Chapter 80 - Talking about marriage

Yun Fenghuang was in an awkward position, “Not to mention that it is Noble Consort Gui who sends you here to serve Jie Yu Yue. Even if Jie Yu Yue did not need you, she would accept Noble Consort Gui’s kindness and would not harm you. Moreover, there are a lot of servants here. Perhaps Jie Yu Yue will not keep you here.”

You had not even seen Yuan Lianniang yet, so why did you run out so hurriedly?

“Perhaps Jie Yu Yue does not want to harm you. But you turn to me for help. Given what you just did, she will be angry and make trouble for you.” Yun Fenghuang thought.

The maid did not get the implied meaning. Yun Fenghuang did not know if the maid was scared or she was not very clever. When the maid heard what she said, she was relieved and wiped her tears, and even asked in fear, “Is it real that I will be fine if I go back to the side hall right now?”

“Hurry up and go back to the side hall. Do not let the servants in Ning Bing Hall find that you have come to me for help.” Yun Fenghuang said, “Otherwise, Jie Yu Yue will not let you go!”

After hearing what Yun Fenghuang said, the maid stood up and hurried away after a salute.

“Are the people of Yan Lan Palace so afraid of Jie Yu Yue?” Yun Fenghuang didn’t care about the maid and asked, “Xi Jing and Xi Le are not like her.”

Although Noble Consort Gui was not as powerful as the Empress, her background was not weak. In contrast, Xi Jing and Xi Le did not care about Yuan Lianniang at all, and it could even be said that they laughed at and looked down upon Jie Yu Yue… The maid of Yan Lan Palace was too weak.

Xi Jing guessed, “Perhaps it is because Noble Consort Gui gave her to Jie Yu Yue. After she is sent to Jie Yu Yue, Jie Yu Yue will be her new master. Her fate rests with Jie Yu Yue.”

Then she flattered Yun Fenghuang, “This maid is alert. She knew that although Jie Yu Yue is the hostess of the Hu Zhu Palace, Pin Yun, you are the decision-maker.”

“Be careful of what you say.” Yun Fenghuang smiled lightly. “I’m just a concubine and I dare not to ignore Jie Yu Yue and throw my weight around.”

She pondered, and said, “Go and ask about the maid’s character. I have only been in the palace for a few days and my grade is not high. Why did the maid come to me?”

The servants around her quickly accepted the task.

At this time, it was already late. Yun Fenghuang went to sleep since there was nothing left for her to do.

The next day, she went to Yan Fu Palace to pay respects to the Empress first, and then went to Mian Fu Palace as usual under the guidance of the Empress… Then Yun Fenghuang greeted with Wei Hengyan. When she was about to leave, a maid came to stop her and said that the Empress asked her to go to Yan Fu Palace and the Empress had something to tell.

Wei Hengyan went away enviously.

Yun Fenghuang assumed that the reason was that Empress Ji wanted to talk about the matter about Emperor Chunjia, seeming like she had already contacted her family and had go the answer.

However, at Yan Fu Palace, Empress Ji said, “Early in the morning, the Prince Regent took Gongxiang Xiao to the palace to apologize as well as to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and Queen Mother of Honor. When we went to Mian Fu Palace, they had just left… The Prince Regent also said that it was time to arrange a marriage for Shizi. However, Princess Yuan had passed away. Step Princess Lu was from Marquess Qingping’s Mansion, but she did not have enough time because her son was young and weak. Therefore, the Prince Regent turned to the Empress Dowager and Queen Mother of Honor for help.”

“My Highness, what do you think of this?” Yun Fenghuang asked while thinking.

Empress Ji said, “When the Empress Dowager and Queen Mother of Honor heard these words, they thought that it was time to arrange marriages for the three princesses. They felt that it was very quiet because there were no imperial heirs in the palace, so they decided to hold a blind date.”

To put it simply, the Empress Dowager and Queen Mother of Honor intended to hold a blind date in the name of the royal family, providing a chance for people who reached the age for marrying of the imperial clan or other strong families to have a meet.

“I thought that we would spend a holiday at a summer resort soon. It would be more convenient if holding it in the temporary Imperial Palace. But Queen Mother of Honor considered that some ministers would stay in Dijing City when we went to the temporary Imperial Palace, and the children of those families would stay with their elders. Queen Mother of Honor was worried that someone would miss this opportunity… Therefore, she urged to hold it in the next two days.”

