Chapter 96 Did he bully you?
Imperial City, Eastern Palace.
At three quarters past noon, Yang Manyan had just finished dressing up when a little palace maid came to report that Madam Xue and the second Miss Yang were outside seeking a meeting.
The hall was brightly lit, with the windows half-open. Yang Manyan was sitting on a couch looking through the accounts. Hearing this, his brows lit up. "Please invite them in."
"Yes, I'll go right away." The little palace maid responded with a smile and tiptoed out of the inner hall.
After a moment, the beaded curtain shook violently, and a petite figure rushed in and threw herself at Yang Manyan, "Sister, I missed you so much!"
Yang Manyan couldn't help laughing and patted his sister's head, "I don't believe it, you crazy girl, I don't know what you are busy with every day."
"I didn't!" Yang Jingzhen muttered softly.
Xue Shulan, who was following closely behind, followed closely and said in a low voice, "Zhenzhen, etiquette cannot be abolished, why don't you quickly pay your respects to Yang Shangyi."
Yang Jingzhen snorted in dissatisfaction, then reluctantly let go of her elder sister and pretended to bow.
"There's no outsider here, so there's no need to be so formal." Yang Manyan stopped her.
After that, she stepped forward and took her mother's hand, and asked with a smile: "Are you and Zhenzhen used to staying in Yanqing Palace last night?"
The palace maids tactfully left the hall so that the mother and her two daughters could have a private conversation.
Only then did Xue Shulan dare to shift her gaze to her eldest daughter. She looked at her carefully, and her eyes suddenly became moist.
After not seeing her for more than a month, my eldest daughter seemed to have grown up a little.
She was wearing a brand new magenta gold-woven palace dress with peony patterns and her hair was covered with pearls and jade. In the light of the light green morning light, she looked so elegant and dazzling that people dared not look directly at her.
After a while, Xue Shulan suppressed her sobs and said with a smile, "It's a habit, of course it's a habit."
"I should have come to see Yang Shangyi as soon as I entered the palace yesterday. It's all because of that stinky girl Zhenzhen. She fell asleep as soon as she entered Yanqing Palace and I couldn't wake her up no matter what I did."
Yang Jingzhen felt guilty and hung her head, not daring to speak.
Yang Manyan glanced at his sister and decided to give her a thorough interrogation later.
Then, she pulled her mother to sit down beside the couch, and complained in a coquettish tone: "Why is mother so distant? Am I no longer mother's daughter now that I have become Yang Shangyi?"
"What nonsense are you talking about." Xue Shulan's heart softened, and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Oh, right." Thinking of the important matter, she calmed down and said, "Yuanyuan, what's the matter with Miss Su who lives in Fu'an Palace?"
She asked in a very low voice: "But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to marry her?"
She didn't believe Tong Lin's explanation yesterday at all. Given the eldest daughter's personality, how could she bring an unmarried woman into the palace for no reason?
Yang Jingzhen was also curious, so she sat down next to her elder sister and rested her chin on her shoulder.
Yang Manyan was both amused and confused. "You have misunderstood. This has nothing to do with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
She couldn't say much about the secret affairs of the imperial palace, and she didn't want to implicate her mother and sister.
However, if she used the same words she would use to the outside world, saying that she brought Su Qinglan into the palace because she got along well with her, her mother and sister might not believe it.
After a moment's silence, she said softly, "In fact, the emperor wants to bring her into the palace. He has just ordered people to register the young talents in the capital so that Miss Su can choose a husband."
This is true, but Su Qinglan's background is omitted.
Xue Shulan still had some doubts in her heart, but seeing that her eldest daughter's expression did not seem fake, she believed it a little.
Yang Manyan smiled and changed the subject, "Mother, please try this crispy abalone snail. It is made with ghee and melts in your mouth. It is very delicious."
There were several plates of snacks on the coffee table in the middle of the couch, and in the middle was what she called the Crispy Abalone Snails, which were small milky white pastries shaped like a spiral, hence the name.
Xue Shulan smiled and said, "We have tasted these snacks a long time ago. You sent them to our home. They are indeed delicious."
"But don't always worry about your family while you're in the palace. We're all fine. It's not right for you to always have people send gifts home..."
