After eating and drinking, Sheng Shaoqing walked slowly to Hanzhang Terrace. The dusk was getting darker, but the lights in the main hall were brightly lit. Palace people were coming in and out, and there seemed to be order in the chaos.
Yuan Che also hurried over from Yongning Palace at this time. When he saw Sheng Shaoqing, Yuan Che could no longer hold back the tension he had been feeling all day.
It’s not easy, why do you feel more tired than last time?”
Sheng Shaoqing stretched out his hand, "Che'er, you feel tired just sitting there. Aren't the people below even more tired? They have to set out from outside the palace in the early morning and then go inside to wait for the summons, just to finally say these few words in front of you.
If I ask you to exchange auspicious words with them, which one would you like to do?"
Yuan Che curled his lips and said aggrievedly, "Well, I shouldn't complain."
"The Queen Mother is not lecturing you. The Queen Mother wants you to understand that even if you feel miserable, there are certainly people in the world who suffer more than you. It's good if you can understand this."
Yuan Che nodded and put his hand into Sheng Shaoqing's. Mother and son walked into the hall hand in hand, and walked steadily towards the phoenix seat and dragon chair on the high platform amidst loud shouts.
When passing by everyone in the Qingyuan Palace, Sheng Shaoqing suddenly realized that she seemed to have made a mistake. Men and women were seated separately at the palace banquet. It would be useless for her to recognize the Anyuan County Lord. Li Lingjiang was not at the table either.
As I was feeling regretful, the system that had not appeared for a long time suddenly spoke, [Host, have you forgotten that you still have a system? 】
"If you don't speak, I will indeed forget."
This system has never been used since the year-end points were cleared. If those functions were not still available, Sheng Shaoqing would have thought that he did not have such a system.
【I】
Although it is a good thing that the host no longer relies on it, the more I hear the host's words, the more unpleasant it becomes.
"What? Are you going back to the headquarters for the annual meeting at the end of the year? Is there any year-end gift package for you?"
The system did not expect that the host guessed half of it right. It was indeed connected to the headquarters, but it was not an annual meeting or a big gift package, but an assessment of the current overall situation so that it could adjust the focus of the work in the next stage.
Speaking of which, there is something else that needs to be informed to the host this time, but looking at the situation now, it is better not to disturb the host yet.
【No, no, don’t talk nonsense.】
Sheng Shaoqing: "."
[Li Lingjiang will join the Ministry of War later in the year as a member of the Ministry of War, so his seat is close to the Ministry of War, which is the last two rows in the southwest corner of the hall.]
"What's the use? I can't pull him out and say: I want to see what you, a bad guy who steals things, look like?"
【You seem to have forgotten Mrs. Li?】
According to the rules, the concubine and her family will have a chance to toast today.
Taking this opportunity, Sheng Shaoqing could see with his own eyes this militant who dared to use the palace as a warehouse and sell her property to actively raise money for him.
After Sheng Shaoqing sat down on the phoenix throne, she realized that Mrs. Li, Mrs. Xu and other people in the harem had already arrived, and their seats were right next to her.
The late emperor's harem can be counted with two hands. No wonder there is only one son like Che'er. Without Liu Cairen, the number of people in the harem becomes even thinner. Even if several princesses and their family members are added up, there is still no one in the Qinghe Palace.
There are many people.
Sheng Shaoqing thought, is it true that no one speaks out for Liu Cairen?
Didn't it mean that Old Qinghe King was obsessed with asking, how could he still have the time to create so many people?
There are eight biological county princes alone, and the number of granddaughters is even greater. Starting from the Anning county prince and ending with the Anyuan county prince, there are a total of twenty-five granddaughters.
This doesn’t even count sons and grandsons!
Sheng Shaoqing suddenly felt sorry for her pocket. Looking at the exquisite dishes brought by the palace people, what was on the plate was not the food, but her flowing money!
Mrs. Li seemed to have become much depressed after she was released from Yeting Prison. The person who loved to show off in the past was very low-key today. However, the skinny camel was bigger than the horse, so she still took out her most decent dress and accessories.
It proves that the old person of his has not remained silent in the palace.
Sheng Shaoqing turned his head slightly and told Cui Yun, "Move Mrs. Li's seat over."
Cui Yun was surprised, but followed the Queen Mother's instructions and changed the seats of Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Li.
This was the first time Mrs. Li saw Sheng Shaoqing since her last interrogation in Ye Ting.
She fainted after returning to prison that day, and when she woke up, she completely forgot what had just happened.
If Lu Zhu beside her hadn't repeated the incident with a strange expression, she wouldn't have known that she had just lost her soul and told the Queen Mother everything she had planned before.
