"Jun Wang Ye …" The Hou Clan stood inside the Chuihua Gate and looked at Yan Boyi smiling at a qie. She suppressed the bitterness in her heart and forced herself to show a smile.
The qie beside Yan Boyi saw this and curtsied. She lowered her head and retreated to one side. She appeared exceptionally obedient and sensible. But no matter how obedient and sensible the qie was, in the eyes of the Hou Clan, she was just a woman wearing an obedient appearance to steal a man from her. However, the Hou Clan was skilled at patience. No matter how much discontent she felt inside, she didn't show it on her face. She slowly walked in front of Yan Boyi and said in a warm voice, "Sorry to disturb your mood."
Seeing the Hou Clan, Yan Boyi took away the smile on his face. After having the qie leave, he said: "I see that your complexion hasn't been very good these days. The medicine that the taiyi prescribed doesn't seem to have any effect."
"Illness goes like silk, how can I recover so quickly?" The Hou Clan smiled. When her illness was mentioned, she didn't care at all, "In a few days, it will be the Empress' birthday. Qie really can't decide what to send into the palace this year. Jun Wang, what do you think?"
When the Empress was mentioned, Yan Boyi's expression wasn't good. Thinking of his own plans, he said: "Make it two parts thicker than in the past years. Just avoid things related to pomegranates and grapes to prevent the Empress from reminiscing."
The meaning of pomegranates and grapes was related to offspring. Now that the Empress's son was gone, and the child in the Crown Princess's belly wasn't the Crown Prince's, wouldn't sending these things make the Empress even more upset? If he could guess that the Crown Princess's belly could be the Emperor's, then the Empress would be able to guess as well. If he could ally with the Empress, it would be a good thing for him. If not, at least the Empress would have a good impression of him.
"Qie understands," the Hou Clan agreed. After the two of them finished talking, they looked at each other speechlessly.
When the atmosphere gradually cooled down, Yan Boyi suddenly said, "I heard that Xian Wang Fei does not like to take care of business. Presumably, she doesn't know what gift to give to the Empress. If you have the time, why don't you chat with her? Presumably, it will be of help to her."
"You mean …" Hou Clan's expression changed slightly. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Xian Wang Fei doesn't like general affairs, but she's not stupid. I'm afraid she won't believe what I said."
"If she doesn't want to believe it, then think of a way to make her believe it." Yan Boyi's tone unconsciously carried some contempt. "She's a woman, and Yan Jinqiu is protecting and pampering her. What can she do?"
Hou Clan heard the disdain in Yan Jinqiu's words. His gaze was complicated as he quietly agreed.
Two days later, Hou Clan was copying the Tao Te Ching. Seeing his personal servant girl come near, he put down the copy in his hand and said in a flat tone, "How is it going?"
"Mistress, don't worry. Today, Xian Wang Fu's purchasing team bought the jade sculpture of a fairy offering a pomegranate. I heard that Xian Wang Fei is very satisfied with the jade sculpture and has already added it to the list of gifts."
Hou Clan nodded and sighed. Fahrenheit was intelligent, but in the end, he was spoiled by Xian Wang.
In Xian Wang Fu, Hua Xi Wan played with the jade sculpture of a fairy offering a pomegranate that Hou Clan spoke of. She praised, "Such beautiful carving. Even the patterns on the fairy's clothes can be seen clearly. I just don't know if the empress will smash it when she sends it to her palace. It's such a pity."
"If you like it, you can keep it. We can find another one with a similar meaning." Yan Jinqiu smiled and said, "I have a jade sculpture of a fairy scattering flowers in my private storage. Later, I'll have someone send it to you to play with."
"At most, I'll look at the novelty of these things and not play with them." Hua Xi Wan put down the jade sculpture and looked at Yan Jinqiu with her chin propped on her hand. "Since we want the other to believe we have taken the bait, we have to be more professional."
Yan Boyi's move could be said to be sinister, but he had not thought of one point. Logically speaking, if a woman didn't have a son and a grandson was about to be born, then a woman who wanted to leave her son's bloodline alive would pray every day for this grandson to be safe and healthy. Among the gifts that Xian Wang Fu had sent, there was this jade sculpture. Maybe it would make the Empress even more uncomfortable, but it was enough to make the Emperor and Empress believe that they did not know that the child in the Crown Princess' belly was not the Crown Prince's. They also did not know that the Empress did not like the child in the Crown Princess' belly but was enduring it.
If the Empress knew that the child in the Crown Princess' belly was not the Crown Prince's, why would she endure it? Unless the father of this child was someone she could not afford to offend.
The Empress was below one and above all. She was the mother of all people. Who did not dare to make a sound when someone cuckolded her son?
How could Xian Wang, this Wang Ye, who only looked at poetry and paintings, know about these questions that could not be thought of? She, this Xian Wang Fei, who did not like general affairs, could not know. Then it was normal that the gift included a jade sculpture that was meant to bless the child in the Crown Princess' belly.
It was better to be hated than hated.
In the past year, the Imperial Family had held several funerals. Even though there was no such thing as the elders mourning for the younger generation, the Empress' birthday this year was much more low-key than in previous years. The people of the Fang Fu who had been guarded by the Imperial Guards for many days were finally able to leave the fu and enter the palace to celebrate the Empress' birthday. However, the Imperial Guards outside the fu did not disperse and still stood at the gates of the Fang Fu.