Yun Fenghuang did not need to worry about it. Empress Ji was very skillful in handling this kind of things, and she had chosen Small Fang Hu or Small Ying Zhou to hold it. These two islands were the largest among the five islands. The scenery was good, very suitable for young men and women to meet.

More importantly, it would not disturb the peace and order of the harem.

The reason why the Empress summoned Yun Fenghuang to come over this time was to ask her to analyze the intention of the Prince Regent and whether it was related to Emperor Chunjia.

“The Prince Regent wants to protect his son.” Yun Fenghuang said after thinking for a moment, “After all, Mr. Qi was brought to the palace by his son. People have a strong interest on other people’s private affairs. Even if grounding Yuan Songlai shows that it is true that Yuan Songlai talked at random and I was unfairly maligned, some people will continue to pass on the rumor. The most important thing is that Mr. Lingshan is impeached. There is no favorable result of it until now. At this time, with this matter, the Prince Regent must be deeply troubled. Moreover, he must be afraid that Gongxiang Xiao will be involved in Mr. Lingshan’s event.”

“At this time, the Prince Regent puts forward to arrange a marriage to his son, which can not only transfer the public opinion, but also get another support by this marriage.”

As for whether it was related to Emperor Chunjia…

Yun Fenghuang held the belief that “If she doesn’t kill Emperor Chunjia, she will not end well.” She said without hesitation, “Yuan Songlai revealed that Mr. Qi and I had a marriage contract. Since His Majesty instructed him to expose this, I’m afraid that His Majesty might have expected it.”

“Step Princess Lu is supported by Marquess Qingping, so even if the younger legitimate son of the Prince Regent is still young, she has already put a lot of pressure on Gongxiang Xiao. Gongxiang Xiao has not gained any achievements, so he cannot defeat Step Princess Lu. But if Gongxiang Xiao marries a woman with a strong family background, it will not be good news for Step Princess Lu and her son!”

“… This matter may indeed force Ms. Lu to offend Gongxiang Xiao openly ahead of schedule.” Empress Ji thought about it and said, “The Prince Regent is not a fool. Since he brought Gongxiang Xiao to the palace and put forward to arrange a marriage to his son, I think he must have appeased Ms. Lu.”

After all, the Prince Regent was still just a lord. Although Ms. Lu and Marquess Qingping’s Mansion had already begun to push Gongxiang Xiao aside, they would not begin to fight now because they did not want others to take advantage of them.

What was more, considering the overall situation, if Gongxiang Xia married a daughter of a big clan at this time, it would benefit the overall interests of the Prince Regent.

In the past two years, the Prince Regent was obviously not as intimate with Gongxiang Xiao as he used to be, which made Ms. Lu and people in Marquess Qingping’s Mansion satisfied to some extent… Therefore, Empress Ji did not doubt that the Prince Regent could persuade Ms. Lu and Marquess Qingping to support Gongxiang Xiao for marrying a woman from a famous family.

She couldn’t understand it. Emperor Chunjia was in the palace and did not take over the throne yet. What would he do to create chaos at Prince Regent’s Mansion and further achieve his aim to control the Imperial City Division?

“My Lady, has anything happened to Yuan’s Family recently?” If Yun Fenghuang had thought of it, she would have told the Empress. After all, she was just an ill-informed concubine. Even if she wanted to know more and analyze other things, there was no way for her to begin. She had to hope that the Empress could provide some clues.

However, the Empress shook her head, “There are many spies in Earl Xingning’s Mansion. They are being watched.”

The Empress pondered and suddenly asked, “How much do you know about Mr. Qi?”

“… We grew up together. But at that time, he would be the future master of Qi’s Family, so he had a heavy schoolwork and rarely showed up. In addition, we have not met each other since our engagement was canceled. Now, I know little about him.” Yun Fenghuang said cautiously, “I know Ms. Chen, Mr. Qi’s mother, better.”

Empress Ji was not interested in Ms. Chen. She said, “You used to be the future wife of Mr. Qi. Do you know if their family connected with people in Dijing City?”

“My Lady, do you suspect that Mr. Qi works for His Majesty?” Yun Fenghuang was stunned. The she said, “I… I do not think so. Qi’s Family is very powerful in the north. Even my family is not as powerful as Qi’s Family. How can His Majesty get their support?”

