This punishment is not too light. The prince's power was at its peak, so keeping him locked up for two months and cutting off contact with officials was tantamount to pouring cold water on him.
Naturally, some people speculated that His Majesty felt that the Crown Prince was not worthy of being reused and preferred King Xin.
Although King Xin was seriously injured, I heard that he has recovered well recently and will be able to walk normally soon...
It is not yet known who will win.
—
When the prince received the imperial edict, he immediately lost his temper.
He just got drunk once and mentioned that Lin Xi was very beautiful and that he wanted to make her his concubine, but he didn't expect that the other party didn't know how to praise her.
This sentence was remembered by those who cared.
Not long after, a beauty who looked somewhat similar to the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Guo was presented.
Having the beauty under him made him feel that Lin Xi and the Duke of Guo, who could never be won over, were also under him, so he was naturally very happy.
I didn't want to cause such a scene and have to pay such a big price!
Now that he is grounded, doesn't it mean that Shen Chongxiao is allowed to make trouble outside?
Let him win over all the old men of King Duan?
__
When the queen heard the imperial decree to deal with the prince, she immediately lost her temper.
He Chirang collected so much property and also received the Shi family's banknotes.
Not doing anything!
Princess Pingning was also surprised. The man usually looked at her silently.
Even if she finds trouble, most of them avoid her.
Who would have expected that his methods would be so sophisticated, and now I can’t help but feel frightened when I think about it.
Not to mention the six departments that heard the trial that day, even the officials of Dali Temple who were dedicated to judging the case were convinced by He Zhi.
If there is such a smart consort, she will not have to worry about the future.
But now that He Chirang had offended the prince and the queen, as a member of the prince's party, she could only suppress those thoughts.
Princess Pingning sat next to her, watching quietly as the queen went crazy.
After all, when you can't give useful advice, it's best to keep silent.
Lest you say something incorrectly and burn yourself.
Queen: "How could he be so shameless! I want someone to report him, the chief judge, for taking bribes privately. He took so much money, it's enough to be beheaded!"
The palace attendant next to me looked embarrassed: "I'm afraid you can't do it. Bribery and accepting bribes are the same crime."
"Is this the end of it? There is nothing I can do against him?"
Apparently things didn't end there.
As soon as the queen finished speaking, the nanny beside the queen mother lowered her head and walked into the hall.
Aunt Guiyu has been with the Queen Mother for many years. She acts steadily and seems not to be aware of the atmosphere in the palace.
She stepped forward and saluted: "Hello, the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother has asked you to come."
The queen was already in an impetuous mood, and now she was even more furious.
"The Queen Mother has been fasting and chanting Buddha's name all day, and nothing has happened in the palace recently. I wonder why she has anything to do with me?"
"I don't know, my slave, that the Emperor is also in the Queen Mother's Palace right now."
The queen was a little surprised: "What's the reason?"
"Your Majesty, you will know when you go."
The queen felt uneasy and turned to look at Ping Ning. I hope she can go with him.
There is something obviously wrong with this matter, and Princess Pingning naturally does not want to wade into troubled waters.
He preemptively said that his body was not suitable and that he would see me again next time, and then ran away in a hurry.
——
The Queen Mother called the Emperor over, exchanged a few words, and then told the story of the Queen and the Shi family secretly giving the chief judge the banknotes.
"Why don't we let the Ai family make the decision and return the banknotes to the treasury? As for the treasures given by the queen, they should be given to Lin Xi as compensation. Emperor, do you think this is feasible?"
"Everything is subject to the mother's arrangements." Emperor Zhou naturally had no objection. This time he neither restrained his son nor his wife.
He is really shameless here with the Queen Mother.
Emperor Zhou couldn't bear to lose face. When the queen entered the palace, he was not too polite to the instigator.
He stood up and scolded: "The queen, the mother of a country, actually does such a thing in private."
The most important thing was that he had done it, and it was exposed, which made him lose his face.
The queen couldn't say a word, so she could only kneel on the ground and admit her mistake dryly.
