Chapter 178 Wu Wen Beat the Heavenly Drum to Sue the Crown Princess
The director of the Dianshe Bureau said, “Of course not. If the Crown Prince really likes her, why did he ask us to re-arrange his bedroom and return to his bedroom to sleep last night?”
Gu Ming suddenly kicked him on the chest.
“If you want to court death, don’t implicate me! No wonder this morning even those consorts knew that the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess didn’t sleep together last night. It turns out to be you bastard who leaked the news!”
The Dianshe Bureau was in charge of bathing, cleaning and bed-making, so outsiders were more likely to pry into information from the Dianshe Bureau.
The stupid director of the Dianshe Bureau looked down upon the Crown Princess from the beginning
Gu Ming said, “Come, cane him a hundred times and send him to the imperial jail for disposal!
“Interrogate and torture the people of the Dianshe Bureau. If any of them is found out to leak information about the East Palace, severely punish them!
“For those who refuse to confess, the penalty is doubled!”
The director of the Dianshe Bureau hurriedly said, “Eunuch Gu, is it necessary for you to do this for a crown princess who is unfavored by the Crown Prince?”
Eunuch Gu gave a cold snort. If the crown prince didn’t like her, why would he rack his brains to think how to drug the wolf dogs of the Duke Mansion so that he could secretly date the Crown Princess?
In the palace, Little Lu Xi tilted his head to look at Qiao Jinniang and said, “Mommy, are you angry?”
Qiao Jinniang smiled softly at Little Lu Xi and said, “No, Mommy is not angry, but the servants and maids are not well behaved. If Mommy didn’t pretend to be angry, they wouldn’t do their jobs properly.”
Little Lu Xi said to Qiao Jinniang, “Whoever bullies my mother, I will tell my father and he will beat them. And when I grow up, I will beat them for you too!”
Qiao Jinniang rubbed little Lu Xi’s face. “Good
boy.”
In Imperial Censor Tong’s mansion, Tong Yingying was full of jealousy when she saw the invitation to the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet in Tong Xuan’s hands.
The Crown Prince didn’t invite the ministers, but invited the officials in the East Palace and some nobles to his birthday banquet.
Tong Xuan got an invitation because of the Zhou family.
Noticing the look in Tong Yingying’s eyes, Mrs. Tong said to Tong Xuan, “Give your invitation to your sister!”
Tong Xuan said, “But Aunt gave this to me.”
Mrs. Tong said, “Since the Crown Prince is already married, it’s time for him to select concubines. Your sister is more suitable for marrying into the East Palace than you no matter in terms of talent or appearance.”
Tong Xuan snorted and threw the invitation to Tong Yingying. “Was I really born by you?”
Tong Yingying took the invitation and said to Mrs. Tong, “I will definitely not let you down, Mother.”
Mrs. Tong smiled and said, “Before the wedding, everyone said that the Crown Princess is loved the Crown Prince very much.
“But on their wedding night, the Crown Prince didn’t even sleep with the Crown Princess. It can be seen that the Crown Prince just pretended to love Qiao Jinniang for the sake of Duke Anyuan’s power.”
Tong Yingying also smiled. “His Royal Highness knows what he truly wants.
“According to the news from the East Palace, the director of the Dianshe Bureau of the East Palace was caned a hundred times today, and the entire East Palace is searching for moles.
“Qiao Jinniang, that pathetic village woman, knows nothing about the rules in the imperial palace. She thought she could control the people in the East Palace by doing this. “But she offended the eunuchs the day after her wedding. They will definitely make things hard for her in the future.
“If I marry into the East Palace, I will definitely be able to hold the heart of everyone in the East Palace.”
Mrs. Tong nodded in appreciation to Tong Yingying. What a pity that Tong Yingying was born by a concubine.
In the Taiji Palace, Emperor Huilin and Lu Chen discussed tomorrow’s birthday ceremony.
Since almost every country had sent envoys to come to celebrate Lu Chen’s wedding, the Tang Dynasty should host a banquet to entertain the envoys.
Although there was a wedding banquet yesterday, the wedding banquet was too solemn and had countless rules.
Therefore, Emperor Huilin planned to entertain the envoys of foreign countries on the Crown Prince’s birthday.
