442: How Dare a Coward Glare at Me?

Madame Ren's heart sank when she met the Imperial Concubine's eyes. She tried to look normal, but she really had no choice. If this continued, the Imperial Concubine and the Prince would be completely suppressed by Yuanhui Palace.

"My Lady, I know I shouldn't say this, but as long as you and the Prince are here, the Li family can always make a comeback. But if you and the Prince lose their hearts, wouldn't Yuanhui Palace be proud? My Lady, you should think twice."

Concubine Li's mind was full of thoughts, and she couldn't catch them.

Her son blamed her, and Madame Ren also said so. Did she really do something wrong?

She had been in the palace for so many years, and she could be a stable Imperial Concubine in the palace because of her father and eldest brother. How could she be ungrateful?

Concubine Li leaned on the soft pillow dejectedly, "Madame, go down, let me think about it."

Madame Ren responded, and looking at the expression of the Imperial Concubine, she didn't dare to say another word.

Standing under the eaves, Nanny Ren looked towards the direction of Yuanhui Palace. The news that Prince Rong had apologized had already spread, but she didn't dare to mention it to the Empress now.

It was also a family member who made a mistake. The matter of Princess Guangping and Princess Runyi was no different from that of Master Li, but how did Prince Rong do it?

Nanny Ren didn't know what else to do except sighing.

It was obvious that the Imperial Concubine and the Empress were different in status. His Majesty treated the Imperial Concubine more favorably, so the Imperial Concubine was also confident in front of the Empress.

But how did it come to this point step by step?

When did it start? It seems that it was from the exile of Lord Li Ji, so the Empress was obsessed with asking Lord Li to return to Beijing.

Nanny Ren felt heavy in her heart. It was obviously the New Year, which should be a happy day, but now there was no mood for the New Year.

Yuzhao Palace had no intention of celebrating the New Year, but Su Xinyi of the Eastern Palace was very excited. After learning that Prince Rong's confession was a good result, she put aside another important matter in her mind and really started to prepare for the New Year.

Yan Junchu was also in a good mood. When he came back from outside, he saw Xinyi preparing New Year's goods. He sat down beside her and said with a smile, "Shang Junyan and your elder brother may come back."

"Really?" Su Xinyi was very surprised, "It's only been two days, where have they been?"

"When the letter came, it was still a few hundred miles away from Lijing City. If you hurry up, you can catch up with New Year's Eve."

Su Xinyi didn't care about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. She waved her hand to call Lian Qiao in and ordered: "You go back to the Duke's Mansion and tell the news to your aunt and sister-in-law quietly. Don't spread it out yet, let them prepare themselves."

Lian Qiao was also happy, responded with a smile on her face, and turned to leave.

After Su Xinyi was happy, she looked up at His Royal Highness, "Your Highness, if Shang Junyan and my elder brother can come back, can all the evidence of the granary case be brought back? Can this matter be really settled? But it's on New Year's Eve, I'm afraid we have to wait until after the New Year to talk about it."

Yan Junchu nodded, "Anyway, it won't be a matter of a few days."

"Your Highness is right. Now the King of Yi is really caught in the crossfire." Su Xinyi smiled and said, "The news from the Weng family should come soon. If the Weng family can hand over the evidence, it will be like adding insult to injury for the King of Yi."

Yan Junchu nodded, "Don't worry, your third uncle is watching this matter."

"I'm relieved to have my third uncle watching me." Su Xinyi breathed a sigh of relief. This year has been really heavy breathing, and now I can't feel at ease during the New Year, but there are always more good news than bad news.

In a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. Early in the morning of this day, a message came from Yuanhui Palace, asking Su Xinyi not to go there early, and to wait until the dinner party was over to attend the banquet.

There was a palace banquet on New Year's Eve, but it was just a family banquet. His Majesty hosted a banquet with his sons in the Purple Palace, and the harem was hosted by the Queen, the concubines, and the princesses.

The lunch banquet was relatively simple, and the highlight was the annual reunion banquet in the evening.

There would also be imperial wives and important officials in the court who would come to the palace to celebrate the New Year. The Queen let Su Xinyi have the lunch banquet in the East Palace, which was a way of understanding and taking care of her.

Su Xinyi was naturally grateful for the Queen's kindness. The prince could not go back to the East Palace for lunch, but had it in the Purple Palace.

After the lunch banquet, the prince had time to go back to the East Palace, but he left soon. Before leaving, he reminded Xinyi, "Don't worry about the dinner banquet, there may be more people."

