After the imperial concubines and consorts all left.
Queen Zhou asked the eunuchs and imperial maids to leave and said to Jinniang, “The rumor about what happened in the Duke Rong Mansion yesterday is true. After all, it concerns the royal family’s offspring, so Duchess Rong could only expose it.
“Yesterday, Chen’er must have been drunk, or maybe he had been tricked by that imperial maid.
“Hand over that imperial maid to me. Regardless of whether she is pregnant or not, I will solve it cleanly and she will not affect the relationship between the two of you.”
Queen Zhou continued, “It’s just that Chen’er has been the Crown Prince since he was a child and is respected by everyone.
“You didn’t allow him to enter your palace and didn’t give him face. Then how could he establish authority and command his subordinates in the future?”
“Chen’er was wrong in this matter, and you weren’t completely innocent. Listen to my advice, just pretend that nothing has happened and I’ll solve that imperial maid for you.”
Qiao Jinniang didn’t dare to lie to Queen Zhou, so she confessed in a small voice, “Mother, in fact, it was me who sneaked out of the East Palace and went to Duke Rong Mansion last night…”
Queen Zhou: “…you two, alas!”
Queen Zhou didn’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved. She had thought Chen’er had cheated on Qiao Jinniang and was thinking about how to make up for it, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding.
No wonder Qiao Jinniang was so calm and not annoyed at all.
Seeing that the chicken soup wonton had bottomed out, Qiao Jinniang emboldened herself to say, “Mother, what you said just now makes sense, and I admit that I was wrong.
“But I didn’t give face to His Royal Highness yesterday because I was really angry.
“What did Auntie mean by bringing Sisi who was dripping wet to the Qiao family?
“Mother, you said that Zhou Sisi disdained marrying into the East Palace, but why did she give my husband a doll under the public eye all wet?
“To show everyone how much she loved him?
“If the Zhou family really wants to marry Zhou Sisi into the East Palace and you think it’s good too, I can surrender the position to her!
“But the Zhou family keeps saying that Zhou Sisi doesn’t want to marry into the East Palace, yet indulges or even helps her seduce my husband all the time…”
Queen Zhou frowned and said, “Sisi is just a six or seven-year-old kid. What can she know? Her love for Chen’er is nothing more than a young sister’s affection for her elder brother. How can you call it ‘seduce’?”
Qiao Jinniang said, “Mother, I don’t think Zhou Sisi doesn’t understand anything. No matter how childish she seems, she is actually a mature woman. Even if Zhou Sisi doesn’t understand the love between men and women, does the Zhou family not?”
Qiao Jinniang asked, “Mother, don’t say that the Zhou family doesn’t want it. If they really don’t, how could someone deliberately spread the news that Zhou Sisi once saved Lu Chen’s life among the people!”
Queen Zhou’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes suddenly turned sharp. “Come, pass on my order, call Duke Wu and his wife over!”
Qiao Jinniang sat beside Queen Zhou and it wasn’t until half an hour later did Duke Wu and his wife arrive, followed by Zhou Sisi with a sullen expression.
“Auntie!” Zhou Sisi shouted when she saw Queen Zhou, “Where is Imperial Cousin? Ah-choo.”
Queen Zhou glared at her brother and sister-in-law. “Sister-in-law, you’re really similar to Tong Yingying’s aunt. The methods you two used are similarly disgusting. How can you try to manipulate public opinion?
“Why did you spread the news? What do you want?
“Let everyone in the world know that the Empress Dowager tried to kill the Crown Prince? That a grandmother wants to kill her grandson? Our country advocates filial piety. Now what should His Majesty do?
“It would have been fine if you had solid evidence. But it’s just our speculation, and we can’t have the Empress Dowager punished at all. By spreading the news, you would only make the royal family a joke!”
“Sister-in-law, even if you are tired of living, don’t implicate the entire Zhou family!”
Mrs. Zhou said aggrievedly, “But Your Majesty, did you forget that we sacrificed our family’s military power to help you to become the Queen?
