Consort Li Xian and others, already old and out of favor, focused more of their energy on their sons.
Therefore, the only one who was anxious was Consort Zhen. After all, the twelfth prince was in an awkward position, not old enough and not young enough.
If His Majesty dotes on his youngest son, then there are others below him.
Yan Nangui drank his wine, which seemed to taste especially good today.
She glanced at Murong Shi unintentionally and saw that Murong Shi's hand was on her stomach. Although there was no change on her face, it was still obvious that she was probably uncomfortable.
Yes, there's nothing hot on this table.
Besides alcohol.
The wine was kept warm, but Murong Shi was not allowed to drink much.
It's probably because they caught a cold.
The wild geese fly south, only to visit other people.
Yan Nangui saw Princess Rongning chatting and laughing with the other princesses across the way.
She naturally possessed an extraordinary demeanor and an air of nobility.
Yan Jinfei sat behind her, also appearing very dignified and virtuous.
Unfortunately, she didn't sit with the Yan family.
After all, the Yan family was only a marquisate. And since Yan Lingyun was not present, the old lady and Yan Nanxu still had to decline the seats, so they were seated at the back.
Of all the Meng family members present today, only Meng Junjie is qualified. After all, no matter how high his father's official rank is, he is not qualified to attend a royal family banquet.
Several of the late emperor's concubines are also present at today's banquet.
One of them, Consort Wan, was once favored by the emperor and gave birth to three princesses.
One died young, while the other two are still alive and are also princesses, though not as good as Rong Ning.
She smiled and said, "Time really flies. I still remember when the princesses were young, they were playing shuttlecock in the Imperial Garden. The late emperor even joined in, saying that girls should be lively."
Empress Dowager Jiang also laughed: "Yes, in the blink of an eye, so many years have passed. Speaking of this, I'm reminded of Rong Yu... what a wonderful child he is."
"Yes, Rongyu was the most sensible. She was also very good at needlework back then, and she did a lot of needlework for me. Poor thing... Her mother was pitiful too." Consort Wan sighed.
"Oh dear, I'm getting old. Why are we talking about this on such a joyous occasion?" Consort Wan waved her hand again, "Your Majesty, please don't be offended. People are always like this when they get old."
Shu Zhongjing waved his hand: "How could that be? I also thought of Sister Rongyu. Alas... Sister Rongyu was a beauty who was envied by heaven. After I ascended the throne, I posthumously honored her, but I still felt it was too little. It's just a pity that she has been gone for so many years, and I don't know how to properly appease her."
"The emperor has done quite a lot already. We're just feeling sentimental because of the scenery. Seeing the princesses laughing and talking reminds us of it." Consort Wan laughed again, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Today is a very auspicious day."
Shu Zhongjing simply laughed it off.
Yan Nangui rummaged through his memories and realized that Princess Rongyu was the late emperor's most beloved daughter.
It comes from Consort An.
Consort An came from an ordinary background and was not the daughter of a prominent family. She herself was not particularly favored, but her daughter was very much favored.
Unfortunately, Princess Rongyu passed away at the age of eighteen.
However, now that this topic has been brought up, there's probably some exaggeration in the account of his death.
Everyone had their own thoughts, but the banquet still came to a perfect end.
Consort Wan escorted Empress Dowager Jiang back to the palace. After they had gone some distance, Consort Wan said, "Back then, the deaths of Madam An and her daughter were suspicious. It was inseparable from Rong Ning. Now it's time to uncover the truth."
What the palace didn't know was that Empress Dowager Jiang had helped Wan Shi a lot in securing her position back then.
Therefore, these two people have always been allies.
"It's time," Empress Dowager Jiang sighed. "I've been holding this in for far too long."
Meanwhile, Yan Nangui, who had returned to Jiyue Pavilion, was also pondering the matter at hand.
After washing up, he asked Jiangxiang, "Do you know anything about this Princess Rongyu?"
"This servant doesn't know much either. I only know that this princess was the late emperor's most beloved princess, far more favored than Princess Rongning. However, later, the late crown prince died in battle, and the late emperor also fell ill. It is said that Princess Rongyu fell ill because she missed her elder brother and never recovered, and later she passed away. Some people also say that it was because she was verbally engaged at that time to the youngest son of the Marquis of Anyuan's family, but that man also died in battle at that time. She couldn't bear the repeated blows and couldn't take it anymore. After she died, Consort An also died of illness."
“The An family was never a prominent family, and they didn’t live in the capital. In recent years, very few people have mentioned these two people.”
"Oh, by the way, His Majesty posthumously conferred titles upon them after ascending the throne."
“The point at which he died was quite ingenious.” Yan Nangui smiled. “The point at which he brought it up was also quite ingenious.”
"Do you feel something is wrong?" Jiangxiang asked.
"Otherwise what? Do people in the palace really remember a child who died young? Just because they feel sorry for her?" Yan Nangui sneered.
That's true.
"Whatever it is, it's probably none of our business," Jiang Xiang said.
"Yes, Your Highness, you can worry about it. Go to sleep, you'll be busy tomorrow," Yan Nangui said with a yawn.
For several days in a row, the necessary procedures had to be followed.
Finally free from the palace, Yan Nangui slept for two whole days to feel like he'd gotten his money's worth.
Meanwhile, I heard that Murong has also been feeling unwell these past two days.
Yan Nangui listened and just scoffed.
A strong mind requires a strong body, otherwise you won't be able to endure it.
In this freezing weather, she ran away before her postpartum period was even over. It's no wonder she couldn't endure working from dawn till dusk.
After Yan Nangui slept well, he wanted to eat.
We ordered the kitchen to prepare different dishes.
Before the fifteenth, the Crown Prince might not necessarily enter the inner palace.
On the eighth day, it was the day that Jiang's daughter and Qu's wife entered the mansion.
Although Lady Jiang entered as a concubine, she was much quieter than Lady Xiao, who was specially chosen by the emperor.
The Crown Princess arranged for her to stay at Liuyun Garden.
The Qu family resided in the Chuyun Pavilion.
His Majesty didn't specify the Qu family's rank, so the Crown Prince gave them the title of Zhaoxun. That's about right.
After entering the mansion, the two men went to the main courtyard to pay their respects.
Everyone was there.
Jiang was a woman of gentle and refined character, and her greetings and kneeling were impeccably proper.
Lady Qu was also well-mannered, but she had a different style from Lady Jiang; she was delicate and beautiful, quite pitiful and adorable.
It doesn't seem like she's faking it; she's naturally very thin, with a very slim waist.
The Crown Princess instructed them according to the rules, bestowed gifts upon them, and then told them to go back first.
The group naturally dispersed as well.
After leaving the main courtyard, Xiao Liangyuan left first, not wanting to go with Yan Nangui.
Murong Liangyuan smiled and said, "What do you think of this Jiang sister, sister?"
"She's quite good-looking; I think His Highness will like her," Yan Nangui said with a smile.
Murong didn't ask that, but it was pointless for her to ask anyway. Since Yan Nangui wouldn't answer, she let it go.
The two entered the manor at the wrong time, so since it was not yet the fifteenth, they did not need to serve the emperor in bed.
The Crown Princess settled them in and conveyed this message.
The two of them said they understood.
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