Chapter 4 — The night before the Crown Prince paid the royal concubine, the Ministry of Ceremonies mistakenly gave me my Queen's Order

She grabbed my hand, saw the blood on the back of her hand, tears immediately fell: "Minh Duong, if this decree is real, I'm afraid our Ta family will be caught up in a huge disaster." I said: "If it was fake, the Ta family wouldn't be able to survive." Mother is silent. We all understand. From the moment the proclamation entered the Ta palace last night, the Ta palace had no way back. In the afternoon, an oral edict was transmitted in the palace. The person who transmitted it was the general manager Han Truc. He is over fifty, but his back is still straight. After entering the door, he looked at the marble box first, then looked at me, and finally opened the front door.

"Your Majesty's edict. Ta Thi Minh Duong brings the decree to enter the palace, proving her origin. People of the Ta palace temporarily stay in the palace, are not allowed to go out, and are not allowed to secretly communicate with the Eastern palace."

The mother's face turned pale: "Let's just leave Minh Duong alone?" Han Truc replied: "Your Majesty only summoned Miss Ta." Let's step forward. When Han Truc gave me the diary, he said in a low voice: "Miss, you don't need to be afraid. Your Majesty said, just let the clerk speak first." That sentence has no beginning or end. But I remember it in my heart. The carriage entering the palace stopped in front of the Ta palace gate, the carriage curtains were light blue, without the golden patterns of the Eastern Palace. I carried the bright yellow brocade box and got into the car. The wheel grinded through the puddle, making a heavy sound. When the car reached the end of the school, we saw the eastern palace decorated with lights and flowers, red silk ribbons stretching from the wall all the way down, making us so happy that our eyes were blinding. Tomorrow there will be a concubine initiation ceremony there. But in my heart is a posthumous decree. When the carriage entered the palace gate, Han Truc suddenly spoke from outside the carriage: "Miss Ta, people from the Dong Palace are already waiting at Tai Chi Palace." I lifted a corner of the car curtain. At the end of the palace, the majestic Tai Chi hall was quiet, the white jade steps in front of the hall were washed cold by the rainwater. I asked: "The Crown Prince is also there?" Han Truc paused for a moment: "Yes." I let down the curtain and reached out to touch the jade gem in my sleeve. Having not seen Tieu Thua Quan for three years, I have thought about countless scenes of reunion. I just didn't expect that it would be me carrying the posthumous decree to meet him the night before he paid his concubine. In the Tai Chi Temple, incense smoke is as cold as snow. When I walked in holding the brocade, Tieu Thua Quan was standing in the middle of the palace. He was wearing plain purple clothes, the jade belt on his waist had not yet been changed, and the jade bracelet in his hand was still the same one from the past. Seeing me enter, he immediately frowned, as if seeing an old disobedient item.

“Minh Duong.”

His voice was very low: "Have you had enough trouble?" I stopped three steps away from him and bowed: "Goddess Ta Minh Duong, the phoenix has entered the palace." His eyes darkened a bit: "There are no outsiders here, why do you need to be so polite?" In the palace, there was clearly the Minister of Rites, two maids, a royal guard, and a row of servants holding books standing behind. I looked at him: "Your Highness also knows that there are outsiders here." Tieu Thua Quan gently turned the ban. It's a habit when he loses patience. In the past, every time he did something like this, I would bow my head first, to avoid making him feel that I didn't understand his advances and retreats. We don't do that today. On the throne, new emperor Tieu Hanh has not yet opened his mouth. He wore a dark-colored dragon robe, was only two years older than Tieu Thua Quan, but his temperament was much colder than Tieu Thua Quan's. His eyebrows and eyes were calm, and in his hand was a stack of documents. He didn't look at me, nor at the Crown Prince, just said one word to the Minister of Rites: Just one word. The Minister of Rites knelt down to receive the brocade box, first checking the sealing ring, then checking the sealing paper, and finally taking out the book. In the palace, no one spoke. Only the sound of flipping papers could be heard. I saw Tieu Thua Quan's finger turn the thread over and over again, faster and faster. The Minister of Ceremony's forehead slowly sweated. After a long while, he raised the deputy book and knelt down: "For your Majesty, the posthumous decree that Ta Phu received, the number, seal, seal and seal all completely match the deputy book of the Ministry of Rites." The palace suddenly became quiet. Tieu Thua Quan's face changed. Tham Lenh Nghi was also present. Today she was wearing a light pink palace outfit, originally the outfit used to test the concubine's wedding ceremony, and was now standing behind the row of Eastern palace ladies, like a flower that had just been hit by cold frost. She said urgently: "How can this be consistent? Did the Ministry of Rites do something wrong?" The Minister of Rites bowed his head even lower: "Ty Sach Bao only works according to his deputy." Tieu Thua Quan smiled coldly: "It's just an old case recorded wrongly." He took a step forward, clasped his hands towards the throne: "Your Majesty, these years there are too many backlogged files in the Ministry of Rites, and when the Emperor was sick, he also issued many orders. Something as big as a posthumous decree, how could it fall into the hands of Ta Minh Duong? She was originally my brother's fiancee, and the whole capital knew about it."