Chapter 107 A letter came from outside the palace, saying that they want to meet you on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival

This promotion came too suddenly, and Concubine Zhen was very surprised. Even after she received the imperial edict and Liang Quan took his leave, she was still a little dazed and forgot to get up from her kneeling on the ground.

Sixteen was very happy. He held onto Concubine Zhen's arm, raised his little face, and said excitedly, "Congratulations, mother."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty." Yunzhi supported Concubine Zhen on her other side and lifted her up, so happy that she wanted to jump up. Now that Your Majesty had raised the sixteenth prince and had risen in status, her life was becoming more and more promising.

The palace maids and eunuchs kneeling behind her also joined in the congratulations. Concubine Zhen came back to her senses, picked up the sixteenth prince, and said with a smile, "Rewards, all of them are rewarded."

Yunzhi responded happily, "Yes."

The voices of thanks came one after another, and for a moment, the whole palace was filled with joy and laughter.

After returning to the palace, Zhen Fei thought about it for a while and realized that her promotion was due to Sixteenth.

The queen was a magnanimous person, and concubines of lower rank were not treated harshly. She didn't have any children, so she never cared much about status.

But now that Sixteen was born, naturally the higher the position, the more beneficial it would be for Sixteen. Thinking of this, Zhenfei became happy.

Thinking that she owed everything to Xiaojiu and Tongtong, Zhenfei thought for a moment, took Sixteen into the bedroom, asked Yunzhi to move out her family belongings, and carefully selected a set of red gold and kingfisher feather headdress brought from Yaoguo, put it in a brocade box, and took Sixteen out to Miaoyunxuan.

Concubine Ru was shocked when she saw the set of valuable headgear. She quickly refused, saying, "Sister Zhenfei, thank you for your love for Xiaojiu, but I cannot accept such a valuable item."

Ji Jinyou was also waving her hands aside, and said in a serious voice: "Thank you, Madam, Youyou can't be taken back."

Concubine Zhen didn't know why, so she just closed the box and put it in Ji Jinyou's arms, saying in a domineering tone: "Xiaojiu, take it. The queen has plenty of them. In the future, Xiaojiu can bring your sixteenth brother to play with you more often."

Having said that, he stood up, picked up Sixteen and left without giving anyone a chance to refuse.

Concubine Ru chased after her to the door, but Concubine Zhen and Sixteen had already walked far away. She turned back into the hall, looked at the brocade box in the little girl's arms, and sighed.

Ji Jinyou carefully placed the brocade box on the couch, climbed onto Concubine Ru's lap and sat obediently: "Mother, do you want to return it?"

Concubine Ru thought for a long time, and finally shook her head: "Since it is the good intention of Concubine Zhen, you should just accept it."

Although she didn't understand why Concubine Zhen did this, but from her last words, she thought that seeing that Youyou was now favored by His Majesty, the Empress and the Royal Concubine, and loved by all the little princes and princesses, she wanted Shiliuduo to follow Xiaojiu and get along well with his brothers and sisters.

Now the children ran to her remote Miaoyunxuan all day long. The small courtyard was bustling all day long. Inevitably, more concubines came and went.

The third princess often sent people to give Xiaojiu some gifts, saying that she was grateful to her aunt Xiaojiu for taking care of the young prince.

Since Concubine Dun recognized the Fifteenth Prince, she has visited the princess several times, bringing gifts to thank her for taking care of the Fifteenth Prince recently.

Even Concubine Shun and Concubine Ning would come over from time to time to chat with her about the interesting stories of their children.

Other concubines would also come and sit with her for a while for unknown reasons.

In short, Miaoyunxuan is now bustling with people, and there is never a quiet day.

In the past, she never liked dealing with people, but now she has gotten used to it and feels that being lively and noisy is pretty good.

If other concubines who were not her close friends sent her valuables, she would refuse them if she could. But Zhenpin was generous and would not allow her to refuse. As a mother, she could understand Zhenpin's love for her son, so she accepted it and would find a way to return it later.

When Ji Jinyou heard that she was asked to keep it, she opened the box again, stretched out her little hand and gently fiddled with the red gold tassel on the kingfisher hairpin, then picked up a hairpin and touched it to her hairy little head.

While gesturing, he asked Seventeen who was lying on the couch: "Brother, does Youyou look good?"

The seventeenth prince nodded seriously: "Youyou is beautiful."

Ji Jinyou turned to look at Concubine Ru again: "Mother, such beautiful jewelry must be very valuable."

Concubine Ru reached out and touched the heads of her two children: "Concubine Zhen's family is a royal merchant in Dayao. This should be her dowry, it must be expensive."

When Ji Jinyou heard that it was precious, she hurriedly and carefully put the hairpin back into the box. Concubine Ru closed the box and said, "Mother, please keep it for Youyou first. When Youyou grows up, mother will let Youyou take care of it herself."

Ji Jinyousi didn't care at all. She moved her little butt to the edge of the couch and was about to slide down. Shiqi quickly held her down and picked up the pair of pink shoes, "Brother will put them on for you."

Ji Jin shook her chubby legs and said okay, waiting for Shiqi to help her put on her shoes, and then the two of them ran out to play.

---

The Seventh Prince had been keeping an eye on the courtyard where Concubine Ru's parents lived, but Father and Mother Xu were extremely cautious. They had been in the capital for so long, and except for the few times they were brought into the palace, they had never left the house. The Seventh Prince had never found an opportunity to take action.

He had no choice but to go into the palace and find the Twelfth Prince, implicitly reminding him not to worry about the little timid Seventeenth Prince for the time being, and told him to find an opportunity to deal with Little Nine.

