“Your Majesty, they are arriving.”
Xia Hourui was waiting outside the palace gate in his carriage, and a palace people ran forward to report.
Xia Hourui suffered a minor stroke. However, the treatment was relatively timely. Even if he couldn’t recover completely, his condition was much better than when he woke up.
His mouth and his neck were still twisted, but he had stopped drooling after recovering his consciousness.
“Hold me up.” Xia Hourui’s voice was hoarse.
“Yes.” Eunuch Yi stepped forward and held Xia Hourui out of the carriage. The queue of the Emperor’s mother had already arrived outside the palace gate.
The Emperor’s mother was held out of the carriage by a maid, and Xia Hourui stepped forward. “Mother, pay my respects to you.”
The Emperor’s mother looked at Xia Hourui and revealed some excitement on her indifferent face. “My dear son!” The Emperor’s mother stepped forward to hold Xia Hourui’s hands with red eyes.
“Your Majesty, pay my respects to you.”
“Your Majesty, pay my respects to you.”
Xia Hourui glanced at the two and nodded. “Well, no need to be over-courteous.”
“Your Majesty, after learning of the rebellion of Dingxi King, Xia Housheng, Zhen’er immediately joined the army. He said he felt guilty for being unable to send his grandmother back in person.”
The Emperor’s mother withdrew her emotion slightly. “The child wants to help his father. There’s no need to be guilty.”
“Mother, it is cold outside. Let’s enter the palace.”
“Okay.”
The large group of people entered the palace.
“I heard that you granted Kun’er a marriage?”
Xia Hourui paused and said, “I think he has grown up and it is time to start a family.”
“Well, but Zhen’er and Mo’er have also grown up. You can’t have any bias.”
“I know.”
“After a long trip, I’m tired. You don’t have to serve me. Just leave Ningxin with me. You may all retreat.” Outside the Huaxi Palace, the Emperor’s mother made everyone retreat.
“Yes, please excuse my departure.”
“Please excuse my departure.”
…
In An Mansion.
A maid entered the mansion through the back door and ran all the way to Madam An’s courtyard.
At the sight of her, Madam An’s major maid, Lianqiao, lifted the curtain and took her into the room.
“Madam, she is back.”
There were three braziers in the room. As soon as she entered, she felt an intense stream of heat flow and trembled unconsciously.
“Madam, pay my respects to you.”
Madam An leaned on the couch, and An was sitting on her right and rubbing her legs.
Madam An opened her eyes. “Tell me.”
“Madam, the people have been taken away by the Emperor’s mother.”
An glanced at Madam An and slowed down her movements of rubbing the legs.
“Well, I see. Lianqiao, send her out to have something warm.”
“Yes.”
The maid was not joyful at all, and Madam An frowned slightly. “Why don’t you finish your words at one time?”
“Please forgive me! I, I mean, all of them have been taken away by the Emperor’s mother.”
Hearing this, Madam An suddenly sat up. “All of them?”
“Yes, when I went to the house, I found all of them had been taken away by the people in the palace.”
“Mother, why do you think the Emperor’s mother took them all away?” With a flicker of panic on An’s face, she couldn’t understand the intention of the Emperor’s mother.
“Let’s wait and see. If nothing happens in the following days …” Madam An said in a deep voice.
“Mother, you mean …” An didn’t understand.
“The Emperor’s mother is going to suppress this matter.” In other words, the Emperor’s mother was happy to see Xia Houkun marry Su Muge!
Then their efforts would be in vain!
“We can do nothing at all but watch Su Muge marry Second Prince?”
“Bang!”
“I’ll never let Su Muge marry Second Prince as she expects!”
The door of the room was suddenly pushed open by force. Su Jingwen roared with a ferocious face and ran away.
“Miss Su, you can’t go in.”
“Wen’er.” An stood up anxiously.
Madam An was also taken aback by Su Jingwen. “What are you waiting for? Hurry to stop Miss Su. Don’t let her mess up.”
“Yes.” Several maids ran out to chase her.
“The child is too rude. You are too indulgent to her. If the Emperor’s mother does suppress this matter, you should give up. Without a solid foundation, Su Muge can achieve nothing even if she marries Second Prince. Do you think Concubine Qin is easy to get along with?”
Hearing Madam An’s words, An tightened her lips.
Seeing An’s look, Madam An thought of the scene when she insisted on marrying Su Lun and became excited.
“If you had listened to me to marry the son of a noble family in the capital, you wouldn’t have become like this!”
After the rebellion of King Dingxi, Madam An always felt Minister An restless and absent-minded all day long. Sometimes he would stay in the study and refuse to see anyone as soon as he returned home, which made Madam An very upset.
Hearing Madam An’s words, An tightly closed her lips and clenched her handkerchief.
“If you want to get your face back, find a way to make Su Lun take you back. If you go on like this, there will be no place for you in Su Mansion!”
