After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 386 Doubts
When Haitang read the letter and saw this, she couldn't help but feel confused.

What does Mrs. Gui's words mean?
"Waiting for the new king to take over the throne in the future"...

Isn't the new king the eighth prince? How could Concubine Xu Xian, who gave birth to the eighth prince, be just an honorary concubine? Even if the new monarch would not issue an order to make her the Queen Mother due to various reasons, it would not be possible for her to be reduced to the point where she had to curry favor with the Wu family.

The Wu family used to be prosperous, but it has been in decline for many years. Even if the new monarch favors the Wu family and issues a decree to return the house and property, so that the Wu family can return to the capital and live a prosperous life, it will be nothing more than the residence of the former father-in-law. At most, it will have a title, but it will not have any real power.

Concubine Xu Xian almost became the wet nurse for Queen Wu's son, but she didn't have time to actually take up the post. She had no master-servant relationship with the Wu family and could only be regarded as a neighbor at best. Judging from Mrs. Gui's reaction, she didn't seem to recognize the neighbor. Therefore, neither Concubine Xu Xian nor her son had any reason to give special preferential treatment to the Wu family. As the down-and-out daughter-in-law of the Wu family, where did Mrs. Gui have the confidence to think that Concubine Xu Xian needed to curry favor with her?
Does Mrs. Gui think that the new king will not be the eighth prince? Who could it be? Prince Ji?
Prince Keji has his own biological mother. Now that Lu Zhaorong is attached to Concubine Sun, how friendly can he be to the Wu family? Even if she and Prince Ji only used the Sun family to gain power and would eradicate the Sun family once they gained power, that would be a matter of the future. Moreover, even if Prince Ji falls out with the Sun family, it does not mean that he will treat the Wu family favorably. Why did Mrs. Gui say that after the new king came to power, the Wu family would have unparalleled wealth and power?
The new king is not the grandson of the Wu family, so why should he support the Wu family?
The third prince, the grandson of the Wu family, died in the fire of Kunning Palace together with his biological mother, Queen Wu, more than ten years ago!
Could Mrs. Gui be really confused?
Haitang retracted her thoughts and continued reading the letter.

Wu Qiong was probably also shocked by her mother's remarks. Although she subconsciously repeated what her mother, Mrs. Gui, said in her letter without concealing anything, she still felt in her heart that her mother's words could not be taken seriously.

Not long after she was born, she moved into Cining Palace. When he moved out of the palace, he was still young. She did not have a deep memory of life in the palace. She only vaguely remembered meeting the Queen Mother and the old palace people when she was a child. The old palace people were indeed very strict. She remembered that Xu palace people had played with her and brought her delicious snacks. Liuhua also secretly avoided people and cried while hugging her. It is said that it was because she was born to resemble her aunt Empress Wu.

She still remembered that her cousin Wu Keyuan lived with her mother and daughter when she was a child. She only had her cousin as a playmate at that time, and the brother and sister had a very good relationship. But when she got older, her cousin moved away and only visited her and her mother every five or ten days. His mother once asked him where he had moved, and he only said that he was still in Cining Palace, but in another direction. There were servants and palace people taking care of him, he had no worries about food and clothing, and someone taught him to read. But the mother asked her cousin to take them to his residence, but he refused, saying that he couldn't make the decision.

My mother felt that her cousin was disobedient, so she turned her arms outward and asked the Queen Mother to win over him. Her attitude towards her cousin became worse day by day. Not only did she complain in private, but she also scolded her more and more unpleasantly in front of her cousin. The Queen Mother once sent the old palace servants to criticize her, and she calmed down a little. However, after moving into the Cheng'enhou Mansion and the Queen Mother was no longer around, she began to insult her cousin from time to time.

When Wu Qiong recalled her childhood experiences, she always felt that she couldn't remember them clearly. She was more familiar with the life in Chengenhou's mansion. After all, she had already remembered things when she moved there. But even so, she could deduce that many of what her mother said were unreasonable and inexplicable. For example, after the new king ascended the throne, Concubine Xu Xian became the concubine, but she still wanted to curry favor with the Wu family, which was incomprehensible.

