Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

The next day, Jia Cong got up early to practice martial arts. Xiangyun was sleepy and still a little confused. Suddenly she remembered that she had become a wife of the Jia family, so she hurried to get up and help him get dressed.

Jia Cong pressed her chest and said with a smile, "Just sleep a little longer, and they will take care of you. Today, ask Sister Bao for some advice, and you won't be able to escape when you come back in the evening.

By the way, this book was given to me by someone else. It has a lot of secrets. Take it and study it. I will test you tonight." Then he took out a book from the bedside drawer and threw it to Xiangyun.

"I understand, Master." Xiangyun smiled, covering her mouth.

Seeing Jia Cong getting dressed to go out, she gently opened the book and took a look, then quickly closed it with an exclamation. Her ears turned red, and she secretly cursed Jia Cong for being vulgar and polluting her eyes with pornographic pictures.

Qingwen came in and said with a smile, "Miss Yun, this is a treasure that Fatty Feng gave to me. If you learn it, I will be very happy."

Xiangyun covered her face and said, "I won't learn any obscene things."

Qingwen sneered and said, "It doesn't really matter whether Miss Yun learns or not. I will teach you in person anyway."

"Sister..." Xiangyun said angrily, "You laugh at me too. You are the ones who spoiled this bastard."

Qingwen walked over with a smile, sat beside the bed, and whispered a few words in Xiangyun's ear.

"Really?" Xiangyun asked shyly.

"I lied to you that I was a puppy."

"Then I'll just...learn a little bit."
-
"My son, I send my regards to my mother."

Empress Chen was practicing calligraphy. She glanced at Jia Cong and said with a smile, "Get up and come and see how my calligraphy looks."

"Yes." Jia Cong walked over and took a look. He saw that it was a couplet that read:
The imperial city is gloomy, and every time I see the wronged souls, the flowers shed tears
The palace gates are full of cruel officials, and the birds are frightened
She was startled, knowing that what the Queen meant was that the palace was full of dangers and that one could become a wronged spirit if one was not careful. She was also secretly reminding herself that without her care, Concubine Yuan would not be able to survive in the palace.

Yin praised: "The Queen Mother's writing is vigorous and powerful, penetrating deep into the wood, and the tip of the brush seems to have millions of brave soldiers. The air of looking down on the world is vividly displayed between the lines.

Although Cong thinks he is invincible on the battlefield, he does not have such courage. I will learn from you. "

What I mean is, I know your ambition, but without me, can you accomplish anything?

Queen Chen smiled sweetly, like a blooming flower, with red lips and white teeth, so beautiful that it was dazzling, and people subconsciously ignored her age.

"You are so good at making me happy with sweet words, but it's not that good. I feel that my writing has become less refined after not writing for a long time, and it's not as good as before."

Jia Cong knew that she meant that he was now in a high position with great power and gradually stopped listening to her and forgot her majesty as the queen.

He quickly said in a humble tone, "Your Majesty is too modest. In my opinion, Your Majesty has already mastered the essence of calligraphy. Even if you don't write for ten or eight years, your skills will not diminish in the slightest.

I have always wanted to ask my mother for a piece of calligraphy, but I have been unable to do so."

Seeing that he understood the rules, Empress Chen smiled and said, "It's amazing that you know so many famous people and you still appreciate these few words of my mother. Well, I'll give you this calligraphy."

Jia Cong said hurriedly: "Thank you for the reward, mother. I have always respected you as a god. No matter how famous you are, you are not worthy of carrying your shoes."

"You are exaggerating. Aren't you afraid of slipping your tongue? If this gets out, people will think I am ignorant." Queen Chen rolled her eyes at him and smiled with her hands covering her mouth.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "News from your mother's place cannot be easily spread."

Empress Chen glanced at him and said with a half-smile, "You have something else to say, kid. Are you blaming me for not telling you about Concubine Yuan earlier?"

"I dare not. I have come here today to ask for advice from my mother."

"Please sit down." Queen Chen called out and walked to the Arhat bed and sat down.

