The court case between the Zhou Family and the Hua Family was a spectacle for many people in Jing. There were rumors about the Zhou Family favoring the concubine and neglecting the wife. In this time, no one dared to become in-laws with the Zhou Family.
Some people jealously said behind their backs that Hua Xi Wan, a married woman, was in charge of the family matters, but they were quickly refuted.
"If she does not care when her own sister is in trouble, then she is a woman with a poisonous heart. Jin Wang Fei's conduct is not lacking in the style of a noble family."
Everyone spoke of Hua Xi Wan's good points. Half of them agreed with her actions, but the other half was probably because of Hua Xi Wan's status. They wanted to curry favor with her so they wanted to say good things about her. Human nature was like this, to seek benefits and avoid harm. Everyone knew that because of the scandal of favoring the concubine and neglecting the wife, Assistant Minister Zhou had been stripped of his right to invigilate the spring examinations. He had also been impeached by some officials and lost his position as assistant minister. He had been sent to a poor place to be a local official.
Originally, Assistant Minister Zhou had had a chance to fight for the position of minister. Now, everything was gone. It could be seen how important it was to raise good children. Many families in Jing had sent away many of their concubines because of this matter. They were afraid that the reputation of favoring the concubine and neglecting the wife would come down on them.
Just as this matter calmed down, the case of Lin Ping Junma being assassinated at Dali Monastery caused another disturbance. After a thorough investigation by Dali Monastery, they found that this matter was vaguely connected to the Crown Prince and Princess Linping.
Lin Ping Junma was one of the Crown Prince's people. Why did the Crown Prince want to kill him? Princess Linping was his di wife. Why did she want to kill him? There had to be another reason.
The further this case went, the more suspicious it became. More than half of the people in Jing were dragged in. On the other hand, the reason behind the murder of the two prostitutes was found. It was because Zhou Yun Heng had been intimate with these prostitutes, causing one of his concubines to be jealous and send someone to assassinate the two of them. Out of fear, the concubine deliberately left behind something related to Prince Sheng's residence to confuse people.
As for why they threw away things related to Prince Sheng's fu, it was because Prince Sheng held a post in the Dali Monastery. The concubine believed that Prince Sheng might have been afraid of this matter and suppressed the case. He was completely unaware that this matter had been discovered by Xian Wang and his wife, who had come out of the palace that night. Now that the whole city knew about it, it was impossible to hide it even if they wanted to.
Since the matter had been investigated and the concubine was arrested, Zhou Yun Heng was also implicated and sentenced to three years in prison.
"The case is closed just like that?" Hua Xi Wan lazily leaned against the soft couch with two soft pillows behind her back. "The Zhou Family is such a small concubine. She dares to kill people in Jing. She is really daring."
"Who knows what kind of people the Zhou Family is." Red Tassel squatted in front of the soft couch and gently tapped Hua Xi Wan's knees. "Fortunately, Miss Tang left that quagmire. Otherwise, she would have been implicated by the Zhou Family."
"Misfortune and fortune go hand in hand. Who knows if it is good or bad." Hua Xi Wan had a young servant girl bring an embroidered stool for Red Tassel to sit on. Then she said, "I'm going to sleep for a while. If Wang Ye comes back, call me."
Red Tassel acknowledged in a small voice. A short while later, she saw Hua Xi Wan fall into a light sleep. She carefully covered her with a thin blanket and quietly retreated to the outer room. She saw a young servant girl wiping the utensils in the room and said, "Be careful. Don't disturb Wang Fei."
"Yes." The young servant girl bent her knees and curtsied. Her movements were even more careful. Red Tassel saw that there was nothing else to do and started to make an embroidered handkerchief. The bright threads, the fabric that felt good. This kind of high-quality fabric was just for Wang Fei to use to wipe her hands.
About an hour later, Red Tassel heard footsteps coming from outside. There seemed to be the sound of servants greeting. She hurriedly put down the embroidery in her hands. When she walked to the door, she saw Wang Ye walking towards her. She hurriedly lowered her head and walked outside. She retreated to the side of the door and stood with her knees bent.
