Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 353 The Queen Mother Avoids Trouble

New Year's Eve.

Daiyu and others got up early in the morning and began to help the empress dowager choose festive clothes and jewelry. Tanchun also made high shoes for the empress dowager herself. The empress dowager felt very comfortable in them and smiled from ear to ear.

By the afternoon, the women of the royal family and nobles entered the palace like a stream of water. In the Yanjia Palace, there were women in fragrant clothes, jewels and pearls, and officials came and went in an endless stream.

Lin Daiyu couldn't stand it any longer, so she took advantage of the opportunity and whispered some bad advice into the Queen Mother's ear:

"Shall we go to Ganlu Palace? None of these people are not afraid of the Emperor. If the Emperor feels sorry for you, maybe he will let them go with just a few words?"

The Queen Mother had long been fed up with this, and she smiled when she heard this: "That makes sense! Let's go!"

The mother and her two daughters immediately set off and headed straight for Ganlu Palace.

The Grand Lord was chatting and laughing with some old ministers. He was stunned when he heard this and laughed, "She is the most annoying one. She stays far away every year. Why did she come straight to us this year?"

He hurriedly ordered Dai Quan to go and pick it up.

Dai Quan hurriedly came out to greet her, led the Queen Mother down the corridor to the back hall, and asked with a smile: "Your Majesty is still puzzled!

"We have more than twice as many people here as in the Yanjia Palace, and the back hall is narrow, which will be a pity for the Queen Mother!"

Tanchun said nothing and smiled with her lips pursed.

Daiyu smiled sweetly and said in a coquettish voice: "Since His Majesty knows that the Queen Mother has been wronged, how can he not feel distressed?

"That all depends on the help of Eunuch Dai. Let those who are qualified to enter the back hall be more sensible!"

Dai Quan suddenly realized what was going on, chuckled, and said to the Queen Mother, "I would like to congratulate the Queen Mother for having such a thoughtful junior!

"This is a good method, I have learned it!

"I will report this to His Majesty right away! After this group of people leave, we will set off together and head to Daming Palace!

"Let those messy people bother the emperor!"

The Queen Mother glared at him, but couldn't help laughing, and even nodded: "I think it's okay!"

A few people went to the back hall and sat down, chatting and laughing.

Dai Quan had just served the Dowager a bowl of drink when someone came running in, announcing: "The Prince of Dongping has returned to the capital!"

The whole hall was silent.

The Supreme Master paused, then sat forward and asked with a smile, "Where is he now?"

"The King of the East is covered in black dust, and he was afraid of losing manners in front of the emperor. So he kowtowed at the gate of Taiji Palace first, and left a message to the guards, saying that he would go back to the mansion to wash and change clothes, and then come to see the old master immediately!" said the visitor.

Everyone laughed.

Someone laughed and said, "This old King Dong still has the same temper as before. He hasn't changed even after so many years at the beach."

"What temper?"

"You young people don't know." Taishang also laughed and took over the conversation, "When the King of the East was young, he was the most handsome man in the capital.

"When his family goes out, the most important thing is not whether they have money with them, but whether they are neat and tidy, decent, and polite!"

Everyone laughed.

Daiyu and others who were waiting behind heard this and started laughing too.

Daiyu looked up and asked Dai Quan with a smile: "I heard that the old East King is the most powerful general in front of the Supreme Lord. How can such a person be beautiful and polite on the battlefield?"

"On the battlefield?! Ha, the King of the East is a notorious scoundrel and shameless man on the battlefield. To put it nicely, he is full of wisdom and tactics. To put it bluntly, he is insidious, cunning and capricious!"

Dai Quan whispered, then smiled at the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty the Queen Mother knows best."

As he said this, the Supreme Lord of the Front Hall turned around to look for Dai Quan, who hurriedly said goodbye and ran out.

The Queen Mother smiled and whispered to Daiyu about the East King's gossip, "Didn't the Queen Mother have her eyes on the East King's eldest daughter to be the Crown Princess?