Wu Qiong felt that her mother might really be suffering from heart disease because her husband's family was almost wiped out, her husband and son died tragically, and she had lived a life of isolation from the world for a long time. She always thought that there were still princes and grandsons in the Wu family who would succeed to the throne in the future. , let the Wu family become a top-notch family again!

Wu Qiong had never noticed that her mother had such a problem before. Perhaps it was because of the incident in the other courtyard this time that she offended everyone in the town government's palace. She always felt that everyone looked down upon her, so she always imagined that her family was still the same as the government's palace more than ten years ago, and that in the future the new monarch would regain the throne. Now that she has become powerful and wealthy, those who look down on her are short-sighted. Sooner or later they will kneel down in front of her and apologize for today's mistakes...

Wu Qiong is worried and resentful about her mother's current situation. Worried that her mother's illness will worsen and she will really go crazy; resentful of her mother's random thoughts. If she really offends her relatives, she really can't even think about living a peaceful life!
With this idea in mind, Wu Qiong expressed her determination to Haitang in her letter: she would conceal her mother's illness from others and try to prevent her mother from saying all kinds of ridiculous things. She wants to be a bridge of communication between her mother and the outside world, and try to prevent anyone from "misunderstanding" her mother.

Haitang expressed admiration for Wu Qiong's determination. She felt in her heart that although Wu Qiong's guess might not be reliable, it might be somewhat true.

When had Mrs. Gui ever spoken so unscrupulously in front of Wu Qiong? Perhaps it was really because of the recent setbacks that she needed to brainwash herself and tell herself that she was still the aloof young lady of the Guozhangfu. She was just down and out for a while and would make a comeback sooner or later. She may also be aware of her daughter's alienation, so she uses vague jobs to win over her daughter, trying to make her daughter believe that they don't need to kowtow to the people around them, and they will turn around and live a good life...

Haitang was not going to comment on the mother and daughter's thoughts, but the vague words Mrs. Gui revealed were really concerning.

Wu Qiong simply concluded that Mrs. Gui was confused. But Haitang felt that maybe she just expressed her truest thoughts.

She seemed to really think that the eighth prince born to Concubine Xu Xian would not become the new king.

Why does she think so? The third prince has been buried for more than ten years, and there is no way he is still alive. If the prince born to another concubine becomes the new king, there is no reason to treat Queen Wu's natal family particularly favorably.

Could it be possible that... Empress Wu gave birth to another prince?
Haitang suddenly remembered something.

Concubine Xu Xian, Xu Qiuling, was a married woman and was sent to Kunning Palace by the Wu family as a wet nurse candidate. Because Empress Wu was pregnant with Liujia at the time and was about to give birth, she needed to select a wet nurse for her unborn heir.

Then this child... was born?
The outside world said that Queen Wu and the third prince died in the fire in Kunning Palace. What happened to the child in Queen Wu's belly?
Did he or she die as an unborn fetus along with his mother and brothers, or was he or she lucky enough to be born and survive the disaster?

But if he was still alive, how could a newborn escape from Kunning Palace? It is said that all the palace servants in Kunning Palace died at that time, and only Liuhua and Xu Qiuling escaped secretly.

Could it be that Lihua and Xu Qiuling took the child away and gave it to the Queen Mother? The Queen Mother sealed the palace to prevent the news from leaking... It seems reasonable, but can a baby who grows up in the palace really hide it from everyone? How can a prince who is unknown to the world inherit the throne?
Madam Gui is really confused, right?
Haitang picked up Wu Qiong's letter and read it carefully again to make sure she didn't miss anything.

Due to the recent changes in her own situation, Mrs. Gui began to reveal some past events to her daughter, instead of just saying to Wu Qiong that "mother knows what she knows", which is a good sign.

As long as Wu Qiong is willing to continue telling Haitang the conversation between himself and his mother as he is now, Haitang will have a way to continue to explore Mrs. Gui's inner thoughts.

One day, she will figure out where Madam Gui's confidence comes from!
What secrets were hidden in the palace in the previous life?
(End of this chapter)