"Is Wang Fei asleep?" Yan Jinqiu looked at Red Tassel. Just as he asked, Hua Xi Wan's voice came from the room.
"Originally, she was asleep, but you woke her up."
Smiling upon hearing this, Yan Jinqiu strode into the room. Seeing Hua Xi Wan lazily leaning against the couch and not wanting to get up, he walked over and sat down. "Since you are awake, sit with me."
"It is so tiring to sit." Hua Xi Wan weakly leaned her upper body against Yan Jinqiu. "Why did you come back so late today? You didn't even have time to eat lunch at the fu?"
"It is because of the assassination attempt on Lin Ping Junma." Yan Jinqiu put a hand on her waist and said in a cool tone, "The Dali Monastery found that the matter was related to the Crown Prince. The Emperor was furious and attacked the people of the Dali Monastery."
Hua Xi Wan covered her mouth with her hand and yawned. "Isn't the Crown Prince locked up in the Heavenly Prison?"
"Two days ago, the Emperor said that he wanted to release the Crown Prince and then put him under house arrest in the Crown Prince Fu. Who knew that the Dali Monastery would say in front of all the officials that the Crown Prince may be related to the assassination attempt on Lin Ping Junma and cannot be released. The Emperor would lose face."
"The people of the Dali Monastery … they are very daring." Hua Xi Wan felt that this matter was too coincidental, but she was cautious and did not say it. "The Emperor did not punish the Dali Monastery?" Even though it had happened this morning, some of the worlds had heard of it. Hua Xi Wan had heard the report before lunch.
"Even if the Emperor wants to, he cannot do this unless he wants to leave behind the reputation of being a tyrant and incapable ruler in the history books." Yan Jinqiu's smile held slight scorn. "If the Emperor had a son, he probably would not hesitate to give up on the Crown Prince."
Hua Xi Wan did not comment. With the Qilong Emperor's personality, he probably did not have much good feelings left about the Crown Prince. It was a pity that he only had such a disappointing thing. It was really a pity and laughable.
If it was for the sake of the people of the world, it would be better to have such a useless, tyrannical, and perverted Crown Prince and adopt an outstanding child from the Imperial House. At least, it would ensure that the people could live and work in peace for the next few decades.
It was a pity that there were not many emperors in the world that could be so magnanimous.
"Wang Ye, this one has something to report." Mutong's voice was slightly careful as though what he reported would not make Yan Jinqiu happy.
"Come in." Yan Jinqiu's eyes were cold, but his hand on Hua Xi Wan's waist was still gentle.
"This one greets Wang Ye, greets Wang Fei. The people of the Crown Prince Fu have come to report that the Crown Princess is two months pregnant."
"The Crown Princess is pregnant?" Yan Jinqiu's tone was slightly strange as he looked at Mutong. He stared at Mutong for a long while before a hint of a smile appeared on his face. "This is great news. Our Dazhao Dynasty will soon have an imperial grandchild."
Hua Xi Wan looked in puzzlement at Yan Jinqiu and Mutong. These two seemed to have a strange attitude towards the Crown Princess' pregnancy.
"Since the Crown Princess is pregnant, I will visit the Crown Princess with great gifts tomorrow," Hua Xi Wan said with a smile. "The Crown Princess finally has a child."
Mutong laughed dryly and did not dare to speak.
"If that's the case, then I will trouble Xi Wan." Yan Jinqiu lowered his eyes and said, "The Crown Princess is pregnant with an imperial grandchild. She is of noble birth. We have to be careful with the gifts we send."
"I understand." Hua Xi Wan nodded. It was not important to send gifts, but if there was a problem with the imperial grandchild in her belly, then their Xian Wang Fu would be in trouble.
On the morning of the second day, Hua Xi Wan rode a carriage to visit the Crown Princess. When she arrived at the gates of the Crown Prince Fu, she found that the gates were heavily guarded. The armor of the guards flashed with cold light and looked exceptionally stern.
When Hua Xi Wan got off the carriage, a female official came forward to greet her. She saw another carriage parked at the side and asked, "Which noble has arrived?"
