After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1048 Goal Achieved
The palace envoy did not stay in the small house rented by Fang for too long. After conveying the order of Queen Mother Xu to summon Fang, he took Fang away. Hai Baozhu, as the heir of the eldest branch of the Hai family, was also taken away by the envoy in case the Queen Mother asked him about it.

Hai Jiao hurriedly bid farewell to his grandmother's family, and escorted his cousin Fang and cousin Hai Baozhu back to the palace.

Fang and Hai Baozhu had never been to the palace, nor had they ever dealt with anyone in the palace. They would feel more at ease with him accompanying them. He could also chat with the palace envoys to find out more about the inside story of the matter and find out the real purpose of Queen Mother Xu's summons.

If she really wanted to reward a group of remarried women in advance for the sake of public opinion after her life story was exposed, and weaken the popular opinion that "widows should remain chaste and should not remarry after losing their husbands", then it would be of great benefit to Fang. The plan that Haijiao and Haitang wanted to carry out for this cousin was successful.

After Fang's mother and son left, Hai Baozhu was still a little uneasy. Ma comforted her with a few words, ordered Aunt Qiu to take care of the house, and then hurried back to her own home.

After arriving home, Ma whispered to her granddaughter Haitang in private: "The Queen Mother summoned your cousin today, and we don't know what the result will be. If it is really as your brother said, it would be your cousin's good fortune. But how could the Queen Mother know about your cousin for no reason? Your brother would never talk nonsense in front of outsiders, and he is not guarding the harem!"

Haitang had just thought about this at home, and now she knew the answer: "Brother will naturally not mention family matters in front of outsiders for no reason. But he was very angry about the actions of the elders before, but he couldn't scold the elders at home, so he complained to Brother Jin in private. For this reason, when Brother Jin came home last time, he specially asked me to verify it. He asked very carefully at that time. I think the Queen Mother lives in the palace and doesn't see outsiders. And who else would know about my cousin's affairs except our second and first houses and the clansmen? Even if it's the neighbors, or the classmates of Brother Baozhu, it's impossible for them to know so much, let alone reveal the news to the Queen Mother. In this way, the only one who would talk to the Queen Mother about this matter is Brother Jin."

Ma thought about it and couldn't help but sigh, "What a kid... Although he is a family member of ours and has always been close to us, and seeing that our family is worried about your cousin, he must want to help us, but this matter is the fault of those idiots in the Hai family. Now that the Queen Mother knows about it, I feel very embarrassed. Your grandfather must feel even more embarrassed..."

Ma had no feelings for the Hai family, and she was more inclined towards Fang, her niece with whom she got along well, so she naturally didn't care about the reputation of the Hai family. But she knew that her husband Hai Xiya was a man who cared about his reputation, and she still hoped that the family would be prosperous and respectable. Now that the unpromising family members had made a joke in the palace, once the news spread, who knows what others would say in private. Hai Xiya was old, and had just entered the officialdom of the capital, and he was implicated. How could he gain a foothold in the Ministry of Revenue in the future? !
Ma sighed again and again, and remembered that her husband was in the Ministry of Revenue and might not have received the news yet, so she wanted to send someone to deliver a letter to him.

Haitang comforted her, "Don't worry, grandma. Didn't my brother just say that? Today, my cousin is just a side dish. The main dish is the stepmother of the young general of the imperial guards. Whether it is the Queen Mother or the new emperor, they want to reward that lady. My cousin is just a by-product and will not attract too many people's attention. Even if this matter will cause a stir in the court, others will mostly discuss the deeds of that lady. After all, that lady is the one who is going to be granted an imperial decree. In comparison, my cousin is just a widow from a gentry family. The family she married for the second time had already fallen into ruin. The future son-in-law is just an ordinary soldier, and the son is just a scholar. They are too inconspicuous. How many people will pay attention to the jokes in the Hai family?"

Ma felt relieved after hearing this, but this matter happened too suddenly after all. She had no news from her niece since she left. She could not completely calm down until she had definite news.

She could only suppress her anxiety and chat with her granddaughter Haitang about family matters, waiting for further news from the palace. Haitang was much calmer than her. Although she was a little surprised that Jin Jiashu actually mentioned Fang's story to Queen Mother Xu, Haitang had a good idea in her heart. When Jin Jiashu asked for this, he would be careful with his words and would not let Queen Mother Xu have a bad impression of Fang. Perhaps he had heard the story of the young general of the imperial army asking for an imperial decree for his stepmother, and thought the time was right, so he asked Queen Mother Xu, allowing Fang to catch this wave of opportunities and benefit from it. Although it was unclear how the court and the public would react to Queen Mother Xu's actions, it would not be worse than in the previous life.

In the previous life, everyone knew that Empress Dowager Xu was a concubine who married for the second time. She would be ridiculed for flattering herself by commending a woman who had made contributions to her previous and next husband's families. In this life, when the late emperor was alive, he had already made a conclusion about Empress Dowager Xu's life experience. The Sun family's followers who were hostile to Empress Dowager Xu and the new emperor lost their jobs or hibernated, and could no longer stir up any trouble. Even if someone found out that Empress Dowager Xu was a second marriage, they would not openly overturn the late emperor's conclusion and publicize the matter. So, she commended the two remarried women and sincerely praised their "righteous deeds." Even if those who knew what was going on knew what was going on, the public opinion outside would be much friendlier.

Moreover, now is the critical period for the replacement of the imperial guards. Considering the several troubles caused by the imperial guards before, it is natural for the new emperor and his mother to be anxious to win over the new imperial guards. In order to win over the imperial guards, it is reasonable to show favor to one of the young generals and his mother. Even if the civil officials in the cabinet are not happy to see the new military officers benefit, they will not jump out to make trouble for the royal family at this time. As long as Queen Mother Xu does not encourage widows to remarry and give up their chastity, which goes against the ideas of these literati and scholars, they will most likely turn a blind eye and deal with this matter vaguely.

Perhaps there will be civil officials who think that as long as there are new nobles emerging in the army, it will dilute the royal favor of the Zhou family, Tu Rong and Yingchuan Hou, especially reducing the influence of the former on the new emperor, which will be more beneficial to the court and may even add fuel to the fire!

Haitang calmly chatted with her grandmother Ma, and decided on the menu for the New Year's Eve. She could also prepare two delicious dishes for her future grandson-in-law on behalf of her grandmother. She sent someone to the Jin family and brought a handwritten note. The words on the note were normal, but there were carefully drawn patterns in the corners of the note, which were actually variant codes.

Jin Jiashu should not have missed these passwords after seeing the post? She hoped that he could come to Hai's house as soon as possible so that she could ask about what happened. Otherwise, she would have to wait until her brother Haijiao was free to go to Jin's house to ask.

In the evening, Haijiao escorted Fang and Hai Baozhu, mother and son, back from the palace again.

Also returned were half a cart of fine fabrics and seven or eight boxes of varying sizes, all of which were gifts from Empress Dowager Xu to Fang. When Haitang saw the things on the cart in front of her house, she knew that Fang's goal of entering the palace had been successfully achieved, and she no longer had to worry about being slandered by her clansmen.

Fang had been very calm, and her movements were dignified and elegant, revealing the demeanor of a former mistress of a wealthy family. But after she got out of the car and entered the house, she walked directly to her second aunt Ma, hugged her, and burst into tears on the spot.

Hai Baozhu fell behind and his eyes turned red when he saw this. He quickly raised his sleeve to wipe the tears and then smiled.