Lists of gifts were continuously sent into the Empress' palace. Most of these lists were ten or twenty percent thinner than in previous years. The Empress smiled coldly inside and put these thinner lists to one side. Then she picked up a few other lists and carefully examined them.
When she saw that there was a jade sculpture in the Xian Wang Fu's list of gifts called "Jiu Tian Xuan Nü Xi Fu Pomegranate", her face instantly darkened. She took a few deep breaths before slamming the list of gifts heavily on the table. She smiled coldly and said, "What a Xian Wang Fu. Are you mocking ben gong for not having a son now?"
The mama who had served her for many years looked at the palace maids and taijian who were kneeling in fear. She hesitantly said, "Niangniang, nubi thought that Xian Wang Fu would not be so daring. This jade sculpture is meant to be auspicious. Maybe … maybe it is to bless the imperial grandson."
"Imperial grandson …" The Empress stilled slightly, anger faintly appearing in her eyes. A beat later, she sighed, "Forget it. Xian Wang Fei is only a little girl in her teens. What does she know about ben gong's matters?"
The mama agreed and said, "This Xian Wang Fei has been spoiled by Xian Wang to the point that she doesn't know east or west. She doesn't even know what niangniang likes. She really is daring."
"Forget it, forget it. How old is she? When ben gong was her age, I was also naive." She had indeed been naive before, but her environment made her understand that kindness and naivety were the things that the palace could not tolerate the most. To be able to be kind and happy for a lifetime, that was a woman's fortune. If not, she had to make herself immune to poison. Otherwise, the one who would be covered in wounds in the end would be herself.
Hearing this, the mama saw the Empress reach out to take the list of gifts from Prince Sheng's fu and tactfully stopped speaking.
Princess Sheng and Xian Wang Fu were the same. This year's gifts were even thicker than in previous years. The gifts were prepared with great care, and purposefully avoided things that the Empress disliked. No wonder Princess Sheng was known for her virtuousness. She was more thoughtful than Xian Wang Fei. In her opinion, other than her birth and appearance, Xian Wang Fei could not compare to Princess Sheng in any other aspect. But the Princess Sheng was better than her in every other aspect.
It was a pity that all the men in the world liked beauty. Even if a beautiful woman was very stupid, in the eyes of men, she was a supreme treasure. And for a woman like Princess Sheng who was virtuous and virtuous, didn't Prince Sheng still take many concubines into the fu?
"The people of Prince Sheng's fu are very thoughtful." The Empress' hand gripped the list of gifts so hard it turned white. Her eyes were murderous. "Ben gong really underestimated them."
The list of gifts was gently placed on the table. The Empress was not in the mood to look at the list. She rubbed her temples and said, "Help ben gong back to the inner room to rest. Ben gong is tired."
The mama did not understand why the Empress' mood was not right, but seeing her pale face, she did not dare to ask. She carefully helped the Empress walk into the inner room.
After the Empress fell asleep, the mama quietly left the room. She hated that some prestigious families were ignoring the Empress. They were not even willing to act on the surface. They did not put in as much effort as in previous years, and even the number of gifts was not as great.
Even if niangniang did not have the Crown Prince, she was still the legitimate Empress. How dare these people do this?!
On the day of the Empress' birthday, the Ministry of Rites and the Department of Household Affairs held a banquet in Chao Yang Hall that was thirty percent smaller than in previous years. From how the tables and chairs were arranged to what kind of lanterns were used at the banquet, there were strict rules. It was a great crime to go beyond or below the standards.
There was still more than an hour before the banquet would begin. The nobles who were eligible to attend the banquet had already arrived in twos and threes. The first to arrive were the royal family members who did not have much status, or the aristocratic families that had fallen behind. The more powerful they were, the later they would appear.
Hua Xi Wan and Yan Jinqiu did not arrive early, but they were not too late. They arrived almost at the same time as Ning Wang's family. Ever since the Crown Prince died, Ning Wang claimed that he was sick and did not attend court. He also did not receive guests. He appeared to be very low-key. To the outside world, he said that he was too grieving over the Crown Prince's death and hurt his body. But in Hua Xi Wan's opinion, this old man was just hoping that the new Emperor would not bear a grudge against him. As for grieving over the Crown Prince's death …
Perhaps he should be grieving. He supported such a disappointing thing for more than twenty years. In the end, this disappointing thing ended up dragging the harem down with him. This was just like going into an important dungeon. Although you had a useless teammate, you still managed to grind the boss to death. In the end, at the most crucial moment, the useless teammate went offline and you were kicked out of the dungeon …
Just thinking about it made her feel bad for Ning Wang. She really did not know how hard Ning Wang had taken things to the point that he became the Crown Prince. In the end, he ended up in this state.
"The weather has been changing recently. Uncle, please take care of your body." Yan Jinqiu gracefully bowed to Ning Wang. His words and actions were not respectful of a junior to an elder.
"Nephew, you are too polite." Ning Wang reached out to help him up. Then, he clenched his hand into a fist and covered the corner of his mouth as he coughed. "My body has not been well recently. I have made nephew worry."
"As long as uncle's body is healthy, it is a joyous occasion for nephew."
Hua Xi Wan listened as the uncle and nephew talked about each other in such a graceful manner and silently moved her gaze away.
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