When Yinzhen arrived at Nian Yunrong's place, he saw several servants kneeling in the courtyard.
"Yunrong, what happened?"
Nian Yunrong smiled:
"Your Highness, it's chilly outside, please come in first."
Yinzhen glanced at the few people kneeling on the ground, and they shrank back, not daring to raise their heads.
Qingyan served tea, which Yinzhen accepted but did not drink; instead, he placed it on the table beside him.
“My lord, I asked everyone present this afternoon, as well as Consort Geng and Consort Niohuru who took Consort Yun back. Consort Yun did indeed fall on her own, and it has nothing to do with Prince Hongshi.”
Nian Yunrong didn't say the next sentence.
That was when Hongshi tried to help, but was scolded by Yun Gege.
Hearing that Yun Gege had fallen on her own, Yinzhen felt a little regretful, but also somewhat relieved.
Firstly, I regret losing a child; secondly, I am glad that all those years of raising Hongshi were not in vain.
"What about those servants kneeling at the door?"
"Your Highness, those servants were there at the time, but none of them dared to step forward. In the end, it was only after Consort Geng and the others came that Consort Yun was sent back, and they even summoned the imperial physician. Otherwise, Consort Yun might not have miscarried. That's why I made them kneel down and beg for forgiveness."
Yinzhen thought for a moment, then waved his hand at Gao Wuyong behind him:
"Your servant is here."
"Let him be beaten to death."
Everyone present was taken aback:
"Sir, the New Year is almost here. Should we wait until after the New Year?"
"You want to come together?"
Perhaps fearing repercussions, Gao Wuyong hurriedly went to deal with these people.
Yinzhen seemed not to hear the cries and pleas for mercy outside the door, and said indifferently, "The tea is cold."
Qingyan quickly stepped forward to change Yinzhen's tea.
Yinzhen's actions were actually a warning to everyone in the household: do not try to cause trouble at this time, or you will bring trouble upon yourself.
The next day, Yinzhen had Gao Wuyong send some things to Li Jingshu and Hongshi as compensation. Of course, he also sent several bolts of satin to Geng Youran and Niohuru Wanru.
Besides being rewarded, Nian Yunrong, who was asked by the Fujin to investigate the matter, was the subject of nearly half a month of Yinzhen staying at her place.
Yunhui, who suffered a miscarriage, received nothing but a few words of "take care of yourself" and a daily dose of extremely bitter herbal medicine.
"You promised me."
"I only agreed to bring you in; the rest is up to you to earn, isn't it?"
“Dear sister, you seem to have forgotten who I am.”
“Ulanara Yunhui, don’t forget, you are just an illegitimate child.”
That's right, Yunhui was actually an illegitimate daughter of the Ulanara clan, and the half-sister of the Fujin (the wife's husband).
The story of "selling herself to bury her father" was entirely a play arranged by the Fujin (Prince Consort). Based on her understanding of Yinzhen, she knew that Yinzhen would definitely value Yunhui's appearance.
Everything went according to her plan. Yunhui was brought into the Prince's mansion and even enjoyed his favor for quite some time. Unfortunately, this illegitimate younger sister was too hasty and miscarried before her pregnancy was stable.
"Sister, you promised Father that you would take good care of your younger sister."
“Sister, I did promise Father, but there was a condition. Unfortunately, that 'condition' is no longer there.”
Yunhui was speechless.
She admitted that she had been too clever for her own good, and she hadn't even expected that she would actually get pregnant.
Yunhui originally wanted Hongshi to fall out of favor with the prince. Even if he couldn't fall out of favor, he could be ignored for a while, so that her child would receive more attention after birth.
She never imagined that she would cause the child's death. During this time, she kept thinking about it, trying to find something wrong with it, and trying to find a reason why she wasn't the one who killed the child.
She thought about it for a long time and decided to come and find this older sister who was now a princess consort.
“Yunhui, the year is over now, and the Prince hasn’t stayed overnight in your courtyard. I advise you to try to find a way to get back at the Prince, or you’ll end up like that Bai woman.”
Yunhui had heard about Bai Shi after entering the manor. She heard that this woman was quite beautiful, but too flamboyant and caused trouble everywhere in the manor.
"My sister understands. Goodbye."
As the saying goes, "If you don't see eye to eye, there's no point in talking," and Yunhui ultimately returned empty-handed.
Now she has neither money nor manpower, and even if she comes up with a good idea, probably no one would dare to take the risk.
In order to get the prince's attention, she started by going to the back garden every day, but she never dared to stay too long, for fear of falling ill.
Later, she started trying to bump into him in other people's courtyards. But by sheer coincidence, she never saw Yinzhen even once.
About half a month passed, and Yunhui still hadn't been able to see Yinzhen.
This result became a topic of conversation and a laughing stock among others.
"Mother, isn't this Princess Yun incredibly foolish? It's so obvious, can't she see that Father is deliberately avoiding her?"
"You brat, hurry up and practice your calligraphy. Be careful when your father comes back to check; if you haven't finished, you'll get punished again."
Hongzhou put down his pen, took the towel handed to him by a young eunuch, wiped his hands, then sat down in front of his mother and picked up some snacks from the table to eat.
"Mother, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Seeing her son so unreliable, Geng Youran had no choice but to offer him more guidance.
Fortunately, Hongzhou is not a major character flaw and still has a sense of right and wrong.
Geng Youran didn't expect Hongzhou to achieve anything great, but she felt that if he could achieve something in the future, it would be a good thing that she hadn't raised him in vain.
"Hongzhou. When Father Emperor summoned you to pay your respects to your grandfather last time, did he mention that you were to return to the palace?"
"He didn't say, but Father did mention that he would be back by next month at the latest. By the way, Mother, speaking of the palace, there's something I don't know if I should tell you."
“Tell me. You’re keeping it a secret from your mother.”
Hongzhou gulped down a mouthful of tea, then looked at his mother seriously and said:
"The Noble Lady De in the palace has been reinstated as Consort De."
Geng Youran suddenly understood. She realized why she hadn't seen Yinzhen for the past few days; it was because of this matter.
Geng Youran was not particularly surprised by this.
Firstly, because the Fourteenth Prince had repeatedly made military achievements, the Emperor naturally wanted to do something to reward him.
Furthermore, regardless of whether the Emperor currently favors the Fourth Prince or the Fourteenth Prince, their mothers' ranks cannot be too low, otherwise their status would be unworthy.
Of course, Geng Youran didn't tell Hong Zhou any of this.
On this day, Yinzhen and Yinxiang went to Changchun Garden to pay their respects to the Emperor and saw a familiar figure in the distance.
Yinzhen did not stop, seemingly having no intention of going forward. Instead, he took a detour to pay his respects to the Emperor.
On the way out of Changchun Garden, Yinxiang couldn't help but ask about the detour he had just taken.
"Fourth Brother, wasn't that Consort De we just saw?"
"No, it's Consort De."
Yinxiang sensed a different emotion in Yinzhen's tone and dared not speak again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
