The An Dynasty followed the previous dynasty in some regulations. For example, when a princess marries, her coffin cannot be kept in the imperial mausoleum. Another princess tomb must be built. If the prince's son-in-law died, the couple must be buried together.
Royal Princess Luyue and the current Emperor had the same mother, so the former Emperor doted on her very much. He ordered the Imperial Astronomer to choose a Feng Shui Treasure Cave for her, which was near An Xian, thirty miles west of An Ling.
Emperor Zhao Qing was obviously in a good mood at the palace banquet tonight. When the moon was up, he took a group of close officials to the imperial garden to admire the moon. Emperor Zhao Qing was in a good mood and ordered people to recite poems and perform. Yu Shu was among them and was fortunate to see a rare scene of several loyal officials.
Prime Minister Xue, who looked serious, actually played a lively flute. Ren Qiming, the black-faced deity, actually knew how to use two swords. Prince Xiang knew how to play the waist drum. Earl Rui even danced a short horse dance to Prime Minister Xue's beat.
In short, all the officials that Emperor Zhao Qing cared about were picked out one by one to make him smile. No one was spared.
Yu Shu quietly took two steps back and stood in an inconspicuous place. On one hand, she despised this group of unscrupulous officials. On the other hand, she seriously thought if she had any unique skills that could be used. What if Emperor Zhao Qing called her name?
.....
Zhong Cui Palace
Noble Consort Xue sat in the attic with a few layers of soft mattresses under her. She was dressed lazily and lightly powdered. She didn't wear the splendid clothes of the previous festivals. Because she was pregnant, Emperor Zhao Qing personally exempted her from going to Xiwu Palace to flatter the Empress and celebrate the festival with the other concubines.
The zhang long tortoiseshell table was filled with platters of fruits. Just the platters of mooncakes with different flavors, sweet, fragrant, savory, lotus, and meaty, there were more than twenty of them. There were only eight platters for the guifei. The extra half was given to her by the emperor, and the other half was given to her by the Imperial Kitchen.
There were many servants in the palace. The news that Noble Consort Xue was beaten in Xiwu Palace had spread throughout Yeting. From the top to the bottom, everyone rushed to curry favor.
The people in the Imperial Concubine's palace had been stifled for the past few years. Recently, they could finally hold their heads high.
Liu Tan sat on a stool on the other side of the long table, motionlessly looking at his mother who was personally peeling oranges for him. The wine glass in front of him had been replaced with tea. Before coming over, he had deliberately changed his robe that smelled of alcohol to prevent her from breathing in.
It was a rare festival, so Emperor Zhaoqing allowed the princes who had left the palace to build their manors to reunite with their mothers, except for the Fourth Prince and the Eleventh Prince who had been kicked out of the capital.
Liu Tan had left the capital at a young age and returned once every three years. The number of times he had seen Noble Consort Xue in the past ten years could be counted on one's fingers. However, this didn't change the fact that he admired Noble Consort Xue.
There was almost no topic of idle conversation between this pair of mother and son. Noble Consort Xue did not complain to him about the secrets of the inner palace, and Liu Tan did not tell her much about the matters of the previous court.
However, it was almost time for the entrance to the inner palace. Tao momo, who was watching the hourglass, reminded him. Only then did Liu Tan mention to Noble Consort Xue that he intended to ask Yu Shu to tell her fortune and seek her approval.
Noble Consort Xue's eyes, which had been as gentle as water all night, wavered slightly. Looking at her son who had unknowingly lost his immaturity, she asked, "Who gave you this idea?"
Liu Tan replied, "It was your son who was worried about mufei."
Noble Consort Xue instantly smiled like a flower. "Then let's do it this way. Bureau Kun Ling has my order card, but without your Imperial Father's verbal orders, I don't think they would dare to act on their own. It just so happens that in a few days, I will summon Yu Nu to the palace. At that time, I will tell her in person and there will be no need to alarm the Emperor."
Before palace maids entered the palace, the Celestial Commissioner would check their birth eight characters and annotate an order card. All of it would be copied into two copies. One copy would be locked in the Bureau of Shanggong and the other sealed with the Celestial Commissioner. For someone of Noble Consort Xue's rank, her order card wasn't something that anyone could casually read.
Noble Consort Xue herself knew what was written on it, but she didn't save herself the trouble and directly told Liu Tan to pass on the message.
Liu Tan didn't think much of it. He just assumed that his mother was worried about Yu Shu and wanted to tell her in person.
Seeing that it was getting late, he didn't linger and stood to bid farewell. The chief palace maid of Zhongcui Palace, Song Lan, led him out. On the doorway, he met a palace maid who hurriedly ran in. She crouched down and bowed to him, then quickly left at Song Lan's signal.
