Xie Yaohuan was about to go out when Wu Chengsi suddenly said: "Wait a minute."
Xie Yaohuan immediately stopped moving, and Wu Mei looked a little confused. Wu Chengsi explained: "Aunt, your majesty asked your nephew to assist the prince, so it means to check and balance you."
"I know." Wu Mei's expression remained unchanged.
"If you call your nephew over, His Majesty may already know about it. Maybe someone is watching the palace outside. If Your Majesty knows that you are letting people bring wine into the palace, I'm afraid you will be suspicious of your nephew."
"Well, what you're thinking makes sense." Wu Mei smiled and said, "That's okay. Anyway, there is wine in the palace, so we can still have a drink."
As he spoke, he walked to a table, poured two glasses of wine himself, and brought them to Wu Chengsi.
Xie Yaohuan on the side was stunned. Apart from the emperor, when had she ever seen Wu Mei pouring wine for anyone else?
At this time, Wu Mei glanced at her, and Xie Yaohuan resigned knowingly.
"Chengsi, let's have a drink together, aunt and nephew!" Wu Mei walked up to Wu Chengsi with a bright smile on her face.
Wu Chengsi took the wine glass, clinked it with her, and drank it all in one gulp.
After putting down the wine glass, Wu Chengsi said softly: "Aunt, do you know why Your Majesty chose your nephew to assist the Crown Prince?"
Wu Mei thought for a moment and said, "I guess I'm interested in your ability."
Wu Chengsi shook his head: "No, the main reason is because my surname is Wu!"
Wu Mei was stunned.
Wu Chengsi continued: "If someone else assists the prince, Your Majesty is worried that they will take away all your power in the end and you will be sentenced to death by the new emperor."
Wu Mei sighed and said, "Chengsi, why do you want to tell me this?"
Wu Chengsi smiled bitterly and said: "Although my nephew supports you, he also respects His Majesty very much, especially his feelings for you, so my nephew hopes that you can understand his painstaking efforts."
Wu Mei glared at him and said, "I've been married to him for decades, do you think I wouldn't think of this?"
Wu Chengsi touched his nose awkwardly, walked to the table, took the wine bottle, and refilled the two glasses of wine.
Wu Mei held the wine glass, looked at the amber liquid in the glass, and suddenly smiled and said: "Chengsi, you are really resourceful. The daughter I have raised for more than ten years actually turned her elbows outward, and she is always thinking about you."
Hearing Wu Mei take the initiative to mention this matter, Wu Chengsi knew that she had let go of the thorn in her heart, and said with a smile: "The little girl is like that, she will get close to anyone who plays with her."
Wu Mei snorted and drank the wine in the glass. She glanced over and said, "Chengsi, I will make you a promise. As long as I ascend the throne, you will be the crown prince!"
Wu Chengsi stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, aunt."
That night, when Wu Mei went to serve Li Zhi again, she deliberately showed her dissatisfaction with Wu Chengsi in her words, which dispelled Li Zhi's suspicion.
Two days later, Li Zhi made his first move. Because Wu Chengsi had contributed to exposing King Pei's conspiracy, the Jin Dynasty named Wu Chengsi a prince and titled him "King of Zhou". After returning to Beijing, the ceremony of naming the king was held.
Because of the fall of King Pei, King Pei's party was implicated one after another, and many important official positions were vacant.
In the next few days, decrees for official transfers were frequently circulated.
The first person to bear the brunt was Wu Chengsi, who was removed from the position of Governor of Yangzhou and was renamed General Zuojin Wuwei.
The original left Jinwu Guard general Zhang Qianxu was dismissed from his post and imprisoned, and the right Jinwu Guard general Wang Zhikai was transferred to the local area as the governor. The Jinwu Guards were completely controlled by Wu Chengsi.
Immediately afterwards, a series of appointments were made, and the official vacancies left by King Pei's party were almost divided between the Prince's party and Wu's party.
When Cen Changqian, Marquis of Dengzhou, first took refuge with the prince, he was secretly laughed at by many people. However, those who laughed at him could no longer laugh because Cen Changqian was named General Zuo Qianniuwei.
Even Zong Chuke, who was sent by Wu Mei to the prince's side, also took the position of minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Within a few days, the prince's popularity increased steadily.
At noon that day, it started raining heavily.
Li Zhiying came to the door wearing a white cloak. After Hong Ming took up her umbrella, she jogged to the carriage at the door and stepped on the low stool.
The wheels drove slowly, and when they came to a fork, they saw a carriage parked on the roadside.
