King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 674 Jia Lian’s Ambition

After Jia Mu and Wang Xifeng left, Yingchun was left alone in the room, with Tanchun also accompanying her.

"Thank you very much!" Yingchun tried to stand up and express her gratitude.

"Take a rest and don't move!" Tanchun hurried forward.

There was a moment of silence between the two, and the atmosphere in the room was awkward.

"Second sister, I didn't expect you... to have such an experience!"

When saying this, Tanchun felt emotional, but also envious deep in her eyes.

Putting aside the etiquette, Yingchun was able to devote herself to the man she loved and it had a good outcome, which was extremely perfect in Tanchun's view.

"Don't say that...it's so embarrassing!" Yingchun lowered her head.

This was indeed an ugly thing, and the education she received since childhood made it impossible for her to face this matter calmly.

After a brief silence, Tanchun asked, "Didn't Prince Xiang give you an explanation?"

In Tanchun's opinion, Prince Xiang is a rare hero. Even if he did something extraordinary on a whim, he should give an explanation to Yingchun.

"That night he...he said he would give me a result!"

"But within two days, he was ordered to leave the capital!"

Speaking of this, Yingchun was also extremely resentful. This incident made her feel very bad, and she was heartbroken for the first month.

"That's good!" Tanchun nodded.

On the surface, the princess has the final say in the inner chambers of Prince Xiang's mansion, but Tanchun knows that the final decision on key issues must depend on Zhu Jinghong's opinion.

As long as Zhu Jinghong does not resist Yingchun entering the mansion, nothing will go wrong.

Of course, it is also possible that Zhu Jinghong was deceiving Yingchun, but Tanchun thought this possibility was extremely small.

After all, for a person like Zhu Jinghong, there was really no need to lie to Yingchun. Even if he said on the spot that he was not responsible, the Jia family would not be able to do anything to him.

The two sisters were chatting in low voices here, while Grandmother Jia took Wang Xifeng out, thinking about how to deal with the matter.

The final agreement was to report the situation to Yuanchun first and then make a decision based on her wishes.

Others passed on the message to Grandmother Jia, who was worried, so she sent Wang Xifeng to the East Palace.

If possible, Grandmother Jia even wanted to go by herself, but firstly, she was too old, and secondly, her departure would be too conspicuous.

Half an hour later, Yuanchun was reminded by a maid and left Ningshou Palace on the pretext of something, and met Wang Xifeng outside the Ningshou Palace.

"What's the matter?"

After looking around and making sure no one was around, Wang Xifeng said, "My Lady Crown Princess, something big has happened in the mansion. Second Sister Yingchun..."

After hearing the latter part, Yuanchun widened her eyes, and after confirming it repeatedly, she believed it.

"You have done a great job. This matter must be suppressed and Yingchun must be protected!"

"Yes!"

"Go back, you guys are not allowed to do anything on your own, wait for my instructions!"

"Yes!"

After Wang Xifeng left, Yuanchun did not go into Ningshou Palace, but ordered someone to invite the prince over.

A few minutes later, Zhu Jingyuan, dressed in mourning clothes, walked over, looking tired and confused.

"What do you want from me?"

"Yingchun..."

Yuanchun had no scruples and informed the prince of the situation, who was equally shocked when he heard it.

"To have concealed it for more than five months without being discovered, this is too much..."

Seeing that the prince was focusing on this, Yuanchun said, "This may be something we can use!"

"How to use it?" Zhu Jingyuan asked back.

"If the news of raping a young girl gets out, Old Thirteen..."

Yuanchun's meaning was obvious, but the prince shook his head and said, "This little thing may not bring down Old Thirteen!"

This is indeed a trivial matter. As long as the royal family is willing, it can be pretended that nothing happened. Even the person Yingchun can be erased.

Yuanchun said slowly, "According to the original method, relying on memorials and impeachments, of course it is impossible to overthrow Old Thirteen!"

