PDLP Chapter 442 Effective immediately, she is promoted to Consort Jin.
Chapter 442 Effective immediately, she is promoted to Consort Jin.
"Consort Jin has given birth to His Majesty's eldest son. Congratulations, Marquis Tang!"
Jiang Wei looked straight ahead and descended the steps. It was Song Di, who was standing beside him, who spoke.
Song Di was originally a third-rank Yunhui General and had served as the deputy general of Jiangwei. Last year, he was promoted to Left Guard General for his military achievements in the Northwest campaign. Now he serves under the Sixteen Guard Generals and is in charge of guarding the capital.
He had a connection with Song Chengrui, the eldest son-in-law of the Marquis of Lin'an. Song Di belonged to the main branch of the Song family, while Song Chengrui came from the Jinan Song family, which was a branch of the Song family.
When Song Chengrui was promoted to Light Cavalry Commandant, Song Di tried to win him over on several occasions, and even planned to give him a distant niece of Song's wife as a concubine.
Of course, Song Chengrui flatly refused.
As he spoke, a faint chuckle lingered in his voice, which sounded amusing to onlookers.
Tang Xian smiled slightly. "General Song's words are very well said. The Emperor has been on the throne for more than a year, and everyone inside and outside the palace is looking forward to the birth of a prince. It is only natural that the whole country should celebrate."
Jiang Wei glanced at Tang Xian quickly out of the corner of his eye before returning to the stone steps in front of him.
Song Di, however, refused to give up. He took a half-step closer to Tang Xian and continued, "Speaking of which, Consort Jin originally came from the Marquis of Lin'an's mansion. Back then, she entered the palace because she was selected as a concubine by Consort Chun's side. In the end, this connection was due to the good upbringing of the Marquis of Tang's mansion. Now that Consort Jin has given birth to the eldest prince, the Marquis should naturally share in the honor."
Tang Xian remained composed and leisurely, gently turning the tablet in his hand halfway around, much like he was holding a folding fan by the handle. Although he was nearly forty years old, not a single gray hair was visible at his temples, and the refined and elegant demeanor in his eyes made him appear even more dashing than younger officials.
“What a pity,” he said, his voice not loud, but just loud enough for those around him to hear, “General Song didn’t have that good fortune. A few years ago, when a branch of the Song family came to request an audience, the General’s mansion wouldn’t even open the door, which shows that their judgment was indeed not very good.”
Song Di was a military general, and his temper was notoriously short. Upon hearing this, his face flushed red. Just as he was about to retort, Tang Xian suddenly took off the white jade pendant from his waist and casually tossed it into the air, where it drew an arc.
"then."
Song Di instinctively raised his hand to catch it.
Tang Xian looked at his dazed expression as he clutched the jade pendant, his smile undiminished: "When the old servant from General Song's mansion goes to Yongzheng Pawnshop to sell antiques and paintings in the future, have him show this jade pendant. When Manager Han Jing of the pawnshop sees it, he will give it a 20% higher price."
Upon hearing this, Yun Qian, the Minister of Revenue, and several other civil officials following behind couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Everyone knows that the Song family has been supported by Song Di all these years. In order to pave the way for him in the Northwest Army and to accumulate military merits to bribe officials, they had already secretly pawned a lot of their ancestral property. This was a semi-public secret among officials in the capital, but no one dared to expose it in public like Tang Xian.
How could the Marquis of Lin'an be trifled with? With a single, casual remark, he utterly ripped away Song Yu's dignity, a far cry from being verbally abused.
Song Di held the jade pendant in his hand, his face, which had just turned red, now showing signs of paleness.
He swallowed twice and then suddenly raised his hand.
With a loud crash, the jade pendant was thrown hard onto the bluestone slab in front of everyone, shattering into pieces.
Tang Xian didn't even glance at the shards on the ground. He raised his eyes and looked past the crowd, his gaze landing precisely on the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who was trying to get out of the way a short distance away.
"Young Master Xu, I must report this to the police!"
Xu Shaoqing couldn't escape. He wanted to slap himself twice for getting involved in this mess at such a critical moment! Helpless, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward, bowing and saying, "Please speak, Your Excellency."
