20demayo Chapter 919: Common Tricks
Chapter 919: Common Tricks
Gao Qingtong had already investigated. "I secretly checked, and the people who talked the most about it were those in Concubine Song's palace. I think she was the one who spread the rumors. In the end, she completely cleared herself of the charges, stood up and berated the palace maids, pretending to be righteous."
Jiang Fenghua understood that this was a trick Song Qing often used.
"During the six months that the Empress was away from the palace, Concubine Song Shu bribed many people in the palace." Gao Qingtong continued, "I don't mean to say anything bad about Song Qing. I really can't stand her. I think about how good the Empress was to her back then. It was the Empress's help that allowed her to safely give birth to the Second Prince. Otherwise, she and her child would have been killed long ago. Now she's still scheming and has long forgotten the Empress's kindness. She's the real ungrateful person in the entire harem."
"Qingtong just can't stand her?" Jiang Fenghua joked, "What did she do to make the calm Concubine Gao so angry? You are the Concubine, and she is the Concubine Shu. You can punish her if you deserve it."
"I dare not." Gao Qingtong laughed at herself: "I just feel sorry for your Majesty."
Song Qing gave birth to a prince, and her actions were obviously paving the way for the second prince. The crown prince could only be the eldest prince or the fourth prince. What she did was nothing but ungrateful.
Gao Qingtong talked about some things that happened when they worked together, such as how Concubine Song Shu openly and secretly squeezed her and slandered her in order to win over the managers of the various palaces, and in the end she pretended to be a good person to smooth things over.
"You are so smart, but you can't think of a way to fight back against her?" Jiang Fenghua said.
"My family is a scholar, and hers has an uncle who is favored by the emperor and a warrior. I can only blame myself for not having an uncle who is a general and a jack of all trades." Gao Qingtong joked to herself again, "It's better to have less trouble than more!"
Jiang Fenghua said calmly, "Since you know this, why are you angry? What harm will it do to you if you let her have the limelight for a while?"
Gao Qingtong shook his head in surprise, "No."
Jiang Fenghua poured a cup of tea for Gao Qingtong and handed it to her, smiling slightly, "The affairs of the harem are complicated, and I would like to thank the Imperial Concubine for sharing my worries."
"Qingtong is happy to share Her Majesty's worries." She smiled sweetly.
Jiang Fenghua will now choose to remain silent. She cannot touch someone that the emperor doesn't want to touch, because Song Qing still has value.
For example, in the Shang family, even if Shang Hong had an affair with a concubine in the harem and got pregnant, the emperor could personally arrange to cover it up.
She would never get bogged down in these little details. The women in the harem could just jump around as they pleased.
Looking deeper, the Song family's circle will never be as big as the Gao family's circle, so Gao Qingtong became a noble concubine, and even if Song Qing gave birth to a prince, she could only be a concubine. It's the same reason.
Xie Shang is not a fool. He has been weighing the pros and cons, cultivating the Jiang family to become his right-hand man and consolidate her position as queen. It is obvious that they can help each other and benefit each other, so who would be a fool to break the current balance?
Love is the most fragile thing, so she never pinned her position as queen on Xie Shang's feelings for her.
Love is just an auxiliary tool for her to secure her position as queen, not a necessity.
-
When Jiang Fenghua arrived at Chaoyang Palace, he ran into Lady Helan.
Madam Helan pretended nothing had happened and bowed respectfully to the empress, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Long live the empress."
Jiang Fenghua stared at her with cold eyes, looking her up and down. "Madam, you just came from outside the palace. You are so casual in entering and leaving the palace."
Madam Helan, feeling guilty, quickly said, "I went back to the palace yesterday to get some changes of clothes and brought some snacks for Concubine Lan. I only hurried back to the palace this morning to take care of Concubine Lan. It was Commander Shangguan who brought me into the palace."
"The newly appointed commander of the Imperial Guards, Shangguan Li." Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice.
