King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 506: Wife’s Bad Virtue

Baochai would never have imagined that her best sister's elbows were turning outward at this moment.

At this time, she had put on fine clothes and makeup and appeared in the main hall of Shangyi Bureau.

There were more than a dozen people surrounding her, each of them were female officials from the Shangyi Bureau, the Shanggong Bureau, and the Gongzhengsi Bureau.

Today is the critical moment for selecting the princess, and there are a large number of married women who came to watch the ceremony. Those with higher grades can stand in the hall, while those with lower grades can only wait outside the palace.

At this moment, these women are complimenting Baochai from all aspects, and their nice words are as if they are free of charge.

Jia Mu was also in the crowd at this moment, but her mood was extremely complicated, filled more with disappointment and worry.

The person sitting here presiding over the concubine selection should have been her granddaughter, but at this time it was the girl from the Xue family sitting upright.

When she thought about Zhu Jinghong's return to Beijing and her grandson's life in danger, her heart felt as painful as a knife.

Logically speaking, she should go to Baochai to plead with Baochai in person, but she felt that she had no face in front of this girl, so she did not dare to mention the previous disagreements rashly, lest it have the opposite effect.

When Jia's mother felt worried, Baochai felt the same way, but they were worried about different things.

Accustomed to hearing flattery from people around her, Baochai has been able to automatically block her thoughts and think about other things at the same time. She will also respond to these female officials during the break.

The new rumors in the city made her frightened now, and they were even more worrying than before because they were directed at Zhu Jinghong.

There is already a living King of Qin in the imperial city now. If a new "King of Qin" emerges, it will be great fun... Baochai thought to himself.

"Princess, it's time to invite the ladies in!"

"Ok!"

All the affairs were done by the female officials, while Baochai only had to sit in the hall as a backdrop.

According to the system, even if the king of the county chooses the princess, the queen must personally preside over it.

Now that the Queen is ill, it is the Crown Princess who should be in charge. However, Yuanchun has to take care of the Crown Prince, so Baochai is assigned this job.

Zhu Jinghong has great power, and now Baochai is in charge of the selection. To be honest, he and his wife are too conspicuous...

Thinking about the rumors in the city again, Baochai was really on pins and needles.

When she felt worried, the beautiful ladies had already appeared outside the palace.

A total of twenty people have entered the final selection this time, and there will be two rounds of selection next. Sixteen of them will be eliminated, and the remaining ones will be the princesses on one side.

But in fact, this selection is just a formality at this time, and the final list of princesses has been decided.

The four selected people all come from the families of the students, which is the standard background for the imperial draft.

Looking beyond the entrance of the hall, Baochai's eyes fell on the beautiful ladies. They were all youthful, and the smiles on their faces represented their longing for the future.

Baochai has also experienced this process, and now he can still remember it vividly in retrospect.

Soon the first show girl entered the hall. Baochai didn't say much to her, so she was not on the shortlist.

The drafting of the list of candidates was basically her decision alone. The queen herself did not care about this matter. After all, the matter of her own son was enough to bother her.

Of course, as before, there were many people asking for connections this time, but Baochai ignored them all.

This time she had only two criteria for selecting people. One was that they should be pleasing to her eyes, and the other was to take into account the preferences of the two brothers.

It was half an hour later that all twenty people who were waiting for the summons were summoned.

The show girls exited the hall again and stood outside the hall waiting for the final result.

They waited for only half an hour, and the cold wind made their hands and feet cold, but everyone was still full of expectations.

The position of princess and concubine is so noble. If they can be selected, it will be like a new life, and their family members will become prosperous because of it.

Everyone is full of daydreams about the future and looking forward to the appearance of the female official soon.

A few breaths later, Shang Yi walked out of the hall, holding a document in his hand with the phoenix seal of Kunning Palace stamped on it.

Not only the show girls, but all the ladies standing outside also want to know who will have great luck and rise rapidly.

"The Queen's decree..."

