After leaving Yu An, Su Rong finally went to the Imperial Concubine’s Fengyi Palace.
Inside the Fengyi Palace, the Imperial Concubine had heard early in the morning that Su Rong had entered the palace to investigate a case. She had intended to find her, but after repeatedly contemplating, she stayed put and waited for her.
The day the palace maid attempted to assassinate using a golden needle, if it weren’t for Su Rong, both she and Princess Sheng An would undoubtedly have died. If the two of them met a calamity together, it would be a fatal blow to the Crown Prince.
So, the Imperial Consort gave Su Rong her thanks a hundred, a thousand times over in her heart.
She waited for a day, and finally in the evening, Su Rong came. The Imperial Concubine personally greeted her at the entrance of Fengyi Palace. At a glance, she saw the young girl coming with an umbrella, wearing a white fox-fur cloak. In the snowstorm, the white fox fur was pure, without any impurities, almost blending with the falling snow from the sky.
The Imperial Concubine was taken aback.
The wet nurse serving by her side whispered, "Madam, the white fox fur cloak on Lady Su Qi, wasn’t it a gift from the Crown Prince?"
The Crown Prince had once said that he wanted to give it to his future Crown Princess.
The Imperial Concubine nodded, "That’s right, isn’t it?"
White fox fur is rare. Yan Huisheng’s own piece of white fox fur was hunted when he was young, just one piece. Afterward, when his subordinates heard that the Crown Prince liked white fox fur, they searched everywhere and got a few more pieces. When Imperial Concubine Zhenmin found out, she asked for them but was denied. He said that they were for the future Crown Princess. Going back, it was three years ago.
Nowadays, Su Rong was wearing the white fox fur cloak. Apart from the one given by the Crown Prince, you really couldn’t find another piece in the world.
Su Rong soon approached and respectfully greeted the Imperial Concubine, "Imperial Concubine."
The Imperial Concubine came to her senses and quickly held her hand, "Please, no formalities."
Today, Su Rong’s hand was warm. On the contrary, the Imperial Concubine, who wore too little and hurried to greet her, had somewhat cold fingers. Su Rong returned the grip, warming the Concubine’s hands while walking inside the palace, "The Imperial Concubine is being too formal. We are family, there’s no need for you to personally greet me."
The Imperial Concubine chuckled, "Alright, next time you visit, I won’t greet you."
While talking, they stepped into the inner hall, the wind and snow somehow shielded outside, the hall inside was warm.
Su Rong took off her white fox fur cloak, and a wet nurse immediately delicately received it and carefully folded and placed it aside. A palace maid promptly brewed hot tea and handed it to Su Rong to warm her hands.
The Imperial Concubine asked Su Rong, "Was the investigation successful?"
Su Rong nodded, "Quite successful indeed."
The Imperial Concubine suggested, "Stay in the palace today. Stay here in my palace. With this heavy snow, don’t trouble yourself to leave the palace."
Su Rong politely declined with a laugh, "It’s just a short distance, there’s no need to trouble the Imperial Concubine. I’ll talk to you for a while and then leave. There are still matters to attend to outside the palace."
Upon hearing this, the Imperial Concubine didn’t insist, "Then leave after dinner?"
Su Rong was able to agree to this, "Agreed, I will impose on the Imperial Concubine for dinner."
The Empress smiled and said she wouldn’t mind, immediately ordering someone to do as asked, while saying to Su Rong with a smile, "Since your brother Fen Ling has come to the palace, he has practically taken up residence in the Imperial Kitchen."
Su Rong snorted lightly, "He came to the palace to protect you, how could he be so out of tune? I’ll scold him later."
The Empress shook her head with a smile, "He brought two people with him. After conducting a thorough investigation of everyone around me on the first day, and removing two with ill intentions, he went to the Imperial Kitchen only after ensuring there was no danger around me. I mentioned it as a joke, you must not scold him. That boy is endearing, his coming has livened up Fengyi Palace."
Su Rong nodded, "Since you say so, I will not scold him."
Fen Ling knows what is important and what is not. Although he is a food lover, he definitely would not neglect important matters. Going to the Imperial Kitchen is likely just a smokescreen.
After the two exchanged casual comments, the Empress realized that Su Rong hadn’t just come to pay her a visit. She was also here for an investigation. So she sent away the servants attending to them so they could converse privately.
The way Su Rong dealt with the Empress was different from how she handled others. The Empress, as the mother to Crown Prince Yan Huisheng, prioritized the Crown Prince. Therefore, as soon as the Empress had sent people away, Su Rong bluntly said, "Regarding Imperial Concubine Zhenmin, being in charge of the six palaces, Your Majesty should have a clearer understanding. Would you please tell me about Imperial Concubine Zhenmin?"