“You are now the respected Queen, and His Majesty dotes on you very much, but our Duke Wu Mansion can’t even match the Duke Anyuan Mansion!
“I just think Sisi is too pitiful. For His Royal Highness, Sisi even dared to jump into the water that she was always afraid of, even her hands became scarred.
“Your Majesty, as a mother, I just want my daughter to be happy! I beg you, for the sake of the sacrifice of the Duke Wu Mansion for you and a mother’s love for her daughter, grant her what she wants.”
Qiao Jinniang stood by Queen Zhou’s side and watched Mrs. Zhou speak sincerely and tearfully.
But even though she claimed that it was all for Zhou Sisi, the truth was that she was not reconciled that the Duke Anyuan Mansion was more powerful than the Due Wu Mansion.
Queen Zhou snorted coldly. “Yes, the Duke Wu Mansion did hand over the military power for me at that time, but if they didn’t hand over the military power back then, do you think that the Duke Wu Mansion still exists today?
“His Majesty seems to be merciful but can he really tolerate any ministers who are too powerful? Earl Cheng’en has no real power left now, and the Lu family in Longnan has been wiped out.
“The right prime minister and his party have been uprooted. As for the Duke Anyuan Mansion, yes, Duke Anyuan is indeed powerful, but it is his concubine-born second brother who guards the frontier and controls the military power. Why does it have to be his concubine-born brother? You should know that Duke Anyuan has a brother of the same mother.
“Duke Anyuan is loyal, but if he is not, his concubine-born brother probably won’t listen to him.
“And now, the Xie family, the only remaining old distinguished family in the South, is having an internal strife. Do you think whether His Majesty plays a part in it or not?
“Indeed, the Duke Wu Mansion had military power back then, but how long do you think the glory of the Duke Wu Mansion could last if we didn’t hand over the military power?
“How long could His Majesty tolerate the Duke Wu Mansion that was already overly powerful?
“Don’t keep emphasizing how much you sacrificed for me!
“Back then, Auntie snatched the late emperor’s favor and was so disrespectful to the Empress Dowager in the imperial palace. If it weren’t for me, could the Duke Wu Mansion survive the Empress Dowager’s retaliation? After all, the Empress Dowager is His Majesty’s mother!”
“Brother, Sister-in-law, go back home and think about it, did you help me, or did I help you?
“Don’t think that His Majesty is really tolerant and merciful just because he looks so!”
Queen Zhou’s remarks made Duke Wu look ashen and burst into a cold sweat.
Qiao Jinniang thought about it carefully and found what the Queen said was true. There were indeed no truly powerful ministers now. Even the big distinguished family like the Xie family had to bow their heads to the Emperor because of their internal strife.
Queen Zhou said, “If you want to push me to do something I don’t like with the so-called “favor” I owe you, don’t blame me for being ruthless!
“I’ve made it very clear to you that the Crown Prince will not take concubines, but Sister-in-law just doesn’t give up.
“Sisi is different from ordinary girls, and you will worry about her if she is married far away, so pick a man to marry into your family!
“My mother is not in good health, and I don’t want her to be too tired. Brother, Sister-in-law, select a husband for Sisi. In three days, I want to hear the news of Sisi’s engagement!”
Zhou Sisi’s eyes rolled slightly.
Mrs. Zhou hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed. “Your Majesty! She is your niece! I was wrong, I know I was wrong!
“I don’t dare do it again and I won’t spread anything more.
“But she saved the Crown Prince’s life after all. Please don’t let her marry someone else.”
Queen Zhou said, “Saved Chen’er? What a joke. At that time, Chen’er was surrounded by secret guards, and the Empress Dowager couldn’t hurt him at all!
“Moreover, His Majesty didn’t punish her for wearing the Crown Prince’s python robe, which was a kindness to the Duke Wu Mansion. Could the Crown Prince’s python robe be worn by her?”
Qiao Jinniang, who often wore Lu Chen’s clothes, couldn’t help but shiver…
Zhou Sisi walked up to Queen Zhou and said, “Auntie, don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Sisi doesn’t want to get married. Sisi only wants to play with Imperial Cousin and Auntie!”
