At the end of March, Su Jiafeng returned to the capital from Suzhou with his wife and children. After meeting his father-in-law, he went to the palace to request an audience with the emperor. The two talked about the officialdom in Suzhou for an hour.
After discussing political affairs, Hongli then brought up family matters, saying that he planned to have all three families come to the palace to meet Yushan.
Su Jiafeng also wanted to see his sister, but unfortunately, as a subject, he could not meet with the empress and concubines, so he did not dare to mention it. Unexpectedly, the emperor took the initiative to ask!
An excited Su Jiafeng quickly bowed in thanks. After leaving the palace, he immediately went to the Zheng family to inform his sister Yu Chan, and then went to inform his elder brother, saying that the emperor had specially granted them permission to enter the palace together the day after tomorrow.
The female relatives of the imperial concubines could enter the palace to visit their families, but their brothers could not. Even though Su Mingfeng often went to the palace to attend court, he rarely had the chance to see his sister.
Hongli thought that Yushan had not seen her elder brother and younger brother for many years, so he took the opportunity of her giving birth to a prince to make an exception and allow all her relatives to enter the palace for a banquet.
Upon hearing the news, the Empress Dowager began to grumble, saying that the inner palace was a solemn place, not the Su family's backyard. With so many outsiders entering the palace, none of them knowing the palace rules, wouldn't it be a joke?
Hongli had guessed that the Empress Dowager would object, so a month earlier, he had already bestowed the titles of Lady Zhang, wife of Su Mingfeng, and Lady He, wife of Su Jiafeng, with the title of Lady of the Imperial Decree. Yu Chan had already been bestowed the title of Lady of the Township last year.
They all held official ranks and were therefore qualified to enter the palace.
The Empress Dowager then said that officials from outside the palace were not allowed to enter the inner palace. After all, so many concubines lived in the inner palace. What kind of decorum would it be to allow officials from outside the palace to enter? The people of the world would surely gossip about it!
Hongli knew this was inappropriate, so he did not hold the banquet in the inner palace, but in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and invited Yushan over.
In this way, it wouldn't be considered breaking the rules.
On March 28th, Su Mingfeng and Su Jiafeng, along with their eldest son, entered the palace, while Yu Chan brought her youngest daughter.
Today, Emperor Hongli has granted the children special permission not to stay in the Imperial Study for meals, but to come to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to see their relatives.
Upon seeing so many relatives, Yongzhang exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't know I had so many cousins!"
Rong Yu specifically reminded her, "They are all your cousins. You don't have any younger cousins; you're the youngest!"
Last year, Yu Chan had stayed at the Summer Palace for a period of time, so Yong Zhang recognized his aunt. When he noticed a pretty, petite girl beside her, he was overjoyed.
"But I have a younger sister! I'm not the youngest."
Unexpectedly, the little girl blinked her doe eyes and gently corrected her, "I just heard my aunt say that I am three months older than you, so you should call me sister."
"..." Yongzhang's smile froze. He walked up to her, compared his height to hers, and arrogantly raised his head, saying, "I don't care, you're not as tall as me, so you have to call me brother!"
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