Su Qingyu returned to Prince Ning's Mansion as if she were returning to her own home. No need to notify anyone, and no need to wait.
As soon as he entered the door, he got on the sedan chair and went to the inner courtyard.
A servant hurried to report, so when Su Qingyu got out of the sedan chair, Shen Yue had already come to greet her.
"Mother was still thinking about you this morning, saying you hadn't been home for ten days or so. I didn't tell her you were unwell, I just said there were a lot of things going on at the farm lately and you couldn't leave."
Shen Yue held Su Qingyu's arm and spoke softly.
Three days ago, she went back to the Shen family and saw Su Qingyu was ill. But she did not dare to tell her mother-in-law after she came back, for fear that she would worry about her.
Su Qingyu comforted him, "I'm fine. I'll be fine once the weather cools down."
Lin Wanyin wasn't at home today, having gone to the shop, and even Bai Sulian went with her. Su Shunci was naturally not at home either. I heard that she was so busy that she went out early and came back late, so Shen Yue often didn't see her for several days.
Su Qingyu raised the corners of her eyes, a smile floating in her sparkling eyes, "Why does it seem like the whole family is busy, and only the two of us are idle?"
Shen Yue sighed, "Isn't it? Mother did hand over the inner house of the palace to me, but the palace has a small population, so naturally there are not many things to do. The stewards below are all handling the affairs properly, so I don't have to do anything."
Su Qingyu thought of the lotus roots she had brought and suddenly became interested. "We have nothing to do, so why don't we go to the kitchen and make some glutinous rice lotus roots? When Mother and Ah Ci come back, they'll have it ready to eat."
Shen Yue found it interesting and nodded quickly. Then the two of them went to the small kitchen in Shen Yue's yard.
The maids who cooked in the small kitchen were driven out, leaving only two maids to serve closely.
The lotus roots were covered in mud and needed to be washed carefully. Several people got some water, sat on small stools, and began to wash them.
Since there was no one in the room, Shen Yue said, "Aunt San, I went to the palace the day before yesterday. Guess who I met?"
Su Qingyu was startled and subconsciously asked, "You were in mourning, why did you enter the palace?" Then she realized belatedly, "Who did you meet?"
Chen Yue explained, "The day before yesterday was Princess Yongning's birthday, and Brother Yuanzhou took me to the palace to pay my respects. I ran into Li Chaoyun, and I heard that he was in the palace to pay his respects to the Empress Chen."
The Empress Chen is Jiang Ziyan. Less than a month after entering the palace, she was promoted from concubine to concubine.
Su Qingyu was a little surprised. "Since that incident last time, Li Chaoyun hasn't shown up for a long time."
Shen Yue curled her lips and said, "I asked around and heard that ever since that Concubine Chen entered the palace, she has been coming in every few days to accompany her."
"Even the emperor's attitude towards Li Chaoyun has improved a lot now."
When Shen Yue mentioned Li Chaoyun, she felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart. Whether she stood on the Shen family's side or Su Yuanzhou's side, she hated this person.
So she felt uncomfortable when Li Chaoyun was doing well.
Su Qingyu snorted, "Don't worry, she will get her comeuppance sooner or later."
Not only her, but also the entire Li family.
Liu Fangcheng, a hermit from Yunshan who was friends with Princess Yongning, had been away from Beijing for two months and was searching everywhere for any survivors from the villa.
In the past few months, Su Qingyu has continued to secretly offer a reward to investigate what happened in the Li family's inner residence.
Su Qingyu always believed that whatever the Li family did would eventually leave traces.
Seeing that Shen Yue was full of resentment when she mentioned Li Chaoyun, she became much rougher when brushing the lotus roots.
Su Qingyu then brought up the matter of the Ghost Festival worship, which served to divert Shen Yue's attention.
This year, the eldest wife of the Shen family passed away, so the first Ghost Festival must be grand.
