"Since the Empress treats me sincerely, please forgive me for being rude. I just heard what the Empress and the Crown Prince said. Your Majesty seems to have other considerations for the position of the Crown Prince?"
Cheng Lian had just returned from the border and had not fully seen the current situation in the court, otherwise he would not have had doubts after listening to what Empress Chu and Xiao Yunyuan said.
Empress Chu nodded and said: "Now His Majesty relies heavily on Xiangguo Mu, and Xiangguo Mu is from the second prince Xiao Yunhuan's side. Yunyuan's position as prince is very unstable."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that if he and Mu Xiangguo become friends of the Qin and Jin Dynasties, Mu Xiangguo can switch to the Prince's sect, but His Majesty is not willing to facilitate this. Could it be that... Could it be that His Majesty has already had the idea of abolishing the elders and establishing the younger ones? ?”
"Exactly!" Empress Chu said anxiously: "Although after many years of management by this palace, as well as the connections left by my father, the Protector, most of the courtiers are still supporters of the prince. But in recent years, His Majesty and I have The palace is becoming more and more alienated, but he and Concubine Yao are inseparable, and with Mu Xiangguo fanning the flames, His Majesty must have already fallen in love with Xiao Yunhuan, and it is only because of the ancestor's rules that he has not taken any further action at the moment."
Cheng Lian said with a deep look, "I'm afraid I'm just waiting for His Highness the Crown Prince to have a chance to make a mistake."
Empress Chu nodded repeatedly: "So the prince cannot make any mistakes, otherwise my mother and son will be in dire straits."
Cheng Lian finally understood the meaning of Empress Chu's words. He sighed deeply and cupped his hands and said: "My son Chengyu accidentally fell down on the wellhead at home and died on the spot. The guard at home returned from the border and had a wild temperament. Ignorant of repentance, ignoring national laws, despising family rules, killing people in the street, and gathering in crowds to fight. I have personally sent these scoundrels to Shun'an Mansion for strict treatment. These are my family affairs and have nothing to do with His Royal Highness."
Hearing this, Queen Chu shed tears three times.
She put her hands on General Cheng Lian's sleeves and was extremely grateful.
"I have understood General Cheng's sincerity towards my mother and son. As long as Yunyuan ascends the throne in the future, General Cheng will be inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people."
"I don't seek wealth or power, I just want to protect the Queen and the Crown Prince on behalf of the Lord Protector, so that they can have a worry-free life."
After saying these touching words, General Cheng Lian was about to retire.
The Queen of Chu hurriedly ordered her maid Lu Zhu to get some precious supplements from the palace and bring them back to Cheng Lian.
When Cheng Lian kowtowed again to express his gratitude, took a bunch of supplements from Lu Zhu's hand and strode cheerfully out of the Prince's Palace, Empress Chu immediately wiped away the tears on her face and smiled at the corners of her eyes.
"The Queen Mother can change her face faster than turning the pages of a book!" Xiao Yunyuan was used to his mother's methods, so it was not surprising at this moment.
"You think I'm the only one who can change my face. Look at old man Cheng Lian coming here full of grievances and walking heavily, and then when he leaves he's walking as fast as flying!"
Xiao Yunyuan snorted coldly: "He is not here to seek justice for Cheng Yu."
Queen Chu looked at her son with satisfaction, thinking that except for Mu Rongruo's matter, her son was not too stupid.
"He just came back from the border. When he first arrived at the court, he naturally wanted to find a big tree to enjoy the shade. Compared to Xiao Yunhuan, your grandfather's relationship with him certainly made him closer to you. As for his illegitimate son Chengyu, He is not someone he values in the first place, otherwise he would not allow Yuan to be raised outside and ignore him. Now that his son is dead, you have also become involved in this matter. He does not go to His Majesty to ask for justice, but He came to complain in front of me, which shows that he had planned it for a long time. We, mother and son, now owe him a favor, and he wants it even more. Now we are in the middle of employing people, so let's see what he does in the future."
Xiao Yunhuan couldn't help but look at his mother, frowning again and again.
"What are you looking at?" Queen Chu looked uncomfortable when her son looked at her.
Xiao Yunyuan said: "If my mother's thoughts are mostly used on my father, how can I be in this situation?"
Queen Chu was so angry that she glared at her son and wanted to return to the palace.
When passing by the entrance of the Prince's Palace, I saw the Prince's concubine standing aside.
Qiao Qingjun immediately bowed and saluted after seeing Chu.
"Mother..."
Empress Chu was disgusted when she saw her cowardly and humble look, and couldn't help but take out all the suffocation in her chest on her body.
Empress Chu stepped forward and kicked Qiao Qingjun immediately, causing him to fall to the ground with unbearable pain in his chest.
"My inability to capture His Majesty's heart is due to my old age. You are still in your prime but you cannot capture His Majesty's heart. You are a waste!"
After saying that, Empress Chu took her maid and walked away.
Qiao Qingjun clutched her chest and couldn't get up for a while, so she quickly asked Ziru, the maid beside her, to call the imperial doctor. Just as the maid was about to leave, Xiao Yunyuan came out of the palace and stopped her.
Seeing Qiao Qingjun's painful look, he couldn't help but leaned down and asked, "But the queen mother kicked her hard?"
It was rare for Qiao Qingjun to hear Xiao Yunyuan speak so softly to her. He immediately raised his big watery eyes with a charming look on his face: "Your Highness, Qingjun's chest hurts. Your Highness, can you help me back..."
Xiao Yunyuan sneered and said: "It hurts a little! Only after it hurts will you realize that it is not easy to be the crown prince's concubine. When you married in regardless of life and death, you should have known that this would happen today."