"What do you want?" the prince asked.

"What did Old Thirteen rely on to rise to prominence?"

Seeing the prince's thoughtful expression, Yuanchun did not wait for him to answer and continued, "He relies on military merit and support from the army. What is support from the army?"

These questions made the prince even more confused, and he didn't understand what Yuanchun meant.

"To put it bluntly, the prestige in the army comes from the support of the nobles!"

Looking at the confused prince, Yuanchun continued, "Yingchun... is the daughter of a legitimate nobleman!"

Zhu Jingyuan waited for a while, and seeing that Yuanchun did not continue, he asked, "So...what does this have to do with this incident?"

Yuanchun knew that the prince was a man of few thoughts, but her slow reaction still disappointed her, and she even felt a little contempt for him.

"Yingchun is the daughter of a noble, and the Thirteenth Master raped the daughter of a noble. What would the nobles think of such a person?"

"Today it's Yingchun, will it be their own wives and daughters tomorrow?"

After listening to Yuanchun's explanation to this point, Zhu Jingyuan finally understood her plan.

"You mean, should we expose this matter? But if we can't bring down Old Thirteen, and provoke him to cause trouble, we'll be in trouble!"

Yuanchun replied: "Why should we get involved in these dirty jobs?"

"So how should we deal with it?"

Yuanchun replied calmly: "Isn't there still the Rui Palace?"

At this time, she did not keep anyone in suspense and directly revealed her plan: "We will do our best to cover up this matter, and then secretly try to let Prince Rui know about it. Chen Zhi is afraid that the world will not be in chaos, so it is just right to let her expose it!"

"Then the Eastern Palace will openly defend Old Thirteen and secretly guide public opinion to alienate the nobles. This will be beneficial to us!"

It sounds feasible, but the prince is still a little hesitant. Whenever he has to make an important decision, he always reveals his indecisive character.

"If that's the case, your second sister will..."

If this matter were to become public, Yingchun would definitely have no chance of survival.

As mentioned earlier, Yingchun will definitely be erased, and the emperor will definitely order that no one is allowed to discuss this matter.

After being stunned for a few seconds, Yuanchun said, "This is her fate. It's her fault that she should not have encountered this!"

Yuanchun knew very well that if the Eastern Palace failed in the matter of "keeping the crown prince", more people would die.

Therefore, the East Palace must win, and the price to win is inevitable.

It can be said that after being the Crown Princess for several years, Yuanchun gradually transformed into a political machine, which actually made her a qualified royal daughter-in-law.

"Your Highness, this matter you ..."

Before Yuanchun could finish her words, the prince said, "Let me think about it..."

"Time waits for no one. Now that the emperor has passed away, if word gets out about the Thirteenth Old Man's promiscuity, then..."

"I said, I need to think about it again!" Zhu Jingyuan suddenly raised his voice.

He appears to be amiable on the outside, but he has absolute authority in the inner quarters of the East Palace. Even if he gets angry at this moment, Yuanchun has to avoid his sharp edge and quickly bows her head to apologize.

However, although Yuanchun appeared humble on the outside, she was increasingly disappointed with the prince. She only hated that she could not make the decision.

The prince turned and left. Yuanchun slowly straightened up, and sighed as she watched the prince walk away.

Then she entered the Ningshou Gate, went into the main hall again, and knelt obediently before the altar.

Most of those kneeling in the hall were ladies of the imperial court, wives and princesses of princes and dukes, as well as some young grandchildren of the emperor.

The queen was not feeling well, so she knelt for half an hour in the morning, and then the emperor ordered her to go back.

So in the main hall, Yuanchun theoretically has the highest status, followed by the two imperial concubines and imperial concubines, and then the princesses and princesses.

But in fact, the people with real high status in Ningshou Palace, apart from Yuanchun, were the two princes' wives.

