northernbook What's wrong with Chapter 225?
What's wrong with Chapter 225?
The two hesitated, too embarrassed to speak, but in the end, Donggua gave Huayan a silly smile and slowly opened the food box on the table.
"...I've been testing the dishes these past two days. I've tried frying, stir-frying, cooking, and deep-frying, following the method we used when making tea pastries. Would you like to try them?"
Judging from Mingyue Jingjing's eyes, Hua Yan knew that she had figured out some tricks. However, after only glancing at the dishes, she suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Now we have a ready-made excuse."
The news of what happened inside Cining Palace reached the Emperor's ears in less than half an hour.
Wei Ying, as the imperial bodyguard, had just finished reporting on the situation of escorting the Duke's mansion. When he mentioned that Zou Xiuer had been taken in by the Duke's third young lady, the emperor frowned slightly and said coldly:
"By imperial decree, the Zou family has colluded with the wicked Prince Zhan to amass wealth for the traitor Prince Yu, disregarding the law and disrupting the court. Their evil deeds are blatant and their crimes are unforgivable. Although they are included in the general amnesty, they must be confined to the border region and never be allowed to return to the capital."
Wei Ying's heart skipped a beat, and she involuntarily glanced at Jing Ming beside the Emperor. The third young lady of the Duke's mansion had just brought the Zou family to the capital; were they really going to send Zou Xiu'er back to the borderlands? Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing for the Duke's mansion...?
Jingming remained calm and composed, not even his whisk trembling. Having served the emperor for many years, he no longer dared to speculate on the emperor's intentions.
Wei Ying bowed and accepted the decree, then heard the emperor say to Jing Ming, "Investigate..."
Jingming immediately replied, "Your Majesty, there are two hot spring estates in Xishan, one of which was bestowed upon you by the late Emperor on your fifteenth birthday."
"Granted to the Duke of Qing's mansion."
Jingming agreed and left Funing Palace with Weiying.
"Your Majesty's actions..."
Jingming advised, "The crimes committed by the Zou family are insignificant, but they should not have offended the Marquis of Lin'an."
"How is this related to the Marquis of Lin'an? Aren't the Marquis of Lin'an and the Earl of Rongxing brothers-in-law?"
Jingming shook his head helplessly, "Commander Wei only needs to know that the Marquis of Lin'an's residence and Consort Chun are currently people that the Emperor values."
"But we've all seen how much His Majesty has cared for the Duke and the Third Miss over the years..."
Jingming glanced at Wei Ying as if she were a complete idiot, then ignored her and kept walking forward. Wei Ying scratched her head, utterly bewildered. After thinking for a long time, she still couldn't understand, so she had no choice but to hurry after him.
......
Consort Chun left Cining Palace together with the Chen family, mother and daughter from the Duke's Mansion.
As soon as they left the palace gates, Qing Zhifei's gaze lingered briefly on Mengzhu's face before she followed her mother and slowly bowed to Consort Chun. Led by the palace servants of Cining Palace, they went to Renming Hall to pay their respects to the Empress.
On the way back to Huining Palace, Aunt Mei said in a deep voice, "This servant has observed that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager does indeed have some fondness for the third young lady of the Duke's mansion."
Consort Chun's smile didn't reach her eyes, and she said somewhat uncertainly, "After all, she was raised under the Empress Dowager's care. However, I feel that the Empress Dowager seems to care more about the eldest daughter of the Duke's mansion."
Mengzhu interjected, "Just now, this servant saw it clearly: when Miss Qing mentioned her sister, the Empress Dowager's expression changed slightly."
When the three returned to Huining Palace, Ruizhu was guarding the bedroom door alone, while Jianzhi was examining Donggua and Mingyue in the side hall where Huayan lived.
Upon learning that Donggua and Mingyue had suddenly developed pimples on their faces, Aunt Mei was greatly alarmed. Ruizhu quickly explained the situation, which reassured her somewhat. Previously in Lin'an, the Fourth Miss had also developed red spots from spicy eggplant, which subsided on their own after a while.
Consort Chun joked, "So Hua Yan took this opportunity to send someone to the Imperial Hospital to summon Jian Zhi? That way, no one will suspect anything."
