Chapter 61 Doubts Dispelled
When Shen Shi was brought in, she was startled at first. But when she saw that the fairy concubine in full dress was really her daughter, she couldn't help but burst into tears. She hugged Wu Miaosu and cried, "A Su..."
The mother and daughter had not seen each other for five or six years. Even though Wu Miaosu had always been cautious, she didn't care that this was the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and she hugged Shen and burst into tears.
Zhu Yuhuan had also told her in advance that once Zhu Zhanji summoned her, it must be because her mother Shen had been found, and the mother and daughter should meet with sincerity and without restraint.
The mother and daughter were so attached to each other, and Zhu Zhanji, who was watching from the side, really didn't see any clues.
The mother and daughter look similar. Although Shen speaks Mandarin, her accent does have some flavor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In addition, Zhu Zhanji has seen the report of the Jinyiwei. Shen has been away from home for three or four years and has been traveling around, so it is inevitable that her accent is different.
The palace maids were so frightened that they hurriedly prepared hot water and towels nearby. Finally, a female official stepped forward cautiously and advised: "Your Majesty is now pregnant with the royal heir, so please take care of yourself."
This awakened Zhu Zhanji from his dream, and he remembered that Wu Miaosu was pregnant with an unborn child.
The Imperial Concubine has not given birth yet, so we don't know whether it's a boy or a girl. Even if it's really a prince, this baby of the Virtuous Concubine is very important. If the previous one dies, at least there is a backup.
Zhu Zhanji immediately said, "Xianfei is such a grown-up, why is she still acting like a child?"
When Wu Miaosu saw her mother, she felt as if she had returned to her childhood, nestled in her parents' arms. When the female official reminded her, she remembered that Zhu Zhanji was still beside her. She quickly let go of her mother and said shyly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for making a fool of myself. Since I was selected to enter the palace, I have never seen my mother again..."
Shen Shi also hurriedly knelt and saluted, saying, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty! Long live and be healthy!"
Her movements were somewhat awkward, and she kowtowed with great force, which showed that she was very frightened.
Zhu Zhanji said with a smile, "Hurry up and get up! Someone, please take a seat." After Shen Shi sat down, he continued, "It was my negligence. I saw Concubine Xian writing a letter to her brother, and then I remembered that you and your daughter must have not seen each other for many years. That's why I sent someone to look for you. I didn't expect you to be in Shuntian."
Wu Miaosu looked at her mother with surprise, and subconsciously asked, "Is Mom in Shuntian? Didn't she come from the north?"
Zhu Yuhuan only told her privately that the next target of the Sun family would be her, the virtuous concubine, and that Zhu Zhanji would probably look for her mother at that time, but he did not mention that Wu Miaosu's mother was in the capital, so Wu Miaosu was indeed very surprised.
Shen said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, you came to the capital early. You may not know that when the border areas recruited soldiers, each household was given extra money. My husband was seriously ill, so my son Wu An joined the army. Later, he passed away, and I had to bury him hastily. Because my family was small and I had no clan to take care of me, I followed the people from the guild hall north to Xuanhua Prefecture and worked everywhere. However, Xuanhua had strict military discipline and many soldiers, so I never had the chance to meet Wu An..." Shen said here with some embarrassment, "The climate in Xuanhua was not good, and I couldn't stay there anymore. Plus, I heard that Princess Shunde had built imperial farms in Fengrun and other places, recruiting refugees as tenants, so I thought of trying my luck there."
Guild halls, also known as examination halls, were places where people from other places would invite each other out of friendship, raise funds, and purchase real estate to provide accommodation for candidates seeking work or other travelers to Beijing. Guild halls existed in Yingtian, and after the capital was relocated, numerous guild halls also appeared in Shuntian. Later, they were also built in other prefectures. Besides candidates seeking work, they also attracted small merchants and vendors. Some officials would even give money to the guild halls in return. Consequently, some guild halls also used their funds to support refugees from their hometowns.
When you are strangers in a foreign land, it is common sense to help each other.