Su Xinyi raised her eyebrows, "What does more mean?"

Yan Junchu smiled, "You'll know when you go."

Su Xinyi didn't ask any more questions, but she actually had a vague idea in her heart.

The prince left in a hurry, and Su Xinyi began to dress up. She couldn't be careless at night. She put on the formal dress of the Crown Princess. The clothes were newly made by the Clothing Bureau according to Su Xinyi's current waist. Because Su Xinyi asked to make the waist looser, her pregnant belly could not be seen under the loose skirt.

After putting on the whole set of crown and clothes, she felt her steps heavier in an instant.

Su Xinyi saw that the time was almost up, so she got up and went to Yuanhui Palace.

The sky got dark early in winter. When she was halfway there, the palace servants began to light the lights one after another. Su Xinyi looked at the palace lights spreading all the way, breaking the night and adding a bit of warmth.

Yuanhui Palace was already lively at this time. When Su Xinyi arrived, as the palace servants reported, even if she was outside, she could hear the laughter inside.

Su Xinyi walked in and bowed to the queen first, "I, your daughter-in-law, greet you, mother. I wish you a long and healthy new year."

"Princess, please get up quickly and sit down to talk." The queen was in great spirits today. She had put on makeup on her face, and she didn't look haggard at all.

Su Xinyi thanked the queen. At this time, Concubine Li and others had not arrived yet. Instead, Zhu Chanyi winked at her. Before Su Xinyi could react, she saw Zhu Chanyi and Princess Jing greet her, and then Princess Wu and Princess Xiang also stood up.

Su Xinyi was a little surprised. Why did the princesses of various families come first today and not come with the ladies of various palaces?

Su Xinyi suppressed her doubts and greeted them all before sitting down.

She scanned a few people. Zhu Chanyi and Tu Jingjia were in the best condition, followed by You Xiangru, and the worst was Ji Yun. On such a good day today, even if Ji Yun put on powder, the blue under her eyes could still be seen.

Moreover, Su Xinyi noticed that Ji Yun's eyes looking at her were really uncomfortable, but she didn't pay too much attention to her.

Just after they sat down, Concubine Li and others arrived. Everyone exchanged greetings again. Before they could catch their breath, the wives of the imperial concubines from various families entered the palace one by one.

Su Xinyi relied on her good health and strong foundation, so she didn't show fatigue easily. However, with this little guy in her belly, it was indeed different from before. Even if she could bear it, she was a little tired after a long time.

Zhao Ma came over quietly and bent over to Su Xinyi and said, "Crown Princess, the Queen Mother said that if you are tired, you can go to the side hall to rest. It has been cleaned up for you."

Su Xinyi shook her head, "Thank you for your kindness, mother, but I can still hold on. There are so many people today, and I can't hide away."

Su Xinyi had been to the harem in her previous life. Although she didn't come here many times, she had heard a lot about the harem.

On a big day like this, the busier it is and the more people there are, the easier it is to be targeted. So she went to rest alone. Who knows what will happen next? It's better to be at ease in this hall.

If it was before, she would not be afraid, but now it is different, so she is naturally cautious.

Zhu Chanyi came over and sat next to Su Xinyi, and asked with concern: "Xinyi, are you okay?"

Su Xinyi smiled and said to her: "It's okay, thank you for your concern."

Zhu Chanyi felt relieved and said: "If you are tired, tell me."

Su Xinyi nodded. She didn't want to cause trouble, so she simply changed the subject and lowered her voice: "Why do I see that the Princess of Wu looks so bad?"

Zhu Chanyi still tried hard to put on a decent and elegant smile in front of everyone, but the words she said were not so gentle, "The maid Zhou who was given to the King of Wu by Concubine Ruan Ming is pregnant."

Su Xinyi suppressed the strangeness on her face and asked softly: "When did it happen?"

"As for today's incident, Zhou is also amazing. She waited until she met Concubine Ruan Ming today to mention it." Zhu Chanyi really admires her.

Su Xinyi thought that Zhou was afraid to tell it in the palace. Ji Yun's temper would not tolerate it. If something happened, it would be bad.

However, she was not a simple person to be able to endure until today.

"How long has she been pregnant?"

"It is said that she has been two months."

Su Xinyi and Zhu Chanyi looked at each other. Zhu Chanyi couldn't help but mutter, "You said that Zhou didn't tell anyone that she was pregnant, and even Ruan Mingfei didn't report it in advance. Is it because of the previous experience of Li Guifei that Ruan Mingfei was also on guard?"