"I have ordered gold utensils for worship from Fanjinlou. We will go to pick them up in a few days. I have also made your share." Su Qingyu said.
What she made was what the Shen family should prepare, but Shen Yue was already married, so Yu Li should make another one for her.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yue said, "I don't understand these things. How much silver do you want to give me? I'll ask the maid to give it to you."
Su Qingyu shook her head and said, "Why do you need more money? We are not starving at home."
The ceremony is for outsiders to see. They are family members, so it doesn't matter who pays.
Chen Yue didn't say anything else. Given the relationship between them, there was really no need to be polite to each other over such a small amount of money.
After two hours of hard work, they cooked a large pot of glutinous rice and lotus root. The remaining lotus root was sent to the main kitchen, where they were told to make pork ribs and lotus root soup for lunch, along with a plate of lotus root slices served cold.
Around noon, Lin Wanyin returned with Bai Sulian and Su Shunci one after another. Not long after, Su Yuanzhou also returned home.
When Su Yuanzhou returned home, the pot of cooking glutinous rice and lotus roots in the small kitchen had just been opened.
Su Qingyu looked at the people gathered in the kitchen and teased, "Did you come back because of the smell? How come you're not here when we're working, but you're here every time we eat?"
Of course, she couldn't say this to her mother and Aunt Lian, so Su Qingyu looked at Su Shunci and Su Yuanzhou while speaking.
Su Shunci walked forward and took Su Qingyu's arm and said, "The lotus root cooked by big sister is so sweet. The aroma wafts far away. I can smell it right away."
Su Qingyu tapped her forehead and said, "Then you should eat more. It will be worth our busy afternoon."
Before they started eating, Lin Wanyin asked someone to pack a separate food box for Su Qingyu to take back to the old lady and everyone in the mansion.
Su Qingyu smiled and agreed, then added, "Foods made with glutinous rice are hard to digest, and mother-in-law is just trying it for freshness. Third Master doesn't like sweets, so I'll send the rest to Second Sister-in-law and Madam Xiang."
After lunch, Su Qingyu and Shen Yue agreed to go to Fanjinlou in three days. After hearing this, Su Shunci agreed to go with them.
After returning to the Shen family from Prince Ning's Mansion, Su Qingyu went to Qingyuanju carrying the still hot glutinous rice lotus root.
When the old lady heard that it was made by her granddaughter and daughter-in-law, she ate five or six slices for the first time. If Su Qingyu hadn't stopped her, she would have eaten more.
But this thing is too sweet and difficult to digest, so Su Qingyu didn't dare let her eat too much.
The rest were sent to the first and second wives, and all the children liked them.
When they left Qingyuan Residence, the sun was blazing. Fortunately, the Shen family's garden was well-maintained, so they walked around the corridors and under the trees, avoiding getting sunburned.
As we passed the waterside pavilion, we saw a servant picking weeds and leaves from the water. The water was stirred, and a slightly fishy smell emanated from it.
Su Qingyu's stomach churned and she vomited a mouthful of acid.
Feicui hurried forward and gently stroked her back, then asked someone to fetch some water nearby.
Su Qingyu waved her hand. "It's okay. I just ate too much glutinous rice. I spit it out and my stomach feels better immediately. You really can't eat too much of this stuff. Let's make something light tonight."
Seeing that she was indeed fine, Feicui didn't think about it anymore.
When everyone returned to the west courtyard, they happened to meet Shen Zhixiu who had just returned home.
The two smiled at each other and went into the inner room to change clothes together.
There was no one in the room to serve, so Su Qingyu personally brought Shen Zhixiu's casual clothes and helped him change.
"The emperor issued an edict today to release Chen Ping and transferred him to the palace to serve as the commander of the guards for Empress Chen." Shen Zhixiu suddenly said.
Su Qingyu paused for a moment while helping him tie his belt.
"Does this Concubine Chen have so much say in the Emperor's eyes?"
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