Qiao Jingyu walked out of the cold palace gate, as if she had gone through a thousand layers of purgatory, her whole body was somewhat weak, relying on Qingyi's strength, got on the carriage and said, "Let's go back to the palace."

  Qingyi was somewhat worried, but having served her mistress for so long, she naturally knew that she wouldn't want to talk at this time. Just now, she had discussed something with the Shu Empress, and she didn't know what it was about, nor did she dare make any wild guesses. She silently followed the carriage, step by step, back to the Chonghua Palace.

  The news of Shu Gui Fei being sent to the Cold Palace was not a secret and soon spread throughout the palace, with different reactions from each palace, but unusually, no one dared to speak out and spread any rumors this time.

  After going through the Shu Fei affair, it was enough to make them see that Shu Gui Fei's position in the emperor's heart was not what they had thought before. Shu Gui Fei, like them, had lost favor, but on the contrary, this favor had never disappeared.

  After all, because of Consort Shu's actions, the Shen family was completely destroyed. Such influence, to them, was something they did not possess. "Your Highness, do you think Consort Shu will..." Qing Yi said with some fear, recently due to the matter with Consort Shu, from the consorts and concubines down to the palace maids and eunuchs, no one didn't have an extra bit of respect and fear for her.

  "Shut up with your nonsense! It's impossible. I've always been cautious and never made a mistake, let alone left any evidence behind. Besides, those are all old stories from years ago, the evidence is long gone, what could she possibly know?"

  Qing Yi calmed down and composed herself, knowing she couldn't panic. "The empress said so, perhaps Empress Shu doesn't know, but what about Concubine Shu?"

  "You can rest assured, Shu Fei knows it too, but she doesn't dare to say it out loud. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind letting the Shen family be destroyed, not only would they lose their lives, but even their corpses would be gone," Xian Fei thought to herself, seemingly very confident.

  Qing Yi didn't need to think about it, she knew that her own princess must have had some leverage over the Empress, so she could be so confident. She didn't go on to wonder what that leverage was, but instead asked, "In that case, Your Highness can rest easy."

  Xian Fei shook her head, "No, I still can't rest easy. There's something else I need to take care of. Since Shu Gui Fei has given me such a good opportunity, I certainly won't let it go to waste."

  "Your Ladyship, but we don't have many people left at our disposal," said the maid in a hesitant tone. She knew that her mistress had another plan in mind, but manpower was a major problem.

  Xian Fei furrowed her delicate eyebrows, "Then you'll personally take care of it, I can trust you, right?"

  The tone of Xian Fei's words contained two parts of doubt, but her eyes were determined and certain. Qing Yi couldn't help it, and hastily bowed her head and body, "I am willing to stake my life to guarantee that I will definitely take care of this matter for Your Ladyship."

  Xian Fei nodded with a hint of a smile, "That's good, if anything happens to you, don't worry, I will send someone to take care of your parents at home."

  Qing Yi was shocked in her heart, knowing that the queen's words were not true, but a veiled threat. She had to succeed, and even if she failed, she couldn't reveal half of it, otherwise the consequences would be unbearable for her.

  Kneeling on the ground, "Your humble servant thanks you, milady."

  It's not that she didn't feel a chill in her heart, having followed Empress Xian for many years and participating in those unscrupulous schemes. Except for the first few times, she had never personally taken action afterwards, nor had she been pushed out by Her Majesty like this before. She thought there was still some emotional connection between them.

  The lady in blue bowed her head, and the virtuous imperial concubine couldn't see the turmoil in her eyes. She smiled and got up to personally help her up, "This palace knows, it's hard for you, don't worry, if you succeed, this palace won't treat you unfairly."

  "Yes, thank you, Your Ladyship."

  As for the things that happened outside, even if Su Jing had heard about them, she didn't take them to heart. In her opinion, except for the fact that Shen Daren, who led the impeachment against her father, was beheaded, which was a great joy, the rest of the matters were not of much concern to her.

  Nowadays, her mind is almost all on her own belly.

  With a baby on the way, and unlike the first three months, there is now fetal movement, a connection between mother and child, with blood ties that bring joy that can't be felt or understood by others.

  However, she knew her limits. Even after having children, Zong Zhengjin was still her first priority. She couldn't favor one over the other and couldn't forget this "well-digger".

  Zong Zhengjin was secretly delighted, but on the surface, he showed extreme disdain, even often joking that this child had lost favor with his mother's side before he was even born.

  Su Jingxi didn't explain much about it, perhaps Zong Zhengjin was a knot in her heart, she didn't want to untie it, so she just left it there, and the child was someone who had merged into her bones and blood, sharing joys and sorrows with her.

  If she was willing to lose her life for Zong Yu, then she would be willing to live for the child.

  This is her annotation for these two people who are most important to her, and she has always treated them this way.