Yang Manyan's eyebrows curved slightly, "It's okay, it's not a big deal."
When she first entered the palace, she walked on thin ice every day and dared not contact her family. Later, she gradually dared to send people to deliver some things to her home.
At first, there was some rice, grain and snacks, and then gold, silver, silk and other items were added.
After all, her family depended on her father's salary to survive. She had no worries about food and clothing in the palace, and she could not spend all her daily allotment, so naturally she wanted to give some subsidy to her family.
Changing the subject, the mother and her two daughters talked about Father Yang who was far away in Jizhou.
Xue Shulan lowered her eyes and sighed, "I wonder how your father is doing in Jizhou now..."
"When the news of the civil unrest in Jizhou reached the capital a few days ago, you were accompanying the emperor on the spring hunt in Nanyuan. Fortunately, Huaiying helped to run around and gather information."
The Huaiying she mentioned was the second son of Duke Wei and also her nephew.
Yang Jingzhen winked at her elder sister and said in a muffled voice, "Yes, cousin Huaiying is a very nice person."
"Ever since my father was sent out of the capital, cousin Huaiying has often come to visit us, saying that he is worried about us mother and daughter being alone at home."
She naturally knew that her cousin from the Xu family was fond of her elder sister and that he said this deliberately to tease her elder sister.
Yang Manyan was slightly stunned when he heard this.
She suddenly thought, if her previous guess was correct, Xiao Yan was the son of Empress Xu, then wouldn't her cousin Xu Huaiying also be Xiao Yan's cousin?
The Duke of Wei's Mansion is the descendant of a founding hero. It is a prosperous and prestigious family. When the previous emperor was alive, the Xu family was the queen's mother's family and was very powerful in the court. They were known as "Xu Half the Dynasty".
After the emperor ascended the throne, he worked hard to check and suppress these aristocratic families, and the Xu family gradually declined.
If the Xu family becomes the crown prince's family again, won't they be able to make a comeback?
The gilded Suanni incense burner made a slight rustling sound, and the sinking water incense was quietly diffused. Yang Manyan raised his eyes to look out the window and was stunned for a moment.
After lunch, she let her sister stay alone. Xue Shulan thought that the two sisters wanted to have a private conversation, so she went back to Yanqing Palace for a nap.
There was no one around, so Yang Manyan pinched his sister's face and asked straight to the point: "Zhenzhen, have you been to Beigong these days?"
After hearing this, Yang Jingzhen's eyes widened in shock, and she asked hesitantly, "Sister, how did you know?"
"You and King Han, right..." Yang Manyun hesitated to speak, with a complicated expression.
Yang Jingzhen's face suddenly turned red, feeling ashamed and embarrassed.
Seeing her like this, Yang Manyan's heart skipped a beat. "Tell me the truth, did you have physical contact?"
"Did he bully you?" she asked nervously.
Yang Jingzhen became so ashamed that she couldn't even raise her head. She crumpled the silk in her hands into a ball until her knuckles turned white.
After a long while, she stammered, "No, he and I didn't..."
She felt like a thorn in her back because of the stare, so she simply said angrily: "Hey, sister, don't ask, anyway, I was not bullied by him."
Her mind raced, and she hurriedly changed the subject, "Sister, did you like the storybook I read at Yuquan Palace last time? I brought a few new books into the palace this time, would you like to taste them?"
Yang Manyan thought of the volume of "The Secret History of the Embroidered Couch" that she stuffed into his pocket last time, and he couldn't help but choke with anger, not knowing what to say to her.
Nanyuan was located fifty miles south of the imperial palace. By the time Su Jingyi hurried over, it was already past noon.
Green tiles and red roofs, cloud-shrouded golden palaces, and towering palace walls. Led by the eunuchs of the East Palace, Su Jingyi passed through the palace gates and winding corridors and arrived in front of the Wenhua Hall.
A cool breeze blew across the palace road, lifting the wide sleeves of his brown official robe with a crane pattern, making a rustling sound.
Entering the palace again after more than a decade, Su Jingyi came to the Wenhua Hall where he used to stay when he served as the late emperor's tutor. He was filled with mixed feelings.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard on the white marble steps, and a handsome young man came into his sight.
Su Jingyi was stunned.
Time flies, and Zhao Yun's child has grown up...
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