Xiao Yunyuan then said to the maid Zi Ru: "You are not allowed to ask the imperial doctor for the concubine. She has a very strong body. I can only take care of her for a few days and she will be fine."
After that, Xiao Yunyuan also left.
Qiao Qingjun looked at his retreating figure, so cold and heartless, and couldn't help but feel a surge of hatred in his heart.
Xiao Yunyuan, don’t you have Mu Rongruo in your heart?
Sooner or later I will trample her under my feet and let her taste the feeling of being trampled and humiliated.
Two months finally passed and Mu Rongruo was released from the ban.
Early in the morning, Mu Rongruo, who was in a great mood, dressed herself up carefully.
Today she is wearing a crimson feathered mist blouse, underneath is a white cloud-winged Qianshui skirt, a white jade-dot ruby sway on her head, and small red satin boots.
Mu Rongruo was in high spirits and with a fragrant face, he went to Dongkua Courtyard to pay his respects to his mother Wang.
Mrs. Wang told her not to cause trouble again, and after chatting for a while, she hurriedly asked her to leave because she felt unwell.
Mu Xiangguo went to the court early in the morning.
When Mu Rongruo saw that no one was looking after her, she couldn't stay at home for a moment because she had been suffocated for a long time, so she took Xiao Ai and Jiang You to leave the house.
This time she learned her lesson and asked Mrs. Wang first when saying hello, so she could go out openly this time.
Yan'er was called by Zhang's mother who had just returned from her hometown and said she had something for her.
Mu Rongruo naturally knew that it had been a long time since she had seen her, and Zhang's mother missed her daughter. So the mother and daughter were spared the service for these two days and allowed them to have a good reunion.
Originally Yan'er was very reluctant, but after Mu Rongruo explicitly prohibited her from getting close, she was forced to take a leave of absence.
The first thing Mu Rongruo did after receiving the money for the procedure was to go to the medical clinic.
When she delivered a bag full of heavy silver to the doctor, he cried with joy. As he was still talking, he knew that the lady in the prime minister's palace would not owe him such a small amount of money.
Mu Rongruo also had a smile on his face, but he felt sorry for the money in his heart.
After all, I had just received this month’s monthly payment, and it was immediately dispersed before I could hold it warm in my hands.
After leaving the hospital, Mu Rongruo looked at the two people behind him pitifully.
Xiao Ai turned her face to the side pretending not to see it. She was deceived by Mu Rongruo into all her savings with this look in the past. This time she finally paid the monthly payment in advance, and she didn't want to be deceived again.
Seeing that Xiao Ai was hopeless, Mu Rongruo went to see Jiang You again.
Jiang You said blankly: "I've bought you five hundred taels of food for a month, and now I don't have any money."
Mu Rongruo complained endlessly in her heart, even if she was released from the ban without money, what could she do if she ran out?
"Girl, why don't you go to Miss Qinglan to borrow some?" Xiao Ai suggested from the side.
"You still have more tricks up your sleeve!"
Mu Rongruo felt that he hadn't seen sister Qinglan for a long time anyway, so he went out to see her this time.
The three people rode a carriage to the house of Master Fang, the Minister of Rites, and stopped. Jiang You jumped out of the car and took the sedan chair to help Mu Rongruo get down.
The boy at the door of Shangshu Mansion saw that it was the carriage from the Prime Minister's Mansion, and that the woman getting out of the carriage was the Mu family's wife, so he hurriedly ran to the inner courtyard to pass the news.
After a while, a young woman wearing a pink butterfly gown with fine cherry blossom petals embroidered on the skirt and a jade hairpin with beads on her head, elegant and noble, walked out of the Shangshu Mansion.
There were two little maids accompanying her. They were not very old, but they looked very smart.
"Sister Ah Ruo..." The young woman's joyful voice came out before she could reach Mu Rongruo.
"Sister Qinglan..." Mu Rongruo quickly stepped forward and held Song Qinglan's hand, and said happily: "We haven't seen each other for a few months, Aruo misses my sister so much."
"Stop talking at the door and follow me in. Look who's here today!" After saying that, Song Qinglan took Mu Rongruo's hand and walked into the house.
"Are there any guests at home?" Mu Rongruo asked as he walked.
"You'll know when you get in!" Song Qinglan pulled Mu Rongruo all the way into the inner courtyard.
Because it was the back house of Fang Mansion, it was inconvenient for Jiang You to enter, so he stopped by the lotus pond leading to the inner courtyard.
When Song Qinglan brought Mu Rongruo into the room in her courtyard, she couldn't help but said "Huh?" and then looked around for something in the room.
When she searched under the table, in the cabinet, and even under the bed but found nothing, Mu Rongruo couldn't help it anymore.
She asked: "Sister Qinglan, what are you looking for? Where are the guests in your courtyard?"
Song Qinglan then said with a puzzled look on her face: "She was still there just now? Did she just leave when she saw you coming?"
As soon as these words came out, Mu Rongruo immediately knew who was in Song Qinglan's room.
She curled her lips and said, "It's better if she leaves, otherwise we will have a big fight when we meet, which will make my sister unhappy."
"You!"
Seeing that she couldn't find anyone, Song Qinglan had no choice but to give up. She pulled Mu Rongruo to sit down on the couch, peeled a tangerine and handed it to her.
"Knowing that you have been cut off by the prime minister these days, you must have not had such delicious tangerines for a long time."
Mu Rongruo did not take the tangerine from Song Qinglan, but instead said in a strange tone: "The weather is getting hot now, and my sister still has this tangerine to eat. It must be the one who stole it from the palace to give it to her." !!”
Song Qinglan saw that Mu Rongruo didn't want to eat, so she had to put it down, wiped her hands and said, "You! I didn't get along with her when I was young, and now I'm still incompatible with her. We are really destined to be enemies!"
