Empress Dowager Kang watched Princess Danyang's frivolous and foolish demeanor. A long speech of scolding was on the tip of her tongue, but the next moment, she felt weak all over and didn't want to say a word.
Princess Danyang was her only flesh and blood.
The current emperor was not her own son.
The emperor's birth mother, Concubine Hui, had passed away early. The late emperor had few offspring and only this one son.
She ascended to the position of empress dowager as the emperor's legal mother and became the Sacred Mother Empress Dowager. Relying on the young emperor's tender age, she attended to state affairs behind a curtain and held all the power.
Unfortunately, as the young emperor grew older, the discord between mother and son grew bigger and the rift deeper...
She began to feel terrified and worried. There was a faint feeling in her heart: this adopted son had grown strong and was about to break free from her control.
But when she looked at her own daughter?
Frivolous, impetuous, and dissolute.
She was already in her twenties but still refused to marry. She kept a group of male favorites in the princess mansion, making a racket day and night. All she knew was to indulge in pleasure and fight for favor...
Empress Dowager Kang rubbed her throbbing temples and said, "The emperor will come of age in two years. Now that he is about to choose a queen, you've offended the Xiao and Huo families at this time..."
"Mother, do you really think you can decide who will be the queen?"
Princess Danyang gently stroked her nails painted with red nail polish and inlaid with beads, smiling faintly.
"You fancy the daughter of Grand Tutor Lü, but I don't think the emperor has the same intention... If you force the ox to drink water, be careful that in the end, you won't be able to make it drink, and instead, you'll get splashed with stinky mud!"
Empress Dowager Kang finally couldn't bear it any longer. She picked up the begonia-twined cushion beside her and threw it over, scolding loudly, "You wicked child! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Princess Danyang's words had hit right at her inner fear.
Getting married and establishing a career were age-old rules.
However, there was a serious conflict between the young emperor and Empress Dowager Kang over the choice of the queen.
The young emperor would come of age in two years. By then, if she didn't hand over the power of the court, it would be unreasonable no matter what.
So Empress Dowager Kang wanted to choose a queen she approved of for him before he came of age.
She took a fancy to Lü Songyuan, the daughter of Grand Tutor Lü. She was smart and obedient. More importantly, her father was her confidant in the court.
In this way, even if the emperor took over the government in the future, the power of the court would still be in her hands.
Unfortunately, the young emperor was very smart and wouldn't buy her tricks.
Every time she talked to him about the choice of the queen, he either said that the southern border was not yet stable and he didn't dare to get married, or pretended to be ill and unable to marry a wife. Once, he even directly said that the daughter of Grand Tutor Lü was too ugly. If she were to be the mother of the country, the people of the world would laugh at his poor taste!
Empress Dowager Kang was so angry that her teeth itched, but she had no way.
Just as Princess Danyang said, you couldn't force the ox to drink water. If the young emperor refused to, could she force him onto the bed?
Princess Danyang came over with a smile and leaned on Empress Dowager Kang's shoulder, acting coquettishly. "Mother, don't worry. I'll rub your shoulders for you~~"
Empress Dowager Kang had no way with this daughter who was like sticky candy. She sighed deeply and said, "I've told you long ago not to get involved in those vulgar business. Sooner or later, it will cause trouble, but you just wouldn't listen!"
"Danyang, you have a fief of three thousand households in Yunzhou, which is one of the richest places in the world. Why do you have to participate in the wine business in the capital and earn those small amounts of money?"
Danyang smiled and said, "Who would嫌 too much silver? Besides, mother rewards this person today and tries to win over that person tomorrow. We can't always take the money from the national treasury. If I don't help out, where would mother's stable country come from?"
"Not to mention anything else. Didn't you praise the one-person-tall coral I presented to you before and say it was a rare treasure in the world?
"If I didn't have these small businesses, where could I find these rare treasures?"
Empress Dowager Kang instinctively wanted to get angry, but she held back.
She knew that Princess Danyang was telling the truth.
