The Evil Emperor's Favorite: The Sickly and Poisonous Concubine Goes Crazy

After Su Jingning left the Eastern Territory, he went to Yucheng on the way and then returned to the Imperial Capital. The Queen Mother and her entourage had already returned to the capital for several days.

Chen Xu colluded with the enemy and rebelled, holding the Queen Mother hostage, and finally hanged himself in Liangjiang City. The crime of colluding with the enemy and treason was committed by the entire family. All members of the Chen family were demoted or killed because of Chen Xu, and there was no place for them to rise again. The position of the head of the East Territory was vacant, and all parties in the court were eyeing the East Territory covetously, but His Majesty made an unexpected decision.

With thunderous ruthlessness and determination, he overruled all objections and appointed Guan Hong, who had sent troops to resolve the crisis in Liangjiang City that day, as the chief governor of the East Territory. He handed over all the military power of the East Territory to him with complete trust.

Guan Hong became a new noble in the imperial capital, and everyone wanted to curry favor with him. However, the new governor of the East Territory was not an easy person to deal with. He refused to give anyone face and left the imperial capital overnight and returned to the East Territory.

In addition to the chaos in the East Border, there was another matter that became the after-dinner talk of the dignitaries in the Imperial Capital. That was that after the Empress Dowager returned to the capital, she had been claiming to be ill and had not gone out to see anyone, not even His Majesty. Until yesterday, news came from the palace that Concubine Shu, who had been demoted not long ago, was personally taken out of the cold palace by the Empress Dowager, and there was a trend of her being restored to the throne.

"Miss, An Xia is back."

Yun Qing led An Xia, who came back a few days later than them, into Su Jingning's yard.

Midsummer has arrived, and the capital has been very hot recently. The lush magnolia tree in the yard can just block out some of the dryness. Su Jingning is sitting under the shade of the tree looking at the various books and accounts for the expansion of Fengting Tower that Yue Xun had delivered to the mansion just after she returned to the capital the day before. She spent the whole afternoon reading until she felt dizzy.

Hearing the sound, Su Jingning turned around and looked at them. An Xia was still dressed in green, following behind Yun Qing, holding a square wooden box in her hand.

"came back."

"Miss." An Xia put down the wooden box and saluted Su Jingning.

"This pile of account books that Yue Xun sent makes me dizzy. Now that you're here, I feel so lazy. Come and sit down. Come and sit down." Su Jingning looked at An Xia with a smile in his eyes as if he had seen a savior.

An Xia put the wooden box on the stone table, with a smile on her usually calm face: "Yue Xun, that money-grubber, is getting more and more obsessed with money. The young lady sent so many account books as soon as she returned to Beijing."

Su Jingning propped up his chin and looked at the wooden box that An Xia placed on the table, with a puzzled look:

"what is this?"

An Xia shook her head and reached out to open the wooden box. "It's a grass. I don't know what kind of precious species it is. Lord Yegu personally gave it to me and asked me to take good care of it and send it to the girl."

"Hey, are they about to bloom?" An Xia was a little surprised when she saw the small flower buds that suddenly appeared.

Su Jingning looked at the well-cared-for Purple Dove in the wooden box. The plant had a light purple hue and looked fragile yet tenacious. A faint fragrance wafted out of the wooden box, and two small flower buds appeared on the top of the branches and leaves.

She saw this red sandalwood sapote in her senior sister's medicine valley that day, and remembered Mu Xi's broken pot of red sandalwood sapote, so she asked her senior sister for it.

"Miss, what kind of grass is this? Why have I never seen it before?" Yun Qing asked from the side.

Su Jingning reached out and gently moved the leaves of the purple hibiscus, thinking of Mu Xi, with a smile on his face:

"Purple Tanpaloma flower, Princess Xuyang has returned to Mo Linyuan, let's take care of it for her first, and give it to her when she comes back. Yunqing, you take it down and find a flower farmer to take good care of it."

When Yun Qing heard that this was the legendary magical flower from the Western Regions, his eyes were filled with surprise and he carefully took the flower away.

"Miss, this is the evidence I found in Laoshan about the private minting of official silver and weapons by the Shen Guogong Mansion and the Queen Mother." An Xia handed the sealed book and a few silver coins to Su Jingning and continued.

"But after Chen Xu got into trouble, they seemed to have become alert. The evidence I found was not enough. Their secret village in Laoshan suddenly stopped and the people disappeared. Shen Feng, the son of Duke Shen's mansion, also returned to Beijing. It is said that he will participate in the national examination in half a month. In this case, they should abandon the secret village in Laoshan."

Su Jingning looked at the booklet in her hand, then picked up a silver coin and looked at it carefully, frowning slightly. She had expected that the Queen Mother would return to the capital, the East Territory would have a new owner, and the Shen family would abandon Laoshan.

This silver coin is a replica that looks exactly like the real thing. If it weren't for the master who cast the silver himself, ordinary people would not be able to tell the difference.

"It's not surprising that they want to give up Laoshan. The Queen Mother has returned to Beijing, and they can't touch the Shen family in a short time. But they dare not act rashly. Keeping these things will always be useful in the future." Su Jingning put down the silver coins and said lightly.

"By the way, young lady, there is one more thing. I heard that the Empress Dowager will attend the Biyun Lake Cruise Banquet in a few days. Concubine Shu has been taken out of the cold palace by the Empress Dowager on the pretext of serving her. The news of her reinstatement should have been announced from the palace in the next two days." An Xia put away the things and spoke again.

