Hua Xi Wan knew of the conflict between the Emperor and the Crown Princess, but she still had a sorrowful expression on her face. She used a handkerchief to wipe at the slightly red corners of her eyes. She said sadly, "Then I will have to trouble Ma gonggong. The Crown Princess has passed away. It really hurts."
"Wang Fei, please restrain your grief. If the Crown Princess knows that you are so sad, she would not be able to be at ease." Ma gonggong's face was also full of regret, but in front of Hua Xi Wan, who was still grieving, he still tried to be comforting.
"You are right." Hua Xi Wan forced a smile. "Then I will have to trouble you in the coming days."
"This servant does not dare." Ma gonggong's expression was still respectful, but inside, he was shocked. He had originally thought that Xian Wang Fei had been doted on by her father and brother from a young age, and had been very considerate of Xian Wang after she married. He had thought that she would be a simple person. Who knew that there was nothing wrong with her words and actions.
As expected, how could a woman who could sit as Xian Wang Fei without a concubine in the entire wang fu not have any schemes? It was just that when outsiders saw her appearance, they unconsciously judged her based on her appearance.
In the corner, Princess Duan He, who had been silent all this time, looked coldly at Ma gonggong and Hua Xi Wan's attitude as they conversed. Her brow furrowed slightly. There were many womenfolk in the side hall, and Hua Xi Wan was not the only qinwang fei. Why did Ma gonggong go in front of her to greet her?
The more she thought, the uglier Princess Duan He's expression became. She couldn't resist turning her head to look at Princess Minhye who was sitting in the other corner. She touched the white hair on her temples, and many schemes flashed through her mind.
Now that the Empress had been deposed and the Empress Dowager had passed away, there was no one in charge of the entire harem. The other imperial concubines had empty positions, but they had no sons or daughters, so they couldn't stand up straight and rely on managing the Six Palaces. Therefore, when the Crown Princess died, some of the palace attendants who didn't have brains started to have all kinds of thoughts, causing endless rumors to spread in the inner palace. It was extremely unbearable. There were even people who dared to spread rumors that the Crown Princess and the Emperor had slept together. This caused the Emperor to be furious and many people were beaten to death.
The Crown Princess had not been buried yet, but there were rumors flying all over the place. Even the people were in an uproar. Some daring people actually fabricated another biography of the Emperor and the Crown Princess, and made a grand and vigorous production of "Chang Si Ge", which made many people applaud and praise.
The people of the Guard Office wanted to seize it, but it was not easy to do so. These vulgar novels had always existed. Moreover, this biography was written in a sentimental manner and had a patriotic and loyal plot. What reason could they use to ban the spread of this biography and say that this book alluded to the imperial family? Or was it a bad influence?
Wasn't this confessing without being pressed and revealing three hundred taels of silver here?
Some rumors spread and no one took them seriously, but if they were banned, it would only allow the rumors to spread more and more in private. It would even cause people who originally did not trust to believe the contents of the rumors without a doubt.
The poor Qilong Emperor had a good reputation all his life, but in his old age, he still had such a reputation. The Qilong Emperor also knew that he could not openly ban the rumors among the people. In the end, he simply let it be and turned his head to marry the di daughter of the Zhang Family, who had always been a scholarly family, as his Empress.
Very quickly, there were rumors among the people that the Emperor secretly went to the Zhang Family and suddenly saw the daughter of the Zhang Family. He suddenly thought that she was a celestial concubine and was shocked. He immediately asked his parents to take the daughter of the Zhang Family as his Empress.
As for why the Emperor went to the Zhang Family and saw the daughter of the Zhang Family, how could a normal girl see the Emperor under the heavy guard? The common people did not care. In any case, many people swore that the daughter of the Zhang Family was devastatingly beautiful. Even Xian Wang Fei could not compare to her.
Hua Xi Wan, who was innocently used as a reference by the common people, heard the rumors from the outside world and was speechless. How could this daughter of the Zhang Family be related to her beauty?
Now that the seventh day of the Crown Princess' death had passed, she originally thought that she could breathe a sigh of relief. In the end, the old Emperor was going to marry an Empress, and the one he was marrying was from a side branch of Second Aunt's maternal family. This was really interesting.
This daughter of the Zhang Family, who was going to enter the palace as Empress in two months, was named Qing Yan. Hua Xi Wan had never seen her before. However, before she married, she had heard Second Aunt praise this girl's good looks. She did not know anything else.
With the Qilong Emperor's current age, he should not be the type of person who could not move when he saw a beauty. However, the rumors among the common people were that the Emperor had fallen in love with Zhang Qing Yan at first sight and had fallen in love with her at second sight. Could it be that the Qilong Emperor wanted to wash away the stigma of having sex with her?
What was more curious than the noblest man in the world falling in love with a devastatingly beautiful woman at first sight?
Therefore, regardless of whether the Emperor was truly moved or not, for the sake of his reputation, he had to be moved.
If the Emperor really did have sex with the Crown Princess, how could he be so easily moved by someone else? Therefore, the rumor of having sex with her must be a rumor. It was someone who wanted to slander the Emperor and the deceased Crown Princess.
How immoral to not even let go of a dead person. This kind of person should be despised.
The common people all followed the crowd, or rather, they liked to gossip. The truth was not so important to them. What was important was that the gossip was interesting. That was enough.
"Yan Boyi is able to force the Emperor to such a state. He has some skill." Yan Jinqiu looked wryly at the legends his subordinates had gathered from the common people. He threw the information to one side and said with a dark expression, "But what is this Zhang Qing Yan? How can she compare to my wang fei?"
