"Let's hope, I hope everything goes well."
Song Le'an glanced at his sister who was sleeping in his mother's arms and said in a low voice.
The family members were worried that their daughter (sister) was still sleeping, so they stopped talking and rode in silence in the carriage all the way to the gate of the palace.
The palace was also decorated with lights and looked very festive. Prince Kang and his family entered the palace smoothly and took their seats.
Ye Peizhu held her daughter in her arms and looked around calmly.
This year, several princes and their families who were far away from the capital did not return to Beijing, so it seemed that many people from the royal family were missing from the New Year's Eve banquet.
Perhaps the old emperor was afraid that it would be deserted, so he invited many ministers to attend with their families this year.
With so many people involved, if Prince Gong's plan succeeded, it would be a heavy blow to Prince Kang's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Fortunately, their daughter’s voice reminded them!
Before the banquet began, the old emperor said some polite words as usual and then let everyone eat and drink to their heart's content.
Ye Peizhu and King Kang both kept in mind what their daughter had mentioned about the wine and tried their best to drink only the wine in the small pot placed in front of them.
It just so happened that the Prime Minister and his wife were sitting opposite Prince Kang and his wife.
King Kang and the Prime Minister exchanged glances and then looked away.
After three rounds of drinking, the wine jug in front of King Kang was empty.
A palace maid came over with a small wine jug filled with wine, pretending to pour wine for King Kang.
King Kang had already arranged for someone to change the wine in advance, and thought that there was no problem with the wine, so he waited for the palace maid to pour it for him.
At this moment, Song Jiujiu, who was sleeping soundly in Ye Peizhu's arms, suddenly woke up, cursing in baby language that adults could not understand, and stretched out her little arms towards King Kang.
[Daddy, don't drink this wine! There's something wrong with this wine!]
Ye Peizhu listened to her daughter's inner thoughts, and deliberately loosened the arms that were holding her daughter's little body, and leaned her body in the direction of her daughter's outstretched arms.
So Song Jiujiu's chubby hand slapped the small wine pot in the hands of the palace maid who was pouring wine and dropped it to the ground.
[Success! Now it's time for me to cry.]
Song Jiujiu's big black eyes brightened a little, and then she burst into tears.
Ye Peizhu quickly coaxed her daughter, "Jiu'er, don't cry. Does your little hand hurt? Let me take a look."
Prince Gong, who was watching this scene not far away, clenched his back teeth.
Damn little brat!
I'm so naughty for no reason!
The pot of wine was overturned, so it seems I have to get a new one.
"The wine has been spilled. Please bring me a new one."
King Kang gave an order to the palace maid.
Song Jiujiu did not deliberately cry loudly, so the noise here did not alarm too many people.
Song Jiujiu howled twice and then fell asleep again because she was too tired.
Seeing this, Prime Minister's wife Lu Jiannan, who was sitting opposite Prince Kang's family, also remembered what the Prime Minister said to her before entering the palace.
So after another palace maid poured her some wine, she deliberately tilted her head back to drink, and the wine in the small glass poured down her arm into her sleeve, creating the illusion that she had already drunk the wine.
Prince Gong, who was also distracted and paying attention here, was finally satisfied when he saw the Prime Minister's wife drinking.
Now we can only ask someone to get another pot of wine for King Kang to drink.
After a while, another palace maid came to pour wine for King Kang. This time, King Kang pretended to drink.
Prince Gong, who witnessed this scene, was relieved because his attention was all on Prince Kang. Prince Gong did not notice anything unusual about the palace maid who poured wine for him, and just drank the wine the maid poured for him.
Ye Peizhu only intended to make Prince Gong suffer for himself and had no intention of implicating other women. Seeing that Prince Gong drank the problematic wine, she felt relieved.
Just then, she looked up and saw the wife of Duke Zheng leaving the banquet in a low-key manner with the help of her maid. She whispered to King Kang, picked up her daughter and went out.
On New Year's Eve, the night wind was still a little chilly.
Ye Peizhu wrapped her daughter tightly in the small blanket and saw the wife of Duke Zheng sitting down in the pavilion of the imperial garden, so she followed her.
"Madam, what a coincidence."
Madam Zheng looked at Ye Peizhu and smiled politely at her, "Princess Kang, it's unfortunate that you came to see me."
The wife of Duke Zheng is in her forties, but she was hit hard by the loss of her legitimate daughter. She looks much older than her peers, and there are many white hairs mixed in her black hair.
Ye Peizhu smiled embarrassedly, "You saw through it."
"Sit down, what do you want to tell me?"
Ye Peizhu sat down holding her daughter, and Lady Zheng's gaze unconsciously fell on Song Jiujiu's chubby and cute little face.
"Madam, I know your family has been searching for the daughter who went missing, but we have no clues."
Ye Peizhu's words made Lady Zheng narrow her eyes slightly.
"What does Princess Kang mean?"
"Madam, I saw a woman who looked somewhat like you. I suspect she might be your family's lost daughter.
Because the woman is an orphan, 25 years old this year, and her situation matches your daughter's.
I had no other intention in talking to the Duke's wife about this.
I also have a daughter, and I know how much of a blow it is to a mother and a family when a child is missing for many years.
I just wanted to tell Madam Guogong about this clue. Whether that woman is your daughter or not will depend on your family's investigation."
Ye Peizhu acted very calmly, without any intention of currying favor with the Duke's wife.
Upon hearing this, the Duke's wife's heartbeat quickened.
"Who is that woman? Princess Kang, if what you said is true and our Duke's Mansion truly finds our daughter, we will thank you."
"She is Prince Gong's concubine, her name is Jiang Yingying. Some time ago, Prince Gong was assassinated, and she blocked an arrow for him. She has been in favor recently.
But Prince Gong...never mind, wait until your family confirms whether Jiang Yingying is your daughter's lover."
Ye Peizhu's words were half-spoken and half-reserved, successfully arousing the curiosity of the Duke's wife.
Although the Duke's wife was curious, she did not show it.
"Okay, I'll go back and tell the Duke to send someone to investigate. Thank you for telling me this."
"You're welcome." Ye Peizhu smiled and was about to say something else when she heard a commotion coming from the palace banquet not far away.
She guessed that Prince Gong had brought this upon himself, and a look of joy flashed in her eyes, but quickly faded away.
"I don't know what happened over there, Madam, shall we go take a look?"
"Okay, let's go check it out."
The two of them returned to the palace banquet with their maids, only to find that most of the people there were gone, including the old emperor, the queen, and several concubines in the harem.
Ye Peizhu stopped a palace maid and asked.
"What happened? Where are the people at the banquet? Where did the emperor and his wife go?"
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