High-class maid

Chapter 257 I was here first!

Haha, as expected, God won't let him down. He's finally found something on the second son's weakness!

"Are you telling the truth? Or are you just trying to trick me?" After his initial surprise, the Crown Prince regained his composure. He had witnessed too much of the palace's intrigue and quickly calmed himself down.

"Your Highness, this is absolutely true. It was a message from Her Majesty the Empress."

Upon hearing that the message came from his mother, the Crown Prince felt much more at ease. He no longer cared about watching Song Wenyang's parade through the streets and, with a wave of his hand, led his entourage back to the Crown Prince's residence in a grand procession.

The Empress was also in turmoil at this time.

"Have you sent the message to the Crown Prince yet?" The Empress asked her personal maid with some urgency, turning the prayer beads in her hand.

"Your Majesty, the secret guards have already left the palace. Judging by the time, His Highness the Crown Prince should already know," the palace maid replied respectfully, bowing her head.

She secretly glanced up and saw that the prayer beads in the Empress's hand were spinning faster and faster, almost frantically.

"You may leave. I am not feeling well today, so please excuse any unrelated people from paying their respects," the Empress said weakly, waving her hand.

"Yes."

The palace maid quietly withdrew and stopped five steps away from the entrance of the main hall.

What exactly happened? What did the usually composed and low-key Empress hear that made her so anxious that she smashed a teacup in the palace and couldn't wait to send a message to the Crown Prince?

"Granny, that wretched woman's son actually became the top scholar! How dare he? She made me live alone all these years, having only the empty title of Empress, and now she wants to put my son under house arrest!"

After the palace maids left, the Empress couldn't help but grab Lin Mama's hand and said angrily.

"Your Majesty! Please don't panic! Even if he is of high status, how can he possibly surpass His Highness the Crown Prince? Please don't act rashly!"

In Lin Mama's opinion, her Empress didn't need to be so agitated. Since the Emperor chose to remain silent about the imperial examination, it must be because he wanted to protect the Crown Prince. What she needed to do now was to behave herself and wait for the Emperor to calm down before coaxing him properly.

"This mother and son must be bringing bad luck to us! When that wretched woman was alive, the Emperor drank himself into a stupor every night, while I was left alone in my empty room every day! Now that she's finally dead, my son is confined by the Emperor, while he becomes the prestigious top scholar! How can I accept this!"

The Empress seemed to have entered a dead end, not feeling that her son had done anything wrong, and automatically ignoring the fact that the Crown Prince had participated in the imperial examination fraud.

Lin Mama sighed. How could she not know her mistress's inner turmoil? But now was not the time to act rashly. She squeezed the Empress's hand in return and said...

"Your Majesty, since the Emperor has not recognized him, he is merely a top scholar. The more you pressure him, the more the Emperor will want to protect him and give him more benefits. You must not lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of a small gain!"

The Queen gripped the chair tightly, took several deep breaths to suppress her resentment, and then said...

"Others may not know, but do you, Granny, not know how I endured those years? That heartless man wanted my mother's family's help to ascend the throne, yet he couldn't forget that wretched woman! I only found out he had someone else in his heart after I got married! I am the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's family! How could I possibly insist on marrying him?!"

The Empress also had her pride. Before their marriage, she hadn't met the Emperor much and only thought he was taciturn but refined and cultured. She assumed it was just his personality. But after they got married, she realized that he wasn't taciturn at all; he clearly had someone else in his heart! He wasn't refined and cultured at all; he clearly felt guilty for using her!

She had considered divorce, but she was already two months pregnant when she learned the truth. She wanted to confront him, but she also had her pride. Her mother told her that all men are fickle, and that she should endure humiliation even for the sake of the unborn child.

And so, she pretended to know nothing. Later, he became the emperor, she became the empress, and that woman died. She gradually let go of her resentment and devoted herself to being a good empress of the Great Qin. But who knew! It wasn't enough that she harmed herself alone; her son also wanted to disgust her!

“Your Majesty, this old servant knows the grievances you have suffered over the years. His Majesty is not a person without manners. What you need to do now is to pretend that you know nothing. The gentler you are, the more His Majesty will feel guilty towards you.”

Lin Mama softly offered advice to the Empress.

"But his face is so conspicuous that anyone who sees the Emperor and that vile woman at the same time would notice it," the Empress said uneasily.

This Song Wenyang is far superior to my son. If he rises higher and higher in the court, and if those ill-intentioned officials instigate him, what will happen to my son's position as crown prince?

“Your Majesty! Who gets to see His Majesty’s face every day? Even this old servant can only see the Emperor when I am with you, let alone anyone else,” said Granny Lin, raising her voice.

"Yes, that Consort Ling..." The Empress's eyes darkened, and she said in a gloomy tone.

"We can't let her live. If she uses this to blackmail you, it will be a huge loss." Granny Lin shook her head, easily deciding a person's life or death.

"Well, she's just unlucky to have discovered royal secrets. Considering her loyalty to me, I'll give her a dignified death and leave her with a whole corpse."

The Empress, having resolved her inner turmoil, picked up the now-cold tea from the table and drank it. She was burning with anger, and the cold tea was just what she needed.

"Yes." Granny Lin turned and left to handle the matter. Time was of the essence and it had to be done as soon as possible.

Consort Ling, humming a little tune, returned to her palace, unaware that her death was imminent. She was still waiting for the Empress's reward, and along the way, she punished a little palace maid.

Unlike the deathly stillness of the Empress's palace, the Song residence at this time was teeming with people.

"Is Lord Song at home? My master is the Vice Minister of Revenue and would like to have a chat with you."

"My master is the Minister of Works, please come to our residence first!"

"I came first!"

"I came first!"

The servants were arguing incessantly, some even comparing whose master held a higher official rank.

On the other side were several matchmakers, each holding a round fan, their faces as red as monkey bottoms.

"Young Master Song is not yet married, is he? I have a very fine young lady here. I wonder who is in charge of the household now? We can discuss it together." The matchmaker waved her round fan and called out to the gatekeeper of the Song residence.

“Hey, hey, hey, the girl here is even better, even more fertile! She has three older brothers, if she marries Young Master Song, she will definitely have three sons!” Another matchmaker pushed her aside and shouted towards the gate of the Song residence.

These matchmakers were all hired by the officials to find a good husband for their daughters. However, because of the women's reputation, they could not say that the daughters belonged to someone else's family, but could only speak of their own daughters' good qualities.

"Our young lady is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting!"