Du Gu You's eyes were filled with complexity. He had imprisoned his eldest son in the Ancient Orchid Garden with the intention of giving him a chance to reform. After all, it was just a place of confinement, not a death sentence. If his son remained incorrigible, he would show no mercy.
In the imperial court, it was completely silent. The faction supporting the Third Prince secretly wore smiles on their faces and desperately reported the misdeeds of the Eldest Prince. The generals from the other side turned livid. They knew that the emperor had only punished a few people for minor offenses before stopping. Seeing that the Third Prince was about to gain power, many people turned their eyes to Du Gu Qing, who was "half - dead" and dozing off with the support of a young eunuch. This lord also had the right to be made the crown prince. To quell the disputes in the court, some people wrote memorials to support the Sixth Prince instead.
Du Gu Qing didn't respond to any of the support. Every day after the court session, he would go straight to the Light Snow Pavilion.
The followers of the Eldest Prince started rescue operations, causing chaos everywhere. Even Du Gu Qing received visiting cards. People thought that the Sixth Prince should show brotherly affection and plead with the emperor on behalf of his elder brother.
Du Gu Jue also visited Du Gu Qing's mansion frequently to pour salt on the wound. His purpose was simply to find an ally.
How could Du Gu Qing take sides? He did cherish brotherly affection. Du Gu Ming was only imprisoned in the Ancient Orchid Garden without the threat of death. He didn't know what kind of plea others wanted him to make. They just wanted his father to think that he, a disabled person, supported the Eldest Prince.
Every day, the imperial court was in a complete mess, and the emperor didn't make a statement for a long time. The followers of the Third Prince originally thought that this time it was a sure thing for Du Gu Jue to gain the upper hand, but they were surprised that there was no movement for several days.
Du Gu Jue would never be at peace.
Du Gu Qing coldly watched the advisors of his two elder brothers scurrying around. Others thought that he was waiting for an opportunity, but unfortunately, no one knew that Du Gu Qing had no desire for that position at all.
"Your Highness Consort Yue, the emperor has turned over the token of Consort Yu." Su Wen, the maid of Consort Yue, quickly came to report the news from the Palace of Gaining Favor.
"That seductive woman!" Consort Yue angrily crushed the tender fresh flower she had just picked. The petals fell all over the ground, as red as blood, just like the bright red nail polish on her fingernails.
The Eldest Prince was her own son. She had originally thought that after Du Gu You abdicated, she would soon become the empress dowager and be able to suppress those two bitches. But now, Du Gu Ming was imprisoned, and she was being ignored. That bitch had had the emperor's favor for five consecutive days. She was so angry that her teeth itched.
Consort Yu's eyes flashed with pride. Finally, she could outshine the other two. How could she not be happy? When serving Du Gu You, she was even more diligent.
Du Gu You had long known the tricks of these women. In his heart, he missed that woman who didn't fight for anything even more.
She didn't fight for anything. All she wanted was for her son to be happy and safe. Every time he thought of her, his heart ached, and he became even more resentful towards his imprisoned eldest son.
Since he had done it once, there might be a second time. Du Gu You hesitated whether to let his useless eldest son die suddenly in the Ancient Orchid Garden.
Originally, his offspring were few. Everyone said that he was heartless as an emperor, but they didn't know that he had indulged his own sons countless times. Did he really not know about their petty tricks?
His deep expression was unfathomable to Consort Yu. Seeing the occasional fierce look in Du Gu You's eyes, Consort Yu was so scared that she dared not say a word.
She didn't dare to whisper any sweet nothings in his ear. Du Gu You enjoyed her service in peace. Seeing that she didn't talk about anything related to the court or the crown prince, his expression softened.
"Your Majesty, I'd like to stay in the summer resort for a few days." Consort Yu showed a beaming smile and made a request to Du Gu You. She was most afraid of the summer heat. Every year, Du Gu You would personally take her to the resort to escape the heat before coming back.
"That's a good idea. I also feel annoyed. I'll accompany you, my love." Du Gu You didn't suspect anything. Consort Yu secretly snickered in her heart. As long as she could deceive the emperor away, no one would dare to chase him to the summer resort to plead.
Consort Yu immediately knelt gracefully on the ground. "I thank Your Majesty."
"Get up quickly. We've been husband and wife for so many years. There's no need for such formalities." Du Gu You reached out his hand to help her up. How could Consort Yu dare to let the emperor help her in person? She got up gracefully and stood behind Du Gu You, gently massaging his shoulders with her boneless hands. Du Gu You let out a comfortable groan, and Consort Yu's pride grew even stronger.
In the following days, Du Gu You moved into the summer resort. He only reviewed memorials every day, and the number of memorials pleading for Du Gu Ming to the emperor indeed decreased significantly.
Du Gu You was relaxed, but Mei Qingxue was extremely annoyed every day. She didn't know when it started, but the number of female relatives of officials sending visiting cards had increased.
"Tell them I'm not at home." Mei Qingxue annoyedly buried her head in the quilt. She always liked to sleep in. Recently, these people had ruined her good sleep. They came to send visiting cards early in the morning. Mei Qingxue was so angry that she almost wanted to drive them out, but she refrained from doing so out of courtesy.