  "Your Majesty, His Majesty has sent someone to pass on a message saying that he will come over tonight to have dinner with you," said Yao, walking in with a smile.

  Su Jing heard this and also showed a few points of smile in her eyes, nodding, "Tell the kitchen to prepare several dishes that the emperor likes to eat."

  "Yes, I've already given orders."

  Su Jing did not say much, and during this time Zong Zhengjin seemed to be not very busy, often coming over to Guan Yao Palace to accompany her for meals. Even though the two were basically eating their own food, being at the same table was also a pleasure.

  He was a man of simple tastes, but Su Jing's palate was increasingly picky and heavy, fond of sour and spicy flavors, whose taste was something that Zong Zhengjin didn't even want to hear about. Yet, despite this, he still made time to visit Guan Yu Palace whenever he could.

  Su Jing lay half-reclined on the couch, flipping through some children's books that someone had sent over. Most of them were small stories with moral lessons, and occasionally reading them was also quite enjoyable. Her soft voice was like a gentle stream, echoing throughout the room.

  "Niang niang, Da Gong Zhu has sent some more things," said Dai Man as he walked in.

  Su Jing glanced at her face and raised an eyebrow, "But what's wrong?"

  Dai Man shook his head, "This time it's different from the usual embroidered pouches and handkerchiefs, but rather some children's clothing."

  Su Jinghui gave a signal with her eyes, and Yao came forward to take it over, carefully flipping through it several times before presenting it. Su Jinghui casually flipped through it, the work was extremely delicate, the needlework was also dense enough, and at first glance, it was clear that it was made by the same person as the embroidered handkerchief and purse, and that a lot of thought had been put into it.

  "With so many clothes, I suppose the young mistress must have spent some effort on them," said Daiman, looking at this small pile of clothes.

  Su Jing nodded in agreement, "That's for sure. I remember that there are several pieces of high-quality embroidered satin in the warehouse, with good colors too. You can send them to her and let her not delay her studies because of these embroidery tasks. Take good care of herself first, if anything is lacking, just send someone to Guan Yun Palace."

  Su Jing did not want to order people to persuade the eldest princess again, it was just that she had someone send them over every now and then. The previous times she said something about it were useless, so she simply didn't say anything anymore. Even though these things, Su Jing had never used once.

  "Yes, I understand," said Daiman with a bow. She actually felt some sympathy for the eldest princess, who was lonely and helpless in this deep palace. Even as the legitimate eldest princess, without an empress, many aspects of her life were not as free and comfortable as those of the second princess.

  At a young age, she had to please others, the heartache and resentment that came with it was something even an adult would find hard to bear, let alone a child under ten.

  "Your Ladyship, Daiman didn't mean it, she just..."

  Su Jing let out a soft laugh, "You think I'm angry, but it's not just her being softhearted, I also feel some heartache. Never mind, if we can help, then we'll lend a hand."

  Ting Yao took a deep breath and felt slightly relieved, "Yes, I know."

  Zong Zhengjin indeed arrived at Guan Yu Palace just before the hour of dinner, and as expected, he saw someone flipping through those idle books on the couch.

  "Your servant has seen you." Su Jingyi hastily tried to get up and pay her respects, but was once again stopped in a very timely manner.

  "No need for formalities," Zong Zhengjin walked over and pressed down on her body, sitting beside her, "He's still quite obedient today."

  Su Jing nodded, "Yes, my little cotton-padded jacket has always been very considerate."

  This is true, the child unexpectedly turned out to be a bit too well-behaved, not only did she not have morning sickness for the first three months, but also never made any trouble for her afterwards. If it weren't for the fetal movements, she would even suspect that there was something wrong with this child.

  Zong Zhengjin's words were just a habitual inquiry, almost every time he came, he would ask once, and it was always the first sentence at the beginning, which had become a habit. He smiled and said, "Then that's good."

  The child is well-behaved, he can also put his mind at ease, and hopefully when the time comes for production, it will be the same.

  Putting aside those feelings in my heart, "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?"

  "Your Majesty, you and I have nothing to talk about now. Every time we meet, the first sentence is always asking how your child is doing, and the second sentence is worrying that your child is hungry," Su Jingyun did not respond to him, but instead narrowed her eyes slightly, with a tone of resentment.

  Zong Zhengjin was amused by her appearance and scratched her nose, causing her to grasp his hand in hers. "Your Majesty, stop scratching or it won't be okay," Su Jingfan said discontentedly.

  Zong Zhengjin ignored her protests, changed hands and continued to scratch, "Don't worry, it won't be long, I like it too."

  Supporting her to get up, holding her in his arms, "How can your temper be so big? I was obviously concerned about you, but you insisted on understanding it as something else. What's the point of this little brain thinking about irrelevant things all day? I think it's getting a bit foolish."

  Palace Concubine (Yi) / 33 / 33265

  Gong Shu