In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

Chapter 490 A Dream of Red Mansions - Wang Xifeng 17

The more Wang Ziteng thought about it, the more excited he felt, as if the day when he would become the new emperor's grandfather had already arrived. He wished that Wang Xifeng could reach the age of marriage immediately.

Now we just have to wait until the retired emperor's condition gets worse before we can show our loyalty to the new emperor.

Now the Wang family is still openly under the control of the retired emperor. Wang Ziteng dare not commit crimes against the wind and stab the retired emperor in the back when he still holds power. Fortunately, the retired emperor is in poor health now and can't attend court, so he can only hastily hand over the throne to the new emperor. It will be soon before he can take action.

Wang Ziteng thought that the retired emperor would not live long. Coincidentally, Concubine Zhen Gui and Prince Zhongshun thought so too, so they planned to force the emperor to abdicate before his death.

Soon, the forces belonging to the Zhen family took action. On the one hand, they raised funds in Jinling and secretly sent money to the capital. On the other hand, they contacted the four kings and eight nobles who had old ties with the Zhen family. In particular, the Jia family, who had been intermarried with the Zhen family for generations and were old relatives, had frequent private contacts with the Zhen family, and the undercurrent was turbulent.

Prince Zhongshun took action quickly, but he did not expect that although the new emperor ascended the throne in a hurry, he was not so easy to deal with. After the two sides fought, Prince Zhongshun was finally defeated.

Just when the new emperor wanted to punish Prince Zhongshun and the forces behind him for treason, the seriously ill emperor finally recovered and regained consciousness. He not only stopped the new emperor from punishing the Zhen family, but also concealed the fact that Prince Zhongshun had rebelled. He only punished Prince Zhongshun and his mother lightly, and gave the new emperor some rights as compensation.

The new emperor won the rebellion against Prince Zhongshun, but lost to the retired emperor. No one expected that the retired emperor would actually fight the disease and recover his health.

It was obvious that the emperor who had recovered regretted his decision. He did not want to abdicate or give up power. However, the emperor's words were not a joke. He was the one who issued the imperial decree for the new emperor to ascend the throne, and the coronation ceremony had been held. It was naturally illegal for the emperor to sit on the throne again.

Therefore, he deliberately protected Prince Zhongshun and the Zhen family's power in order to prevent the new emperor's power from becoming too powerful. Only when the people below check and balance each other can he remain high and mighty and unshakable.

Although Prince Zhongshun was saved by the retired emperor after his rebellion failed, he no longer had the ambition to fight for the throne and power. Everyone could see that from then on, Prince Zhongshun had no chance at all.

Wang Ziteng secretly felt fortunate that he had not been able to successfully get on board Prince Zhongshun because he was not outstanding enough. At this moment, he sincerely felt that it was a good thing that Wang Xifeng was much younger than Prince Zhongshun, otherwise the family situations of Prince Zhongshun's princess and concubine would be the same as the Wang family's current situation.

Although the retired emperor saved Prince Zhongshun and the Zhen family, he always left some scapegoats for the new emperor to vent his anger on. The new emperor was naturally filled with resentment, but he had been forbearing for many years, so he naturally would not really have to break up with the retired emperor, especially now that the retired emperor was so powerful. The new emperor could only ensure that his throne would not be in trouble by forbearance and filial piety to the retired emperor.

As a result, people in the families that followed Prince Zhongshun in the rebellion all met with disaster. For example, Jia Jing from Ningguo Mansion became a monk, the father of Shi Xiangyun, the heir to the title of Shihou Mansion, passed away, and the father of Xue Pan and Xue Baochai, the head of the Jinling Xue family, also passed away.

There was no problem with Rongguo Mansion. On the one hand, Jia She was incompetent and cowardly, and on the other hand, Jia Zheng's official position was too low and he was of no use, so Prince Zhongshun never took a fancy to him.

As for the Wang family, Wang Ziteng also received secret contact from Prince Zhongshun. However, because he was planning to send Wang Xifeng to the palace, Wang Ziteng hesitated and did not agree, thus escaping the disaster.

There was such a time in his previous life when Wang Ziteng couldn't resist the temptation of enormous wealth and agreed. After all, Wang Ziteng's wife was also a member of the Zhen family, and they also had a biological daughter, Wang Xiluan, who also had half Zhen family blood.

Wang Xifeng did not have many memories of these in her previous life. In the setting of "Dream of Red Mansions", she almost never discussed political affairs with young female relatives. Only Lady Jia, who had an imperial edict, could receive the news.

No matter whether it is Wang Xifeng, Jia Yuanchun, Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, or even Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu and other characters in the entire "Dream of Red Mansions", they are like captive sparrows. No matter how smart they are, they are only used in verbal confrontations and hints, and never have the chance to understand the outside world.

In their previous lives, Wang Xifeng and Mrs. Wang had opportunities to wield power and knew about official positions, power and status, but they essentially had no idea of ​​the connections behind them, and didn't even know what they could and could not do.

But this cannot be blamed on them. On the one hand, they have not learned these things. On the other hand, the Rongguo Mansion began to go downhill, but they still thought that the Rongguo Mansion was still the same Rongguo Mansion. Their cognition has not changed, and they still think that no matter what they do, nothing will go wrong.

Ignorance leads to fearlessness. Even the Rongguo Mansion, or the nobles like the Rongguo Mansion, are the same. They have lost their reverence because they lived in the past glory, which is why they have raised so many men who violate discipline and laws.

Prince Zhongshun failed in his plan, and Concubine Zhen's promise to Lady Jia to help Jia Yuanchun naturally did not come true. Now that Jia Yuanchun was taken over by the new empress as a female official, Lady Jia did not dare to pass a card to enter the palace to see Concubine Zhen or Concubine Zhen.

As for Mrs. Wang, she didn't understand what the new emperor and the retired emperor were. She only knew that it was a good thing that Jia Yuanchun had moved to the Queen's palace. At least she would have more opportunities to see the emperor. Besides, the new emperor was much younger than the retired emperor. If Jia Yuanchun really became the emperor, it would definitely be a great thing.

Mrs. Wang and Wang Ziteng are indeed siblings from the same mother, and they have the same ideas.

Jia Yuanchun, who was highly expected by Mrs. Wang, did not have an easy life in the palace. Although she changed palaces and successfully became a female official with a rank from a palace maid and moved to the Queen's palace, she was monitored by the Queen's people all day long. If she wanted to meet Baoqin, her personal maid who accompanied her into the palace, she had to make arrangements everywhere, but the Queen would not give her any convenience at all.

For the queen, Jia Yuanchun's usual dignified and elegant appearance was too much of an eyesore.

The empress was of humble origin and of average looks, and she was only lucky enough to be able to ascend to the throne by chance with the emperor. Although Jia Yuanchun's biological father was not a high-ranking official, she was the eldest granddaughter of the late Duke of Rong, Jia Daishan, who was once the retired emperor's right-hand man and good brother.

As the granddaughter of Jia Daishan, Jia Yuanchun's status is much higher than that of the queen. The queen has a son, but her mother's family is not powerful and cannot provide much help to the new emperor. If Jia Yuanchun really climbs into the bed of the new emperor, the son she gives birth to will definitely gather a large number of nobles' power, which will become an obstacle to her son.

Fortunately, the new emperor was afraid of the retired emperor and hated the noble families. He had no intention of using marriage to snatch the nobles' help from the retired emperor. At the last moment of seizing power, the new emperor conferred titles on several concubines of noble birth, including Jia Yuanchun, in order to stabilize the retired emperor. He also set up a trap of "visiting relatives" and plundered the nobles' wealth.