After hearing this, Zhu Zhanji thought this was much more reasonable than the bandits' excuses and said, "It was also thanks to this guild hall that I asked the Jinyiwei to investigate and found it."
The list handed over by the eunuchs did mention that Wu Miaosu had visited Huang Yan's residence on official business, but as a former court lady, her frequent travels were inevitable. If this were to be used to infer that Wu Miaosu had contact with Huang Yan and the Prince of Han, or even suspected of treason, wouldn't that be like "enemies everywhere I look"? How could he still be emperor? He should have just hanged himself.
The most important thing is that Concubine Xian already has an heir to the throne, Prince of Han and Huang Yan are dead, and Concubine Xian is not a fool, so why would she do such a suicidal thing?
Zhu Zhan basically didn't want to doubt the Sun family, but the incident was too coincidental, which made him have to be suspicious. The Sun family was exposed just as the Wu family appeared right after. Did they really think he was a fool?
Since the Sun family has so many things on their mind, they should just take the land and property granted in Zouping and rush back to their hometown as soon as possible. After all, the Queen's parents are not in the capital, and the Sun family is not a small and declining family like the virtuous concubine. They cannot survive if they do not stay in the capital.
Zhu Zhanji didn't want to see these idiots from the Sun family again. This time, he just covered for them once. There was really no need to cause unrest in the family over this matter.
If the Sun family continues to stay and the royal heir is born, if it is a prince, I am afraid that the Sun family will come up with some bad ideas again. Zhu Zhanji does not want the future heir of the Ming Dynasty to be influenced by this group of fools.
Wu Miaosu knew that she could probably get away with it this time. If the Sun family had not been forced into action, she didn't know when she would be able to reunite with her mother and brother openly.
However, the play had not yet been fully performed, so Wu Miaosu wiped the tears from her face and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, I... I have a favor to ask of you..."
Although Wu Miaosu was also lively, unlike Sun Mengqiu, she almost never asked Zhu Zhanji for anything. This was the first time she had taken the initiative to ask. Zhu Zhanji had already guessed Wu Miaosu's thoughts and said with a smile, "In the future, I will grant the Wu family a mansion, furnish it with servants and other necessary things, and give them 100 taels of platinum. I will also summon your brother Wu An to the capital to take up the idle position of a hundred households in the Jinyiwei. He will be filial to you. When you give birth, I will allow your mother to accompany you in the palace."
The Goddess was surprised and delighted to receive such a favor. Before she had even warmed up her chair, she knelt on the ground and said, "I bow to thank the Holy Spirit for your grace."
Wu Miaosu's face was indeed filled with gratitude. She was surprised and moved, and she almost knelt down.
Zhu Zhanji personally supported her and said with a smile, "It's just a small matter. You're still pregnant, why would you perform such a grand ceremony?" After that, he instructed Wang Jin, "Tell the Shangshenjian that I want to give dishes to Xianfei and Shenshi today. Have them prepare them and send them to Xianfei's palace."
He felt a little guilty when he thought about how he had suspected Concubine Xian for no reason, so he wanted to make amends.
Wang Jin quickly responded, "I will give the order now."
Wu Miaosu and her mother expressed their gratitude again before leaving the Qianqing Palace together.
Zhu Zhanji watched the mother and daughter leave before he put away his smile and said to Wang Jin, "Please keep an eye on Concubine Xian during this period to see if she has any abnormalities." He pondered for a moment and said, "I will draft an imperial decree to grant the Sun family a mansion and fertile land in Zouping, allowing them to return home in glory."
Wang Jin responded, and he understood in his heart that Zhu Zhanji's doubts about Concubine Xian's family had been reduced a lot, and he even felt that the Sun family was deliberately covering up the facts.
But after all, the Sun family still has the Imperial Concubine, and His Majesty does not want to lose face for the Imperial Concubine, so he drove the Sun family out of the capital in a more decent way. As long as the Sun family knows how to restrain themselves, there will definitely be a chance for them to come back in the future.
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