Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 422 Stalemate

Wang Xifeng did not answer Lady Jia's question.

She just sighed and once again used the catchphrase she had learned in the past ten years as a granddaughter-in-law: "The ancestors have seen all kinds of storms..."

The hope on Jia's mother's face disappeared, and the light in her eyes dimmed. After a long while, she smiled bitterly, fell back on the pillow, and murmured, "Yes, I have seen everything..."

I am only a dozen years younger than Tai Shang.

During the reign of the Emperor Taishang, he first pacified the world, then fought for the throne, and then his own sons fought for the throne and caused chaos...

How many powerful and prestigious families were wiped out overnight.

These crimes of our own...

Grandmother Jia's closed eyelids trembled rapidly and her head tilted slightly to the inside of the bed.

Baoyu was right, he was just daydreaming.

The downfall of the Jia family is inevitable.

This fact cannot be changed by either Tanchun, who wins the favor of the empress dowager, Daiyu, who wins the favor of the emperor, or Yuanchun, who has been in the palace for more than ten years.

Just admit it...

Grandmother Jia let out a long sigh, and the tense string in her heart slowly relaxed.

A strong feeling of fatigue came over her, and after a moment, she fell into dizziness again and lost consciousness.

Wang Xifeng and Hubo, who were standing beside her, thought she was asleep and didn't care. They continued to discuss quietly and packed up the things in the room.

Daming Palace.

The news that the four surnames in Jinling and the mansions of dukes and marquises had been searched early in the morning spread to every corner of the Daming Palace before noon.

Su Hong patted his chest with lingering fear and reported to Queen Wan in a low voice:

“…I heard that several wives of the old ladies were frightened to death, and the old lady of the Niu family died immediately after vomiting blood!

"The East Prince was sent back to the palace in Ye Ting, but the West Prince was sent directly to the Dali Temple! The West Prince's palace was also sealed and the inner house was guarded, but they did not arrest anyone and confiscate the house!

"Also, I heard that Prince Yu was also involved..."

Queen Wan was shocked: "Uncle Yu?!"

"That's right." Su Hong watched Zhu Ying approaching with squinting eyes and raised eyebrows. She first gave her a fierce look and ordered her to stand further away, then whispered in her ear:

"The prince didn't make a big fuss, but tricked Prince Yu out. When he was two streets away from the palace, the experts rushed over, tied up Prince Yu, and sent him straight to the Dali Temple."

Empress Wan was even more anxious: "This is even more of a grudge! How many experts and assassins have Prince Yu secretly raised in his mansion? He didn't make it clear, so isn't that inviting revenge?"

Su Hong glanced at Zhu Ying, who was trying to come over with her ears pricked up, and whispered, "The prince also has experts around him...

"My uncle said that those masters seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and looked very unfamiliar. He felt uneasy and asked the queen to temporarily cut off contact with them..."

Queen Wan rolled her eyes at Su Hong disapprovingly and snorted, "Brother doesn't live in the prince's house, so doesn't he know all of the prince's people?

"Don't be so paranoid! The prince has more people this time than usual, and he is very cautious. He won't cause any trouble!"

Su Hong hesitated to speak and could only bow her head and say yes.

Empress Wan thought for a moment and then asked in a low voice, "Since the four surnames and eight officials have been investigated, what about the Jia family?"

"The first one to be sealed was her family." Su Hong smiled and said, "I heard that her brother went to Taiji Palace yesterday, and His Majesty locked him up overnight.

"This morning, while sending people to raid the Jia family's home, she asked her brother to go from the Taiji Palace to the Fengzao Palace to say goodbye to her.

"The two siblings were howling like ghosts. The woman's legs were weak. It was snowing heavily, and she was dragged back by her maid!"

Queen Wan originally pursed her lips, but now she smiled broadly: "This is all fate!"

"Of course!" Su Hong flattered habitually, "No matter how many schemes she uses or how many backers she has, if she is not destined to be rich, she can forget about getting that rich flower!

"With her background as a wealthy local in Jinling, how can she be worthy of living in the Daming Palace?"

Empress Wan felt relieved after hearing this. She leaned back on the couch, waved her hands, and said lazily, "Why bother with those dirty things?

"Your Majesty? Now that you have begun to sort out the affairs of state, isn't it time to return to Daming Palace?"

"Uh, not back yet." Su Hong looked at Queen Wan's suddenly ugly expression, and said carefully,

"The Queen Mother is out of the capital, and the assassins in the Taiji Palace have not been cleared out. Your Majesty governs the country with filial piety, so he will not easily let the Queen Mother stay alone in the Taiji Palace."

Queen Wan snorted, and the long armor on her fingers severed the golden thread embroidered on the peony stamens on the brocade mattress beneath her:

"Her Majesty, she is a heroine, the bravest! What is she afraid of? Your Majesty is not her biological son, so she can only pretend to be so. Why should she take care of her seriously——"

As he was talking, he suddenly paused, looked up at Su Hong suspiciously, and lowered his voice, "Your Majesty, do you think that you are staying in Taiji Palace because you are worried about the Queen Mother, or because you are worried about that vixen?"

"My Lady!" Su Hong was so frightened that her face turned pale. She forced herself to smile and whispered, "You can't say that!"

Queen Wan waved her hands in annoyance and sat up straight again: "I am the queen! There is nothing I cannot say!"

Squinting his eyes, he thought and said, "I was wondering why Jia Yuanchun's brother was allowed to stay overnight at Taiji Palace, but he was even given the grace to enter the harem as a foreign man to say goodbye to his sister!

"This must be the vixen pleading for her in-laws! Your Majesty is confused by..."

"Madam!" Su Hong was horrified and could no longer bear it. She interrupted her with a trembling voice and whispered into her ear, "Aren't you afraid that if you say too much, it will come true?!"

Queen Wan bit her lower lip hard!

Seeing that she was finally stopped from talking nonsense, Su Hong breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

At this moment, a young eunuch hurried in from outside and kowtowed in the corner of the hall: "Your Highness, I have something important to report!"

Yanjia Hall, noon.

Emperor Zhaoming, who had rushed back from somewhere, was covered in snow and felt cold. He smiled as he came to have lunch with the Empress Dowager.

The Queen Mother looked at him with pity: "Since you are so busy, you don't have to come to see me three times a day. You will catch a cold in the wind and snow."

I was busy serving him ginger soup, preparing a hot towel to wipe his face, and getting hand and foot warmers.

There was sincere warmth in Emperor Zhaoming's eyes. He wiped his face and washed his hands, held a hand warmer, sat next to the empress dowager, and spoke softly.

After Daiyu, Tanchun and Hongchang paid their respects to Emperor Zhaoming together, they discovered that Tao Xingjian was not following behind the emperor, and their eyes flickered.

Here, the mother and son were having a happy meal together.

While she was rinsing her mouth and washing her hands, Tao Xingjian came in hurriedly. He bowed to the Empress Dowager and then immediately bowed to Emperor Zhaoming:

"Your Majesty, Zhitong requests an audience."

The holy monk from the Dali Temple, now the chief judge of all major cases, old and new, in the capital and Jiangnan, is asking for a meeting.

Everyone's expressions involuntarily became solemn.

Emperor Zhaoming put down the teacup in his hand, stood up, bowed to the empress dowager, and said seriously: "Mother, please take a rest. Your son will be busy now."

The Queen Mother looked at him worriedly and nodded: "Okay, okay, go ahead."

Seeing him stride out, and catching a glimpse of Daiyu's anxious expression, he hurriedly added, "Zhaoqing, see me off!"