The gambling god's wife in the Duke's Mansion is getting divorced again

The late emperor's edict is revealed, and the princess who was exiled from the Nan'an Palace returns.

As the end of the year approaches, the three ministers, six ministries, and nine temples are all busy. Sang Wan follows Xiao Ji around the clock, either going to the palace or to the Zongzheng Temple.

The process of tracing one's ancestral roots was complicated, but fortunately, with Xiao Yue's help, she managed to handle it all.

After the ceremony, a tea break was held at the Nan'an Palace, and Sang Wan was finally able to take a breath.

Xiao Yue helped her take off the heavy pearl crown and sighed, "This is a gift from the Queen Mother, right? They are all made of the finest oriental pearls. They are so beautiful."

Sang Wan let out a long breath, grabbed the teapot on the table and poured the tea into his mouth. His dry throat finally felt a little better.

"I'm dying of thirst. I haven't had even a sip of water this morning."

Xiao Yue hid her handkerchief behind her and smiled, "The process is a bit complicated. You should be more restrained. It would be disastrous if those distinguished guests outside saw you like this. You are the princess of the palace, you need to be more dignified. A gentleman is only interested in a graceful lady."

At today's ceremony, I noticed several young princes and nobles looking at you. You are now the most popular among the noble ladies in the capital. Wang Ma, from now on, you must keep a closer eye on the princess and pay more attention to her etiquette and manners.

Nanny Wang smiled and bowed, "Yes, Princess."

"All of you go down, I want to have a few private words with my sister."

Xiao Yue waved her hand, and Nanny Wang and the servants filed out.

"Sister Yue, my dear sister, please forgive me." Sang Wan was sweating.

Xiao Yue, relying on her status as an elder sister, loves to preach. She finds fault with her every time she sees her. In fact, they are twins, and it is not known who was born first.

"If you weren't my sister, I wouldn't bother with you." Xiao Yue pointed at her nose delicately, asked someone to bring in a lot of new robes, and held up one of the gold-embroidered court robes and said:

"You will wear this when you enter the palace tomorrow. Since the emperor still has no empress, he will most likely ask you to see the Concubine Chen tomorrow. She is now in charge of the six palaces, so you should be smart, speak less, and be more polite."

"How come the emperor hasn't appointed a queen at his age?" Sang Wan murmured.

"When the emperor was Prince Zhao, he had a principal wife. Unfortunately, Princess Zhao was unlucky. She passed away suddenly just after the emperor ascended the throne. The current emperor has not yet held a selection of concubines. Now he is surrounded by the elderly people who were in the palace. The most favored one before was Concubine Rong."

Xiao Yue grew up in the palace since she was a child. Now as the young lady of the prime minister's mansion, she often goes in and out of the palace. She knows everything about the inner palace like the back of her hand.

Sang Wan's eyelashes twitched, her face flushed slightly from the charcoal fire, her watery eyes fluttering in confusion, "Before, did you say that Concubine Rong had fallen out of favor?"

Xiao Yue became excited when talking about gossips in the palace.

"you do not say."

"That Concubine Rong was incredibly audacious. She took advantage of the Emperor's incognito trip to the south of the Yangtze River and ordered people to burn down the Jujiu Palace. Fortunately, Concubine Chen was lucky enough to escape the blaze. Concubine Rong was banished to the cold palace, and the Rong family was convicted, never to be seen again as they once were."

"Why would you set fire to something when there's nothing wrong?"

Sang Wan's heart tightened. It seemed that Zheng Yunlan's situation in the palace was not much better than Zheng Jinzhi's.

"The Concubine Chen's origins are unknown. From the moment she entered the palace, she became the Emperor's most beloved concubine. The Emperor loves her like pearls in his eyes, and he doesn't even bother to mention the other concubines. Not only that, he also gave her the Ziyang Palace next to the Yangxin Palace, changing the name Ziyang to Jujiu, and bestowing her the title 'Chen'. Do you know what this means?"

Sang Wan shook her head. Xiao Yue raised her eyebrows and smiled meaningfully:

"Chen, the lord of heaven and earth, how could any ordinary person be worthy of her? The emperor has chosen this woman to be the empress. Doesn't this really hit Concubine Rong right in the heart? She endured for so many years, finally outlasting Princess Zhao, and now that she has no rival left, Concubine Chen comes along out of nowhere and takes advantage of her. How can she tolerate this?"

Sang Wan pretended to suddenly realize, "The Rong family is aiming for the throne."

"Concubine Rong has always been ruthless. In the past, she relied on her favor to punish many concubines in the palace, and no one dared to say anything. Even the Princess of Zhao suffered a lot from her. Over the years, the Rong family has relied on Concubine Rong's power. Who hasn't been arrogant?

Her brother Rong Yize is the commander of the Imperial Guard, her father is a doctor of the Guanglu Temple, and she has a sister, Rong Zhuer, who is even more spoiled and domineering, chasing after the Pei family's heir all day long... Oh, he is not the Pei family's heir anymore."

