Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1105 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 31

When Jiang Xinxin returned to the palace, Concubine Qi came to complain immediately: "Empress, before you left the palace, you were willing to offend Concubine Nian in order to protect the dragon fetus in Concubine Wan's belly, but she herself did not take your kindness to heart at all, and actually went to the cold palace alone with a palace maid!"

"To put it bluntly, when Shen Shi did such a deceitful thing, the emperor only demoted Shen Shi to a commoner and placed her in the cold palace, without implicating the Shen family of the previous dynasty. This is already a sign of the emperor's kindness and your generosity, but Concubine Wan just doesn't think about the good relationship between you and the emperor. I heard that when the two of them met in the cold palace, they were very resentful of the emperor and had many speculations about you, your majesty!"

Jiang Xinxin smiled casually, "Concubine Qi has been very experienced recently. Her words are much more fluent now."

Concubine Qi thought Jiang Xinxin was praising her, and smiled shyly, "I just said whatever I thought of, but I am really dissatisfied that Concubine Wan did not take your kindness to heart."

Jiang Xinxin was too lazy to say more to Concubine Qi. Maybe Concubine Qi was really naive when she was young, but she had been in the palace for so many years and had control over the palace power. Naturally, her mind was no longer as simple as it was when she was young. Otherwise, how could she have dared to poison the pregnant concubine after listening to Yixiu's seemingly plausible instigation?

It is said that she has a rare motherly heart, but she is not smart enough to think long-term, and she even poisoned someone with a real name.

But shouldn't the one who is truly brainless be the one who doesn't even understand Yi Xiu's half-truthful words?

Since entering the palace, Jiang Xinxin no longer showed any preferential treatment to the Third Prince Hongshi. Concubine Qi took the initiative to urge Hongshi to pay his respects to Jingren Palace frequently, and Hongshi no longer had the secret resistance he had before towards Yixiu. It can be seen that this mother and son may not be smart enough, but they really know how to seek benefits for themselves in their bones.

In Chengqian Palace, Guiren Wan was somewhat worried when she heard that the Queen had returned to the palace. Especially after hearing the news that Concubine Qi had gone to Jingren Palace, she began to prepare secretly.

Huanbi still disagreed with Concubine Wan's personal visit to the cold palace to visit Shen Meizhuang that day. When she heard the palace servants report that Concubine Qi went to Jingren Palace, she became anxious, "What a shame Concubine Qi is. She is almost a grandmother, but she is still so unstable. She can't wait to complain to the young lady as soon as she finds her fault!"

Wan Guiren also thought so in her heart, but she knew the huge gap between Huanbi and Concubine Qi, so she reluctantly said to Huanbi: "Shut up, Concubine Qi is a concubine, I can't say anything, but you are so outspoken, are you afraid that our mistakes are not enough?"

Huanbi forced herself to shut up, but she always had her own logic. She thought that she was also a lady of the Zhen family. Now she was just a pearl in the dust, but she was also a legitimate master, more noble than the palace maids, nannies and eunuchs in the Forbidden City, and her status in the future would definitely not be low.

Huanbi had some ideas in her mind, but no one had ever "pointed them out" and she herself was also confused, so even the meticulous Wan Guiren did not notice anything wrong. She always felt that it was the Zhen family who had wronged Huanbi, so she was very willing to make Huanbi's life more comfortable within her ability.

However, even though Concubine Wan had prepared so many things in advance, Jiang Xinxin did not mention the fact that she had gone to the cold palace. It was still Concubine Nian who could not bear it and made Concubine Wan copy scriptures again and imposed an additional two-month house arrest as punishment.

Concubine Nian realized that she was in an increasingly dangerous situation in the harem, but she didn't know how to break the situation. Concubine Cao also knew about her dangerous situation, but unfortunately Concubine Cao only wanted to leave her, especially after Concubine Nian took Princess Wen Yi to the Yikun Palace to raise her. She wished she could hear the news of Concubine Nian's death as soon as she opened her eyes every day!

In May, the palace began to pack up and go to the Old Summer Palace to escape the summer heat. The Empress Dowager still kept Shoukang Palace closed. Prince Guo even had to ask for special permission to visit Concubine Shu in Ningshou Palace. He could no longer stroll around the harem under the pretext of paying his respects to the Empress Dowager as before.

Therefore, Prince Guo now only hopes to quickly make meritorious service so that he can bring Concubine Shu to the palace for support. However, Big Fat Ju is narrow-minded. Thinking of the various favors that the late emperor showed to Prince Guo in his later years, he cannot bear to see any good in Prince Guo, let alone give Prince Guo the opportunity to make meritorious service. Therefore, even if Prince Guo is invited by Big Fat Ju to relax in the Old Summer Palace, Prince Guo can still only be a companion to chat and play.

Prince Guo had no place to vent his depressed feelings. By chance, he saw through the flowers and trees that Concubine Wan was taking a walk accompanied by Huanbi and other palace maids. He couldn't help but think about it and began to plan deliberately to "encounter" this famous new favorite concubine.

Jiang Xinxin originally thought that Prince Guo was just an artistic young man. Even when she combined her own memories with Yixiu's memories, she could not find any evidence that Prince Guo deliberately hooked up with Zhen Huan. So she just thought that the fact that Prince Guo and Zhen Huan were together was a result of a series of coincidences and the inevitability of having similar interests.

But she didn't expect that everything between Guo Huan actually started with a real conspiracy.

Since all this did not start with mutual admiration, Jiang Xinxin acted even more recklessly.

So when Big Fat Orange came over for dinner that evening, Jiang Xinxin said directly, "I vaguely remember that Prince Guo is already in his twenties. I had mentioned it to the Queen Mother before, why not marry Prince Guo to Meng from Duke Meng's mansion, but the Queen Mother never mentioned it later, and I didn't want to bother the Queen Mother with these matters every day, so Prince Guo's marriage has been delayed until now."

Whenever Fat Orange thought of how the late emperor doted on his youngest son, Prince Guo, when he was old, and even taught him riding and archery, he would feel unhappy. He hoped that Prince Guo would remain a bachelor all his life, so he would never take the initiative to arrange a marriage for him.

What's more, every time the matter of arranged marriage was brought up, Prince Guo always had various excuses to shirk his responsibility, so he was too lazy to bother.

But today is different. Jiang Xinxin obviously has an idea. Even if he doesn't express his opinion today, with her personality, she will definitely find ways to achieve what she wants in the future.

So Big Fat Orange simply asked: "What does the Queen think?"

Jiang Xinxin smiled and said, "What else can I think? The status of a princess from Duke Meng's mansion is suitable for the legitimate wife of a county prince, but the bad thing is that Meng is just a Han army flag. If the emperor can't raise the flag for Meng, she can't be the legitimate wife of Guo County Prince."

As for the status of a bannerman, Jiang Xinxin viewed it as just like comparing the bloodline of a pet. She herself was very disdainful of it, but the world, especially officials, still attached great importance to this status.

Among the royal family, the most successful one now is Cao, the wife of Prince Ping, who was once a bondservant. In order to appease Madam Fengsheng and show how much he valued his trusted ministers, the late emperor not only promoted Cao but also granted her marriage to a royal prince as his legitimate wife.

At that time, the Cao family was so glorious. The late emperor even referred to Madam Fengsheng as "the elders of our family". Princes from all walks of life also vied to win over the Cao clan. But now the Cao family is just a piece of fish on the chopping board of Big Fat Orange. Once the incident of Nian Gengyao is over, the Cao family will follow in Nian Gengyao's footsteps.