Xue Yujin got out of the carriage. Just as her guards were about to hold an umbrella for her, she had already walked towards Li Zhiying's carriage.
Unexpectedly, she accidentally stepped on a loose stone slab, and the hem of her skirt was immediately splashed with muddy water.
She didn't care to look further and hurriedly entered Li Zhiying's carriage. Only then did she have time to look at her skirt, and saw an arc formed by mud and water on it.
"It's so annoying. It keeps raining recently. This is the skirt I just bought." Xue Yujin complained while wiping the hem of her skirt with a handkerchief.
Hong Ming very cleverly came up and helped her wipe it.
Li Zhiying said: "How about you go back and change into a skirt? I'll wait for you here."
Xue Yujin waved her hand and said: "Forget it, Caiyi is still waiting. Let's not keep her waiting too long."
Li Zhiying nodded and let the carriage continue to move forward.
At another turning point, Cheng Caiyi's carriage was also waiting on the roadside.
She also got on Li Zhiying's carriage. After seeing that she was still wearing the same white clothes, Li Zhiying sighed secretly.
Although Cheng Caiyi's outer cloak is brand new, the white clothes underneath have been worn for a long time and have faded.
This is not a dress that should be worn on festive occasions.
Li Zhiying was not blaming her friend, but felt sorry for Cheng Caiyi.
Although Cheng Caiyi tried her best to hide it, she could still tell that the Cheng family's life was somewhat difficult.
It's no wonder that the Cheng family was originally prosperous, but when it came to the Cheng Boxian area, several uncles died early one after another. In addition to a bunch of female relatives who were not engaged in childbirth, there were only two brothers and sisters left in the huge Cheng family.
Cheng Boxian had not made any meritorious achievements, and naturally he did not receive many rewards. With his meager salary, it was extremely difficult to support a public palace.
In order to supplement the family income, Cheng Caiyi worked as a teacher in Princess Taiping's academy.
Seeing her friend's condition, Li Zhiying suddenly realized how lucky she was.
No matter whether she was in the British palace before or now when she married into the Changping palace, under the care of Li Ji and Wu Chengsi, she had never encountered any financial problems.
She really wanted to give her friend some help, but she also knew that the other person was arrogant and would not only refuse to accept it, but it might also hurt their relationship.
Just when she was having mixed feelings, Cheng Caiyi suddenly took out a jade Ruyi from her arms and said: "Zhiying, do you think it is appropriate for me to give this gift to your second uncle?"
The place where the three of them were going was Li Ji's residence.
The emperor issued a decree yesterday to confer Li Siwen the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Li Siwen held a "burning tail banquet" to celebrate his promotion. Li Zhiying, his niece, naturally wanted to congratulate him.
After Xue Yujin and Cheng Caiyi learned about it, they both proposed to celebrate together, and Li Zhiying naturally would not object.
"It's quite appropriate. My second uncle will be very happy." Li Zhiying replied with a smile.
Cheng Caiyi nodded and asked doubtfully: "Why didn't your prince come with you?"
Xue Yujin smiled and said: "Zongzheng Temple is interrogating King Pei. King Han and King Yue, Brother Wu and the Crown Prince have all gone to listen according to the order."
Cheng Caiyi said in a deep voice: "I really didn't expect that King Pei would be so bold. Fortunately, I told my brother to keep a distance from him, otherwise I would have been implicated."
Xue Yujin smiled and said: "That's not the case. With your face, Brother Wu will always be merciful. You see, Brother Zhiying will be fine."
Li Zhiying rolled her eyes at him and said: "What do you mean nothing happened? He has lost his official position and is now a white man."
Xue Yujin pouted and thought to himself, compared to those who were sentenced to death and exiled, Li Jingye was many times better off.
Cheng Caiyi suddenly glanced at Xue Yujin and said, "Yujin, where is the mink cloak I gave you last time? Why haven't I seen you wearing it recently?"
Xue Yujin said carelessly: "Don't mention it, I accidentally tore it when I was hunting last time. There is no way to wear it."
Li Zhiying was startled. She looked at Cheng Caiyi and found a shadow covering her face.
"Zhiying, has he never worn the cloak I gave to Brother Wu?" Cheng Caiyi asked with a stern face.
Li Zhiying said hurriedly: "He asked me to keep it well and said that I would wear it on important occasions in the future."
Cheng Caiyi's expression softened slightly.
At this moment, the carriage suddenly began to slow down, and the coachman's voice came in, saying: "Your Highness, there is a carriage coming from the other side, and they won't give way at all."
