jdhmnovel Chapter 293 Shame
Chapter 293 Shame
This was not the first or second time that Empress Xu and Concubine Ye had clashed in public.
Those noble ladies all knew it tacitly. The Emperor would only agree to hold Empress Xu's birthday banquet if Concubine Ye pleaded for her. Empress Xu held a palace banquet without Concubine Ye knowing about it. Is this possible?
Looking at Queen Xu's suppressed anger, everyone became even more curious about why this palace banquet was held.
Concubine Ye wore a triumphant smile on her face. Empress Xu clenched her hands under her phoenix robe and looked at the noble ladies. "I'm sure everyone has heard about the drought in Xuzhou and Changzhou. I invited everyone to the palace this time because I hope everyone can do their part to help..."
After hearing what Queen Xu said, the noble ladies frowned slightly, and their good mood for attending the banquet in the palace was instantly gone.
Queen Xu is using their money to please the Emperor!
Concubine Ye said, "The Empress came to share the Emperor's worries, but why didn't she invite me along? She didn't leak any information beforehand. Is she afraid that if everyone knew, she wouldn't come to the palace anymore?"
Not only did he dig holes behind her back, but he also slandered her to her face. Queen Xu was so furious that she almost exploded.
Those noble ladies were even more unhappy.
The scene is exactly the same as in the previous life.
Concubine Ye took off the blood jade bracelet on her wrist and said, "I will take the lead. I hope that the people of Xuzhou and Changzhou can get relief from the disaster as soon as possible."
The palace maid brought over the tray.
Concubine Ye put down the blood jade bracelet and asked, "How much will the Queen donate?"
The blood jade bracelet worn on Concubine Ye's wrist was given by the emperor and is very valuable. It is not as valuable as the jasper bracelet worn on Empress Xu's wrist. This palace banquet was hosted by her and she is the empress, so her donation must not be less than that of Concubine Ye.
Queen Xu took off the bracelet on her wrist and pulled out a phoenix hairpin from her head.
As soon as she pulled out the hairpin, Concubine Ye casually took off the set of gold and ruby hairpins on her head and put them on the tray.
Concubine Ye's move put Empress Xu in a difficult position.
Concubine Ye took off all her earrings. How could Empress Xu not accompany her? In the end, she took off all the jewelry, necklace and rings on her head.
The noble ladies looked extremely unhappy. Concubine Ye and Empress Xu were at loggerheads with each other. They had donated so much, so naturally they couldn't do less.
In particular, the wife of Marquis Yongcheng and the wife of Marquis Changping sat facing each other.
The wife of Marquis Changping took off all the jewelry on her head. Could the wife of Marquis Yongcheng be slower than her?
The others were forced to take off all the jewelry they were wearing, and the trays carried by the palace maids were piled up like a small mountain.
Shen Tang was naturally no exception. Only Concubine Jiang and the Second Wife were feeling lucky. They were lucky that they had listened to Shen Tang's words, changed their jewelry, and didn't feel bad about donating it.
Those ladies and girls from wealthy families lost some of their luster without their jewelry. They were all very upset but dared not say anything.
Seeing the resentment in the hall, Princess Gu'an did not tear the scented handkerchief in her hand.
Queen Xu was so angry that her internal organs ached. She thought that donating a gold hairpin and jade bracelet would be enough, but she didn't expect that she would donate so much in the end.
Empress Xu knew she had incurred public wrath. She said, "I feel everyone's sympathy for Xuzhou and Changzhou, and the Emperor will feel it too."
Shen Tang stood up and looked at Empress Xu and said, "We didn't know that today's palace banquet was for disaster relief in Xuzhou and Changzhou. We can't donate silver or money, so we can only donate jewelry. The jewelry I'm wearing today was given to me by my husband, so I can't use it directly. I still need to exchange it for silver. Please allow the Queen to redeem it after I return home..."
Empress Xu hurriedly said, "It was my oversight. I thought it would be nice for everyone to donate one or two pieces of jewelry. It's only right. I will send someone to register the value of the jewelry and present it to the emperor for review."
Shen Tang was helping Queen Xu. After all, money can't buy love.
Allowing everyone to redeem these jewels would also reduce some of the dissatisfaction with Empress Xu.
It's just that no one spoke up in the previous life. Shen Tang even dared to ask Queen Xu to release Princess Gu'an from house arrest. There is nothing she dare not say. She is the most appropriate person to say it.
After all, on the surface, the Jingyang Palace and the princess are on the side of Concubine Ye.
Concubine Ye sat in a high seat, and her eyes were cold as she looked at Shen Tang's face. Although doing so would not help Queen Xu much, Shen Tang dared to help Queen Xu so blatantly, and no one knew how many ideas he had given to Prince Yu behind the scenes!
The ladies and wives of noble families were all happy, after all, those jewelries were truly their best, but Concubine Jiang and the second and fourth wives were a little restless.
Empress Xu immediately ordered the palace maids to invite the people from the Shangjin Bureau over.
The people from the Shangjin Bureau arrived quickly, starting with Empress Xu and Imperial Concubine Ye. They said, "The Empress and Imperial Concubine's jewelry is priceless. We can only estimate its value based on the forging process..."
"The Empress's jewelry is worth 3,600 taels."
"The Imperial Concubine's jewelry is worth three thousand one hundred taels."
After Empress Xu and Concubine Ye, there were Princess Jinde and Princess Duan, one with 2,800 taels and the other with 2,700 taels.
Everyone behind took out their jewelry. After the Shangjin Bureau appraised the value, everyone put the jewelry on their heads and then sent the silver and money into the palace.
Soon, the maid brought the tray to the princess. The princess's jewelry didn't look the most gorgeous, but it was the most valuable. "It's worth four thousand two hundred taels..."
The noble ladies were all surprised.
Then there is Concubine Jiang.
Concubine Jiang hesitated to extend her hand, so the maid said, "Please come in, Concubine Jingyang."
Concubine Jiang raised her hand with difficulty and only took two jade hairpins, but the palace maid said, "These are also for the concubine."
Shang Jinju picked up the jewelry, estimated the price one by one, and said, "One hundred taels."
One hundred taels?
Those noble ladies were all stunned.
Concubine Jiang's jewelry looks expensive, so how come it is only worth one hundred taels?
Concubine Ye asked, "What's going on?"
The head nanny of the Shangjin Bureau said, "This gold hairpin is gold-covered with silver, so it's not worth much."
Shen Tang, "..."
Madam, “…”
Concubine Jiang's face glowed green.
If she had stopped hesitating and taken it back directly, everyone would have thought she had bought a fake. Judging from Concubine Jiang's behavior just now, it was clear that she knew the hairpin was fake.
After all, she is the concubine of Prince Jingyang and his cousin. Princess Jingyang's jewelry is the most expensive, but Concubine Jiang wears fake ones. It's so embarrassing.
Well, soon everyone discovered that it was not only Concubine Jiang who was embarrassed, but also the second and fourth wives.
The second wife's jewelry was worth 108 taels, while the fourth wife's was only worth 56 taels.
That's true. Shen Tang felt that they wanted to crawl into the ground right there.
Looking at her eyes, she really wanted to tear Shen Tang's tendons, skin him, and bones.
Concubine Jiang wanted to skin Shen Tang alive on the spot. She had never lost face like this in her life. The looks that suspected that they were all show and no substance made her mouth taste bloody with anger.
Their jewelry was cheap and fake, and their daughters' jewelry was also half real and half fake. Today, they brought shame to the Jingyang Palace.