Because of her high status, Baochai, like Yuanchun, could find reasons to take a break instead of kneeling like others. But in fact, Baochai had only taken two breaks from morning till now, which was much less than Yuanchun and Chen Zhi.

This comparison further demonstrates that the filial piety of the Prince Xiang's Mansion seems to be higher than that of the Eastern Palace and the Prince Rui's Mansion.

Looking at Yuanchun who had returned, Baochai asked, "Sister-in-law, you look unhappy. Did something happen to you?"

"Alas... To be honest, I've been kneeling for the whole morning and my legs are really sore. After all, I'm not as young as you!"

"Sister-in-law is in her prime, why should she..."

Watching the two people chatting, Chen Zhi, who was left alone, felt indignant, but she managed to control her emotions.

Zhu Laoliu, you bastard, the fourth imperial edict to return the capital has been out of the capital for five days, it’s time for you to crawl back... Chen Zhi cursed in her heart.

Before, Lao Liu stayed in Fengyang. The emperor of course knew what he was thinking, so he issued a series of decrees urging him to return to Beijing.

About ten days ago, this guy entered Henan Province. Normally, he would reach Beijing in four or five days, but he hasn't come back yet.

There would have been nothing wrong with procrastinating, but because of procrastination, not being able to see the retired emperor for the last time would undoubtedly have an impact on Zhu Jingyuan's reputation, and Chen Zhi was worried about this matter.

At this moment, seeing Yuanchun and Baochai talking closely, she felt even more uncomfortable.

Mourning for the retired emperor had a huge impact on the court and the capital, but the so-called impact was actually not that great.

Ordinary people have to work to make a living, and officials have to be on duty and do their work, but they have the additional task of wearing mourning clothes and keeping vigil over the dead.

In a blink of an eye, a few days passed and Yingchun had been arranged by Grandmother Jia to leave the house, and she even asked her personal maid Siqi to accompany her.

This matter was done in a very secretive manner. The Jia family only knew that Yingchun was going there to meditate and pray for blessings, and had no idea where she was sent.

Of course, since Yingchun’s presence is not very strong, few people really care about this matter.

The entire Jia family was still mourning for the retired emperor, but things had generally returned to normal.

When Jia Lian returned to his room that day, he went straight to Wang Xifeng and asked, "Why was my second sister sent out of the house for no reason?"

Jia Lian is now a fifth-rank official, but since there is no one in the army to promote him, he can only help with odd jobs at home.

As the face of the Rongguo Mansion to the outside world, Jia Lian has a say in all family affairs. Now that Yingchun has been sent away, he naturally has to take charge.

"Didn't I say that we should pray for the Emperor?"

"It's fine to go to Qifu Mansion, why do we have to send our second sister outside!" Jia Lian became more and more puzzled.

"It's quiet outside, so it's good for practicing!" This was the only explanation Wang Xifeng could give.

"Which place did you look for?" Jia Lian asked again.

Wang Xifeng was originally looking at the account book. When she heard these questions one after another, she raised her head and said, "Why are you asking so many questions? I have never seen you care so much about this sister before!"

Picking up the teacup, Jia Lian answered, "Today I asked several managers, and they all didn't know where my second sister had gone. I thought it was unusual... so I asked more questions!"

"Don't ask any more questions about this matter. It will hinder your fun anyway!"

"Don't dare to say anything careless. It's a period of national mourning, who dares to do anything reckless?" Jia Lian said very cautiously.

"I didn't realize you knew the rules!"

In this life, Jia Lian had experienced and understood a lot because he had served as a substitute for the Dragon Guard and had served on the northwest front.

What alerted him the most was that the so-called descendants of the Duke were nothing. In front of the real powerful people in the military, they simply looked down on him as a loser.

Those viscounts and earls who hold real positions would not even look at him if they did not consider the face of the Eastern Palace.

With a serious look, Jia Lian said, "You should know something about how I have changed in the past two years!"

Wang Xifeng did not refute it. She did feel the change in Jia Lian. In the past one or two years, they had not had any quarrels.

