Chapter 523 The Former Crown Prince
Hearing the word "guilty concubine", Zhuzhi's expression changed and she asked softly, "Miss, are you talking about the former Shufei?"
Song Yanxi nodded and explained, "Shufei and His Majesty were childhood sweethearts. Her father and brother were both killed while fighting for His Majesty's throne."
Zhuzhi was puzzled. "Even though they were childhood sweethearts, and Concubine Shu's father and brother died for their country, shouldn't the Emperor treat her well?"
Zhu Yu: "Why didn't she treat her well? Not only did she make an exception and make her eldest son the crown prince, but she also made her second son a king and granted him fiefdoms before he even reached the age of twenty.
No concubine in any dynasty has ever received such treatment.
It is no exaggeration to say that the favor bestowed upon the Concubine Shu at that time surpassed all the other six imperial concubines."
Zhuzhi asked, "Since Your Majesty loves Concubine Shu so much, why doesn't he make her the empress?"
After Zhuzhi finished speaking, the room was silent for a moment.
She thought she had said something wrong and her expression suddenly became nervous.
"girl……"
Seeing her eyes slightly red, as if she was about to cry, Song Yanxi chuckled and said, “What are you afraid of? Do you have His Majesty’s spies in our house?
Even if you say something outrageous, as long as it's not spread outside, it won't reach his ears."
Zhuzhi said hurriedly: "Don't worry, young lady, we will definitely not talk nonsense when we go out, and we will never cause trouble for you."
She sniffed and asked curiously, "Young lady, since His Majesty dotes on Concubine Shu so much, why didn't he make her the Empress before?"
Although Zhu Yu didn't say anything, her eyes were filled with curiosity.
Meeting their expectant eyes, Song Yanxi shook her head.
Zhuzhi was surprised and asked, "Miss, you don't know either?"
Zhu Yu thought of something and realized belatedly: "When Concubine Shu was in trouble, our girl was still in the Divine Doctor Valley, so she definitely didn't know."
"Then how do you know?"
"I heard it by chance when I was out and about. I thought it was interesting, so I gave it a listen."
Zhuzhi hesitated for a moment, then said with a firm look in his eyes, "Miss, I'll go out with you next time you check the accounts."
Song Yanxi's smile was somewhat helpless.
She said, "This is a matter concerning the royal family, and only a few people know about it. To save their lives, they will definitely grit their teeth and won't reveal it unless it's absolutely necessary.
Even if you ask, you won’t get anything.”
Speaking of this, she couldn't help but feel strange, "Zhu Yu, where did you hear this from?"
If she had not accidentally heard this secret when she was following Lin Tingfeng, she would never have known that the story of Concubine Shu being deposed for engaging in witchcraft in the palace was completely false.
According to rumors, the former crown prince and the sixth prince who were assassinated were actually given the death penalty.
The person who gave the order was none other than the current Emperor Xuande.
The person who went to deliver the poisoned wine and personally sent the two brothers on their journey was Princess Huayang, who had always lived in seclusion and worshipped Buddha at home.
The reason why Lin Tingfeng knew this was because of the pearl crown on the table, which was unique in the world.
After Concubine Shu died, Emperor Xuande sealed the palace where she had lived and burned all the items inside to avoid being saddened by the scene.
The person in charge of supervising all of this is still his newest person, Princess Huayang.
At the full-month party for Lin Tingfeng and Zhuang Shihan's twin children, she gave this crown to him and his wife as a gift for their twins, a boy and a girl.
Zhuang Shihan liked it very much, and asked her maid to re-tie her hair that day. She wore this gorgeous pearl crown to attend her children's full moon banquet.
At the banquet, many people who had witnessed the gracefulness of Concubine Shu exclaimed that Concubine Shu was back when they saw her dressed like this.
When Zhuang Shihan found out the reason, she immediately felt unlucky and quickly had the hair crown taken off and put back into the box and locked it.
Song Yanxi originally thought that since the couple openly challenged the imperial power, His Majesty would surely be furious and order punishment.
But she was only half right.
When Emperor Xuande heard about the incident at the full moon banquet, he was shocked and angry and fell ill that night.
But what was delivered to the general's mansion the next day was not even a verbal reprimand, but boxes of priceless rewards.
He even had to choose an auspicious day to adopt Zhuang Shihan as his adopted daughter and confer the title of Princess Minghui on her.
What has she done to deserve this honor?
As for whether Zhuang Shihan was finally crowned a princess, no one knew as she disappeared in resentment and resentment.
Zhu Yu glanced at the door and whispered, "About half a month ago, the people outside started to talk about it, saying that there was something strange about the deaths of Concubine Shu and the former Crown Prince.
Some say that the former crown prince was too ambitious and was sentenced to death by His Majesty, while others say that he was not His Majesty's biological son and committed suicide after learning the truth.
It's a mess, with people saying all sorts of things."
Hearing this, Song Yanxi couldn't help but frown.
She had originally just asked casually, and thought that this girl had happened to meet an old friend from the palace and had overheard something.
Now it seems that this matter is far more serious than she thought.
This is a matter of royal secrets, but the news hasn't even reached your Majesty's ears?
Seeing that her face was not right, Zhu Yu asked: "Miss, do you need to find someone to ask?"
"No, don't alert the enemy."
Song Yanxi looked at Zhuzhi and ordered in a deep voice, "Go and ask Miss An San to come over. I have something to tell her."
Knowing that she must have important matters to attend to, Zhuzhi did not dare to delay and responded and hurried out.
Zhu Yu boldly asked, "Miss, is there really something wrong with the death of the late crown prince?"
Song Yanxi said ambiguously: "Maybe, but the person is gone, it doesn't matter whether it is true or not."
She ordered in a deep voice, "From now on, all of you must be alert. No matter what people say outside or what the facts are, no one from the Princess's Mansion must get involved.
If someone pretends to obey but actually disobeys, you don't need to ask me specifically, just deal with them as you see fit."
Zhu Yu responded respectfully, looking at the pearl crown on the table with complicated eyes, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
Knowing that she was feeling sorry for her, Song Yanxi didn't explain too much.
For some things, the less you know, the better.
After all, Princess Huayang is just Mo Jinchuan's aunt. Even if she dislikes her, she cannot stop him from marrying her.
But at this critical juncture, the death of the late crown prince was suddenly brought up again, which is not a good sign.
Even if there was someone behind the scenes fanning the flames, it would take some time for the words to reach the point where Zhu Yu could hear them.
Going back further, it is possible that someone deliberately released this news just after the Chinese New Year.
There are only a few people in the capital who have the courage to do this and who can temporarily control the situation and prevent the news from being passed back to the palace.
But the former crown prince has already died, and the concubine and her second son also died with him. Even if the past is brought up again, what can be changed?
Song Yanxi was lost in thought when An San walked in and said respectfully, "Miss, please wait a moment. My master will be here in half a minute."
Song Yanxi raised an eyebrow, "Half a minute?"
Her Princess Mansion is not close to Prince Jin's Mansion. Could it be that Mo Jinchuan is planning to fly here?
An San said, "When the master sent the princess back to the mansion, he instructed his subordinates that if the princess wanted to see him, they should tell her to come back at 3:30 in the evening."
She paused, then added, "Bring a few young masters along."
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