Mutong silently lowered his head even more.
"Woosh!"
A stack of information was thrown at his feet. He lowered his head even more.
"Keep a close eye on Yan Boyi. If he acts, we will help him." Yan Jinqiu took a deep breath and stood up from the table. "Go to wang fei."
Hua Xi Wan did not know that her man had become narrow-minded because of the rumors. She felt that Yan Jinqiu would not care about a small matter like this that even her own family would not care about. So when the two finished lunch and were alone together, Yan Jinqiu's words were full of discontent about the Zhang Family's daughter, she detected something was wrong.
Was it because Second Aunt's younger brother had offended Yan Jinqiu in the past so he did not like the Zhang Family, and even Zhang Qing Yan of the cadet branch was not good enough for his eyes?
"How do you know this Zhang Family's daughter is not good? Have you seen her before?" Hua Xi Wan lazily leaned on his shoulder and looked suspiciously at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Otherwise, how do you know her so well?" The Hua Family and the Zhang Family were related by marriage. She did not know how the Zhang Family's daughter was like.
"What are you thinking about?" Yan Jinqiu smiled helplessly. "It's just that this Zhang Family's cadet branch does not understand the situation. She is just entering the palace to be the empress, and they have the nerve to use you as a raft. Do they really think that I, Xian Wang Fu, do not know what they are thinking?"
While the Zhang Family had a good reputation for hundreds of years, only the main family still had some of their ancestors' strength of character. The actions of the cadet branches were not good enough. If it was not for the fact that the Emperor was old and had married a second empress, how could the position of empress be given to their family?
Also, the Zhang Family had the Emperor behind them …
Because the true main family knew what tricks the Emperor had. Who would be willing to send their pure daughter to the palace to be a clay Buddha who could not speak or do as she pleased?
"What thoughts?" Hua Xi Wan asked in confusion.
Yan Jinqiu laughed coldly and patted the back of her hand. He sighed and said, "The cadet branch of your second aunt's family is not easy to worry about. Where do you think those rumors about you come from?"
Hua Xi Wan suddenly understood. "They are using me to promote their family?"
Yan Jinqiu sighed and admitted it. After a while, he said, "I didn't tell you because I was worried that you would think too much. Now that it has come to this, I have no choice but to tell you."
Hua Xi Wan saw his serious expression and sat up straight, ready to listen to Yan Jinqiu talk about the secret behind the Zhang Family.
"Although the Zhang Family is an aristocratic family admired by countless scholars on the surface, think about it. Are the Zhang Family really as noble as the rumors say?"
Hua Xi Wan thought of her second aunt and the great deeds the Zhang Family had done over the generations. She suddenly realized that after the Zhang Family's fame in the last few decades, there was the suspicion that the Imperial Family was "creating hype" for the Zhang Family.
"Rather than saying that the Zhang Family is a famous scholarly family, it is better to say that the Zhang Family is a loyal dog raised by the royal family. They appear to be aloof from worldly affairs, but in reality, they are the Emperor's secret informants. They not only win over all the scholars in the world, but also help the Emperor obtain many secrets of aristocratic families." Yan Jinqiu laughed coldly. "The Zhang Family of a hundred years ago was indeed worthy of respect, but now …"
"No, if that was the case, why would the Emperor think that I was really ugly?" Hua Xi Wan shook her head and said, "My second aunt knows what I look like."
"You think that as long as you are a member of the Zhang Family, you can work for the Emperor?" Yan Jinqiu sighed and said, "Your second aunt is not very friendly to you. She can't wait for people to say bad things about you. Why would she go to her parents' house to defend you? I'm afraid that she played a part in the rumors back then." How could he tell Hua Xi Wan? With the way the Hua Family's second aunt was scheming, how could the Zhang Family rest assured that she would do something that required brains?
No matter how unlikable Jang was, she was now a woman of the Hua Family. He should save some face for his parents-in-law's family.
Hua Xi Wan was suddenly speechless. Should she be grateful for her second aunt's selfless dedication?
"No, it's fortunate that she was jealous of you. Otherwise, how could I marry you?" Yan Jinqiu said with a smile. "It seems that even the heavens are helping me. The will of the heavens is telling us that we are a match made in heaven."
Rather than saying it was the will of the heavens, it was better to say it was an accident. If Second Aunt had not been jealous, if Third Aunt had not been dissatisfied with the marquis fu, and if Eldest Tang Jie had not hinted at Princess Minhye out of jealousy and made Princess Minhye think that she was ugly, then she and Yan Jinqiu would not have such a marriage.
Or if her parents and brothers had not protected her and worked hard for her, then she and Yan Jinqiu would not have reached this step.
Was there really such a thing as a marriage destined by the heavens?
She was a firm believer in materialism. When she encountered something like the will of the heavens, she felt like she had been slapped in the face.
"No wonder after Second Aunt's younger brother died, the Emperor made a special trip to give Old Master Zhang a title of nobility and adopted a child from a collateral branch. At the time, I thought that the death of Master Zhang had something to do with the Crown Prince. I didn't think that there was another reason." Hua Xi Wan sighed. "I knew that he was not so kind."
Hearing Hua Xi Wan mention Master Zhang, Yan Jinqiu's eyelids twitched slightly. Then he smiled and said, "Who cares what the Zhang Family plans? That year, they made contact with the higher-ups and had to take the necessary risks. Master Zhang died young, so the Zhang Family can only blame themselves for not having enough people."
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