In the palace, when two cars meet and the two cars are of similar status, one person will give way to half of the way.
Only when there are many differences in status will one party give way and the other party not give way at all.
Xue Yujin raised her eyebrows and said, "Whose carriage is coming?"
"It's the carriage from the East Palace." The coachman replied respectfully.
Xue Yujin hummed: "Zhiying, you are the princess now. Even if the prince is sitting inside, you shouldn't be so rude."
Li Zhiying nodded. Although she didn't care about such trivial matters, as the mistress of Prince Zhou's Mansion, she couldn't show too much weakness and let others look down upon Prince Zhou's Mansion.
Cheng Caiyi opened the curtains and glanced across the way, saying coldly: "I know that carriage, and the prince's concubine is sitting in it."
Xue Yujin said angrily: "That barbarian woman again, a mere concubine, dares to let our real princess give way, Lao Zhang, you are not allowed to give way to her!"
The coachman outside responded and turned the carriage back to the main road. The two carriages got closer and closer, and finally stopped.
"Bastard! Who asked you to stop the carriage?"
The voice of the prince's concubine angrily scolding the coachman could be heard from a long distance, followed by the sound of a whip.
In the carriage opposite, Yaruo's eyebrows suddenly raised when he learned that the carriage opposite was the carriage of Prince Zhou's Mansion.
There was another beauty in palace attire sitting in the carriage. The woman said softly: "Sister, since it is the carriage of Prince Zhou's Palace, let's get out of the way."
Ya Ruo sneered and said: "What a joke, can a prince compare to the East Palace? Didn't the carriage of Prince Ji's Mansion we met yesterday obediently give way to us?"
The woman in palace clothes said cautiously: "Sister, His Royal Highness the King of Zhou has been visiting His Highness the Crown Prince frequently recently. Let's save some face for him, shall we?"
Yaruo mocked: "I used to think that Wu Chengsi was a figure, but I didn't know that he was just like the rest of the group. Seeing that His Highness the Crown Prince's position had become stronger, he came to please him."
The woman in palace clothes looked at Yaruo in astonishment, finding it difficult to understand her way of thinking.
Yaruo gritted his teeth and said: "When I came to the Tang Dynasty, I was humiliated by many people, and Wu Chengsi was one of them. I am about to return all these humiliations to them. Tuta!"
"I'm here." A voice immediately came from outside the carriage.
"Take the people over and drive them aside." Ya Ruo said coldly.
"yes!"
Tuta responded and rushed over with the East Palace guards. However, as soon as they got close, a group of guards rushed out from the opposite side to block them.
"Hey, listen to the carriage on the other side. This is the carriage from the East Palace. Her Royal Highness is sitting in it. Why don't you get out of the way quickly?" Tuta shouted in not pure Tang dialect.
Xue Yujin had already heard the commotion, got out of the carriage, and sneered: "You are obviously the crown prince's concubine, but you call yourself the crown prince. Are all you Turks so shameless?"
Li Zhiying who followed him out sighed. Many times it was a small matter, but Xue Yujin always had a way to turn a small matter into a big one.
Ya Ruo, who was opposite, almost jumped out of the carriage. She pointed her riding crop at Xue Yujin and said angrily: "It's you again. Today, I will settle the old and new accounts with you!"
The rain was so heavy that when the autumn wind blew, the raindrops would bypass the oil-paper umbrellas and fall on the girls.
Li Zhiying saw more and more raindrops on her clothes. She pulled Xue Yujin and said, "Okay, don't be acquainted with her. My second uncle's banquet is about to start."
When Xue Yujin saw her friend say this, she could only glare at Yaruo, followed Li Zhiying back to the carriage, and then Li Zhiying's carriage moved aside.
Yaruo refused to give up and ordered his guards to block the way and prevent Li Zhiying's carriage from passing by.
Xue Yujin was immediately furious and said: "It's too much to bully someone, Zhiying, don't be polite to her, just do it!"
Li Zhiying was anxiously thinking of countermeasures. Wu Chengsi had been frequently walking around with the prince recently, and she did not want to cause any trouble to her husband.
At this moment, Cheng Caiyi, who was observing the outside through the car window, suddenly said: "Look, that person seems to be the princess."
The two women immediately came over, and through the car window, they saw that at some point, another carriage appeared in front of them, and a woman walked towards Yaruo, it was Crown Princess Pei.
Pei and Yaruo seemed to have said something, and Yaruo immediately started quarreling with her. Looking from a distance, Yaruo waved his whip repeatedly and bared his teeth and claws, but Pei remained motionless and refused to give in.