So, the master and the servant waited peacefully in Yeting Prison to die.
However, after waiting for one, two, three and four days, as the days were getting closer and closer to the end of the year, there was no news about the execution of the two of them. Therefore, they guessed that the Queen Mother felt that it was unlucky to kill people recently, and this was to
Leave them until later in the year to kill them.
So, the master and the servant waited anxiously for death in Yeting Prison.
A knife to extend her head, and a knife to shrink her head, it would be better to take it easy, so that she could seek relief.
I just didn't expect that the Queen Mother issued an edict a few days ago, letting them out and letting them move into Yilan Courtyard.
Mrs. Li was even more confused about this arrangement. If her subordinates were defeated and ended up in this situation, she would definitely get rid of them quickly and never leave any clues behind.
Lv Zhu put forward another idea. Could it be that the Queen Mother wanted to use the Madam to do some kind of transaction, so she kept their lives till now?
However, no matter what, now that she has been released, she must regroup and not let others look down upon her. After this incident, she has learned two words: low-key.
If he didn't usually show off his wealth, Mrs. Xu wouldn't have caught him and sued him in front of the Queen Mother.
However, when she came out, she found that the palace had changed. Wang Shanggong had been driven out of the palace, and almost all the people she had cultivated in the past had been replaced.
It seemed like she and Lu Zhu were the only ones left in this huge palace.
Mrs. Li's movements are respectful, but her expression is not as eager as before. What about the medicine?
Is it a one-time use?
[Yes, you have no cumulative relationship with Mrs. Li, so you cannot load value points onto her. You can only use one-time medicine. 】
Ah, Sheng Shaoqing felt embarrassed when he saw Mrs. Li. He thought she could change her ways and become a good sister like Princess Lin Yang.
After all the tedious ceremonies, Sheng Shaoqing announced the edict on behalf of Yuan Che. The main content of the edict was to express his longing for the deceased emperor, his affirmation of last year's work and his prospects for next year's work. He thanked God, thanked earth, and thanked everyone in the world.
Those who have meritorious service will be rewarded according to their merits, and those who are guilty will be punished.
Mrs. Li was sitting on pins and needles as she listened to this gracious decree. Every word she spoke seemed to be criticizing Sang and Huai, and she had done something wrong. She always felt that the Queen Mother's words meant something.
"Mother, my sons and ministers sincerely wish my mother all the best, health and longevity!"
Yuan Che was the first to kneel down, and the ministers and wives also followed suit. Although Sheng Shaoqing thought he had seen a big scene, the shocking scene of so many people bowing down at the same time still made Sheng Shaoqing lose his mind for a while. This was too impressive.
Bar!
Only then did she realize that the real function of the phoenix crown was to prevent her from moving around when she was frightened.
"Ping," Sheng Shaoqing cleared his throat and steady his voice and said, "Everyone, please be level! Today is the New Year's Eve banquet, the king and his ministers are having fun together, no need to be restrained!"
After the emperor paid his respects, the banquet officially began. The sound of silk and bamboo gradually sounded, and the lively atmosphere gradually became thicker.
The more Sheng Shaoqing looked at it, the more she felt that the banquet was like a company annual meeting, except that she had turned into a big BOSS.
The palace servants behind him began to taste and serve the dishes, and the people below had already raised their wine glasses and expressed their blessings to each other.
Princess Lin Yang also silently greeted Sheng Shaoqing with a wine glass: Found it.
Sheng Shaoqing realized that what she was talking about was that Ji Baochuan's husband had been found by her.
Turning around, Sheng Shaoqing saw someone suddenly appeared in front of Mrs. Li.
To be precise, it was a man who bowed down in front of Mrs. Li.
Mrs. Li acted in a panic, and quickly turned to look at Sheng Shaoqing. She happened to meet Sheng Shaoqing's gaze, her body trembled, and she immediately looked away.
So, Sheng Shaoqing silently turned on the psychological peeping function.
Sheng Shaoqing pricked up his ears and heard the man ask, "How is sister doing lately?"
Fortunately, they were asked to change seats, otherwise how could they have obtained this first-hand information?
Mrs. Li turned around and said with difficulty, "It's okay, how about you?"
She couldn't send the message outside the palace, and the news from outside the palace couldn't come in. Therefore, she didn't know what her brother's situation was now, but she knew one thing very well: the Queen Mother already knew about Li's plan, or she said it herself
of.
Sheng Shaoqing: Yes, that’s right, I understand.
