Chapter 225 – I Am The Empress Dowager, Who Am I Afraid Of? (part 18)

The Jiang family’s courtyard was lively again.

Mrs. Fang, who went by the pseudonym Li Yuanfang, was now the master in charge of teaching these girls. She did not entrust all her hopes of revenge to only her adopted daughter. Among the remaining girls, she picked a few people with good aptitude to win over and train. Although their loyalty may not be comparable to her adopted daughter, but that was fine.

It turned out that she was right. Her adopted daughter had been in the palace for five years, and she hadn’t gotten anywhere. Don’t even talk about being the most trusted person around the crown prince, her adopted daughter had never even touched a corner of the crown prince’s clothes!

Sure enough, birth decided everything. How smart could a daughter, who was born from such parents, be?

But this feeling was immediately overwhelmed by hatred.

“Yuanfang, have you heard? The madam is coming to choose a candidate again. This time is different from the previous few times. This time the candidate…” The woman said the rest of the words into Mrs. Fang’s ear.

Mrs. Fang’s eyes lit up. It was obvious that she wanted to pick someone to serve in the crown prince’s room. It just so happened that among the people she got, there was such a person. The people in charge of teaching them were all the elderly women from □□, and they were even brought from Yangzhou. They were specifically responsible for teaching young prostitutes.

There was no man who didn’t like a girl who had been taught in this way.

In fact, these girls were not prepared for the crown prince, but were raised by the Jiang family to win over other officials. She wasn’t sure what happened, now the family wanted to try to win over the crown prince again.

“Yuanfang, what do you think?” the woman asked.

“I think Ziyue is pretty good, charming but not demonic,” Mrs. Fang said softly.

The woman thought for a while and nodded. “Yes, the lady also said that. After all, she is here to serve the nobles, and being too seductive is not suitable.”

Mrs. Fang only said one sentence and refused to say any more.

The woman also knew that she was cautious, so she stopped asking further and changed the subject. “By the way, is there any news on Ruyi?”

Mrs. Fang showed concern at the right time, shook her head, and sighed softly.

“Don’t worry too much. Among these girls, Ruyi’s aptitude is one of the best. She is so smart, so she will be fine. With time, she will definitely be able to succeed,” the woman said comfortingly.

Mrs. Fang had a worried look on her face. “I don’t expect her to stand out either. I just hope that she will be safe.” But in fact, Mrs. Fang’s true thoughts were that, if they thought Ruyi had great aptitude, then they should have seen her Rong’er! If they had, then they would know what a genius she was! She was extremely smart!

The woman said a few more comforting words before leaving.

A few days later, the person was chosen. It really was Ziyue.

In the dead of night, Ziyue quietly went to Mrs. Fang’s house and closed the door. Ziyue knelt down in front of Mrs. Fang. “Thank you godmother! If godmother did not feel sorry for Ziyue, Ziyue would have had to serve those bad old men.”

Mrs. Fang quickly got up to help her up. “Get up quickly! This is all the godmother can do for you. For the rest, the godmother is also powerless. In the future, you will have to walk on your own.”

Ziyue nodded meekly. “Ziyue understands. Don’t worry.”

Mrs. Fang hesitated.

Ziyue was a smart one. “After Ziyue enters the palace, if there is a chance, Ziyue will definitely help younger sister Ruyi. Don’t worry!” Ziyue was thirteen years old this year. She was a year older than Ruyi, and 3 years older than His Imperial Highness.

Although she was thirteen years old, Ziyue had developed very well. She was a stunner, with large breasts and a thin waist. She was a curvy and beautiful young woman. So, she had always been worried that she would be the next person to be singled out and used as a plaything by those old men. This opportunity was too precious for her. Although this would also be serving a man, the two were as different as day and night.

Mrs. Fang shook her head and said, “Godmother didn’t mean that. Your younger sister Ruyi has been in the palace for many years. If she could stand out, she would have long ago… Now, maybe the nobles don’t like her. If you are fortunate enough for a noble to take a fancy to you, then take your younger sister Ruyi with you to serve them. She is a smart one. The two of you can support each other, so I can rest assured.”

After Ziyue heard Mrs. Fang’s words, she also breathed a sigh of relief. The road ahead was unknown, and she didn’t know what would happen in the future. Godmother was kind to her and she didn’t say anything. Fortunately, godmother was kind and didn’t force herself to promise anything.

“Ziyue knows what to do.”

Ziyue was selected, but instead of being sent to the crown prince immediately, she stayed in the Empress’s Palace, and was taught the rules and etiquette by the wet nurses.

The first reason was that the crown prince had not moved to the East Palace yet, and the other was that Empress Jiang was also afraid that Ziyue was a slut and would seduce the prince.

Emperor Long’an frowned when he received the secret report. The Jiang family’s actions were becoming more and more outrageous. He originally thought that the Jiang family kept those girls just for Yuanqi. Unexpectedly, the Jiang family had begun to use those women to make connections with the court officials. This crossed Emperor Long’an’s bottom line.

“Deal with them!” Emperor Long’an said softly.

“Yes!”

A few days later, there were rumours that the Jiang family was acting strangely, as if they were raising soldiers in their courtyards and plotting to do something sinister.

