Inside the Kun Palace, Concubine Jia was reclining on the chaise longue, playing with a canary in her hand, with a look of laziness and disdain between her eyebrows.
Madam Su walked in with Su Yunfu. Concubine Jia glanced at them and said coldly, "Mother and sister, how come you have time to come to my place today?"
Madam Su stepped forward and bowed, her tone somewhat flattering: "Luan'er, mother came here today to ask for something."
Concubine Jia chuckled, put down the canary, and said calmly, "Oh? What could possibly be so worthy of your mother's personal visit?"
Madam Su pulled Su Yunfu forward and said with a smile, "Your sister has taken a fancy to Sheng Jingheng and wants you to talk to the Queen Mother and ask Sheng Jingheng to divorce his wife and marry her."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Jia raised her eyebrows and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Why is my sister attracted to a man with a family? He's just a fourth-rank minister. Is he worthy of my mother's attention?"
Su Yunfu retorted unconvincedly, "Sister, Sheng Jingheng has only been an official for over a year, and he's already risen from the sixth rank to the fourth rank. He has a promising future. But sister, you've been in the palace for so long, yet you haven't received the Emperor's favor and have only been a concubine, never promoted to the rank of Imperial Concubine. My mother and I just saw Imperial Concubine Chen, and she's the true embodiment of a favored concubine, a truly honorable and graceful lady. Sister, you're so disappointing."
This remark touched a sore spot for Concubine Jia. Her face darkened, and she raised her hand and slapped Su Yunfu hard: "How dare you! How dare you speak to me like that!"
Su Yunfu covered her face with her hands, tears welling up in her eyes. "If I hadn't been doing so badly, how could I have been exiled? And how could I have been in love with Sheng Jingheng for a year without any result?"
Concubine Jia sneered, "Is this all my fault? Or is what the Empress Dowager said right? It's all your own fault, you can't blame anyone else! I won't help you!"
Madam Su was so angry that her face turned pale. She clutched her chest and said, "Luan'er, how can you say that? Yu'er has been exiled, and you're in the palace. Our parents can only rely on Yunfu for their old age. Shouldn't we find her a good husband?"
When the Empress Dowager's daughter was lost, Madam Su hurriedly found a girl of the same birth month, but she didn't expect that Su Yunluan had been simple-minded and reckless since childhood.
But there was no other way. Two years after the empress dowager entered the palace, she was favored by the late emperor and was promoted to the position of Concubine Zhaoyi. So she began to arrange to see her daughter and moved the Su family from Jiangnan to the capital just for the opportunity to see her daughter.
So, when she was a child, Mrs. Su would bring Su Yunluan to the palace every month to reunite with the Empress Dowager.
Concubine Jia turned her head away indignantly: "Asking me to match Concubine Chen's eldest brother with Yun Fu is so awkward. I don't agree to this."
Seeing this, Madam Su and Su Yunfu felt depressed and had to leave the Kun Palace in disappointment.
On the way back home, Su Yunfu touched the side of her swollen face and said indignantly, "Sister, you don't have the ability to gain favor yourself, yet you actually laugh at me! Just wait and see, I will definitely marry the man I love, and even become the prime minister's wife in the future! She will be a lonely concubine who will die!"
Madam Su quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "Ancestor, you can't talk nonsense! Prime Minister, that's nonsense. He's only a fourth-rank official now!"
Su Yunfu said confidently: "If Jingheng works hard on his own, and has the support of his sister, Concubine Chen, it will only be a matter of time before he becomes the Prime Minister. He might even be granted a title of nobility!"
Madam Su sighed: "It depends on your aunt."
The next morning, in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Sheng Xiyan had just finished washing up when Hua Xia brought her a bowl of golden bird's nest soup.
Just as she picked up the white jade bowl, Mingyue hurried in and said respectfully, "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager invites you to the Cining Palace to discuss something."
Sheng Xiyan's heart tightened, knowing that the Queen Mother must be concerned about Su Yunfu and her elder brother.
She made an excuse, saying, "Just say I'm not feeling well and can't go. I'll go see the Queen Mother when I'm better."
"Yes, my lady."
Sheng Xiyan thought that Xuan Ling was very busy today and didn't know when he would be back. She couldn't go to the Cining Palace to be scolded, so she tried to avoid it if possible.
Inside the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager's face darkened when she heard the palace maid's report. She angrily said, "Your Highness, how dare you disregard my imperial decree!"
The head nanny whispered, "Empress Dowager, the imperial concubine is pregnant, and the emperor dotes on her very much. You'd better be patient, so as not to cause unpleasantness with the emperor."
The Queen Mother snorted coldly. Although she was unhappy, she could do nothing about it.
At noon, Xuan Ling finished his government affairs and returned to the Yangxin Palace.
When he walked into the hall, he saw Sheng Xiyan taking a nap on the Arhat couch, so he tiptoed closer and kissed her on the cheek.
Sheng Xiyan dazedly hugged his neck and called out, "Lingling..."
Xuan Ling pinched her cheek and demanded, "Little scoundrel, look at who I am? Are you summoning that imposter?"
Sheng Xiyan opened her hazy eyes and said with a smile, "I'm calling you. Isn't your name Lingling?"
"I want to bite you, first on the cheek, then on the chin... and more..."
Sheng Xiyan laughed tremblingly... "It hurts... I want to bite you too..."
"In fact, when Mother was alive, she rarely called me by my name. She felt that a man with a name that was too ostentatious would be a sign of insignificance."
Sheng Xiyan stood up, held his face with her delicate hands, and said softly, "I think this name is good, because when I call you like this, you will be my baby. Lingling is my baby."
Xuan Ling hugged her missing waist, gazed at her with affection, and whispered: "Thank you Yanyan for treating me like a treasure. I feel very happy."
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