Chapter 1076: Chapter 1066: Five Steps (3)
Mrs. Chen was taken aback, forced a smile, and replied while touching her belly, "... thinking that he’s about to be born, the name hasn’t been decided yet." After a pause, she continued, "Let’s see when Father is available, we can ask him to name the child."
Tong Minzhi laughed, "We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl, how should Father name the child?" Mrs. Chen was startled, feeling a bit awkward, she lowered her head, drank her tea, and then said, "Then a nickname would be fine too."
Seeing her appearance, Tong Minzhi slightly furrowed his brows, couldn’t help but stand up, pulling her up as he asked, "What’s the matter?" Over this period of time, he had come to know Mrs. Chen well.
"Nothing." Mrs. Chen laughed, as if to emphasize, "Really, it’s nothing."
Tong Minzhi gave her a doubtful look, then, as if he thought of something, he smiled and said, "The days are close, Sixth Sister is worried the maids in the mansion won’t take good care of you, do you want to bring your aunt over?"
Mrs. Chen was stunned, unbelievingly asked, "Bring my aunt over?" No daughter has ever brought her mother over after marrying, especially not if she’s just an aunt.
"Yes." Tong Minzhi said matter-of-factly, "It’s just right, she can stay with our aunt, maybe they can keep each other company."
For Mrs. Chen, her biggest concern about Dingyuan Bo Mansion was her aunt, her sister-in-law asked her to plead with the First Master, if he wouldn’t comply, then secretly take the master’s seal, which they could put to use...
She knew exactly what they were going to do, which was why she was so afraid.
For her, it was a choice between her own and her child’s future, or her aunt’s life staying at Dingyuan Bo Mansion.
If she didn’t comply, she could almost foresee her aunt’s future days at Dingyuan Bo.
She hesitated, living like on pins and needles for the past two days, unable to eat or sleep, dreaming repeatedly of her aunt’s tragic death, waking up drenched in cold sweat, silently weeping till dawn.
She married into the Tong Mansion seeking only a place of refuge, never expecting them to treat her well, yet to her surprise, everyone here treated her with kindness, and no one mentioned her awkward status.
People have hearts, and she was no exception, so the steadfast ideas she once held began to waver over the short months she had been there.
Now hearing Tong Minzhi’s words, she was even more surprised, but seeing his sincerity, she asked, "Wouldn’t bringing Aunt over be inappropriate?" She lowered her head, "I’m afraid the sister-in-law wouldn’t agree." referring to Madam Chen.
"It doesn’t matter." Tong Minzhi smiled, "I’ll go personally and say that your pregnancy is uncomfortable, and have Aunt come over to take care of you for a couple of days. Once she’s here, the rest will be manageable."
It was a good plan, Mrs. Chen hesitantly asked, "Would Father and Big Brother..." Tong Minzhi interrupted her, "I’ll speak to Father and Big Brother, it’s nothing."
Mrs. Chen still felt uneasy, but she nodded nonetheless, if Aunt could come, then all her worries would be gone.
Le Xiu blew on the red nail polish freshly applied to her nails and chuckled, "You said she went to Jiaotai Palace?"
"Yes." Jinyu knelt on the ground, carefully applying the red nail polish on Le Xiu’s nails, replied, "She went there last night for less than half an hour and then left." Appearing pleased, she added, "After she left, His Highness was summoned and stayed until early at 9 o’clock."
Le Xiu nodded slightly, the Emperor hadn’t visited Le’an Palace for a long time, but that was no longer important, as long as he valued Min, it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t come for ten years.
"What about the Second Prince? What’s he doing?" Le Xiu asked indifferently, and Jinyu responded, "The eunuch said the Second Prince only chants sutras to honor the Empress in the morning and evening, otherwise he stays in the Palace reading and practicing calligraphy."
"Learned to be clever." Le Xiu laughed, "His ghost of a mother exchanged her life for him, he ought to be cleverer indeed." Saying this, she glanced at the tea cup on the table, and the female official nearby immediately brought it over to feed her a sip, Le Xiu pondered for a moment without speaking.
With so much happening at court, wouldn’t it seem desolate if nothing happened in the palace?
She stood up, waved her hand, "I’m weary, everyone go rest." Then she got up and went to the inner hall, Jinyu wiped her hands with a cloth and followed her inside to serve.
For three days in a row, Princess Consort Ying went to Jiaotai Palace to seek an audience with the Emperor, not only personally preparing soups and porridge, but also learned massage techniques from the Imperial Hospital to tend to the Emperor with utmost care.
In Le’an Palace, Jinyu knelt by Le Xiu’s bedside, "Your Highness, it’s time to get up." Le Xiu slowly opened her eyes, sat up with Jinyu’s assistance, and asked, "What hour is it?"
"It’s 5 a.m." With that, she took the outer clothes to drape over her, then brought a tea for rinsing, as Le Xiu leaned against the bed, rubbing her forehead, "Tonight, take the stove out of the room, it’s too dry and uncomfortable."
Jinyu agreed and instructed someone to move the stove to the outer hall. Le Xiu, feeling lazy, asked, "Is there any news from Jiaotai Palace?"
Jinyu’s eyes gleamed, she nodded, "Yes, early this morning I heard, they said last night Princess Consort Ying was slapped by the Emperor, though the door was closed, the sound was so loud everyone outside heard it clearly." As she listened, Le Xiu raised an eyebrow, asking, "Is that all?"
Jinyu then chuckled, "Also, Princess Consort Ying was wearing only a gauze dress, kneeling on the cold hard floor by the Dragon Case all night, fainted once, and continued kneeling after waking, only just now was she supported back."
Le Xiu finally showed a satisfied expression, her tone light as she said, "Get up." She then lifted her feet and got out of bed, and female officials streamed in with hot water and tea cups.
Xiqiu was dumbfounded by what he heard, and asked Madam Ruan, "Princess Consort Ying drugged the Emperor’s tea?" Madam Ruan listened and laughed, nodding, then leaned close to Xiqiu’s ear and whispered, eliciting a surprised expression from Xiqiu.
The Emperor hadn’t favored any noble for more than half a year, could it be that his health was truly failing?
So Princess Consort Ying couldn’t resist wanting to please the Emperor in bed, using extreme methods to provoke him, only to get caught? The Emperor didn’t want to publicize the matter and wouldn’t use this reason to demote Princess Consort Ying, thus shutting the doors of Jiaotai Palace to punish her by having her kneel all night.
Now it was year-end, it was freezing cold at night, even with a stove in the palace, spending the night half-naked on her knees was enough suffering.
However, Xiqiu was not shocked by the Emperor’s health and attitude, but by Princess Consort Ying’s methods, how did she come up with such a plan, and how was she discovered once she used it?
He couldn’t help but look towards Madam Ruan, who was drinking tea with a delighted expression, clearly thinking that Princess Consort Ying had brought it upon herself...
Never mind, no matter who did it, the situation was unfolding as they desired.
When the memorial to impeach Chen Hui was first presented in court, the Emperor merely suppressed it and mentioned little more, but couldn’t withstand the Cabinet’s continuous criticisms about Chen Hui from top to bottom. After summoning Ruan Bosong, he directly inquired the Marquis Taiping, "Zhuang Aiqing, what is your opinion on Count Dingyuan’s affairs?" referring to the excessive killing of civilians without mentioning the other twenty-two accusations.
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