"Yesterday's incident happened suddenly, and I was caught off guard. I quickly ordered people to investigate everywhere, and it took until midnight to figure out what happened. How could I pass on a message to you?"

Jia Cong didn't believe these excuses at all, but said, "Yesterday, I received some fragmentary news that something happened to my elder sister. I was extremely worried. I hurried to the palace to see my mother this morning. I wonder what happened?"

Empress Chen sneered, "Someone is behind this, taking advantage of the concubines' jealousy and intrigue to plot against me. How bold!"

Jia Cong hurriedly asked what happened.

Empress Chen said, "Come here, invite Concubine Zhou over and have her talk to the Grand Guardian."

"Yes."

Jia Cong's heart moved slightly. What does this have to do with Concubine Zhou?
Not long after, Concubine Zhou arrived, paid her respects to the Queen, and greeted Jia Cong.

Empress Chen said calmly, "Tell the Shao Bao what you know."

"Yes." Concubine Zhou said hurriedly, "The cause of the incident is this: Ever since Sister Yuan Fei was ordered to visit her parents again during the Lantern Festival this year, Concubine Wu has been jealous of her, thinking that she is too popular and has stolen the emperor's favor.

She has repeatedly asked me to discuss with her, hoping to plot against Sister Yuanfei and bring her down, so that she can rely on her youth and beauty to compete for the position of Imperial Noble Consort."

"I am a lowly person and my words are not taken seriously. I dare not frame Sister Yuanfei, nor do I dare to collude with her. I also have no evidence and cannot report her.

So he just kept on being submissive and hypocritical, hoping to find evidence that she was causing chaos in the palace so that he could report it to the Empress.

"It was not until two months ago that they told me that everything was ready and asked me to pass on the message."

Jia Cong asked, "What message do you want to convey? To whom do you want to convey the message?"

Concubine Zhou said, "The Imperial Physician is Mo Zeming. According to Concubine Wu, it all depends on this man's methods to overthrow Concubine Yuan. Since Imperial Physician Mo is responsible for the health of both Concubine Yuan and me, I can often contact him without attracting attention, so Concubine Wu asked me to pass on a message."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "What is the rumor?"

"They were all ordinary words, just asking about Sister Yuanfei's health. It seems that Doctor Mo tampered with the tonic medicine that Sister Yuanfei took daily, causing Sister Yuanfei to stop menstruating for more than two months." Concubine Zhou said.

Jia Cong was stunned and said, "Doesn't Princess Yuan suspect anything? As far as I know, every concubine in the palace has two imperial doctors responsible for diagnosis and treatment. Could it be that the other imperial doctor has also been bribed?"

"That's not the case. The other imperial physician who was in charge of Princess Yuan was transferred to another province on official business to oversee the selection of medical officers and has not returned yet.

Therefore, Sister Yuanfei has only had one imperial physician for the past two months, and that is Imperial Physician Mo." said Lady Zhou.

Jia Cong smiled coldly, looked at the queen, and said, "It seems that someone from the top of the Imperial Hospital is also involved in this matter."

The queen nodded and said, "It should be so."

Concubine Zhou continued, "Since I haven't had my period for two months, Sister Yuanfei naturally has some concerns. She also asked Doctor Mo, but he just comforted her with lies and said it was nothing."

Jia Cong frowned and said, "How could a two-month menopause make the emperor so angry?"

"This... I don't know. It wasn't until Sister Yuanfei got into trouble that I suddenly realized what had happened. I connected what Concubine Wu had ordered Imperial Doctor Mo to do with it, and hurried to report to Her Majesty."

Concubine Zhou withdrew at the right time, feeling secretly proud of herself. This time she seized the opportunity to "turn to the light" and betray Concubine Wu. As expected, the Empress was very pleased and promised to promote her to a concubine.

It seems that Concubine Wu has offended the Jia family and she can't escape. In this way, if at least one of the four concubines is gone, his path to promotion will be wider.

"Okay, you can leave now." Queen Chen waved her hand.

