On the second day of September, the Empress Dowager celebrates her birthday.
Before dawn, Song Ran was already dressing up in front of the mirror. A few days ago, when the empress ordered the clothes supervisor to buy congratulatory clothes for the empresses in the palace, they also made clothes for Song Ran and the county princess.
The congratulatory dress is a light pink gown with double embroidered gold silk ribbed cloud shoulders on a blue background.
In addition, the Empress Dowager also gave a piece of butterfly-loving double-flowered jade tassel cloth, which was sent to the Song family's old residence a few days ago.
When the Song family's carriage arrived at the palace gate, six or seven carriages were already parked in front.
Because Zhaohua's assassination has not yet been solved, additional manpower has been deployed inside and outside the capital, and Chen Chaoci has also ordered the Ministry of Punishment to cooperate with Shuntian Prefecture to handle the case.
For the female relatives of each family who entered the palace to celebrate their birthdays, they also sent their maids at the entrance of the palace. Rather than waiting for them, they seemed to be strictly interrogating them.
Most of them are royal family members, and most of them don't pay much attention to the actions of these nannies, which also makes the team move forward very slowly.
More and more carriages were seen, blocking the entrance to the palace.
Seeing this, Song Ran simply asked the coachman to park the carriage a little far away from the palace gate, and then helped the princess get out of the carriage.
The side curtains also opened. It's Lu Jinxiang and her mother. They also followed Song Ran and the others out of the carriage.
Mrs. Lu is the daughter of the former Princess Hengping. Princess Hengping had two girls and one boy. Mrs. Lu was the eldest daughter. It was said that she was proficient in all kinds of literary, military and military affairs. It was also a good story in Beijing that she married the high-spirited uncle Lu Jiang.
Princess Hengping's other daughter is getting married.
The one who got married was none other than the man who interceded for the former prince.
Princess Hengping is obviously also a forward-thinking person. At that time, the uncle-in-law Lu Jiang was Chen Chaoci's confidant, and Tanhua Lang had close contacts with the former prince. No matter who became the emperor in the end, he could ensure the glory of Princess Hengping's palace for the rest of his life.
It's just that Tanhualang was demoted, which is a pity for this second lady.
I heard that this second young lady has a gentle personality. Although she is not as well-known as her elder sister, she is still a knowledgeable and reasonable person. She is still in love with this down-and-out young lady.
When everyone saw Princess Nanjun and Mrs. Lu from Uncle Guo's family getting off the carriage and walking into the palace gate in person to wait for the nuns to check, they could only follow suit and get off the carriage to follow them.
All the female relatives went to Changning Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager has been in poor health these days, and her energy is mostly dependent on ginseng. When he saw several female relatives who came to congratulate him on his birthday, he became tired and waved his hand to save them all from greeting him.
Mrs. Wang took Wang Chan to Concubine Chen's palace, and Mrs. Lu naturally took Lu Jinxiang to the Queen's Changkun Palace. The Prince's Palace stayed with the Empress Dowager to take care of them, and the rest of the female family members were either placed in the side hall, or several young father-in-laws were invited to guide them to the residences of other palace concubines.
Song Ran naturally went to Zhifu Palace to find Zhaohua.
Zhaohua was obviously much thinner than the previous few days.
Isn’t that just being banned? Why are there even no meals? The Emperor is not afraid that the Empress Dowager will feel distressed? Song Ran was puzzled.
When Zhaohua saw Song Ran, tears suddenly fell from his eyes.
She threw herself into Song Ran's arms and burst into tears.
Song Ran was at a loss for a moment, so she patted her back and comforted her: "Today is the Empress Dowager's birthday, and you will lift the ban. Why are you still crying?"
"Sister Ran, the emperor wants me to marry the Kingdom of Wei."
Song Ran was in a daze for a moment, feeling that what she heard was unreal. She looked at Zhaohua who was crying with red eyes in disbelief, and her voice trembled: "Who will you marry?"
"The second prince of Wei."
Song Ran's heart seemed to have been put down, but it seemed that she had not let it go.
This prince seems to be a marginal figure in Wei State. No Wei Yu was favored, and no eldest prince had real power. Song Ran has only heard a few rumors so far.
Song Ran was not sure what kind of person this was. Is Zhaohua lucky or unlucky to be married?
Seeing that Song Ran was stunned and unresponsive, Zhaohua reached out and pulled her clothes.
"They sent a beauty. Why did our Chen Kingdom send a princess? If I must send this princess, I would like to marry General Mu Ling, not the prince I have never met before."
Zhaohua's eyes were filled with tears, looking miserable and pitiful. She bit her lip, looking aggrieved.
Song Ran sighed again and again, not knowing what to do. She gently stroked Zhaohua's back, hoping she could feel something.
Song Ran thought of Wei Yu's attitude at the inn that day, and she must have known about it at that time. She is not afraid of Zhaohua's admiration for Mu Ling, because she knows that Zhaohua will soon become her second emperor's wife.
Song Ran didn't know how to comfort Zhaohua, after all, her own marriage was still pending.
Why did she want to marry Chen Chaobai?
"Sister Ran, I don't want to marry a useless person." Zhaohua's tone was almost on the verge of collapse.
"how you said that?"
"I ran to ask Meiren Zhao yesterday. Meiren Zhao said that the second prince's legs had a disease early on, so wouldn't that mean he was disabled?" Tears like beads were still falling down in Zhaohua's eyes. The skirt of my clothes was all wet.
