To Be A Virtuous Wife

89

After the people of the hougong were titled, it was then time to give new titles to those who did service in the Royal Court. Of course, these new titles weren't like cheap lettuce that everyone could get a bite of. The first ones to be rewarded were the clans of the two Empress Dowagers in the two palaces. The paternal clans were all people of leisure. So He Heng only bestowed a noble title, full of glory but no real power.

And then it was senior officials who served He Heng. They were promoted, and bestowed things. As for the people who had sided with He Yuan, sorry, go stand to one side, it's a miracle that you were being demoted.

Of all of the rewards, the most spectacular one was given to Tian Jin Ke. His family already had a hereditary marquis title but in Jing where marquises were everywhere, his present position had all been due to his own efforts. Now the Emperor waved his hand and made his hereditary marquis elevated to a hereditary first-rank duke, and bestowed the title Zhong Yi.[i]He also rewarded down five thousand taels of silver to the Duke of Zhong Yi to construct the compound and generously personally wrote "Zhong Yi Gong Fu" on the plaque for the compound to bestow upon Tian Jin Ke. His imperial favour was enormous.

Zhong, it was naturally referring to his loyalty to the Emperor. As for Yi, some thought that it was the Emperor remembering the care Tian Jin Ke gave to the Empress as well as his call for justice for his sister, Tian shi, so he was given the character Yi.

When they compared the honored Duke of Zhong Yi to the fallen Qu Family, many sighed. It could be seen that people had to accumulate virtue. Karma really did come back to bite you.

The Duke of Zhong Yi might not have a good daughter, but he had a good niece. That was his life, they could only admire it.

When Qu Qing Ju heard He Heng had elevated her jiujiu to first -rank Duke of Zhong Yi, she wasn't surprised. She had earlier detected that He Heng admired  jiujiu and clearly enjoyed his personal conduct. Now that he was in power, he needed people like jiujiu to work for him. Rather than saying that he was rewarding jiujiu, it was better to say that he was telling the world just how much he admired talented people who were loyal to the throne.

Ming He entered the back hall and bowed in front of Qu Qing Ju, mentioning Kui Yuan Palace that was still in the process of renovation, "Empress, the construction of Kui Yuan Palace is almost done. Why don't you take a look to see if there are any places that are not to your liking so it could be changed. Then the decorations can be moved in."

The renovation of Kui Yuan Palace was the biggest project in hougong. Over the past month, there were three shifts of people working day and night in order to renovate the palace according to the blueprints. Because they were afraid that the new paint would crack since it was being applied in the summer, blocks of ice were specially placed in all the areas a few days before painting commenced. It was obvious the amount of importance the Emperor had placed on this matter.

Qu Qing Ju looked at the sky outside. Today was shady and it wouldn't be too sunny to go outside. Ming He must have deliberately picked this kind of weather before he opened to speak. She nodded, responding: "Today there is a lot of shade. It will be good to take a walk. It's been suffocating for ben gong to stay inside all day."

Because Tian Qi Palace and Kui Yuan Palace were very close, Qu Qing Ju didn't ride the phoenix carriage. She, along with her entourage, walked on the main road of the palace that led straight to Kui Yuan Palace. As she entered the palace, she found that the inside was quite different to when she had first seen Kui Yuan Palace. At that time, Kui Yuan Palace had been spacious but felt quiet. Also, at that time, she had only been a wang fei who was going to see the Empress. Now, she was the owner of this palace. The attitude wasn't the same.