Chapter 172 The illegitimate daughter enters the palace

Xia Zhengqi's thoughts were instantly pulled back, and he looked down at the fifth prince lovingly: "Don't worry, father knows the truth now, and he will definitely not let your mother live in such a place anymore."

"Confer Zhou Baolin as Concubine Zhou, and let the fifth prince be raised by his biological mother Concubine Zhou and move..." Xia Zhengqi thought.

The queen said gently: "Sister Zhou is very weak now and needs someone to take care of her. It is better to let Concubine Zhou live in Fuyang Palace first, so that Concubine Shu can take care of her."

[Mother is still thoughtful! ] Xia Miaoyuan grinned happily.

Xia Zhengqi also smiled approvingly at the empress: "Your Majesty, this is a good suggestion. Let's do it this way."

He looked at Concubine Zhou and said: "When you recover, I will move you and your son to an independent palace."

Concubine Zhou cried with joy: "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, the Queen. No matter where I live, as long as I can live with my son, I will be very satisfied."

As soon as Xia Zhengqi's order came down, the eunuchs and palace maids helped Concubine Zhou move overnight.

Although it was a move, there was almost nothing in the cold palace that needed to be taken away. Concubine Zhou was just moving alone, so it was easy to move.

However, Concubine Zhou's incident caused a huge uproar among the concubines in the harem.

On New Year's Eve, the day of family reunion, the princes and princesses actually discovered the injustice of the concubine in the cold palace, and they cleared her grievances and promoted her status.

This matter, no matter which dynasty or generation, is quite explosive.

Early in the morning of the first day of the new year, this matter had spread throughout the palace.

"Have you heard? Last night, the emperor actually went to the cold palace in person and released a concubine from the cold palace!" A palace maid gossiped.

"You are wrong, it was the fifth prince and the little princess who broke into the cold palace and called the emperor over, and then released Zhou from the cold palace." A little eunuch corrected.

The concubines were also gossiping crazily in private.

"The Fifth Prince was not born by Jiang!"

"I said so, how can someone who has given birth still maintain such a good figure? It turns out it was a fake pregnancy and fake birth."

Fuyang Palace.

Ever since Concubine Zhou moved in last night, the Fifth Prince has been staying by her side to talk. Only after Concubine Shu urged him again and again did the Fifth Prince reluctantly go to his bedroom.

Early in the morning on the first day of the new year, the Fifth Prince didn't care about anything else. He took a bowl of lotus and lily porridge from the small kitchen and went to Concubine Zhou's room first. Concubine

Zhou had already stood up, and two little palace maids had just helped her wash up.

"Mother, are you hungry?" The Fifth Prince brought the porridge to Concubine Zhou.

For a moment, Concubine Zhou was a little dazed. She was still suffering in the cold palace yesterday, but today she was called the queen, and her own son brought her warm porridge.

A tear fell from Concubine Zhou's cheek. She sniffed the bowl of porridge and smiled, "It smells so good. Mother is really hungry."

"I'll feed mother!" The fifth prince said, scooping up a spoonful of porridge and feeding it to Concubine Zhou's mouth.

Concubine Zhou ate spoonful after spoonful of the porridge her son fed her, and stroked the back of the fifth prince's head with satisfaction.

The fifth prince was a little dazed for a moment. He had finally found his biological mother, who he had been thinking about for half a year.

He should thank his sister for this!

If it weren't for his sister, he would still be recognizing the thief as his mother, and still be the arrogant and domineering fifth prince. He

might never recognize his biological mother in this life.

And his biological mother was tortured in the cold palace. In a few years, she might be tortured to death.

Thinking of this, the fifth prince was scared.

My sister is my little fairy, the true light of Great Xia. For the rest of my life, I will protect my sister with my life.

After making this decision in his heart, the fifth prince pursed his lips unconsciously, and then smiled again.

...

Shoukang Palace.

After the empress dowager learned about Concubine Zhou's affairs, she was a little uneasy, fearing that Xia Zhengqi would investigate the incident thoroughly, and as an accomplice, she would be skinned alive even if she didn't die.

In fact, the empress dowager's worries were a bit redundant, at least temporarily.

Just last night, the emperor and the empress had discussed countermeasures.

Xia Zhengqi and the queen knew in their hearts that the abduction of the fifth prince could not have been done by Jiang Qiqiu alone. Even if the empress dowager was not the mastermind, she was an accomplice.

Xia Zhengqi hesitated about how to deal with the Empress Dowager in this matter.

The Empress suggested: "I think that we should not touch the Empress Dowager this time."

"Why?" Xia Zhengqi was puzzled.

The queen said slowly: "In the palace, it is not uncommon to abduct a child."

"If a concubine abducts a child, she will be dead after the truth is revealed."

"But she is not a concubine. She is the emperor's biological mother and the one who raised the emperor. Even if she can be proved to be the mastermind, what should the emperor do?"

The queen looked at Xia Zhengqi meaningfully: "Can Your Majesty still sentence her to death?"

"Even if you can issue an edict to sentence her to death. Daxia attaches great importance to filial piety. What will those censors and countless people say about you?"

Xia Zhengqi took a breath when he heard this.

Yes, even if the Empress Dowager's guilt was proven, it would not be easy to sentence her to death directly. At most, she would be given some light punishment, which would not achieve the goal of getting rid of the Empress Dowager completely.

Thinking of this, Xia Zhengqi held the Queen's hand: "Ruoyu, what you said makes sense."

The Queen shook Xia Zhengqi in return and continued: "Why don't we play dumb and not touch her first."

"Isn't her illegitimate daughter going to the palace to get close to her? I guess it's not as simple as recognizing her for the illegitimate daughter to get close to her."

"Why don't we take this opportunity to keep a close eye on the illegitimate daughter and see what she wants to do and make good use of her."

"Maybe, we can find out about Liang Chaozong's situation through this clue."

Xia Zhengqi slapped his thigh happily: "Ruoyu is so smart, why didn't I think of it?! Let's do it!"

When the Queen Mother was pacing restlessly in Shoukang Palace, a little eunuch suddenly announced: "Mrs. Liang and her daughter are here."

On New Year's Eve, the Empress Dowager invited Yao Jinse to bring her daughter to stay in the palace for a while. Today, the eunuchs of Shoukang Palace went to pick up Yao Jinse and her daughter.

Yao Jinse had already prepared clothes and supplies, and also specially prepared some gifts. When the eunuch came to pick them up, they quickly took their things and got on the car.

"I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager!" Yao Jinse said warmly while bowing.

When the Empress Dowager saw Yao Jinse and the bubbling Liang Zhirou, her originally uneasy mood immediately improved by more than half.

"Oh, get up quickly!"

The Empress Dowager actually went to help her in person, and this move really scared the palace maids of Shoukang Palace.

"The rooms have been prepared for you, just stay here and be content. If you need anything, just tell Aunt Ji."