PDLP Chapter 144 The conspiracy reappears
Chapter 144 The conspiracy reappears
Chapter 144 The Conspiracy Reappears
The good news that the Crown Prince had another legitimate son arrived in Yuqing Palace quickly spread to Changchun Garden. The Empress Dowager, who had been waiting in the small Buddhist temple since the Crown Princess's announcement that morning, was so overjoyed that she couldn't stop praising Naren, saying, "Buerhe is so lucky. His first child was twins, a boy and a girl, and his second is a little prince. Who dares to say that the Crown Prince has few children this time? Or even to say that Buerhe is jealous?"
Naren knew that the Queen Mother was still angry about the gossips of Concubine Hui and Concubine Rong. She couldn't bring herself to comment on her master, but she could still agree with her master: "Who says it's not true? Our Crown Princess is very blessed. Among the current princes' wives, she is the only one who has two sons and one daughter."
The empress dowager wanted to hear this and laughed happily when she heard it. After all these years of getting along with each other, she treated Buerhe as her own granddaughter. The two concubines from the Eighth Route Army could not be considered as her daughters-in-law. A few sour words from them would only make her angry and feel more distressed for Buerhe's situation.
Others may not know, but she was one of the people present at the time. It was not easy for the prince to have a princess, not to mention that Burhe managed Yuqing Palace so well and gave birth to two sons and a daughter. It can be said that if the royal family did anything to let Burhe down, she would be the first to stop it.
Just like when the emperor suddenly rewarded the prince with two princesses some time ago, she went directly to talk to the emperor afterwards. Fortunately, the emperor also promised that he would no longer interfere in the affairs of the prince's harem in the future, and the two princesses could be directly handed over to the prince for disposal. If it weren't for this promise, she would have rushed to Yuqing Palace to personally send the two Han army flags away.
Now that Burhe had given birth to another legitimate son, the emperor probably wouldn't interfere this time. The empress dowager happily rewarded Naren Mama with a plate of freshly made pastries on the spot, and then went to her own storeroom to organize the gifts to be given back to Yuqing Palace.
In the Prince's Mansion in Beijing, the eldest prince soon received the news that the prince had another son. He could no longer sit still, and left the room full of staff and went straight back to the main courtyard. When he saw the eldest wife reading to her daughters, he stopped in his tracks.
The woman in the pavilion had a gentle and melodious voice, and her eyes were incredibly soft as she looked at her four daughters. She would occasionally pick up the book she was holding and read a paragraph, then begin to explain. She patiently answered her daughters' questions without a trace of worry. Even in the shadows of the pavilion, the radiance of motherhood shone brightly in Yinzhen's eyes.
Yinzhen couldn't remember the last time he looked at his wife like this. Was it a few months ago or two years ago? Maybe two years ago!
Because the last time he remembered them talking was shortly after their youngest daughter was born. At that time, he wanted her to get pregnant again and have a legitimate son as soon as possible, but she disagreed.
The two disagreed and went into a cold war for several months. After that incident, things became much more unfamiliar between them. He went into the backyard more frequently, and two concubines were added to the mix.
If it weren't for the ancestral rules and his four daughters who were still young, he would have gone to the main courtyard on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. His wife would probably have ignored him.
Fortunately, at the end of last year, at a family dinner, the first wife also announced the good news. He had actually consulted the imperial physician a long time ago to secretly check on the baby, and he was sure it would be a little prince. Because he had been looking forward to it for many years, and because of the first wife's strong attitude, he always felt a little weak towards her, even though the first wife never gave him a good face, he didn't have any complaints.
Before today, he couldn't remember how long it had been since he saw this woman's smiling face, nor how long it had been since he had gotten along well with the children.
Standing at the door was a living person, the owner of this mansion, so it was hard not to notice him. The eldest wife soon noticed Yinzhen standing at the door after being reminded by her personal maid. She stopped teaching her daughters, put down her book, and with the help of her maids, stood up and moved towards the door.
The eldest wife asked, "How come you have time to come to my place today?"
Yinzhen felt very uncomfortable when he saw the standard smile on his wife's face. In the past, he and his first wife didn't have a very good relationship, but they were able to treat each other with respect. Why did she give him such a fake smile when she saw him now?
But now wasn't the time to lament about romantic relationships. Yinzhen calmed himself down and said, "Good news from Yuqing Palace! The Crown Princess has given birth to another legitimate son." The smile on the eldest wife's face became noticeably more genuine. "Oh, is this true? That's great! The Crown Princess now has another lovely son. There will be fewer people gossiping about her in the future."
Yinzhen thought to himself, "What about you? Do people often gossip about you?"
The first wife hadn't expected Yinzhen to ask such a question out of the blue, but it wasn't a secret: "Of course, ever since I gave birth to my second daughter, I've been hearing this all the time. Even my mother keeps saying it. Didn't you know about it a long time ago?"
Yinzhen felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He lacked a legitimate son, but that was no reason for someone to bully his wife when he couldn't see. It would have been fine if he hadn't noticed it before, but now that he knew it clearly, he had to stand up for his wife.
Yinzhen: "Fujin, you can compile a list of those people and give it to me. I will then help you vent your anger."
The eldest wife looked at Yinzhen in surprise, wondering if he was dizzy and his mind was not clear. She thought so and said it out loud: "What's wrong with you today? Are you sick? Why are you talking nonsense? I have already put those words aside. There is no need to bring them up again."
Yinzhen really got stubborn and said, "No, I won't allow anyone else to bully my family. Just tell me what's going on and I'll make the decision for you."