Those old foxes in the court were not easy to deal with. They were all like jackals and tigers, not willing to do anything without getting some benefits. Their appetites were huge!
Every time she had to handle things, it all needed money.
And she was just the empress dowager, not the emperor. She couldn't always mobilize the national treasury. She had to take out some money from her private treasury to maintain the political situation in the court.
So over the years, she had turned a blind eye to Danyang's unseemly "small businesses".
She just didn't expect that this time, it would cause such a big stir.
"Cui Yanzhi has been in the officialdom for many years and knows what to say and what not to say... That Wei Chengbiao is a scoundrel. Are you sure he won't talk nonsense?"
Danyang gently rubbed her shoulders and said, "Mother, don't worry. He won't have another chance to talk."
The setting sun shone through the window lattice of the palace, making the red nail polish on her hands glow like fresh blood.
Empress Dowager Kang nodded. "That's good."
After leaving the Shou'an Palace, Princess Danyang asked the maid beside her, "How is Princess Chengping?"
"We've been sending people to keep an eye on her. The gate of the princess mansion has been tightly closed and there has been no movement."
"No movement?"
She stopped walking.
"Yes." The maid replied, "Whether it was the arrest of the waiter in the wine shop yesterday or the ringing of the Drum of Admonition outside the Yamen of the Capital Magistrate today, the princess has remained silent."
The maid thought for a while and said hesitantly, "Your Highness, could it be that we were wrong?
"Princess Chengping went to the Li family the other day just to see the woman who was catching a man under the imperial edict. Maybe she has nothing to do with the Li family or her son-in-law's family."
"Otherwise, why hasn't she shown up even though such a big thing has happened?"
Princess Danyang got on the luxurious carriage and said indifferently, "It doesn't matter whether she has a relationship or not. I just wanted to find some amusement. Now that I've seen the fun and it has caused such a stir, it's really wonderful."
Another maid helped her into the carriage with her head bowed. "Princess, Young Master Guo has been waiting for you at the mansion for a long time."
Princess Danyang raised her eyebrows and a vague smile appeared on her bright red lips. "Him? He's quite an amusement..."
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"The power of the Drum of Admonition is really great!"
It wasn't until they returned to Pingkangfang that Li Wanming was still in a daze.
Chuntao even jumped up excitedly. "Miss, I saw a lot of high-ranking officials today! I heard them say that they were even more high-ranking than Minister Han we saw last time!"
Xiao Jingnan smiled. "That's not true. The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment and the Censor of the Censorate are both second-rank officials, the same rank as Minister Han He of the Ministry of War. The Minister of the Court of Judicature is third-rank, a little lower than Han He."
The last time Han He's butler came to look for him, he tactfully said that he and his father and mother were experiencing the life of the common people and hoped that Minister Han could keep this a secret for them.
The butler immediately said, "Understood! Incognito! Don't worry, Young Master. Our Han Mansion can keep its mouth shut!"
Later, Minister Han really kept his promise and didn't say a word. Even when he occasionally saw him setting up a stall on the street, he pretended not to recognize him...
Chuntao said, "But three of them came at once today! The number is more!"
In her concept, second rank plus second rank plus third rank was seventh rank, much more than Han He's single second rank!
On the way back, Li Wanming had been checking if there were any injuries on Xiao Jingnan and if he had suffered in prison.
Xiao Jingnan smiled. "Thanks to your arrangements before, they didn't make things difficult for me."
Hearing him say this, Li Wanming finally felt relieved.
Anyway, this matter was finally over.
The wine for Princess Chengping's flower-viewing banquet had already been delayed for two days and couldn't be delayed any longer.
After returning to Luoxuexuan, Li Wanming immediately ordered Lu Ping and Wu Yao to go out and buy raw materials - she didn't dare to let Chuntao go anymore.
Xiao Jingnan laughed again.
"Don't be in a hurry, wife. After today's trial by the Ministry of Punishment and the Censorate, I'm afraid no one in the capital will dare to hoard grain anymore. The price of grain will definitely drop sharply."
"From now on, wife can buy as much grain as you want!"