Empress Ji was silent for a while, waved her hand, and asked her to leave. She said, “Well, let’s wait and see what he has got up in his sleeve.”

Now there was no clue. They had to wait and see.

However, Empress Ji was still worried, and she always felt that she had missed something important.

Yun Fenghuang got up and asked to leave. Before she left, she stopped and asked the Empress, “My Lady, even if we don’t know what His Majesty will do next. Given what Yuan Songlai did today, It’s clear that His Majesty…”

“I know.” Empress Ji sighed, “But… Alas.”

Although Empress Ji didn’t say it clearly, Yun Fenghuang thought that even if Empress Ji told her family the whole thing, she would not get the response that she wanted.

“It’s very important. I think that ordinary people would take it seriously.” Yun Fenghuang really did not understand why people in Ji’s Family defensed against their daughters. Empress Ji was different from the Empress Dowager and Queen Mother Ji. She had less affection with Emperor Chunjia, and she also had no heirs. Of course, she would help Ji’s Family rather than her husband.

But Yun Fenghuang could not speak out these words because she was just a concubine with a low grade, so she only comforted the Empress politely, “Maybe your family had taken your words to heart and did not show it in front of you.”

Queen Ji said with a heavy heart, “I hope so.”

What the Empress said showed that she had no confidence to her family. Obviously, she thought that her family would not pay attention to every word she said.

Yun Fenghuang was also in a bad mood. When she left Yan Fu Palace, she was very worried and kept silent all the way, which made Xi Le dare not speak.

When she returned to Hu Zhu Palace, it seemed that she was not as serious as before. When she passed Ning Bi Hall, she noticed that there were some noises there, mixed with the cry of a maid, but someone gagged the maid quickly.

It was a common occurrence for Yuan Lianniang. Yun Fenghuang did not care what had happened, so she ignored it and walked away.

Unexpectedly, when she arrived at Zi Quan Hall, she saw Emperor Chunjia, who only had Yan Yin by his side, standing on the side of the road and pulling out a glass blade to tease a cat that no one knew where it came from.

“My Majesty?” Yun Fenghuang looked at Emperor Chunjia and Yan Yin with surprise, and came forward to salute. She asked, “Why is there a cat here?”

Emperor Chunjia said, “Last time Minghui cried here. She was scared by a toad. Mother learnt that, so she asked the servants to clean up those deserted places so that nothing would scare Minghui and others who likes to run around. Some maids say that the palace is vast and even if they clean up this place at this time, there is no guarantee that there is no snake and rat hidden in the corner. Therefore, they send some cats from the Imperial Animal Garden… Perhaps it is one of them.”

Yun Fenghuang glanced at the cat raised in Imperial Animal Garden. Its fur was smooth and shining, looking like a commanding cat. It did not try to curry favor with Emperor Chunjia. Instead, it stretched its claws, trying to catch his robe.

This cat looked a bit fierce… It appeared in Hu Zhu Palace at this time. Yun Fenghuang didn’t know if it came in unintentionally or someone sent it to Hu Zhu Palace?

After all, Yuan Lianniang in the main palace was pregnant…

She thought about it and changed the subject, “My Majesty, will you go to Ning Bi Hall? When I passed there just now, Jie Yu Yue seemed in anger!”

“Is Lianniang angry again?” Emperor Chunjia stopped waving the grass, keeping silent for a while, sighed and said helplessly, “I will see her again.”

He threw the grass and hurried away.

Yun Fenghuang also went directly to her side hall with Xi Le after the Emperor left.

Chen Jing was standing at the door. Seeing her coming back, he hurried up to salute her. Then he said in a surprise, “My Lady, there is a cat behind you.”

Yun Fenghuang looked back. The cat that did not try to curry favor with Emperor Chunjia followed her directly into Zi Quan Hall. When she saw it, the cat immediately put on a cute and lovely posture and called, “Meow…”

“It has nothing to do with us.” Yun Fenghuang didn’t buy it. She asked Chen Jing to drive it out on the spot and immediately went to see Nian Xuan. She said, “A cat ignores His Majesty, but tries to please me instead. I think there must be something wrong with me. Have a look. Did anyone put something on me?”