The eldest concubine was also a little impatient. The eldest prince's interruption today had already wasted a lot of time with the children. Now he was still saying these inexplicable words. Isn't it a bit unreasonable? Thinking of this, the eldest concubine directly hit him hard: "Wasn't it you who said this in the first place? Otherwise, why would you break your promise and let the concubines in the backyard be born? If you are fine, I won't accompany you for long. I feel unwell and want to go back to my room to rest for a while."
After saying this, without caring about Yinzhi who was standing there in a daze, she asked the servants to pack up their things and go back to the main house. The little princesses had already returned to their rooms at the signal of the eldest wife. Soon, Yinzhi was the only one left in the yard, standing there quietly.
A gentle breeze blew, sending fallen leaves swirling and the white gauze adorning the pavilion swaying in the breeze. It was almost July, and the weather was scorching hot outside, but Yinzhen felt a chill inside. After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Tell me, was my behavior too extreme before?"
Liu Da, the eldest prince's personal servant, who had been quietly staying in the shadows, heard the question and quickly stepped forward: "Master, you are too serious. Which master doesn't live like this? In the prince's courtyard, except for the crown prince, all the other princes have illegitimate children. Besides, it was only after the wife called him four princesses in a row that the master chose to go to the backyard. It's not the master's fault."
What was unexpected was that a sentence that would normally flatter the eldest prince had now become his death warrant. After hearing what Liu Da said, the eldest prince immediately spoke with anger: "Come here, take this servant who dared to talk about the master and give him fifty lashes. If he dies, throw him directly into the mass grave. If he survives, throw him directly back to the Ministry of Punishment."
Liu Da had not expected things to develop like this. He knelt down and kowtowed to Yinzhen repeatedly: "Please spare my life, please, I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong. Please, for the sake of my many years of service, please spare my life, please..."
Yinzhen: "Hurry up and shut up this dog slave! If he disturbs the wife, all of you will get back to the Ministry of Punishment."
Seeing that their master was angry, one of the servants who followed him quickly took off his worn-out shoes and stuffed them into Liu Da's mouth. The rest of them quickly tied up Liu Da and took him to the servants' yard to be executed.
"Pa pa pa!" the board kept hitting Liu Da's body. In a blink of an eye, a layer of blood covered the ground. Before he could reach fifty strokes, Liu Da had already died. The remaining servants looked at each other, and it was the servant in slippers who was the bravest. "Keep beating. If I say fifty, it must be fifty. Not one less."
Once someone stepped forward, the rest became much easier. After beating the body with a stick, they wrapped the body in a mat and threw it directly into the mass grave.
This beating not only woke up all the servants in the Zhi Beile Mansion, who from then on paid respect to the main courtyard no matter what they did, but also brought back Yinzhen's original rationality. He no longer lingered in the backyard, but would go to the main courtyard whenever he had time. If the eldest wife refused to pay attention, he would play games with his daughters and learn to recognize words. He gradually became less irritable and manic than before, and gradually calmed down. When he was in the mood, he would teach his daughters to squat and practice martial arts.
The eldest wife could ignore Yinzhen, but she never stopped him from interacting with the children. She still had hope for Yinzhen. It didn't matter if she fell out of favor. She had a dowry and was the legitimate wife chosen by the emperor. Even the eldest prince couldn't divorce her. But the children couldn't do that, especially since she had four daughters. According to the emperor's custom, it was considered a good thing if one of his four daughters could stay and not marry into the Mongolian family.
With a delicate body and no father or brother to support her, how would the daughters survive if they really married off to Mongolia in the future? So from the moment she discovered that Burhe was a kind and tolerant person, the first wife had already made up her mind to befriend him.
Don't tell her that you are boosting others' ambitions and destroying your own prestige. She never thought from the beginning that her master could succeed. Others may not know it, but as his wife, how could she not know the eldest prince's ability?
Perhaps my master could be a good fighter, but the prerequisite is that he needs to be obedient. As a sword, my master is still very qualified, but what is the crown prince? That requires the emperor's mind, to be able to manage a country well, and to be able to deal with any unexpected situation.
Her own master might just be a target set in front of the emperor. Even though he is very popular now and Lady Mingzhu has always supported him, others see the glory, but she sees the cliff right behind her.
At the Prince's Mansion, the eldest prince worked hard to repair family relationships, while his wife continued to worry. Meanwhile, the eighth prince, who was about to get married, was in a gloomy mood. His face was not only devoid of joy at the upcoming wedding, but also covered with frost.
Yinsi: "No news yet? I've been waiting for so long, why haven't you taken any action yet?"
A man came out from the shadows and knelt before Yinsi. "They have already replied, saying they will take action on the day of the Seventh Prince's wedding. However, they still need your cooperation. It would be best if we could invite the Emperor back."
Knowing the exact time to take action, Yinsi's originally anxious heart relaxed a little, but the next second his brows began to frown again.
Yinsi: "Can't the other ladies prove it? Does the Emperor have to be present?"
"That person demanded that the emperor must be present, saying that no one else would have the same effect."
Yinsi's frown didn't relax after hearing this; instead, it furrowed even further. Once the Emperor was involved, everything needed to be handled with caution. What exactly did Li Rulin mean? Why did the Emperor have to be present?
Thinking about it carefully, Yinsi felt something was wrong. Was he always being led by Li Rulin by the nose recently? Why did he arrange everything? Many things were no longer just about revenge against the crown prince. Now it seemed that he was involved in something deeper.
Thinking of this, Yinsi felt even more wrong. He quickly ordered the man: "No, the situation is not right. Our people immediately stop and hide. There is really no way to expose them. Cut off the roots."
Although the man below was puzzled, he was a secret guard and only followed orders. He replied "yes" and disappeared.
Only Yinsi was left in the room, sitting there to calm his violent heartbeat, slowly reviewing what he had missed and finishing it up when the time came.