I want to make progress

Chapter 21 Couple’s Night Talk
"You're not right today. You usually don't care about this kind of thing, but why did you suddenly speak up today? Aren't you just because you saw that the second brother finally married a woman and you love her and help her out?"

The old lady suddenly narrowed her eyes with an unfriendly look.

"What are you talking about!"

The old Duke jumped up as if he had been bitten by a rat on the buttocks, "Don't accuse me, there is no such thing at all!"

"You old man, you're so jumpy, it's frightening!"

The old lady was so frightened that she almost dropped the bird's nest in her hand. She glared at the old man fiercely, asking him to be so noisy even at his old age.

"Ugh!"

The old Duke sighed, a trace of worry appeared on his face, "I'm not being nosy, it's just that we shouldn't be too ostentatious in our mansion recently!"

"What's going on? What happened?"

Seeing him like this, the old lady's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that something big happened in the mansion? "Is it related to... Changting's trip to Xuancheng?"

"Not bad!"

The old Duke nodded and looked at his wife. "This trip to Xuancheng is to investigate the embezzlement of funds for dam construction. There are very few officials in Xuancheng who are innocent. Even the prefect of Xuancheng has been detained."

"It seems that the culprit this time is the prefect of Xuancheng, but everyone knows that the prefect of Xuancheng climbed up from the bottom. If there is no one to back him up, how dare he do such a computer thing."

"Not only did Changting clean up all the corrupt officials in Xuancheng this time, he also brought back an account book. There are many people involved in that account book. Do you know who is at the top?"

"Looking at the master's expression, he must be either a royal relative or a person of high status and power."

"That's right! This matter actually involves the Queen Mother's family, the Duke of Huguo's Mansion!"

"what!"

The old lady nearly dropped the bowl in her hand, she had never thought that this matter would involve the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion. Not to mention that the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion was already in a high position and had power, and they also had the support of the Queen Mother, and their Queen Mother was not a charitable person.

The late emperor doted on the woman of the Grand Tutor, Concubine Yun, and the prince born to her, and he didn't even plan to give the throne to the current emperor. The Empress Dowager, who was Concubine Li at the time, and the current emperor were not favored at all, but they have their current status, which shows that they are not easy to deal with.

If the current emperor was not capable and wise, and worked hard to govern the country, the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion would have been suppressed long ago because of its power, status, and military authority.

Because of the Empress Dowager and because it is the emperor's maternal family, the Duke of the State's Mansion has been extremely prosperous in recent years. The owner of the Duke of the State's Mansion is also very arrogant and has done a lot of dirty things behind the scenes. She has also heard about it, but the Duke of the State's Mansion is powerful and has the support of the Empress Dowager, so she can only watch for so many years. I didn't expect the Duke of the State's Mansion to be so bold and presumptuous that they even dared to take the money for building the dam. If something goes wrong, there will be a lot of deaths. Do you really think that the money in the Darong Treasury belongs to their Meng family!
"You didn't present the evidence to the emperor?"

Suddenly the old lady's expression froze, and she looked at the old man with wide eyes. She was so angry at the old man's silence, "You are so confused!"

"The Duke of the State's Mansion is the emperor's maternal family after all, and the Empress Dowager has their back. You all know how much the Empress Dowager values ​​her family, so how could she let anything happen to her family? Unless the Duke of the State's Mansion commits the heinous crime of treason and rebellion, it will not fall so easily."

"So what if they embezzled the money for building the dam? Didn't it cause any casualties? The matter can be big or small. Even if you submit the evidence, you can't bring down the Duke of the State Guard Mansion. You will offend the Duke of the State Guard Mansion because of it. Unless the emperor and the queen mother have a falling out, as long as the queen mother is alive, the Duke of the State Guard Mansion will never fall."

"Yan'er has taken the position of Queen. The Queen Mother is already dissatisfied with her, and she has no children. If you do this, the Queen Mother will definitely target Yan'er even more..."

"How could you do such a thing that hurts others by 800 and hurts yourself by 1,000? Are you crazy?"

The old lady was so angry that she slammed the table. She knew that her son and husband were upright and had done nothing wrong, but they could not ignore themselves and their families. One move would affect the whole body. Couldn't they find another way to do this thing?
"You know, although the Duke of Protectorate's Mansion is powerful and has the Queen Mother's support, the Emperor has become more and more wary of them over the years. The more arrogant and domineering they are, the more the Emperor cannot tolerate them. Dissatisfaction accumulates little by little."

"As for Yan'er, when she entered the palace and became the queen, she had to bear the responsibilities of the queen. When she entered the palace, she knew what she would face."

"We, the Duke of Ying, have always been loyal to the Emperor. That's why Yan'er entered the palace and became the Empress. That's why we are presenting the evidence to the Emperor. We have been enemies with the Duke of Huguo since the day Yan'er entered the palace and became the Empress."

He sighed and patted his wife's hand, "Don't worry, Yan'er will be fine. The emperor will protect Yan'er, and we in the palace will also protect Yan'er. You should also have confidence in our Yan'er. She has been doing very well these years, hasn't she?"

"You still have the nerve to talk about Yan'er!"

The old Duke's words not only failed to appease the old lady, but also made her explode, "You only know that the emperor knows righteousness! When can you think about Yan'er!"

"Back then, I didn't agree with Yan'er entering the palace as the empress. Even if Yan'er couldn't have children and never married, we would have raised her for the rest of her life. But you, for the sake of the so-called greater good, let Yan'er enter the palace as the empress."

"Yan'er is also a fool. She was fooled by you and talked about national justice. The palace is not a good place to stay. Not to mention that the Queen Mother still hates us for ruining her good relationship with the Protectorate Mansion."

"You have only been in the palace for a few years, but you are so thin that you are just bones. You look so old. You used to be such a lively girl, but now you look so lifeless. My daughter, if you don't feel sorry for her, I, as your mother, feel sorry for you!"

Thinking of her poor daughter, the old lady couldn't help but shed tears. She didn't know whether it was a blessing or a misfortune that her daughter was born in her belly in this life!
"Madam, you feel sorry for Yan'er, and so do I. Yan'er was willing to enter the palace for us, and we are the ones who let her down!"

When mentioning this woman, the old Duke's body hunched over. The person he felt most sorry for in this life was this daughter.

At that time, the Duke of Huguo's Mansion was trying to get his hands on the position of Queen. In order to prevent this, the Emperor took a fancy to Yan'er. To be more precise, he took a fancy to Yan'er because she had the support of the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion and was infertile.

(End of this chapter)