"I'll take my leave." Concubine Zhou hurriedly withdrew. Jia Cong went over the matter in his mind and said slowly, "Mother, I'm afraid what Concubine Zhou said is not entirely true.

Since she knew that Concubine Wu had such a vicious plan, she should have informed you earlier, regardless of whether she had evidence or not. What good would it do to report it now?"

Empress Chen said: "It is normal for people in the harem to have some selfish thoughts.

Concubine Zhou pretended to be stupid, hoping to use Concubine Wu to get rid of Concubine Yuan, and then please me, and then use you and me to get rid of Concubine Wu, removing two obstacles in one go."

Jia Cong said in a hateful voice: "Why does my mother still keep such a vicious woman? It is better to get rid of her."

Empress Chen rolled her eyes at him and said, "There is no fighting and killing in the harem. Although it was a little late, Concubine Zhou finally came to inform me, saving me a lot of trouble.

If I deal with her instead, and the people in the harem see it, who will dare to be loyal to me in the future?
You are too naive. It's enough for you to know what kind of person she is. Why bother to get angry? It will only do harm and no good.

Cao Cao even tolerated Jia Xu, the enemy who killed his son. How can I not tolerate a mere noble lady Zhou?"

Jia Cong bowed and said, "My mother is a man of great talent and strategy, Cong is not as good as her. But if you keep this poisonous snake by your side, isn't your mother afraid of being bitten back by her?"

Empress Chen smiled and shook her head, saying, "The poisonous snake hiding in the dark is the most powerful. Now that she has jumped out impatiently, what is there to be afraid of?

You only see her harming others, but you don't know that she will be harmed one day. When another poisonous snake bites her in the future, you can just take advantage of the situation and get rid of her. What's the value?"

"Mother, you are wise. Concubine Zhou's tricks are just a show of wisdom." Jia Cong said, "I don't understand why my elder sister's menopause would anger the emperor."

Empress Chen said calmly, "Yesterday, Imperial Doctor Mo went to report the good news to the Emperor, saying that Concubine Yuan's period had not come for two months and she is pregnant."

Jia Cong was startled, then frowned and shook his head, saying: "No, this is a misdiagnosis. It will become clear later. The emperor will be overjoyed at most, but he won't be angry."

Empress Chen said, "This vicious plan is so complicated, how can it be so simple? Xiao Anzi, show the records of the emperor's sleeping with his wife to the young guard."

"Yes." An Wenyao hurriedly took a booklet and presented it to Jia Cong.

Jia Cong hurriedly flipped it open and saw that it recorded the emperor's favoritism towards his concubines over the past three months.

On the first day of April, fortunately for Ms. Zhang, there was no rain or dew.

On the second day of April, I had a good time with Concubine Li, but there was no rain or dew.

On the third day of April, I had a visit with Concubine Zhao, but there was no rain or dew.

……

On April 28th, the Queen was blessed with the birth of a dragon.

After quickly flipping through the book, Jia Cong felt a chill in his heart. He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "In the past three months, except for the Queen Mother who favored him twice, the other concubines have never received any favor from the Emperor."

The queen's face turned slightly red and she gave him a cold look, obviously blaming him for being outspoken. It was enough to just know it, why bother saying it out loud.

Yin said, "Not to mention the past three months, in the past two years, the emperor has listened to the advice of the imperial physician, carefully maintained his health, and was very strict with women. Now do you know why the emperor was furious?"

Jia Cong nodded slowly. Anyone would be furious if they knew they were cuckolded, let alone the emperor!
"The most vicious part of this plan is not this. In a rage, the emperor descended on Fengzao Palace, but it happened that the Yuanfei Tiankui suddenly arrived.

After checking, the nanny reported that it was "large in volume and contained blood clots." A bottle of medicine was found in the Yuanfei Palace, and after identification by the Imperial Hospital, it was found to be Niuqi Pills.

"What are cow lacquer pills?" Jia Cong asked hurriedly.

Empress Chen said calmly, "It is what people commonly call abortion medicine."

