Chapter 1313 - 984 Song Xiang Visits_2
"Isn’t it all because of you, choosing so many Yingying and Yanyan? These people haven’t even entered the Palace yet, and others already come to humiliate me, the rightful wife!"
"Who dares to humiliate you? I’ll wipe out his entire clan to vent your Qi!"
Xie Pan’Er rolled her eyes at him upon hearing this and turned her head away, not looking at him.
"Alright, alright, I already know. Wasn’t it the wife of Sun Yu, Minister of Rites, who offended you while paying respects to the Empress Dowager?"
"You know and you still ask?
You’re really good at pretending!"
The Emperor chuckled gently, then held her in his arms and whispered.
"Their daughter was supposed to be the foremost of the four consorts, but now she’s gravely ill. She entered the Palace with special favor and, seeing you, the Empress, must have felt uneasy and inevitably said something to upset you."
Xie Pan’Er was taken aback upon hearing this and quickly asked what happened.
The Emperor leaned in, playfully demanding a kiss before he’d divulge the benefit, then said.
"The young lady from the Sun Family had originally someone she loved; she was forced into the consort selection.
All this time, I was waiting for Minister Sun to beg me for great mercy, but who would have thought this family could hold out until now!"
Xie Pan’Er sensed something fishy upon hearing this.
"What do you mean?
Why did you think they should have come earlier?"
"I just knew some background information about these young ladies during the consort selection and thought that, since she had someone she loved, they’d surely disrupt the entrance into the Palace themselves.
But I didn’t expect it to drag on until now!"
Xie Pan’Er didn’t believe there wasn’t something else he did, so she didn’t speak and just stared steadily at him.
The Emperor, unnerved by Xie Pan’Er’s gaze, had to confess the truth.
"I had originally planned a lovers’ reunion drama for before Miss Sun entered the Palace, but unexpectedly, her suitor, fearing losing his head for putting a green hat on me, castrated himself when Miss Sun untied her belt!"
Xie Pan’Er: "..."
Seeing her mouth open wide enough to fit an egg, the Emperor kissed her directly.
After tiring Xie Pan’Er out, he finally told her.
The real reason the Sun Family gave up on coming to the Palace to explain their daughter couldn’t enter was the grand gesture by the Ji Family.
Three hundred thousand taels of silver went into the National Treasury, along with gold, silver, and jade jewelry estimated to be worth millions.
Especially when the Emperor deliberately spread information about the Empress’s dowry being used to fill the National Treasury.
So those families with selected consorts had to think twice.
If the dowry was too much, the Emperor would surely think these officials were corrupt, especially since the Li Family’s buying and selling of official positions had just passed.
If there was no money brought into the Palace by their daughters, then what was the aim of the Emperor’s widespread message?
None of the old ministers in the Imperial Court are fools, each weighing things thoroughly.
Until the Minister of Rites’ family took the lead, and the Empress Dowager didn’t blame them; instead, she said it didn’t matter if they didn’t enter the Palace, and the Emperor chose another girl from another family, even granting some rewards to the Sun family. The Emperor used it again, and in the end, of the fifteen chosen girls, four entered the Palace.
The dowries these four brought were not small.
They all expressed loyalty and wanted to contribute to the National Treasury.
Together, the four of them amounted to three hundred thousand taels!
Xie Pan’Er lamented that life is indeed full of drama.
Princess Lianchun, while practicing calligraphy with Xiaosuisui in her arms, remarked, "These people are interesting. Your dowry alone was three hundred thousand, and these four altogether were three hundred thousand.
They must be thinking that even if they can’t each overshadow you, they can at least annoy you to death!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Pan’Er said, "They didn’t annoy me to death, just disgusted me to no end.
You wouldn’t believe it, they dress up extravagantly and flaunt themselves before me all day long.
Who knows how much perfume they’ve doused themselves in, it makes me nauseous just smelling it.
I just couldn’t take it anymore and had to hide away."
Having said this, Xie Pan’Er couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hand.
The nauseous feeling lingered for quite a while before she said.
"That’s it, these people have probably given me a psychological shadow; just talking about them makes me feel sick!"
Princess Lianchun blinked upon hearing this, staring at her for a long time before asking.
"How long since your menses?"