eurekapd Chapter 225 Demoting Wife to Concubine 2
Chapter 225 Demoting Wife to Concubine 2
"I dare not," Jiang Chunxi knelt down calmly, "Your Majesty, please do not say that. I cannot bear the responsibility for this."
Seeing Jiang Chunxi's appearance, the empress dowager became so angry that her face turned dark.
The queen is her niece from her mother's side, and grew up with her son since childhood. If the previous emperor had not been incompetent, her son and niece would not have been forced to separate, allowing Jiang Chunxi to occupy the identity of her son's wife for so many years.
I thought that after all my hard work, my son would finally be able to be with my niece, and the two of them would become the most honorable couple in the world. But I never expected that during the ceremony of crowning the queen, a bolt of lightning would fall from the sky and hit my niece.
Now, the ministers in the court are warning that his niece is a witch queen, and they are asking his son to not only depose his niece from the queen position, but also to execute her.
Although the power of the empress dowager's family in the court was at its peak, they were outnumbered when faced with the joint request of court ministers to depose and execute the queen. They were lucky to be able to save their niece's life, but they would definitely not be able to keep the position of queen.
"Alright, stop acting crazy and stupid in front of me," the Queen Mother said coldly, "I am also a woman, how can I not understand the hatred in your heart for being demoted to a concubine? The Queen was struck by lightning during the ceremony of being crowned Queen, I guess you must have been very happy these days."
"Of course, this is human nature," the Queen Mother said in a different tone, "Like I said, I am also a woman, so I can understand the hatred in your heart, but you must remember that the Emperor is your husband and your heaven. It is human nature for you to hate the Queen, but you cannot hold a grudge against the Emperor."
"You have to understand that if I hadn't been attracted by your Jiang family's financial resources, how could a merchant's daughter like you be worthy of my son? How could my son be separated from his beloved? You have to know that my son was engaged to the queen, so you are the latecomer who stole my niece's position as his wife."
The Queen Mother paused for a moment, took another sip of tea, and then continued, "My son has allowed you to be his principal wife for a few years. This is already a great favor to you. You must be grateful. If I knew that you had any grudge against the Emperor, I would never forgive you."
"I dare not," Jiang Chunxi raised her head and looked directly at the Queen Mother, "Thunderbolts and raindrops are all grace from the Emperor. The Emperor is not only my Emperor, but also my husband. Although I have resentment towards the Emperor, I absolutely dare not harbor resentment."
"Just like what the Empress Dowager said, the Emperor is my heaven. Even for my own sake, I dare not harbor any resentment towards the Emperor."
"Well! It's great that you think this way," the Queen Mother said with a satisfied expression, "I will have someone send the palace affairs to your palace later. I hope you can help the Emperor manage the harem as you have done in the past, so that he doesn't have to worry about anything."
Although she didn't like Jiang Chunxi, the empress dowager had to admit that Jiang Chunxi was indeed a good wife. Over the years, she not only helped her son manage the backyard, but also helped her son stabilize the rear so that her son had no worries at all.
It was also because of this that the Queen Mother planned to hand over the palace power to Jiang Chunxi.
There is no way. The Queen Mother is old. Since her son ascended the throne in the past few months, the Queen Mother has been exhausted from managing the palace affairs and is even unable to do many things.
I had originally thought that I would hand over the power of the palace to my niece after her coronation ceremony, but I never expected that my niece would be struck by lightning.
It is impossible to say that the empress dowager had no thoughts about her niece being struck by lightning. After all, ancient people were the most superstitious. When her niece was struck by lightning during the ceremony of her coronation, the empress dowager could not help but wonder whether this was a warning from God.
But at the same time, women of this era attached great importance to their family. Even for the sake of her mother's family, the empress dowager could not bring herself to kill her niece.
What's more, she had raised her niece, who was no different from her own daughter. So even though she was worried that her niece's fate might harm her son, the empress dowager still planned to save her niece.
If I can’t be the queen, I can at least be the imperial concubine!
However, even if her niece became the Imperial Noble Consort, the Queen Mother could not hand over the power of the palace to her, otherwise the ministers in the court would probably make trouble again.
And the most important thing is that several pregnant concubines in the harem had miscarriages at the same time, which made the empress dowager worry whether her niece would kill her son's offspring. Therefore, naturally, she could not let her be in charge of the palace.
You know, my son still doesn’t have a son, only three daughters.
Here I have to say, the Queen Mother was actually worried that her niece would kill her son's offspring, so why did she still want to protect her niece? Wasn't she afraid that her son would have no descendants?
That was of course because the Queen Mother was hoping for the best. She thought her niece might only bring bad luck to other concubines' children, not her own children.
Compared with the children born by other concubines, the empress dowager naturally hopes that her niece can give her a grandson. As long as her niece can give her a grandson, it doesn't matter whether the concubines in the harem give birth to one or not.
As for what to do if her niece is unable to give birth, the Queen Mother has not thought about this yet, or maybe she is unwilling to think about it for the time being!
"I will definitely not let the Empress Dowager down." Jiang Chunxi kowtowed to the Empress Dowager seriously.
The Queen Mother did not keep Jiang Chunxi for long and soon let her go.
"Empress Dowager, are you really confident in handing over the power of the palace to Concubine Jiang?" Aunt Cui, the Empress Dowager's trusted nanny, said after Jiang Chunxi left. "I am worried that if the power of the palace falls into the hands of Concubine Jiang, it may threaten the position of the Empress. After all, Concubine Jiang is the Emperor's original wife."
"Don't worry! As long as I am here, Imperial Concubine Jiang will not be able to make trouble," the Queen Mother said confidently, "Besides, only by giving the palace power to Imperial Concubine Jiang can we shut up the ministers in the court. After all, many ministers in the court have already expressed dissatisfaction with the Emperor's move to demote his wife to a concubine, but they did not dare to force it because of the Emperor's firm attitude."
"I gave the palace power to Concubine Jiang, which was also a gesture. Since the palace power was given to Concubine Jiang, even if I and the emperor did not treat Concubine Jiang unfairly, some people should not have some inappropriate thoughts."
"The most important thing is that the emperor will definitely select concubines. The status of the concubines who enter the palace through the selection is not comparable to the women in the emperor's backyard before. Rather than letting the palace power fall into the hands of others, it is better to give it to Concubine Jiang for easier control."
"The most important point is that Concubine Jiang cannot have children. This is what makes me most relieved."
"The Empress Dowager is very far-sighted. I can't even compare to her." Nanny Cui flattered her appropriately.
"Alas!" The Queen Mother sighed, "If it weren't for the incident at the Queen's coronation ceremony, I wouldn't have needed to make such plans."