The only pity is that Wang Xifeng has not given birth to a child yet. She was too tired and failed to keep the baby after two previous pregnancies.

"What's going on with my second sister?" Jia Lian asked again.

"Didn't I tell you that I'm going to practice meditation and pray for blessings?"

"You arranged the person to send her away, and you still want to hide the fact that we are husband and wife from me?" Jia Lian asked in a serious tone.

"What's wrong with you today? Why are you saying these things for no reason?"

Jia Lian ignored this and pressed again: "This matter is by no means simple. Tell me if there is anything wrong, otherwise I will not be able to rest assured!"

And from the change in Wang Xifeng's expression, he confirmed his guess and knew that there must be something going on.

Seeing that Wang Xifeng was still silent, Jia Lian stood up and said angrily, "If you and I are separated, there will be no friendship between us in the future!"

Seeing that he was really angry, Wang Xifeng was also very anxious and blurted out: "The ancestor forbids us to say it!"

"You can't even tell me?" Jia Lian became even more angry.

Then Jia Lian flicked his sleeves and was about to leave, but Wang Xifeng quickly stood up and held him back.

"Don't be impatient!"

"I told you it's not enough!"

Hearing this, Jia Lian's expression looked a little better, and then he was pulled back by Wang Xifeng to sit down.

Then Wang Xifeng walked to the door and said to the outside, "All of you go out. I have something to say to the Second Master!"

The little girls did not dare to delay and went out of the house.

"Come closer and I'll tell you!"

Jia Lian did not hesitate and went over immediately, and then Wang Xifeng informed him of the situation.

"This is happening!"

After being surprised, Jia Lian looked at Wang Xifeng and asked, "Did you tell the Crown Princess that day?"

"Ok!"

"It's been three days, and the Crown Princess still hasn't responded?"

"No!" Wang Xifeng replied.

"Not a single word?" Jia Lian asked again.

"no!"

"This is strange, there must be an explanation!" Jia Lian asked in confusion.

"Have you told Prince Xiang's Mansion?" Jia Lian asked again.

"His Royal Highness Prince Xiang is not here, who can you tell?" Wang Xifeng sneered.

"Your Highness Prince Xiang is not here, but the Princess is always here!"

Wang Xifeng hurriedly advised: "This is a serious matter. The Crown Princess hasn't replied yet. Can we make decisions on our own?"

Jia Lian said, "Since it is such a serious matter, there should be an explanation for how it will end. Why is it dragging on?"

Wang Xifeng said indifferently: "If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up, and the Crown Princess will make the decision. Why should we worry about these things?"

Jia Lian said: "Even if the sky falls...it may not be able to crush us!"

"What do you mean?"

Jia Lian saw some things clearly, such as the fact that the East Palace could not be trusted in the army.

After the development of the situation in the past two years, he had vaguely felt that Donggong might not be able to take over the throne, so he had been worried about the future of his family.

Later, there was a fierce struggle in the court. Prince Xiang survived many storms. In addition, his high prestige in the army also allowed Jia Lian to make judgments about certain things in the future.

He didn't know when he started to worry about why his house couldn't be attached to the Prince Xiang's Palace.

And now, Yingchun's behavior gave Jia Lian hope.

As for the pregnancy, no matter whether it was consensual or forced, Yingchun was pregnant with Zhu Jinghong's child. In Jia Lian's view, this was a way to establish a relationship with Zhu Jinghong.

If Yingchun had a formal status in Prince Xiang's Mansion, then as Zhu Jinghong's "brother-in-law", he would be able to hold his head up high in the army.

As the son of a noble family, the awakened Jia Lian naturally wants to inherit his ancestors' foundation and make a career for himself.

So Jia Lian told Wang Xifeng exactly what he was thinking.

But after hearing this, Wang Xifeng was so frightened that her face turned pale.

"You are betraying the East Palace!"

(End of this chapter)