A few days later, the fifth prince's concubine Lan Ning entered the palace with her grandson in her arms.
Xue Hengzhao, the concubine of Tongfu, talked about the news outside: "Ma Cunxu was imprisoned and contracted smallpox. He may not die soon.
Although he has been taken out of prison, he has not been taken back to his home. He lives in a small house outside and has already prepared for his funeral."
"As soon as Ma Cunxu dies, the Yao family and the Ma family will completely break up," Concubine Fu said. "This time something happened to the Ma family, and the Yao family stood by and watched, the Ma family must be resentful."
"Yes, the Ma family has always believed that they are working for the Yao family, and there is no credit but hard work." Lan Ning said, "But the Yao family now seems to treat them as abandoned children, which means they will be cooked by the lackeys. To put it aside, the Yao family must have known about the frame-up of the fifth prince, and most likely participated in it.
But in the end, it was only the Ma family that was unlucky to be punished. As the sage said, don’t worry about the few but the inequality. Once people feel unfair, they will inevitably feel resentful."
"But there is nothing the Ma family can do to help the Yao family and the Queen," Xue Heng said, "On the contrary, without the Queen and the Yao family taking action, I don't know how many people would be hurt."
"The queen seems to have begun to trust Concubine Xian and the Liu family more now," Lan Ning said, "apparently she has regarded them as new helpers."
"Yes, the former harem has gradually shown a new situation." Xue Hengzhao nodded.
"Heng Zhao, I still have something to discuss with you." Lan Ning said, "Someone gave us news that there is a secret room in the second prince's house, and it is said that the childbirth talisman given to them by Taoist Qingque is enshrined in it. p>
Do you think there is a hidden secret here? I remember you told me before that Qingque is not a simple person."
After hearing this, Xue Hengzhao lowered his head and thought for a while and said: "If this is true, there must be something wrong there. Qingque is definitely not so kind and gave them the fertility charm for nothing.
Mrs. Ma has become obsessed with the matter of seeking a child. She has suffered countless losses. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that as long as she makes a fuss about it, she will be able to get her involved.
According to my previous inference, Qingque is aimed at the Queen. Both the Ma family and the second prince belong to the Queen."
"If this is the case, what should we do?" Lan Ning asked.
"We'd better hide in the dark," Xue Hengzhao said, "Let's add insult to injury by the way."
"What about the second prince?" Concubine Fu asked, "This child is pitiful enough. He is not bad in nature. Although he works for the queen, he does it to save his biological mother."
"The second prince and Mr. Ma are husband and wife. This... I'm afraid it won't be easy, right?" Lan Ning looked at Xue Hengzhao.
"It's still useful to keep the second prince." Xue Heng said, "It's really time for the Ma family and the Ma family to step down. After all, they have been left dancing on the stage for a long time."
"Then what should we do?" Lan Ning was puzzled, "They are husband and wife, how can they take out the second prince?"
"Wouldn't it be enough if the second prince made the first accusation?" Xue Heng said, "The second prince and Ma's family don't have much love as husband and wife, and the marriage is purely based on profit.
Moreover, in the current situation, the Ma family has become an iceberg, and the second prince must know that he cannot rely on it."
"I think he should be able to see the situation clearly," Lan Ning said, "Then I will ask someone to remind him secretly."
"It has to be done as soon as possible. If it's later, the people over there will take action." Xue Hengzhao said, "They probably won't keep the second prince."
"Then get out of the palace quickly and get this matter done." Concubine Fu said, "Don't let those people get the first step."
The second prince returned after two or three days since he last left the mansion.
He already knows about Ma Cunxu's case of smallpox. It's not that he doesn't want to take care of the Ma family's affairs, but that everything depends on the queen's wishes.
The queen was standing by and watching, so naturally he couldn't interfere.
So I hid out this time.
I originally wanted to postpone it for a few more days, but I didn't want to receive a secret report, so I hurried back.
As soon as they entered the house, they saw Wu Qiqi's father, Old Man Wu, being hung on the west porch and being beaten.
When the servant who beat the person saw the second prince coming back, he hurriedly stopped.
"Who asked you to beat me?" The second prince stared.
While ordering people to put Old Man Wu down, he questioned the servant.
"As for me, it was the princess who asked me to beat him up." The servant knelt on the ground and said, "She said he had stolen things from the house, and she said she would put him down when he came back."
The second prince sneered after hearing this: "You are just trying to intimidate me, you crazy woman!"
Mr. Wu collapsed on the ground, crying and begging: "Master, please save Qi Qi quickly, she is about to be tortured to death."
When the second prince heard this, he felt bad. Since Mr. Ma ordered people to beat old man Wu, how could he let Wu Qiqi alone?
I was careless. I only thought that Ma would be worried about her mother's family's affairs, but I didn't think that she would vent her anger on others.
When the second prince arrived in the backyard, Wu Qiqi looked haggard and huddled in the corner of the bed.
When she saw the second prince, she did not greet him as before.
The tears were like broken beads, instantly wetting the skirt of my clothes.
"Qiqi, how are you?" The second prince strode over and took her into his arms.
Wu Qiqi raised her eyes to look at the second prince, her eyes were extremely affectionate and painful, and her tears flowed even more fiercely.
"Speak," the second prince raised his hand to wipe away her tears, "did that vicious woman hit you?"
Wu Qiqi opened her mouth, but she just choked and couldn't speak.
"Don't be afraid, I'm back and she won't dare to bully you anymore." The second prince hugged Wu Qiqi.
Wu Qiqi tried her best to smile and moved her lips.
Although she could only make an angry sound, the second prince still understood what she was talking about.
"I'm dumb."
"Why are you mute?" The second prince was shocked and angry.
Wu Qiqi stopped talking and just cried silently, but the second prince understood that it was Ma's poison that silenced her.
The sky has been cloudy all the time, which makes people feel depressed.
Mrs. Ye walked in from outside in a hurry and said to Ma, "Oh no, the second prince is back!"
At this time, Ma had already broken the jar and said with a cold face: "So what? Is it possible that he wants to chop off my head?"
While he was talking, the second prince had already walked in, and all the women and maids in the room were so frightened that they did not dare to breathe.
The second prince's face was so frighteningly dark that they had never seen him before.
"What? You stood up for that little prostitute?" Ma asked with a sneer, "It's just a plaything bought for a few taels of silver, and you still take it seriously?"
The second prince, with a livid face and said nothing, went up to grab Ma's hair and dragged her off the chair.
Ma shielded her head with both hands and screamed like a pig being killed.
The servants knelt down and begged for mercy.
The second prince held Ma's hair with one hand, glanced at everyone, and said: "Don't be busy, I will be buried with you."
After saying that, he dragged Ma towards the inner room.