“Mother, you feel me annoying in An Mansion?”
“You, you are really driving me mad!”
An was also angry. If King Dingxi had succeeded, she would be an imperial concubine in the palace now! How would she be willing to go back to the small and shabby Su Mansion?!
Now, even her mother looked down upon her. They were all bullying her and Su Jingwen since no one could support them from behind.
If Su Jingwen could become Second Prince’s concubine! If she could become Second Prince’s concubine!
…
“The King of Jin has returned with victory! The King of Jin has returned with victory …”
On the cold street, an excited shout interrupted the tranquility. People in the restaurants, teahouses, and shops all popped their heads out.
“The King of Jin has wiped out the rebels and returned?”
“Yes, he will enter the capital today. I heard His Majesty had already prepared a reception banquet.”
“The King of Jin is really powerful. As long as the King of Jin is in our Chu, we are not afraid of anything.”
“Yes, yes.”
Su Muge shrank in the carriage and shivered. Hearing the discussion on the street, she held the hand warmer in her hand even tighter.
“So, we enter the palace today to attend the reception banquet for the Emperor’s mother or the King of Jin?”
Su Muge was pulled out of the warm quilt by Yueru early in the morning. Officials with a rank higher than Grade-5 would attend the banquet. And Su Lun could just meet the standard.
“Miss, don’t mind what banquet you are attending. Just follow My Lord and Madam.” No matter what banquet it was, Su Muge would just enjoy eating and drinking as if there were no one else present.
Su Muge leaned on the mat noncommittally. After the Emperor’s mother took Wang away, nothing else had happened these days. She was worried about the safety of her grandmother, but she could do nothing about it.
When they arrived at the palace gate, plenty of carriages had already been parking outside. They had to get off at a place farthest from the palace gate.
As soon as she left the warm carriage, Su Muge shivered and wrapped herself up in the rabbit fur cloak tightly.
This winter in the north was really freezing!
“Miss, hold the hand warmer. Don’t catch a cold.”
As soon as winter came, everyone in Peachblossom Courtyard knew that Su Muge was afraid of cold and paid special attention to her warmth.
“Okay.” Su Muge felt much warmer with the hand warmer in her hands.
“Let’s go.” Su Lun had already taken the lead.
Su Muge stepped on the snow and only felt her toes frozen.
Yueru and Xinlan held Su Muge to walk into the palace gate. There were many people attending the banquet. Even if it was freezing cold, Su Muge also found many young ladies in thin dresses couldn’t stop trembling in cloaks.
These girls spared no efforts to be beautiful!
As Su Muge walked, she sensed a pair of angry eyes fixed on her. She looked up and met Su Jingwen’s pernicious eyes.
Su Muge raised her eyebrows, pretended not to have seen her, and continued to walk.
Su Jingwen must have been brought by Madam An.
The banquet was in the Orchid Palace which was full of winter orchids. As soon as the weather was cold, the orchids would bloom. In the snow-capped capital in winter, it was a rare beauty.
The Orchid Palace was very large. There was a large warm pavilion in the palace, which could accommodate hundreds of people.
From the palace gate to the Orchid Palace, Su Muge felt as if she had walked for a century. When she entered the Orchid Palace, her feet had been frozen.
There was only one warm pavilion, so the male and female guests were not separated.
The palace maids led Su Muge and others to their designated seats. If it were not for so many people, Su Muge would take off her shoes and rub her feet!
With more and more people entering the hall, no one noticed the Su family sitting in the back corner. But Su Lun was still trying to go to the front and cotton up with the higher-rank officials.
“Eldest Prince and Second Prince are arriving.”
Hearing this, everyone in the hall looked towards the gate.
Eldest Prince…
Su Muge took a bite of the osmanthus cake and looked up curiously.
The Eldest Prince was said to have accompanied the Emperor’s mother to Xiangshan Mountain. She had never seen him before.
“Eldest Prince, Second Prince, pay our respects to you.”
The Eldest Prince was wearing a purple-golden embroidered robe. Although he closed his lips, he seemed not to be a difficult person. Instead, he looked much milder and gentler than Xia Houkun.
Xia Houkun was wearing a dark-blue embroidered robe. He glanced at the crowd with a slight smile and quickly inspected most of the guests.
Only after the two sat down did they speak. “Get up. No need to be over-courteous.”
Since Xia Houkun entered the hall, Su Jingwen had fixed her eyes on him and wished to stick to him.
Su Muge knew that the Eldest Prince, Xia Houzhen, was adopted under the name of the Empress. The Empress was pregnant soon after she married the Emperor. Unfortunately, her child died within five months. As a result, the Empress was hurt and unable to give birth to another child.
Xia Houzhen’s birth mother was a collateral-branch truth-born daughter in the Empress’s maiden family. After entering the palace and giving birth to Xia Houzhen, she passed away. Then the Empress adopted her son and raised him for more than 20 years.
