He was only momentarily distracted, but Su Yushan happened to catch it. She suddenly felt that the question was rather unpleasant, and before he could speak, Su Yushan lowered her eyes and said:

"The child is struggling! He doesn't like the person holding him sitting still; he likes to be carried around."

As they spoke, Su Yushan took the child from his arms, picked him up, and walked towards the outer room. From then on, she stayed with the maids and servants, and did not spend any more time alone with him.

Although she was still smiling, Hongli could sense that she seemed a little bothered, probably because he had been distracted earlier.

However, she was chatting with Yunfang and the others, so he couldn't go into details. It wasn't until he went into his tent at night that he had a chance to mention it.

"You seem a bit down today, is something on your mind?"

He forbade her to read, so she could only lie there staring at the top of the tent, her fingertips gently tracing the embroidered begonia pattern on her pillow, and softly said, "No!"

"Really? Then why do you only smile at others, but your smile disappears when you're with me?"

Did she? Su Yushan didn't notice these details. "Only a fool would keep laughing. Why would I laugh for no reason?"

“But I always felt that you were unhappy after you asked that question. I didn’t mean to hide it from you. Ask me anything you want, and I can tell you.”

With a slight blink, Su Yushan pondered for a long time, but ultimately lacked the courage to listen. "I don't want to know anymore. Everyone has their own past, and some things... are better left unknown."

That was just a joke; she didn't really want to pry into his past.

After all, the original owner had also been engaged and had a childhood sweetheart. Although it wasn't Su Yushan's experience, in Hongli's eyes, those were her past, inseparable from her.

Hongli was jealous for a long time, but in the end he had no choice but to accept it.

Logically speaking, Su Yushan shouldn't care about his past, but people are strange like that. When they don't know, they can pretend it never happened and won't overthink it. But once they know, what if they develop a knot in their heart? Wouldn't that just make themselves unhappy?

After much thought, she decided not to press the matter further.

Her half-closed eyelashes concealed the complex emotions in her heart. Having spent so much time with her, how could Hongli not understand that her heart, though seemingly large, was actually very small, and that she had only slowly compromised for his sake.

When she pretends not to care, she may actually be very bothered by it, otherwise she wouldn't have suddenly left with the child.

His little girl! Always so stubborn. With a helpless sigh, Hongli pulled her into his arms, his long fingers stroking her hair, and whispered:

"Many people like me, but I only have you, and always have."

Su Yushan couldn't be sure if it was the truth or what he called a "white lie." Let's just assume it's true for now! After all, the past is the past; focusing on the present and the future is what truly matters.

Inside Huatang Pavilion, all was peaceful, but outside, chaos erupted as Hongli informed the main wife of the news that Su Yushan had been promoted to a concubine.

At that time, Yu Ying had finished her postpartum confinement. The maids came to invite her, and she took the opportunity to make the matter public.

Even though the rank of a concubine was not as high as that of a secondary consort, Su Yushan was the last one to enter the household and had the lowest family background among all the maids. Yet she surpassed them and was the first to be promoted to secondary consort, which was undoubtedly the biggest blow to the other maids.

Especially for Gao Xiuwen, Hongli's move was a slap in the face. After all, her father, Gao Bin, had been promoted from Suzhou Textile Commissioner to Guangdong Provincial Administration Commissioner, a high-ranking official of the second rank in the court. However, Hongli did not promote her rank, but instead promoted Su Gege to a concubine. How could she bear this?

Cui Ning kindly advised, "It's probably because Consort Su has a child! The Emperor promoted Consort Su because of the child. Being a concubine is nothing special, so don't worry, Consort. When you have a child in the future, you will definitely be promoted directly to the rank of concubine."

Gao Xiuwen knew all too well that having a child would bring her status, but reality dealt her a heavy blow: "Even Fourth Master doesn't come to Lan Yue Pavilion, where am I supposed to get a child?"

She had originally thought that once Su Yushan became pregnant, she would have the opportunity to serve Hongli again, but Hongli had endured for so long for Su Yushan's sake, which she simply couldn't understand!

Cui Ning was also worried for her master. "It's not a solution to just wait passively like this. Why don't we think of a way to get Fourth Master to come over?"

"What method do you want?" Gao Xiuwen immediately sat up straight. "Back then, Jin Minjing was so self-righteous that she drugged the Fourth Master, which made him despise her. If she hadn't been so clever, she could at least have stayed in the mansion and lived a peaceful life."

What's the point of having a child through despicable means? It only brings retribution, resulting in a freak being born, whom even the Fourth Prince won't acknowledge. Isn't that pathetic?

Gao Xiuwen scoffed at such low-class behavior.

"I would never stoop to such despicable means to win the emperor's favor. And you are not allowed to scheme against Su Gege. Although I dislike her, I only want to gain the Fourth Prince's favor openly and honestly, not through underhanded tricks and harming others. If you dare to act recklessly, don't blame me for not protecting you when the Fourth Prince comes to the rescue."

In reality, Cui Ning was just standing up for her mistress. Since the princess was unwilling to come up with a solution, how could a mere maid like her dare to make decisions on her own? She wouldn't do something that would be thankless and exhausting.

Although it is good that the princess is cautious, if she does not take any action, I'm afraid that after a while, the fourth prince will be even less likely to come, and the princess will not be able to get pregnant. How can she then advance in rank?

Cui Ning was anxious for her master, but dared not do anything rash. It was truly distressing!

Chen Gege seemed to exist in the manor. Since entering the manor, Hongli had never visited her room. However, he would not leave her out when distributing allowances during festivals. She did not like to socialize with people, but she still heard about the major events that happened in the manor.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!