"Xian Wang Fei, that is Prince Consort Xu's carriage. Shizi Fei arrived fifteen minutes ago." The female official had originally served in Zhao Yang Hall and was a palace maid who had served the Emperor. However, in front of a noble of Jing, she did not dare to slack off.
"So that's how it is. She has always been considerate." Hua Xi Wan said with a smile, "I cannot wake up early every day. The weather is getting colder, and people are getting lazier."
The female official smiled but didn't dare to speak. Inside, she sighed. Prince Consort Xu had her mother-in-law controlling her. She could not be as carefree as Xian Wang Fei. Also, everyone in Jing knew that Xian Wang doted on his wang fei. Not to mention lazing in bed, this one would probably want the stars.
Xian Wang would think of ways to find her.
Everyone said that Xian Wang was a gentleman and had his own style. Now that he was kneeling under the skirt of this Xian Wang Fei, he was just a normal husband. Some of the palace maids in the palace were still thinking about this talented and beautiful Xian Wang. Why didn't they look at how beautiful Xian Wang Fei was? With their looks and methods, could they enter Xian Wang's eyes?
After leading Hua Xi Wan into the room where the Crown Princess was waiting, the female official bowed and retreated. Before she left, she subconsciously turned back to look at Xian Wang Fei's back. Her hair was black as ink, her figure graceful. Standing in the room in her magnificent robes, she made the people in the room dim in comparison.
She hurriedly moved her gaze away and sighed after she walked out the door. If this person entered the palace, she would definitely be the most beautiful and most favored consort in the hougong. Fortunately …
The female official slapped her own face. What was she thinking? Did she want to die?
"Greetings to the Crown Princess." Before Hua Xi Wan finished her bow, she was supported by the Crown Princess' personal servant girl.
"Tang Dimei, there is no need to be so courteous." The Crown Princess had a smile on her face as she invited Hua Xi Wan to sit.
Hua Xi Wan and Prince Consort Xu exchanged greetings before sitting down. She said, "Yesterday, I heard that the Crown Princess had good news. Chen fu was overjoyed and came early this morning to disturb the Crown Princess. Who knew that Shizi Fei was even earlier than chen fu."
"If I had known that Wang Fei was coming, I would have come later so that you could get the first prize." Shizi Fei covered her mouth as she laughed. "I have sinned, I have sinned."
"It's fine, it's fine. Even though I didn't get the first prize, it's not bad to get the second prize." Hua Xi Wan said with a smile, "I was originally a lazy person. It's very hard to get the second prize today."
"It can be seen that the Crown Princess' pregnancy has changed Wang Fei's lazy personality." Shizi Fei wanted to curry favor with Hua Xi Wan. She turned and said to the Crown Princess, "Seeing that Wang Fei has worked so hard, Crown Princess, you have to give her the best desserts. She likes these little things that eat and drink the most."
The Crown Princess said with a smile, "Tang Dimei has given me so much face. I don't dare to treat her poorly. Shu Yun, quickly give the best desserts and tea. Treat our wang fei well."
The three chatted and laughed. No one mentioned the Crown Prince. They only talked about the good news. The atmosphere was harmonious.
But Hua Xi Wan felt that there was something else in the Crown Princess' smile. Was she worried about the father of the child?
After about ten minutes, someone led Princess Sheng in. Hua Xi Wan saw that there seemed to be a few more servants in the room. The atmosphere became slightly awkward.
Was this guarding against Princess Sheng?
Princess Sheng bowed properly and had an appropriate smile on her face. No one could see anything was wrong. Her conduct made the people of the Crown Prince's fu appear overly cautious.
Prince Consort Xu and Hua Xi Wan saw the situation and felt it was boring. They were also afraid that Princess Sheng would cause trouble and drag them down. So the two found an excuse to leave.
When they came out of the zhengyuan, the two smiled at each other. They did not speak much along the way, but they felt they were exceptionally in tune and in sync.
When they were parting, Prince Consort Xu suddenly bent down and whispered something into Hua Xi Wan's ear. Hua Xi Wan's expression froze slightly before she recovered her smile.
When she returned to the carriage, the smile on her face disappeared without a trace.
"The rumors say that the Crown Prince cannot have children."
This was Prince Consort Xu's original words. But there was too much information contained in these words.
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