Chapter 20 It’s indeed that man’s child!
Xingyun smiled and said, "Master, the Queen of Renshou Palace has summoned you. Will the servants help you wash up?"
Yang Manyan felt as if struck by a bolt from the blue, with a chill running down his spine to the top of his head.
She stood there for a moment, her voice trembling, "Do you know why the Queen of Renshou Palace summoned you?"
Xingyun shook her head: "The aunt who delivered the message didn't say anything, maybe she wanted to see what you look like?"
Yang Manyan's face turned pale and he wanted to cry but had no tears.
On the eve of the re-election half a year ago, the Empress of Renshou Palace suddenly let out a creepy low laugh after seeing her appearance clearly.
Then, she was killed right after she left Renshou Palace...
While I was stunned, Su Yue and Dan Gui had already neatly hung the bright red brocade curtain on the golden hook of the bed.
These two personal palace maids, together with Xingyun who came with her as a dowry, were in charge of more than a dozen servants, who were responsible for her food, clothing and other expenses.
With everyone's waiting on her, Yang Manyan changed into a scarlet skirt with phoenix tail pattern, and a gold brocade jacket, like a puppet. The high bun was adorned with pearls and jades so dazzling that one could not open their eyes.
Renshou Palace is located just north of the East Palace. It is right outside the Liyuan Gate and there is no need to take a sedan chair to get there.
The continuous glazed tiles ripple with golden waves in the sunlight, and the vermilion palace walls stand solemnly, adding a bit of oppression than before.
Standing outside the gate of Renshou Palace, Yang Manyan took a deep breath and stepped into the palace with all his strength. However, he saw that the windows were wide open today, and the sun was pouring in, which was completely different from the gloomy and dark last time.
What surprised her even more was that Duke Wei's wife, Guo, and her aunt, Xue, were also present.
The two of them remembered the palace's prohibitions and hurriedly saluted: "Greetings, Master Shangyi!"
Mrs. Guo had a smile on her face, but there was a sense of alienation in her eyes; whereas Aunt Xue's eyes were full of concern and genuine love.
Aunt Xue's name was Zelan. She was Yang's mother's elder sister and one of the Duke of Wei's concubines.
When the Yang family first arrived in the capital, they had no one to rely on, and it was thanks to the help of this aunt that they were able to settle down in the Duke's Mansion.
Yang Manyan quickly came back to his senses and bowed to Empress Xu, the host: "Greetings to the Empress, may the Empress be blessed with good health and happiness."
Empress Xu glanced at him coldly and said, "Forget it."
If it weren't for her eldest sister-in-law Guo's request, she would never have been willing to summon Yang.
She thought Xiao Qing would marry her niece Miaohua, which would make her feel better. But who knew she would be seduced by a vixen!
Thinking of this, Empress Xu's mouth twisted, and her heart was filled with resentment that almost overflowed - it turned out to be that man's child, and sooner or later it would be harvested by a woman!
Seeing this, Guo hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Master Shangyi, today I have brought Aunt Xue to visit you specially. Your Majesty seems a little tired, why don't you move to the warm room with Aunt Xue to reminisce about the past?"
Although Yang Manyan felt something was amiss, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Empress Xu did not stop him, and followed his aunt into the warm room.
After the maid left, she was about to speak, but saw that Aunt Xue looked embarrassed and hesitated.
"I'll do what you want." Aunt Xue lowered her voice, "Madam brought me into the palace this time to convey the Duke's Mansion's intentions... Miss Miaohua has been trained as the Crown Princess since she was a child. Although she has lost her status now, the Duke still wants her to enter the Eastern Palace, even if it means being a concubine..."
"What does aunt mean?" Yang Manyan's heart sank.
"The Duke would like you to put in a good word for the Crown Prince. If that works, the Duke's Mansion will owe you a favor and will be able to protect you in the future..."
Aunt Xue became more and more hypocritical as she spoke. If her son Huaiying knew what she had done, he would be so disappointed.
But as a concubine, how dare she disobey her husband's orders?
Yang Manyan was stunned for a moment before he said, "Aunt, I just entered the palace, how can I talk about such a thing?"
"The Duke said that you only need to summon Miaohua to the palace..."
"How is this different from inviting a wolf into the house?" Yang Manyan flatly refused. "Aunt, please advise the Duke to find another way and stop making things difficult for me."
If the prince really wanted to take a concubine, she would be powerless to stop him, but asking her to offer her beauty to him on her own initiative was absolutely impossible!
Aunt Xue was biased towards her niece to begin with, so when she saw her niece refuse, she felt relieved and quickly changed the subject.
It was not until Mrs. Guo came looking for them that the two reluctantly said goodbye.
When leaving, Yang Manyan suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure - it was the little eunuch who led her on a detour in the Imperial Garden half a year ago!
My heartbeat quickened suddenly, and the words from that night echoed in my ears again: "Don't blame me, girl. Blame... the Empress of Renshou Palace!"
Now that I think about it, how could the murderer take the initiative to report it? It seems like he deliberately led her to misunderstand...
Before Yang Manyan had sorted out all the doubts in his mind, he had already returned to the East Palace and ran into Xiao Yan who was leaving his morning class.
He walked against the light, his ochre brocade robe shining with gold thread, his hair tied up with a jade crown, and his posture as straight as a pine tree.
"Wish," he strode forward and said with a gentle smile, "Today is the fifteenth day. Do you want to go with me to the Palace of Heavenly Purity for dinner?"
After moving to the Eastern Palace, he set a rule for himself that he must go to the Qianqing Palace to accompany his father for meals on the first and fifteenth day of every month.
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