Xiao Yue suddenly stopped talking, his expression darkening.

"Prince Pei is...?" Sang Wan raised his eyes, trying to see through the trance in her eyes. "Do you know him?"

Xiao Yue looked a little uncomfortable. "Let's not talk about him. He has changed his family name and taken his grandfather's surname, Zheng. He has no official title or rank. You may not meet him in the future."

"I heard from my brother that you had a golden marriage with Prince Pei." Sang Wan asked boldly.

"Nonsense, nonsense. When I was brought back to the palace, I didn't have any gold locks on me, so how could there be any talk of marriage? The prince was ill, and the late queen was sympathetic and allowed me to interact with him frequently. I was just getting closer to him because of the queen's kindness.

But he was a cold-hearted, unapproachable person, spending his days either reading or taking medicine. He was completely boring. Naturally, he wasn't a good match. Look at him, he was so withdrawn that he disregarded even his bloodline and human relations, forcing a falling out with the Pei family.

I tell you, your sister has sharp eyes and can tell whether a person has any future or not at a glance. This Prince Pei, no, this Zheng Jinzhi, is a loser.

Sang Wan's heart felt like a rock rolling down many steps and hitting her chest hard again, making her feel very depressed.

If Zheng Jinzhi heard Xiao Yue's comments, he would be so sad.

"But I heard from my brother that he seemed to like you very much, and he became very sick when he heard about your wedding."

Xiao Yue lowered her eyes and stopped laughing: "Why did my brother tell you so much?"

"The journey back to Beijing was really boring. My brother and I rode in a carriage and talked about the past." Sang Wan rolled his eyes.

Xiao Yue didn't think much about it, but just lowered her head and said, "He never told me that he loves me. But..."

She raised her eyes and smiled proudly: "When I was still unmarried, your sister was very popular in the capital. Many princes and young men wanted to marry me. It's not surprising that he admires me."

Sang Wan curled her lips, "Oh, yes. Sister is also very beautiful now."

Xiao Yue adjusted her hairpin proudly: "You come from a small place, so you need to learn more from me in the future. You need to keep up with me in terms of clothing and appearance. In the future, when I take you to a banquet, it will bring honor to our palace."

Outside, Xiao Ji, covered in snow, opened the curtain and walked in:

"What face do you have? Ah Wan is Ah Wan. No matter what she wears, she is the face of our Nan'an Palace."

Xiao Yue curled her lips: "Brother, you are biased. As soon as sister A Wan came back, you lectured me."

Xiao Ji laughed, loosened his cloak, shook off the snow on the ground, and hung it on the wooden rack:

"Why are you hiding here and whispering? There's not even a maid here to serve you?"

"We talked about some things in the palace, but we didn't let outsiders hear them." Xiao Yue said, "Did you see Uncle Duan at the ceremony today?"

Sang Wan seemed to have heard Pei Jinzhi and Li Jiu mention the name Prince Duan.

"Look, Xiao Qi has been released, and Uncle Duan looks lively again. Perhaps the emperor will show mercy and allow him to return to Shu after the New Year. He even suggested to me today that the emperor give Xiao Qi a job to prevent him from being idle and causing trouble."

Xiao Ji frowned, and Sang Wan thoughtfully poured a cup of tea and handed it to him: "Brother, drink some water."

He took it, drank a sip, put it down again, and said to Xiao Yue:

"I shouldn't have said this, but since it's been mentioned, I have to say it. Tell Shen Muchi to stay away from Xiao Qi. The two of them together are up to no good."

Xiao Yue's face darkened, and she looked worried:

"My husband is so simple-minded. It's all Xiao Qi's fault. Brother, you know my mother-in-law loves her son the most. If I say anything more, she will get angry with me. Even my mother-in-law doesn't like me. I can't control him.

When the Empress was around, how could the Shen family dare to show me disrespect? Now that she's gone, they've started to act like mothers-in-law. I..."

As she spoke, she seemed to have countless sad things flooding into her heart, and she wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

Xiao Ji couldn't help but soften his heart again: "Okay, okay, I'm sorry for being such a talkative brother."

"A new emperor appoints new ministers. The current emperor and I have no close relationship, and I haven't even been able to see the Concubine Chen, let alone try to please her.

The Empress Dowager is ill again. Although you will be in charge of the Taichang Temple after the new year, it is ultimately just a sinecure with no real power. What should we do with our Nan'an Palace?"

Xiao Yue seemed to be speaking in a private way to her brother, but Xiao Ji had already sensed something was wrong with her words, and his expression became even more embarrassed:

"Why is it my sister's turn to come back to her parents' home and scold me today?"

"Brother, how could you think that?" Xiao Yue stood up in shock, then knelt down again: "Brother, you are treating me as an outsider."

Xiao Ji's face darkened: "Who told you to say these things to me?"