The Queen Mother glanced at her and said: "Although we are mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, you are the queen. Naturally, we cannot generalize to ordinary people. Therefore, I am very tolerant to the queen and will not interfere in matters that I can help not to interfere in."
Queen: "It's my fault."
Queen Mother: "The Queen must have been mentally and physically exhausted recently. For the sake of your health, and to prevent such mistakes from happening in the future, the Ai family decided to grant Concubine Rong and Concubine De to assist in the management of the harem. Concubine Rong and Concubine De often came to the Ai family palace to pay their respects. , are very filial and know the rules. With them sharing the burden, the queen can worry less."
Why should she do it herself? Someone will do it for her.
Emperor Zhou was a little surprised, but when he thought about what the queen had done, he kept silent.
The queen looked stunned.
The Queen Mother actually took away the right to manage the harem from her...
But she was wrong first, so she could only accept it.
The Queen clenched her molars and said, "Thank you very much, Queen Mother, for thinking about your son."
"Okay, the Ai family is also a little tired. You can go and do your own business."
When the emperor and empress left, the queen mother let out a long sigh.
She was from a low background, from being a prince to a concubine.
When the late emperor ascended the throne, she was given the title of virtuous concubine, then virtuous concubine, noble concubine...
Finally became the Queen Mother.
She also had two sons, but neither survived. Later, the daughter who had been raised under my knees since childhood also passed away.
After several decades, I almost became a loner. Now that I think about it, why bother?
Unlike what others thought, she favored Lin Xi and deliberately favored her.
It was through Linxi that she could take a breather.
After all, neither mother nor daughter had ever been as lively and wanton as Lin Xi.
It was as if I saw another possibility in life.
Now that Lin Xi had handed the handle to her, why not use it?
She usually doesn't take action, and her actions must be well-founded, hard to blame, and have obvious results.
Among the three princes, she was originally the most optimistic about Zhong Xiao and wanted to help him.
King Xin accepted this love and returned it to Feng Ye in the future. May Fengye have a worry-free life.
But now she has already changed her mind.
I still think Guogong Mansion is very good.
Liang Jing'an is a rigid person, but he is also very upright and is by no means an ungrateful villain.
Lin Xi did not follow common sense. But who Feng Ye likes.
Well, she likes it too.
——
Zhongxiao is now using crutches and can barely walk. He trains for two hours every day. If given time, he can still walk without the crutches.
But in the future, my legs and feet will be worse than those of ordinary people.
But if he can become emperor, nothing will be a problem. The emperor has a dragon chariot when he comes in and out.
When Zhongxiao heard that something happened to the prince, he quickly arranged his men to win over King Duan's old men.
Not only was it a pleasant surprise, it was also quite unexpected. Thinking of the prince's depression at the moment, and in comparison, he felt that Lin Xi was not too bad to him.
After thinking about it, he also sent someone to deliver a gift to the Duke's Mansion.
Celebrating He Chirang's promotion.
The emperor has issued a decree to promote He Zhirang to the rank of chief of Dali Temple, with an official rank of five.
Although the official rank is still not high, this position is very important. It has the power to review all cases sent to Dali Temple, and its scope of authority is not limited to the former Pingxi County Government.
He was still so young, and because of this trial, he showed his face in front of the emperor.
It can be expected that the official career will be smooth.
On the pretext of congratulating He Chirang on his promotion, the visiting posts flew in like snowflakes.
There are also many official families with young girls at home, and they even plan to find a son-in-law who can take advantage of the dragon...
Lin Xi received a lot of gifts.
The main idea is that everyone is equal and receives the rain and dew equally, no matter who sends it or for what reason. They all accepted it regardless.
Seeing that the lady sent away another group of people, Shan Wu couldn't help but ask: "There is only one eldest son, why do you accept gifts from so many people?"
You can't split the eldest son into eight pieces. No, at least eighteen pieces are enough.
Lin Xi: "What do you know? I am giving them the confidence and encouraging them to pursue boldly."
Shan Wu covered his head: "So...whoever is the richest and the most generous is the one you like."