Although the selection was presided over by the princess, the queen still presided over the procedure, so the results were announced by Yi's decree.

All the beautiful ladies bowed down one after another and listened to the final result. At this time, most people were feeling uneasy.

The few people with a stable mentality all have their own records in their hearts. In the process of "education" these days, they have been recognized by Baochai.

After finishing the nonsense at the beginning, Shang Yi finally read: "The Chen family of Yongning County and the Xu family of Hanoi County were selected as the beautiful women of the Qingyang King; the Zhao family of Shanyang County and the Liu family of Taikang County were selected as the beautiful women of the Jinghai King; the rest Give each one..."

At this time, most people were in a state of despair and did not care about the consolation prize given by the royal family.

After reciting Yi's decree, except for the four people who were named, the other ladies all left the stage under the leadership of the female officer.

And then, it was time to divide the two sides. The Chen family and the Xu family competed for Princess Qingyang, and the Zhao family and Liu family competed for Princess Jinghai.

The days when they were taught and behaved in the palace allowed these girls to accumulate a certain amount of friendship, but now they had no intention of being humble.

"All you ladies, please come into the palace!"

No matter who they were, these four people were already members of the royal family, so the voice of the female official who conveyed the message was much gentler.

The four of them entered the hall and were stared at by many eyes inside. They were still a little nervous.

But when they thought that when they became princesses in the future, their status would be higher than that of others, the tension among the four people gradually dissipated.

Seeing Baochai on the throne, these four people all looked respectfully.

Although the status of the county princess is high, they are very aware of their own weight in front of Baochai, the princess.

What's more, Baochai still represented the queen at this moment, so they didn't dare to show any slights.

Under the guidance of the etiquette officer, the four beautiful ladies bowed to the queen's ceremonial guard, and then saluted Baochai.

The royal family has a lot of etiquette, so this visit only takes a few minutes.

After the ceremony, Zhao and Liu were led by the female officer to the side hall to wait, because the next step was for King Qingyang to choose his concubine.

After they left, Qingyang King Zhu Jingchun appeared in the main hall wearing the royal crown uniform.

"Greetings to Thirteenth Sister-in-law!"

After nodding slightly, Baochai said: "Old Fourteen, let's start!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Jingchun stood up and walked slowly in front of the two beautiful ladies, with a warm smile on his face.

When these women were being educated, the two brothers Zhu Jingchun secretly visited them and each took a fancy to their beloved women.

Then the two of them found Baochai, told her everything about her thoughts, and then tried to please her sister-in-law in various ways, hoping to be merciful to her.

In this era, it is a very luxurious thing to marry the person you like. Now that Zhu Jingchun has achieved this goal, of course he is extremely happy.

Picking up Ruyi on the side, Zhu Jingchun handed it to Xu on the left, who also took it into his hands with joy.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

If Mrs. Xu gets her wish, she will become the princess, while Mrs. Chen on the side can only be a concubine.

After Zhu Jingchun finished his selection, it was next the turn of Jinghai King Zhu Jinghao, who chose Zhao as his princess.

After the selection of the princess is over, according to the system, the beautiful ladies should return to their residences to wait for the order. Next, the Ministry of Etiquette will be responsible for the specific matters.

Now that the Ministry of Etiquette is busy with the Holy Birthday Festival, it is really uncertain whether these two can get married before the year.

Of course, now that the person of their choice has been chosen, Zhu Jingchun and the two feel at ease. It doesn't matter to them if it happens sooner or later.

When the matter here was over, Baochai left for Kunning Palace to return to her life. Zhu Jingchun and his two men caught up with her on the way, and they expressed their gratitude to her with tears in their eyes.

"Okay, if you have nothing to do, go back and wait for the princess to get back!"

"Sister-in-law teaches me, little brother, please remember it!"

After the two men retreated, Baochai walked a little faster, and soon she arrived at Kunning Palace.

The queen was currently in the side hall of the monastery, sitting on the couch and reading Buddhist scriptures. The charcoal fire in the room made the cold air disappear without a trace.

