The news that the Empress was pregnant quickly spread from the hougong to the front court. The second day, many noblewomen sent congratulatory cards to the rear hall of Tian Qi Palace to express the joy of the entire family at the Empress' pregnancy.
Casually flipping open a congratulatory card, it was that the entire family heard that the Empress was pregnant and couldn't contain their joy, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. They could only send a congratulatory card to express their joy, and then said a bunch of good wishes before kowtowing to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress.
The contents of the cards were different, but the things they expressed were the same. That was, us common people, we are very happy today.
Qu Qing Ju understood that these people were all staring at her stomach. If she gave birth to an imperial son, then he would be the di eldest son. In the future, even if other feipin gave birth, they wouldn't be able to shake the position of the eldest son.
Thinking that this body of hers that was only sixteen or seventeen had already given birth to another life, she felt complicated. Then she couldn't resist eating another bowl of rice.
The Empress Dowagers of the two palaces had already sent down a large pile of things that could and couldn't be used. Especially Empress Dowager Wei. She seemed to want to fill the rear hall of Tian Qi Palace as she sent down pile after pile of things. This made Qu Qing Ju wonder if there was anything left in Empress Dowager Wei's private stores.
"Empress niangniang, Jin An Princess Royal has sent someone to deliver congratulatory gifts into the palace," Huang Yang came in with a list of gifts and presented it to Qu Qing Ju, "Her Highness Princess Royal also said that at the flower-admiring banquet tomorrow, she will have a good chat with you."
Qu Qing Ju flipped through the list. The things on it all avoided things that could cause trouble. It could be seen that Jin An Princess Royal wanted to be close but was also worried about getting into trouble. Putting the list to one side, Qu Qing Ju smiled, "Go and reply to the messenger. Say ben gong will remember and have Jin An Princess come early tomorrow."
She and Jin An Princess Royal had a relationship of fifty percent friendship and fifty percent mutual benefit. This method of interaction was the first choice. Jin An Princess Royal might be a female, but Qu Qing Ju felt that this person was very decisive. In the beginning, when she had separated from the Count of Bei Lu, she had been resolute and didn't pretend to be weak. In the end, she had managed to preserve the reputation of the Imperial Princess, and also obtained titles for her children. In reality, even if the Eldest Princess and the Count of Bei Lu hadn't separated, her children might not have had such high titles.
Later on, Jin An Princess had intentions of showing goodwill towards He Heng and directly distanced herself from lao da and lao san's family. This action seemed reckless but in reality, it was easier to gain He Heng's good opinion. No one liked people that were two-faced and three-faced. In the end, Jin An Princess' move was correct. She had become the most glorious of all the daughters of xiandi, the Princess Royal that the new emperor favored. Even if she didn't have a fuma right now, who in Jing dared to underestimate her?
With such a capable woman, it was no wonder that even Qing De Emperor, such a biased monarch, could be coaxed by her to the point of disregarding the rules of the ancestors and forcefully confer her the title of Princess Royal. Even Qu Qing Ju herself wasn't sure that she could do as well as she could.
"Empress, Cheng Wangfei has sent a congratulatory gift."
"Empress, the Duchess of Zhong Yi has sent a congratulatory gift."
The entire morning, Qu Qing Ju spent looking at all kinds of gift lists. She sighed. Just the number of noblewomen that had the qualifications to send gifts to Tian Qi Palace wasn't few. She didn't know how many gifts would be sent directly to the storeroom.
"Empress, Rui Wang Fei has sent a congratulatory gift."
The gifts from Rui Wang Fu came rather late. Qu Qing Ju had already prepared to eat lunch before it was delivered. She opened the list to take a look and was slightly shocked. Had Qin Bai Lu really prepared these things for her? Thousand year ginseng, Tianshan snow lotus, hundred-year fleeceflower, and other herbs. There was also a nourishing bracelet. Other valuable things were stuffed in. After reading the list, Qu Qing Ju felt that Qin Bai Lu wouldn't be so good to her. Something was wrong.
"Who sent this list of gifts?" Qu Qing Ju closed the list in her hand and asked with a frown, "Ben gong and Qin Bai Lu have never gotten along. When did she become so good?"
"Empress, now that you are the Empress, how can Rui Wang Fei compete with you?" Huang Yang smiled, "This list was personally sent by the housekeeper of Rui Wang Fu, He Fu Er. It shouldn't be wrong."
"Right now, the Emperor is investigating the old case of Jiang Nan. Rui Wang sending so many things, he must have other intentions," Qu Qing Ju finally remembered that the court was investigating the Jiang Nan case. Rui Wang Fu sending her so many things, did they want her to have pillow talk?
That was laughable. She was an Empress that was favored by the Emperor. Would she stupidly ask for mercy for Rui Wang's family for such a small amount of things? Wasn't that like the god of longevity hanging himself, tired of living?
Since the matter involved the previous court, the attendants at Qu Qing Ju's side perceptively didn't respond. This was something that Qu Qing Ju was satisfied with. No one in the world liked people saying things they shouldn't say next to their ears.