This beautiful lady from Zhao didn't speak kindly to the prince of her country.
Zhaohua's eyes lost their light. After the slave girl finished cleaning up her makeup from crying, she just sat there in a daze.
Song Ran recalled Zhaohua's energetic appearance in the past, and then looked at his current appearance, feeling full of pity.
If it were the prince's brother who became the current emperor, would he not agree to this marriage? He is extremely intelligent, and he will surely be able to come up with other ways to get the best of both worlds.
"When did the princess know about the engagement?" Song Ran asked the maid next to Zhaohua.
The palace maid said respectfully: "This slave is new here yesterday. When she came, the princess was already so distracted."
"Where is the original palace maid?"
Song Ran glanced around and found that Zhaohua was indeed surrounded by some unfamiliar faces. The previous maids and eunuchs were gone.
"I heard that because the princess repeatedly sneaked out of the palace, the maids were demoted to the clothing bureau. The servants don't know where the other father-in-laws are."
In the past, when Zhaohua sneaked out of the palace, the late emperor would always punish him with a few words, but he did not anger Zhaohua's subordinates. This one has been serving her since childhood.
It seemed that Chen Chaoci was really furious this time.
Song Ran then thought about it, after all, Zhaohua almost lost his life during the assassination, and those slaves had indeed failed in their duties. If he didn't chop off his head, it would be considered a light punishment.
After leaving Zhifu Palace, Song Ran first went to the Queen's and Concubine Chen's residences, and finally went to Zhao Meiren's Yi'an Palace.
After entering the palace, instead of going to these two places to say hello, go directly to Zhao Meiren?
What if it was spread to the ears of those two people and stirred up trouble?
Song Ran didn't want to offend those two people yet.
Wei Yu was indeed at Zhao Meiren's place.
Although Wei Yu is the princess of the Wei Kingdom, she is expected to meet with the other female family members to pay homage to the Empress Dowager today. The remaining male envoys from Wei State stayed in the outer court with other officials.
Song Ran didn't find her in the side hall of Changning Palace, so he guessed that she had come to Zhao Meiren's place.
When Zhao Meiren saw that Song Ran was not as restrained as before, she thought she was used to the life in the harem.
Besides, the people carefully selected by the Wei State will never be timid or cowardly. Thinking about it, Meiren Zhao's attitude a few days ago was nothing more than giving Chen Chaoci the impression of being law-abiding.
Song Ran leaned over to greet the two of them.
"I wonder why the princess came to Yi'an Palace to find me?" Zhao Meiren sat in the front hall of Yi'an Palace and took the teacup from the maid's hand calmly without raising her eyelids to Song Ran.
Song Ran knew that she had underestimated this beauty a few days ago.
"This princess is here to find the third princess."
Zhao Meiren's expression changed slightly.
Song Ran glanced inside.
"I think the princess has already met Princess Zhaohua."
Wei Yu walked out of the inner hall.
"Song Ran thought that she had no reservations about the third princess that night, and she also wanted to ask the third princess for the truth. What did your country really mean by asking to marry Princess Zhaohua?"
"For the long-term friendship between the two countries, there must be sacrifices."
"Are we going to sacrifice Zhaohua?"
"Isn't it true that the person who married the princess in our Kingdom of Wei is a prince? Besides, you, the princess, can sacrifice your own marriage, but can't she as a princess? If she doesn't marry to the Kingdom of Wei, she may marry to another country in the future. .”
Song Ran was slightly startled. She could not deny what Wei Yu said.
As children of the royal family, it is true that many times they have no choice about their marriage.
"Your Highness, I reminded you that day in the restaurant."
"What do you mean?" Song Ran's pupils suddenly shrank and her brows furrowed.
"The Japanese princess proposed a marriage to the princess, and the princess also told me the stakes." Wei Yu cast her eyes at Song Ran halfway through her words, and felt that Song Ran's expression in front of her was gloomy.
Wei Yu stared at Song Ran, "As the princess said, if I propose to Emperor Chen to marry you to the Kingdom of Wei, he will definitely be rejected by Emperor Chen. If I want to come, it's better to ask for marriage for my royal brother." A more noble woman from the Chen Kingdom."
"Did you come for me in the first place?"
Song Ran got the answer when she saw Wei Yu's expression.
It turns out that so many people are concerned about her marriage.
"Since the third princess already knows that the princess has been ordered to be crowned the king, why bother to do so?" Song Ran closed her eyes, feeling cold in her heart.
"If the princess remains unmarried for one day, this princess will definitely feel a thorn in her heart. As I said again, she will want to steal the bride that day, but she won't be able to protect her, but this time he won't."
"Then he won't be able to marry me to the second prince of Wei?" Song Ran almost shouted with all her strength.
"The princess doesn't know that my second emperor brother's leg disease was left behind when he saved Mu Ling when he was young." Wei Yu said with a cold smile.
Song Ran's throat seemed to be blocked and she couldn't make a sound.
Zhao Meiren walked to the door and looked around worriedly, fearing that their conversation would be overheard by others.
"Two noblemen, they are quarreling so loudly, so be careful that the walls have ears."
Song Ran and Wei Yu were in a stalemate.
Both of them were almost blushing.
Song Ran tried hard to restrain her excitement. After listening to Zhao Meiren's words, she started to worry about whether the conversation between the two would be heard.
If Chen Chaoci knew about her relationship with Wei Guo and Mu Ling, how would the Nanjun Palace feel?
She was never alone behind her.
