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

Chapter 1119 Eat Melon
Ever since the flower-viewing banquet at Shoukang Palace before the Lantern Festival, Concubine Zhang Gong said those words in front of everyone and sent people from the Zhang family to deliver some things to the Zhang family. As a result, there were more spies from the Jinyiwei inside and outside the Zhang family's house.

This was a secret order from the palace, ordering the Imperial Guard to monitor the direct line of the Zhang family to prevent them from having any conspiracy or intrigue.

Many of Haijiao's subordinates in the Embroidered Uniform Guard were former spies. After becoming regular soldiers, they did not cut off contact with their old friends. Therefore, from time to time, he could still hear some news from his old friends.

However, since that day, Concubine Zhang Gong has retreated to her own palace and has not caused any trouble. She has not summoned her relatives from her natal family again. Or maybe she did summon them, but Empress Dowager Xu, the owner of Shoukang Palace, did not allow it, so she could do nothing about it. Judging from the Zhang family's reaction after that, Concubine Zhang Gong should not have sent any news or evidence to her relatives from her natal family that day. The Zhang family's legitimate branch's attention is almost all on finding a decent marriage for the legitimate daughter. The head of the family occasionally quarrels with the orphan daughter and widow of the second house, but she has never done anything out of the ordinary. The secret agents of the Jinyiwei monitored for a while, but did not find anything useful, so they gradually relaxed.

With the end of the case of the Minister's Mansion, the Jinyiwei now has no other major cases to deal with, and people have been promoted or invited to weddings for meritorious service, so the atmosphere inside has naturally become much more relaxed and lazy. In addition to being busy with daily affairs, everyone has also begun to find some fun in their spare time. The scandal of the Zhang family's daughter and the prince of Ping that has been circulating in the capital recently has also become a pastime for the Jinyiwei because the Jinyiwei spies have first-hand information. Everyone is very interested in knowing the follow-up story and the details, and is always active in the front line of eating melons.

The news was passed on to Haijiao through an insider of the Imperial Guard, and he then passed it on to his younger sister Haitang.

It is said that the direct line of the Zhang family originally intended to seek the position of the successor to the Prince of Ping for their daughter. As long as the Prince of Ping died, Zhang's daughter would also be able to obtain the title of the Prince's Consort if she married him. The original wife only left a daughter and no son. As long as Zhang's daughter gave birth to a male heir, the child would be the grandson of the Prince of Ping. Her status as the grandson's mother would also rise with the tide. After a long time, who would remember who the original wife was? She, the successor, was even more glorious than the original wife. This marriage was much more respectable than any official's son.

You know, almost all the unmarried men of her age and noble status in the capital have been granted marriage by the late emperor. She missed those good candidates at that time. If she couldn't seize the opportunity of Prince Ping, she would really be inferior to her cousin and be laughed at. How could she accept this? !

However, no matter how well the direct branch of the Zhang family planned, they could not prevent their own people from backstabbing them. In the beginning, they had persuaded the Luo family to marry their daughter as a concubine by offering the title of Prince Ping as a lure. Now they had concealed the truth from the Luo family and betrayed their loyalty. It was also retribution for the Luo family's daughter who had become a concubine. However, when the news leaked out, the reputation of the direct branch of the Zhang family was ruined, and the family was unwilling to accept it no matter what.

The Prince of Ping's wife seemed to be seriously ill, but she was not going to die, and it seemed that she would not die within three to five months. It was impossible for her to vacate the position of the principal wife and let the daughter of the Zhang family take advantage of it. But the Prince of Ping's mansion had no intention of delaying. Instead, when the outside world was in turmoil, it sent people to discuss the marriage, and the proposal was to let Zhang be the prince's concubine. If the Zhang family agreed to the marriage, Zhang's daughter would marry into the family, but within a year or two, the principal wife would die of illness. She, who entered the family as a concubine, would not be able to become the principal wife. When the second concubine married in, wouldn't she still be inferior to others and never be able to turn over a new leaf in her life? !
Now she didn't know the origin of the second wife chosen by Prince Ping's wife, and she thought it was impossible for her to be a daughter of a rich and powerful family. If a little girl with an ordinary family background came and stepped on her head for the rest of her life, Zhang's daughter would want to vomit blood. She couldn't even tolerate her own cousin marrying better than herself, let alone the daughter of an ordinary family whom she always looked down upon?

