Chapter 45 Yuan's Charges
Concubine Mei led Prime Minister Xia and Mrs. Linglong into the palace.
Concubine Mei stepped in and knelt on the ground: "My concubine pays her respects to the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager will live a happy life."
After Concubine Mei finished her salute, Prime Minister Xia brought Mrs. Linglong forward, "I specially brought my wife into the palace to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager is blessed and safe."
The empress dowager squinted her eyes and said, "Is the prime minister here? Get up quickly."
Prime Minister Xia was kneeling, and suddenly burst into tears, "I dare not, I am guilty!"
The empress dowager was startled, "What's going on? Why are you crying?"
Mrs. Linglong kowtowed, tears stained her face, "Empress Dowager Mingjian, this concubine followed her husband into the palace today to plead guilty."
The Empress Dowager let out a cry, and asked in surprise, "What sort of crime are you asking for?"
With snot and tears all over Prime Minister Xia's face, he said sadly: "The empress dowager is the matter of my daughter Xia Zi'an regretting her marriage to the King of Liang. I really don't know how she dared to do this. Before we got married, I asked her about it. Only when I said yes, I dared to proceed with the marriage, who knew that she regretted the marriage before the sedan chair arrived, and made a big fuss with nonsense. After investigation, I found out that it was her biological mother, Yuan Shi, who came up with the idea. Jealousy, jealous that Linglong gave birth to a son and a daughter for the minister, but she herself had no children, so she instigated Zi'an to take revenge on Linglong and the minister, the minister is guilty, the minister did not manage his own family affairs, and caused His Royal Highness Liang to suffer. Your Highness has lost all face, and this minister really has nothing to redeem him!"
The empress dowager was a little shocked, "The matter of repenting the marriage really caused a lot of trouble in the city, so how could Mrs. Yuan be so nonsense? I heard that she was a talented woman before, so it can be seen that a woman's lack of talent is virtue. This is true. "
The empress dowager had her own conclusions about what happened that day, but she was puzzled that the matter had passed for so many days, and the empress did not pursue it. Why did they enter the palace to plead guilty?
She paused and asked: "By the way, Liang Wang told Ai's family before that he married Xia Wan'er, the second lady of Xiangfu. Why did she become Xia Zian later? After changing Xia Zian, does Yuan agree?" ?”
Mrs. Linglong cried and said: "Empress Dowager, Madam has been displeased with my concubine in the mansion for not a day or two. I have been tolerant, but she is still not satisfied and wants to drive me out, which led to this situation." In a marriage regret event, Zi An begged us at the time, saying that she wanted to marry King Liang, and she had longed for him for a long time, and asked Wan'er to give her this marriage. The king of Liang said that it was forced, and I don't blame Zi'an, she is just a child, and she was only used by her mother."
After the empress dowager heard this, she pondered for a moment, then looked at Concubine Mei, "Do you know about the Xiangfu?"
Concubine Mei stepped forward with a smile and asked Eunuch Sun to leave, and she personally served the Empress Dowager with tea, "Queen Dowager, the concubines know a little about the affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the two daughters of the Prime Minister's Mansion occasionally enter the palace to serve the concubines. Please Ann, after the marriage was settled, Zi An also came, when the concubine asked her if she would marry King Liang, she said yes."
The Empress Dowager looked at her with a calm expression, "That is to say, it was Xia Zian and Yuan's idea to regret the marriage? Why did she do this?"
Concubine Mei sent the tea over and sighed softly, "The Empress Dowager doesn't know something. The Yuan family is conceited and proud of her talent, she thinks she is an outsider, and everyone in the world is a vulgar person. She was contemptuous and exquisite before. She is a widow. She was married once, and she looked down on her from the bottom of her heart. Later, she saw Linglong painting at a higher level than her. Since then, she has used the power of her wife to bully Linglong. This made her calm down for a few days, but after Linglong gave birth to twins, she had children before her, and the Xiangfu was troubled by her jealousy, and it was always unavoidable. In the process, her temper also changed. It became increasingly distorted and weird. When guests came to the house, she would chatter with others and speak ill of Linglong. This is a well-known thing. But this time, she made an even more elaborate arrangement. .”
The Empress Dowager smiled faintly after hearing Mei Fei's words, "This Yuan family is really heinous in your mouth."
Prime Minister Xia said sadly: "The minister may not be virtuous enough, so his son is not filial and his wife is not virtuous."
The empress dowager looked at him, "Then, are you going to apologize for entering the palace this time, or what?"
When Prime Minister Xia heard the words, he couldn't figure out the Empress Dowager's attitude for a while, so he raised his head and glanced at Concubine Mei. Concubine Mei reprimanded, "Apology is what you should do. You all have to bear the punishment of the Empress Dowager and the Empress."
Prime Minister Xia prostrated himself and said, "I beg the Empress Dowager to surrender!"
The empress dowager was still puzzled, "Let's not rush to convict or convict. If you are guilty, you will naturally convict. The Ai family doesn't understand. You said that the Yuan family wanted to take revenge on the Prime Minister and Mrs. Linglong, so she didn't know that the crime was committed on the spot. If you regret the marriage, will you include her daughter Xia Zi'an?"
Concubine Mei sighed: "How could she not know? In fact, Zi'an is also very pitiful. Although she was born to Yuan Shi, Yuan Shi beat and scolded her frequently, and didn't treat her like her own daughter at all. If the Queen Mother doesn't believe it, you can Order someone to check Xia Zian's body. The many old wounds on her body were all caused by Yuan's beating. The concubine said that Yuan's temperament has been distorted, so she knew that making Zi'an regret her marriage would definitely hurt Zi'an. Inverted Prime Minister's Mansion, she no longer cares about it."
Although the empress dowager had a preliminary understanding of the matter, she didn't know about the Yuan family.
At first she thought that Concubine Mei was just helping Prime Minister Xia, but now that she heard that Xia Zi'an had old injuries, it could not be faked.
Could it be that Yuan really wants to use his own daughter?
She summoned Eunuch Sun, "Then Yuan Shi, how much do you know?"
Eunuch Sun replied: "As far as the Empress Dowager is concerned, the Yuan family has lived in seclusion these years and has hardly shown her face. No one outside knows her current temperament. However, she was really talented and admired by many people in the past."
"The Ai family knows this. Doesn't the second child's idiot just guard her for her without even marrying her?" The empress dowager said displeasedly.
The Empress Dowager was dissatisfied with Yuan Shi, of course she knew that Yuan Shi was not to be blamed, it was the second child who was infatuated, since she met Yuan Shi who was 13 years old when she was 16 years old, she declared that she would not marry. He is just a child at heart, who knows, he will never marry for the sake of Yuan Shi.
When Prime Minister Xia heard what the Empress Dowager said, his expression was a little unnatural. The thing he cared about the most in his life was that Yuan Shi was already his wife, but outside the gate, there would always be a group of fanatical followers.
It took a lot of effort for him to pursue Yuan Shi, but since Yuan Shi entered the family, it seems that Yuan Shi is no longer the famous talented woman, which makes him very disappointed.