Front yard study
Yinzhen looked at the investigation results sent by Yihua and remained silent for a long time.
Actually, this result was not unexpected. After all, there were so many women in his backyard that he couldn't count them on one hand. He had already suspected someone for a long time, and now the evidence was complete.
Lady Song was bestowed upon him by Empress Xiaoyiren. As the first woman to serve Yinzhen, she held a superior position in the household.
Yinzhen believed he valued her highly, and before Li entered the household, the two had a quiet and peaceful time together.
However, Song was gentle and quiet and did not speak. Later, when Li entered the mansion, Yinzhen preferred Li, who was more beautiful and had a more charming personality, so Song visited less often.
Later, Lady Song became pregnant with her first child, and Yinzhen still remembers the anticipation of becoming a father for the first time. Unfortunately, fate was unkind; Lady Song was frail and prone to overthinking, and the little princess died before she was a month old, and according to ancestral rules, she was not included in the order of birth.
During that time, Song was very sad and I was also very grieving. Yinzhen thought about giving Song another child.
However, Song Shi, who was originally quite quiet and gentle, became dull and taciturn after her confinement period. She would often sit alone, lost in thought. Later, she set up a small Buddhist shrine in her courtyard and chanted scriptures and Buddhist prayers every day, ignoring worldly affairs. After being rebuffed, Yinzhen stopped going there and only visited occasionally.
The Fujin (Prince Consort) was kind and generous to her concubines. Song Shi was not mistreated materially. Yinzhen (Prince Consort) instructed Su Peisheng to take good care of her, and she gradually got used to having an invisible person in the household.
Who would have thought she harbored such deep ruthlessness? On the surface, she was devoted to Buddhism, but behind the scenes, she did such a thing.
"Your Majesty, Consort Song has arrived." Su Peisheng knew that Yinzhen was in a bad mood, so he simply stood at the door and gave a soft reply before gesturing for Consort Song to come in. He then stood guard at the door to make sure no one came close to eavesdrop.
Madam Song changed into a light white dress, without any bright decorations, and knelt before Yinzhen in the study: "This servant greets Your Highness."
"How can I be at ease with you doing this?" Yinzhen looked at Song Shi's calm face, his anger rising. He threw the investigation results on the ground. "How do you explain Hongfen's matter!"
Song ignored the papers scattered on the ground, looked up at Yinzhen and smiled in a long time: "Your Majesty has investigated everything clearly, why bother asking me?"
Yinzhen stood up abruptly: "I have never wronged you. What deep-seated hatred do you have with Li Shi and Hongfen's newborn child that you would resort to such a vicious act!"
Madam Song said softly, "What grudge do I have against Madam Li? You should know the answer to that, Master. My little princess seems to be crying in my ear day and night. How dare Madam Li?! She did the first thing, and I did the fifteenth. What goes around comes around. This is retribution."
Yinzhen gritted his teeth and said, "Stubborn to the end. I have investigated this thoroughly before, just as I have today, and consulted many imperial physicians. The little princess's weakness is mostly due to the influence of her mother. What does it have to do with Li Shi!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Song became somewhat agitated. She straightened her back while kneeling and said, "Master was long infatuated with Madam Li's beauty. She bribed the wet nurse to open half a window in the middle of the night, and the little princess froze to death after being exposed to the cold wind all night."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen sat down, as if he were seeing Song Shi in a new light: "If that's the case, why didn't you say so back then?"
Madam Song lowered her head: "Everyone has a weakness. I am foolish and it took me so long to get the wet nurse to speak. Now that time has passed, even if I told you how you would deal with Madam Li, you would let it go easily for the sake of the eldest princess."
"If I can avenge the little princess in this lifetime, then my life will not have been in vain," Song shouted hysterically. Her mind had long since become unstable due to the daily self-torture.
Madam Song stretched out her hands: "My lord, it was with these hands that I saw the little princess off. Now that her younger brother is here to keep her company, she is no longer alone."
"You're a madman." Yinzhen looked at Song Shi with disgust.
***
Main courtyard
The next morning, Yi Hua heard that Song had been confined to a small Buddhist hall and was not allowed to leave without being summoned. She was to spend the rest of her life copying the Rebirth Sutra to pray for the little princess and Hong Fen.
Song, this woman, always kept to her proper place and never competed with Li. Who would have thought that the dog that bites doesn't bark, but instead gave Li a big thrashing.
As for whether the Li family intervened against the young princess, Yi Hua guessed that they at least played a role in pushing things along.
Given Yinzhen's personality, he would definitely search for his wet nurse from back then, and eventually the truth would come out.
After Li Shi of the East Courtyard learned about the whole incident and Yinzhen's handling of it, the porcelain in the room suffered once again, and everything that could be broken was broken.
Li, in a menacing manner, led her burly maids and servants straight to the small Buddhist hall, clearly intending to physically eliminate Song, but was stopped by the servants guarding the hall.
After all, it was Yinzhen's order that those inside could not come out and those outside could not come in, not even if Lady Li came in person.
Unable to get in, Li cursed at the door for a long time before leaving.
Yinzhen was somewhat shaken by this series of events. He hadn't gone to the back courtyard to rest recently, nor had he summoned any maids to serve him in the front courtyard. He had been living a life of abstinence for more than half a month.
The eldest princess had been staying with Yihua for so long that she couldn't wait to go back. Every now and then she would ask her mother why she didn't come to see her, and occasionally she would shed tears in secret.
Although Yi Hua felt sorry for the child, she did not want to raise her in this ambiguous way.
"Master, the Fujin has arrived." When Su Peisheng saw Yihua carrying the food box, it was like seeing a lifeline. The master had been suffering these days, and they, the servants, had suffered along with him. Not to mention others, even he, Su Peisheng, had been kicked in the chest.
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