Wang Qingyao's question was so direct and specific that her heart pounded with anticipation as she looked at Consort Chen.
Consort Chen's hand trembled, spilling a little hot tea. She was even more shocked than before.
Instead of answering Wang Qingyao directly, as the mistress of a palace, her shock quickly turned into questions.
"Why would you ask that?" she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and threw the question back at Wang Qingyao.
Wang Qingyao replied truthfully, "At the end of last year, Duke Ding'an and I went to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Nanzhou. We unintentionally discovered that Grand Tutor Wei was searching for the Emperor's eldest son there."
There was actually a loophole in her statement. How did she know that the person Grand Tutor Wei was looking for was the Emperor's eldest son? Would Grand Tutor Wei tell her whom he was looking for?
However, Consort Chen had been so shocked one after another today that she didn't notice the strangeness in Wang Qingyao's words. Instead, her recently calmed mood was once again thrown into turmoil: "What did you say? Grand Tutor Wei was looking for the Emperor's eldest son?"
Wang Qingyao nodded.
Consort Chen, in her shock, also asked with confusion, "Why would he go to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Nanzhou to look for the Emperor's eldest son?"
Wang Qingyao's heart stirred: Consort Chen knew that the Emperor's eldest son was not in Yunnan, Guizhou, or Nanzhou. She might even know where the Emperor's eldest son was.
When prying into such court secrets, the worst thing to do was to play games and be dishonest, or to be suspicious of each other. Wang Qingyao was determined to get to the bottom of it today, so she was very sincere.
"This matter has to start with a court romance novel I wrote..."
After listening to Wang Qingyao's explanation, Consort Chen looked as if she had heard something from the heavens. Her expression was incredibly complex, her mouth opening and closing, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
"So, you deduced all of this?" Consort Chen frowned, looking at Wang Qingyao incredulously.
Wang Qingyao nodded solemnly, "This isn't new. It has happened in every dynasty. One can guess it with a little thought."
Consort Chen's eyes widened, "It's not new? You can guess it with a little thought..."
Consort Chen seemed to want to argue with her on this point. After a moment of serious thought, she said, "I have never heard of such an absurd and audacious matter in any dynasty!"
Wasn't there? Wang Qingyao was stunned. Had she read too many online novels?
"Ahem," she coughed guiltily, "I usually enjoy reading novels, perhaps such things were written in them, and I mistook them for historical records. Alas, it's all my fault for not studying properly. But this can be considered a fortunate accident. Fortunately, Steward Ji eventually revealed the truth, but there was no evidence, and the Emperor's eldest son could not be found. If the Emperor's eldest son could be found, Grand Tutor Wei could be overthrown, and Empress Xiaoxian could be avenged! Your Highness, don't you want that?"
The last sentence moved Consort Chen. She closed her eyes slightly, as if recalling the events of twenty-two years ago.
The hall was silent, only Consort Chen's rapid breathing could be heard.
Wang Qingyao dared not disturb her, fearing that even a small movement would disrupt the atmosphere she wanted to create for her to confide.
"...When Empress Xiaoxian was giving birth, I was indeed in the delivery room," Consort Chen said slowly.
Wang Qingyao was startled. She remembered Steward Ji saying that Grand Tutor Wei had silenced everyone in Empress Xiaoxian's delivery room that year. How had Consort Chen survived?
"Almost no one knew that Empress Xiaoxian was carrying twins... or perhaps not exactly twins. I heard Imperial Physician Lu say that the Empress had a 'double palace' condition, meaning the two children grew in separate wombs, which is different from ordinary twins. The Emperor was inexperienced at the time, and the power was held by Grand Tutor Wei's faction. Consort Wei was also pregnant. The Empress had a premonition and early on instructed Grand Tutor Wei not to reveal that she was carrying twins. Even the Emperor didn't know."
Wang Qingyao was dumbfounded. Double palace?
In that case, it wasn't impossible for the dramatic novels she'd read before, where the female lead was pregnant with twins, lost one, and kept the other.
"When the Empress gave birth, the Emperor was not in the palace. Grand Tutor Wei had already arranged for people to detain him at an imperial villa outside the palace. Grand Tutor Wei's men wouldn't let me enter the delivery room to accompany the Empress, so I secretly..."
Just as she was reaching a crucial point, the palace maid guarding the hall suddenly peeked inside and quickly reported, "Reporting to Your Highness, Princess Nange has arrived."
Zhenzhu didn't say anything, as she knew Wang Qingyao was always close to Feng Jiangduo.
Consort Chen nodded and stood up, no longer continuing her story.
Although Wang Qingyao was disappointed, combining it with what Steward Ji had said earlier, she could already guess most of it.
Feng Jiangduo had naturally come to find Wang Qingyao.
It turned out that the two princesses from the Xia Kingdom had arrived uninvited, and Princess Yinyue had brazenly declared that she wanted to compete with Wang Qingyao again.
Consort Wei had sent someone to summon Wang Qingyao, only to learn that Wang Qingyao had gone to see Consort Chen.
This was also what Wang Qingyao had instructed Feng Jiangduo to do: if Consort Wei asked, she should not lie and just tell the truth.
Although Consort Wei and Consort Chen were not enemies, their relationship was definitely not good.
Wang Qingyao going to see Consort Chen at Consort Wei's banquet, hmm, it sounded like an act that would embarrass Consort Wei.