On New Year's Eve, the unique scent of firecrackers is everywhere, even the air is filled with joy, and everyone's face is filled with happiness. Before opening the door, many families in the streets outside have already set off firecrackers and started slaughtering chickens and sheep.
Mrs. Su San was always the busiest on this day. She had to prepare the family's New Year's Eve dinner, worship the Kitchen God, and prepare offerings for the men to go to the ancestral temple. Everyone in the mansion was like a spinning top.
She got up before dawn and went to the courtyard of the old lady and Madam He to pay her respects. Then, she looked at Su Yao, who was dressed up in front of Madam He, with a complicated expression. She pursed her lips and said, "When you follow your grandmother into the palace, you must be careful in what you say and do, and don't cause trouble for the family."
Seeing Su Yaofu bowing, she felt a little bored again. She stepped forward and took Mrs. He's hand, looking a little tired: "Mom, my second brother and his wife have already gone to the old house. I will go over to help after I finish my work."
Although they have lived here for such a long time, there is no reason for them to celebrate the New Year at someone else's house. Besides, they have to worship their ancestors on New Year's Eve. So the He family had already cleaned up their house in the capital a few days in advance. Second Mistress He took care of the house in advance, and the Su family sent Second Master He over there.
Mrs. He also had to go back after attending the New Year's Eve banquet.
Mrs. He nodded and said nothing more. She just looked at Mrs. Su and got on the carriage.
As soon as they left, Mrs. Su San turned around and asked the Gao family who had followed them, "Did you get it done?"
"I sent the letter overnight as soon as you ordered me to do so." Gao Jia hurriedly agreed, then looked at Madam Su San hesitantly, "Madam Su San, Miss San has been raised in the mansion since she was a child. How could she be related to...?"
Mrs. Su San was also very surprised by this, but there was no point in pursuing it. With a deep circle of dark circles under her eyes, Mrs. Su San waved her hands with a gloomy expression.
It was really ironic to think about it. She wanted to sacrifice Su Yao in order to keep Su Xingxuan, but now she was trying to drive Su Xingxuan away. She was still sorry for Su Yao.
That's all...
She thought of Su Yao's indifference and sneered in her heart. Su Yao didn't regard her as a mother anyway. Perhaps there was no mother-daughter relationship between them.
At this time in the carriage, Mrs. He was talking to Su Yao about the things in the palace: "The emperor has a bad temper. The older he gets, the more suspicious he becomes. If it weren't for this, the prince wouldn't have been slandered and unable to defend himself..."
Knowing that Su Yao was different and trusting her, Mrs. He held Su Yao's hand and said, "I was hiding it before because I didn't want you to get involved. But now, I have to get involved. Listen to me carefully."
In fact, Su Yao knew something.
The current emperor took the throne from his younger brother. He had emerged from the army through a bloody battle, so he was decisive in killing. And because Queen Hu had been with him through thick and thin, sharing life and death, he and Queen Hu had a very deep relationship.
Empress He and the Emperor were young couples and supported each other all the way. When the Emperor was almost forced into despair, it was Empress Hu who always stayed by his side, guarding the backyard and inner house for him with all her heart so that he had no worries.
However, Queen Hu herself suffered serious health problems due to overwork.
Later, the emperor was forced to fall into the lake by an assassin. In the icy and snowy weather, it was Queen Hu who risked her life to jump into the lake to save the emperor. However, she suffered a lifelong illness and could no longer bear children.
It was also because of this that the emperor's first child was taken to the queen as soon as he was born, and was registered under the queen's name, named the crown prince, and raised by the queen herself.
This is also the reason why Mrs. He has such deep feelings for the prince - she is the prince's aunt, and the prince actually grew up under her care.
It’s a pity that she was the one who watched him fall.
When talking about this, Mrs. He's tone suddenly became colder, and she became much more gloomy. She closed her eyes and calmed down a little before continuing, "Since the death of the crown prince, the emperor's migraine has become more serious, and his temper has become very irritable. A few years ago, a concubine was beaten to death on the spot because of her rude words in the queen's palace..."
She paused, and touched Su Yao's head: "You must remember, although today is the New Year's Eve banquet, and it is also a happy day for the royal family, but for the emperor, there is no taboo. There are many things going on in the court recently, and it is not certain that something will provoke him. You must be careful in what you say and do, talk less, listen more and watch more."
She knew that Su Yao was a calm and self-sustaining person, but she still had to give him a few more instructions. Seeing that Su Yao agreed, she leaned back on the pillow and said softly, "As you said, we helped the Pang family a lot this time, and the Imperial Concubine and the Pang family must show their appreciation. Since we can't use this favor to investigate what happened back then right away, why not credit this favor to you?"
She wanted to help Su Yao gain some tangible benefits.
They arrived at the palace gate soon. Mrs. He's carriage was queued behind several princes and royal family members. As soon as they got off the carriage, they saw a long line of palace maids and eunuchs standing in front of them, each holding an exquisite new palace lantern in their hands. Although it was only evening, the lights had already been used.
Since Emperor Taizu, there has always been a grand banquet in the palace on New Year's Eve. Some useful ministers, favorites of the emperor, members of the royal family, and ladies of the imperial court were all invited.
But with the current seizure of the throne on New Year's Eve many years ago, New Year's Eve has become somewhat awkward.
Especially on New Year's Eve in the past few years, the emperor had a concubine beaten to death because she made rude remarks in the Queen's palace. The emperor believed that the concubine was disrespectful to the Queen and disturbed the souls. Since then, this New Year's Eve palace banquet, although a kind of honor, has also made people nervous.
All the ladies of the inner court entered the palace first. Madam He was a lady of the outer court, so she naturally waited behind. She took the sign and stood with Su Yao. After a while, she gently touched Su Yao and pointed at her: "Look, that is Princess Zhuang."
Su Yao followed her gaze and saw Princess Zhuang, dressed in formal attire and with a phoenix crown on her head, walking in with a few other noble ladies with her head lowered.
Although they were princesses, they were not allowed to use sedan chairs on this occasion. Princess Zhuang walked in quietly. Under the light, her face looked particularly pale and dark.
As if she realized someone was looking at her, she turned back to look in the direction of Mrs. He and the others, frowned, and quickly turned away.
Mrs. He waited until there was some space ahead before she sighed solemnly, "You are so patient."