My enemies became my companions

Chapter 386 Death of King Jing
On the first day of the New Year, Chen Yi and the two Yins left the palace after breakfast. As for Donggong Ruoshu and Lin Wanheng, they had to live in the palace during this period.

It would be more accurate to say that they were under control rather than living in the palace. Queen An looked through the notes made by the palace maids who monitored and eavesdropped on them, reading every detail.

The closer you get to the wedding, the less room you can afford to make mistakes.

As for the imperial decree granting the marriage, it had already been drafted and sent out, with the Empress Dowager's seal on it instead of the Emperor's. This way, it could circumvent the ministers in the court and avoid the cabinet's objections, and it could be issued directly by the Shangshu Neisheng.

In Jingren Palace, after Queen An finished reading her notes, a spy from the Magpie Pavilion came to report on Chen Yi's movements.

The nameless old lady stood beside Queen An and signaled the spy to speak frankly.

"Today he posted a couplet and hung firecrackers. The couplet reads: 'New Year brings more happiness, the festival is called Changchun'. After checking, it was verified that this couplet came from the "History of Song Dynasty" and was written by scholars ordered by Meng Chang, the ruler of Later Shu. The ruler of Later Shu was wise at first but corrupt later. I wonder if this couplet is meant to reflect the government and the Empress Dowager."

The spy reported truthfully.

Queen An frowned slightly and said in a slightly cold voice: "No need to over-estimate it, just continue to report."

"Yes, he lit firecrackers and did a thorough cleaning at home. There were ashes from fireworks inside, as if someone had set off fireworks in the yard last night. After cleaning, he went to dump the garbage and filth. The ordinary sundries were dumped into the ash pit in the south, and the feces and urine were dumped into the clean sewage channel of the Beijing North Waterway..."

The ash pit is the garbage dump, and the sewage channel is the feces and urine disposal area. The spy does not shy away from these things and reports every word truthfully, for fear that if they conceal them, they will miss some key clues.

"After throwing away the garbage and filth, he went back to take a bath, and then sent Princess Jing back to Prince Jing's mansion. When he came back, Min Ming had already prepared lunch, so he ate it by himself. Now he has been staying at home..."

The spy's report covered every detail, and An Hou listened with great interest and without getting bored.

In the past, although there were spies from the Magpie Pavilion stationed outside the Donghua Gate, there were not many of them, and they did not just focus on Chen Yi's family. Later, there was a rift between them and Chen Yi, and Queen An did not want him to be mentioned in the palace, so there was no further surveillance. But now it is different. The wedding is approaching, and Queen An has to make sure that nothing goes wrong at every critical moment.

Queen An thought for a moment, then asked, "Did he chat with anyone today? Did you hear anything?"

"We are afraid of being discovered, so we are far away from his courtyard. We can only see the scenery of the courtyard, but not the mansion, let alone hear any sounds. Madam, do you want to get closer?"

"No need. If you annoy him, it will only cause trouble." Queen An paused and said, "You secretly check the courtyards nearby and feel the soil to see if there are any traces of tunnels. If he has contact with anyone, keep a close eye on him."

"Yes."

The spy had nothing more to report, so Queen An asked her to leave and continued to look through the palace maids' notes.

The nameless old lady saw all of this and after a moment of hesitation, she spoke:

"Your Highness is too concerned about him now."

"It's nothing, but at this critical moment, I have to be extra careful."

As she spoke, Queen An recalled the emotion in his eyes when he put on the pendant, and she kept whispering:
"He is a good boy, sensible, and will eventually obey my orders."

Old Lady Wuming fell silent. After living together for so many years, how could she not know that Queen An would not easily change her decision?

Queen An was about to continue looking through her notes, but outside Jingren Palace, the female official Su Xin hurried over.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

Su Xin stepped into the palace, without having time to bless:
"Today's family banquet, Prince Jing's Mansion did not send anyone to receive the sacrificial meat."

After the empress dowager took power, the so-called family banquet that the emperor hosted for the royal family on the first day of the Lunar New Year was just a formality. The royal relatives were asked to go to the palace to get a dish of yokan and a portion of six-grain rice, which were then taken to the shrine for offering, implying blessings from the heavenly family. People like King Jing would send people to collect them.

Queen An's eyes were slightly fierce. Chen Yi's request to marry the daughter of King Jing conflicted with the marriage granted by the palace. She knew this very well. At this moment, she said in a cold voice:
"Is this Prince Jing putting on airs in the palace?"