The Tang Dynasty had several vassal states, including Nanzhao, Nanyue, Liuli and other small states.
There were also small countries that had repeatedly had disputes with the Tang Dynasty, including Beimo bordering the northwest of Datang and Xiliang to the southwest.
The national strength of these two countries was far worse than that of Datang, but their people were very bellicose and good at fighting, so they had been having frequent conflicts with Datang since the founding of Datang. There were countless casualties in the war between the army of Datang, Beimo and Xiliang, and in that war, the commander of Datang’s army was Duke Anyuan.
Later, the current Duke Anyuan beheaded the monarch of Xiliang on the battlefield. Because of that battle, Beimo and Xiliang had never dared to invade Datang again for nearly 20 years.
Emperor Huilin said, “The envoys from Xiliang are their Third Prince and Third Princess. Xiliang and the Qiao family have a great feud, so there is no guarantee that they will not cause trouble tomorrow.”
Lu Chen said, “I don’t think they can cause us any trouble in Chang’an.”
Emperor Huilin glanced at the sky and said, “It’s almost noon. This is the first day the Crown Princess spent in the imperial palace. Shouldn’t she personally make some dishes for her parents-in-law to show her respect to
us?”
Lu Chen: “…”
Emperor Huilin coughed. “You know, after the folk women marry, most of them have to cook.”
Lu Chen said, “The oily smoke in the kitchen is not good for her skin. Jinniang didn’t marry me to be a cook. Father, if you don’t mind, let me cook for you, okay?”
Emperor Huilin hurriedly said, “Well, I’d rather eat the dishes made by the imperial chefs.”
In the afternoon, after Qiao Jinniang coaxed little Lu Xi to sleep, she gently put him on the bed.
Lu Chen entered, walked up to her and said, “I’m sorry. I fail to restrain the servants well. You were wronged on your first day in the East Palace.”
Qiao Jinniang said, “I don’t feel wronged. I am just disgusted that those people outside the East Palace are watching my every move!
“Should I hold you a birthday banquet in the East Palace tomorrow?”
Lu Chen said, “There will be a big birthday banquet in the imperial palace tomorrow, and all the envoys will be invited to attend it.
“The envoys from Xiliang that have a deep grudge with your father will come too, and they may make trouble for you tomorrow.”
Qiao Jinniang didn’t take it to heart and said, “It’s just a small barbarian country.”
If Xiliang and Beimo had the ability, they wouldn’t have stayed in that barren land and suffered from famine every year.
Lu Chen smiled. “Like father, like daughter.”
Qiao Jinniang leaned on the couch and glanced at Lu Chen. “I heard that the ministers’ daughters will come to celebrate your birthday tomorrow too?”
“No, only the women of the royal family will come.” Lu Chen scratched Qiao Jinniang’s nose. “Don’t be jealous.”
“Xi’er is already asleep. Shall we go to the bedroom next door?”
Qiao Jinniang said to Lu Chen, “I don’t want to be laughed at by the servants. And I’m on my period.” Her period always came at the end of the month.
Lu Chen: “…”
Why didn’t he take this into consideration when he set the wedding date?
Yuyan walked in, and when she saw Lu Chen, she quickly saluted.
“Your Royal Highness, Your Highness, Wu Wen, the second runner-up of the Imperial Examination this year is kneeling outside the imperial palace, claiming that Young Master was able to win the second place because His Royal Highness leaked the exam questions to
him.
“Wu Wen has beaten the Heavenly Drum and said he wanted to sue you…”
The Imperial Examination was the foundation of the country, and cheating in the Imperial Examination would shake the foundation of the country.
Qiao Jinniang had known about this matter before she got married. At that time, she thought it was some clown who was not reconciled.
But she didn’t expect that there would be an examinee who was bold enough to slander the Crown Prince without evidence.
She was impeached on the first day when she became the crown princess?
To beat the Heavenly Drum, one had to roll three times on a nailed plate, which would definitely lead to heavy injuries, so there were only a few people who had beaten the Heavenly Drum for these past hundreds of years.
This was the first time that a scholar had beaten the Heavenly Drum to sue the crown princess.
For a time, the main street of Chang’an was even more lively than yesterday!
