When the decree was issued, the court was in shock.
Consort Shu even fainted on the spot.
When Song Si came out of the palace, she was still in a trance. After getting on the carriage, she was speechless all the way until she got off the carriage at the doorstep of her home and walked into the house, only then did her legs and feet go weak and she held onto the courtyard wall.
Today, he had seen what it meant to see the wrath of an emperor.
Song Wangyue happened to come out of the house, and seeing him like this, she ran over to help him, noticing that his hands were trembling, “Brother is scared, right?”
“Yes, yes, my legs are a bit weak.”
Song Si honestly admitted that there was nothing to be ashamed of in front of his own sister.
Song Wangyue lost her smile and helped him into the house.
The old gentleman was also shocked when the few people heard him out.
They had thought that even if the emperor had sent the third prince to a bitterly cold place, he would not have sent him to Youzhou, a place that was always desolate and rarely inhabited, a place that even the generals did not want to guard.
“Yue’er ……”
The old gentleman wanted to say something, but he was a little uneasy.
Song Wan Yue looked at him, waiting for his next words.
Looking at her tender little face, the old gentleman swallowed back the words that followed and changed the subject, “What are your plans for the next step?”
The third prince was punished and the people of the Duke of Qi’s house were also relegated to the status of commoners, so the Gu family’s revenge was avenged.
“When the one million taels of silver arrives, I will go back and bury the Gu family.”
The old gentleman became more and more worried, but did not say so, “It’s good, I can just rest for two days and then go back with you.”
“Grand great-grandfather should not go back, in a few months big brother will be getting married, going back and forth, this body of yours can’t take it, so stay in the capital and recuperate, wait until next spring and go over again.”
The old gentleman waved his hand, “The capital is not as good as Qingping County, it’s best to retire there, so it’s decided, when the silver arrives, we’ll go back.”
……
Luanfeng Palace.
Consort Shu slowly woke up, braced herself for the palace staff to help her up, and instructed her personal sisters, “Bring out my palace’s silver money box.”
The personal sisters went and brought it over, just before her, opened it and counted it with red eyes, “The total is 150,000 taels.”
These years Shu Fei was favoured, the emperor gave a lot of rewards, but those were all in kind, the silver cheques were the only ones.
Consort Shu closed the box, “Go to the Third Prince’s residence.”
Inside the Third Prince’s residence, the palace people went in and out in a panic, packing up their things.
The Third Prince lay in his inner chamber, waving away all those who waited on him.
When he heard the report that Consort Shu had arrived, he braced himself and got up to come out to greet him, “Mother ……”
Snap!
Consort Shu slapped him hard across the face, hitting his head on the side, “How can you ……”
Before the words were finished, tears fell down from Consort Shu’s eyes.
The third prince knelt down, “My son has brought shame to my mother consort.”
“O Yi’er ……”
Consort Shu hugged him and cried bitterly, and the palace people also shed tears along with him.
Without the Third Prince, the Queen’s life in the palace would not be easy in the future.
The personal mothers choked back tears and went forward to persuade her as Consort Shu and the Third Prince entered the house.
The moment the door closed, Consort Shu’s tears disappeared cleanly and the Third Prince’s weakness receded.
They had already known the result two days ago, and today it was just a show for the crowd.
“My son is at ease ……”
The mother consort will not let you suffer this for nothing, she will personally send one million taels to that Song family girl, so that everyone in the world will know that she got one million taels, I want to see if she has the life to return to Qingping County alive.”
“Let Mother Consort take the trouble.”
Consort Shu heartily touched his face, “Mother Consort has just hit hard, does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt, don’t blame yourself, Mother Consort.”
Consort Shu let go of her hand and placed the box on the table, and took out another pile from her sleeve band and placed it on the box, “The total is 300,000 taels, all of Consort Mother’s family money, take it.”
“Mother Consort ……”
“Take it, take care of yourself when you go to Youzhou, and return early from the errand your father gave you.”
“My son remembers.”
A quarter of an hour later, Consort Shu rushed out of the Third Prince’s house, crying and leaving, and when she returned to the palace, she ran straight outside the Hall of the Nurtured Heart to beg the Emperor, saying that the Third Prince simply could not hold that much silver, and that the two of them together had only managed to scrape together 300,000 taels.
The emperor was softened by her tears and declared the Minister of Household to come over and asked him to personally estimate the price of the third prince’s house and its contents, mortgaged it to the Ministry of Household and borrowed 700,000 taels of silver from the Ministry.
The Emperor’s move came as a shock to the court and the public.
At the same time, there is also dissatisfaction with the Song family, the Gu family is just a merchant family, no matter how much silver they have, they cannot have a million taels, the Song family is obviously a lion’s denial, but the emperor can not refuse to give.
Xiao Yao did not go to stay at the pastry shop today and did not go over there. When she heard the people who came to buy the pastries talking, she was also shocked and gave a word to the Huangcake couple and hurriedly went over there.
The old man and the others had already gone back to the Xu residence, and only Song Wan Yue and Song Si were there.
After hearing her words, Song Wangyue smiled.
Xiao Yao was anxious, “You still have the heart to laugh, you don’t know how people are talking about it, saying that you are lionizing on the back of the old gentleman, and also saying, also saying that your elder brother is also greedy and insatiable, such a person is not worthy of being an official.”
Song Wan Yue laughed even harder and poured her a glass of water, “Does sister Yao think my elder brother is such a person?”
“Naturally not. ”
“Then that’s not it, the mouth grows on others, they can say whatever they want, we just don’t listen.”
“But ……”
Xiao Yao was about to say something else when Qing’er ran in in a panic, “Miss, Miss Song, it’s not good, I saw Consort Shu’s ceremonial procession coming.”
“What?”
Xiao Yao stood up in panic and lifted her feet to go outside, but was pulled by Song Wan Yue, “Concubine Shu is here to see me, sister Yao and big brother go out to take shelter.”
“Yue’er ……”
“Sister Yao do as you’re told, you’ll hide close by, if Concubine Shu is against me, you can also go to the Xu Mansion to report the news.”
“Yue’er is right, let’s go out.”
Song Si pulled Xiao Yao out to hide in a corner to one side.
The southern city was inhabited by merchant families, and it was rare to see a nobleman travelling, especially the emperor’s favourite, Lady Shu Fei, so no matter how old or young, male or female, they all hid behind the door to watch,, and some even moved ladders to climb up the wall and quietly poked half their heads out.
The sedan carriage stopped in front of the Song family’s door.
The eunuch in charge of Luanfeng Palace stood at the door and shouted inside, “Her Highness, Lady Shufei, has arrived!”
It was only after a long time that there was movement in the courtyard, and Song Wan Yue ran out from inside with her wet hair still dripping with water, obviously washing her hair.
When she crossed the threshold, she knelt down with a poof and kowtowed, “I pay my respects to the Lady Consort Shu.”
The hair fell to the ground, stained with dust, and immediately caked with a layer of mud.
Lady Sook ……
After doing some heart building for a while, she got down from the sedan, walked up to Song Wangyue and bent down to help her.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Song Wangyue got up, standing with her muddy hair flung onto Concubine Shu, who instantly took a step back in disgust.