Chapter 487 The Contest between Two Palaces (Part 1)
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Yuwen Chu smiled knowingly, “You spent half the day talking with Ban Jian last time in the room, was it about this?”
Mingzhu chuckled, “It wasn’t ready yet at that time, so I didn’t dare to mention it casually.”
Clearly, she still didn’t trust him completely, keeping a contingency plan. Yuwen Chu didn’t expose Mingzhu’s cautiousness. In any case, every step he took forward elicited a response from her, which was a good thing. Marriage is long-term, and he had plenty of patience. “Since we’re on this topic, let me tell you about my plans. I’ve already tasked someone with developing firearms and gunpowder. As long as we’re willing to spend money, there’s nothing we can’t achieve. Otherwise, when they’re developed, we can also seize them. In the future, if similar situations arise, I hope you can trust me.”
Mingzhu nodded, “You shouldn’t keep things from me either.”
“Go to sleep. We have to enter the palace early tomorrow, and there’s not even two hours left for sleep.” Yuwen Chu called for someone to tidy up. Mingzhu was exhausted but still remembered Ping Nushi’s matter. It wasn’t until Su Lan told her that Ping Nushi had been properly arranged that she could finally relax and fall asleep.
Early the next morning, before dawn, the couple had already arrived outside the palace gates by carriage. At this time, the palace gates were still closed, and the path was lined with carriages waiting to enter the palace for the grand morning assembly. Women entered through one gate, men through another, all arranged according to their ranks and closeness to the emperor.
As soon as Mingzhu’s carriage stopped, the steward of the Fu Mansion, Fu Xin, came over, smiling as he bowed to Mingzhu, “The servant greets the Wangfei. Happy New Year, the old Madam and the eldest Madam are behind. Second Young Master has returned, and Wangye and the Wangfei are invited to come home tomorrow for drinks and dinner.”
“We will definitely go. Happy New Year,” Mingzhu rewarded Fu Xin with a red envelope. Although she already knew that Fu Mingzhao was coming back, she couldn’t help but be delighted. In theory, she hadn’t seen her second brother for two years, but if you added up her past life’s circumstances, it had been five or six years. She really missed him.
Fu Xin ran off happily with the thick red envelope to deliver the message. A dull sound came from the front palace gate, indicating that it had opened.
From the moment Zhou Nushi and Ping Nushi got off the carriage, they had been obediently following behind Mingzhu, occasionally exchanging glances that revealed deep resentment and hatred.
Mingzhu observed them closely and felt very satisfied. She called Ping Nushi forward and whispered lowly behind Zhou Nushi’s back, “Remember what I told you. Behave yourself and don’t make people laugh at the Ying Wang Mansion!”
Ping Nushi nodded understandingly, “The servant remembers, I dare not misbehave. If the Wangfei wants me to go east, I’ll go east. If the Wangfei wants me to go west, I’ll go west.” Seeing Zhou Nushi looking around vigilantly in their direction, she smugly threw her a meaningful glance, indicating, “You be careful, it’s my turn to shine. Watch how much favor I’ll receive.”
Zhou Nushi was full of frustration, looking at Ping Nushi’s face with hatred, deeply resenting the unfairness of fate. Why was it that after being imprisoned for so long, she came out looking haggard, while Ping Nushi, who had been crazy, was still as beautiful as before after a little tidying up?
When she lost weight, she looked haggard, but when Ping Nushi lost weight, she became even more charming, more captivating. Did anyone who didn’t know her true nature would think she was a helpless beauty?
Zhou Nushi felt very depressed. The Wangfei wasn’t an easy person to handle. By releasing her and Ping Nushi together and bringing them into the palace, there must be a deep meaning behind it. Most likely, the Wangfei was pregnant herself, getting heavier and heavier, and didn’t want to monopolize Ying Wang alone, fearing criticism from the palace for being jealous and domineering, so she wanted to use them as scapegoats.
Using them as scapegoats was fine. With so many people in the palace wanting to see the Wangfei as a joke and disgust her, they would inevitably force the Wangfei to arrange for them to serve Ying Wang. Ping Nushi was even more beautiful than the Wangfei and was the best choice to disgust her. Relatively speaking, she had the greatest chance. It was really worrying.
Zhou Nushi was filled with bitterness and sorrow but couldn’t let Ping Nushi snatch the opportunity to please Mingzhu. She quickly approached and humbly and respectfully spoke, wishing she could kneel down and lick Mingzhu’s toes.
Did Zhou Nushi also please Jiang Shanshan like this in the past? If she didn’t know the previous situation, she would surely be deceived by Zhou Nushi’s honest and gentle appearance. Mingzhu smiled and said softly, “There’s no need for that. Once we’re out the door, we’re all one family. All the face belongs to His Highness. Just remember not to let people laugh, that’s enough. As for serving me, there are maids for that. I don’t want people saying that I’m harsh on you.”
Ping Nushi shamelessly flattered, “The Wangfei is still the best, straightforward and sincere, not deceitful. But I just like serving the Wangfei. Being close to Wangfei brings me good luck.”
Zhou Nushi was really anxious. Wanting to please Mingzhu with a few words, she felt that it didn’t match her image all these years. She could only silently bow to Mingzhu and say, “Yes.”
After both palace consorts finished paying respects to the two Great Empress Dowagers, they held an imperial banquet and then went to Changxin Palace together to chat and relax. This was also a tradition of the dynasty. It was rare for relatives and nobles to gather together, so they would take the opportunity on New Year’s Day to sit together, drink tea, and cultivate relationships.
Unless they were truly bedridden or forbidden to go out as punishment, anyone qualified to enter the palace would dress up according to their rank and sit together in groups.
Even if the Great Empress Dowager wasn’t happy, she still had to sit together with Empress Dowager Min, pretending to be harmonious and inquiring about the well-being of the Fu Mansion and those in the royal family who didn’t stand with her.
Mingzhu no longer held much hope for the Great Empress Dowager. After performing the customary greetings, she stepped aside. The Empress Dowager glanced at her and asked in passing, “Is Old Six’s health improving?”
“Thanks to the Great Empress Dowager’s blessings, he’s much better,” Mingzhu replied with her usual sweet smile. However, this smile seemed a bit glaring to the Great Empress Dowager, as if all the struggles and difficulties she had faced these days were in vain.
But Empress Dowager Min was very enthusiastic: “I heard that Old Six was attacked some time ago? His condition worsened again out of fright? Why didn’t you take leave? His Majesty is not an inconsiderate person. He came back from the Great Temple all the way to celebrate the New Year, how could he withstand such turmoil? Why didn’t you persuade him?”
“Persuaded him? He wouldn’t listen. He’s afraid that the elders in the palace and His Majesty will think he’s disrespectful.” Mingzhu rolled her eyes secretly, this was how it was when you had to talk nonsense with your eyes open.
“That incident caused quite a stir.” The rarely seen Longsheng Great Eldest Princess interjected coldly, “Even if they were chasing an assassin, they shouldn’t disturb the people! It’s New Year’s, everyone should be living their lives peacefully, but they’ve made the whole family restless. Do you know what people are saying outside? They’re saying that the county magistrate is incompetent, and the Ying Wang Mansion is in ruins!”
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