Liu Tan turned his head and saw her run into the pavilion where Noble Consort Xue stayed.
What had happened? He couldn't stop thinking about it until he walked out of the back palace, which was filled with many corners and corridors.
As for Noble Consort Xue, because she had just heard a piece of news, she changed her clothes and went to sleep.
The Seventh Prince, who was under house arrest in Ning Wang Fu, somehow managed to obtain Emperor Zhao Qing's permission to enter the palace without a word. He didn't participate in the banquet before the court but stayed in Yongle Palace for half an hour.
On the second day after the mid-autumn banquet, Emperor Zhao Qing reiterated his decision to send troops to conquer the Dong Ying last night. He had the civil and military officials nominate a leader. When the court was about to end, he found an excuse and lifted Ning Wang's house arrest.
The headless case of the imperial envoy in Pei County caused the Eleventh Prince, Liu Yi, to fall from his horse. Liu Hao, who had set up the trap, also didn't benefit. Because he was involved in the case, he was grounded by Emperor Zhao Qing for three months.
In less than two months, he was released. The officials in the court were not at all surprised. After all, it was common knowledge that Emperor Zhao Qing favored the Seventh Prince.
Thus, that afternoon, the gates of Ning Wang Fu, which had been closed to all visitors, resumed its traffic. It was as if the desolation of the past few days had never passed.
Yu Shu had heard the news from Xue Rui. She hadn't been able to speak in time in the palace last night. In the morning, Xue Rui had sent someone to the Celestial Commissioner to send a message and arranged for the two of them to find a nearby restaurant to spend their lunch.
"He got off easy." Yu Shu frowned and took a sip of wine. That time in Pei County, Liu Hao had almost plotted against Xue Rui and her and killed an imperial envoy. Just like that, Liu Yi had been made a scapegoat and had been imprisoned for a few days.
Autumn was cold. Xue Rui moved away the cold dish in front of her and replaced it with cooked meat. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable at night with nothing to pad her stomach after drinking cold wine.
"It was agreed that he would be imprisoned for three months, but he was released early. Doesn't the Imperial Censor have anything to say?"
Xue Rui shook his head. "Right now, everyone is focused on the conquest of the Dong Ying. With the affairs of the country at hand, no one has anything to do to make Ning Wang uncomfortable."
"Then he really came at a good time." Yu Shu didn't want to mention Ning Wang, the scheming person. She turned and told Xue Rui that she was going to An County with Jing Chen to investigate the Princess' Tomb.
When Xue Rui heard this, he objected. "No, I don't agree with you going."
Yu Shu didn't understand. "Why? This is a rare opportunity. Maybe we can really capture Yun Hua?"
Xue Rui sneered. "If Jing Chen can think of it, do you think that the Emperor and the Great Emperor can't think of it? If Yun Hua can be captured so easily, he would have been captured alive long ago. Would he wait for you to think of it? If you go this time, not only will you not be able to see Yun Hua, it is very likely that someone will take the opportunity to kill you. Don't forget that Ning Wang is eyeing you and wants you dead. "
Yu Shu also had her reasons. "I have thought about what you said, but it is different this time. Isn't there Jing Chen? Jing Chen's return to the capital caused such a big commotion. If Yun Hua is still alive, it is impossible that he doesn't know. The Princess has been dead for twenty years, and only this son is left in the world. Would he not want to see him? In the capital, it is heavily guarded. He might not dare to show his face. When he goes to an isolated place like An County, he might reunite with Jing Chen. "
It was rare for Xue Rui to disagree with her. "This is what you think. Didn't you say that Yun Hua is very likely to be your senior brother? He already has a wife in his hometown, but he abandoned his wife and son to go to the capital. He also tried to get close to Princess Luyue because of the Book of Mystery Fairy's Six Rens. Do you think such a fickle person would take the risk just to see his son? "
After she finished listening to his analysis, Yu Shu instantly became gloomy. Even though what Xue Rui said was the truth that had been deliberated upon, it was still difficult for her to imagine that the Eldest Senior Brother who was praised so highly by Daoist Qing Zheng, the Yun Hua Yi Zi who was revered by the people of the world for twenty years, would be a heartless person who was afraid of death.
"I think he is not the person you said he is." Yu Shu looked at Xue Rui's expression. She had an illusion that he, who had always been calm, seemed to have a prejudice against Yun Hua, but she could not tell where this prejudice came from.
Yu Shu knew Xue Rui for a long time, but she rarely saw him make such a subjective evaluation of a person.
There was no smile on Xue Rui's face at this moment. His gentle gaze suddenly became aggressive, "So you're saying that you must go?"
Yu Shu hesitated for a moment and braced herself to say yes.
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