A concubine enters the mansion? Reborn, three matchmakers and six engagements to marry the Prime Min

Song Zan hated Emperor Xuande in his heart. If it weren't for him, his sister wouldn't have died of blood loss due to anger. Song Hongshen wouldn't have suffered so much for so many years as a bastard of the Song family.

Although the Song family did not treat him harshly, and Song Zan even treated him better than his own son, in Song Zan's view, Song Hongshen was of noble status, and being called a bastard of the Song family was already a great humiliation.

So over the years, Song Zan often felt awkward when facing Emperor Xuande.

Whenever she thought of her sister, she would make a few sarcastic remarks to the emperor.

Even in serious matters, he can compromise for the Song family.

He didn't expect that these things would be exposed and the truth would come out one day.

He had intended to follow his sister's wishes and take the secret into his coffin. If the prince had not gone too far, he would not have told the truth in a fit of anger.

But since the emperor asked, he didn't want to hide it, and he didn't want to avoid Song Hongshen. He wanted to see how the emperor would defend himself.

Song Zan thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "The late queen left the palace because she heard the conversation between His Majesty and Consort Xian. At that time, His Majesty said that the child could not be kept."

"The late queen was so angry that she quietly left the palace and returned to the Song family."

"That night my concubine had a difficult childbirth and died. I thought since the late queen wanted to leave, I might as well fake her own death and get away. So the fire in Fenghe Palace was started by someone I sent, and the one who was burned to death was my concubine."

Emperor Xuande looked at Song Zan inquiringly, "What a coincidence, when Zi Ning returned home, the Song family's concubine died of childbirth complications?"

Based on his understanding of Song Zan, the concubine was probably...

Song Zan looked frank, but did not respond to Emperor Xuande's words.

Instead, he continued, "She was still alive when the Fenghe Palace caught fire. It was during the seventh day of the death that Your Majesty performed the ritual for her, and she died of hemorrhage after giving birth."

"Your Majesty was in so much pain during those days, but for her, life was worse than death."

The death of the late queen had a lot to do with her sadness and despair before giving birth. Song Zan couldn't help but tear up when he mentioned this.

Emperor Xuande was stunned for a long time, then said, "I remember clearly the day when the fire broke out in Fenghe Palace. That afternoon, I sent someone to deliver something to Zi Ning, and I also wrote a letter of apology by hand."

"In the evening, Concubine Xian suddenly came to the Imperial Study. She was five months pregnant at the time and brought me some snacks. I kept her there to talk for a while."

"The virtuous concubine suddenly mentioned the young son of Prince Su's mansion, and I said that the child cannot be kept."

"At that time, Concubine Xian advised me that after all, he was of royal blood, and it would be a merit to keep him. I said that he was just an evil seed, so why should I keep him."

Prince Su was also the descendant of the previous emperor. After Emperor Xuande ascended the throne, Prince Su attempted to win over other princes to rebel, but was discovered and killed by Emperor Xuande. It happened that during those days, the court officials were arguing over the treatment of other people in Prince Su's mansion.

Song Zan frowned and couldn't help asking, "What was the reason for the separation between the emperor and the empress?"

He asked his sister about it that year, but she didn't say anything. It seemed that she didn't want to say it out loud.

Song Hongshen also sat aside and listened quietly, looking at Emperor Xuande with an even more distant gaze than before.

Emperor Xuande sighed and said, "This matter is all my fault. You know that she has always had a close relationship with Yongning and Zhou Yangze."

Song Zan was a little surprised. Why was there something about the King of War involved here?

The late Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Zhan knew each other when they were young, and they were childhood sweethearts. Later, the late Queen married the current Emperor, who was still a prince, and Prince Zhan always respected the late Queen and called her "Imperial Sister-in-law".

The late queen was virtuous and took good care of her younger brothers and sisters.

But that was all. If anyone said there was something going on between the two of them, Song Zan wouldn't believe it.

While Song Zan's thoughts were wandering, Emperor Xuande also explained the whole story.

It turned out that the War King Zhou Yangze happened to return to the capital those days to pay homage to the late emperor and the empress dowager.

Zhou Yangze has always respected the emperor's sister-in-law, so he specially asked for permission to go to Fenghe Palace to pay his respects to the late queen.

When Zhou Yangze entered the palace, Emperor Xuande got the news. His subordinates reported that His Royal Highness Prince Zhan had brought some toys for the children, which he hid secretly.

Emperor Xuande was a little annoyed at that time. His son didn't need Zhou Yangze to prepare anything.

It was not until Zhou Yangze left the palace that he went to Fenghe Palace to ask what the two had talked about.

In his words, Emperor Xuande revealed his dissatisfaction with Zhou Yangze.

The late Empress knew the knot in Emperor Xuande's heart, so she advised him to let it go. Since Zhou Yangze was doing his duty as a prince in his fiefdom, the Emperor should also be relieved.

In the eyes of the late queen, Emperor Xuande was really entangled and twisted, as he could not bear to punish the person ruthlessly, but was bothered by the existence of such a person. So she advised him to let Zhou Yangze go, which was also to let himself go.

The two were married for life, and they supported each other through the most difficult times. The late queen did not think that this was out of line, and she had spoken frankly about more important matters.

But Emperor Xuande was just angry about their meeting, and when he heard what the late queen said, he felt that she was protecting Zhou Yangze.

He asked her where the things Zhou Yangze sent were, and he wanted to see them.

The late queen didn't understand and said they were just some local products and there was nothing to see.

Emperor Xuande didn't believe it and felt more and more that the late empress had deliberately concealed the truth.

The two of them started arguing, and Emperor Xuande was furious, so he asked the late queen if she was hiding something shameful, or if the child was Zhou Yangze's, which made him so worried.

In fact, Emperor Xuande regretted it as soon as he said that. With Song Zining's personality, if there was really something going on between him and Zhou Yangze, he would probably be thrown a divorce document in his face.

Moreover, she was full-term at that time, but Zhou Yangze last returned to Beijing five months ago, and before that a year ago, so the time didn't match.

The former queen was naturally furious when she heard him say that. She trembled all over and pushed the man out.

After Emperor Xuande returned, he calmed down completely. He wrote a letter of apology to the late empress, selected a gift in the small storehouse, and ordered someone to deliver it.

He originally wanted to go and comfort her after he finished his work in the evening, but by the time he had time, Fenghe Palace was already ablaze.

After saying this, he sat behind his desk, frowning and thinking hard. I don't know how it turned out like this. Didn't Zi Ning see his letter back then?

But this happened more than 20 years ago, and it is extremely difficult to verify it.

For a long time afterwards, the three people in the imperial study remained silent.

It was Song Hongshen who broke the silence in the study room, "Your Majesty, why don't you let me investigate this matter? Although it has been a long time, as long as you are determined, you can always find some clues."

Emperor Xuande felt a little uncomfortable when he heard him call him "Your Majesty" and refer to himself as a subject.

After thinking for a while, he said, "We can slowly check these things. The most important thing right now is for you to recognize your ancestors and return to your roots."

If others heard this, they would probably kneel down in joy and express gratitude.

But Song Hongshen remained expressionless and spoke with a tense look.

"Regarding the matter of recognizing one's ancestors, I have a few requests."

"If Your Majesty agrees, I will agree to return to my ancestral home. If Your Majesty disagrees, I will still be a bastard of the Song family."