Unexpectedly, the female official Su Xin hurriedly shook her head and said:
"No, no, Su Xin sent some palace maids and eunuchs to check, and found that Prince Jing's mansion was in mourning. It seemed that Prince Jing... had passed away!"

An Hou's pupils shrank slightly.

At this critical moment, King Jing...died?!

...........................

The story begins the day before New Year’s Eve.

"My lord, something bad is going on!"

At Prince Jing's mansion, Prince Jing had just stepped into the main hall of the outer courtyard when he saw a steward from the mansion hurried over.

"What's the matter? You're so flustered."

King Jing said a few words, then calmly rolled up his sleeves and sat on the main seat.

He picked up the tea bowl and waited for a while before slowly saying:

"Go ahead."

The steward bowed quickly and said:
"Your Majesty, aren't you nervous?"

"If it was really something bad, you would have spoken without even waiting for me to sit down."

King Jing sighed softly.
"I think it's just a small matter. Stay calm and explain it slowly."

The steward nodded a few times, then calmed down as King Jing had said, and took out a piece of letter paper from his bosom without pause.

"Captain Chen proposed to you in public before, so we servants, in order to relieve the prince's worries, heard some rumors..."

"You are speaking too fast. Explain slowly." King Jing sat calmly and pointed out, "The steward is just a small face of the palace. Why are you so impatient? Learn from me. I will not change my face when facing a disaster."

"Okay," the steward responded, and said word by word: "It is rumored that the Queen Mother wants to grant her a marriage to Captain Chen..."

King Jing's eyes widened as big as bells, and he jumped up with a swish.
"What did you say?!"

The steward continued to speak word by word: "The bride is from the Donggong family."

King Jing almost dropped his tea bowl, and angrily asked, "Why are you speaking so slowly?!"

"Didn't the prince tell me to remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses in front of me..." The steward's tone became weaker.

"I...I!" King Jing was so angry that his fingers trembled as he said, "You are calm even if Mount Tai collapses? Run for your life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, King Jing's face turned red. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He picked up something and wanted to hit someone. The tea bowl was too small, so he picked up a sandalwood chair. The steward hurriedly stepped back and retreated to the threshold.

"Your Highness, calm down, calm down!" The steward advised earnestly and panic-strickenly, but Prince Jing, who was furious, picked up the sandalwood chair and moved closer.

At this moment, the princess' gentle voice came from outside the threshold:

"What's going on? Why is it so noisy?"

King Jing put down the sandalwood chair and said urgently:
"Princess, something terrible has happened!"

The princess frowned, seeing the impatient look on King Jing's face. She glanced at the flustered steward and said:

"Then tell me quickly, why bother making things difficult for the servants."

King Jing came to his senses and stared at the steward and said:
"Did you hear that? Come on."

"Yes."

The steward nodded timidly and said:
"Rumor has it that the Queen Mother is going to give Chen Qianhu a higher rank and marry him to a woman named Donggong. It is said that the wedding will take place on the Lantern Festival."

As soon as the words fell, the princess, who had been somewhat indifferent, changed her expression.

The reason is simple: the best son-in-law was snatched away.

Due to past grudges, Prince Jing has always been resentful of Chen Yi, the thorn in his side, but the princess doesn't feel anything about it. Instead, she feels like the mother-in-law likes her son-in-law more and more.

Just imagine, a captain in his twenties, who has made great contributions in saving the emperor, is highly appreciated by the palace, and will be granted a title in the near future. Where can you find such a good son-in-law?

Moreover, at the poetry gathering, Chen Yi proposed in front of everyone, and the engagement of the three was witnessed by all, so it could not be changed. But if he was forced to marry someone else, wouldn't that be a slap in the face of the royal palace?

Chen Yi married that Donggong who appeared out of nowhere. So where did Wei Ying and the daughter of King Xiang go? Under the bed?
Taking a step back, even if Donggong, Weiying and the daughter of King Xiang were married at the same time, there was still a question of order. Yin Weiying was the eldest daughter of King Jing's mansion, so she should be married first as the principal wife, rather than being a concubine of King Yao.

As many thoughts flashed through her mind, the princess's face darkened. It was no wonder that King Jing was so furious just now.

The atmosphere in the main hall suddenly changed, and the air was filled with gloom.

