Chapter 28

Xu Zaijing and the three were instantly held down.

Then a graceful and luxurious woman walked over.

If it wasn't the Empress, who else could it be?

She looked at the three people caught by the eunuchs by the pool; two of them had water stains all over their sleeves, one was sweating profusely, the side was full of evidence of crime, and their hands were full of fishy smell.

"Ugh."

"Come here, come here, tie these three little monkeys up for me!"

The Empress waved her hand: "No need."

Enduring the nausea brought by the fishy smell, the Empress said: "The fish in this Imperial Garden are related to the feng shui of the imperial city and cannot be moved easily; do you three know that?"

"Back to the Empress, we know, we won't dare to do it again."

"Come here, wash the hands of these three monkeys and remove the fishy smell."

Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye hurriedly bowed and thanked her.

Zhao Huan also followed suit and thanked her.

"Don't make trouble in this garden; if you break my flowers and plants, I have nowhere to reason."

The Empress waved her hand, and the three were like being granted amnesty, running back to the banquet in front of the hall in a gray-faced manner.

The Empress's personal eunuch supported the Empress and said: "Empress, let's leave this place quickly. You guys, bury the catch of the three monkeys."

"Yes."

Walking slowly, the Empress sighed:

"I hope the one in my belly will be like these three little monkeys."

"Empress, this will naturally be the case."

On the way:

"I told you in the morning not to catch fish, but you..."

"I couldn't help it; that fish was too stupid."

Xu Zaijing and the three came to the banquet in front of the hall in a gray-faced manner, seeing a middle-aged man with a tanned face and a face full of apologies standing beside the Prince of Yong with a wine glass.

Behind the Prince of Yong, the Heir with an unkind expression was angry, and the children of the Prince of Yong's family were pale-faced and sweating.

Clearly, they hadn't digested those two punches from Xu Zaijing and Gu Tingye, and were exhausted after being led around by Xu Zaijing.

The middle-aged man accompanied with a smile, and the Prince of Yong looked at the Emperor sitting above, also picked up his wine glass with a full face of smiles,

and accepted the middle-aged man's apology.

The middle-aged man returned to his seat, seeing his own son,

he glared at him somewhat resentfully.

Beside him, Zhao Huan's mother was concernedly asking Zhao Huan if he had suffered any losses or injuries.

Seeing her son shake his head, this Madam stroked her son with gratification.

At the table of the Xu family of the Marquis Yongyi, Xu Anmei looked at her brother with disgust.

"Little Brother, did you go to the fish market? Why is there such a big fishy smell?"

"Hehehe, Yege'er caught fish just now, he must have grabbed my sleeve."

Madam Sun didn't say much, only a severe look glared over.

On the side of the Marquis Ningyuan's residence, Gu Tingye had already been taught a lesson by Bai Shi pointing at his head.

Gu Yanhai's face also didn't look good.

Gu Tingyu's eyes were full of smiles and envy.

In the afternoon, the female relatives and family members had already begun their return journey.

The high-ranking officials and nobles were resting in the palace.

The Emperor was also resting.

Preparing to entertain envoys from all over the world who came to celebrate the birthday in the evening.

Far away in Quanzhou, Fujian Circuit, they also felt the atmosphere of the current Emperor's birthday.

Officials and wealthy households in the city had set up porridge sheds to provide meals to passersby for free.

There were also merchants scattering copper coins on the roadside pavilions to celebrate the Emperor's birthday.

In the residence of the Assistant Prefect Sheng Hong, the Sheng Old Madam looked at the grandchildren playing in the courtyard with eyes full of smiles.

Sheng Hong was also sitting beside her.

"In the blink of an eye, you have five children, plus the one in Wei Shi's belly, adding up to six. Good."

"This is all Grandmother's blessing."

"Oh, I dare not take it."

"Mother, I want to let Mo'er be raised by Lin Xiao Niang..."

"You decide for yourself; you are already an Assistant Prefect of a prefecture, I dare not say much."

"Mo..."

Before Sheng Hong finished speaking, the Sheng Old Madam stood up and left this place.

Sheng Hong looked at his legal wife Wang Shi with an awkward expression.

"Madam, you are about to give birth, taking care of Mo'er is indeed too exhausting."

"Hmph."

Wang Shi rolled her eyes at him, hugged her big belly, and left.

The concubine Wei Shi followed Wang Shi with her small belly.

In a while, only Changfeng and Seeing Mo Lan in the nanny's arms were looking at their father obediently in the courtyard.

"Good children, this way you follow Shuang'er, and you won't suffer the bitterness I suffered when I was young."

Lin Qige, Lin Qinshuang was listening to Xueniang vividly telling what happened in the courtyard.

She looked at her fingernails dyed with balsam flowers,

her eyes full of appreciation and self-pity.

"The Old Madam's maiden family didn't produce any figures; for the sake of the Master, she offended her maiden family; her role for the Master ends here."

"Little Niang, speak carefully."

"For the sake of the Sheng family's face, the Old Madam has to swallow her anger even if she bites her teeth. These years, I see that the dowry she brought from the Marquis's residence has been used up; otherwise, why would that small courtyard be so cold and quiet!"

Lin Qinshuang stopped looking at her fingernails and said coldly: "Wang Ruofu bought that Wei Shi; I don't know if the one in her belly is a boy or a girl."

"I see that Wei Xiaoniang is destined to give birth to a girl."

"You were so sure that the one in my belly was a boy back then."

"Little Niang, I..."

"Let the one in Wei Shi's belly not be a boy; if it blocks my Fengge'er's path, I will make her look good."

After speaking, she supported her forehead and lay down slowly.

Shou'an Hall, the Sheng Old Madam in her own room had lost that dignified posture,

and patted the table quite angrily,

"This son of mine is truly, truly..."

Fang Mama hurriedly walked over to support the Sheng Old Madam.

"Girl, you are also old, don't get angry and hurt your body."

"Lin Qinshuang, this concubine, has him firmly in her grasp. She is truly like his father."

"Sigh, but the one sent by the Wang family is quite polite and knows how to advance and retreat."

"You don't know, her family is also from a scholarly background; if it weren't for her father's serious illness and the ruin of the family business, she would have been a legitimate wife, and someone would have wanted her."

"Her spirit also looks high."

"Sigh, as a concubine, having such a high spirit will lead to suffering. Let's see when she can understand it."

"Girl, don't take everything on yourself; you've added so many burdens to yourself for no reason."

"Enough, this time my son is about to return to the capital; his father's contemporaries also need to be filial, hoping he can go a few steps further."

"Then, should we walk the path of the Marquis Yongyi's Sun Madam?"

"They rarely walk the path of their own Sun family's children, and we are related by marriage; we can't go."

Sun rises and moon sets,

It had been more than two months since the current Emperor's birthday.

The streets of Quanzhou had also returned to normal.

A letter from Tokyo Bianliang was sent to the Assistant Prefect's residence.

The Sheng Old Madam looked at the somewhat familiar handwriting, her heart full of emotion.

"Girl, whose letter is it?"

"It's from Kong Mama in the palace."

"Oh, the one from Shandong in her hometown?"

"It's her."

As she spoke, the Sheng Old Madam opened the envelope.

Reading it word by word, after half a cup of tea, the Old Madam put the letter aside.

"Girl, what's wrong? Is Kong Mama going to leave the palace and return home?"

"She is still young, it's not her turn yet. It's some things she heard in the palace, and on the day of the Emperor's birthday, the Marquis Yongyi's residence showed some limelight."

"Is it that the treasures we sent were praised by the Emperor?"

"No."

The Old Madam waved her hand.

(End of this chapter)