Nanny Xiao, who was standing by, immediately stuffed a purse into Qingmei's pocket.
Qingmei accepted the purse readily, but still spoke in a businesslike tone: "The Imperial Concubine didn't say anything, Madam Pei, please hurry up and don't keep the Imperial Concubine waiting."
Tsk tsk!
The palace maid's attitude shows that the visitor has bad intentions.
She had no grudges or enmity with Concubine Xiao, and she had no grudges against her. Apart from Princess Rongfu, she really couldn't think of any other reason.
Su Li's expression remained calm, and he remained polite: "Please wait a moment, Miss Qingmei, while I go and comb my hair."
Although Nanny Wen told her not to be nice to Madam Pei, after all, one should not hit someone who smiles at you. Since Qingmei had accepted someone's purse, she didn't want to go too far and didn't make things difficult for her.
Su Li didn't delay on purpose. After all, it's a blessing in disguise, and disaster is unavoidable.
After packing up, he took his own carriage to the palace gate.
Qingmei followed behind in the palace carriage.
After arriving at the palace gate, Su Li got off the carriage as usual and only took Xiao Ye into the palace gate.
From the palace gate to the harem is much farther than the last time to the Golden Throne Hall. There is not even a sedan chair prepared. It is obvious that this is done intentionally to intimidate her.
They also say that she is a concubine with a good reputation, tsk!
How could the person who was close to Princess Rongfu be a good person?
Fortunately, she and Xiao Ye are both martial artists, so this distance is nothing to them.
After wandering around the palace for an unknown amount of time, I finally arrived at Yaohua Palace.
In the harem, the empress dowager had already passed away.
After Empress Renxuan passed away ten years ago, the emperor did not appoint another empress, so the imperial palace has been without a master to this day.
Now in the harem, the one who holds the Phoenix Seal and temporarily manages the harem is Concubine Xiao, whom the emperor values the most.
Therefore, the palace where Concubine Xiao lived was the most luxurious Yaohua Palace in the harem.
"Mrs. Pei, please wait here. I will go and report to the Queen."
After Qingmei finished speaking, she went into Yaohua Palace, leaving Su Li and her servant waiting outside the door.
Su Li guessed that based on Qingmei's previous attitude in Zhuangyuan Mansion, Concubine Xiao would most likely deliberately leave her alone.
Sure enough, Qingmei never came out after she went in.
It was already past noon when she arrived, and the sun was about to set, but there was still no movement in Yaohua Palace.
Xiao Ye had no choice but to ask at the door, but the only reply he got was that Concubine Xiao was busy.
It was not until the sun set and the palace gates were about to be locked that someone finally came out of Yaohua Palace. It was still Qingmei.
"Mrs. Pei, the Queen is too busy today and has no time to see you. The Queen asked you to come back early tomorrow morning."
She had been standing at the door for four hours, and now he was just sending her away with a casual remark that she was too busy?
And because she is of lower status than others, she can only suffer this loss in silence?
Su Li sneered in his heart.
It seems that she has to investigate the matter of the cat replacing the prince.
Whether in the original novel or now, Concubine Xiao is the person closest to Princess Rongfu and the one who helps her the most.
If Princess Rongfu is not the real Princess Fuxing, Concubine Xiao is undoubtedly the most suspicious person.
She originally thought that as long as Princess Rongfu was completely overthrown, she didn't care about the cat-for-prince substitution. As long as it didn't hinder her, it was none of her business and she was too lazy to care.
But now, Concubine Xiao was obviously upset with her because of Princess Rongfu, so she had to take care of this matter.
At least if it is found out that she is really related to Concubine Xiao, confusing the royal bloodline, or she is the lucky star determined by Master Wu En, it is undoubtedly a serious crime.
Then, she will keep Princess Rongfu company.
Her expression remained unchanged as she said calmly, "Then I'll go back first."
With that, he and Xiao Ye left Yaohua Palace.
Without special circumstances, people outside the palace are not allowed to stay overnight in the palace, and the palace gates will not be easily opened without a token after being locked.
Staying in the palace without reason would be considered misconduct and an evil act.
Serious cases include caning or beheading, such as unidentified persons.
A lady of imperial status like her would have been reprimanded no matter how high or low she was.
Concubine Xiao's heart is so vicious, it's really hateful...
The master and servant hurried as fast as they could, even running without caring about their image in the last section of the road, and finally rushed out of the palace gate when it was locked.
"lady!"
Xiaowu and Xiaosanzi hurried forward with puzzled expressions: "Madam, what's going on?"
Madam, why did they come out so late and run away in such a mess?
Su Li calmed his breath and said, "Nothing, go back first."
As he spoke, he jumped onto the carriage with swift movements, completely unaware of the slender figure following behind him.
Prince Chun asked with amusement, "Who is that woman?"
The only girls who could be summoned into the palace were girls from aristocratic families. Judging from the way she ran just now, she didn't have the dignity and elegance of a girl from an aristocratic family at all. Instead, she looked like the wild boy he had seen in the army.
I don't mean to look down on it, I just think it's a little interesting.
The servant couldn't help laughing and replied, "Your Highness, that's the young lady of the Duke of Ji's mansion."
"Oh?" Prince Chun raised an eyebrow. "She is Pei Ji's wife?"
"Yes, she was summoned to the palace by the Empress today. For some reason, she was left outside the palace for the entire afternoon. Many people in the palace know about this."
Prince Chun said in a cryptic tone, "What's going on? Mother has always been kind and benevolent. It's rare to see her embarrass someone like this."
The servant pursed his lips and dared not respond.
After a pause, the servant said, "I heard that the Empress asked her to return to the palace tomorrow..."
"If mother leaves her alone like this again tomorrow, tell me."
After all, Pei Ji had helped him before, and he couldn't let his wife suffer in the palace while he was away from Beijing on business.
"Yes, Your Highness..."
While the master and servant were talking, they got on the carriage and left.
It was nightfall when Su Li returned to the mansion.
After dinner, I took a hot bath and my feet felt less sore after standing all afternoon.
Then he went into the study and wrote the seven words "Noble Concubine Xiao" and "Princess Rongfu" on a piece of paper.
Without a legitimate identity, she had no ability and no right to get involved in matters of the harem.
Of course, even if she had legitimate identity rights, she would not be able to know what happened when Empress Renxuan gave birth to her child 25 years ago.
After all, this happened so many years ago, and the only people who know about it are probably those who participated in it back then.
No, it is possible that all those involved have been killed, leaving only the mastermind.
If so, it would be even more difficult.
If we want to find out the truth about the cat-for-prince substitution, the only way now is to use the most direct method.
Start the investigation directly with Princess Rongfu, the person involved who may already know her true identity.
Of course, Su Li is not Pei Ji and is not good at investigating cases.
What she is better at is asking someone to monitor the other party and wait for the other party to reveal some flaws before making inferences.
However, Princess Rongfu is now in the palace, so it seems unrealistic to send someone to keep an eye on her.
She had to think of another way...
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