The Jiang family was frightened. They did not dare to go out to defend themselves. They didn’t know what to do for a while.

Suddenly, one day, they received news that there was an official and the imperial censor who wanted to talk to them. The Jiang family really panicked.

The Jiang family’s third young master thought about it. He ordered someone to set a fire in the courtyard in the middle of the night in an attempt to destroy the corpses.

Unfortunately, he was caught by the inspectors.

The Jiang family had no way to deny it. After further investigation, they found a lot of inside information. The case was serious and was handed over to Dali Temple.

Although the Jiang family did not raise soldiers in their courtyards, they raised many girls of different ages. Dali Temple did not explicitly say what these women were for.

But people with brains knew.

After the incident, Empress Jiang and Madam Qin knelt outside the Supreme Palace and took off their hairpins to be punished. His Imperial Highness, Zhao Yuanqi, also personally pleaded with Emperor Long’an.

For the sake of the deceased Jiang Gelao and the crown prince, Emperor Long’an did not pursue the matter of the Jiang family too much. He only ordered to seize the position of the Jiang family’s assets, and ordered the women to be sent back. The people who were sent to the palace by the Jiang family were also sent out of the palace.

He comforted the crown prince again. For half a month, he took the crown prince by his side to show his love and trust in the crown prince.

Peaceful Age Palace’s empress dowager even said that the Jiang was stupid. It had nothing to do with the crown prince.

Although the crown prince was born by a daughter of the Jiang family, the crown prince was brought up by the empress dowager since he was a child. The education of the Li family was much better than that of the Jiang family. At the very least, they would not stoop so low.

But after this incident, the century-old reputation of the Jiang family was ruined.

Empress Jiang was really sick this time and couldn’t go out. Although Emperor Long’an did not directly decree for the abolishment of her position, he took back the phoenix seal, and now she had lost all face. Empress Jiang’s heart was full of resentment. Didn’t her mother say that those girls should be raised for Yuanqi? How could she use those girls to make connections with court officials?

Madam Qin also had words of her own. These were all stupid things her sons were doing behind her back! She didn’t even know about it! But they were all a family, so what difference did it make?

Although there were some twists and turns in the middle, the results were still satisfactory. Emperor Long’an frowned when he saw the depressed crown prince.

It was his fault too. Yuanqi had been raised by his empress mother, and he had forgotten that the Jiang family was Yuanqi’s maternal family. The reputation of Yuanqi’s maternal family was discredited, and it was not a good thing for Yuanqi.

Emperor Long’an was very experienced in making his empress mother happy. However, he had no idea how to coax a child.

Helpless, Emperor Long’an had no choice but to ask empress mother for help.

Li Su glanced at Emperor Long’an. Since he knew that the Jiang family had ill-intentions for a long time, why didn’t he make a decision earlier? Why did he only make a move when things got out of hand?

However, Li Su also knew that this son was a soft-hearted and nostalgic person, and he always remembered everything and everyone who was kind to him. Therefore, even if Empress Jiang had been out of line for many years, for the sake of Jiang Gelao and Yuanqi, he had endured it. Although, she didn’t know why he didn’t endure it for longer.

“We know. Don’t worry!” Li Su said.

“Thanks, empress mother,” Emperor Long’an said with a smile.

Li Su called Zhao Defang and gave instructions like this. Zhao Defang left happily. A few days later, Zhao Defang entered the palace and came to take Li Su and Zhao Yuanqi out of the palace.

“Imperial grandmother, imperial uncle, where are we going?” After riding in the carriage for half a day, Zhao Yuanqi finally came out of his thoughts.

“Hey, you’ve finally recovered? You’re not afraid that imperial uncle will sell you?!” Zhao Defang said with a smile.

Zhao Yuanqi looked at imperial uncle’s smile, which was like a flower, and knew that he was coaxing him to be happy. Zhao Yuanqi turned his head to see Li Su’s worried eyes. Zhao Yuanqi felt emotional.

“Imperial grandmother!” Zhao Yuanqi said coquettishly as he lay on Li Su’s lap.

Li Su patted his head. “Today, let’s go to your imperial aunt’s place and play freely for a day.”

Zhao Defang smiled and said, “Your imperial aunt and I have prepared a lot of fun and delicious food!”

Zhao Yuanqi’s eyes lit up immediately, and he was full of expectations for this trip. Zhao Yuanqi envied Zhao Defang the most.

Zhao Defang was famous for being able to play in the capital. Before the wedding, Zhao Defang was still doing work for the Ministry of Revenue, but after the wedding, he was let go for various reasons and stopped working for them. He led the princess to walk around and play in the capital. If it wasn’t for Emperor Long’an’s insistence, he would have gone to a place further away to play.

It wasn’t until Qin Wan’er was pregnant that the couple calmed down. However, he was not idle, and he ran to the village every three to five days to play all kinds of things.

“Imperial uncle, what are some fun things to do? Tell me about it first.” Zhao Yuanqi got up, sat next to Zhao Defang, and asked as he pulled on Zhao Defang’s sleeve.

Zhao Defang held his head proudly. “It was a lot of fun. We can swim in the water, catch fish, and barbecue. At night, we can watch fireflies, catch wild ducks…”

When Li Su saw Zhao Yuanqi’s eyes get brighter, she smiled.