"Your Majesty, Princess Xiang is here!" A female official reported outside the monastery.

Yang Qingyin straightened her sleeves and then replied: "Let her come over!"

"Yes!" After a while, Baochai took off his crown and robes and came outside the monastery, kowtowed to the queen and saluted.

"My daughter-in-law, please bow to your mother!"

Putting down the book, Yang Qingyin glanced at Baochai and said, "Come in!"

"Yes!"

When Baochai entered the room, Yang Qingyin ordered someone to bring a stool so that Baochai could sit and talk.

After thanking her again and again, Baochai finally sat down in front of the queen and reported with great respect: "Queen Mother, both princesses have been chosen. We are just waiting for the Ministry of Rites..."

Baochai reported the situation in detail, but Yang Qingyin did not listen too carefully. She already knew the situation.

After Baochai finished speaking, Yang Qingyin said, "I can rest assured when you do things!"

"Two days ago, the slaves of Dongchang reported that some people had captured the thief who was spreading rumors. They also searched for some clues and handed the complaint to the Changlong County Government..."

"There are so many cases of this kind today. The Changlong County Government arranged to send people to investigate the next day, but just before the Changlong County Government inquired... there were thieves who broke into these people's homes, smashed them, destroyed the evidence, and even arrested the people. Let it go!"

Baochai knew very well that the queen was talking about that matter, but she was not panic at all at this time because the matter was still under her control.

"It turns out that the thieves are too rampant for this to happen, and they should be strictly punished by the government!" Baochai agreed.

Yang Qingyin smiled slightly, and then said: "Do you know who the true identity of the murderer who went to attack the people is?"

Hearing this, Baochai's expression tightened. Of course, she was pretending.

"Mother...could she know?"

It requires extremely high acting skills to convey the feeling of concealing fear, but Baochai does it very naturally.

From the moment she made the decision, she had been waiting for today's situation, and she had rehearsed it many times in private.

"I have no idea……"

Observing Baochai's subtle expression, Yang Qingyin said with a smile: "But the people in Dongchang know!"

"Those thieves who attacked the people turned out to be members of the Jinyi Guards. Do you think this is unusual?"

Sure enough, I was targeted by Dongchang. Sure enough, I couldn't hide the matter from my mother. Fortunately, I dealt with the matter promptly... Baochai secretly felt happy.

She frowned, showing a nervous look, which made the queen even more sure of her judgment.

"You have always been smart. Please tell me... why did the Jinyiwei people attack those people for no reason?"

"Who is behind this? What is its purpose?"

The queen's questions became more and more oppressive. The next moment, Baochai knelt down on the ground, bowed his head and said, "My wife is guilty!"

Looking at Baochai kneeling in front of her, Yang Qingyin straightened her sleeves slowly, and then asked: "You are so good... why do you apologize?"

Baochai replied: "My daughter-in-law does not dare to deceive the queen. My daughter-in-law said hello to the Jin Yiwei, telling them to go and smash her and let her go..."

Yang Qingyin's eyes were as bright as fire and she asked coldly: "What's going on?"

"The complaint was received in Changlong County that day, and the matter was also discovered by the Jinyi Guards, so they sent people to investigate the details!"

"The eunuch of the royal palace had greeted Jin Yiwei before, so he sent someone to report the inside story to the royal palace. My wife found out..."

"When I learned the inside story of this matter, I guessed that someone had framed it, so I ordered the Jin Yiwei to expel this evildoer!"

Lin Hongyu would never have thought that the driving force behind Ni Er's careful plan was actually Princess Xiang, whom they wanted to be loyal to.

"How do you know...those people framed her?" Yang Qingyin's eyes became colder and colder.

"Just because..."

Looking up at the queen, Baochai bravely said: "Why should the queen listen to those random remarks?"

This look was of course staged.

She sent Deng An to follow up, and Deng An discovered the people from Dongchang and Jinyiwei, so Baochai was sure that the emperor and empress knew the truth.

