Yu Ying never expected Hongli to react so strongly! He actually said he wanted to divorce her!
In reality, Hongli was just threatening her. His youngest son did have a defect, and he didn't want Yuying to see him, so he made these threats.
After saying this, Hongli was extremely uneasy. If Yuying insisted on seeing the child regardless of everything, the problem with the child's toes would be made public, and Yushan's promotion would be in vain!
This was the last thing he wanted to see!
However, if he stopped her, Yu Ying would definitely become suspicious and might even go to the palace to look for someone. Therefore, Hongli did not stop her, but instead told her to go and see for herself.
This made Yu Ying panic, because she was unsure what Hongli meant by those words.
Hongli didn't like her, she knew that. Perhaps he had always wanted to divorce her, but he just had no opportunity. That's why he used this as an excuse. If he dared to say that, then the child should be fine. He was just trying to lure her to see it and then find an excuse to divorce her!
Thinking of this, Yu Ying finally felt a little scared. After all, the palace maids had already checked and said there was no problem. She didn't dare to gamble with her own status.
In the end, she didn't dare to approach and softened her tone, saying, "Since Your Highness says there's no problem, then there certainly isn't. As long as the child is alright, I, as the legal mother, can rest assured."
She lacked the courage to gamble, which played right into Hongli's hands. Hongli, relieved, retorted loudly.
"You still remember you're his legal mother? What kind of legal mother treats her own son like this?"
Enraged, Hongli spoke again, demanding that she take responsibility. Since she had made the statement herself, Yuying had no choice but to agree, saying she was willing to accept punishment.
If it were up to Hongli, he would indeed like to divorce this troublesome woman! But the Emperor would definitely not agree to this matter alone. Even if he did divorce her, the Emperor would still appoint another consort for him, and he would have to deal with the new consort, which would be even more troublesome!
Therefore, he could not divorce his wife until he ascended the throne and was able to make his own decisions.
After much deliberation, Hongli ordered Yuying to be confined to Lanzhao Courtyard, instructing her to copy scriptures daily for self-reflection, and also transferred her management of the household affairs to Gao Xiuwen.
As for Ning'er, Hongli ordered her to be taken away for a thorough interrogation. The results of the interrogation were somewhat unexpected, because a maid said that on the night of the sixteenth, Ning'er had been with her the whole time and had not gone out at all, so it was unlikely that she had seen what was happening at Huatang Pavilion.
Ning'er insisted that she saw it with her own eyes, which inevitably raised suspicions. If Ning'er didn't see it, then who instructed her to say it? Could it be that Yu Ying deliberately taught Ning'er to lie in order to frame Yu Shan?
Su Yushan pondered for a moment, then denied Hongli's guess.
"Now that the Fujin is under house arrest, if Ning'er was acting on the Fujin's orders, she should have implicated the Fujin in order to protect herself, but she did not."
She encouraged the wife to doubt the child's paternity, and then ordered a blood test to determine the father's paternity—an act that clearly pushed the wife into a fire pit. Therefore, I suspect there's someone else behind her!
Who do you think it could be?
Hongli wanted to hear her opinion, but Su Yushan pondered to herself and said, "Princess Fucha is in the villa, so it must not be her. Now that the Fujin has been instigated by Ning'er, the person who framed Princess Fucha should not be the Fujin."
"That leaves only Gao Xiuwen and Lan Rong. Once the Fujin loses power, the biggest beneficiary will be Gao Xiuwen. Could it be that she's the one pulling the strings behind the scenes?"
At first glance, this seems to be the case, but upon closer examination, Su Yushan feels it doesn't quite make sense.
"Gao Xiuwen can only manage the household at most. After all, she is a Han woman. Even if the Fujin falls, she cannot be promoted to Fujin."
“Lan Rong is a Manchu woman, so she does have this opportunity…” Considering this, Lan Rong's motive seems more likely.
"Could it be that Lan Rong is behind this?"
Do you have any evidence?
Yu Shan's question left Hongli speechless: "There is currently no evidence, and Ning'er has not changed her story or implicated anyone. This is illogical! She is clearly the Fujin's person, so why would she turn against her?"
"Isn't it because of Yun Song's incident that the Fujin started to distance herself from her? She might be feeling resentful and want revenge. But how did the mastermind persuade her? If it was just about giving her money, it wouldn't guarantee she wouldn't betray them. In fact, Ning'er didn't betray anyone, but she wasn't even there that night. Why would you say that?"
Su Yushan's head was getting more and more ache from thinking about it, and she couldn't figure it out. Hongli ordered people to continue the investigation, which lasted for three days, but they still couldn't get any useful information out of her.
Inside Yiyun Pavilion, Lan Rong's face was gloomy. "The prince hasn't made a move against Ning'er yet. I won't be at ease until she disappears."
Qiu Cha said it was alright, “Don’t worry, Master, nothing will happen. Ning’er doesn’t know anything.”
At that time, I used incantation magic to guide her, and she was in a dazed state. She believed whatever I said and subconsciously thought it was her own experience. That's why she said she saw Li Yu holding the child with her own eyes and wouldn't say anything detrimental to you.
Lan Rong had witnessed Qiu Cha's incantation technique before. Even the maidservant beside Princess Fucha was guided by this technique, which is why she encouraged Princess Fucha to buy the rebirth pill.
Lan Rong believed in Qiu Cha's magic, but was still worried that something unexpected might happen, and said in a sinister voice,
"I hope Your Highness can resolve Ning'er's matter as soon as possible; only the dead are truly safe!"
Killing someone is easy, but Ning'er is the only clue, so neither Hongli nor Su Yushan intends to kill her. Instead, they send her to the villa where Princess Fucha lives and keep her under guard.
There are no leads at the moment, but as long as people are alive, there is still hope.
Su Yushan could only wait for the right opportunity, for the other party to slip up.
By the end of February, Su Yushan had finished her postpartum confinement, and the imperial court sent her the prepared crown, robes, and official seal.
On February 26th, Su Yushan was required to wear official robes and accompany Hongli to the palace to express his gratitude.
This was the first time Chang Yue had seen the concubine's crown and robes up close. She carefully dressed her mistress, and saw that the dark blue auspicious robe was embroidered with two round dragons on the front and two round dragons on the shoulders. The stitches were fine and the colors were bright but not lacking in solemnity.
The crown of the secondary consort was adorned with six pearls, each topped with a sapphire. The crown was surrounded by three golden peacocks, each with five pearls and twenty-seven pearls. Below the golden peacock at the back of the crown were three rows of hanging beads, decorated with lapis lazuli, pearls, and coral.
Normally she only wears one earring, but today she must follow the rules and adorn her earlobes with three gold cloud-shaped pearl pendants.
Such exquisite crown and robes, worn by Su Yushan, made her look even more elegant and noble!
Upon seeing this, Hongli was filled with emotion. After four years of waiting, he finally witnessed Yushan wearing the ceremonial robes of a secondary consort. The bitterness he had endured was unknown to outsiders, but he knew it all too well.
At this moment, he finally fulfilled his promise to Yushan!
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