King Jing's anger came and went quickly. He sighed and said, "What should I do?"

The princess's forehead wrinkled a few times: "What should I do? What should I do... If the Queen Mother really wants to grant the marriage, the royal family is still greater than ours. I'm afraid that Donggong, who came from nowhere, will become the legal wife."

Both of them looked extremely bad, with gloom piling up between their brows. The manager stood aside, trembling with fear, and even his breathing slowed down a little.

"I have an idea."

King Jing put his hands behind his back, feeling irritable, and began to wander around. Finally, he waved his hand and said:

"Cancel the engagement! Let Wei Ying come to cancel the engagement!
Let everyone see that it was the Queen Mother who picked up the son-in-law that our Jingwang Mansion didn’t want.”

The princess' eyes lit up at first, but she was instantly disappointed after hearing this:

"It's easy to think about it. Not to mention that Wei Ying is a stubborn person. Even if Wei Ying agrees, canceling the engagement may only vent anger for a while, but in the end it will not only anger Chen Zunming, but also disgust the palace."

In the past few months, Prince Jing's Mansion had lost a number of top masters one after another. On the surface, due to the downfall of the Lin Party, the officialdom seemed to be thriving, but in fact, it was just strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

King Jing knew what the princess said.

Now he still didn't have much affection for his son-in-law Chen Yi, but after last night, seeing that Yin Weiying had made up his mind, and with everyone's witness, he accepted it. Not only that, he also tried to imagine the scene in the future where the hatred would be completely resolved and the father-in-law and son-in-law would drink fine wine together. However, this sudden news was like a wake-up call to him.

"Then what should we do?" King Jing's eyebrows were almost broken by frowning. He sat back on the main seat and said to himself, "The evil queen is now forcing the surname Chen. Can the surname Chen fight to the death with the royal family? In the end, we can only think of a solution... But what solution should we think of?"

He paused, as if something flashed through his mind, and continued:
"We have no choice but to think of a solution. Time is running out, so the simpler and easier the plan is to implement, the better. No matter what, we have to stop Chen from marrying Donggong first."

After hearing these words, the princess began to think deeply.

The current situation is really tricky, as it involves the status of the eldest daughter and even more so the reputation of the palace.

Everything started because of the Queen Mother. Was she going to go to the palace to ask for mercy from the Queen Mother? No, if it was a normal matter, maybe it was okay, but Chen Yi was highly appreciated by the Queen Mother, so she was afraid that she would not be able to ask for mercy.

What should I do then?
After the princess thought deeply, an idea suddenly flashed through her mind.

An idea with minimal cost.

The couple had a tacit understanding. King Jing turned to look at the princess and heard her say leisurely:

"This situation is extremely difficult, so it requires extraordinary measures."

"What method?"

"My idea is that the prince faked his death."

After hearing these words, King Jing froze where he was. His brain was not working properly and he needed to slow down.

The princess continued, "Your Majesty is the King of the Same Rank. If he dies, although it is not a national mourning, the capital should also mourn for several months. During the mourning period, there will be no weddings or funerals in the capital. Then we can take this opportunity to secretly arrange a wedding for Chen Yi and Wei Ying. Once the matter is settled, the prince can come back to life... In short, we can think of a reason to come back to life at any time. The key is to fake his death first, arrange the marriage secretly, and Wei Ying will become his legal wife."

After a series of words were spoken, King Jing couldn't help showing worry on his face. It sounded like this was really the method with the least cost. King Jing wouldn't have to lose anything, nor would he anger the man named Chen. Even the palace couldn't say anything about it.

After all, death and resurrection are such a happy event, do you still want a prince to really die in your palace? Even if you want to secretly, you have to send a congratulatory letter and send people from the palace to express your condolences.

The only problem is,

King Jing couldn't help but ask: "Isn't this a bit too cowardly?"

The princess shook her head and said, "There is no other way except this. This death is not a real death, but a death for the Queen Mother to see."

King Jing frowned and muttered, "How can I, the great King Yi Zi Bing Jian, fake my own death? If I die and come back to life like this, where will my dignity be?"

It was really hard for him to lose face when the younger brother of the late emperor and one of the few remaining kings in Dayu wanted to resolve the crisis in this way.

The princess knew this was the case, so she said, "If this is the case, then Wei Ying cannot be the principal wife."

King Jing was furious: "I will die in front of her now!"

(End of this chapter)