Having her thoughts exposed, Zhao Zhenzhen explained shyly, "As you know, I had a miscarriage before, and given my physical condition, I'm afraid I'll never have children again. Besides, I don't want to get married again, so I'd like to adopt a child."
Su Xuening nodded knowingly: "I can understand, but if you really want to adopt a child, you can carefully choose one outside the palace. There's no need to adopt this child at all."
Although this is not Xuan Yuan Yu's biological son, she almost became his son after all, and the child was conceived during such a conspiracy. Doesn't she feel disgusted at all?
Zhao Zhenzhen understood that Su Xuening was doing this for her own good, and said with a wry smile, "Although I didn't know about Xuanyuan Yu's plans, I am still his wife no matter what, and I should have been punished for this. It was the Emperor and Empress who were merciful and gave us a way out. The same goes for this child. I feel that I am in the same boat as him, and I also think that it is not appropriate for him to stay in the palace with his status. So I was thinking about whether I should take him out to raise him."
Then he assured her, "Don't worry, since I want to adopt this child, I will treat him as my own and will never mistreat him."
She knew the Empress was kind-hearted. Although the child was born to a disgraced official and carried such a plan, the Empress must have been sincere in caring for him since she had saved him. So she first expressed her determination to the Empress so that the Empress would not worry.
Su Xuening wasn't worried about Zhao Zhenzhen; she just felt that even if Zhao Zhenzhen adopted a child, she could have better options and there was no need for her to get involved with Xuan Yuan Yu and the palace affairs anymore.
Of course, Xuanyuan Yu, Su Feiling, Zishu, and Physician Liu are all dead. If this child stays in the palace, he may be forever entangled with that matter. When he grows up, there will always be gossipy people who will talk nonsense in front of him.
It would be better to let him leave the palace with Zhao Zhenzhen. Once they're out of the palace, perhaps no one will know the child's background, and he won't be hurt by that incident anymore.
After thinking it through, Su Xuening looked at Zhao Zhenzhen and said, "Alright then, I'll leave the child to you. I trust you can treat him well."
Zhao Zhenzhen was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately knelt down to express her gratitude: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will certainly live up to Your Majesty's expectations and will take good care of him."
Su Xuening helped her up, then looked at Bihe and instructed, "Go and bring the child here."
"Yes," Bihe replied, and went to the wet nurse to take the baby.
The child was adopted by Su Xuening and raised in the palace, where he was cared for by a wet nurse.
Bihe brought the child over, and Su Xuening looked at Zhao Zhenzhen: "This is the child."
Zhao Zhenzhen carefully took the child from Bihe's arms. Looking at the infant in her arms, Zhao Zhenzhen's eyes immediately welled up with tears.
If she can give birth safely, her child will be just as chubby and adorable as this.
Looking at her expression, Su Xuening knew that she must have been thinking about her child. She sighed and said, "Take the child away. I will then announce that the child is gone."
This child has a special status, and she doesn't want her and the child to be affected by that incident again in the future.
Only by having the child live under an assumed name can that matter truly be put to rest.
Zhao Zhenzhen understood Su Xuening's intention, and her eyes reddened even more: "Please, Your Majesty, give this child a name!"
Su Xuening looked at the child in Zhao Zhenzhen's arms, paused for a moment, and said, "Let's name him Zhao Xi. I hope he will have a bright future."
“Zhao Xi, what a beautiful name.” Zhao Zhenzhen, holding the child, bowed gratefully to Su Xuening: “On behalf of this child, I thank Her Majesty the Empress for her care.”
Su Xuening nodded to her: "Alright, you can go now."
"Yes," Zhao Zhenzhen replied, then took the child and left.
When Xuanyuan Zhan returned from court, Su Xuening told him about Zhao Zhenzhen and the child.
When Xuanyuan Zhan heard that the women were willing to leave the palace, he felt at ease.
When they heard that Zhao Zhenzhen had taken the child away as well, they felt a sense of relief: "It's good that she took the child away. It's not suitable for the child to stay in the palace. It's better for her to leave the palace. She can live in anonymity and not be burdened by her parents."
Actually, Ning'er was soft-hearted at first, so he kept the child. He originally wanted to keep him to be a guard or secret agent for their little treasure. Now that the child has found a proper home, it's good.
Although Zhao Zhenzhen is no longer the Third Prince's consort, with the Zhao family's resources, raising a child would not be difficult.
Su Xuening nodded.
She also felt that it might be the best choice for the child to stay with Zhao Zhenzhen, so she didn't refuse when Zhao Zhenzhen wanted the child.
Zhao Zhenzhen, Liu Hanyan, and the others left the palace that same day.
Of course, some stayed in the palace for an extra day, and they all left the next day.
There weren't many women in the palace to begin with, and now that they've left, only the concubines left behind by Xuanyuan Peng remain.
Xuanyuan Peng didn't actually have many concubines, only five or six in total. Consort Liang and Su Huiyan were both dead, and apart from Consort Liu, Xuanyuan Duo's mother, none of the others had given birth.
Because of Zhao Zhenzhen and Liu Hanyan's departure from the palace, Xuan Yuanpeng's previous concubines also saw hope.
The group then met at Su Xuening's place and requested to leave the palace.
Su Xuening was still somewhat surprised, not expecting that they also wanted to leave the palace.
Seeing that many of them were already quite old, and that the palace was so comfortable, I never expected them to want to leave.
It's actually quite understandable. Although these women were Xuan Yuanpeng's concubines, Xuan Yuanpeng's attention was previously focused on Bai Fuya. They were simply not worthy of his attention. Some of them were favored by Xuan Yuanpeng once or twice, while others were never favored at all, and thus spent half their lives in the palace.
Now that Xuanyuan Peng is gone, and they see hope in Zhao Zhenzhen and Liu Hanyan.
Even though they were family members of disgraced officials, they were released from the palace. If they pleaded with the Empress, perhaps she could also release them!
They were absolutely right. Su Xuening naturally wouldn't object when she heard they wanted to leave the palace.
Not only did he not object, he also gave them all money, just like the previous concubines and secondary consorts, five thousand taels each.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The group immediately knelt down in gratitude to express their thanks.
Having been caged like birds for half their lives, they are finally free again, and the Empress has even given them money to leave the palace and make a living.
Five thousand taels of silver could allow them to live very well for the rest of their lives; how could they not be extremely grateful?
Su Xuening gave them two days to pack their belongings.
However, none of these people waited until the next day; they all took the silver and left the palace on the same day.
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