"General Song just broke one of my finest mutton-fat jade pendants without cause, worth 3,670 taels! I am generous and will waive the change; let him compensate me with the full 3,600 taels."
Xu Shaoqing sighed, thinking, "This isn't demanding compensation; it's clearly throwing money at someone's face."
The onlookers, including Yun Qian, exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes filled with "This actually works?" They had just thought Song Di's throwing away of the jade pendant was impulsive, but now they realized: Tang Xian had planned this from the moment he handed it over.
"Bullshit! You threw it there yourself! You think you can just demand compensation like that?"
Song Di's temple veins throbbed, and he clenched his fists, taking half a step forward.
Tang Xian said slowly, "You really don't want to pay?"
Jiang Wei had just noticed that the jade pendant looked familiar, and upon hearing this, he was about to signal Song Di to calm down, but Song Di had already stubbornly shouted, "Why should I pay! Even if it goes to the Emperor's court, I won't pay!"
"Very well." Tang Xian pointed his tablet at the ground, his voice suddenly turning cold. "Has Xu Shaoqing seen this clearly? This is a gift bestowed by His Majesty. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, what is the punishment for publicly destroying a gift bestowed by the Emperor?"
Xu Shaoqing closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again with a look of utter helplessness: "Guards, please escort General Song to the Dali Temple..."
......
The farce that unfolded in front of the Taiji Hall's stone steps was quickly relayed to Jingming by the imperial eunuchs.
Jingming was standing guard under the corridor of Cuiyu Hall when he heard the eunuch embellishing the story. He immediately scolded, "Foolish thing! His Majesty has just had a prince and is currently with Consort Jin. Is this trivial matter worth bothering us with? Suppress it for now and wait until His Majesty returns to Funing Palace before we talk about it."
The flower hall of Cuiyu Hall was warm and inviting. The Empress and the concubines sat or stood, and spoke in hushed tones.
A thick brocade mattress was laid on the soft couch. Meng Shu leaned against the headboard, her face still pale from childbirth, but she still had to force herself to talk to the emperor.
The Emperor sat on a rosewood chair in front of the couch, carefully cradling the swaddled baby in his arms. His fingertips occasionally touched the edge of the swaddle, as if afraid of disturbing the little life inside.
Seeing Meng Shu looking over, he said with a smile in his eyes, "Shu'er, you have no idea how happy I am today. I was still worried during the court assembly just now, but holding him now makes me feel at ease."
As she spoke, she looked down at the small body wrapped tightly in the brocade quilt, "Look at the prince's eyebrows and eyes, they look quite like yours."
A faint smile appeared on Meng Shu's lips.
The newborn baby had a furrowed brow and closed eyes, its little face all wrinkled; even its mother couldn't say it was pretty.
"Let the nannies take care of him. His Majesty has been carrying him for so long, his arms must be sore."
Aunt Mei stepped forward, and the Emperor slowly handed over the swaddled baby. After Aunt Mei took the baby and stepped aside, the Emperor sat down on the couch and took Meng Shu's hand, which was resting on the brocade quilt. Noticing that her fingertips were still cool, he cupped them in his palm.
"By imperial decree, Consort Jin is hereby promoted to Imperial Concubine Jin for her meritorious service in bearing the imperial heir. The full-month celebration for the prince shall be held together with the conferment ceremony. In addition, all palace servants of Lingcui Palace shall be rewarded with three years' salary, so that the whole palace may share in the joy."
Meng Shu's eyelashes trembled slightly as she bowed gently to express her gratitude, supported by Green Willow.
The Emperor raised his hand to help her up, and said gently, "This is what you deserve. From now on, with me here, I will protect you and your child."
It was common practice for a woman to be promoted after giving birth, and the Empress and the other concubines had anticipated this, so they did not show any unusual expression.
The Empress congratulated Meng Shu first, her gaze then falling on the Emperor and Meng Shu's clasped hands:
"Congratulations, Consort Jin. You have given birth to a prince for His Majesty, which is a great blessing. From now on, you should rest and recuperate in Cuiyu Hall. I have already had some nourishing medicinal herbs brought from Renming Hall. Your body is weak after childbirth, so they can be used to slowly recuperate."