Chapter 212: Ready to Lay the Cards

On the eighth day of the twelfth month, early in the morning, the rear kitchen of Prince Rui's residence boiled Laba porridge and handed it out to the various courtyards.

Gu Jiu Ling's Peach Blossom Pavilion was the liveliest; the morning meals were even more abundant than those at noon and night.

Xiao Yin left court, brought back a royal porridge bucket sealed with the imperial seal.

The weather was exceptionally cold; though it didn't snow, the fierce wind felt laden with shards of ice, making people shiver continuously.

Xiao Yin entered the outer hall of the Peach Blossom Pavilion, and Gu Jiu Ling hurriedly brought Jinzhi out to greet them.

"Don't come near! I have a lot of wind‑cold, be careful you'll get chilled!" Xiao Yin stepped back a bit, hid to the side and untied the strap at the collar of the great cloak themselves.

The maids in the Peach Blossom Pavilion had gotten used to it; there was no rule for a Prince to have his clothes untied, usually the Princess Consort would do it herself, or the Prince would take it off himself.

Moreover, they wouldn't dare to be clever in front of the Prince; this time each of them stood nearby, pursing their lips and smiling.

Gu Jiu Ling stepped forward, delicately rose onto tiptoe to help Xiao Yin untie the ribbon at the collar, laughing: "Prince, you needn't be so cautious; I am about to give birth soon, why would I need the Prince to hide and avoid me? I am not that delicate."

"Besides, I was stoking a charcoal fire inside the room, it was genuinely scorching; when the Prince came in, that gust of wind lifted it, making it actually cooler."

Xiao Yin's brows twitched slightly; his tall frame accommodated Gu Jiu Ling's height, and to make it easier for her to untie his sash, he bent almost into a shrimp‑like shape.

"What's wrong? Feeling unwell lately? A heat in your heart—should we call someone named Zuo over to take a look? Help you recuperate for a while."

Gu Jiu Ling laughed: "Zuo Feichen is preparing to return to his hometown; with the year‑end approaching, he's gone back to the countryside for the New Year, and some senior relatives are there, so he must go back for ancestral rites during the festivals."

"Besides, I am a physician myself; the Prince need not worry about me."

"My own body, I know best."

Xiao Yin was terrified with worry; seeing Gu Jiu Ling's belly swell more and more, it seemed she could barely walk steadily.

The closer Gu Jiu Ling got to her due date, the more Xiao Yin felt an inexplicable anxiety, yet watching the girl handle everything so deftly, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Jiu Ling ushered Xiao Yin into the Warm Pavilion, which was already filled with wine, dishes, and the freshly boiled Laba porridge.

Before Xiao Yin went to court, Gu Jiu Ling had already ordered Jiu Yue to deliver some to the Eastern Garden for the Prince and his guards to eat.

After all, they rose early to follow the Prince's confidants, treating these people more kindly than the others in the residence.

This time, a few of the Prince's close subordinates also received rewards, while the rest of the household had the main kitchen prepare portions for distribution.

Jiu Yue and the others busied themselves setting the dishes; although Jinzhi was the mistress, she also stood up to serve Xiao Yin and Gu Jiu Ling, and Gu Jiu Ling pulled her to sit beside her.

"Prince! How shall we deal with the Eight Treasure porridge you placed in the outer palace as a reward?" Gu Jiu Ling glanced at the tiny porridge bucket in the outer palace.

Xiao Yin frowned slightly and said calmly, "Let Jiu Yue take it to feed the dogs!"

Gu Jiu Ling was startled, then chuckled to herself; the entire aristocratic families in Shang Jing took pride in the Empress Dowager's bestowed porridge, and even within the residence, with many households and layers, they squabbled endlessly, scheming to get a bite of the royal grant.

Only Xiao Yin would feed these to the dogs, so she hurriedly signaled Jiu Yue to replace it with an ordinary porridge bucket to take out.

The western courtyard kept a few guard dogs, which could also receive the imperial favor.

Xiao Yin had been poisoned since childhood by Emperor Longqing and Empress Dowager Ning An, and now harbored deep hatred for the two.

In fact, the bestowed royal porridge bucket would never be poisoned; after all, even Emperor Longqing, however senile, could not poison all the court officials.

Moreover, when collecting porridge, the officials themselves went to the end of the passage at He De Gate palace, where a porridge stall was set up, and they took as much as they wanted.

Gu Jiu Ling, Xiao Yin and the others ate merrily; Jinzhi could not speak, but lifted her gaze and smiled gently at the brother and sister‑in‑law before her, her eyes full of contentment and happiness.

She had suffered and doubted, yet never lost that gentle kindness in her heart.

Xiao Yin liked Gu Jiu Ling's recipe: small cabbage meatball soup with crispy flatbread; drinking a bowl instantly soothed the organs that had been chilled during the morning court.

He set down his bowl, looked at Jinzhi, and said, "In a moment, your sister‑in‑law and I are going to Third Prince's residence; today is Third Prince's ceremony for elevating a secondary consort, you should come along."

Jinzhi was stunned; when she first came to Prince Rui's residence she had been a slave rescued from death by the Princess Consort, and even after the Prince acknowledged her, she still didn't feel like a mistress, let alone be able to attend important banquets with the Prince and Princess Consort.

She instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing Xiao Yin's stern face, she dared not say anything.

Her own face had been ruined, already insecure, and being mute made communication difficult; she never liked socializing, and now Xiao Yin wanted her to go to Third Prince's residence together.

Her heart suddenly raced wildly, a little frightened.

Gu Jiu Ling also looked up at Xiao Yin, instinctively guessed something, lifted her hand, clasped Jinzhi's hand and whispered with a smile, "Don't be afraid, I and your brother are here!"

"You won't need to say anything or do anything then; just stay behind us."

Jinzhi, hearing Gu Jiu Ling say that, instantly gathered courage and nodded.

Although she could not speak, her heart was like a clear mirror; her identity would eventually be revealed in Shang Jing's aristocratic circles.

Back then, her father, though a deputy commander under Xiao Yin, bore General An's formidable reputation in Shang Jing, but he fell in love with a lute‑playing songstress from Longzhou, refusing to marry a Su, which completely severed the An family's ties to that branch.

Even later, the counterfeit Su Wanrou was brought back to the capital by Xiao Yin; although there had been vocal contact with the An family, they never accepted this woman.

The An family, though lacking real power, was still a noble house; after several generations of decline, a man named An Chenghu followed Xiao Yin and earned great war merits, slightly restoring the family's reputation.

Later, An Chenghu died in battle at Qi Sha Gu and was suspected of causing a national disaster; the An family fell to a third‑ or fourth‑tier clan, yet still refused to acknowledge the prostitute's descendants.

Xiao Yin no longer troubled the An family; the second and third branch members of the An family served in the capital doing clerical duties— the head of the second branch was a dean at the Imperial Academy, and the head of the third branch worked as a scribe at the Great Justice Hall.

Later, those two never achieved much; if Xiao Yin hadn't secretly supported them, these two mediocre people wouldn't even have been able to keep these modest jobs.

After all, they were the An family's illegitimate offspring; the main line had become extinct, leaving only a maid born of a prostitute, attached to Prince Rui's residence, unable to become anything significant.

What they didn't expect was that, even so, the concubine they despised was still a counterfeit!

Now the counterfeit should also exit the stage.

Gu Jiu Ling lifted her gaze and stared at Xiao Yin: "Prince, ready to lay the cards?"

Xiao Yin nodded: "Yes, it's time to lay the cards."