Xu Yuehuai raised an eyebrow and quickly said, "No need for Your Highness to worry. Before I entered the palace, the Duchess of Zhenguo had already assigned two people to me. I'm only staying for a few days, so I don't need so many people to serve me. Please take them back."
Pingping's face turned cold upon hearing this.
"Princess, although the Empress is in charge of the palace, our Lady's word is law. Sending someone here is to help you familiarize yourself with the palace rules as soon as possible. I suppose you don't want to make any mistakes in the palace." Although her words weren't harsh, they were clearly implying that Xu Yuehuai should be careful.
Indeed, Xu Yuehuai has no power base in this palace. If something really happens to her, I'm afraid no one will be able to overturn her case.
The two of them had made such a mess that she couldn't refuse even if she wanted to, so she had no choice but to agree. However, Xu Yuehuai frowned slightly, somewhat displeased.
"Since it was carefully selected by the Imperial Concubine, then let it stay." Xu Yuehuai had no choice.
Pingping, on the other hand, was beaming with pride. She gestured for Chunchan to quickly express her gratitude, while she herself returned to Consort Jia's palace to report back.
...
Xu Yuehuai was worried that other concubines would send people over later, so she decided to go to Noble Lady Jia's place for a while. Firstly, she could avoid the limelight, and secondly, she could see if anything else had happened to her.
She entered the palace because of Consort Jia, so naturally she had to make the trip.
When Hengniang saw the person who had arrived, she couldn't help but frown.
She had heard that Xu Yuehuai had entered the palace long ago, but she had waited for so long without seeing him. Now that she had finally seen him, and without any luggage, she couldn't help but be surprised.
She thought for a moment, then immediately came in to report to Consort Jia: "Consort Jia, Princess Heyue has arrived. She has no luggage with her. Should we see her or not?"
Consort Jia frowned, but since the Duchess of Zhenguo trusted her so much, she naturally had to give her a chance.
"Let her in," she said.
However, large beads of sweat still clung to her forehead, clearly indicating that she was flustered.
When Consort Jia saw Xu Yuehuai arrive, she hurriedly grabbed her and quickly found a quiet place to talk.
When Xu Yuehuai saw her like this, his heart skipped a beat. Could it be that she had encountered another problem?
But guessing was useless, so she quickly asked, "Aunt, what's wrong?"
As expected, Consort Jia looked around before lowering her voice and saying, "I can taste an odd smell in the food again."
Xu Yuehuai immediately frowned.
The food I cooked that day clearly didn't have any strange smell anymore. If it had problems again in just one night, then it could only be a problem with the food.
"Is there any leftover food? If so..." Xu Yuehuai said cautiously, trying to figure out where the food came from and whether there was anything mixed in with it.
Hengniang shook her head and said, "Nothing was left. The noble lady said there was something wrong with the food and refused to eat it, so I disposed of it all."
"Next time you encounter food with problems, be sure to save some," Xu Yuehuai reminded Hengniang. "Only by seeing the food can I know what the problem is."
Hengniang nodded in agreement.
She had just nodded in agreement when Consort De's voice came from outside.
Hengniang immediately went out to check the situation.
Xu Yuehuai was about to sit up when, unexpectedly, Consort Jia grabbed her wrist tightly.
Confused, she quickly asked, "Auntie, what's wrong?"
"Don't let her in. I don't want to see her. She's definitely trying to harm me." Consort Jia panicked instantly, her eyes filled with fear.
When Xu Yuehuai saw her like this, he immediately understood. Consort Jia was clearly suffering from paranoia. It seemed that the key to completely getting Consort Jia better was to first soothe her emotions.
"Aunt, don't worry. Consort De might not be here to harm you." She quickly comforted her. "Besides, the most important thing right now is to find out who caused your miscarriage. If you don't call Consort De in, not only will rumors spread outside, but you won't even be able to start the investigation."
When Consort Jia heard this, her expression did soften somewhat, but she was still a little uneasy.
"That's true, but I still have some concerns..."
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You have to see him no matter what. It's just not right to avoid him." Xu Yuehuai added this sentence while the iron was hot.
"Fine, let's see her then. After all, you're here too. Even if she wants to harm me, she'll have to do it discreetly." Seeing that there was no other way, Consort Jia could only force herself to comfort herself.
"Go and invite Consort De in," Xu Yuehuai said to Hengniang, who then obeyed and left.
Not long after, Consort De entered; her voice preceded her arrival.
"Consort Min is really putting on airs, making the Second Prince and me wait outside for so long."
Then, Consort De appeared before the two of them with the Second Prince.
Xu Yuehua winked at Consort Min, who immediately understood and quickly said with a smile, "Sister, what are you saying? I was feeling a little unwell just now. As you know, I recently went through some trouble, so I neglected you."
"In that case, it is I who am in the wrong?" Consort De said with a cold laugh.
Consort Min lowered her head and remained silent, ignoring her completely.
"It's alright, I didn't come here today to argue with you. I heard that you have a palace maid who cooks very well. I wonder if you could introduce me to her?" Consort De was not annoyed that Consort Min ignored her. Instead, she changed the subject and talked about Xu Yuehuai.
"A palace maid who cooks well?" Consort Min was taken aback upon hearing this, wondering what she was up to.
“It’s her.” The Second Prince, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, pointed at Xu Yuehuai and said.
"Is it her?" Consort De asked, looking Xu Yuehuai up and down.
“That’s right, I want her to be my personal cook.” The Second Prince nodded and said.
Consort Jia was puzzled when she heard this, and Hengniang explained directly: "When Princess Heyue cooked for you last time, the Second Prince saw it. Princess Heyue even specially saved a portion for the Second Prince. I suppose that's why they came to visit."
Upon hearing this, Consort Jia panicked, fearing that Xu Yuehuai would conspire with Consort De and the Second Prince to frame her.
If the group hadn't been in cahoots, why would Xu Yuehuai have left them a meal?
Thinking of this, she turned pale, but didn't know how to start the conversation.
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