Princess Menglang is hard to change, the whole capital is embarrassed for her

After the court session, the emperor happily came to the empress dowager's palace. As soon as he entered, he saw the empress dowager taking the heart-nourishing pills specially made by Shen Li. The emperor smiled and said, "My mother, your wish will come true now."

The Queen Mother finished her water and handed the teacup to Nanny Zheng. Seeing the Emperor's delighted expression, she couldn't help but feel happy too. "What are you so happy about? Tell me about it, so I can be happy too."

The emperor said, "My son just heard some good news. Chen'er took Miss Shen out of the city to hunt."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother's mood suddenly became excited and she asked in surprise, "Is it true? Did I see it right? Did Chen'er really take Miss Shen out of the city for hunting?"

He asked three times, then lowered his voice and muttered, "It's not just the two of them, is it? Are there a lot of other people with them?"

Did I misunderstand and think that my grandson and Miss Shen were in love with each other?

Then the emperor said, "There were no others. My son has received information that it was just the two of them, with only their guards and their dogs. Many people outside saw them and said that they all rode out of the city on horseback. Even Miss Shen rode alone, ahead of them."

There was a hint of pride in his tone, as if Shen Li was already their royal daughter-in-law.

The Queen Mother also became happy, her eyes curved with a smile, and she said to the Emperor, "Chen'er is such a fool. With such a good opportunity, how could he let Miss Shen ride a horse by herself? Isn't that right? He should learn from you. Think about when you coaxed Miss Chu to go out to play, so many people were there, and you tricked Miss Chu's horse and maids, making them all pull and vomit, leaving only you and Miss Chu alive. And then you rode your own horse and took them away..."

The Queen Mother was about to continue speaking when she looked up and saw Nanny Zheng winking at her. She suddenly came to her senses and glanced at the Emperor.

The emperor looked gloomy, obviously thinking of his first wife, Queen Chu. His joyful mood was suddenly torn apart by a wave of sadness, loss, and regret.

The Queen Mother sighed and said to the Emperor, "The dead are gone, so don't dwell on those things. As for Chen'er, if you can help him, please do so. From what I know, Miss Shen is not easy to get along with. The fact that she agreed to go out with Chen'er is already half the battle. If you can give her another push, who knows, maybe it will be a success."

The Emperor calmed down and asked the Empress Dowager, "So, your mother, like your son, hopes that Miss Shen can become my imperial consort?"

"Of course," the Queen Mother said, "I certainly hope she can marry into the royal family. What a wonderful girl! Smart, clever, knowledgeable in medicine, and generous in her words, not at all shy. She's countless times better than those so-called noble ladies. My mother has long had her eye on her, and she's afraid Fang Yao will give her to someone else."

Speaking of Fang Yao, the Empress Dowager recalled something and hurriedly asked the Emperor, "People say there's a spy in the Fang family, and you've had the eldest son of the Fang family escorted to the capital, and you've also put Fang Yao under house arrest. What's going on?"

The Emperor waved his hand and said unhappily, "I put him under house arrest, but he went to the Chongguo Mansion that very day and kidnapped Old Madam Yao and Yao Xun. I won't say anything about that. He also covered his face while wandering around the camp and the training ground outside the capital, with his face covered, half covered and half exposed. When a minister recognized him, he refused to admit it and accused them of slandering General Fang's reputation and chased them to beat them up. Listen, mother, who else in the world would dare to be so domineering to a minister? He was exposed like a sieve, but he still insisted."

The Queen Mother glared at the Emperor and said, "This is all your own doing. You know better than anyone that there's no way the Fang family would send out spies, yet you still pretend to confine Fang Yao. I really don't know what you two are planning."

The Emperor chuckled and said to the Empress Dowager, "It's actually nothing. It all started with the Yao family's eldest son. It was a deliberate plot set up by someone to attack the Fang family's army. There must be infiltration from the Western Qiang people. Before the truth is revealed, I'm worried that Fang Yao, with his explosive temper, will beat up those who slandered his son, which would be detrimental to the investigation. Besides, his trip to Mizhou was tiring and dangerous. Let's take this opportunity to let him rest at home and have a good rest."

