In Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager Qin had just asked Princess Hong'an to be sent away when she turned around and heard that the servant of Qingyuan Palace was asking for an audience.
After watching the chamberlain's performance-style retelling, which was rewarded generously by the palace officials, the Queen Mother Qin's reaction was completely different from what the emperor had expected.
"That sixth lady of the Sheng family is really not decent!" She snorted, "Brother Xun is his elder, but she dared to feel resentful just because he exposed her hypocrisy! No wonder Concubine Wen and I don't like it. Ah! Although Sister Yuan is the most outstanding member of the Sheng family, the other girls are also very good. Only such a heartless person has lowered the standard of the girls of the Sheng family."
Aunt Qi was accustomed to listening to the Queen Mother's eccentric remarks, and silently sighed for the Emperor. The good show that the Emperor thought was impossible to happen. In the eyes of the Queen Mother, Marquis Yongxing could not be wrong.
Thinking like this, Aunt Qi couldn't help but feel that Marquis Yongxing was not easy at all, and he didn't even grow crooked.
Then, she thought of Sister Yuan from Marquis Yongxing, and couldn't help but smile.
They, father and daughter, are really of the same blood. They are both extremely favored and have good moral character.
"Aqi! Aqi!" Queen Mother Qin's call made Aunt Qi's thoughts disappear.
Aunt Qi hurriedly smiled and said what she had just said.
When the Queen Mother Qin heard this, she nodded naturally: "No, they are all good children!"
After saying this, she told Aunt Qi: "Send someone to keep an eye on the sixth lady of the Sheng family. I want to see what ambitions she has."
After Aunt Qi agreed, she went to Tai'an Palace in person.
Not long after, I saw that the little palace maid who had followed Sheng Han that day was caught in the cold and moved outside the palace to recuperate.
Concubine Wen Taigui assigned two more palace servants to Sheng Han, and Sheng Han had no objection to this.
…
"The little palace maid said that the sixth lady of the Sheng family is very cautious. Although she often jokes with them, she doesn't believe anyone. She has never made any inappropriate remarks, let alone lost her temper with them."
Aunt Qi cracked nuts and said to the Queen Mother: "Maybe it was because Marquis Yongxing was angry that time that some clues were revealed. But after returning, it was still the same as before, and there seemed to be no anger."
Queen Mother Qin wanted to frown when she heard this: "How can she control herself so much? It's true that the Ai family underestimated her before."
Aunt Qi did not comment and continued what she asked: "But on the day she lost her temper, the sixth lady of the Sheng family did not go back to Tai'an Palace directly. Instead, she went around to the back garden to pick flowers and plants."
Empress Dowager Qin squinted: "How many palaces are there near the back garden?"
Aunt Qi paused: "The scenery in the back garden of the imperial palace is very good, and it is far away from the East and West Palaces. It is a very quiet and elegant place. The only nearby place is the Anyuan Palace, which is the place where the Queen empress spends her time."
"Oh?" Empress Dowager Qin looked at the handrail calmly, "Do the people from Anluan Palace come out often?"
"It doesn't seem to be common. The palace gate is only opened once every ten days. The nun in charge occasionally takes the palace people to pick some flowers and plants."
After Aunt Qi finished speaking, she added: "That day happened to be the day when the gates of Anyuan Palace were opened. Liu Niang of the Sheng family met the housekeeper from a distance, who was leading the palace people to pick flowers and plants. However, they did not speak and were separated from each other. Kong bowed and went back."
Queen Mother Qin sat up straight on the cushion and looked out the window silently.
Aunt Qi didn't bother seeing this and continued cracking nuts quietly.
After a long while, Queen Mother Qin slowly breathed a sigh of relief and asked with a sense of recall: "Aqi, do you still remember that during the Queen's draft, there was a saying in Kyoto that 'the civil and military stalemate, both Lu and Lu will shine'?"
Aunt Qi nodded: "Of course I remember. At that time, uninformed people thought that the Baoxiang Hou Lu family and the Taifu Lu family were the same clan."
The Empress Dowager Qin couldn't help but laugh a little when she thought that the emperor was so stupid at that time that he sent the young daughter of the imperial concubine whom he met by chance to the Baoxiang Hou Mansion.
After laughing, I couldn't help but sigh with regret: "At that time, when the Taifu's young daughter was famous in the capital, and she stood side by side with the emperor, who wouldn't say something about her talent and beauty? But I didn't expect that time had changed, and one of them became the emperor, and the other became the queen, but in this life The point where we will never see each other again and regret meeting each other every time."
Seeing that the Queen Mother was very sad, Aunt Qi could not help but comfort her: "This is neither the fault of the Emperor nor the fault of the Queen. I can only say that I am helpless!"
Empress Dowager Qin sneered and said: "If there is really a fault on either side, it can only be the fault of the late emperor and Taifu Lu!
The late emperor naively thought that by promoting Huaiqian's father-in-law to be the tutor of the prince Huaiyan, they would be able to get closer to each other and make Huaiqian Huaiyan's arm. However, he did not expect that Taifu Lu became the tutor of the prince for the sake of fame. , alienated Huaiqian! On the contrary, it made the brothers become more and more indifferent.
Later, the child Huaiyan listened to the instigation of the Yun family and the Liang family and alienated Hong'an and became close to his concubine. The late emperor angered Taifu Lu many times because of this.
Ordinarily, as the prince's tutor, he should teach the prince well and let him have a stable wife and concubines; but because he wanted to show his loyalty to the prince, he instead followed the wishes of Huaiyan and tried to depose the prince concubine in the name of Hong'an having no children! How could the late emperor not hate him? "
When it came to the time when the eldest son committed suicide while pregnant with a banquet, the Queen Mother of Qin, with tears in her eyes, gently skipped that paragraph, choked with sobs and said softly: "...the late emperor was angry and cited dozens of crimes against Taifu Lu, and ordered him to be punished. His whole family was distributed, and from then on, the Lu family, which had been famous for decades and had nine Jinshi scholars, ceased to exist."
When Aunt Qi saw the Queen Mother weeping for the former Prince, she did not dare to say more, for fear that she would think of the past.
However, the Queen Mother Qin herself was very good at mediating. She only returned to normal after being silent for a moment.
"The late emperor was also very angry. When his anger dissipated, he couldn't help but regret it. Concubine Wen mentioned that the emperor once blamed himself. If he hadn't promoted Taifu Lu to be the prince's master, I'm afraid they wouldn't be where they are now. The situation... This is also the reason why the late emperor did not allow the emperor to reconcile with the Lu family, and also wanted to let the Lu family become the queen."
When the Queen Mother Qin said this, she shook her head helplessly: "Although the late emperor was kind, in this matter, he was too harsh where he shouldn't be, but he was extra gentle where he should be ruthless."
Aunt Qi listened to the Queen Mother silently, but refused to say another word.
The Empress Dowager Qin did not point her finger at her to express her opinion. She talked to herself and sighed: "The emperor still kept his word. After all, he did not abandon the queen for the Xie family. She was fed, drank and treated well, and she did not pay any tribute." Without her at all... I can only hope that she can be content, and don't let her embarrass herself, the emperor, or me because of her dissatisfaction."
Although this statement made her feel uncomfortable standing up and talking, if Empress Dowager Qin was allowed to choose, she would rather ruin her promise to the late emperor than let her sons and grandchildren be plotted against.
When she really had to, she was afraid she would have to remove the constraints herself.
Because of this realization, Queen Mother Qin hoped that Queen Lu could enjoy peace and quiet as always.
"Aqi, please pay attention to the people in Anluan Palace. Since we are not fighting against the world, we will not fight to the end."
