Chapter 176 is related to the palace.

"Only three years old? That's incredibly rare."

"How could a family send a three-year-old child to the capital without any worries?" Shangguan Jin asked, puzzled.

Hua Yueniang nodded as well.

Exactly, how dare they send a three-year-old girl to Beijing?

She only felt comfortable letting her daughter out and cause trouble after she grew up.

When I was young, I was either at the Wan Hua Lou or that heartless Ru Yi Meng.

"That Mr. Ye said that he was young at the time, but he remembered everything."

Back then, the Ye family was considered one of the wealthiest families in Jiangnan.

One day, one of the aunts in the family was suddenly granted the title of Noble Lady by the late Emperor.

Then the Ye family went from being an ordinary merchant family to a noble family.

I heard that Mr. Ye's aunt is an excellent tea brewer and was very much liked by the late emperor.

Less than two years after entering the palace, she was promoted to Zhaoyi, and a year later she was even conferred the title of Wanfei.

The reason why Mr. Ye's cousin was brought to Beijing was because Mr. Ye's aunt was pregnant with the emperor's child.

Because he missed his family, the late emperor said that the younger generation of Consort Wan's family could come to the capital to keep her company.

As a result, the person did go to Beijing.

But just as Ye Linlang arrived in the capital, Consort Wan in the palace suddenly suffered a miscarriage.

Not only was the imperial heir lost, but Consort Wan's life was also lost.

"I heard that the late emperor was heartbroken for several days!" Hua Yueniang said.

Shangguan Jin and Shen Qingyue both understood what was going on.

This must have been done by someone in the palace!

However, this was the late emperor's concubine...

The late emperor's empress was none other than the current Empress Dowager Zheng!

That means that Consort Wan's death was related to Empress Dowager Zheng. Could that little girl also be related to Empress Dowager Zheng?

"Ye Linlang is gone, didn't her family look for her?"

Logically speaking, since Consort Wan is gone, the late emperor was grieving but did not punish the Ye family. How could this child just disappear into thin air? Shangguan Jin asked.

Upon hearing this, Hua Yueniang quickly offered another explanation.

"That's the strange thing. After the Ye family learned that Consort Wan in the palace was gone, their first priority was to find Ye Linlang's whereabouts."

But the servants in Consort Wan's palace said they had never seen Ye Linlang.

I didn't see any members of the Ye family either.

They even wondered if they had been intercepted by bandits on the way!

When the Ye family heard this, they were also alarmed. How could such a perfectly healthy person just suddenly be gone?

Not only were maids escorting Ye Linlang to the capital, but also a wet nurse. Where did all of them go?

The Ye family initially thought they had been attacked by bandits on the way.

They followed the route Ye Linlang took to enter the capital and investigated along the way.

This search has lasted for over thirty years. Not only Ye Linlang, but even the bandits along the way have changed several times, yet they haven't found a single clue.

"Then why are we now almost certain that Ye Linlang is in the capital?" Shangguan Jin countered.

Hua Yueniang poured Shangguan Jin another cup of tea.

"At the end of last year, when the Ye family was settling accounts with various tea merchants in Jinling, they encountered a beggar woman."

"Madam Shen, can you guess who that old beggar woman is?"

"Who? One of the people who sent Ye Linlang to the palace?" Shangguan Jin guessed.

Hua Yueniang nodded.

"That's Ye Linlang's wet nurse."

At first, even Mr. Ye himself didn't believe it. Later, he asked some of the elderly people in his family to come out and identify her. Only then did they realize that the beggar woman was Ye Linlang's wet nurse.

However, he went blind, his tongue was cut off, and even his hands were crippled.

He managed to return to Jiangnan by begging.

It's said she escaped, and all those who accompanied her to escort Ye Linlang to the capital suffered the same fate as her.

The others were all beaten to death in private.

Because Ye Linlang cried after leaving her, she still took care of Ye Linlang for a few days.

She said that Ye Linlang was indeed brought into the palace, but not by anyone from Consort Wan's side.

"But it's someone sent by another empress," Hua Yue Niang whispered.

Shangguan Jin suddenly thought of something.

When Shangguan Yao was still alive, he had said this when I entered the palace.

The Empress Dowager liked to keep a group of girls in the palace.

There were daughters of disgraced officials, as well as girls bought from outside.

Consort Wan and the Empress Dowager shared the same harem; both were people of the late Emperor.

Empress Dowager Zheng was unable to conceive, but Consort Wan became pregnant...

It's hard not to think how twisted Empress Zheng's mind must have been back then.

Perhaps the person who brought Ye Linlang into the palace was one of Empress Dowager Zheng's people...

Could it be that Ye Linlang was one of the women who were given to ministers by Empress Dowager Zheng as concubines?

Shangguan Jin immediately thought of Aunt Xin at home!

"Master Hua, everyone in the capital knows one thing: the Empress Dowager in the palace often bestows concubines upon the court officials."

The girls who were rewarded were not palace maids.

"They're not just training girls to use their looks to please men," Shangguan Jin said slowly.

Hua Yueniang was taken aback.

"What's wrong with this old empress dowager? Why is she sending concubines to other people's families?"

This is just because they can't stand seeing other people doing well, and they're trying to find ways to break up other people's families.

It seems that the late emperor must have disliked her, and he must have made her empress because her family had power.

"If it were me, I wouldn't like such a psychopath either," Hua Yueniang blurted out.

Shen Qingyue's expression changed immediately, and she quickly looked out the window and the door.

Thankfully, no one's there!

"Master Hua, this is the capital!" Shen Qingyue whispered a reminder.

Hua Yueniang also remembered that this was not the Wan Hua Lou, where one could say whatever one wanted without worry.

"I was reckless!"

"Madam Shen, do you know which families in the capital have been granted servants by the Empress Dowager?" Hua Yueniang immediately lowered her voice.

"Almost every noble family has one."

Also, our Duke Dingguo's mansion has one.

"It's Aunt Xin, who teaches people how to brew tea at the Spring Festival Gala," Shangguan Jin said.

Huayue Niang......

"That tea lady? Is she your concubine?" Hua Yueniang was taken aback.

Shangguan Jin nodded.

Hua Yueniang let out a long sigh, then glanced at Shangguan Jin again.

They both thought of the same thing at the same time.

This Concubine Xin was bestowed upon us by the Empress Dowager.

They're about the same age and can even brew tea...

Could it be that...

Even if the name is wrong, who knows if that old woman deliberately changed the name to cover her up?

"Didn't Aunt Xin come today?" Shangguan Jin asked quickly.

Hua Wanli shook her head.

“The day before yesterday, Aunt Xin said that she wouldn’t be coming today, saying that she was going to the charity hall in the suburbs of Beijing with Aunt Dong.”