For the first time, Mrs. Li didn't think it was a good thing to be near the center of the stage. She and Mrs. Xu used to fight over each other to sit next to the late emperor, but the former emperor's position was replaced by the new emperor's. The seat next to the new emperor was the queen mother. The person next to the queen mother was
The location is not a blessed place, and I wonder how much of their conversation the Queen Mother can hear?
Sheng Shaoqing: I can hear everything.
Li Lingjiang said, "Sister, there is no need to worry, my brother, everything is fine."
But in my heart: What a fart, do you think I didn’t know you were released from Yeting Prison just because you were imprisoned?
Sheng Shaoqing: Well, you don’t seem to know everything comprehensively. Your sister also said that she has settled her grudges with the Li family.
"Several younger sisters in the family also miss my empress very much, but my younger sister is getting married this year, and she often asks me to send her greetings to you."
"My little sister is about to get married," Mrs. Li looked melancholy, and then asked, "I wonder which family she has promised to?"
"It's the Longxi County Prince's Mansion."
Mrs. Li smiled bitterly and said nothing, but she sighed in her heart, she still didn't escape.
Li Lingjiang also smiled and said, "My younger sister is no more noble than my elder sister and can accompany the emperor, but she is marrying into a clan after all. I was afraid that some of the rules were not clear, so my family hired a retired female official to be her aunt."
Mrs. Li's heart tightened, "I wonder what this female official's last name is, maybe I can recognize her."
"My surname is Wang. He said he used to work in the Shanggong Bureau!"
Li Lingjiang: Wang Shanggong has been completely recruited. You and she were both imprisoned because of the incident. Why are you still sitting here? I'm afraid you said something that shouldn't be said!
Mrs. Li laughed a few times and thought to herself: It's over. Her brother has always been cruel and ruthless. If he knew that she told the Queen Mother about Li's plan, she might not survive the first day of the Lunar New Year. The Queen Mother is still sitting on the high platform.
He remained calm and didn't know if he had caught up with that batch of things.
She is now like a deaf and blind person who doesn't know anything.
"Could it be Wang Shanggong?" Mrs. Li could only pretend to be surprised. "I heard that this Shanggong committed a crime and was kicked out of the palace not long ago. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to ask her to be the nurturing aunt for my little sister.
.”
Li Lingjiang also pretended to be surprised and said, "A crime? I don't know what it is?"
"I heard that she stole the property from the palace and tried to frame me. I was also punished by the Empress Dowager and sent to Yeting Prison. Fortunately, the Queen Mother saw clearly and cleared me. Otherwise, I would have to be here now.
If you’re celebrating New Year’s Eve in Yeting Prison, how can you still attend a banquet here?!”
Mrs. Li frantically hinted that she should end the relationship, Wang Shanggong, just ask for your own blessings. The Queen Mother did not want your life, so you are lucky, but you fell into the hands of my brother, which means you are destined to be here, on the road to hell.
Don't come to bite me either!
Li Lingjiang said in shock, "How could this happen?! Could it be that my younger brother misjudged her? I thought she was an honest and responsible person!"
Li Lingjiang: Don’t lie to me, that’s not what Wang Cui said!
"How dare she frame her sister!"
Mrs. Li hurriedly said, "This person is full of lies, which is really unbelievable. She was kicked out of the palace penniless, and finally found a place to stay. Naturally, she has to shift the blame to others."
Mrs. Li was so anxious that she almost said what was in her heart.
"It was me who mistrusted her in the past, which caused her to have thoughts that she shouldn't have. However, she was trapped in a cocoon, and in the end, her work was in vain."
Mrs. Li hoped that her brother would understand what she was implying. She did not say anything nonsense. Wang Cui was to blame for everything!
Li Lingjiang then nodded doubtfully and said, "Then brother Chen will go back and interrogate her carefully. If it is true, then she really cannot be allowed to stay with my little sister."
"Yes, yes, yes" Mrs. Li quickly agreed. Fortunately, it was just the two of them when she confessed to the Queen Mother that day. As long as Li Lingjiang didn't ask the Queen Mother, once Wang Shanggong died, no one would know that she was the one who exposed it.
Li Lingjiang: How did the Queen Mother know the exact route and the plan he made to divert the tiger away from the mountain in response? Did someone leak the news? Zhang Qing only said that the Queen Mother had noticed that the items were missing and sent Wang Shanggong to recover them in person, but
It’s unclear whether Mr. Li has been exposed!
However, although his sister was not very willing to help Mr. Li, she did not have the courage to betray Mr. Li.
Sheng Shaoqing just watched these siblings acting in front of her. They finally met once a year, and they were still testing each other here. Unfortunately, all disguises were lost in front of her!