The twelfth prince has no mother to rely on, and his in-laws are not very supportive. Previously, he saw his brothers forming cliques and factions, leaving him alone, which made him feel anxious, so he also wanted to find a backer.

But that day in Chongde Hall, he remembered what Emperor Wen Zhao had said in his heart, and did not dare to harm Xiaojiu. However, he had previously expressed his loyalty to the Seventh Prince, so he did not know what to do and was in a dilemma.

He thought about it over and over but could not come up with an idea, so he went to the main hall of Jingming Palace to find the Thirteenth Prince and told him about his distress and dilemma.

After hearing his words, the Thirteenth Prince also fell silent. Originally, he hoped that the dead girl Xiaojiu would disappear, but he also remembered that day when Emperor Wen Zhao first commended them for their harmonious relationship as brothers and then warned them to get along with each other more friendly in the future.

In addition, he went to Feixuexuan to visit his mother yesterday. Looking at the bad-tempered and seemingly crazy Concubine Jiang, he suddenly realized that his mother had no hope of regaining favor, and perhaps she would only be a Concubine for the rest of her life.

Moreover, if she continues to act crazy and doesn't control her temper, the situation might get worse in the future.

However, His Majesty turned a deaf ear to the repeated pleas from his grandfather and uncle, and it was said that he even used this as an excuse to reprimand his uncle in the court that day. His grandfather specifically sent a message to him, asking him to be careful with his words and actions and never act rashly as before.

Even though he had a thousand thoughts in his mind now, he dared not act rashly.

Seeing that the Thirteenth Prince remained silent for a long time, the Twelfth Prince patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thirteenth?"

The Thirteenth Prince came back to his senses: "What?"

The twelfth prince: "What do you think of what I just told you? Do you think I should do it?"

The Thirteenth Prince shook his head, his eyes blank. "I don't know either. Father said the other day that if the things that Tong Tong said were wrongdoings or crimes that had already been committed, he would punish them, but if they were not yet committed, he would not pursue them. Twelfth Brother, you and I are in almost the same situation now, and I don't know what to do in the future."

The twelfth prince sighed, "Ah, but I have already expressed my feelings to my seventh brother that I will follow my second brother. Now my second brother has assigned me a task, but I am trying to refuse. I...ah."

The Thirteenth Prince thought for a moment and asked, "Seventh Brother told you that it was Second Brother who asked you to deal with Xiaojiu?"

The twelfth prince nodded: "That's what I said."

The Thirteenth Prince frowned and said, "But I think, given Second Prince's temperament, he wouldn't say such a thing."

The twelfth prince was stunned: "Could it be that the seventh prince is deceiving me? No way, right?"

The Thirteenth Prince analyzed, "I think this is possible. A while ago, Xiaojiu and that Tongtong caused my mother to be demoted and I was punished with a stick. I hated her so much that I wanted to strangle that damn girl to death right away. I think my Seventh Prince should feel the same way as I do, but as an adult, it's not easy for him to get close to Xiaojiu, so he tricked you into doing it."

"But you've seen how many people are following Xiao Jiu. Not to mention the palace maids and eunuchs, Seventeen is almost always with her, and there's also the young prince, Fifteen, Fourteen, and Sixteen. Recently, the little hostage from Yao Kingdom has also been following her frequently. Seventh and Eighth Princesses also take her with them from time to time. She has never been alone. How are you going to start?"

If it were easy to do, he would have taught that damn girl a lesson long ago, why would he wait until now? However, he did not say these words.

After hearing Thirteen's words, the Twelfth Prince's face changed: "Then what should I do? Seventh Prince said to wait for my news, how should I reply to him?"

Thirteen thought about it and suggested, "How about you not take the initiative to look for him? When he comes to you, just say you didn't find the opportunity and just pass it off."

Twelve thought about it and nodded: "It seems that this is the only way."

---

In the quiet courtyard of the Imperial Palace, Xue Yili looked at the food box and a thick stack of banknotes on the table in front of him and asked, "Is this sent by Concubine Zhen again?"

Cong'an replied: "Yes, it was sent by Yunzhi who was with Concubine Zhen."

Xue Yili nodded slightly: "I forgot that she has become Concubine Zhen. But now that she has a child, why is she still contacting us and sending us so many banknotes?"

Before, Concubine Zhen had sent him gifts many times, and although she had never told him the purpose, based on the information he had obtained from An, he had guessed it was almost right. It was simply that Emperor Wen Zhao was jealous of her identity as a Yao national, and was wary of her and refused to let her have a child. She was disheartened and planned to use his power to leave here in the future.

It’s just that before, they only sent some food and a small amount of money, but today they suddenly sent a full three thousand taels. Why on earth is that?

Cong'an replied in a low voice: "Your Highness, Yunzhi said that this is the last time she will send us anything, and she also said that she has bothered us a lot before, and I hope Your Highness will forgive her."

Xue Yili: "That's all you said?"

Cong An nodded: "Yes, other than that, there is not much else to say."

Xue Yili thought about it for a moment and figured it out: "Now that Concubine Zhen has a child by her side, she must have changed her mind."

Cong'an asked again: "Your Highness, should we accept these things?"

"The number one imperial merchant in Dayao is indeed wealthy. Even his unfavored daughter is so generous." Xue Yili chuckled softly, "This money is used by Concubine Zhen to silence you and me. In this case, just take it, so that she won't be worried."

"Yes." Cong'an put away the stack of banknotes, leaned over to Xue Yili's ear, and whispered, "Your Highness, there's a message from outside the palace, saying that they want to meet you on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival."