C106
The temperature in the capital dropped by a lot after autumn. The golden leaves of the Yongle Palace paved the ground, and creaking sounds could be heard from beneath their feet.
Xue Ronghua had stayed in the Xinyang Hall for a long time. Thinking that nothing major must have happened in the palace recently, she decided to make a trip back to the Prime Minister's Mansion. Riding on a sedan, she happened to pass by the Yongle Palace, hesitating for a moment, she let Little Zhui stay outside the door, and went in to see Xue Liuhua.
An unfamiliar palace maid came to receive her. "This servant greets the quasi wangfei. The Empress is inside."
Xue Ronghua asked: "How can it be you, the one by the Empress's side called Ru Yan?"
The palace maid smiled apologetically: "Ru Yan made a mistake and was kicked out by the Empress. Consort Hua is now a servant in charge."
Xue Ronghua nodded and followed the palace maid into the hall. Seeing Xue Liuhua leaning lazily on the beauty bed, her slender fingers picked up a bunch of grapes.
It seemed like the death of the Prince Jin did not affect her in any way, as she was currently living quite comfortably.
Xue Ronghua curled her lips, and bowed: "This subject's daughter participates in the Consort Hua."
Xue Liuhua did not even bat an eyelid as she blandly asked: "Why are you here?"
Xue Ronghua slowly got up, and laughed: "This subject's daughter has regained her Prime Minister's Mansion, and also came to visit the Empress."
"Is that so?" Xue Liuhua crushed a grape in her teeth, "I even thought you were the last one to come back to Yongle Palace."
"This subject also thinks that it will be the last time, but after hearing that the Empress's pregnancy is stable, I believe that the Empress has changed her mind and won't wallow in the past anymore. Thus, I have come to visit."
A trace of contempt flashed past Xue Liuhua's eyes, "I still have the emperor’s kid with the Emperor in my stomach, so I naturally can't remain unperturbed like this, or else I'll benefit an outsider."
Xue Ronghua smiled sweetly, "Empress, you are right. The previous person is already dead, and he is still alive.
"You really took me for a fool with your words that time," Xue Liuhua stood up slowly. "I know to cherish myself, so I don't need your nonsense."
Xue Ronghua acted like she was ignorant, "This subject's daughter did not say much, the Empress saw through it herself with her intelligence."
Xue Liuhua snorted, and asked: "Do you know any experts who can see if they are male or female?"
Xue Ronghua shook her head, "I'm not experienced in pregnancy, so I don't know. However, even if Hua Tuo was in this world, he couldn't just tell from a pregnant woman whether the child he gave birth to would be a male or female."
"Forget it," Xue Liuhua said, troubled, as she held her forehead. "Then I will just leave it to fate."
"Do you want to give birth to a prince?"
"I want to give birth to a dragon and a phoenix."
Xue Ronghua stared blankly for a moment, then laughed: "Why are you giving birth to a dragon and a phoenix? Wouldn't it be fine if you had a prince as your concubine?"
Xue Liuhua glanced at her indifferently, "What's the use of having a prince that isn't pampered? Look at Princess Poyang, even though he's a girl, he's the emperor's beloved daughter, even the crown prince can't compare to his."
It turned out that the fact that the Emperor had always been with the Princess Poyang in recent days made her feel unhappy. Xue Ronghua had a faint smile on her face as she said: "Do you want to have a prince to contend with the crown prince, and a princess to divide the spoils of the princess?"
Xue Liuhua lazily glanced at her and finally agreed.
"Your beautiful dream was indeed well done," Xue Ronghua smiled with her head lowered, but there was a hint of ridicule in her words, "Princess Poyang has been living under the Emperor's wing for many years, how could you possibly resist after giving birth to the little princess? Take care of your own child, don't use them to fight for your love anymore."
"The children of the imperial palace should learn how to struggle when they are born," Xue Liuhua's eyes were filled with frost, "Since they are my children, they should be a level higher than the other princes."
"Empress Chen has sat on the Phoenix Position for more than twenty years, and under his are the Crown Prince and the First Princess. If you want to fight with her, you must clearly see your own capabilities," Xue Ronghua said indifferently.
"If even an outsider like you could guess, how could the Empress Chen not reach out towards the Yongle Palace?" Xue Liuhua laughed coldly, "Luckily, I managed to resolve this easily, the Empress did not succeed."
"It's good that you're wary of the empress. The dragon embryo is innocent, you should be careful," Xue Ronghua said as she bowed. "I'm here to see you. If there's nothing else, I'll return to the Prime Minister's Mansion first."
"..." Wait a moment, "Xue Liuhua called out to her hesitantly."... The palace has just offered some sweet dates, so I really have no appetite to eat these sweet things.
Xue Ronghua understood in her heart, and took the boxes of dates in the palace maid's hands, then smiled: "This subject thanks Consort Hua on behalf of my father."
Ru Yan was more or less recovered, she raised her chin to size up, then laughed: "Luckily we gave you more silver, the imperial doctors managed to recover you back to your original state."
Ru Yan knelt down on both knees and said with tears in her voice, "This humble servant will never forget the Empress' great kindness."
"It's good as long as you remember," Shouxiang smiled and helped her up, "Rather than an eternal life, it's better to do some chores right now and sweep up all the leaves in the courtyard."
Ru Yan acknowledged, and immediately picked up her broom.
A shadow suddenly appeared in Cheng Huan Hall, "This subject greets Consort Fu."
Hearing that, Li Xiuse raised her head, and revealed a happy smile, "So it's you, why aren't you accompanying Prince Duan in Xinyang Hall?"
Xue Ronghua laughed: "This subject has matters to attend to at home. I happened to pass by Cheng Huan Hall and came to visit the Empress."
Li Xiuse immediately invited her to sit. "Shouxiang, bring the tea that I brought from the Great Qi over."
Xue Ronghua's eyes lit up, "There is a fragrant tea in the Empress's palace?"
Li Xiuse was startled for a moment, then said with a smile: "This is unique to Great Qi, have you ever drank it for your future wife?"
Xue Ronghua was afraid that his mouth would leak out the truth, and she immediately said: I have heard of it, but not tasted it.
"Then we've come to the right place today," Li Xiuse said as she smiled and took the cup of tea. "Try it, if it's really as everyone says, the best in the world."
Xue Ronghua slowly lifted the lid of the cup, took a sniff of the fragrance inside, and then took a small sip. She felt that the fragrance of the flowers that she smelled when she opened the lid on had already turned into spring water that flowed down her throat and into her internal organs, "It is indeed as the people had said, a rare taste of delicacy in the human world." She lowered her eyes. This was indeed the feeling of home that she had not tasted for a long time.
Li Xiuse laughed, "The Great Qin cannot grow this fragrant tea, so I brought some from the Great Qi."
Xue Ronghua had an idea, and said: "Why don't you offer this tea to your majesty, it will definitely brighten your majesty's eyes."
Li Xiuse looked at her blankly. "Your Majesty .. Does he like tea? "
"Of course, all the tea in the world has entered Your Majesty's mouth," Xue Ronghua smiled as she looked at her. "However, your majesty should not have tasted this tea before because Great Qi has not given this tea to your majesty as a gift."
A trace of hesitation flashed through Li Xiuse's eyes. "I heard from the quasi wangfei's words that she seems to be very familiar with the Great Qi, to the point where she even knows what gift the Emperor of Great Qi has given her."
Xue Ronghua's hands that were carrying the tea paused heavily, and she said anxiously in her heart: "The strongly fragrant tea has a special meaning, there's an endless war going on between the Qi Qin, the Emperor of Great Qi shouldn't give this tea."
"Quasi-wangfei's analysis is very reasonable."
"This subject's daughter is only guessing randomly .."
"Being acquainted with Jun Chu is like returning home from an old friend," Li Xiuse lowered her eyes, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Xue Ronghua raised her head to look at her meaningful gaze, and thousands of thoughts flooded her mind. Her body trembled, and she almost blurted out the truth, but who knew that Consort Fu would suddenly use a handkerchief to block her face.
"Empress .."
"After the quasi wangfei accompanies me in speaking these words, I think she's also tired," Li Xiuse revealed a friendly smile, "Shouxiang, escort the Empress out of the Acacia Hall."
Confused, Xue Ronghua stood up, but Li Xiuse had covered half of her face in the shadows, so she could not see the expression on her face.
"Quasi-wangfei, when you have the time to enter the palace, come here and drink some fragrant tea."
"Miss, Miss."
Xue Ronghua recovered from her meditation and looked at Little Zhui's worried eyes.
"Miss, what's wrong? You just came out of Consort Fu and you're in a trance."
Xue Ronghua tightly held onto her clothes absentmindedly, and said softly: "It's nothing, the autumn wind is giving me a headache."
Little Zhui covered up the curtains and said: "Consort Fu treats Miss very well, when you talk about home, you seem to be an old friend."
Xue Ronghua was startled, "You also think that we're old friends?"
"I'm saying that the Consort Fu and the young miss are old friends," Little Zhui said in confusion. "If the young miss and the Consort Fu have a good relationship, it's a fortunate thing. After all, the empress doesn't really like the young miss.
Xue Ronghua's eyes dimmed, "You're right, the Consort Fu is very friendly, let's go visit the Cheng Huan Palace in the future."
"She's a good person in Consort Fu, her big sister Shouxiang in the palace is also not bad, her speech is fast and straightforward," Little Zhui laughed and said, "But that new palace maid is a bit timid, curled up in the corner like a kitten. If it wasn't for me, I wouldn't even be able to see her."
Xue Ronghua was no longer in the mood to listen to what she had to say. Just now, at the Joyous Union Palace, Li Xiuse had become suspicious of her, but at this critical moment, she cut off the conversation and did not continue the conversation, as if she was given a chance.
She raised her head and let out a soft sigh. Li Xiuse was still the same gentle and gentle woman she was when she was young, not changing in the slightest. However, for the greater good of the situation, she still had to put up a good show in front of her and not let the fact that she was reborn become a huge disaster.
The palanquin had finally reached the Prime Minister's Mansion, Xue Ronghua decided to think about these trivial matters in the future, and settle the matters related to Chu Zongge first. She opened the curtain and saw Xue Longhu and a group of servants waiting at the entrance of the residence.
"Father," Xue Ronghua smiled as she walked in front of him, "The wind is cold outside, why is father standing outside the door?"
"I saw that you didn't even come for half a day, and then directly came to the door to pick you up," Xue Longhu said as he wrapped her up in his hands, saying, "Actually it's fine if you live in the palace, you don't have to worry about me."
Xue Ronghua thought it was funny. Xue Longhu had never come to the Prime Minister's Mansion's entrance to receive her. She was different even if she became a national general, to actually enjoy such treatment. After all, our daughter hasn't passed the gate. We can't always stay in the palace and be looked at by others. "
Xue Longhu glanced at Little Zhui, "Yi, Zhu Tong didn't come back with you?"
Xue Ronghua was startled, "Zhu Tong entered the palace?"
Xue Longhu nodded his head, "She said that he wanted to go to the palace to see you and Prince Duan."
Xue Ronghua immediately looked at Little Zhui, "Have you seen Zhu Tong at Xinyang Hall?"
Little Zhui shook her head, at a loss, "No, I also didn't know that Zhu Tong had actually entered the palace."
"Didn't she come to the palace to look for you?" Xue Longhu was confused.
Xue Ronghua's heart sank, and a bad premonition arose from the bottom of her heart.
"Little Zhui, go find him!"