The next morning, the Western Liang Imperial Palace was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers.
The palace servants were busy from early morning, especially the servants of Fengming Palace. In addition to arranging various matters, they were also pulled aside by other palace servants to ask them all sorts of questions.
"What day is it today? Why is the palace so lively? Is there a grand banquet being held?"
"You didn't know that? Isn't today the little prince's full moon celebration? His Majesty gave the order a long time ago to hold a grand celebration. Didn't you hear about it before?"
"I have heard about it, but I thought it was just a rumor. After all, that person's identity hasn't been confirmed yet, and the young prince's identity is even more unknown. Is His Majesty really going to hold a grand full-moon banquet for him?"
These days, rumors are circulating in the palace that His Majesty has brought back a pair of illegitimate daughters and a illegitimate son. It is said that the illegitimate daughter has just given birth to a child.
It is said that His Majesty dotes on that illegitimate daughter, even allowing her to live in the main hall of Fengming Palace. But if we're talking about doting, His Majesty has done nothing but let her live in the main hall of Fengming Palace. He hasn't even given them the titles of real princesses and princes. Is this true doting or just a pretense? Who can say for sure?
So when news spread that His Majesty was going to hold a full-month celebration for that little prince, no one paid much attention. After all, the child's mother might not even be truly favored, so there was nothing to say about a child who wasn't even a month old yet.
The palace maids of Fengming Palace, seeing that they knew nothing, glared at them reproachfully: "What do you know? His Majesty dotes on the newly arrived princes, treating them like precious gems. His Majesty has already ordered a grand celebration for that little prince's full moon banquet. This time, His Majesty sent invitations to all civil and military officials and all members of the royal family of Xiliang, and even gave a strict order that no one is allowed to miss the little prince's full moon banquet!"
The palace attendants were quite surprised to hear this. His Majesty really valued those princes so much. If that were the case, wouldn't the position of the eldest prince be in jeopardy?
"Alright, stop asking so many questions and get to work. Today is the young prince's full moon celebration, and we can't afford to make any mistakes. If we don't do it right, we might lose our lives!" The palace servants of Fengming Palace couldn't help but remind them, seeing that they were all gossiping and looking distracted.
"Yes." The palace servants, remembering that the Empress had been in a bad mood lately and would drag people into the torture chamber at the drop of a hat, dared not say anything more and immediately dispersed.
In the long corridor not far away, Duanmu Qingxin heard everything the palace servants had just said, and her face was extremely pale.
Seeing this, her attendant Yinqiao quickly whispered to comfort her, "Your Highness, don't listen to these servants' nonsense. His Majesty's favorite is definitely you. Those bastards who came from who-knows-where can't compare to Your Highness's noble status. It's just a baby's full moon celebration, it doesn't prove anything!"
Duanmu Qingxin narrowed her eyes in displeasure. Just because it was a bastard child born of a bastard, the Empress still went to such great lengths to hold a full moon banquet for this bastard child, which made her even angrier!
No one knows where that bastard came from. She sent people to investigate for so long, but they couldn't find out their identities, let alone the wild man the Empress had with her before.
There was something she couldn't understand: ever since she could remember, she had always been taken in by her mother, the Empress, and had been taught and raised as the Crown Princess. It could be said that she and her mother had been inseparable for so many years. Occasionally, her mother would leave the palace for a few days, but when she returned, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
If the Empress was pregnant, she couldn't possibly not know!
She found the two children, one big and one small, that she had seen in Fengming Palace before very strange. The older one was understandable, since she had already given birth to a child, and judging from her age, she should be older than her. Perhaps the Empress had really favored some man outside the palace and had given birth to the older one before she was born, which could be explained.
But how do you explain the smaller one? She'd never seen her mother's belly grow large since she could remember, let alone give birth. Even if her mother left the palace several times a month, that wouldn't be enough to support her pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery!
Besides, if the Empress really had another man outside, she could bring him into the palace. She could give birth to the child openly and legitimately, and it wouldn't be an illegitimate child. In any case, there's only the Emperor in the harem, so the Emperor certainly wouldn't object to having a few more men.
But why would the Empress Mother have such an illegitimate child outside of marriage? And it's completely inexplicable when she got pregnant and gave birth.
She had firmly believed that the two children, one big and one small, were not born to her mother, but they looked exactly like her mother, even more so than she did. The most crucial thing was that her mother was now paying so much attention to them, which made her even more puzzled about their true identities.
Are they really the empress's illegitimate daughters and sons?
If they aren't, then who are they? Why would the Queen Mother say they are her illegitimate daughters and sons, and why do they look so much like her?
If they are, then how exactly did the Queen Mother give birth to them, and how was she able to keep it a secret? Where did they come from? Why couldn't she find any information about them before? And where is their father?
Today, the Empress not only held a grand full-moon banquet for that little bastard, but also forbade anyone to be absent. She wanted to see what tricks the Empress was up to.
Seeing that Duanmu Qingxin remained silent, Yinqiao cautiously said, "They just said that the Empress has ordered that no one should be absent from that little bastard's full moon banquet. I'm afraid our Fengjun will also have to attend. Should Your Highness go and see Fengjun first?"
Duanmu Qingxin suddenly frowned.
After she begged her father to see her mother, she wanted to ask her father about the situation, but when she went to Jinhua Palace again, her father refused to see her. She didn't know what had happened that day.
However, she guessed that her father and mother must have had a falling out, otherwise her father would not have refused to see her, and her mother's attitude towards her would not have improved at all.
She had never disliked her father before, but now she truly felt disgust towards him. It was bad enough that he couldn't win a woman's heart as a man, but he also didn't actively plan for their future, and now he was so estranged from her mother. It was bad enough that he was affecting his own position, but now he was even causing her to lose her mother's favor.
In the past, she would have been too lazy to go to Jinhua Palace, since he didn't want to see her anyway. But since today is the full moon celebration for that little bastard, both the adult and the child will definitely be there.
Since this is a formal meeting, a moment of confrontation, she should indeed stand with her father. She wants to see whether her mother will choose them or her and her father when they truly clash!
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