Just as Yu Jiao guessed, Concubine Xue summoned her to the palace because she was pregnant with an heir. Yu Jiao smiled faintly, "The rumors outside are mostly exaggerated. I will do my best."
"Although your father and I, Prime Minister Shen, often have different political views, everyone in the world knows that the emperor dotes on my sister. If you help my sister give birth to a baby boy, this achievement will be of great benefit to you, your Liu family, and your father's future." Xue Qingshang stopped there.
Yu Jiao naturally understood what she was talking about. Although Concubine Xue was not the empress, she was able to hold the phoenix seal. Emperor Mingzheng loved Concubine Xue so much. If she could give birth to an imperial heir, the position of the crown prince might have to be replaced.
Yu Jiao became alert and realized that she had to be more cautious and careful today.
Xue Qingshang led Yu Jiao straight to Changle Palace. They had a smooth journey and even the patrolling guards did not stop them to ask questions.
Outside the gate of Changle Palace were steps paved with white marble. The furnishings and decorations inside the palace were luxurious and extravagant. The floor was covered with saddle blankets tributed from foreign countries, and there were warm heating coils and incense burning.
Concubine Xue was lying on the couch, leaning against the pillow with her eyes closed. Two palace maids were kneeling on the ground, dyeing her nails with flower juice.
Xue Rong opened her eyes only after she heard the maid come in and report that Xue Qingshang had brought the third daughter of the Liu family. She sat up lazily and raised her head to look at the two people who walked into the hall.
Xue Rong was wearing very thin clothes, her skirt was tightly fitted to her slender waist, her figure was soft and elegant, her breasts were high, and all the charm of a woman was revealed in her body.
That face was just the right amount of gorgeous, with the same phoenix eyes as Xue Qingshang's, but without Xue Qingshang's unconscious arrogance. Her eyes were moving like hooks with starlight, with the tails of her eyes slightly upturned, charming and alluring. There was a teardrop mole next to the corner of her eye, which added a bit of endearing softness and enchantment.
Xue Rong bowed and saluted, and Yu Jiao also bowed politely, "I greet the Imperial Concubine."
Xue Rong smiled sweetly, her youthful beauty revealed. Although she was nearly thirty years old, she did not look like a woman at all. She was like a ripe peach, full and plump.
She raised her hand to signal the maid kneeling at her feet to step back, took Xue Qingshang's hand, and said with a smile, "You, did you have too much fun outside? You finally remembered to come and see your sister."
Xue Qingshang was a dozen years younger than Xue Rong. She treated Xue Rong as both a sister and a mother. The two of them were very close, and there was no distinction between the superior and the inferior because of their status. Xue Qingshang sat next to Xue Rong on the rose couch and said in a tender voice, "Shang'er has been thinking about her sister in her heart, so she invited Miss Liu San to come over."
Xue Rong then turned her gaze towards Yu Jiao, motioning her to stand up. She looked at Yu Jiao's little face and said with a smile, "I heard earlier that Liu Ci Fu had found his daughter who had been away from home for many years, so he asked Shang'er to bring you to the palace for me to see. You look so pitiful, you must have suffered a lot outside, right?"
Yu Jiao didn't dare to look up at Xue Rong, she just shook her head and said, "Thank you for your concern, Madam."
Seeing her reserved, Xue Rong mistakenly thought that this little girl was entering the palace for the first time and had never seen the world. She raised her hand and asked the maid to give Yu Jiao a seat. She smiled and said, "You don't have to be reserved here. There are no outsiders. It's rare for a girl of Shang'er's age to visit me. You should be more lively, so that I can get some youth."
Xue Qingshang hugged her arm and said with a smile, "Sister is young and beautiful. She looks about the same age as us."
Xue Rong tapped her forehead and smiled indulgently, "You are the only one who has a sweet mouth."
The maid brought in some ginseng tea. Xue Rong opened the cup lid, took a sip, looked at Yu Jiao, and said softly, "Since returning to Beijing, are you used to the food and accommodation?"
Yu Jiao didn't touch the ginseng tea and replied briefly, "Everything is fine."
Xue Rong frowned slightly, thinking that the third daughter of the Liu family was raised in a remote and poor village, and was rather dull and boring.
Xue Qingshang thought that Yu Jiao was the first to meet a distinguished person like Xue Rong, so nervous that she couldn't even speak. Considering that Yu Jiao was Yu Qizhe's sister, she helped Yan get straight to the point and said, "Sister, I have already told Miss Liu San that you are not feeling well. Let her take your pulse."
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