Who is your master?

"You'll find out when you get there."

"As you can see, I can't leave right now. If your master needs anything, we can talk about it after I'm done."

Just as he was about to turn back, an arm blocked his way, and the man repeated, "I said, my master invites you."

This person is clearly up to no good.

Song Ning looked at the waiter and instructed, "Go back first and tell the distinguished guests upstairs that I'll be right back."

The waiter understood what Song Ning meant and nodded.

Song Ning followed the people out through the back door, and after turning through two alleys, they finally reached the main street and entered a teahouse.

The teahouse was quiet and deserted. The owner carefully led her upstairs.

"Our distinguished guest is already waiting inside, please go in quickly, young lady."

Song Ning pushed open the door and went inside. Inside, a woman was leaning back in a chair, her face clearly saying: "My identity is extraordinary."

A maidservant stood beside the beautiful woman. Seeing Song Ning enter without moving, she immediately shouted, "How dare you! Kneel down!"

Song Ning: ?

"Auntie, are you being polite?"

It doesn't make sense to make her kneel down without saying anything right away.

She was already annoyed by the man's attitude earlier, but now that this older woman had come in, her attitude was even worse.

Calling her "Auntie" is already being very polite.

"You! Do you know who is standing before you?"

After she finished speaking, the room fell silent. Song Ning was speechless: "Tell me who it is! How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me?"

The old nanny serving Consort Shu was furious. She was Consort Shu's favorite, and no one in the palace dared to speak to her like that.

"This is a noble concubine in the palace. You, a mere commoner, dare not even bow to her."

Song Ning: ......

He stepped forward and slowly bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness, the Noble Consort."

Consort Shu raised her beautiful eyes slightly, glanced at Song Ning once, and then looked away.

With a wave of her slender hand, the nanny beside her quickly pushed the box on the table over and opened it.

Wow, a small box full of silver notes.

"Take this, leave the capital, and never come back," Consort Shu said indifferently, looking at her as if she were an ant.

Five million, leave my son.

The key issue is that Song Ning doesn't recognize this son.

Why did you give the Imperial Concubine money to let her leave?

Since arriving in the capital, she has not known any men, let alone princes.

"This is......"

"Just leave when I tell you to, stop with the nonsense. Her Majesty is merciful, that's why she gave you these things. If you don't leave, she'll beat you to death with sticks!" The old woman, relying on her master's power, was even more imposing than the seated master.

"Hey lady, your master hasn't even spoken yet, what are you shouting about? What, are you trying to stand up for your master?"

"You brat, what are you saying?"

After saying that, he quickly tried to please Consort Shu, saying, "Your Highness, that's not what I meant."

Consort Shu gently lifted her eyelids and asked, "You don't want to leave?"

"Your Majesty, I've opened a shop and a restaurant in the capital. The shop earns several hundred taels of silver every day..."

"Not enough?"

Is this a question of too few or too few?

"I'm sorry, but our family came to Beijing to settle down here, and we don't plan to leave anytime soon."

Consort Shu's face immediately changed; her once beautiful face now looked ferocious.

You must have been holding it in for so long, weren't you?

"You have quite the nerve."

“I’ve always been bold, but I cannot grant such an unreasonable request. Farewell.”

Just as she reached the door, a row of knives were placed in front of her.

“Miss Song, you should really think it over. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you don’t take it now, it will be difficult to take it later.”

Song Ning frowned slightly, then smiled: "Your Majesty, is His Majesty aware of your oppression of the people?"

Consort Shu now finally knows who Jiang Shuyue learned to speak with such barbed words.

This Song Ning is indeed a menace.

"Miss Song, you don't actually think you can walk out this door, do you?"

Why not?

Before Song Ning could speak, a dignified voice rang out from outside.

Upon hearing this, Consort Shu was not surprised. Instead, she smiled, as if she had expected Princess Jianing to come.

Jiang Shuyue helped Princess Jianing in and quickly pulled Song Ning behind her as soon as they entered, asking worriedly, "Are you alright?"

Song Ning shook her head: "I'm fine."

Princess Jianing and Consort Shu have always been at odds. Consort Shu wanted to win over the Duke's mansion, but Xie Linzhou never took sides.

Besides, even if I had to choose, I wouldn't choose Jiang Yuande.

This created a grudge.

"Your Highness is truly majestic." Princess Jianing said with a forced smile.

Consort Shu slowly stood up: "Your Highness, what brings you here?"

"Of course we're here to pick someone up. Why aren't you staying in the palace? What are you doing out here?"

Princess Jianing is known for her good relationship with the current emperor; not even a concubine, let alone the empress, would dare to offend her.

"It's too stuffy in the palace, so I went out for a walk. Does Your Highness have to interfere with this?" Consort Shu asked casually.

Princess Jianing sneered: "Don't even mention leaving the palace, I can't interfere even if you become a nun, but Song Ning is under the protection of our Duke's mansion. It seems you didn't listen to a word of what I sent you earlier."

Princess Jianing was genuinely angry. This was her future daughter-in-law, and if anything were to happen to her, she would be letting down the ancestors of the Xie family.

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