The Empress was startled, and she sharply asked, "Is Imperial Concubine Zhenmin related to this case?"
"At the moment, it’s just a speculation," Su Rong answered conservatively.
However, the Empress felt that Su Rong would not mention Imperial Concubine Zhenmin at the beginning of their conversation if it was just a speculation, there must be some connections already. She thought for a moment and said, "Imperial Concubine Zhenmin was chosen in the selection in Nanping. At that time, not to mention among the selected ladies, even in the Imperial Harem, there was no one like her. If you talk about beauty, she was indeed extremely radiant. But the Emperor had seen numerous beautiful women, not to mention the Emperor’s cousin, your mother, Princess Zhenmin, who was renowned in Capital City in her youth, even the Emperor’s sister Princess Qingping was extremely beautiful when she was young. If she only had beauty, she would just be like a morning glory, ephemeral, in this palace. However, she is a beauty with more than just looks. That makes a difference."
Su Rong nodded.
The Empress continued, "After entering the palace, she was very good at conducting herself. She didn’t take advantage of her beauty to act aggressively, nor did she boast about the Emperor’s favor. Although she was not particularly low-key, she wasn’t ostentatious either. She once pledged loyalty to me in private, saying that her mother died giving birth to her and her father resented her. As a child, she grew up stumbling and falling without her mother’s protection and her father’s love. She said that due to the bullying from her stepsisters, she fell into an ice hole in winter and got injured, and it’s difficult for her to have any heirs now, even though she is in the palace. She said she was not a threat to me. She entered the palace because she had no choice, and she wanted to lead a better life in the future at the very least, at least not to be bullied. She asked for a place to stay in the palace."
Su Rong nodded.
The Empress continued, "There are many beautiful women in the harem. As the Empress, with the Crown Prince by my side, naturally what I seek is not the Emperor’s love, which is useless to me. What I want is for the Crown Prince to be safe, to grow up peacefully, to ascend to the throne smoothly in the future. A person who will not have any heirs, I can naturally give her a break, I will not be against her. And Imperial Concubine Zhenmin is also sensible, all these years, she hasn’t fallen out with me. Not only that, in the years when the Crown Prince and I were neglected, although she did not help, she did not add insult to injury, nor has she supported the Virtuous and Benevolent Consorts."
Su Rong continued, "When I was in Jiangning County, I heard that Imperial Concubine Zhenmin had great influence in the harem?"
"This is an exaggeration, it’s not that serious," the Empress shook her head, "It’s just that the Emperor favors Concubine Zhenmin, naturally he will give her good things. Over time, from inside the palace to outside the palace, from the court to outside the Capital City, the reputation she now has is created. By saying this", she seemed to recall something, glanced at the cloak that Su Rong wore that had been carefully placed aside by the wet nurse, "Do you know about the matter of her asking the Crown Prince for white fox fur three years ago?"
Su Rong nodded, "I heard about it from Miss Lipin and Eunuch Yu An."
The Empress asked tentatively, "When the Crown Prince gave you this cloak, didn’t he mention it?"
Su Rong shook her head, looking calm, "I don’t like to carry a soup thermos wherever I go. His Highness saw me rubbing my hands yesterday, so he sent me this cloak. He said it was light and warm, and didn’t mention anything else."
The Empress smiled kindly, "Then he didn’t want to mention it, since you’ve heard about it from someone else, I don’t need to say it again. Take this cloak for example, I don’t know what she was thinking at the time, whether she was testing the Crown Prince and me, or if she simply wanted it. Anyway, the Crown Prince didn’t give it to her, which angered the Emperor, and it was her who persuaded him. Over the years, she has only ever reached out to send the Crown Prince off once."
"As for other things..." the Empress said, "Because the Emperor got her fire fox fur from somewhere else and made her happy, she has been a lot less low-key since then. As for what she has done precisely, it seems like she hasn’t done anything specific, except frequently taking ginseng soup to the Emperor in the Imperial Study. She wouldn’t have done this before, or at least, she wouldn’t dare to draw the attention of the harem in this way. But in the last two or three years, she has stopped caring about that."
Su Rong looked thoughtful, "The day I came out of the Emperor’s Imperial Study, I saw Imperial Concubine Zhenmin from afar. She was delivering ginseng soup to the Emperor."
The Empress nodded, "She didn’t stay long, she left as soon as she delivered it. Occasionally when she ran into a minister, she was very tactful, patiently waiting and not disturbing the Emperor while he was dealing with court affairs. Therefore, the ministers turned a blind eye and didn’t try to attack her over this."
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