In the Imperial Study of Tian Qi Palace, He Heng finished reading the memorials regarding the Jiang Nan case. His face was dark as he used his finger to tap the desk. After a long silence, he ordered: "Summon the Duke of Zhong Yi for an audience."
When Tian Jin Ke arrived at Tian Qi Palace, He Heng had already finished reading the memorials on the desk. Seeing him enter, he said: "Subject Tian doesn't have to be so courteous. Zhen called you here today to discuss the matter of Rui Wang."
Tian Jin Ke hesitated before replying: "The evidence for the Jiang Nan case is conclusive. Wei chen doesn't know what the Emperor means."
"When xiandi was alive, he loved zhen's san di the most so zhen didn't want his life. But when these cases are listed, it really is shocking. Zhen, as the Son of Heaven, can't allow such a thing to happen," He sighed, "It's hard to be both loyal and righteous."
Hearing the Emperor speak to this extent, Tian Jin Ke didn't understand his intentions. He instantly responded: "Rui Wang's crimes might be hard to forgive, but most of these cases were caused by his subordinates. They weren't directly related to Rui Wang. Wei chen thinks that Rui Wang is guilty, but not deserving of death. "
"Then you tell me, how should zhen convict Rui Wang?" He Heng looked at Tian Jin Ke below, smiling wryly as he commented, "He is zhen's brother. Zhen doesn't bear to see the latter half of his life be too miserable."
Tian Jin Ke's heart jumped, a fine sweat forming on his forehead. Xiandi was so young and yet he had such a presence. It was shocking: "Wei chen doesn't know."
"Fine, zhen won't make it difficult for you," He Heng didn't persist on this topic. His tone suddenly became relaxed, "Now that the Empress is pregnant, she has always had a deep relationship with your furen. In the future, if your furen doesn't have any important matters, come to the palace more often to keep the Empress company."
Tian Jin Ke heard the Emperor mention this matter and naturally happily agreed. His niece was still very young. As an elder, he was happy that she was pregnant and would be able to sit more securely in the position of Empress, but he was also worried that she wouldn't know the truth and would have wild thoughts due to pregnancy.
"If that's the case, zhen doesn't have anything else to order. Leave." He Heng smiled faintly.
Tian Jin Ke saw that the Emperor's expression was warm and didn't seem to be affected by the Jiang Nan case. He retreated in relief. When he walked out of the gates of Tian Qi Palace, he thought in puzzlement, did the Emperor really summon him to ask about Rui Wang?
But why did he feel that something wasn't right?
In Rui Wang Fu, He Yuan held a wine cup and sipped. He lazily looked at Gao Duo who had a bitter expression on his face. He smiled and remarked, "What, ben wang isn't worried, why are you even more worried than ben wang?"
"Wang ye, the evidence of the Jiang Nan case has already been presented to the Emperor. If the Emperor wants your life because of this, you can't do anything," Gao Duo sighed, "Why don't we think of another way."
"Think of what way?" He Heng snorted, "If he wants to kill, then kill. The winner is king, the loser is the thief. Right now, he is the Emperor. Even if he doesn't have any evidence of the Jiang Nan case, it would be just as easy to settle the score with me."
"But has wang ye ever thought about the old and young in the fu, and Shu gui taifei are still waiting in the palace for you to take her out of the palace? If something happened to you, what would they do?" Gao Duo sighed.
"Don't worry, He Heng might want to settle the score with me, but a hypocrite like him wouldn't leave behind a bad reputation. The lives of everyone in this fu would definitely be spared," He Yuan lowered his face and raised his head to drink the wine in his cup, "Even more, the Empress is pregnant now, he wouldn't bear to start a massacre."
How did this matter involve the Empress? Gao Duo looked in puzzlement at He Yuan. Seeing his expression wasn't good, he didn't dare to follow him in calling the Emperor by his name. He suggested: "If that's the case, wang ye, why don't you take this chance to protect yourself?"
"I can hide once, but I can't hide forever," He Yuan carelessly threw away the cup in his hand, "You don't have to worry for ben wang, ben wang knows. You can leave."
Gao Duo looked at the wine cup that had rolled to the ground and helplessly retreated. When he came out of the gates of the main yard, he saw Rui Wang Fei standing at the doorway. He lowered his head in greeting.
Qin Bai Lu didn't pay attention to him. She only looked behind the gates of the main yard as though the people inside had a grudge against her.
"Wang fei?" Ru Hua saw wang fei's expression wasn't good and carefully urged, "The autumn days are cold, why don't we go back to the yard?"
"Right now, he doesn't even want me to interfere in the matters of houyuan," Qin Bai Lu grimaced as she finished. Then her expression became slightly twisted, "The gift to congratulate the Empress on her pregnancy, he didn't even ask me, this wang fei, before giving it away. What meaning is there for me, this wang fei?!"
"Mistress, don't be angry, let's go back." Ru Hua hurriedly reached out to pull Qin Bai Lu. This was the gates of the main yard. What if wang ye heard?
"Hmph," Qin Bai Lu snorted. She held Ru Hua's hand as she unwillingly left. What could she do if she didn't leave? Right now, wang ye wasn't even coming to her yard, and wouldn't let her enter his yard.
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