The Empress Dowager always supported the Crown Princess, but Emperor Xianjia was her birth son. Since she suspected the Crown Prince of attempting to kill his father, it was hard to say whether she would continue supporting the Crown Prince!
Thinking of that, Song Yixiao couldn’t help frowning, but Jian Xubai shook his head, “Grandmother didn’t suspect us. Instead, she was reminding us!”
He slightly narrowed his eyes, “You know, it is Uncle who raises the Crown Prince and regards me as his son. Putting that aside, let’s focus on the political stake. It has been only one year since Duke of Ji returned to the court. It was when the civil service was about to be suspended for the Spring Festival holiday last year that He Wenqiong was promoted from the Eastern Palace to the Director of the Ministry of War. If anything untoward happens to Uncle and the Crown Prince takes the throne as a matter of course, how can his position be stabilized?”
The Su F
Song Yixiao felt that Princess Changxing kind of deserved it, but the one who seduced Jian Yiyou happened to be Shen Qimo. This cousin was brought to the imperial capital by Elder Lady Duanmu. Now Princess Changxing kept scolding Shen Qimo for being shameless, but how could she not transfer her anger to Elder Lady Duanmu?“Changxing, are you sure about that?” She pondered and said, “In the whole imperial capital, it can’t be that only Cousin Qimo’s name contains the character. Maybe it is a coincidence?”Princess Changxing sneered and said, “Do you think that I’m lying? My maid saw her and my husband being in the alley, intimate and close. That ignoble woman’s family name is Shen but obviously, she takes after the Lu Family in terms of appearance. She has brought shame on her grandfather, hasn’t she?”Since she described Shen Qimo’s appearance accurately, Song Yixiao realized that she meant it for sure. She sighed in secret and said, “I’ve met
Jian Xubai also felt that it was a serious problem, “Grandaunt is old now. We shouldn’t stimulate her anymore! Now that she resides in that house and suffers from wandering arthritis, we mustn’t tell her such news recklessly!”He hesitated for a long while and made a decision in the end, “Changxing described Cousin Qimo’s appearance, but you know her words are not reliable. As to such a serious issue, you cannot only listen to her side of the story. You must confirm it on your own! How about this? Later I will keep Grandmother and the two cousins occupied, and you can find a way to take Cousin Qimo to her room so that you can ask her about the matter!”Song Yixiao calmed down and agreed with him.A while later, after the couple greeted Elder Lady Duanmu and had a small talk, Song Yixiao knocked over her tea “accidentally” and the tea was spilt over her dress!In a hurry she rose and apologized. Elder Lady Duanmu wouldn’t blame her
Song Yixiao opened the door, held the door frame and counted to five, but she still didn’t hear Shen Qimo admit her mistake or stop her, which made her really disappointed!Despite that, she was aware that even if she turned around and continued persuading Shen Qimo, this stubborn girl wouldn’t listen anyway.Therefore, she paused and then left with a flick of her sleeves.On the way back, she recalled that it was Elder Lady Duanmu who asked Shen Qimo to take her to the room for freshening up. Now she was going back alone. How could the Elder Lady not suspect?As a result, she had to return and asked Shen Qimo to go with her. She reminded Shen Qimo to compose herself so as to prevent the Elder Lady from noticing her affair and getting too angry.However, as she was usually talkative and outgoing, she became clearly silent when she was back in the hall. Very soon, Elder Lady Duanmu asked in surprise, “Qimo, how come you
While Jian Xubai and his wife were worried about Shen Qimo, in the backyard of Princess Changxing’s mansion, the sound of breaking china ended the long-standing impasse in the hall.“Say it!” Princess Changxing’s eyes were as sharp as knives, whose polished nails almost poked at Jian Yiyou’s face, “Where did you get the handkerchief? Since you dare to do it, why don’t you dare to answer me now?”Jian Yiyou glanced at her exasperated look and frowned, saying, “You rummaged through my things?”“So what?” Princess Changxing didn’t expect that Jian Yiyou still wouldn’t instantly admit his mistake at the moment. Instead, his response even sounded reproachful. She got so furious that she threw away several tea bowls before finally having her temper under control, “If you didn’t hide this kind of thing in the secret compartment, why would you be afraid of me rummaging through your things?”“Cousin Qimo is still young and inexperienced, bu
The fact that Pei Yourui was taken to the imperial capital and resided in Jinguo Grand Princess’s mansion made Jian Yiyou and Princess Changxing lose face, but for Jian Xubai and Song Yixiao, it was not as worrying as Shen Qimo’s stubbornness.Therefore, when the couple returned to Duke of Yan’s mansion, Song Yixiao pondered for a while and felt that it was not a good idea to continue hiding it from Elder Lady Duanmu, “How about asking Uncle Limiao to tell it to Grandaunt in a roundabout way?”She explained, “If we can share the burden with Grandaunt, we don’t need to let her know. However, now that Qimo doesn’t listen to us, we can’t do anything about it. This kind of thing cannot be delayed! The longer it is delayed, the more troublesome it will get!”Particularly, when Pei Yourui just arrived, Jinguo Grand Princess gave a warning to Jian Yiyou and Princess Changxing. No matter how angry and resentful Princess Changxing was about Shen Qimo at
Sitting in the seat of honor, the Empress Dowager looked down at her granddaughter-in-law who was kneeling demurely on the stair.In order not to let Empress Su seize the initiative, Song Yixiao didn’t have time to return to the mansion and change into her official dress. Now she was still wearing the same clothes as she did when she was going to meet Elder Lady Duanmu—a narrow-sleeve blouse with the background of a primrose pattern decorated with the hidden embroidery pattern of branches and mandala, and an apricot pink pleated skirt. Now it was late February, but it was still a bit cold in the imperial capital. Therefore, she had a pea green half-arm shawl outside the blouse.Her outfit was pretty and beautiful, which set off the brightness of the dark blue bricks in the hall under her.In order to show respect for Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, this young lady slightly lowered her head. On the exquisite braided cross-shaped bun, the golden
The Empress Dowager snorted, “Since you know that the Su Family has done a great favor for the clansmen of the late Prince of Chengyang but Elder Lady Duanmu still pulls a fast on the nephew-in-law of the Su Family abruptly, do you even need to ask who she prefers?”Actually, Song Yixiao felt the same way, but she didn’t know much about Elder Lady Duanmu. Now that she got a certain response from the Empress Dowager, she was finally relieved with a sigh. Her husband wouldn’t need to turn against this senior then!However, when she excused herself with joy and expedition and went out of the imperial palace, she happened to see that Elder Lady Duanmu was helped to get into the carriage by Lu He’ai and Shen Qimo. As she hastened to go forward and pay respects, this elder lady, who was always amicable to her, took a cold glance at her and ordered the carter drily as if not seeing her, “Let’s go!”“Yixiao!” The abrupt change of attitude was confusing
The day of the concubine-taking ceremony came.Song Yixiao freshened herself up and went out of the door in the early morning. On the way to Princess Changxing’s mansion, she was still afraid that she might be embarrassed for arriving too early. However, when she got there, she found that quite a few women were chatting merrily in the living room for guests.Commandery Princess Qingjiang was also sitting there. Upon seeing Song Yixiao enter the living room, she hastened to wave her over, asking in a low voice, “What’s happening?”“I don’t know!” Song Yixiao glanced around and found that everybody was staring at her curiously. Then she asked with the corner of her mouth twitched, “You didn’t ask Changxing about it?”Commandery Princess Qingjiang, rolling the jade bracelet on her wrist, replied with a frown, “Do you see her here?”“I’ve just asked about her. The servant said that she was busy preparing for the feast now