activa-t Chapter 376 Pampered
Chapter 376 Pampered
In order for the Prince of Qi to win the throne, he needs the help of Marquis Changping, but Marquis Changping was able to gain a foothold in the court thanks to Concubine Ye. Concubine Ye has no sincerity towards the princess, so how could she be so devoted to Marquis Changping?
The princess did not do anything to hurt Concubine Ye, and Xie Guimo was seriously injured while saving Prince Qi. The prince of Changping Marquis cheated on Prince Qi, and the difference in status was obvious.
As a result, Concubine Ye was more on the side of Marquis Changping. Shen Tang was very puzzled. If Concubine Ye treated the princess like this with her sincerity towards Marquis Changping, Xie Guimo and the prince would not have failed to help Prince Qi.
With the prince's help, the position of crown prince would have been in the pocket of Prince Qi long ago. How could it be Prince Yu's turn to compete for it?
What Shen Tang thought about was that the way Concubine Ye treated the princess was too different from the way she treated Concubine Ye in the Marquis of Changping's Mansion, as if they were not the same person.
The princess was really disappointed with Concubine Ye. When she heard Concubine Ye kneeling and begging the emperor, she didn't even bat an eyelid. Mother Yun waved her hand, and the maid who reported the matter withdrew.
But as the maidservant here withdrew, another maidservant came in and said, "Princess, Princess Jinde is here."
Why is Princess Jinde here?
The princess stood up to greet her, and Shen Tang went with her.
When they walked to the garden, they saw Princess Jinde coming from afar. She was dressed in a palace dress and looked elegant and graceful. Now that her daughter was back and her grandson was about to be born, Princess Jinde had never been in such a good mood in all these years.
The princess and Shen Tang bowed to Princess Jinde. Princess Jinde helped the princess up and looked at Shen Tang and said, "You don't have to be so reserved with me in the future."
Shen Ran didn't come along, so Shen Tang asked, "Is Third Sister's morning sickness better?"
Princess Jinde said, "I haven't vomited much, but I can't ride in a carriage. I feel dizzy when I do. Otherwise, you have to come with me to the Jingyang Palace."
Looking at Shen Tang's slightly bulging belly, Princess Jinde said, "It's good that you don't have to suffer from morning sickness. The baby in your belly will grow faster."
Princess Jin De suffered a lot from morning sickness in her past. It was just a bitter experience. Her child died at birth and his body could not be found. She suffered for fifteen years. She never expected that the suffering would be followed by happiness. It was like a dream.
The princess invited Princess Jinde to the Peony Banquet for tea and asked with a smile, "Why did the princess suddenly come to the Jingyang Palace? Is there something?"
Princess Jinde smiled and said, "Yesterday I went to the palace to pay my respects to the Queen Mother. The Queen was also there, so we chatted for a while. You haven't been to the palace for quite a while. The Crown Prince saved Prince Yu's life twice, but she wanted to thank you in person but never got the chance."
Not only Empress Xu, but also Princess Jinde and the Empress Dowager knew that Concubine Ye had sent people to invite the princess to the palace many times.
Now, even though Concubine Ye invited her, the princess refused to enter the palace. Even when she entered the palace to attend the banquet, she had something urgent to do and had to leave the palace, so she did not talk to Concubine Ye alone. This had never happened before. Since the princess did not give Concubine Ye face, it was difficult for Empress Xu to invite the princess to the palace even if she wanted to.
But Xie Guimo repeatedly saved Prince Yu, and Empress Xu felt indescribable gratitude towards the princess. Thinking that Princess Jinde's mansion was close to Prince Jingyang's mansion and might even pass by the gate of Prince Jingyang's mansion, she asked Princess Jinde to come and tell the princess.
The princess laughed, "Prince Yu is the monarch, and Mo'er is the minister. This is how it should be."
Although this is what he said, he pretended not to know, and no one could say anything wrong about the Prince of Jingyang.
Princess Jinde was really curious about why the relationship between the princess and Concubine Ye suddenly took a turn for the worse. It seemed that it started when the Jiang family got into trouble. But didn’t the princess go to the palace to ask Concubine Ye for help in order to save the life of the girl from the Jiang family?
However, Princess Jinde did not ask, so she still had some sense of propriety.
As they chatted, they came to the topic of the death of the Marquis of Xiping. There was something that Shen Tang had been holding back for a long time, and he couldn't help but ask aloud, "The Emperor doted on Concubine Ye so much. Concubine Ye knelt and begged the Emperor. Will the Emperor show leniency to the Marquis of Changping?"
Princess Jinde said, "Nine out of ten times, it will happen."
Shen Tang blurted out, "Why does the emperor favor Concubine Ye so much?"
