Su Qingyu frowned upon hearing this, "Isn't this nonsense? If the late queen and Prince Zhan really had an affair, how could the emperor have been thinking about the late queen for so many years?"
"The person who said this has ill intentions and treats the emperor as a fool."
Yang also said, "Who says it's not true? But this rumor spreads too quickly. These people don't dare to say it openly, but they are talking about it happily in private."
"Especially the common people, what they like to hear most is the dirty deeds of the royal family. Who knows what kind of trouble it will cause."
Su Qingyu remembered that Shen Zhixiu went out last night, probably because of this matter.
The old lady was afraid that Su Qingyu would be upset by these things and her mood would be affected, so she said, "Let their masters go out and deal with these matters."
Then he asked Yang, "It's the 26th today. Have you sent out all the New Year gifts you prepared for each family?"
Yang said, "They have all been sent out, don't worry, mother."
The old lady said okay, glanced at Su Qingyu's belly, and instructed Yang, "I think it's over, so let the midwife go to the west courtyard and wait."
Su Qingyu smiled and said, "It's still early, there's no rush."
The old lady advised her, "You are young and have little experience. It's hard to predict such things. Be prepared. No matter what happens, we have a plan so we won't panic when the time comes."
"My mother is the one who thinks things through. I am young, and I haven't thought about many things as thoroughly as she has." Su Qingyu said at the right time.
Yang also echoed, "Mother is the pillar of our family. We sisters-in-law still have a lot to learn from her."
The old lady pointed at the two of them and said with a smirk, "Are your mouths filled with honey?"
Then he said, "There are some things you can't imagine, and it's not your fault. When I first married into the Shen family, I wasn't as stable as you. At that time..."
Su Qingyu liked listening to the old lady talk about the past the most. Time passed quickly as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted.
Shen Zhixiu was busy these days, and Su Qingyu was bored being alone, so she often had lunch at Qingyuan Residence. When Shen Zhixiu came back to visit the old lady, he would pick her up.
When the two of them returned to the West Courtyard that day, Su Qingyu talked about the rumors about Song Hongshen.
He asked, "Didn't the Song family try to quell the rumors? If they continue to spread like this, it won't be a good thing."
Shen Zhixiu supported her, carefully watching the road, and said, "The Crown Prince has noticed that the momentum in the court has been unfavorable to him in the past few months. So, he got anxious and started playing dirty tricks."
"They don't dare to make a big fuss, so there's no need to pay any attention to them."
Rumors mean nothing in the face of true strength.
As long as Song Hongshen is strong enough, the prince will inevitably lose his composure. One wrong step will lead to a bottomless abyss.
Su Qingyu nodded as if she understood, and said nothing more.
That evening, several caravans entered the capital. The caravan manager secretly met with the crown prince's confidant after entering the city.
At night, Shen Zhixiu wrote a secret letter and sent it to Su Yuanzhou, the King of Ning in the northern border.
In the following days, the capital seemed lively and festive on the surface, but the situation was actually turbulent.
But Shen Zhixiu didn't reveal a single word of these things to Su Qingyu. She was almost full term, and he didn't dare to make any mistakes.
This New Year, because the eldest son was still in mourning, the Shen family did not make a big fuss. The family only had a reunion dinner and stayed up with the old lady.
Before dinner, the palace sent dishes to the Shen family.
Of course, what is important is not the food, but the emperor’s regard for the Shen family and Lord Shen.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Emperor Xuande hosted a banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony for civil and military officials and ladies of honor.
Among the three sisters of the Su family, only Su Zhilan went.
For Su Zhilan, going to the palace for a banquet would be worse than going to Prince Ning's mansion to gossip with her fourth sister.
But she has no say in this matter now. She was conferred the title of county lady by the emperor, and she is also the princess who has never been married to Song Hongshen.
The virtuous concubine specially sent someone to greet her and asked her to visit Zhaohua Palace when she entered the palace.
Su Zhilan knew that Concubine Xian was doing this to save face for the Emperor.
But she was Song Hongshen's unmarried princess, so she had to give face to the emperor.
According to the rules, Hai Shi was not eligible to enter the palace today. However, the palace specially sent her an invitation, probably because of Su Zhilan's young age, so her mother Hai Shi accompanied her into the palace.
After getting on the carriage, Hai reminded Su Zhilan of many rules.
Although Su Zhilan often has unconventional ideas, at times like this, she listens very carefully and will definitely do what Hai says.
Don't cause trouble for your mother, and don't cause trouble for yourself.
When the mother and daughter arrived at the palace gate and changed to a sedan chair, they happened to meet Leng Zichan, the third daughter of the Leng family. She was also the one who was previously engaged to Rong Shizi, but the marriage was ruined by Song Hongshen.
At this time, Leng Zichan was arrogantly ordering the sedan bearer, "Go to Zhaohua Palace. I want to pay my respects to my aunt."
Su Zhilan didn't recognize Leng Zichan, and only found out her identity after hearing people around her talking about her.
I heard that she had been in mourning for the old lady of the Leng family who had passed away, and she had only been out of mourning for three months.
Su Zhilan just took a look and then took a sedan chair to go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
When they arrived at the gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Su Zhilan got out of the sedan chair and then hurried to help Hai get out.
Before the mother and daughter reached the entrance of the main hall, they met Song Wanwan again.
Song Wanwan bowed to Hai as a junior, then pulled Su Zhilan aside to talk. Their intimacy was as close as if they were real sisters.
"Aunt, my mother is inside. Let's go in and talk." Song Wanwan was very respectful to Hai.
When the three of them walked inside, they were suddenly blocked by a palace maid.
Su Zhilan was not familiar with the palace, but Song Wanwan recognized that the man was someone close to Concubine Xian of Zhaohua Palace, and she immediately became alert.
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