The sun is shining brightly outside and the smoke of cigarettes is curling inside.
Madam Shen Er stared blankly at the beautiful woman in the first seat, and could hardly believe her ears.
"My lady, what did you just say?"
Could it be that she had misheard? Why would the Queen force her to recognize Lu'er? It was simply absurd!
Concubine Ling gently put down the teacup, her beautiful eyes falling on Madam Shen Er, her brows furrowed slightly. "Mrs. Shen, I know you and Lord Shen are deeply in love. But Lord Shen is thinking of you and doesn't want to upset you by bringing Lu'er into the mansion. But why don't you think about him? How will others view Lord Shen?"
"The whole court, and even the whole capital, would call him a cruel and heartless man, even though he wouldn't eat his own cubs."
"And you, Shen, are an out-and-out jealous woman!"
"And your two children." Concubine Ling's tone was low. "It doesn't matter that Miss Ling is already married, but her husband doesn't have to take the imperial examination to become an official? And your son, I heard you just arranged for him to marry a girl from the Bai family? Your Shen family is so vicious, how can the Bai family be confident in marrying their daughter to you?"
Madam Shen Er: “…”
For a moment, there was silence in the hall.
All the palace maids looked at Madam Shen Er with contempt and disgust, as if they had discovered for the first time that she was this kind of person, and that the whole family had united to bully a weak woman.
Mrs. Shen Er was speechless, and she was still thinking that she had done something wrong and was a vicious woman.
"certainly."
Concubine Ling breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm not forcing you to treat Lu'er as your own daughter. You just need to give her a name. She's my son's, the future princess, and he'll take care of her. Your Shen family has gained a powerful in-law for nothing. For Lord Shen and your son, it will only benefit you."
She stared at Madam Shen Er with a stern look: “Mrs. Shen, please don’t be confused.”
She was confident that Shen would give the necessary benefits and deal with the necessary warnings. She would never dare to refute Shen, but when she thought of the woman who had bewitched her son, Concubine Ling's heart sank.
Her son was destined to enter the Eastern Palace, so how could he be so sentimental?
She had already found a suitable marriage for her son. She was the eldest daughter of the Taifu family, beautiful, well-educated, and had many disciples of the Taifu who could help her. If the marriage was successful, why would she be afraid that the throne would fall into the hands of others?
But his son said that as long as he married into the Shen family, the prime minister, who had always remained neutral, would support him and his chances of winning would be greater.
Although she was unhappy, she felt that her son was right, so she invited him into the palace.
Concubine Ling touched her nails and decided to get this done quickly. She had heard that His Majesty had summoned another Jade Beauty last night. This was already the fifth time this month. She couldn't let it go on like this! If a dragon seed was born, His Majesty's heart would be divided even more.
Concubine Ling looked at Mrs. Shen Er and said, "Mrs. Shen, have you made up your mind?"
Mrs. Shen Er's confused mind finally cleared up.
She looked at the condescending Concubine Ling and slowly shook her head: "Your Majesty, Miss Lu'er is the daughter of Housekeeper Li and has no relationship with the Shen family. I'm sorry that I cannot agree to your request."
Concubine Ling was furious: "You!"
She pointed at Mrs. Shen Er, her face livid: "Didn't you hear clearly what I said? Do you really want to abandon Mr. Shen's reputation?"
Mrs. Shen Er still shook her head.
She knew that she was not good at speaking and had no ability to argue with Concubine Ling, but her daughter had told her on the way that no matter what Concubine Ling said, she would never give in and would not acknowledge Lu'er's identity.
No matter how much Concubine Ling said, her real intention was to win over the Shen family and make them Prince Yu's people.
Her husband is not just himself, he also has the prime minister and other ministers behind him. Prince Yu is extremely ambitious, but he also has to see whether the Shen family is willing to take him on!
Madam Shen knelt respectfully and said, "If your majesty insists, then let the officials of the Dali Temple investigate and find out whose daughter Lu'er is."
My daughter said that since Princess Yu wanted to use her power to coerce others, they might as well make a big deal out of it and let the emperor and the Dali Temple investigate.
Anyway, the Shen family will definitely not be afraid.
Concubine Ling was shocked: "Are you crazy?"
She was suddenly a little panicked. Prince Yu swore yesterday that Lu'er was Lord Shen's daughter.
Lord Shen didn't want to upset his wife and children, so he didn't want to acknowledge her! But now looking at the expressions of the Shen family mother and daughter, they are not afraid of investigation at all... Concubine Ling suddenly clenched her fingertips.
Her face darkened. "Well, since you are so stubborn, I will have no choice but to inform His Majesty of this."
If Your Majesty says to investigate, it will definitely become known to everyone. It would be fine if it turns out to be false, but if it is indeed a child of the Shen family, Lord Shen’s career will be over.
Concubine Ling bit her cheek tightly, staring at Madam Shen Er with a glare like lightning.
Madam Shen Er knelt and saluted: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Concubine Ling's heart sank instantly.
-
Outside the palace gate, Xihe was sitting in the carriage bored, when suddenly she heard the maid’s surprised cry, “Madam is back!”
She pulled aside the curtain and saw Madam Shen Er walking out of the palace with sweat on her forehead, her hair disheveled, and she was panting. Xihe quickly asked the maid to help her into the carriage: "Didn't the palace give you a sedan chair?"
Madam Shen Er panted and fanned the flames: "My father-in-law said that there are many ladies entering the palace today, and there are not enough sedan chairs, so he asked me to walk back."
After walking all the way from Xianfu Palace to outside the palace, her legs were sore, her whole body was sweating, and her clothes were soaked.
Xihe couldn't help but sneered, "Concubine Ling and Prince Yu are indeed mother and son!"
They are all equally domineering and shameless.
Madam Shen Er quickly looked outside the car. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she patted her hand and scolded her, "Don't talk nonsense! What if someone hears us?"
Xihe snorted coldly and signaled the driver to drive back home quickly.
Now that the two sides have torn their relations apart, there is no possibility of reconciliation. That day, Xihe sent his servants to the government office to report the matter.
She had originally planned to ignore them, but they still came to provoke her, so don't blame her for being rude!
At Prince Yu's Mansion, Prince Yu was still discussing with his retainers how to drag the Shen family into the water and force them to stand on Prince Yu's Mansion's boat. Then the doorman came to report that the officials had arrived.
"Officials? What for?"
"They said they wanted to invite Miss Green to come over."
Prince Yu paused and looked straight at the gatekeeper.
The doorman's heart trembled, and he hurriedly said, "Your Highness, I will kick him out right away!"
Prince Yu took a deep breath and stood up: "I will go and see it myself."
When the officer saw that it was the prince, he saluted immediately.
Prince Yu had a blank expression on his face. "This prince and Lord Qian have never had any contact, and Lu'er is just an ordinary concubine by my side. What is Lord Qian doing? Have I offended you?"
The officer was suddenly embarrassed: "Your Highness, how could this be possible? It's just that the Shen family reported a case that implicated Miss Lu'er, so we are here on your orders to invite her to come and ask her a few questions..."
Prince Yu narrowed his eyes instantly: "Shen family?"
The officer nodded hurriedly: "That's right, that's right. I'm just asking a few questions, nothing more."
"Your Highness, look..."
Look at him carefully.
Prince Yu glanced at the butler, who immediately said, "I'll go and invite Miss Lu'er right away."
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