Inside the Observatory, Pei Lingfeng took the file handed to him by Xiao Yunyan and began to read it carefully, but his expression became uglier and uglier as he read on. Only after he had finished reading it all did he put the file heavily on the table.
"That old bastard Zhong Shijie actually secretly funded the rebellion of the four princes of Southern Xinjiang? What's going on? If I remember correctly, Zhong Shijie has never been to the south, so how could he have any connection with Southern Xinjiang?"
Xiao Yunyan, who was standing by, held a warm teacup in his hand, looking at the chess game in front of him and said calmly:
"The King of Nanzhao is only 40 years old this year. He has made great achievements in government affairs and is still in good health. Moreover, the King of Nanzhao has long appointed a crown princess and has a good reputation among the people. The fourth prince wants the throne of Nanzhao, and there is no other way except to force him to abdicate."
Unlike Dajin, the princesses of Nanjiang also have the right to inherit the throne. The princess of Nanjiang is the daughter of the Queen of Nanzhao, and is deeply loved by the King of Nanzhao. She has the support of the most powerful tribe in Nanjiang, and she has the talent to govern the country. She has a very good reputation among the people. If nothing unexpected happens, she will ascend the throne of the King of Nanzhao a hundred years later.
"So, what did Zhong Shijie want to gain by funding the rebellion of the four princes? Southern Xinjiang is not close to the capital, and the army is not as strong as the Dajin army, so it is unlikely to start a war."
Pei Lingfeng frowned, and became more and more disgusted with the Zhong family. He used to think that the Zhong family just wanted to help the third prince to ascend the throne, but now he found that they actually had military connections with other countries. Suddenly he thought of the rebellion that year. Could it be that he had so many troops because of the help of Southern Xinjiang?
When he thought of this, Pei Lingfeng's face became even uglier. Although the rebellion was suppressed in the end, the capital was in ruins, and it was unknown how many people were harmed.
He was a member of the Jin Dynasty, and he had been loyal to his country since he was a child. How was what Zhong Shijie did different from treason? If his guess was true, then the people who died at the hands of foreigners were innocent!
"I have sent people to Southern Xinjiang. I shouldn't say too much in the court. You are the only ones who can suppress the Zhong family."
Prince An placed a chess piece on the board, and the cold smile on his face looked extremely evil.
"The Zhong family's ambitions are growing. I'm afraid he has forgotten the Dajinchao's surname."
Although Prince An had no interest in the dragon throne and usually showed no interest in political affairs, he hated those who colluded with foreign races.
"The emperor trusts him very much. Even if there is no solid evidence, there is still room for reversal even if there is doubt."
Pei Lingfeng's words caused Prince An to ponder. After a moment, Prince An said calmly:
"Leave this matter to this king."
Xiao Yunyan continued:
"Then I will buy some time for the prince. I have some interesting things in my hand. I think our General Zhong will like them."
The smile on Xiao Yunyan's face, which was like that of a banished immortal, gave Prince An a headache. In his heart, he cursed Xiao Yunyan as an old fox who wanted to play a trick on someone but said it so openly.
After the meeting, several people were ready to leave, but when they reached the door, they heard Prince An cough lightly. Xiao Yunyan turned around and saw Prince An's expression of wanting to say something but not saying it. In the end, Prince An still didn't say a word, leaving Xiao Yunyan and Pei Lingfeng confused.
Xiao Yunrou, who had no idea that the Zhong family was about to fall, was taking a walk in the garden of the Marquis' Mansion. Although the snow had melted and the weather had warmed up, Xiao Yunrou was still wearing heavy clothes, and Pei Yuanxuan was also wrapped up like a ball by her.
Pei Yuanxuan will be one year old in three days. Having survived the crisis of death, he has been raised to be fair and tender. Now he is walking unsteadily, holding on to his nanny's hand.
Xiao Yunrou looked at Pei Yuanxuan's smiling face. Seeing him staggering towards her and stretching out his tender little white hands for a hug, Xiao Yunrou's heart melted.
"Our Xuan'er is awesome."
Although the baby was already older, Xiao Yunrou didn't want Pei Yuanxuan to feel that she didn't love him anymore, so she picked him up and let him sit on her lap, then fed him mouthful by mouthful of warm snacks.
Pei Yuanxuan was also very well-behaved and let Xiao Yunrou feed him obediently, which made the nannies and maids serving beside him breathe a sigh of relief.
"Madam, please let this old servant hold the young master."
Madam Xu was still afraid that Pei Yuanxuan would hurt Xiao Yunrou, so she wanted to take him back. But Pei Yuanxuan refused to give in, and finally he was in his mother's arms, so he refused to leave!
Pei Yuanxuan's head twisted, and he slapped away the arm that Madam Xu stretched out to him, and he started babbling towards Xiao Yunrou, twisting his body constantly. This time, Madam Xu didn't dare to hug him, for fear that she would irritate Pei Yuanxuan again and make him do something bigger.
Xiao Yunrou smiled and scratched Pei Yuanxuan's nose, holding his back with one hand, and teased softly:
"You clever fellow."
Pei Yuanxuan was very happy with Xiao Yunrou's gentle voice, and he even felt like his dear mother touched his little head lovingly. When her warm hands supported his head, Pei Yuanxuan was very considerate and did not move around like before. Xiao Yunrou looked at Pei Yuanxuan with softer eyes.
"Young Master, this is a kiss with the Crown Prince's wife."
Nanny Xu was not angry because Pei Yuanxuan did not give her face. Instead, she was happy because of his intimacy with Xiao Yunrou.
