In the imperial garden, Su Xiangling was accompanying Concubine Xian, watching the lanterns with the emperor.
Because of the ongoing border wars this year, most of the lanterns this year were for blessing. The materials used were not as extravagant as in previous years. Emperor Xuande was pleased to see this and praised Concubine Xian.
"My beloved concubine remembers the border war and knows how to be frugal. I am very pleased."
The virtuous concubine smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please don't praise me. This was not my idea. I hadn't even thought about it when the Crown Prince mentioned it to me."
Emperor Xuande turned his head to look at the Crown Prince, nodded slightly and said: "The Crown Prince is always concerned about the border war, which shows that he is sensible."
"That's how it should be from now on. As the crown prince, you should have the mind and vision that a crown prince should have."
Emperor Xuande spoke casually with a smile on his face, and was not as harsh and lecturing as usual.
Seeing this, Su Xiangling boldly echoed, "Ever since the border war began, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been constantly worried, unable to eat or sleep well."
When Emperor Xuande saw that Su Xiangling's belly was bulging, he thought of his unborn grandson.
Turning to Hu Lu, he said, "I remember the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi sent a lot of fine bird's nests as tribute a few days ago. Take two boxes to the East Palace to nourish Concubine Su."
Su Xiangling was about to express her gratitude, but Emperor Xuande raised his hand to stop her, "You are pregnant, so there is no need to perform formalities."
Concubine Xian was also very satisfied with Su Xiangling's performance. If she wanted to become the prince's wife, it was especially important to be able to read people's expressions and know what to say and when.
After the last incident of the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," Consort Xian's mind had loosened considerably. If Su Xiangling was truly destined to be a phoenix, then her taking the position of Crown Princess would be a boon to the Crown Prince.
Su Xiangling was very proud of receiving the emperor's reward. She accompanied the virtuous concubine and looked around while calculating the time.
Logically speaking, the person who brought the news should have arrived.
She specifically instructed Xuetao to send someone to report the matter after the task was completed. There was no need to elaborate, just say that some strange noises were heard in Penglai Pavilion. The emperor would then surely send someone to investigate, and what had happened would be clear at a glance.
But after waiting for a long time, no one came to report the news, and Su Xiangling became a little anxious.
She believed in Mr. Zhou's medicine so much that she just thought that something had happened to Xuetao and she was stuck.
Su Xiangling hesitated for a moment, then looked at Shen Zhixiu and said with a smile, "Sir Shen, why haven't I seen my elder sister? I haven't seen her for a long time, and I miss her so much."
Song Wanwan's heart skipped a beat as she silently blamed herself for not following Sister Su. She hadn't seen her since she was stopped by the little palace maid. Was something wrong?
She wondered if she should go out quietly to look for him. But the palace was so huge, where should she look?
Shen Zhixiu seemed unconcerned. "Thank you, Concubine Su, for your concern. She might be talking to someone nearby."
Su Xiangling still looked worried. "Why don't we send someone to look for him? The palace is big, maybe he got lost."
Her original intention was to let the people around her look for it and find Penglai Palace.
"Your Highness, Concubine Su, you're worrying too much. I just talked to Mr. Zhou for a while, and I wasted time."
Su Xiangling was startled by the familiar voice and froze in place.
Passing through the crowd of people, I saw Su Qingyu and Mr. Zhou walking in one after another.
She even suspected that she was dazzled. She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again. The two men had already approached.
"Your Highness, the Concubine is so forgetful that you forgot to send Mr. Zhou out of the palace after taking his pulse. Fortunately, Mr. Zhou met me, and I brought him here."
Su Xiangling broke out in a cold sweat, especially when Mr. Zhou looked at her, the terrifying look in his eyes made her terrified.
She couldn't understand what was going on. All the evidence pointed to Su Qingyu, so why didn't Mr. Zhou kill her? Looking at Mr. Zhou's expression, it seemed as if he already knew the truth.
how so?
Everything was going as she had imagined, so how could it have changed?
Su Xiangling warned herself not to panic. This was the inner palace. Even if Mr. Zhou knew the truth, he couldn't do anything to her.
She responded to Su Qingyu's words with a smile, "I was negligent, but luckily I have my elder sister."
No matter how much Su Qingyu and Mr. Zhou hated her, she had to smile and cover it up. She couldn't lose her composure before they said anything.
The virtuous concubine didn't know what was going on. She smiled and called Su Qingyu over to talk.
Since the emperor favored Shen Zhixiu, she naturally treated Su Qingyu with kindness.
Xianfei took Su Qingyu's hand and said to Emperor Xuande, "I still remember the song that Lord Shen and Madam played together last time."
"I am also well versed in music, but only after listening to these two did I understand what the sound of nature is."
Su Qingyu thanked the virtuous concubine for her praise, and then said, "Today is the Lantern Festival, and I came here with my hand. I want to give Your Majesty a gift, and I hope Your Majesty will not despise it."
Su Qingyu bowed slightly, speaking and behaving in a graceful manner.
Emperor Xuande became interested when he heard this. "The gift sent by the Marquis of Loyalty today is very much appreciated by me. Madam Shen also wants to send a gift, so I have to see what it is."
Standing not far from Emperor Xuande, Shen Zhixiu cast a deep gaze upon Su Qingyu, his gaze dotted with love.
When Su Qingyu appeared in front of everyone, Shen Zhixiu let out a long sigh.
Even though he had made all the necessary arrangements in the palace, Su Qingyu would not be in any danger. But he was still worried, fearing that something might go wrong.
So at this moment, no matter what Su Qingyu said or did, Shen Zhixiu didn't care. No matter how big the problem was, he would take care of it, and she was fine.
Just like when Su Qingyu said she was going to give Emperor Xuande a great gift, Shen Zhixiu didn't know what it was. But he wasn't worried at all. Even if his wife gave the emperor a stone, he would praise it as the best in the world.
Su Qingyu brought everyone to the open space in the middle of the imperial garden, then took out a packet of medicine powder from her arms and sprinkled it on the ground.
This medicine powder was made by Mr. Zhou himself. It is more effective than Su Xiangling's and doesn't even require ventriloquism.
Soon, countless birds stood in the open space in front of the crowd and made gestures of worship.
Su Qingyu knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Hundreds of birds congratulate the Lantern Festival. May God bless the Great Zhou with good weather and prosperity."
"Long live the emperor."
Immediately afterwards, all the court officials, ladies of the court, concubines and princes knelt on the ground and shouted "Long live the emperor".
Emperor Xuande was very pleased and laughed twice, signaling everyone to stand up.
The prince who was closest to Emperor Xuande had lost all color on his face.
Why is this scene the same as what I saw in Donggong Meilin that day?
When he stood up, he looked at Su Xiangling with a sinister look. What was going on here?
Su Xiangling's eyes flickered, not daring to look directly at the Crown Prince. She cursed Su Qingyu in her heart. She had done this on purpose, deliberately showing off in front of the Crown Prince. She wanted to tell him that her "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" trick was fake.
But what Su Xiangling didn't know was that Su Qingyu's revenge had just begun.
Emperor Xuande was asking Su Qingyu at this moment.
"I accept this great gift, but what on earth is going on with this bird?"
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