dtnovels Chapter 1222 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 146
Chapter 1222 Zhen Huan Enlarged to 146
Jiang Xinxin asked the concubines in the harem to come to the Cining Palace for an audience on the first and fifteenth day of every month. The wives of Prince Duan and Prince He also came to the palace on the first and fifteenth day of every month to pay homage to Jiang Xinxin, their biological mother. Of course, they also had to find time to hand in a sign and go to Changchun Garden to visit their mother-in-law.
Prince Duan's wife Qingying seems to be content with having a son. She still has Aruo by her side, but Aruo is already engaged. It's just that Qingying's son Yongxi was still young a few years ago, so Aruo said she would stay for two more years. Qingying was grateful for Aruo's dedication to her, and Aruo's father worked with Qingying's father and made great contributions to flood control, and now he is also a fifth-rank official.
Therefore, Qingying had already found a young man with good looks, talent and a simple family for A Ruo in the Ulanara clan. However, it happened to be the mourning period for the late emperor, so it was not convenient to marry A Ruo off immediately.
Arruo had discussed with her husband's family that there would be no changes in their marriage. After all, Qingying's status as a prince's wife was very impressive, and her son would at least be a prince in the future, so having her as a confidant would be very welcome.
Prince He's wife was very envious of the lovely children of her two sisters-in-law, but Prince He was born with a congenital deficiency and it was difficult for him to have children. She could only follow the advice of the imperial physician and give her husband a few more years to recuperate.
After all, she was the only mistress in Prince Heqin's mansion, and Prince Heqin had no concubines, let alone maids. She had no complaints.
Jiang Xinxin saw that Qingying was still normal and had no intention of becoming Daru, so she showed some goodwill to Qingying, but still ignored the other people in the Ulanara family.
Qingying was delighted with the goodwill shown by Jiang Xinxin, and she had no opinion on the fact that Jiang Xinxin still disliked the other members of the Ulanara family. Anyway, as long as she was close to the Queen Mother Jiang Xinxin, the Ulanara family could indirectly use the title of the Queen Mother Jiang Xinxin.
"Let's stay in the Cining Palace for dinner today." Jiang Xinxin made a direct invitation.
Qingying and Prince Heqin's wife would certainly not refuse. Although they were still royal relatives and had close relations with the Emperor and Empress, in terms of their status, they were already women of noble birth, so the longer they could stay in the palace, the better. At least it could show their close relationship with the palace.
It was fine for Prince He's wife, because Prince He was in poor health and could not do much, she experienced the fickleness of human nature early on.
But Qingying had only recently realized the huge difference between her father being the emperor and her brother being the emperor, so when Jiang Xinxin asked her to stay for dinner, she quickly took advantage of the situation and said, "The Empress Dowager has given me dinner, so why don't my sister-in-law and I stay for dinner? Fortunately, we didn't eat much for breakfast, otherwise we wouldn't have enough stomach to enjoy the delicious food from the Empress Dowager at noon."
Prince He's wife was able to appease her mother-in-law, so she was naturally good at talking. She also repeatedly echoed Qingying's words, "Yes, Empress Dowager, your sister-in-law is absolutely right. Empress Dowager rarely gives us food, and we are really flattered."
It’s not that Jiang Xinxin seldom invites people to dinner, but except for a few ladies who had just come to pay their respects to the emperor, she never did so again.
The mourning for the late emperor had not yet ended, so if Qianlong wanted to eat some meat, he could only have a bowl of noodles with broth or a bowl of vegetarian wontons, or he could use animal oil when cooking. Meat dishes were not allowed to be served on the table at all.
Jiang Xinxin herself recruited chefs of many cuisines, so the recipes she came up with were of course unique. The various vegetables in soup whetted Qingying and Prince He's appetite, but they were too shy to ask for the recipe. But after they walked out of the Cining Palace, they couldn't help but guess the cooking methods of the dishes based on their own experience.
Finally, the two of them sighed at the gate of the palace: "Oh, the Empress is so amazing!"
Qingying was lucky. After all, she was the only princess of the Ulanara family since she was a child, and her clan members had high hopes for her since early on. What's more, she had lived with her parents in Jiangnan until she was eleven or twelve years old. The prosperity of Jiangnan was not necessarily inferior to that of the capital, so everything she saw, heard, and enjoyed was better than that of the princess.
The family of Prince Heqin's wife was just a small, unknown family. She was forced to participate in the Jiangxuexuan talent show because her parents could not persuade the clan members.
Originally, the clan members were attracted by her appearance, but they only dared to dream of becoming a princess in some prince's backyard. Unexpectedly, she was chosen by the Prince of He to be his principal wife. The whole Wu Zaku clan was very happy, except her parents who were worried that she would have a hard time in her husband's family.
Later, he and the prince secretly went to the palace to explain that he had no intention of taking the throne, and because of his poor health and difficulty in having children, the palace allowed him to choose a wife who suited his taste.
After returning home, Prince He's wife told her husband about the dishes she liked at the Cining Palace at noon. Prince He also liked the dishes, but he would not just put his hopes on the cook at home. He simply handed a sign to the Cining Palace to pay his respects, "The Empress Dowager has always been tolerant of us. Now I just need to pretend that I have no appetite, and maybe the Empress Dowager will be willing to give up the house full of cooks."
The wife of Prince Heqin rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "I don't expect you to be filial to the Empress Dowager, but how can you just think of getting benefits from her?"
The prince said with a playful smile: "Oh, how could I not respect my stepmother?"
"It's not that the Emperor is no longer around, but the Empress Dowager suddenly invited us to dinner today. It's obvious that she feels sorry for us brothers and sisters who have suddenly lost our father."
The Prince's wife had nothing to say. If she didn't let her husband, who had always been unfocused, try out these little things, he might do something big behind her back. By then, she wasn't sure she could help clean up the mess, so it was better for her to just let him do it now.
The Prince's wife understood and softened her tone: "My Lord, you must be careful. The Empress Dowager is always afraid of trouble. Even if there is a younger generation around her who can make a little noise to dispel the loneliness, the most important thing is to grasp the degree of it."
Jiang Xinxin didn't know that the reckless Prince He was about to attack, she was entertaining the Queen.
At noon, Jiang Xinxin wanted to keep the wives of Prince Duan and Prince He for lunch, and she sent someone to invite the Queen. It was just that the Queen had agreed at first. But when the time came, the eldest princess Jingse had a small problem, so the Queen sent the head maid Lianxin to the Cining Palace to explain the situation, and did not have lunch with the two sisters-in-law at all.
Well, perhaps she felt that she had been rude after all and that the eldest princess Jingse could be left alone, so she hurried to the Cining Palace to apologize.
Jiang Xinxin had long known that the eldest princess Jingse accidentally fell to the ground and scraped her palm and cheek around noon. When Lianxin came to explain the situation, she also sent Jianqiu to get the scar-removing glue for Jingse to use. Of course, the queen didn't have to make such a special trip.
But Jiang Xinxin could also understand why the queen was so overly polite, so she comforted her directly, "You sisters-in-law will come over to eat with me many times, there is no need to rush today."
After that, Jiang Xinxin talked about Jingse's situation: "The child can walk on her own and likes to run and jump. You can't detain her just because Jingse was injured today. The princess grows up very quickly. When she comes back to the palace, she will be a guest."