Jia Cong's heart sank. This formed a closed loop of evidence, and even if Concubine Yuan jumped into the Yellow River, she would not be able to clear herself of the charges.

"How could there be such medicine in the palace, elder sister?" Jia Cong said hatefully. It was obvious that someone had framed him.

Empress Chen said, "Of course it was sent by the Imperial Hospital, but Imperial Physician Mo insisted that it was the pills to protect the pregnancy. The Imperial Hospital also said that it was the pills to protect the pregnancy, and there are medical records and prescriptions to prove it. However, Concubine Yuan is still in the dark and knows nothing. Who do you think the emperor should believe?"

Jia Cong briefly imagined the situation at that time and sighed. The people behind the scenes had been preparing for a long time and had accounted for all possibilities. There was no flaw in the whole plan.

He asked, "How come elder sister's period came so coincidentally? If her period did not come, the emperor would only need to call the imperial physician for a consultation and he would be able to determine that it was a false pregnancy."

Empress Chen said, "According to Concubine Yuan and her palace maids, it was because she took the Yin-nourishing and blood-nourishing medicine sent by the Imperial Hospital in the morning as ordered by the doctor."

Jia Cong nodded: "This is confirmed, and it is hard to argue."

"That's right. Otherwise, how could you frame someone?"

Empress Chen sneered, "If the charge of Concubine Yuan's debauchery in the palace is proven, the emperor will naturally wonder who is so bold as to have an affair with the concubine. How can he not investigate thoroughly?"

Jia Cong nodded slowly, feeling a chill in his bones. The person behind the scenes wanted to implicate other people through Concubine Yuan!

Apart from close ministers like Jia Cong, the only ones who had the opportunity to have secret affairs with the concubines in the harem were the princes.

Even the palace guards had no chance, because guards generally did not enter the harem, and had no chance to act alone.

"Xiao Anzi, show the record that Dai Quan presented to the emperor yesterday to the Grand Guardian." Queen Chen waved her hand and said lightly.

"Yes."

Jia Cong hurriedly took it and took a look. They were all men that Princess Yuan had contacted in the past six months. Except for himself, all of them were princes, and the date and duration of the meetings were clearly stated.

Records show that all the princes went to Fengzao Palace to pay their respects, but most of them only went there two or three times, and the duration of each meeting was always within a stick of incense.

Only two people did it more often and for a longer time, more than ten times, and each time it lasted more than three incense sticks. The deep meaning of this is self-evident.

Empress Chen sneered, "Some people think I am a clay or wooden sculpture of a bodhisattva, and they are plotting against me.

Can'er and Chi'er are close to you, so they are close to Princess Yuan. They always go to pay their respects to her when they come to see me. But I didn't expect that someone would see this and set up such a vicious plot. Humph!"

When he said this, Feng's eyes turned cold, and he was obviously really angry.

Jia Cong said in a deep voice: "The eldest prince has just lost power, and some people can't wait to plot against the second brother and Chi Ge'er. They want to seize the throne and deal with the Jia family at the same time."

Empress Chen nodded and said, "Now the war in the Western Regions is imminent, Can Ge'er is away as the military supervisor, and you have an important responsibility, so the emperor has been patient and has only banned Concubine Yuan from traveling.

If this case is not quickly investigated and the truth is not clarified, there will be great trouble. "

Jia Cong cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, mother. I will do it right away." He paused for a moment and said, "Can Cong go see my elder sister?"

Empress Chen shook her head and said, "The Emperor does not allow anyone to visit him, so don't go and offend him. The Emperor is angry, so don't go and plead for mercy.

Just pretend you don't know about this. Find out the truth, and most importantly, find out who is stirring up trouble behind the scenes! I will send someone to comfort and take care of Concubine Yuan, so don't worry."

"Thank you, mother. I'll take my leave." Jia Cong said in a deep voice, and suddenly turned around and left, with a cold murderous intent in his heart.

If it is true that people die for money and birds die for food, then even if the Nan'an Palace is destroyed, it will not dispel the delusions of some people. (End of this chapter)