Peach Blossom.

The imperial edict promoting Concubine Zhou to Madam Zhou spread throughout the palace and did not arouse any objection from the Empress Dowager!

Tao Ye was deeply surprised by this!

However, Tao Ye soon learned from the people in the Xianhua Palace that, with Zhou Yu Niang's qualifications, it was not an exaggeration to be canonized as a lady. The most powerful reason was that Emperor Si Yu was over thirty years old, but he had only one prince, who was born to Madam Zhou.

According to palace servants, when Si Yu was still a prince, the late emperor granted him a marriage with a principal wife and two concubines, and Madam Zhou was the first concubine.

Unfortunately, Si Yu’s wife was in frail health and passed away before Si Yu ascended the throne.

When Si Yu ascended the throne, he intended to enthrone Zhou as his empress, but Empress Dowager Meng thought that Zhou's father was only a seventh-rank county magistrate. How could such a small official be qualified to be the father-in-law of the emperor?

In the end, Si Yu had to obey the wishes of Empress Dowager Meng and enthrone another childless concubine, Shen Hui, as the queen, only because Queen Shen's father was a first-rank tutor.

Because Si Yu had advocated for the position of empress, Zhou was displeased by the empress dowager and she was unable to obtain an official status in the palace for a long time. It was not until she gave birth to the prince Si De that she was reluctantly granted the title of Jieyushi. Zhou's father was also promoted to the sixth rank chief historian.

In the following years, although Si Yu took in many concubines, these concubines either failed to give birth or suffered miscarriages during pregnancy. In short, they were unable to give birth to another prince for Si Yu.

Not to mention a prince, there isn't even a princess! Si Yu is the king of a country, with many concubines, but he only has one child!

Perhaps it was because of this that Empress Dowager Meng found it difficult to object to Zhou being promoted to the rank of Madam!

The above are all gossip information obtained by Taoye. In fact, Taoye doesn’t care whether it is true or not. Anyway, as long as the Queen Mother and the Princess don’t cause trouble, she will be thankful.

Madam Zhou always treated Tao Ye as a guest of honor. Whenever Si Yu visited Xianhua Palace, Madam Zhou would always have Tao Ye serve by his side.

Although it is called service, Tao Ye actually does not have to do anything, she just has to be there!

Before long, Tao Ye had become quite familiar with the palace people in Xianhua Palace, but she had never heard them mention Zhang Xiaowan.

Tao Ye was somewhat concerned about Xiao Wan. She thought back to when they were in the princess's mansion, Xiao Wan had helped her a lot and had even entered the palace for her without telling her, just to help her and Chen Ji be together... Although she and Chen Ji were not in that kind of relationship, Xiao Wan had really given up her feelings, and she couldn't help but be moved.

One day, when Madam Zhou was not in Xianhua Palace, Tao Ye said something to two palace maids with whom she got along well, and then slipped out to find Xiaowan.

Tao Ye asked for directions along the way and came to Fangle Palace where Xiaowan lived. From afar, she saw Caiwei directing several maids to clean the courtyard.

Caiwei was wearing a green dress and looked much thinner than before.

Previously, Tao Ye knew that Cai Ling and Cai Wei were the people who served Princess Si Yao closely, but they were not married into the Wang family as a dowry. She had always been puzzled, but when she saw Cai Wei here today, she suddenly realized.

Tao Ye stood at a corner and waved to Cai Wei: "Cai Wei! Do you still recognize me?"

Caiwei was delighted to see Taoye. She hurried to Taoye and said with a smile, "Sister Taoye? I heard that you entered the palace a long time ago, but I never had the chance to meet you. How have you been?"

Tao Ye guessed that the strange news of Princess Si Yao scalding her feet in Xianhua Palace should have spread to every corner of the harem, so it was not surprising that Caiwei knew about her.

Tao Ye smiled and nodded, then asked, "Is Xiao Wan in the room?"

"It's Talented Lady Zhang!" Caiwei winked at Taoye with an emphasizing tone.

Tao Ye glanced at the maids sweeping the courtyard and quickly changed her tone: "Yes, I want to see Lady Zhang. Could you please pass the message on for me?"

Caiwei glanced at the palace door and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang is feeling a little unwell, the doctor is taking her pulse, please wait a moment!"

Not long after, the palace door opened and Cailing sent Yizheng out. Caiwei stepped forward and told Cailing that Taoye wanted to see her, and Yizheng left with the medicine box.

Tao Ye watched Caiwei and Cailing speaking to each other in such a respectful and polite manner, and she couldn't help feeling sad for Caiwei. Suddenly, she noticed the doctor walking away, and his back looked like Wang Ao.

She remembered that Wang Ao was now a chief physician under the Imperial Physician!

Without time to think, Tao Ye ran away and caught up with Wang Ao on the path outside, shouting, "Third brother! Wait!"

Wang Ao turned around when he heard the voice and saw that it was Tao Ye. He was overjoyed and quickly turned back: "Sister, why are you here?"

Tao Ye rushed to the front and asked hurriedly: "How is your second brother's illness?"

After hearing this, Wang Ao's smile immediately disappeared, and he started to whine: "If it wasn't for asking about my second brother, I'm afraid you wouldn't have called me!"

Tao Ye looked helpless: "Is it wrong for me to care about the patient?"

