504 Palace Banquet (1)
He paused for a moment and shook his head with a bitter smile. He continued, “Unfortunately, the people I originally sent to Songshan County couldn’t find anything useful.
“A while ago, my people sent a letter. They discovered that someone was mining privately in Songshan County. Unexpectedly, as soon as they found out about County Magistrate Yang, he died in a fire.”
Song Jingchen picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip. “Perhaps he was silenced.”
The two of them chatted for a while more, but Song Jingchen remained cold.
Shangguan Yu could feel it. This time, he did not pretend to be deaf and mute as usual. Instead, he pointed it out. “I know that after what happened two years ago, you don’t trust anyone now, but I still hope that I can help.”
In the end, he said, “I went to see Mother a while ago. Her health is getting worse.”
Previously, when she found out about Xunyang City, Song Li began to fall sick. Later on, she barely survived, but she did not recover.
It was getting late. Shangguan Yu bade farewell. Shen Yijia stuffed the little fox back into the cage and returned it to Lianshan.
Shangguan Yu paused and smiled. “Sister-in-law, aren’t you keeping it?”
Shen Yijia shook her head and refused. She said in disdain, “No, the meat doesn’t taste good. Even if I peel off the fur, it won’t be enough to make a scarf.”
It’ll be a waste.
The little fox cowered in its cage.
Shangguan Yu was speechless and could only bring the little fox away.
In the blink of an eye, it was the emperor’s birthday. Because the emperor had not established a new empress in the past two years, the position of the central palace was empty. All matters in the harem were handed over to Imperial Concubine Liu, including the emperor’s birthday banquet.
Although it was a universal celebration, not all officials could participate.
Only ministers above the third rank could attend the banquet, and they could bring one or two family members.
Song Jingchen happened to be stuck at the third-grade position, so Shen Yijia could go too.
The banquet was at night, but after entering the palace, they didn’t just sit down and eat. The women had to follow the other madams to meet the masters of the harem. The ministers had other activities in the front hall. After a long process, it was almost night.
Madam Li had long prepared the clothes to wear to the palace banquet. She wore a light yellow collared dress. When it was still dark outside, Shen Yijia was dug out of the bed.
Shen Yijia opened her eyes in a daze. When she saw that it was Madam Li, she muttered, “Mother, I’m sleepy.”
Madam Li’s heart softened at her soft voice. If not for the fact that she still had some rationality, she would have patted her gently to coax her to sleep.
She lowered her voice. “Sister Jia, we still have to enter the palace later. You can’t sleep anymore.”
Shen Yijia puffed up her cheeks and sat up, letting Madam Li and Mo Yuan torture her.
After changing her clothes, Madam Li helped her tie her hair into a cross bun. When it was time to put on her makeup, Madam Li looked at Shen Yijia nodding off and felt troubled. Shen Yijia had good skin, so she felt that using any rouge or makeup was just redundant.
After struggling for a while, she only helped her put on some lip gloss.
Just like that, Song Jingchen carried Shen Yijia into the carriage.
He originally wanted to explain further, but seeing that she was sleeping so soundly, Song Jingchen could only give up on this thought for the time being.
When they were almost there, he woke her up. “We’re almost there. Get up and eat something first.”
It was best not to touch any of the food in the palace.
While Shen Yijia was filling her stomach, Song Jingchen explained what he had already told her.
After receiving Shen Yijia’s repeated assurance that she would remember it, he was relieved.
When the carriage arrived at the palace gate, there was already a long line in front. The carriages of the various residences occupied a path in front of the palace gate and advanced slowly.
If they were nobles or important ministers of the imperial court, they could cut the queue and enter the palace first.
However, Song Jingchen didn’t have such privileges in his current position, so he could only line up obediently.
It was already an hour later when it was their turn.
Before getting out of the car, Song Jingchen tied a pouch to Shen Yijia’s waist and instructed, “I put some jerky and candied plums inside. If you’re hungry, you can secretly eat some.”
Shen Yijia’s eyes lit up. “Hubby, you’re so thoughtful.”
“I went to look for General Xiao previously and asked him to ask Madam Xiao to take care of you. However, the Xiao family should have entered ahead of us. If you encounter them, follow Madam Xiao.”
They were all stuck here. The people in front could not wait for someone behind even if they wanted to. Moreover, the Xiao family’s current status was different.