Madam Helan didn't understand what the Queen meant, so she nodded and said, "Yes!"
Jiang Fenghua walked closer to her. "Has the Helan family suffered at the hands of the previous commander of the Imperial Guards and still not learned their lesson? Now they're troubling the new commander of the Imperial Guards. Madam, you didn't ask Lord Shangguan for permission to take anything out of the palace, did you?"
Madam Helan was so frightened that she trembled all over, her body stiff, unable to utter a word: "I..."
No one discovered that she was the one who delivered the things to the Shang Mansion yesterday. How did the Queen know it was her?
Jiang Fenghua didn't want to talk to Madam Helan any more. Someone too foolish would eventually get themselves killed. Did she think she could vent her anger by bringing a dead fetus to a merchant's wedding banquet? She couldn't defeat the enemy; her actions would only alert the enemy.
"Your servant pays her respects to the Empress." Helan Yanran looked much better after recuperating for a few days.
"Get up! I came to see Concubine Lan. I heard that you didn't eat the whole day yesterday." Jiang Fenghua hinted at something.
The palace of Concubine Lan was full of new faces, and even the confidants of the Helan family who were married to her as a dowry were quietly executed.
She said to Madam Helan, "My mouth is a little bitter. Mother, go make me some sweets! I want to talk to the Queen for a while."
She sent Madam Helan away, dismissed the servants, and suddenly knelt in front of Jiang Fenghua, "Yanran thanks the Queen for saving my life."
Jiang Fenghua didn't know what she was going to do, or what she wanted to do.
She sat in the main seat, staring at Helan Yanran's face, and said in a deep voice, "Are you apologizing for the stupid things you and your mother did?"
"What did my mother do?" Helan Yanran still didn't know what Madam Helan did when she left the palace yesterday.
Jiang Fenghua asked doubtfully, "You don't know what happened in the Shang Mansion yesterday."
Helan Yanran shook her head. "My mother left the palace yesterday, saying she was going home to get some clothes. Yesterday was the big day for Shang Hong to marry his new wife. I was really in a bad mood and had a big temper. At that time, the Noble Concubine Gao happened to come visit me, and I took my anger out on her. As soon as I felt better, I went to apologize to her. I was disrespectful."
She was deceived by a man and trusted him wrongly, which led to her current situation.
She spoke in a calm tone, without any of the hostility she had that day.
Jiang Fenghua looked at her carefully. Did she figure it out so quickly?
Then, Helan Yanran continued, "The Marquis of Changping's Mansion and the General Shang's Mansion are both the emperor's right-hand men. The Shang family and the Helan family are both loyal to His Majesty. The turmoil of the country must not be affected by some trivial personal affairs that affect the overall situation of the Great Zhou.
I recognize that he is just an irresponsible and heartless Khan, but compared to the stability of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the grievances I have suffered are nothing. I understand this very well in my heart. It is the kindness of Your Majesty and Your Majesty that has spared my life. If I had stayed outside the palace, I am afraid I would have died long ago. I remember everything Your Majesty said.
She knew even more clearly the consequences if she really went to work as a concubine in the Shang family, and how could the Shang family let her live?
Jiang Fenghua didn't expect that the seemingly weak Helan Yanran suddenly became so smart.
She said, "Now that you've figured it out, just live a peaceful life in the palace!"
Jiang Fenghua didn't say anything else, just told her to take good care of her health and left.
Hongxiu whispered, "Your Majesty, do you really believe that Concubine Lan has come to terms with it?"
Jiang Fenghua looked nonchalant, with a sneer on his lips, "I hope she has really come to terms with it."
Perhaps all that Helan Yanran suffered was her own fate! When her affair with Shang Hong was discovered, she had just lost her memory, and only out of sympathy did they let her out of the palace. What she experienced afterwards taught her to recognize a man, and she also paid a painful price.
Hongxiu thought to herself: Is the Queen trying to comfort herself and thinking that Concubine Lan has figured it out? Or is the Queen just being sarcastic?