Outside the courtyard, Sun Qi stands in the shadows.
The gate was opened and Song Yin came out from inside, closing the door with his backhand and looking at where Sun Qi was standing, his eyebrows slightly knitted, “What happened in the palace?”
Sun Qi did not walk over, he was afraid that he would not be able to restrain his excitement and go and ask where those brothers from back then had gone.
“Concubine Rong is dead, and the second prince has been relegated to the land of Lingnan to be the King of Lingnan. Also, Liu Ying entered the palace with the waist tag of the chamberlain beside the emperor, and what happened tonight should have been done at his behest.”
“Queen Consort Xian and the Fourth Prince are fine.”
“Tell me more in detail.”
Sun Qi was the commander of the forbidden guards, and he was standing outside the entrance to the main hall during the palace banquet, and although he did not see what was happening inside, he heard it clearly.
Song Yin did not speak for a moment.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Something is not right. Such a matter could have been done by a few random palace staff, and there was no need to send Liu Ying into the palace.”
Sun Qi’s heart tightened and he couldn’t help but take a step forward, “Are you saying that there is something else for Liu Ying to do in the palace?”
“It is possible, where is Liu Ying?”
“I let him out of the palace, I think he must have gone home by now, why don’t I go and get him ……”
“No, just pay more attention to the side of Queen Consort Xian and the Fourth Prince from now on.”
Sun Qi responded.
Song Yin turned around and pushed open the door to enter.
Sun Qi stood where he was, hearing his footsteps disappear, before turning to leave.
Song Yin walked into the house, his face as normal, “Nothing much, a wild cat touched a piece of brick off the wall, I have put it back.”
After saying that, he sat next to Song Wangyue, looked at the cards in her hand and drew one to play.
“Hu!” Song San put the card in his hand on the table and extended his hand towards the crowd, “Pay up, pay up ……”
The crowd was so excited to play that they were still unwilling to go to bed after the hour of the son.
“I can prepare a red packet for you all, whoever gets up late, doesn’t have one.”
The crowd dispersed at once.
The next morning, they got up before dawn and waited at Song Wangyue’s door.
Song Yin came out of the room next to him and was about to knock on the door when it was opened and Song Wangyue came out from inside with red envelopes and gave one to each of them.
Song San started to coax, “Sir Song, where are your red envelopes?”
“Where do I have money? I’m all dependent on Yue’er for support.”
Song San gave a thumbs up.
If he could talk about eating soft rice in such a justifiable manner, Song Gongzi was the first one to do so.
After eating the dumplings, the four of them went to the Xu family in a carriage to pay their respects before it was fully light.
There were rows of big red lanterns hanging in front of the Xu family’s door, lighting up the road in front of it.
The gate was wide open and several underlings stood joyfully at the door.
Seeing the carriage, they trotted up to meet it.
“Good New Year, Miss Sun, and good New Year, Mr. Song.”
“Good New Year, Young Master Song, good New Year, Young Lady Song!”
Song Wangyue handed over the prepared red envelopes.
The subordinate took it with a joyful smile.
The four of them went to the old gentleman’s courtyard first, then Meng’s, the second gentleman’s, and Xu Yan and his wife’s.
After a round, each of them had a thick pile of red envelopes in their hands, even Xiao Yao and Song Si were no exception.
Xiao Yao was a bit embarrassed, she and Song Si should have brought gifts to the house, but instead of bringing gifts, they received a lot of red packets.
As the day dawned, people came one after another to pay their respects, the earliest being Zhu Zhihong.
He had been at the palace banquet last night and had witnessed it all. He had stayed up all night after returning and had come over early in the morning.
After leaving the old gentleman’s place that day, he went to Wan Yanming, the imperial historian. Both of them were disciples of the old gentleman and had been on relatively good terms when they were under his tutelage, and later on, when they both joined the court, they even wanted to help each other.
Wan Yanming also had doubts about the rumoured Qin Wangfei, and the two men were locked in the study talking about curfew before he returned home, and at that time, although he was also still completely sure, he already had a half-dozen doubts.
After last night’s banquet, he was already eight percent sure that the emperor had really done something bestial to the concubine first.
After listening, the old gentleman stroked his beard and asked, “What do you think?”
Zhu Zhihong did not know what to do.
It had been many years since the incident had happened, and all the people in the Qin Wang Mansion had long since died. Even if the case was overturned, the Qin Wang couple would not be able to live.
What’s more, it couldn’t be overturned, the emperor wouldn’t admit it.
Nor would they dare to force the Emperor to admit it.
But if the rumour mill keeps going, and people’s hearts are in turmoil, he fears that one day King Qin’s old men will rise up and plot against him, and then there will really be chaos.
“It is because I don’t know what to do that I have come to ask my teacher for advice, I can’t let things go on like this.”
The old gentleman pondered for a long time, “There is only one way to resolve this matter, to prompt the Emperor to make the Fourth Prince the Crown Prince as soon as possible.”
Zhu Zhihong immediately understood the meaning of the old gentleman’s words and his eyes lit up. The Fourth Prince was born to Concubine Xian, who was a sister to the late Concubine Qin. As long as the Emperor made the Fourth Prince the Crown Prince, everyone would think that the rumours were false, and hearts would naturally settle down.
As for the vindication of the Qin Wang couple, we can wait until the fourth prince is in that position.
Thinking of this, Zhu Zhihong got up, “I’ll go and look for Brother Wan, I’ll take my leave first, I’ll see my teacher again in a few days.”
Shortly after Zhu Zhihong left, Song Wangyue and Song Yin entered the room.
The old gentleman didn’t mention Zhu Zhihong’s matter and greeted the two with a smile as they sat down, “There won’t be fewer people coming today, so you two stay here with them.”
All morning, there was no break in the number of people who came to pay their respects, and they were all students of the old gentleman.
No matter who they were, the old gentleman introduced Song Wangyue and Song Yin to them.
Some of them knew Song Wangyue and some of them had heard of her, so no matter what they thought, they were all very enthusiastic in front of the old gentleman.
……
The day came on the fourth day of the year, when the married woman returned to her mother’s house to pay her respects.
Song Si and Xiao Yao prepared their things early in the morning, and Song Wan Yue and Song Yin also went to join in the fun.
For the first time, the doors of the Duke of Ding’s house were open after being closed for several days.
After returning from the palace banquet that day, the Lady of the Ding Country had been “frightened” and had been closed to guests from the first day of the New Year until now.
Today, the main gate is open not only because Xiao Yao is returning to her mother’s house to pay her respects, but also because the Fourth Prince is coming to pay his respects to the Duke of Ding’s residence.
As Consort Xiao Xian cannot leave the palace, every year on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the fourth prince will come to pay his respects to the Ding Guo Gong Mansion in place of his mother’s consort.
The eldest prince was relegated to a commoner, the second prince was relegated to Lingnan, and only the fourth prince was left, who, needless to say, was properly the crown prince.
Therefore, there are people who have been waiting for this day for a long time, wanting to show their faces in front of the fourth prince, and it would be better if they said a few words, as long as the crown prince remembers them, they will be able to soar to great heights in the future.