Soon, Mrs. Pei suddenly gave an order to the guards. All the guards in the East Palace stepped aside, and Li Zhiying's carriage passed by slowly.
When passing Yaruo, I saw her face turned red and she stared at Mr. Pei.
Mrs. Pei did not look at her. When Li Zhiying looked over, the real princess bent down and saluted her, as if to express her apology.
Xue Yujin clicked her tongue and said: "She is indeed a real lady, but she is different from those barbarian women."
Cheng Caiyi said leisurely: "It's a pity that the prince doesn't like the princess and only loves the concubine. Have you noticed that the carriage of the princess walks behind the concubine? Which mansion has this happened to?
"
"Yes, I heard Princess Taiping say that the Crown Princess is in a very difficult situation in the East Palace." Xue Yujin said: "The relationship between the two of them must not be good. It is strange that they went out together today."
"They should have received an invitation from Princess Chengyang. Today is Princess Chengyang's birthday." Li Zhiying said.
"Did you also receive the invitation?" Xue Yujin immediately looked at Li Zhiying.
Li Zhiying nodded and said: "Her Royal Highness the Princess just sent the invitation out of politeness. She actually didn't want me to come."
Xue Yujin snorted and said, "Then why doesn't she be polite to me?" She looked at another friend and said, "Caiyi, have you received the invitation?"
Cheng Caiyi shook his head.
Xue Yujin hummed: "This Princess Chengyang is so arrogant. Fortunately, Princess Taiping is not like her aunt."
The three of them chatted and the carriage arrived outside a small palace. The rain had subsided a lot. Outside the gate, they saw Li Siwen dressed in a festive red robe and personally receiving visitors.
"Zhiying, look, isn't that your brother?" Xue Yujin opened the curtains and said.
Li Zhiying looked over and saw Li Jingye walking out of a carriage. Li Siwen didn't seem to like him very much and lost the smile on his face when talking to him.
When Li Zhiying's carriage approached, Li Siwen's expression immediately changed. He came over with a smile on his face and said with a smile: "Chengsi, Zhiying, why are you two here so late?"
Xue Yujin took the lead to get off the carriage and said with a smile: "Li Shibo, Brother Wu has something to do, so Caiyi and I came here with Zhiying."
Li Siwen's disappointment flashed away and he said with a smile: "If your nieces are willing to come over, that would be a great welcome. Please come in."
The banquet started at noon. As half of the host, Li Zhiying and Li Siwen's wife accompanied the female guests in the side hall.
The small banquet in the side hall was not so harmonious. A woman wearing a bright red palace dress kept a straight face throughout the banquet. She didn't look like she was here for a banquet, but to look at others' faces.
Xue Yujin was about to have a seizure several times, but was held back by Li Zhiying because the woman was Dai Qing, the daughter of Prince Zhan Shidai Zhide.
After the King Pei incident, Dai Zhide, as a veteran figure of the prince's party, was not only awarded the title of Guanglu doctor, but also his title was promoted from county marquis to county prince.
Even his youngest daughter Dai Qing was named county head.
This time he brought his daughter to Li Siwen's promotion banquet. His main purpose was to put pressure on Li Siwen and force him to take sides.
These East Palace Party members have been suppressed by King Pei's Party for a long time. Now that King Pei has collapsed, they finally have the time to feel proud and can't wait to expand their power.
With such a purpose, Dai Qing naturally lost his temper.
Li Siwen's wife is Xu Xian, she is a few years older than Li Zhiying, and she does not have a title, so she behaves very humblely.
Fortunately, Li Zhiying came over today and could barely suppress Dai Qing. Otherwise, Mrs. Li alone would probably be the protagonist of this banquet as Miss Dai.
At about noon, Li Siwen suddenly entered the side hall. When they saw the people following him, all the girls were surprised.
"Your Highness the Princess, this is where the female family members use their banquets. Please forgive me for the poor hospitality. Zhiying, Madam, please entertain Your Highness the Princess well for me."
Li Siwen said something and left. After all, this was a place for women's families, and it was not convenient for him to stay for a long time.
Mrs. Li hurriedly stood up and said with a smile on her face: "It is truly a great honor for us to have Her Royal Highness the Princess here."
Princess Taiping only nodded, then turned to Li Zhiying and explained: "Aunt Chengyang celebrates her birthday today. I just came from her, otherwise I could have come earlier."
As she said this, she walked to Li Zhiying's right, and Mrs. Li gave up her seat knowingly.