Chapter 40: Miss Shen's Past

After Lin's mother and daughter left, the prince finally asked, "I wanted to keep a low profile on this trip, but it has caused a lot of trouble."

After saying that, he stood up and said, "Why don't I go and tell people not to disturb us."

As he was speaking, Pei Chuyan came in.

"But someone is disturbing your Majesty's peace? Why don't I go outside and guard her?"

The second prince hurried forward and pulled Pei Chuyan over: "Sit down and take a rest. You have been busy enough these days."

Concubine Chen Gui also smiled and said, "It's okay. It's just a matter of talking a few more words. Since we have come to this important Buddhist place, we should be less worldly and polite."

After saying this, he looked at the two princes and said, "Since we have come to the Mingjing Temple, if you have nothing to do in the court these few days, you can all stay here for a few days, and we can live a free life."

"Of course, it's good. It's tiring to be constrained in the palace all the time. I really like being with Empress Chen." The Second Prince was naturally happy to hear Concubine Chen say this, and turned to look at the Crown Prince: "What do you think, Crown Prince?"

The prince smiled knowingly.

The group decided to stay in Mingjing Temple for two or three days before returning to the palace.

Unexpectedly, after lunch, before Concubine Chen Gui had time to rest, someone else came.

Although Concubine Chen Guifei was a little tired, she still invited the person in.

The visitors were the two daughters of the Minister of Personnel, Shen Baoyan and Shen Baoshuang.

"Because my mother had some contacts with Madam He when she was in the royal palace, and she is not feeling well today, she asked us two sisters to burn a stick of incense on her behalf and add some money for the incense as a token of our appreciation." After the two of them paid their respects to Concubine Chen Guifei, Shen Baoyan explained softly to her.

"It's your mother who is thoughtful." Concubine Chen Gui replied.

Lu Xingwan's little head was working like crazy.

[Shen Baoyan, such a familiar name. What on earth did she do? I am so anxious. Why can't I remember it?]

Concubine Chen Guifei couldn't help but complain in her heart: "Is it possible that you confused the names of Shen Baoshuang and Shen Baoyan? Shen Baoshuang was obsessed with your elder brother a few days ago, and she also bullied Miss Han."

【Ah, I remember now.】

Lu Xingwan's baby voice suddenly rang out.

[After the Third Prince ascended the throne, he followed the advice of his grandfather, Prime Minister Cui, and made his cousin the empress. However, the story says that his cousin was very boring and a bit overbearing, so he naturally didn't like her. However, for the sake of his grandfather's face, he had to go to her palace once a month.]

[Later, the Third Prince met Shen Baoyan, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, somewhere and was attracted to her at first sight.]

[That night, he ordered people to go to the Minister of Personnel's house to bring the person into the palace, without caring whether the Shen family was willing or not.]

[But it has always been like this. If you don't obey the royal order, wouldn't that be disobeying the order? ]

【But unexpectedly, Shen Baoyan was a stubborn person. She refused to obey even at death and even cut her own face with a knife. 】

[The Third Prince was of course furious, and he banished Shen Baoyan to the cold palace, and also imprisoned the entire Shen family.]

[Later, it was Shen Baoshuang who took the initiative to surrender to the Third Prince and saved the Shen family.]

[However, the Third Prince was not destined to be the Emperor, and was soon killed by his Second Brother. It seems that Shen Baoshuang felt humiliated and committed suicide, but there is no explanation for what happened to Shen Baoyan.]

Concubine Chen Guifei accidentally heard Wanwan telling a little story, which changed her opinion of the Shen sisters.

In the past, when she saw Shen Baoshuang being disrespectful to Han Xiyue and also seeing her being infatuated with the prince, she disliked her very much.

However, I didn't expect that both the Shen sisters were so strong-willed. I couldn't help but feel a little respect for them.

He immediately asked Jinxin to bring stools for the two of them: "Why don't you two ladies sit here in the palace for a while? I will be staying in the palace for a long time, why don't you tell me about what's going on outside?"

This made the two Shen sisters stunned.

The two looked at each other, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Looking at Concubine Chen Guifei's expression just now, it seemed that she didn't like the two of them, but now she is so enthusiastic.

Even Lu Xingwan couldn't help but hold his forehead.

[Mother, you are too nosy. Shen Baoshuang was pestering the prince a few days ago. Have you forgotten? ]

Concubine Chen Guifei didn't care much and just asked, "What is the name of the eldest lady of the Shen family?"

"My name is Shen Baoyan, and my name is Shen Baoshuang." Although Shen Baoyan was very nervous because of Concubine Chen's enthusiasm, she still answered respectfully.

"How old is the eldest daughter of the Shen family this year?"

"To answer your Majesty's question, I am fifteen years old this year."

"But has the coming-of-age ceremony been held?"

"My lady, not yet. Father has set the date for the end of next month."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Chen Gui was naturally excited: "When you have your coming-of-age ceremony, I'll have someone around me give you a gift."

Shen Baoyan was surprised and stood up quickly: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

Shen Baoshuang beside him also hurriedly stood up.

Concubine Chen Guifei hurriedly asked the two of them to sit down and chatted for a long time.

The two sisters were still in a daze when they came out of Concubine Chen Gui's room.

Today, when their mother asked them to come and pay respects to Concubine Chen Gui, they were unwilling to do so. Because of the Crown Prince's matter, Concubine Chen Gui would not like them.

When he entered the room and saw Concubine Chen Gui's cold expression, it was just as he expected.

Unexpectedly, after just two sentences, Concubine Chen Gui suddenly became warm.

I knew in the past that Concubine Chen Guifei was a female hero who had been on the battlefield and was the one who never played by the rules, but this was... too unconventional.

Fortunately, Concubine Chen likes the two sisters, which is a good thing for them.

What Concubine Chen didn't know was that after staying in Mingjing Temple for a few days, she had become quite famous among the housekeepers and young ladies in the capital.

It is said that Concubine Chen loves to listen to gossip, and she will ask a few more questions to any young lady she meets.

Concubine Chen: I’m not a gossiper, I really think those two girls are good.

On the morning of the second day, there was an unexpected visitor.

Concubine Chen Guifei had just packed up Lu Xingwan and asked Jinxin to hold her. They went to the courtyard together. They heard that there was a bamboo forest in the backyard of Mingjing Temple, which was very lush and it was like being in a fairyland.

Therefore, the former emperor named it "Wanqinglin".

Naturally, she would take Wanwan with her for a stroll.

Unexpectedly, before he walked out of the courtyard, he ran into the eldest princess and her husband.

"Aunt." When the eldest princess saw Concubine Chen Gui, she hurriedly walked forward and bowed.

The prince consort beside him naturally followed suit and saluted.

Concubine Chen Gui was surprised: "Xing Ruo is back."

"I just returned to Beijing yesterday and have already paid my respects to the palace. I heard that my aunt came to Mingjing Temple, so I wanted to see her earlier, so I came here uninvited." The eldest princess Lu Xingruo replied with a smile.

Lu Xingruo was the daughter of Concubine Chen's elder sister Song Qingya, and also the eldest daughter of the Emperor of Great Chu. She had already been married.