If she wanted to die, it didn't matter as long as she could be saved, and she could just go to the Imperial Hospital. Anyway, Concubine Jing couldn't leave the palace, let alone send anything, so there was no need to worry about this deposed queen causing any trouble!
The Queen Mother did not even mention wanting to see what Concubine Jing had written. She smiled calmly and said, "Come on, take me to see this former Queen who is pretending to be crazy and stupid."
No one, including Yuquan, had expected that the Queen Mother would conclude that Concubine Jing was playing mad as soon as she opened her mouth. But no one dared to ask the Queen Mother how she knew that. Instead, the palace servant who had just said that he had accepted Concubine Jing's letters felt quite regretful.
She thought it was better to have less trouble than more, and the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were not harsh people, so every time Concubine Jing asked her to deliver a letter, she would put it in the box and keep it safe. If she had known this, she would have sent all the things in the box to Qingning Palace!
But the empress dowager did not care about what others thought. When she followed the palace servant leading the way into the west room and saw the woman writing a letter attentively under the dim candlelight, she could not help but pause for a moment. However, she did not take a closer look at the woman whom she had personally chosen for the emperor but who had now become the deposed empress. Instead, she glanced around.
The move to the palace was arranged by the emperor, and the people in Xian'an Palace were selected by Chu Kuan. None of the palace maids and eunuchs from the former Kunning Palace were retained, and all the palace maids serving here volunteered to stay in the palace. Those who are over 30 years old may not be as lively and beautiful as the younger ones, but at least they have one advantage, they will not feel bored and tired of serving the deposed empress. So at first glance, Xian'an Palace is arranged in an orderly manner, and there are even flowers in the porcelain vase in the corner.
From the side, Concubine Jing looked quite thin, but her clothes were neat and her hair was neat and tidy. At least she didn't look like a resentful woman in the palace with disheveled hair. However, the Queen Mother didn't see any gold or jade ornaments on Concubine Jing's wrists or earlobes. She knew that this was probably not because she was neglectful because she had become a deposed queen, but because she was afraid that she would commit suicide.
After quietly watching the woman who was writing a letter without paying attention to anyone, the Queen Mother said calmly, "After all, she is Concubine Jing. Don't leave her things untouched. Give her the gold and jade jewelry. Don't worry about her committing suicide."
The older worker who had been responsible for answering the questions was about to refuse, but when she heard the Queen Mother's last words, she immediately shut up. The thought that came to her mind scared her.
The Queen Mother said this in front of the deposed Queen and Concubine Jing. Could it be that she didn't care about the life or death of the deposed Queen, so she told them not to be on guard? You know, the reason why she put those things away was because she was afraid that the sharp hairpins would be used to pierce the throat, and the small pieces of gold and jade pendants would be swallowed... Those were very common ways to seek death in the palace!
As if she had heard the Queen Mother's words, Concubine Jing, who had just been writing a letter, finally moved. She turned her neck with difficulty, and when she saw clearly that it was indeed the Queen Mother in front of her, the flat expression on her face finally changed a little.
However, the Queen Mother still did not give her a chance to speak first, but continued calmly: "You have lived in Xian'an Palace for a few days. This is my first time to see you, but also the last time. I came today just to tell you that I just got the news that Erlang's ship to Qiongzhou might have had a problem."
She seemed not to notice the instantly frozen faces around her, nor did she seem to notice the suddenly ferocious expression of Concubine Jing, and continued, "Maybe he really is just unlucky, maybe someone is thinking of making a profit from a rare commodity, maybe he is just a pure pirate, maybe there was a riot or even a rebellion on the ship... There are many possibilities, but there is another possibility."
"For example, since he caused the so-called Kunning Palace poisoning incident, which led to your dethronement, he has become an unfilial son who is sworn enemies with you. So if his death can bring some opportunities to Dalang, then you will probably take a gamble, right?"
"Sacrificing one rebellious son to save another son from the dilemma of farming in the imperial farm, why not do it?"
Concubine Jing finally stood up and rushed over angrily: "Nonsense, I didn't do that!"
Seeing the two palace maids quickly step forward and hold Concubine Jing's arms, the Queen Mother turned around and walked out, stopping just before she reached the door: "It's not you who decides whether it's true or not, but how the people of the world decide. You three have done too many stupid things, one more and one less wouldn't be too much. Your mother's family has lost a few loyal servants, don't you think I don't know?"