She had wanted to ask this question for a long time. She always felt that the emperor's favor for Concubine Ye was not normal. It is said that love for the house extends to the dog. The emperor doted on Concubine Ye so much that the status of the empress and the empress became a joke. Normally, the emperor should have doted on Prince Qi, but he secretly asked Xie Guimo to investigate the Changping Marquis' Mansion.
Just like Concubine Ye, the emperor's approach is also very inconsistent.
Marquis Changping is the support of the King of Qi in his fight for the throne. Once the Marquis Changping's Mansion falls, the King of Qi will not necessarily lose the chance to become the crown prince, but his hope will be much smaller.
The emperor gave Shen Tang the feeling that he only favored Concubine Ye, but was not very interested in making Prince Qi the crown prince.
It is impossible to say that the emperor favored Concubine Ye in order to protect the queen. Half of the harm suffered by the queen was caused by Concubine Ye, and half was caused by the emperor protecting Concubine Ye.
Putting aside other things, the birthday celebration of the queen of a country was hastily held because Concubine Ye helped to speak to the emperor. This alone made the queen dislike the emperor.
Concubine Ye is a vicious and cruel woman who doesn't deserve the emperor's favor. But the emperor just dotes on her, as if he is blind.
Of course, Shen Tang only dared to mutter this in his heart but didn't dare to say it out loud.
Shen Tang asked the princess, but the princess shook her head and said, "Noble Concubine Ye has been favored since she entered the palace, and has been the same for twenty years."
Princess Jinde looked at the princess, "Princess Jingyang, do you wonder why Concubine Ye is so favored?"
It sounded like she knew...
The princess shook her head.
Shen Tang looked at Princess Jinde, "Does the Princess know?"
Princess Jinde nodded. "I've heard the Empress Dowager tell me about this. When the Emperor was eleven years old, he accompanied the late Emperor on a southern tour. He was assassinated in Junzhou and rolled down a hillside. It was Concubine Ye who saved his life. Because of this life-saving grace, the Emperor doted on Concubine Ye, and the Empress Dowager turned a blind eye."
When Concubine Ye entered the palace, she was the most favored concubine in the harem. The empress dowager couldn't stand it. She felt that Empress Xu was better than Concubine Ye in every way. Why didn't the emperor like Empress Xu and only favored Concubine Ye?
Later, Concubine Ye made a mistake and fell into the hands of the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager wanted to punish Concubine Ye severely, but the Emperor pleaded for her. The Empress Dowager scolded the Emperor harshly. The emperor's biggest taboo was to favor only one person, so the Emperor had no choice but to tell the Empress Dowager about this old story.
Not many people knew about this, and Concubine Ye never told anyone else about her life-saving grace to the Emperor, so very few people in the palace knew about it. However, Princess Jinde grew up under the empress dowager's care and was deeply loved and trusted by the empress dowager. Princess Jinde sometimes couldn't stand Concubine Ye's arrogance and domineering behavior. The empress dowager was afraid that she would conflict with Concubine Ye. Even she, the empress dowager, had to avoid Concubine Ye's edge, let alone Princess Jinde.
In order to prevent Princess Jinde from displeasing the emperor, he told her about this.
But Princess Jinde didn't expect that even the princess didn't know that Concubine Ye had saved the emperor, and she didn't tell the princess. Such a thing must be told, in case Concubine Ye angered the emperor one day, the princess could use the grace of saving her life to ask the emperor to forgive Concubine Ye.
He said that he was repaying the favor of saving his life, and others said that the effect was much better.
The princess said, "I know about this. When Concubine Ye was still in Junzhou, she wrote to me about this, but I didn't know that the person she saved was the emperor. She hasn't mentioned this for so many years. I'm afraid Concubine Ye herself doesn't know about it."
Shen Tang, "..."
Fortunately, they didn't know that Concubine Ye's father died while saving the Duke of Zhenguo. The Duke of Zhenguo and his son all died on the battlefield, but Concubine Ye always wanted to repay the favor. If Concubine Ye knew that she had saved the emperor, wouldn't she be so proud of herself?
But the emperor could recognize Concubine Ye, so why didn’t Concubine Ye recognize the emperor?
Could it be that the Emperor had seen the Princess's previous experience and therefore hadn't told Concubine Ye about this matter, secretly keeping it in mind and doting on her, but also fearing that she might become too spoiled? This possibility could not be ruled out.
The emperor doted on Concubine Ye for twenty years. If Concubine Ye knelt down and begged the emperor for leniency, he might really agree.
But the Xiping Marquis’ Mansion is in such a miserable state that the Emperor must at least take into account the public opinion.