Du Gu Qing looked at the little woman acting like an ostrich with a smiling face, his eyes full of love. "Tell them to wait. The princess will receive them after noon."
"Qing, why don't they come to you directly? Why do they come to me?" She was just a woman in the inner chambers and knew nothing about government affairs. What did they want from her? To plead with the emperor for Du Gu Ming? Although the emperor was her father - in - law, in fact, she had only met him a few times.
"Just accept their gifts and deal with them casually. It's not that difficult, is it?"
"Gifts?"
Mei Qingxue became interested and was no longer sleepy. Right, the gifts from officials were usually very valuable. Besides, they were all the hard - earned money of the people. If she accepted them, she could build a few granaries in the areas severely affected by floods to benefit the common people.
Even though she had her own business, her money was still not enough. Since someone was willing to help, she would list their names on the merit stele.
Du Gu Qing tapped her forehead. "I knew you'd be most interested in this."
He knew that his little wife made a lot of money every day, but he never saw any savings. When he investigated, he found that his little wife was actually running at a deficit. Finally, he learned that she had been helping with the reconstruction in the flood - affected areas in the south.
So he decided to help her. After all, husband and wife were one. It was a matter of the Du Gu family, but his wife had been dealing with it.
Mei Qingxue smacked her lips. "I'm poor. There's nothing I can do."
Then she got up and asked Xuan Qiao to comb her hair. She was going to meet the female relative of Lord Shen who had come to visit.
When she walked into the front hall, she saw a heavily - made - up woman sitting there, looking extremely anxious and rubbing her hands hard.
Seeing Mei Qingxue walking slowly towards her, the woman quickly knelt on the ground. "Your humble servant, Mrs. Fan, pays respects to the princess!"
Hearing her address, Mei Qingxue almost burst out laughing. Without the "shi" character, wasn't it "criminal woman"?
"Get up." Mei Qingxue secretly sized her up from behind. Sure enough, she saw a servant holding several boxes.
"Thank you, princess." Mrs. Fan got up carefully with Mei Qingxue's permission.
"Offer a seat."
Xuan Qiao quickly dusted off the chair that Mrs. Fan had sat on before and placed it behind the woman.
"Mrs. Fan, what's the purpose of your visit today?" Mei Qingxue didn't beat around the bush. The woman was stunned. The polite words she had prepared hadn't even come out, and the princess had already hit the nail on the head.
"Your humble servant is here to ask for a favor." Mrs. Fan secretly sized up Mei Qingxue and didn't dare to hide anything, so she directly stated her purpose.
"Oh? Asking for a favor?" Mei Qingxue motioned for Xuan Qiao to serve tea. She didn't want to waste time with these people anyway. She would use the tea as an excuse to see them off later.
"Our Sixth Prince's mansion has never had any power. How did your Lord Shen think of asking our prince for help?"
"Your Highness may not know. Previously, when the Sixth Prince was injured, some malicious people framed the Eldest Prince. The Eldest Prince is kind - hearted. How could he do such a despicable thing?" Mrs. Fan said a long sentence in one breath. When she looked up, she saw Mei Qingxue smiling.
Kind - hearted? What a joke! It was this guy who had offered ten thousand taels of gold to buy his brother's life. What a distorted story.
Mei Qingxue wasn't angry. "What happened to the Eldest Prince?"
She just pretended to be stupid. Anyway, she knew nothing.
Mrs. Fan secretly cursed this stupid princess a few times in her heart, but she said, "He was framed and offended the emperor. Now he's imprisoned in the Ancient Orchid Garden."
"Imprisoned? Then his life is not in danger. What do you want me to do?"
"Ask the Sixth Prince to show brotherly affection and plead with the emperor for the Eldest Prince."
"Will I get any benefits?" This sentence from Mei Qingxue stunned Mrs. Fan, and then her face was filled with ecstasy.
"Of course." Mrs. Fan asked the servant to bring the boxes and open them one by one. "This is a dragon pearl from the South China Sea. It's said that it's very rare to find one this big. Your humble servant tells the truth, Your Highness. This kind of pearl was usually dedicated to the imperial palace. It was only because my husband was capable that he got a few."
A thing that was supposed to be dedicated to the imperial palace could be obtained by a small official like Lord Shen? Mei Qingxue didn't want to comment on the affairs in the palace.
"This is..."
"This is..."
Every time she introduced something, seeing the increasing smile on Mei Qingxue's face, Mrs. Fan thought there was hope.
"Your humble servant won't bother the princess anymore. If this matter is successful, there will surely be a generous reward."
"Sure, sure. Xuan Qiao, see the guest out!"
Looking at the smile on the woman's face, Mei Qingxue's smile grew even wider. She would accept any gifts. She just let Xuan Qiao carry the gifts into the Light Snow Pavilion. When Du Gu Qing saw them, his face darkened.
"How dare these people!" He knew very well how valuable these gifts were.
"Why are you angry? Just accept them. Then you'll know who has come and who hasn't." Accepting gifts and collecting evidence of their crimes at the same time, it was a win - win situation.
Du Gu Qing's expression didn't improve. Mei Qingxue knew what he was angry about. Her prince was perfect in every way, but he had a bad temper and hated corrupt officials deeply.
"You're just a powerless prince. For now, just do it like this. There will be time to settle accounts with them in the future."