"The King of the East was not happy, so he sent people out to spread rumors and bad things about his daughter. The Supreme was so angry that he had a headache for three days, and he couldn't figure out how to break this situation.

"In the end, he had no choice but to call the King of the East into the palace and scold him, asking him if he regarded his master as the leader of a hostile barbarian tribe. Only then did the King of the East stop his magical powers and obediently marry his daughter to him."

Therefore, it was not the King of the East who sold his daughter, but it was Tai Shang who did things in an unkind way.

Daiyu kept complaining in her heart, and stopped smiling, but raised the corners of her mouth, leaned closer to the Queen Mother again, and asked in a low voice: "Queen Mother, can I ask for mercy?"

The Queen Mother looked at her strangely: "What grace? Tell me about it."

"The Empress Dowager can decide on my marriage, but I must never let the Supreme Lord arrange a marriage for me! Will the Empress Dowager agree to me?" Daiyu tilted her head and asked seriously.

The empress dowager suddenly realized and glared at Daiyu. Then she thought about it herself and felt emotional, and sighed softly.

At this time, someone came in to pay her respects, and the Queen Mother had to put on a kind smile again.

After waiting for the crowd to disperse, the Queen Mother immediately sent for the Supreme Lord to come over and urged him:

"Let's go to Daming Palace now, shall we? I'll go to the Queen's Palace to rest for a while, and you go to the Emperor and talk to his son. You can also be lazy and make them bother the Emperor less."

The emperor looked up at Daiyu and Tanchun, who were laughing secretly, and couldn't help laughing: "Okay. I wanted to wait for the King of the East to come and talk to him first before leaving.

"Never mind. There's nothing to say anyway. Come on over there and we can talk about it together."

He sent someone to tell the East Prince's Palace so that he wouldn't have to make a wasted trip to the Taiji Palace.

The group slowly set off for the Daming Palace, carrying their own formal clothes and coats.

It was just getting dark.

When Emperor Zhaoming heard that the Supreme Lord had arrived so early, he hurried to go out to greet him, but the Supreme Lord sent someone to stop him and told him to wait in the imperial study.

The group split into two groups. The Queen Mother went to the imperial study, while the Empress Dowager took Daiyu and Tanchun straight to Kunning Palace.

Empress Wan was extremely surprised and quickly ordered the main door to be opened. She dressed herself and went out to greet the emperor with a group of ladies from both the inner and outer courts who were fawning on her.

As soon as the sedan chair landed, Empress Wan personally stepped forward to support it.

The Queen Mother smiled and told her to step back: "Come on! You are wearing a big coat and a phoenix crown. There is still snow on the ground. Be careful not to slip!"

He then helped Tanchun and Zijuan get off the sedan chair, and turned back to remind Daiyu: "Go slowly and watch your feet. Qingwen, hold on to your princess!"

When the ladies of state saw the Queen Mother's obvious treatment of them, they could not help but look at each other and start making eye contact.

Especially the queen's sister-in-law, Di, the wife of the Minister of Rites Wan Fu, had a unhappy look on her face, and she stared at Daiyu with her triangular eyes for a long while.

Empress Wan didn't care, and smiled as she invited the Queen Mother in: "For so many years, Queen Mother has been disdainful and never willing to sit with me.

"You finally came here today, but you didn't even let your daughter-in-law serve you. Tomorrow people will say that your daughter-in-law is unfilial!"

"If anyone says that, you hit her in the mouth!"

As soon as the Queen Mother stepped into Kunning Palace, she let go of Tanchun and Zijuan, helped Cheng Qian with a gesture, and joked with the Queen:

"The Grand Master and I are living a carefree life in the Taiji Palace, and I've long felt bad for you two running back and forth to greet us.

"Besides, it's New Year's Eve, why are you so busy?

"I haven't even rewarded you for your hard work, and if you still pick on you for not setting the rules in front of me, is there a more mean mother-in-law in the world?

"I am not that kind of person! If anyone dares to say such things, it is not blaming you, it is slandering me!

"Look at the Supreme Lord and the Emperor, are they willing to give up on him?"