Su Jingning looked indifferent, with a hint of coldness in her eyes. Imperial Concubine Shu was reinstated? She still had a good bargaining chip in her hand that she hadn't used yet. She had always been vindictive. She had originally planned to let Imperial Concubine Shu go if she stayed in the cold palace obediently.

"Oh, I see."

"You just came back, go down and rest first."

An Xia stepped back in response.

Su Jingning sat alone under the tree, sighed softly, and looked up at the shade of the tree above her head. There was always something stuck in her heart. After they parted in the East Territory that day, she hadn't seen Gu Yan'an since then.

Should I tell A Yan about the old prince's matter?

She asked her father, and he said that the old prince had been hiding it from him, not wanting A Yan to know that he didn't have much time left. But she knew how important the old prince was to A Yan. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become a completely different person after the old prince's death in his previous life, and would have gone crazy and reckless.

Su Jingning looked up at the sky, his mind uneasy, his brows slightly frowned, not knowing how to make a decision.

Yun Ya hurried in with a happy look on her face, breaking her melancholy mood.

"Miss, the eldest lady is back. She is now paying respects to the old lady in Songhua Courtyard with her husband."

Su Jingning looked back in surprise, her bright face filled with an unconcealable smile, and she quickly stood up.

"Sister, you're here so soon! Go and take the jade bracelet I brought back that day. I'll go see Sister first."

Su Jingning walked hurriedly and briskly out of the yard and headed towards Qingsong Courtyard.

After my elder sister got married, she went to Qizhou with her brother-in-law and had not returned to Beijing for more than two years. Fortunately, now her brother-in-law Pei Xiaoqing has returned to Beijing and has been transferred to the Ministry of Personnel as a minister, so my elder sister can stay in Beijing with them.

As soon as Su Jingning entered Songhuayuan, she heard laughter coming from the house, so she lifted her skirt and walked in quickly.

"Second Miss!" The maid in my grandmother's courtyard greeted her hurriedly when she saw her come in.

Su Jingning waved his hand, motioning her to go down.

Grandmother's house was full of people. Su Jingning saw a young woman sitting next to her mother. She was wearing a navy blue dress and had a demure and dignified face. She was elegant and reserved, showing the elegance of an eldest daughter of aristocratic families. She was Su Luojing, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo.

"Sister!"

Su Jingning's bright eyes were filled with joy as he pounced towards Su Luojing.

Su Luojing saw the girl hurriedly entering the room and rushing towards her with a happy face, so she stood up and walked a few steps towards her, looking doting, and held her in her arms.

"You're already a grown-up girl, why do you still jump and skip when you walk? It's not proper." Su Luojing seemed to be disgusted, but her voice was gentle and there was a helpless smile on her face.

Su Jingning hugged his elder sister and looked up at her with a rare innocent look on his face. His elder sister was the eldest daughter of the Su family. She had always been dignified and polite, and acted in a thoughtful and measured manner. She was a role model for the other sisters in the Su family.

When she was young, her health was much better than it is now. While her sisters would go to the school to study with the teacher and go to the martial arts field to practice archery, she would stay in the yard all day and rarely go out. At that time, her elder sister would bring her favorite cakes to her yard after school every day to accompany her. Because of her health, her elder sister also favored her more. Whenever she was naughty and did something wrong, her elder sister would protect her.

"Sister just came back and you're already nagging me." Su Jingning curled his lips, not caring about Su Luojing's words, but hugged her even tighter.

Su Luojing looked at Su Jingning, who looked lively and had a bright complexion, and felt relieved. She had heard in Qizhou that this girl had fallen into the water and was injured. Thinking of her sick body, she was worried every day. Today, she looked much better than when she saw her in Qizhou two years ago, and her temperament was much more lively.

"You have suffered a lot this year." Su Luojing looked at her with a distressed look. When she was at home, she didn't realize that Su Ruofu had such a vicious heart. If she had discovered it earlier, Ningning would not have suffered.

"Since you feel sorry for me, sister, why don't you go home and live? Brother-in-law has returned to Beijing now, so why don't you stay at home with him?" Su Jingning looked at Su Luojing with his bright eyes, and there was expectation in them.

As soon as she finished speaking, the old lady's hearty laughter came: "You girl, your Ah Jing now has a marquis' mansion to worry about. If you want her to stay at home with you, what will happen to the Chengyang Marquis' Mansion?"

The wife of Marquis Chengyang was ill and had no energy to take care of the affairs of the mansion. A year ago, the young lady of the Marquis Chengyang mansion died of childbirth complications. When Su Luojing and his wife returned to Beijing, the wife of Marquis Chengyang handed over all the affairs of the mansion to Su Luojing.

Seeing Su Jingning hanging on Su Luojing like a boneless person, the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo smiled and said:

"Come and sit down quickly. Your sister is pregnant now and can't stand your messing around."

Su Jingning was stunned for a moment, then stood up straight with a look of surprise on his face: "Sister is pregnant?"

Su Luojing looked gentle, gently stroking her belly which was not yet pregnant, and said softly to Su Jingning:

"Yes, Ningning is going to be an aunt."

Su Jingning looked delighted, and was very cautious in his movements towards Su Luojing, fearing that he might accidentally touch the baby in her sister's belly.

That cautious look made everyone in the room cover their faces and laugh.