Half an hour later, Hua Yan arrived at Consort Chun's place alone.
After hearing what happened at Cining Palace, Hua Yan couldn't help but clap her hands and praise, "Your Majesty handled it extremely well, especially the matter of Zou Xiuer."
Although it was a blunt statement, it was not inappropriate. In fact, in Hua Yan's opinion, there was no better way to respond.
Seeing Hua Yan's exaggerated reaction, Consort Chun couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why don't you analyze this in detail?"
Hua Yan thought for a moment, "Perhaps the Duchess really wanted to take back Lingxi Manor because of her daughter. She dared to do this because, firstly, she relied on the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's high regard for the Duke's Mansion, and secondly, she did not take the Marquis's Mansion and Your Highness seriously."
As for why the Third Miss mentioned the Zou family at the end... this servant speculates that she probably wanted to sow discord between the Empress Dowager and the Madam, since outsiders believe that Aunt Zou and the Madam have a relationship.
"Your Majesty need not take it to heart. The Zou family is in cahoots with Prince Zhan and was once part of Prince Yu's faction. If His Majesty finds out, he may take other measures against the Zou family."
Mengzhu hesitated, but after being gestured to by Consort Chun, she asked, "Will today's events displease the Empress Dowager?"
Hua Yan mentally analyzed the situation, "Logically speaking, it shouldn't be the case. The Empress Dowager's words about Lingxi Manor are reasonable. As for Miss Qing's instigation, given the Empress Dowager's shrewdness, it's nothing more than a petty trick."
Consort Chun's frankness this time will surely leave the Empress Dowager with an impression of her straightforwardness.
“Your Majesty, Jian Zhi just mentioned to me that Imperial Physician Sun knows that the Empress’s pregnancy is in danger, so he has dragged Physician He into the mess. Jian Zhi has reviewed the Empress’s medical records and said that even if Physician He administers acupuncture, the pregnancy will still end within three months.”
Consort Chun silently calculated the days, her tone hesitant: "Around the New Year?"
"Indeed, the Empress herself should be aware of this."
In the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager was strolling in the garden. Thinking of Consort Chun's words, she muttered to herself, "In this harem, it is rare to find a truly genuine person. Consort Chun is quite interesting."
A palace servant hurriedly entered to report that the Empress Dowager nodded slightly upon hearing that the Emperor had bestowed the Duke's mansion with the hot spring estate.
"The Chen family has been away from the capital for too long, and their horizons and knowledge have diminished considerably. If Tong'er were still here, they wouldn't be in such a sorry state..."
......
Yun Mansion.
Yesterday, Zou Xiuer returned to the Yun family in the Duke's carriage. When the Fourth Madam of Yun saw her granddaughter for the first time, she burst into tears and hugged her tightly. It's not that she hadn't sent people to the Northwest these days, but unfortunately, none of them had ever returned.
Master Yun, however, had a different attitude. His intuition told him that his granddaughter's return to the capital would be a troublesome matter, but to his surprise, it came true so quickly that an imperial decree was issued just one night later.
Before Zou Xiuer could even react, she was taken away from the capital. She didn't even have time to go to the Marquis of Lin'an's residence to question her aunt. Along the way, she thought of countless ways to cause a scene the day after returning to the capital...
Located in Chongrenfang, the Lin'an Marquis's Mansion, Madam Yun knew yesterday that Zou Xiuer had become involved with the Duke's Mansion, but she did not take it to heart. Just as Hua Yan analyzed, Madam Yun naturally thought of this as well.
Madam Yun was more concerned about what kind of person the third young lady of the Duke's mansion was.
The Duke of Qingguo returned to the capital yesterday, and families who had previously purchased the Duke's former properties flocked to his door. Upon hearing the news, Steward Tang of the Marquis of Lin'an's residence hurriedly reported back.
"Master, Madam, our Marquis's estate in the capital includes five shops and two estates in the suburbs, which were originally owned by the Duke's mansion. These include Yongxiu Cloth Shop on East Market Street and Lingxi Manor, which the eldest young master bought five years ago."
Tang Xian put down his teacup and asked calmly, "What's the problem?"