In the early summer of the eighth year of Yanchang, the emperor, along with his civil and military ministers, concubines, and royal relatives, moved to Qingyue Garden, a summer resort 500 miles away from the capital.
The clan members and ministers all had courtyards granted by the emperor near Qingyue Garden.
There is also a hunting ground near Qingyue Garden.
The emperor took his ministers on a hunting trip to Qingyue Mountain, accompanied by two concubines.
One was the Imperial Concubine, and the other was the Imperial Concubine He - Princess Qizhu.
After two months of recuperation, Qizhu recovered. She was the only one among the concubines who could ride and shoot.
Moreover, after entering the palace, she suffered repeated grievances, so the emperor took her on a summer hunt as a way of comforting her.
Ning Wanyin was the head of the harem and was greeted by all officials together with the emperor.
According to old practice, Ning Wanyin stayed in the emperor's tent and summoned his family.
The eunuch came in with two people.
On the left is Cheng, and on the right is a handsome young man.
The last time Ning Wanyin saw him, he was still very young.
Her brother Ning Heng's appearance had not changed much from what she remembered, except that he used to be pale and sickly, but now he had grown into a handsome and elegant young man.
"Ning Heng greets the Imperial Concubine." Ning Heng bowed with proper manners.
Ning Wanyin said, "There are no outsiders here, brother, there is no need to be polite."
She only kept the palace maids she brought from home to serve her.
The brother and sister spoke very politely, with a sense of distance.
Although they are siblings, he was sent away to recuperate after Ning Wanyin was born, and they have never lived together.
In the first few years, Ning Heng recuperated in a province near the capital, and would come back once every two or three years and stay for a few days before leaving again.
But later the miracle doctor took him everywhere to look for medicine, which took him far away from home. It was not easy to go back and forth, and he did not return for several years.
Although they are siblings, they are actually not very familiar with each other.
"Brother, you haven't been home for a long time. Mother misses you very much." Ning Wanyin looked at him with a calm expression: "I wonder how is your health, brother?"
Ning Heng's expression was equally calm, without the excitement of ordinary siblings reuniting after a long separation. He replied:
"The miracle doctor said that I am in good health and should be fine. I plan to study hard at home."
What this means is that one has to prepare for the imperial examination.
Ning Wanyin's eyes fell on his face, and she said calmly, "I think you need to take better care of your health. You have been ill for many years, and you cannot neglect him."
(Translation: Wait a minute, now is not the right time.)
Ning Heng was slightly surprised, with a questioning look on his face: "Is everything okay, sister?"
(Translation: Without the help of the previous dynasty, can you do it alone?)
"Everything is fine, thank you for your concern, brother." Ning Wanyin said gently.
(Translation: OK.)
Ning Heng seemed to be thinking about something, and finally said, "I heard from my mother that there is a hot spring resort on the outskirts of the city. I will go there to recuperate, so that I can be closer to my mother and make up for the regret of not being able to fulfill my filial duties over the years."
(Translation: Continue to recuperate and wait for the right time.)
"Brother, the arrangement is very good."
The brother and sister discussed the next strategy.
Cheng listened to the conversation between the two and felt that they were very polite and not familiar with each other. After all, they were siblings who had never gotten along with each other, so she tried to help them get closer and said:
"Wanwan, although your brother is away from home, he has always been thinking about you. This is a special gift he brought for you, a Suzhou embroidery screen he brought back from Jiangnan—"
A maidservant brought in an exquisitely embroidered screen. Suzhou embroidery is a specialty of Pingjiang Prefecture in Jiangnan Province.
Ning Wanyin nodded slightly, "Thank you, brother."
"As long as my sister likes it." Ning Heng paused and turned to talk about another matter:
"Sister, do you know that there is a concubine in the palace who is the daughter of the prefect of Pingjiang Prefecture. She was originally a concubine's daughter, but was registered under the name of the legitimate wife."
In order to have their daughters selected to enter the palace, some families would select concubines' daughters or even daughters from clans with exceptionally outstanding looks and adopt them under the name of their legitimate wives.
This is not uncommon.
"I know." Ning Wanyin nodded. She had read the file on Su Ruhuan's family background.
Ning Heng continued:
"I recently heard of a strange thing. The mother of Yan Zhaoyi was originally the former love interest of Governor Su, and she came to seek refuge with him."
"Madam Su didn't want to let this mother and daughter marry into the family. She suspected that Yan Zhaoyi was not of the Su family's bloodline. Because if she looked even a little bit like her father, she wouldn't look like this."
"So she sent people to investigate secretly, but they found nothing. It was as if the mother and daughter appeared out of thin air in Pingjiang Prefecture."
When a wild goose passes by, it leaves traces; when a wind blows by, it leaves sounds. If it weren't for the powerful people who helped cover up, how could it be possible that nothing could be found about the whereabouts of an ordinary woman?
Leaving clues behind makes it easy to be traced back.
But the fact that there is no trace at all is another kind of suspicion.
The origin of Yan Zhaoyi...
There could be a big problem.
What is also very suspicious is why Ning Heng is so clear about the Su family’s private affairs?
Few people probably knew that Su Ruhuan was an illegitimate daughter. Otherwise, the concubines in the harem who disliked her would have spread the news everywhere.
Ning Wanyin had never heard of this matter.
"Not many people know about this, right?" Ning Wanyin asked.
Ning Heng nodded slightly. "In order to prevent people from speculating about Concubine Yan's background, Magistrate Su took Concubine Yan and her daughter into the mansion under the guise of a concubine raised in the countryside. The concubine died of illness the year after she entered the mansion. The only people who know about this are the Su family and Madam Su's brothers from her mother's side."
A woman with whom he had a past relationship came back with her daughter after many years. Who knows if she is his?
This will inevitably cause all kinds of speculation and have a great impact on the reputation of Prefect Su.
But Magistrate Su was attracted by the little girl at first sight. Although she was young, she would definitely become a stunning beauty in the future. She also had a gentle and well-behaved personality, which would be of great help to his future, so he was willing to adopt her as his daughter.
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