Wang Ao had no choice but to tell Wang Jing about his situation: "After you left last time, I took him home and treated him and took medicine as before. He woke up two days later, and as soon as he woke up, he ran to the Supreme Court to beat the drum to complain about the murder of my second sister-in-law! When the Supreme Court heard that the defendant was a princess, how could he dare to accept the case? But the plaintiff was the prince consort, so he didn't dare not accept the case! He simply pretended to be sick and fainted in court, and has been sick ever since! Now all the cases in the Supreme Court have been temporarily shelved, and the files have piled up like a mountain, and there are complaints from below..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Tao Ye interrupted Wang Ao: "I'm asking about your second brother, why are you talking about so many things in the Supreme Court?"

"Oh..." Wang Ao was not very happy, but he continued to answer: "When my second brother saw that the court judge didn't do anything, he went to other government offices to file a complaint, but every government office was the same! He just wouldn't give up, and ran out every day. He walked too much and ended up fainting on the street again. My eldest brother and I carried him back, and he has been lying in bed for two days. We don't know when he will wake up!"

Tao Ye was overwhelmed by what she heard: "You knew that his leg couldn't walk too far, so why didn't you stop him? Just let him run around every day?"

Wang Ao shook his head: "How dare you stop me? Don't you know that seeking justice for his second sister-in-law is the only reason for him to live?"

Tao Ye sighed and asked with concern, "What about Yu'er?"

Wang Ao said: "Yu'er has been crying a lot recently. She scolds the princess whenever she sees her. My mother has tried to stop her again and again... The princess has such a bad temper that she can't stand it. Every time she makes the house a mess..."

"This bastard princess, my Yu'er is so young, how dare she bully her?" Tao Ye cursed in a fit of excitement.

Wang Ao pouted and cast a disdainful look: "What do you mean by 'your Yu'er'? You're talking as if you were really my second sister-in-law!"

Tao Ye realized that she had made a slip of the tongue and shut up.

Wang Ao suddenly became gentle again and comforted Tao Ye: "But you don't have to worry too much. The princess scalded her feet and rarely left her room recently. Whenever she went out, she had to ride in a sedan chair. So as long as Yu'er doesn't yell and scold, the princess won't cause trouble!"

Tao Ye nodded. She felt that she had asked all the questions she wanted to ask, so she prepared to go back to Fangle Palace to find Xiaowan.

Wang Ao hurriedly called Tao Ye again: "Hey! We finally met once, don't you care about me?"

Tao Ye was stunned: "Why do I care about you?"

"You...how can you be so unromantic?" Wang Ao was a little annoyed and blushed.

Tao Ye was speechless, and immediately put on the posture of an elder, criticizing: "You little brat, do you know what is romance?"

"Why shouldn't I know? I'm already fourteen! You were only fifteen when you married my second brother, weren't you?" Wang Ao stomped his feet in regret as he finished speaking: "You've confused me! I mean, my second sister-in-law was only fifteen when she married my second brother!"

Tao Ye couldn't help but burst out laughing. She stuck out her tongue at the ignorant boy in front of her and ran back to Fangle Palace.

Caiwei had been waiting outside Fangle Palace anxiously. When she finally saw Taoye coming back, she couldn't help but flirt with Taoye.

Taoye smiled and was led by Caiwei into the hall to meet Xiaowan.

Xiaowan sat on the soft couch, with her hair in a bun and a hairpin on one side. She wore a silk skirt with purple and green gauze patterns and a tail that trailed on the ground. She looked much more dignified than when she was a maid. It was a pity that her face was full of sorrow and she no longer had the charm of the past.

There were also several palace maids including Cai Ling in the room.

Tao Ye put her hands together at her waist, bowed gently, and respectfully called out, "Zhang Cairen!"

Xiaowan was lost in thought when she heard the call. She looked up and saw Taoye. She couldn't help shedding tears: "Sister Taoye..."

This name was still as intimate as before, and Tao Ye felt touched again.

Xiaowan waved her hand, signaling the palace maids to leave. Cailing, Caiwei and others went out and closed the door.

Tao Ye waited until there was no one else in the room before sitting down next to Xiao Wan and wiped away her tears: "What's wrong with you? You're seeing a doctor and crying?"

Xiao Wan lamented with tears in her eyes: "Like Concubine Zhou, who gave birth to the emperor's only son and was favored by the emperor, but her mother's official position was not high enough, and she was still looked down upon! What's more, I am just a common maid. Who in the palace would even look at me?"

Tao Ye felt sad after hearing this: "I am sorry for you."

Xiao Wan hurriedly held Tao Ye's hand and forced a smile: "Sister, don't say that. My life is not so miserable. Fortunately, the Queen has pity on me and allowed me to have a place. Otherwise, how would I be qualified to live in this Fangle Palace? It's just..."

Xiao Wan frowned, and tears rolled down her cheeks again. "But I was willing to go to the palace for you because I hoped that you and Master Chen would have a chance to be together. In this way, even if I was convicted or died in the palace, I would have no regrets... But I didn't expect that he was such a short-lived person and died in a sea of ​​fire! Every time I think of it, my heart aches... But I'm afraid that others will see me crying..."

Tao Ye couldn't bear to see Xiao Wan crying so sadly, and suddenly had the urge to tell the truth: "In fact, Chen Ji didn't..."

"Is there nothing wrong with him?" Xiaowan suddenly stopped crying. Curiosity prompted her to widen her eyes and look at Taoye eagerly.