If Fang Yao were stopped at the palace gate, the court officials would definitely make all kinds of speculations.

Some people believe that the emperor still believes in Fang Yao, but he has to pretend to do so in the face of public opinion, otherwise he will not be able to convince the public.

Some people also believed that the spy's work was serious, and the emperor did not dare to conclude that his own understanding was correct. At this time when it was unclear who was a real person and who was a traitor, he simply did not meet Fang Yao, so as not to be misled by his words and affect his judgment. In other words, the emperor was now beginning to doubt Fang Yao.

There are many people who hold this view. These people have been moving around frequently recently, all looking for opportunities to bring down Fang Yao.

Among them, the Chongguo Mansion was the most active.

The shame of Madam Yao and Yao Xun being frightened to death that day was still vivid in Duke Chongguo's mind. Every time he thought of it, he wanted to kill Fang Yao.

Since the open way doesn’t work, let’s do it secretly.

Take advantage of his illness and kill him.

People from the Chongguo Mansion were already lying in ambush on the road, waiting to kill Fang Jitao.

As long as Fang Jitao dies, the secrets of the spies will never be cleared up.

He would have the opportunity to contact other ministers and put Fang Yao and his Fang family army on the pillar of shame for being spies.

This is a story for later.

……

At this moment, the Queen Mother heard the word "Mizhou" and couldn't help but say to the Emperor, "You put him under house arrest as soon as he returned. I didn't even have time to report to you about what happened in Mizhou. I don't know how the investigation over there is going?"

The emperor said nothing, took the teacup handed to him by Nanny Zheng and took a sip.

The last time Mu Heng was asked to go to the general's mansion to beat Fang Yaojun with a stick, he was actually going to deliver a message.

The information Fang Yao found out was too important. He himself still didn't quite believe it, let alone tell the Queen Mother.

When the Empress Dowager saw that the Emperor didn't say anything, she knew that the matter had not yet been concluded and it was not convenient to talk about it, so she stopped asking.

Then she turned to the Emperor and said, "Hao'er and Shu'er's imperial concubines have been decided. Hao'er has the Queen and the Yao family, and the Queen Mother does not want to get involved. As for Shu'er, Miss Wen's incident happened, and the Queen Mother cannot object."

"There are only a few adult princes. The fourth prince was implicated by his mother, Concubine Liu, so let's not talk about him for now. There is still one, Chen'er, whose marriage is still unsettled. The Queen Mother is so worried about it that she can't sleep."

"His mother, Queen Chu, was always considerate of others until her death. Even now, many people in the palace are grateful for her kindness and cry when they think of her. In addition, the Chu family has guarded the border for decades, from the old Duke to the present. As long as the Chu family army is there, the Northern Di people dare not act rashly. The Chu family has made great contributions, and the people are well aware of it."

"Empress Chu's only child is Chen'er. He's the eldest, the legitimate son of the emperor's first wife. Logically, his status is the most noble among his brothers. Now, his brothers have been married one after another, but he hasn't. What will others think? Will they think he's unloved and that no one in the palace cares about him?"

"Your Majesty, if this reputation gets out, how many people will be disheartened? I'm sure you know it yourself. Furthermore, those ministers in the court are all opportunists. If they really think the emperor doesn't care about Chen'er, they will turn their attention to the other two princes. While the crown prince hasn't been appointed yet, they will stir up trouble and wholeheartedly support one of them. If they encourage those inappropriate thoughts, when the crown prince is finally appointed, the court will be in turmoil again..."

When talking about this, the mother and son recalled the scene when the emperor was made the crown prince. Thinking about the current situation, it was even more difficult to make a decision than before, and they fell silent for a while.

Nanny Zheng came in, bowed, and said to the Queen Mother, "You should go for a walk in the garden, otherwise you won't be able to digest your food and won't be able to eat lunch."