Children still like to sleep very much. After being fed two snacks by Xiao Yunrou, Pei Yuanxuan yawned delicately, arched his little head in Xiao Yunrou's arms, squinted his eyes and fell asleep in a short while.
After Pei Yuanxuan fell asleep completely, Xiao Yunrou handed him over to the wet nurse and returned to the room with the help of the maid.
As soon as she came back, Xiao Yunrou just drank a sip of tea and asked Hongzhuang to report on the matters concerning the one-year-old banquet in three days.
When Pei Yuanxuan was one month old, only a small banquet was held because the court was investigating a corruption case. This time, with the instructions of the Marquis, the eldest grandson of the Zhenyuan Marquisate must not suffer any more injustice, and directly decided to invite families of the fourth rank and above in the capital to attend Pei Yuanxuan's first birthday banquet.
This made Xiao Yunrou very busy. Although she only gave instructions on how to prepare, she still had to review it personally in the end.
In the previous life, there was no birthday banquet because of Pei Yuanxuan's early death. In this life, whether out of the mother-son love or out of guilt and compensation, Xiao Yunrou did it herself. Nanny Su was so distressed that she found different ways to feed her every day.
Pei Lingfeng even had two large boxes brought over that day, which were filled with children's toys. From what Liufeng said, Pei Lingfeng had collected these toys from all over the Dajin Dynasty in the past three months.
Xiao Yunrou looked at them carefully. These things were not expensive, but each had its own exquisiteness. I think it was a local custom. They were all carefully crafted. Xiao Yunrou took out a few wooden carvings and asked someone to put the others in the warehouse first.
The next day, Linglongfang came to deliver the clothes made for the banquet. Except for Shen's, who had someone deliver them separately, Zhuang, Liu Yimian, and Zhou, the concubine that Pei Lingzhi had promoted from the main room, all came to Derou Garden.
Xiao Yunrou is Pei Yuanxuan's biological mother and the wife of the crown prince of the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion. She must be dazzling at this birthday banquet. For this reason, Xiao Yunrou had already chosen Xiangfei-colored material to make clothes, and the pattern was also very gorgeous. Originally, such clothes would look tacky, but Xiao Yunrou's appearance and temperament could completely suppress such clothes, making her look more elegant and noble.
Zhuang and others also got clothes. Although they were not as eye-catching as Xiao Yunrou's, they were not bad either. Since Aunt Liu and Aunt Zhou were concubines, they naturally would not attend the banquet. They could only set up a table in the yard, and all the concubines sat together to eat.
Xiao Yunrou never treated concubines harshly, so she asked Linglongfang to make custom clothes for them. The two of them were obedient and chose clothes of the same style as usual. Although Aunt Liu was used to such a life, she was the daughter of an official after all, and she was still a little sad when she was treated differently.
Two days later, the eldest grandson of the Zhenyuan Marquisate held a birthday banquet.
Xiao Yunrou got up early in the morning and asked Aunt Xu to dress Pei Yuanxuan up beautifully. He was wearing a bright red dress and a tiger-head hat. He had fair and tender skin and a pair of big eyes that blinked, looking very cute.
Pei Lingfeng accompanied the mother and two of them to have breakfast and then went to the front yard. It was still early for the banquet to start, so Xiao Yunrou took Pei Yuanxuan to Zhining Garden to look for Shen.
Although Shen didn't like Xiao Yunrou, Pei Lingfeng was her grandson, the legitimate grandson of the Marquis's mansion, and she loved him dearly. As soon as she saw Pei Yuanxuan, she took him over and put him on the couch where she was sitting to tease him.
The more Shen looked at him, the happier she felt. If Xiao Yunrou wasn't so soft-hearted and protective of her son, she really wanted to bring her grandson to Zhining Garden to raise him. As for the child born by Shen Tang, she only saw him twice a month. In addition to her disappointment in her niece, she didn't have much affection for Pei Yuanshen.
"My dear grandson, you look so handsome today." Shen looked at Pei Yuanxuan with a smile, took out the warm jade that she had prepared early in the morning, and hung it around Pei Yuanxuan's neck with her own hands.
"This jade pendant is a rare warm jade, and it was blessed by Master Xuan Jing. Please don't let Xuan'er take it off."
Xiao Yunrou knew that Shen loved her grandson, so she would not refuse. "The daughter-in-law would like to thank the mother on behalf of Xuan'er."
Soon, Zhining Garden welcomed guests who had a good relationship with the Shen family. When they saw Pei Yuanxuan, their eyes lit up.
"Is this your beloved grandson? He looks so good!"
"This child is really handsome and smart, much smarter than my kid."
"Madam Hou, Madam Crown Prince, my granddaughter is about the same age as you, are you willing to arrange a marriage for her?"
“…”
In Zhining Garden, everyone was talking and circling around Pei Yuanxuan. There were some who really liked him, and some who flattered him for their own benefit. In short, Zhining Garden was filled with laughter and joy.
But Pei Yuanxuan was unhappy now. No matter how many people were watching him, and they kept pulling his hands and touching his face, our Master Pei was unhappy. He started to act out his unhappiness. He twisted his body and climbed down the couch by himself. This scared Shen, and she quickly asked Nanny Zhu to help her. But Master Pei pushed her hand away and he staggered to Xiao Yunrou to hug her.
Seeing how opinionated Pei Yuanxuan was, the ladies and old ladies present were all amazed. They spoke more and more highly of Pei Yuanxuan and congratulated the Marquis's family for having such an intelligent grandson.
Shen, who was originally unhappy because her grandson was closer to Xiao Yunrou than to herself, was now being treated like a star by everyone. Her unhappiness disappeared, and she proudly talked to everyone about parenting tips.