Chapter 833 Cold Palace
She wrote down the names of several medicinal materials, all of which were used to treat plague and corpse poison plague, just in case.
"You want so many medicinal materials?" Chu Jingqi saw the incredible amount on it, and her expression suddenly became solemn, "Ayu, tell me honestly, did you have a premonition of something?"
"No, I'm just worried about next year's drought."
She died once and was reborn again. If she told such a terrifying thing, would he believe it?
Well, even if Aqi believed her, wouldn't he be afraid of her after knowing such a weird thing?
Xia Zihan didn't dare to gamble.
She had better not tell him this secret, and let her take it into the coffin when she gets old.
Chu Jingqi frowned and stared at her, "Ayu, how can you be so sure that there will be a drought at the grand event next year?"
"Oh, that..." Xia Zihan's eyes flickered, and he pinched the handkerchief with his fingers, his expression stiff, "It's just a hunch, just in case. It would be better if there was no drought, and the people wouldn't have to suffer, and we It's just a waste of money at most. Besides, these grains and medicinal materials can be sold at any time. When the time comes, we just sell the things. If there is a drought, then if we have something on hand, wouldn't we be able to save many people. ”
Not only can she save people, but when the time comes, she can also blackmail the emperor for a sum of money openly.
It just so happened that the emperor robbed several wealthy families of Zhang Wenzu this year and got millions of taels of silver.
Chu Jingqi didn't know that his little daughter-in-law had already put her idea into the emperor's pocket. Although he still felt that there were loopholes in what his daughter-in-law said and was full of doubts, he didn't want to make her unhappy, so he didn't break the casserole and ask for the truth. With the note, he ordered Ma Bao to buy medicinal materials.
Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor issued an edict to designate Concubine Lu as a noble concubine. Her status was as high as that of the empress. She was the highest-status woman in the harem, except for the empress and the queen mother.
When the queen learned about this, she smashed a new set of porcelain that had just been placed in her palace.
After the emperor received the news, he was in a good mood and ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs not to replace any fragile items such as porcelain furnishings, tea sets, dishes, etc. in the Queen's Palace.
If the emperor's decree continues, the queen will completely fall out of favor.
After the Queen's family received the news, they frequently went to the palace to plead for the Queen, but this time the Emperor was determined to punish the Queen and fought with the Queen. No matter who came to intercede, the Emperor would not agree to let the Queen go free, so she remained under house arrest. Holding her.
Although the newly born eldest prince was not named a prince by the emperor, his mother-in-law has been named a noble concubine, and her status in the harem is second only to the queen. This is already telling others that as long as the eldest prince If he grows up and is promising, the position of prince will belong to the eldest prince sooner or later.
Concubine Lu is the granddaughter of Lu Ge, the Minister of Rites, from her hometown. Although her status is not as high as that of the Queen's royal family, her family's power is not weak.
Since then, the days when the harem was dominated by the empress have finally passed.
The murderer who caused Concubine Lu's premature birth was also investigated. She was the daughter of a third-rank minister's family, her surname was Wang, and she was named Wang Guiren.
Wang Guiren was deeply loved by the emperor because of her petite appearance and flowery beauty. She was the woman who was favored by the emperor most times during this period of time.
Because of this, Wang Guiren was a little proud and arrogant. He often put on airs and showed off in front of other women, and always showed a victorious look. Therefore, he offended many women.
Wang Guiren was beautiful, but he was a brainless person. With a little instigation, he bribed a little maid while he was going to greet the Queen Mother in the morning.
This little maid was the personal maid of the Queen's sister. The Queen's sister was also pregnant. Together with Concubine Lu, the Queen Mother approached her and lived in the palace.
The maids and father-in-laws in the Queen Mother's Palace are all the Queen Mother's confidants. Those spies arranged by the Queen in the past have been removed by the Queen Mother. It will definitely not be easy for Wang Guiren to bribe them.
Wang Guiren fixed his eyes on the queen's sister's maid. The Queen's sister and Concubine Lu were pregnant together, and both gained the Queen Mother's attention. It makes sense that the two would be wary of each other and uneasy and kind-hearted.
Wang Guiren took advantage of this and their psychology to bribe the maid next to the queen's sister and let the maid kill Concubine Lu.
As a result, Concubine Lu gave birth prematurely, and Guiren Wang was soon investigated by the emperor, and the little maid confessed to her.
The evidence of her crime was conclusive. Because she poisoned the prince, the emperor stripped her of her noble title and was thrown into the cold palace.
Her father, Mr. Wang, was also implicated by her and was dismissed from office and sent back to his hometown. Because of this incident, her brother was expelled from the scholar's title and lost the qualification to take the exam again, and he never had a chance to have an official career. .
The Wang family was completely defeated because of Wang Guiren's thought.
However, the Lu family is prospering because of Concubine Lu, and the spring breeze is proud of it.
In late August, Xia Zilan got married, and Xia Zihan prepared a dowry for her and sent it to the Xia family in person.
When Mrs. Xia San, Mrs. Guo, saw her, she was even more affectionate than when she met her own mother. She personally served tea and water, passed snack plates, and said politely, "You have two children to take care of at home, why did you come in person?" , just send a maid, the third aunt doesn’t have to choose.”
She said she was not picky, but her eyes were fixed on a wooden box that Xia Zihan handed to Xia Zilan, which was for her to add makeup to Xia Zilan.
Xia Zilan opened it carelessly and saw a pair of ruby and red gold jewelry. There were eight pieces in total. Each one was so beautiful and exquisite that Xia Zilan couldn't put it down.
Xia Zilan liked it very much and kept saying, "Thank you, second sister, I like it very much."
Mrs. Guo was also happy and smiled from ear to ear.
With this set of jewelry from Cuiyuxuan, my daughter has a good reputation when she goes to her husband's house.
Mrs. Guo treated Xia Zihan even more enthusiastically.
Xia Zihan smiled and chatted with the Guo family for a while, and then other guests came over to give them extra makeup.
Most of those people were the wives of the eldest and second masters of the Xia family who were friends and classmates in the officialdom. Xia Zihan didn't recognize them, so he stood up, made an excuse, and went to Xia Shiming's yard.
Mrs. Guo knew that she didn't like to socialize with people she didn't know, so she didn't blame her, and even asked the housekeeper beside her to send her there.
Xia Shiming taught Lao Qi and Lao Jiu how to practice calligraphy in the study room. The two boys studied very seriously, which made Xia Shiming very pleased.
As for the eldest son Mr. Xu gave him, he had been raised by Mrs. Xia a long time ago. He spent his whole day either raising birds and walking dogs or having fun. Especially after Xia Shiming helped Mr. Xia's second wife, Mr. Guo, he became even more unscrupulous. Pushing the envelope.
When Mrs. Xu was divorced, her dowry was almost used up, but she still left a few things for her son. However, he pawned them all in silver and gave them all to Xinghualou.
(End of chapter)