Li Shiyue did not agree immediately. Instead, she looked at Xu Lingyu first. Seeing that Xu Lingyu nodded, she said, "I can go back and tell the young master, but whether we can find it or not, no one can guarantee."
"Since you brought it up, I'll definitely help you. Do you remember your uncle's name and what his features are? That will make it easier to find him."
Liu Zhaoxun thought for a moment: "When I was born, my family had already fallen into ruin. I only heard that my uncle was called 'Liu San'er'. As for his appearance, I don't remember it after so many years."
“However, I have a portrait of my father. I remember my father saying when I was young that my uncle looked most like him.”
"I know this is not an easy task. There are quite a few refugees, and the epidemic has not been completely eradicated yet. I will just do my best."
"If we had received the items earlier, we might not have had to go through all this trouble. But by the time we received them, we could no longer find my uncle's body."
Liu Zhaoxun covered her face, biting her lower lip to stop herself from crying.
Watching her being helped away by the palace maids, Xu Lingyu looked at Li Shiyue before speaking: "She is also pitiful. Now she only has one relative left, and we don't even know if we will ever see him again."
Although some of the refugees were settled, others were sent to other places for observation because they had contracted the epidemic. They were not asked to pay for their medicine, as all the medicines came from the imperial court.
"If there is any hope, don't give up, not for any other reason than for the child in Liu Zhaoxun's belly."
Li Shiyue understood that neither Xu Lingyu nor the Rongguo Duke's Mansion wanted anything to happen to Liu Zhaoxun's child.
If Liu Zhaoxun's attempts to force the child to be born fail, then an imperial censor will step forward to criticize the Chonghua Palace.
Those censors were incredibly bored; they loved to keep an eye on the emperor's harem, or on Chonghua Palace, or on what was happening in someone's household—they were never quiet.
Now that the grandson is getting older, he will be sent to the Imperial Study next year to begin his education, where he will learn to read and write under the guidance of a master. When he gets a little older, he will be able to learn horsemanship and archery.
Chonghua Palace cannot have only one child, the Crown Prince. Otherwise, there might be bad rumors, which would be detrimental to Xu Lingyu and also to Chonghua Palace.
"When I arrived, I encountered Consort Fu, who seemed to have a lot of opinions about me."
Li Shiyue's voice was unhurried, as if she hadn't experienced any emotional change, as if she were just talking about a very ordinary little thing.
Xu Lingyu lowered her eyes, seemingly lost in thought: "After Princess Zhao returned to the capital, she only went to Pixiang Palace once. On that occasion, she had a heated argument with Consort Fu over something, and then went to live in the princess's residence outside the palace."
"After that, I went to the palace a few more times, visited the Funing Palace and sat here for a while, but I didn't go to the Pixiang Palace at all. Your Highness asked me about it, but Princess Zhao was unwilling to say why, so Your Highness didn't press the matter further."
"It's been almost a month now. These days, Consort Fu's temperament has been unpredictable. She's been complaining in private about how things are going on at Pixiang Palace lately. She'll throw a tantrum if anything doesn't go her way."
"It's strange, though. Consort Fu has been getting very close to Consort An lately, and even Prince Zhao often goes to Pixiang Palace to pay his respects."
Consort An was the birth mother of Prince Zhao.
I haven't heard of her in a long time. We met once before. She was suddenly summoned away from Pixiang Palace. It was Consort An who sent someone to inform her. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get away so quickly that day.
Consort An seems to be a very aloof person, so why would she suddenly be with Consort Fu?
Li Shiyue looked puzzled, but when she met Xu Lingyu's eyes, they both saw caution in each other's gaze.
Xu Lingyu glanced inside the hall, and instantly all the palace maids guarding the hall withdrew.
When only the two of them remained, Xu Lingyu lowered her voice and whispered in her ear, "It seems that Prince Zhao intends to serve under Consort Fu in the Pixiang Palace, and it seems that Consort An is also willing."
“In the past, Consort An was favored and gave birth to a prince. If Prince Zhao had not returned to the capital, she would still be Consort An. Consort Fu has always been at odds with these concubines who have given birth. Her sudden improvement in relations with Consort An has caused quite a stir in the harem.”
Li Shiyue pondered: "When I came here just now, I met Consort Fu and she seemed a bit different. After hearing what my elder sister said, Consort Fu seemed more confident than before, and her personality seemed less low-key and more flamboyant."
But why is the King of Zhao doing this? The King of Yan suffered the same fate before, getting close to Consort Fu and the Marquis of Changping, only to end up with nothing.
Did the King of Zhao have the same thoughts behind his actions? Could it be that he also has other intentions regarding the Chonghua Palace?
These questions roared in my heart, but there were no answers.
Li Shiyue kept this in mind, waiting to return to the Duke's mansion to tell Xu Yunci.
If the Prince of Zhao truly intends to vie for the position of Crown Prince, then the first forces to be eliminated would be either the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, the Chengen Duke's Mansion, or the Qin family of the Grand Tutor's Mansion.
These three families all belonged to the Chonghua Palace faction and held official positions in the court, so they had some status.
If any changes occur in these three families, the power of Chonghua Palace will naturally decrease.
Before returning to the manor, Xu Yunci had to disinfect himself to avoid bringing back anything unclean, otherwise the entire Rongguo Duke's mansion would be in trouble.
When these matters were told to Xu Yunci, as expected, he considered them carefully, and the seriousness on his face showed that he had taken them to heart.
"It's better to be careful outside. It's easy to defend against a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Given the previous examples, who knows what kind of person the King of Zhao might be?"
Li Shiyue took out a casual robe from the wardrobe, placed it to one side, and raised her hand to unbutton his clothes.
"I can do it myself. Go wash your hands, and I'll come with you after I change."
Xu Yunci took a big step back. He was genuinely afraid that he might have brought something back that could infect Li Shiyue, and he would regret it immensely.
Without refusing, Li Shiyue stood outside the screen and let Chang Shun go in to serve her. As for Lian Dong and the others, Xu Yunci was the first to object, and the maids didn't want to come forward either, so they simply hid outside.
Once Xu Yunci was comfortable with the place, he changed into clean clothes and sat down next to her.
“The Prince of Zhao may not be as he seems. Do you know who warned me to be careful of Fu Yun Ning? It was the Prince of Zhao. I always felt that he might know something. Otherwise, how could he have discerned Fu Yun Ning’s inner thoughts so soon after returning to the capital?”
"I'm afraid they're not being honest with themselves, and I'm worried they might use this as an excuse to stir up trouble at any time. But now is not the time for unrest, especially since we've just appeased those refugees. If there's any more unrest, I'm afraid the court won't be able to hold on."
"It is true that the emperor is diligent in his duties and loves the people, but precisely because of this diligence and love, the national treasury has never been very rich. During the reign of the late emperor, there were too many wars, and the court has not had enough time to recuperate."
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