At night, Sheng Jingheng walked into the mansion carrying a jar of wine. The courtyard was brightly lit, and Jiang Jiang was having a great time playing with the Chow Chow and Pekingese.
"Brother, why are you here?" Sheng Xitang raised his head from the embroidery frame, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"Uncle!" Jiang Jiang rushed over and hugged Sheng Jingheng's legs.
"Uncle, you go to the palace every morning to attend the court. Have you seen my father? My father told me to wait until the epidemic is over before going back to the palace. I miss him so much."
Sheng Jingheng smiled and touched Jiang Jiang's head, then took out a few strings of candied haws from his sleeve: "Your father and mother are both well, little boy, you have grown taller. Come, your uncle brought you some candied haws."
Jiang Jiang took the candied haws, his eyes sparkling: "Thank you, uncle!"
Prince Yu was making Kongming lanterns with Sheng Xitang and Jiang Jiang. When he saw Sheng Jingheng coming, he greeted him warmly, "Brother-in-law!"
"Long live the prince." Sheng Jingheng returned the greeting.
Sheng Xitang stepped on Prince Yu's foot and scolded him, "Why are you yelling?"
Prince Yu didn't take it seriously. He leaned close to Jiang Jiang's ear and whispered, "Do you still want to hear stories about airplanes and cannons in the 21st century?"
Jiang Jiang blinked and shouted crisply, "Handsome Tenth Uncle—He's my uncle-in-law!"
"Hahaha! Well said!" Prince Yu laughed proudly.
Sheng Xitang was so angry that she sat on the steps, holding a brocade robe in her hand and continuing to embroider, muttering: "You just talk nonsense."
In the courtyard, Sheng Jingheng and Qi Yan sat opposite each other and drank.
One is her ex-husband and the other is her elder brother. She didn't dare to say much in the court these days, for fear that the censors would criticize her.
Sheng Jingheng sighed, "I'm really worried about Xiyan. She's pregnant with three children, and if anything goes wrong, it'll be disastrous. My grandmother and aunt are praying to the Buddha every day to bless her."
Qi Yan poured a glass of wine and said in a deep voice, "I've been investigating the channels for selling mandarin fish these past two days and found that the person doing this is extremely cautious. The fish seller was a mute fisherman who committed suicide by jumping into the river that night because he was afraid of the responsibility his family would face."
He paused, his eyes deep: "I conclude that this matter is related to the harem."
Sheng Jingheng recalled: "I still remember seventeen years ago, in my hometown in Jiangnan, I found a baby girl, less than one year old, wrapped in swaddling clothes, on the street not far from my family's herbal medicine shop.
I have never seen such a beautiful little baby. She is even cuter than the ones in New Year pictures, with a pair of big, bright eyes and very white skin, as delicate as a piece of jade.
I took her back to the pharmacy. She was very well behaved and didn't cry at all. Her big eyes were blinking.
The father and mother were worried about a lost child, so they waited on the street for a long time until dark before they took her home.
She didn't cry, but just babbled and stretched out her little hands.
Both her father and mother loved her very much, so they went to find a sheep and milked it to feed her.
The mother wrapped her in a blanket and found bruises all over her body. "Dad, how did you get this?" she asked.
My father was a doctor. After carefully examining the marks, he realized they were from being pinched. He sighed and said, "Maybe the mother disliked the fact that I was a girl, so she didn't want me."
The mother hugged her and cried, what a sin! How could she be so cruel to her child?
I was over five years old at the time, and I asked my parents if they would return her. My mother decided not to return her and said we would raise her ourselves. They disliked her because she was a girl and abused her, so we would raise her as our own precious child.
My father looked through ancient books and immediately gave her a name - Xiyan."
Qi Yan drank several glasses of wine in a row, thinking back to the wedding night when he held Sheng Xiyan in his arms. She had talked in her sleep and cried very sadly: "Why am I not my father and mother's child?..."
The next morning, when he asked about it, Sheng Xiyan tearfully replied, "Before I got married, I heard my eldest brother and mother say they would prepare a generous dowry for me and would never treat me unfairly. They also told me about my life story."
Sheng Jingheng looked at Qi Yan and asked tentatively: "How do you feel about Sheng Xitang? Is it possible?"
Qi Yan smiled bitterly and said, "I only treat her as my sister. It's impossible."
Jiang Jiang was playing hoop tossing with a Chow Chow and a Pekingese when Prince Yu suddenly knelt on one knee with a brocade box in his hand.
Sheng Xitang was startled and almost pricked her hand with the embroidery needle: "Prince, what are you doing?"
Prince Yu opened the brocade box, and inside was a thumb-sized ruby ring: "Tangtang, although there is no diamond ring here, my feelings are as hot as the ruby. Marry me."
Sheng Xitang's face darkened and he said coldly, "I can't marry you because I don't like you."
Prince Yu held her shoulders and said anxiously, "Tangtang, if you don't agree, my brother will ask me to marry Princess Xueqiong. Can you just do me a favor?"
Sheng Xitang said ruthlessly: "That's your business."
Prince Yu snatched the brocade robe from her hand and demanded, "Are the robes you sew every day for Qi Yan?"
"Yes!" Sheng Xitang said without hesitation.
Prince Yu scolded, "Why don't you ask if they really want the clothes you made? You licks the dog! You can't be woken up even if I yell at you!"
She was so angry that she threw the brocade box to the ground, and the ruby ring rolled down. The Chow Chow ran over and picked it up.
Jiang Jianggang shouted, "Tenth Uncle! Your ring!"
Prince Yu left sadly without looking back: "No more, feed it to the dogs!"
The next day after noon, in the Yangxin Palace.
Commander Xue knelt and reported, "Your Majesty, after a thorough investigation and identification, we have concluded that Eryuan is Concubine Xue's maid, named Luwu."
Xuan Ling and Sheng Xiyan exchanged a look, puzzled, "Why would it be Concubine Xue? It seems she lacks a motive for committing the crime."
Xuan Ling ordered coldly: "Capture Concubine Xue and Lu Wu and interrogate them."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Sheng Xiyan stroked her belly and whispered, "The conflict between Concubine Xue and me happened over a year ago. It's totally irrational to do this now."
Xuan Ling sneered: "What a great way to kill two birds with one stone! I can use the natural disaster to get rid of you, and at the same time make me bear the stigma of a tyrant."
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