"Your Majesty, you're welcome."
Chang Xi replied with a smile, and then left the hall with Wu Zechen and headed towards the Cining Palace where the Queen Mother was.
From the beginning to the end, Chang Xi never glanced at Xia Zhihe. Xia Zhihe looked a little confused, but he didn't dare to say anything. He could only hold his breath and quickly left the palace.
No matter what, Wu Zechen had already promised to take Xia Luotong back to the Minister of Rites' Mansion on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. He needed to go back quickly to talk to Li about this and make arrangements early.
When Wu Zechen arrived at Cining Palace, the Queen Mother had just had breakfast and saw the grandson entering the palace with a smile on his face.
"Come here and let the Imperial Grandmother take a look. Now that we are living in the capital, you still haven't come to see the Imperial Grandmother for so long. What a heartless person." The Queen Mother happily pulled Wu Zechen and asked him to sit on her around.
Chang Xi was waiting on the side. Seeing that the Queen Mother was happy, her face was also full of smiles.
"I happen to be busy these days. It's my grandson's fault. I will definitely visit the Imperial Grandmother more often."
Facing the only royal grandmother in such a large royal family who truly did her best, the cold look on Wu Zechen's face faded away, revealing a rare gentle look.
When Prince Lao An and Princess Lao An died suddenly, the Queen Mother gave birth to her black-haired daughter. In grief, she fell seriously ill. Unexpectedly, when she woke up, she learned that Wu Zechen, her grandson, had gone to the western border. He joined the military camp at the age of eight.
The Queen Mother was extremely anxious at that time and quickly sent people to the western military camp to take Wu Zechen back. Unexpectedly, she was rejected by Wu Zechen.
Those people returned empty-handed and brought back Wu Zechen's letter. After reading it, the Queen Mother was convinced. Without saying anything more, she acquiesced to his idea and gave him a lot of help later, otherwise he would not have It was only then that he was summoned back by the emperor.
"This is what you said, and the Ai family believed your words." The Queen Mother responded with a smile on her face, completely losing her usual stern and unsmiling look.
The grandfather and grandson talked for a long time, and the Queen Mother suddenly changed the topic and talked about what happened in Prince An's palace.
"It's not a problem for your huge palace to be decided by that woman now. The Ai family is thinking that it has been two months since your wedding. It's time to have a concubine. Do you have a favorite candidate?" The Queen Mother suddenly spoke, her brows furrowed slightly, with a look of displeasure and contempt.
Wu Zechen was slightly stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that the Queen Mother came to him today for the purpose of marrying her concubine?
As for the woman the Queen Mother was talking about, he knew very clearly that she was referring to the former king's concubine, the concubine Gao who now lived in the West Courtyard, and not Xia Luotong, the current Princess An who had just married him.
Thinking of the current Princess An Xia Luotong, for some reason, Wu Zechen was a little reluctant to accept a concubine.
"This matter is not urgent, let's talk about it later. The woman has been in charge of the affairs of the palace for so many years, and it's not bad for a while. As long as Shaoguang Pavilion is under my control, it doesn't matter if I let her do whatever she wants for the time being. "
She didn't expect that the grandson in front of her would reject her proposal. She thought he would be very happy in this matter.
The Queen Mother looked at Wu Zechen's expression, and suddenly her heart moved, and she had some ideas.
She continued calmly: "The Ai family heard that after you arrived in the capital, you got very close to Liu Yingxue, the daughter-in-law of the right prime minister's family. There are even rumors that you two are very much in love with each other. If you accept her as your wife, Concubine, are you willing?"
When Wu Zechen heard what the Queen Mother said, he frowned subconsciously. He didn't expect that these rumors would reach the Queen Mother's ears?
"This matter is just a rumor. My grandson has no special interest in the young lady from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. He just met her once in Rongcheng before and just knows her." If it had been before, he might have turned a blind eye. It passed in a blink of an eye, but now, he didn't want to hear such rumors anymore.
Wu Zechen's series of reactions all fell into the eyes of the Queen Mother, making her more and more sure of her suspicions.
She suddenly said, "What's the name of the eldest daughter of the Xia family?"
"Xia Luotong." Wu Zechen replied subconsciously.
"Oh, it turns out her name is Xia Luotong. The Ai family has almost forgotten her name." The Queen Mother had a somewhat meaningful meaning, but before Wu Zechen could think about it, she continued, "She has been married to the prince for two years. It’s been months now, are you still calm looking at her these days?”
Wu Zechen didn't understand why the Queen Mother, who was originally very opposed to the marriage, suddenly became concerned about Xia Luotong.
When the emperor suddenly decreed the marriage, he did not ask the queen mother about her intention. At that time, the queen mother was so angry that she got very angry and even punished the queen mother.
Since this matter was suggested by the queen and the prince together, the queen mother could not punish the prince, so the blame was naturally placed on the queen.
The Queen Mother has seldom interfered with other matters since she was registered as the current emperor. She has been living quietly in Cining Palace to take care of her old age, so that many people have forgotten the resolute and resolute temper of the Queen Mother when she was young.
When the late emperor ascended the throne and became emperor, he still relied on the support of the empress dowager and the empress dowager's natal family. Otherwise, the late emperor, who was not a prince at the time, did not have a very eye-catching performance among the many princes.
After this incident, many people once again noticed the Queen Mother in Cining Palace, and also remembered the Si family members who still commanded the Northwest Army, as well as the Northwest General, General Si, the Queen Mother's brother.
The queen has a son, who is now crowned the prince and the legitimate heir to the throne. His natal family, the Duke of Lei Kingdom, is extremely powerful and is the prince's mother's family. With the help of the two, he is very popular in Beijing.
But even so, the Queen Mother still punished the Queen at her word. Not only did the Emperor dare not complain, but even the Duke's office did not dare to have any objections. Apart from the Queen Mother's status as the Emperor's legitimate mother, the main reason was because The existence of the Si family.
No matter how powerful the Duke's palace is, it has no military power in its hands, and the current prince also has no military power in his hands.
The Queen Mother was dissatisfied with Xia Luotong, mainly because of the behavior of the Xia family of the Ministry of Rites. On the day of sending off the bride, she suddenly said that her eldest daughter had someone else, and then took back the so-called first wife's daughter from the countryside. In this way This behavior was tantamount to a slap in the face, which really made the Queen Mother angry.
Among the many grandchildren, the Queen Mother undoubtedly loves Wu Zechen the most. Even the current prince is not as important as Wu Zechen in the eyes of the Queen Mother. The current emperor has many heirs, and there are many promising ones. The position of prince does not have to be the current one. The prince just took over the identity of the legitimate eldest son.
As for Wu Zechen being favored by the Queen Mother, not only was he the only son of Prince Lao An, but also because of Wu Zechen's experiences over the years, the Queen Mother favored him more. Besides, he was also worthy of the Queen Mother's love, unlike some unfamiliar white-eyes. Wolf, no matter how much he is pampered, he still feels that the Queen Mother's pampering is natural.
