On the birthday of Empress Chen Fei, Su Qingyu got up early and began to dress and put on makeup.
I heard that today's palace banquet was as grand as the Emperor's birthday celebration. This shows the status of this Concubine Chen in the Emperor's heart.
They say that the fortunes of the capital city change over time, and this year has proven to be the case.
The Pingning Marquisate, which had already fallen into decline, squeezed back into the ranks of upper-class families thanks to the recovery of its son.
They were not as well off as the Su family's Jingyuan Marquisate, but relied on their illegitimate daughter to become a new elite in the capital.
It's said that in the past few months, some people have started to visit their poor relatives. Who knows which cloud will bring rain? What if this good thing happens to your family?
There are many ladies and young ladies entering the palace today. The maid who came to deliver the message from the palace said that all the mansions should bring fewer maids and servants into the palace.
Su Qingyu planned to bring only Feicui with her, as Feicui was steady and good at martial arts, making her more suitable than anyone else.
Zhenzhu was standing behind Su Qingyu at this time, helping her to comb her hair and put on hairpins and rings.
Su Qingyu looked at her gorgeous makeup in the mirror and asked the jade behind her through the bronze mirror, "Have you packed the gifts for the Concubine Chen?"
Feicui took the box from the maid, opened it in front of Su Qingyu, and asked her to take a look.
In the box is a double-sided fan embroidered with Shu embroidery, one side of which depicts mandarin ducks playing in the water, and the other side depicts a beautiful scene.
The best embroiderer in Shu could only embroider three or five fan leaves a year. Even the thread used to embroider this fan was made of gold and jade thread. Jade thread, in particular, was extremely rare.
Su Qingyu took a look and then closed the jade. This thing was worthy of the status of the Empress Chen and was valuable enough.
To be on the safe side, the master and servant also prepared a string of top-quality red coral bracelets, fearing that someone would try to sabotage the birthday gift.
Today's court meeting was the same as usual, so Shen Zhixiu went directly to the Hall of Supreme Harmony after the court session, and Su Qingyu had to enter the palace alone.
On the way, Su Qingyu instructed Feicui, "You can't be distracted for a moment in the palace today."
Feicui knew the seriousness of the situation and nodded solemnly, "Madam, don't worry. I will protect you and the young master today."
When the carriage arrived at the palace gate, Feicui helped Su Qingyu get off the carriage. They were about to take a sedan chair to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to attend the palace banquet.
But before she could get on the sedan chair, an aunt came forward and bowed to Su Qingyu.
"Hello, Madam Shen San. This old servant is Aunt Wan, the head servant of the Empress Chen. The Empress Chen would like to invite Madam Shen San to Guanju Palace to sit and talk."
This Aunt Wan is in her forties. Judging from her clothes and the jewelry she wears, one can tell that she has won the favor of an important person.
Since Empress Chen Fei sent someone to invite her, Su Qingyu couldn't refuse.
He got on the sedan chair and went to Guanju Palace with Aunt Wan.
After getting off the sedan chair, Aunt Wan took the person to the side hall. Before entering, she stopped Feicui again and said, "Miss, please follow this old servant to the tea room for a cup of tea. The Empress Chen wants to speak to Madam Shen San alone."
Feicui didn't move, but looked at Su Qingyu embarrassedly.
Su Qingyu nodded, motioning for Feicui to go first. Concubine Chen's words meant that they had no right to refute or comment.
Feicui followed the little palace maid to the tea room not far away, and Nanny Wan personally lifted the curtain and invited Su Qingyu in.
After Su Qingyu entered the side hall, she walked to the middle and knelt down to pay her respects to Empress Chen.
“Mrs. Shen San doesn’t need to be so polite, Aunt Wan, why don’t you help the person up quickly.”
After Jiang Ziyan finished speaking, Su Qingyu finished her ceremony. Without Aunt Wan's help, Su Qingyu stood up.
“Madam Shen, please sit down. I invited Madam Shen here today because I want to talk.”
Su Qingyu didn't hesitate and sat down on the chair below.
When I looked up, I could clearly see the face of the Consort Chen. She had dark eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and skin as white as jade. Her appearance was considered excellent, but in this capital, it wasn't particularly stunning.
Of course, Consort Chen didn't rely on her beauty to rise to power. As long as the Emperor liked her, that was all that mattered.
Su Qingyu sat upright and bowed slightly when she heard the words, "Your Majesty, I am flattered by your kindness."
This Concubine Chen almost ruined Su Yuanzhou's wedding ceremony. Su Qingyu disliked her and was on guard against her.
Jiang Ziyan seemed not to notice Su Qingyu's alienation and said with a smile, "When I went to Prince Ning's Mansion that day, the fourth lady of the Su family was very caring towards me."
"I even sent a letter to Prince Ning's Mansion, but the fourth lady said she wanted to stay home to take care of the old Princess Ning. What a pity."
Su Qingyu said, "That girl is unlucky. Her biological mother is ill."
I think when Ah Ci received the invitation, she secretly cursed the Concubine Chen for half a day. She said she was afraid of getting into the palace and giving Concubine Chen a bad face, so she decided not to come.
But Su Qingyu couldn't say this and could only respond to Jiang Ziyan with polite words.
Jiang Ziyan sighed when she heard this, “I know that Madam Shen San may have misunderstood me.”
"Actually, I had no intention of doing anything on the day His Royal Highness Prince Ning got married. I simply wanted to show off in front of the Emperor. Later, I caused the Marquis of Loyalty to misunderstand me, and I ended up in conflict with the Emperor. It's my fault, too."
Even though Jiang Ziyan spoke with great sincerity, Su Qingyu still bowed and said, "I dare not. Your Majesty, the Concubine Chen is too kind."
Jiang Ziyan added: "Please ask Madam Shen San to go back and explain to Elder Shen and His Royal Highness Prince Ning that I have no ill will towards the Shen family and Prince Ning's Mansion."
“Mrs. Shen San also knows my origin. I only seek the emperor’s favor and wealth.”
Su Qingyu was a little impressed by Jiang Ziyan. While she was plotting against the Shen family, she also did not forget to leave a way out for herself.
She didn't believe that Jiang Ziyan hadn't had a hand in today's incident. If her guess was correct, they didn't take the jade away just to have tea.
"I have remembered your Majesty's instructions." Su Qingyu replied.
After a while, a little palace maid came in and reported that Empress Chenfei's mother and sister had arrived.
Su Qingyu took the opportunity to stand up and leave the side hall.
When she left the side hall, Feicui also came out of the tea room with a dazed look in her eyes.
Aunt Wan prepared a sedan chair in advance to take Su Qingyu to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Su Qingyu thanked Aunt Wan and said, "It's not far. We can still walk there in time. They say the palace has the best autumn scenery. I'll take a look, thanks to the Empress Chen."
Aunt Wan didn't say much after hearing this and sent Su Qingyu to the door.
The master and servant admired the flowers and grass and walked slowly towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Only after leaving the Guanju Palace did Su Qingyu whisper to Feicui, "Did you get hit?"
As soon as she took one look at Emerald's unclear eyes, she guessed that she might have been drugged.
Feicui nodded and said, "I followed Madam's orders and did not resist. It's just that I was unconscious for a while and didn't know what they did."
Because of the information Su Yuanzhou had heard from the Li family before, although the few people didn't know what the Li family was going to do specifically, they had some guesses in their minds.
Su Qingyu then told Feicui that as long as her life was not in danger, she should go along with the other party and not reveal any clues.
"Let's find a place first and see what they have done to you." Su Qingyu looked around and said softly.
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