Su Xinyi couldn't say for sure, so she just said, "No matter what, it's a life, and it's best to save it."

Given Ji Yun's temper, Su Xinyi felt that if she really knew, Zhou and the baby in her belly would probably have some accidents.

From Zhou's point of view, there was probably nothing she could do.

Zhou was selfish in saying this on such a day, but she was also right to be a strong mother.

Ruan Mingfei sent her to serve the King of Wu. At that time, the King of Wu treated Ji Yun like a treasure. I am afraid that Zhou also suffered a lot.

Every drink and every bite has its cause and effect.

Su Xinyi suddenly felt that someone was staring at her. She stopped talking to Zhu Chanyi and turned her head to look over, just in time to meet Li Guifei's unreserved gaze.

Su Xinyi still smiled without changing her expression, and then looked away as usual.

On the other side, Li Guifei also retracted her gaze. She glanced at the queen, and then slowly said: "The Crown Princess looks good. It's worth it that the Queen took care of her so much. She didn't even let the Crown Princess attend the lunch."

Li Guifei's voice was not small. As soon as she spoke, everyone else fell silent.

This sounded normal, praising the queen for taking care of the Crown Princess, but the tone was a bit strange.

Su Xinyi always felt that Li Guifei now was different from the one who had always been calm and composed in her previous life and dealt with the queen.

In her previous life, Concubine Li and the Queen had always been equally beautiful, so she would occasionally meet Concubine Li when she entered the palace. She looked radiant and imposing, but now Concubine Li looked a little haggard, with less gentleness and more sternness between her eyebrows, not as pleasant as in her previous life.

She was about to speak up for the Queen, after all, she was being ridiculed by the Queen, but before she could speak, she heard the Queen speak first.

"I can agree with Concubine Li's words. Your Majesty is very concerned about the birth of the Crown Princess. Naturally, I have to take good care of her. Besides, the Crown Princess is very filial to me, so I must take good care of her. Speaking of which, Li The noble concubine should also be more open-minded. I see that Princess Xiang’s complexion is not very good. You should also persuade Prince Xiang. Since you are marrying someone into the house, you should be a married couple. A harmonious couple. That’s good.”

Su Xinyi said hello to the queen in her heart. After this incident, the queen's momentum was stronger than before.

Speaking of which, when the mother and daughter of the Princess of Guangping County caused such a thing, how many people wanted to see the Queen's joke. Naturally, the Queen had to be more stable at this time, and could not be seen as guilty and short of breath. In this way, the Queen would lose her Majesty, what kind of prestige will there be in the future?

At this time, Su Xinyi accepted the Queen's words naturally, and with an embarrassed look, she slowly said: "It is the Queen Mother who has taken great care of the daughter-in-law, so that the daughter-in-law can raise the baby with peace of mind. Both His Royal Highness and I are very grateful to the Queen Mother."

The eldest lady and the fourth lady, who were sitting far away, both breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. The fourth lady said softly to the eldest lady, "I'm afraid things are not going to be peaceful today."

The eldest lady nodded calmly and whispered, "Fourth brother and sister, you must be careful in your words and deeds. No matter who says anything to you, you must stay calm."

"Sister-in-law, Xin Yi's temperament is stable, don't worry." The fourth lady responded quickly.

The eldest lady looked the same on the face, but in her heart she was thinking that she had to warn her that her fourth sibling was a bit bloody when she was young.

The person sitting face to face with them was none other than Mrs. Ji. Although Mr. Ji is now under investigation, the Ji family has not yet been convicted. This year, the palace still issued a notice to the Ji family.

Mrs. Ji looked at the two ladies in the Duke of Qi's mansion and they didn't look very good. She had regretted it for a long time. When her daughter became Princess Wu, she should have persuaded her husband and daughter to stop. Now it's better, because of the matter with the Zhao family , but they themselves were harmed.

Thinking of this incident, it's strange that Mrs. Ji's face looks good.

In response to Mrs. Ji's unkind gaze, the eldest lady looked at her steadily without moving her eyes away. She did not withdraw her gaze until the other party could no longer stand it.

Haha, with this little ability, you still dare to show your eyes, what a coward!

Mrs. Ji was so angry that she trembled with anger at the eldest lady's contemptuous eyes, but she did not dare to cause trouble in this situation, so she had to swallow it hard.

The Fourth Madam looked on, thinking that the way the sister-in-law was doing now really looked a bit like the Madam when she was young.