But if the Zhang family doesn't agree, the news has already spread, and she won't be able to find a good marriage. If she refuses Prince Ping, she might offend others. The Zhang family is not as powerful as before, can they afford such consequences?

Originally, the Zhang family still had Prince An's Mansion to rely on, but Prince An sent his confidant to question the head of the Zhang family. Why did he do such a sneaky thing without telling him? Even if he really wanted to marry his daughter to Prince Ping as his successor, he could have gone through him to arrange it. There was no need to let the girl hook up with a married man in private, which caused a lot of noise outside and also brought shame to Prince An's Mansion. However, things have come to this point, and Prince An urged the Zhang family not to delay any longer and marry their daughter quickly, so as not to make the whole capital laugh at the Zhang family. The head of the Zhang family was speechless, knowing that he could no longer put on airs.

No matter how the wife of the head of the family begged, or how the daughter of the head of the family cried, the head of the Zhang family still agreed to the marriage proposal of the Prince of Ping's Mansion, but at the same time he asked the Prince of Ping not to be too anxious to marry the concubine, and at least to be engaged according to the etiquette and leave some dignity for the Zhang family. After all, the Zhang family is also a family of concubines for three generations, an old-fashioned family, and even married a princess! As long as the Prince of Ping respects the concubine's family, it won't be too embarrassing for the Zhang family's daughter to marry, and she won't be ridiculed too much in the circle of royal women in the future.

Prince Ping was thinking of the beauty, so he agreed to the Zhang family's request. However, the head of the Zhang family was still a little unwilling, hoping that Prince Ping's wife would die before his daughter got married, so that he could have a chance to go to the palace to ask for mercy, so that his daughter could be changed from a concubine to a successor concubine, so that she would not have to be a concubine for the rest of her life...

He didn't know that Princess Ping had already entered the palace to meet the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager. The status of the Zhang daughter as the Crown Prince's concubine had already been determined, and it was impossible to change it. Queen Dowager Xu also shared this "good news" with Concubine Zhang Gong as soon as possible. Concubine Zhang Gong was so angry that she almost vomited blood. She thought that as the daughter of the Zhang family's descendants, she could only be a concubine in the harem of the previous emperor, which was already a grievance. Unexpectedly, her own niece married a prince of the royal family, but she couldn't even become the principal wife, and she fell even more. If this continues, is there any hope for the daughter of the Zhang family to make a breakthrough? ! How much weight can the Zhang family have left? !

Concubine Zhang Gong fell ill. She wanted to call her family to visit her, but was rejected by Empress Dowager Xu. She could only feel depressed in her bedroom. She began to think, although her brother's daughters were born out of wedlock, they were said to be pretty. Is it possible to select one or two of them who are worthy of cultivation and send them to the palace in the future? Forget about the daughters of the clan. They can be married to the sons of powerful officials and dignitaries. The glory of the Zhang family still has to be borne by the legitimate branch...

Concubine Zhang Gong was planning for the future, and the head of the Zhang family was no exception. He became more and more impatient after listening to his wife and daughter crying and complaining. He didn't want to go back to the main courtyard to be angry with them, so he went to the concubines' room more often. Seeing that several concubines' daughters were gradually growing up, and they were tall and graceful, and their ages were suitable for the new emperor, he couldn't help but have some new ideas. Although it was not easy for concubines to aspire to the position of queen, they were daughters of the Zhang family after all. If they just entered the palace to be a favorite concubine, it was more than enough. As long as a daughter of the Zhang family entered the palace again and gave birth to an heir, the Zhang family would have a day to make a comeback!

The head of the Zhang family stared at his little daughters and felt motivated again.