Now that the emperor and empress knew what Prince Rui was doing secretly, Baochai felt that there was no need to expose the matter again, so she temporarily adjusted her strategy.

She planned to establish an image of "taking the overall situation into consideration" and even "bearing the humiliation and bearing the burden", so as to give Prince Rui's palace another hard kick.

Picking up the tea cup, Yang Qingyin said slowly: "I really want to hear how those people bite randomly!"

"Daughter-in-law doesn't..."

"Say!"

It was rare for Yang Qingyin to get angry, so Baochai was so frightened that she lowered her head again.

"The so-called evidence of those people said that Sister Ting has a relationship with Brother Six, and intends to... intend to join forces to seek the position of princess!"

"This is too ridiculous. My daughter-in-law will never believe it, and neither will my mother!" Baochai added.

She was playing hard to get, but I have to say that her acting skills were good enough that the queen really believed her words.

"So you let people destroy the evidence? You didn't even let people try it?"

"Once this matter is brought to the table, it will only bring shame to the royal family no matter what. The daughter-in-law really couldn't bear to see her mother worried, so she took matters into her own hands..."

After Baochai said this, the nature of the matter was different.

Not only did she bear the humiliation, she was completely filial to the extreme.

So inevitably, Yang Qingyin compared Baochai with the other two, and once again concluded that the youngest daughter-in-law was the most decent and sensible.

"You girl... this matter is very involved. It is up to Your Majesty and I to decide how to deal with it. How can you interfere?"

Yang Qingyin was still lecturing with a straight face, and then her tone was filled with concern, and Baochai naturally put on a look of being taught.

After giving some advice, Yang Qingyin couldn't help but sigh: "You kid... you're just too honest and you'll suffer easily!"

On the surface, the previous rumors were directed at Baochai, which really caused her to suffer a great loss.

But what made Yang Qingyin even more dissatisfied was that the new rumors circulating in the city, especially those sinister words about "better than the King of Qin", made her want to kill.

Thinking it was those two idiots stirring up trouble again... Yang Qingyin decided in her heart.

But this time, she did wrongly accuse her two sons, but it was a pity that the two brothers didn't even have a chance to defend themselves.

"Okay, now that the matter is in the past, forget it. If you have any grievances in the future... you can come and tell me. Don't bear it alone!"

"It's also my fault that little beast is careless and insists on going to the northwest to fight and kill, leaving you, a weak woman, to support the palace in Beijing. I will teach him a lesson when he comes back!"

Baochai kowtowed again, and then said: "Your Majesty is also doing it for the sake of the court, and I hope my mother will forgive me!"

Honoring your parents-in-law, loving your husband, and protecting your family...are the standard characteristics of a good daughter-in-law.

The greed for money, the pettiness, and the loss of his father at a young age are nothing compared to these advantages.

"Okay, okay... look what you're worried about, can I beat him to death? Get up quickly!"

After wiping the tears on her face, Baochai started to look after herself.

"Yes!"

Seeing that the Queen's tea cup was almost empty, he stepped forward to fill it for her personally, showing great care and diligence.

Such considerate respect is many times better than Chen Zhijing's offering of various treasures.

"Where do you think this kid is now?"

Although Zhu Jinghong sends back messages every day, the lag is too great, so his itinerary can only be roughly estimated.

Baochai replied: "The news came back yesterday that it has passed Lintong. I'm afraid it will only take three to five days to reach Beijing!"

"We set off at the end of September and traveled more than 2,000 miles in half a month. I don't know how much suffering I will suffer along the way!"

The queen, who had just said she wanted to teach her son a lesson, now had a look of concern in her eyes, which made Baochai feel very depressed.

Just listen to Baochai reply: "Your Majesty also arrived early so that he could celebrate the birthday of the Supreme Emperor!"

"He is a filial child..."

Hearing the word "child", Baochai just felt funny. After all, the murderer who killed hundreds of people was not a child in any way.

(End of this chapter)