met free Chapter 668 The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade
Chapter 668 The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade
The Lantern Festival soon arrived, and the palace became increasingly lively with lights and decorations everywhere.
Jiang Fenghua and the concubines arrived at the banquet hall in advance. When they passed the plum garden, they saw from afar that there were young women dressed up in gorgeous clothes strolling around the garden and admiring the flowers.
"This plum garden in the imperial palace is truly unique," Gao Qingtong exclaimed.
"It's still chilly in spring, but the plum blossoms in the Plum Garden are in full bloom, attracting many pretty girls to admire them. It seems that they all came here to stroll around after carefully asking about the story of the Plum Garden."
Song Jing continued, "Back then, Concubine Zhu's sister Zhu Yiyi often picked plum blossoms in the plum garden to attract the emperor's attention. It was a pity that she was so beautiful but had a tragic fate. Now that so many women have come, they don't know that no matter what they do, it will be in vain."
She said this to show that the emperor would not be attracted to other women and only liked the queen, but it sounded sour to her ears.
Shu Yan also came to the plum garden to attract the emperor, but unfortunately she failed. She said sarcastically: "I heard that this plum garden was planted by the emperor when he was a prince. Almost the entire imperial garden is planted with plum trees. Who would have thought that our majestic emperor would do such elegant things when he was young? Look at them, do they look like a common saying?"
"What's that?"
Shu Yan added: "The ancestors planted the trees, and the descendants enjoyed the shade. It's a good thing for them."
The concubines looked at her, "Shu Ronghua, what do you mean by that?"
"The plum trees were planted by the emperor when he was young, and they have grown to their current size. Having such a beautiful sight in the palace, doesn't it just attract many beauties to come and admire it?" Shu Yan said again.
"Just watch it, why do you say it's a bargain for them? It's a bit rude of Shu Ronghua to say that."
"Am I wrong? If any of these young girls in front of us is chosen by the emperor and taken into the harem, wouldn't it be a good thing for them? I heard that the emperor liked Concubine Su the most at that time. Could this plum garden be planted specifically for Concubine Su?" After all, these old girls have not enjoyed the emperor's favor yet, but a group of young and beautiful girls have come to seduce the emperor.
Gao Qingtong heard her say this and said in a deep voice, "The emperor planted the plum garden before he met Concubine Su, which means the plum garden has nothing to do with Concubine Su. If Shu Ronghua can't speak, don't talk nonsense. If women outside the palace hear it and make fun of it, it means Shu Ronghua is spreading rumors. If it falls into the ears of the emperor, I'm afraid Shu Ronghua will have to live in the cold palace."
Shu Yan was also shocked when she heard the word "cold palace". Even if she was not favored in the palace, she was unwilling to go to the cold palace. Tang Qianran was still living in the cold palace with no one to turn to for help. Her life would be more miserable than death.
Nanny Wang supported Jiang Fenghua and whispered, "Your Majesty, don't listen to their nonsense. I have checked the origin of the plum garden. When the emperor was still a prince, he suddenly wanted to plant plum blossoms, and Empress Dowager Cheng agreed. The emperor likes the integrity of plum blossoms."
"So this plum garden was really planted by him." Jiang Fenghua also likes plum blossoms very much. She never thought that Xie Shang would plant plum trees with his own hands.
Nanny Wang thought of the fact that the emperor had been looking for a woman in a white dress. That woman definitely could not be Concubine Su. As for who she was, no one knew until now.
At this time, a group of women in luxurious clothes came over from a distance. Nanny Wang whispered, "The one wearing red is Princess Zhao of Prince Yu, the one wearing blue is Princess Yuan of the Third Prince, the one wearing pink is Princess Zhang of the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince..."
Nanny Wang was dressed up today, wearing a majestic phoenix robe, with proper makeup and graceful manners. In fact, she didn't need to come out so early, and she could even come with Xie Shang. However, in order to find out who was behind the plot, she took the initiative to bring the concubines here early, under the pretext of visiting the garden to appreciate the flowers.
After a little reminder from Nanny Wang, she quickly figured out everyone's temper.
Gao Qingtong saw Nanny Wang whispering something to the Queen. She followed their gaze and saw several princesses entering the palace together. But what was wrong with the Queen? It was as if she didn't recognize them.
Gao Qingtong also noticed that something was wrong with the Queen. She had had this feeling all along. In the past, the Queen and she had similar interests, but after she returned to the palace, she seemed to have forgotten all that.
Could it be that the queen had really forgotten her and them all?
The third princess came up to him affectionately and said, "Greetings, Her Majesty the Queen."
Jiang Fenghua smiled and said, "Princess Third, please don't be polite."
Then the Second Princess and the Fourth Princess also said, "Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen."
"Second Princess, Fourth Princess, please stand up. I and my sisters-in-law are all family, so there is no need to be formal. Today's banquet can be considered a family banquet. Let's spend the Lantern Festival together and do whatever we want." She behaved generously and appropriately. Jiang Fenghua used to be gentle but majestic. The gentleness that came out of Nanny Wang's mouth was just an illusion.
The few people were no longer polite. The one who was closest to her was the Third Princess Yuan Wenqiang. She was the best at interpersonal communication among the princesses. To put it bluntly, she was a smiling tiger who would never get angry and liked to be a peacemaker.
Jiang Fenghua and she have always had a good relationship. However, the two of them had disagreements over some trivial matters. The Third Princess wanted to promote her family members and even wanted to send a woman to the palace to be Xie Shang's concubine, but was politely rejected by Jiang Fenghua. The Third Princess must have been unhappy, but she never showed it, and Jiang Fenghua pretended not to know.
The second princess, Zhao, was the successor princess of Prince Yu. Prince Yu had a grudge against Jiang Fenghua. The first princess was Luo Ziqiong, which she had not expected. Nanny Wang said that it was with her help that Luo Ziqiong got rid of Prince Yu. Zhao and she would never be close because she was close to Luo Ziqiong, and she and Zhao were not even nodding acquaintances.
When Jiang Fenghua was still the Princess of Heng, the Fourth Princess was very aloof. She never liked to mingle with other princesses, let alone build good relationships with them. She even refused to accept any flattery because she was both aloof and arrogant.
The fourth princess, Zhang Yurou, was born in the Duke's Mansion, so she feels that she is superior to others.
Jiang Fenghua glanced at them inadvertently and found that each of them had their own merits!
At this time, the Fourth Princess suddenly stepped forward and said, "Why didn't the Queen bring Princess Danyang with her? Ruoyi has always wanted to play with Princess Danyang."
Jiang Fenghua said, "Xian'er hasn't gotten up yet. How come I haven't seen Princess Ruoyi?"
"The maid has taken her to the West Palace to kowtow to Concubine Chang. She will be back soon." The Fourth Princess explained, "When Ruoyi comes back, I will ask the maid to take her to play with Danyang. She likes her younger sister the most and has always asked me to give her a younger sister."