I should marry the traitor

Chapter 235: Mystery in the Cold Palace
The more Cao Mengde thought about it, the colder she felt down her spine. The water here was too deep. Even though she was now 92% of a Jiaozi hybrid, she still felt she couldn't grasp it.

Are you kidding? A 92% hybrid is so great? There is also a 95% Nine Nether Python hybrid in the palace.

After reading the secret letter, Cao Mengde set it on fire. After watching the letter burn to ashes, she gently brushed her sleeves to clean up the traces.

Afterwards, Cao Mengde thought about his next move. Going directly to Qiantian Garden would definitely not be an option.

Cao Mengde, who was suspicious by nature, felt that Qiantian Garden must be a dangerous place. If he wanted to find out something, he had to start from somewhere else.

Most of the palace servants in this palace actually have little contact with Emperor Fuyi, and those who have more contact with him are generally not easy to deal with.

But while thinking about it, Cao Mengde thought of a place where he might be able to learn something.

After changing out of her gorgeous dress and taking off her glittering jewellery, Cao Mengde put on a plain dress and left Xingmeng Garden.

She had not been idle during the past few days since entering the palace, and had learned some of the palace's secrets.

In fact, it is not really a secret. In the palace, these are basically all semi-public rumors. It’s just that it was difficult to plant spies in the palace in the past, so these things were not spread outside the palace.

There is actually a cold palace in this imperial palace, and this cold palace is called Shuangshengyuan.

The women in the two Sheng Gardens were once favored, but now they have angered Emperor Fuyi and are being treated coldly.

Cao Mengde spent some money and figured out the ins and outs of this matter.

One of the women in Shuang Shengyuan was named Xia Naiyang, a concubine's daughter of the Xia family.

The Xia family was not a prominent family, but a small and poor family. There were two women from the Xia family who entered the palace, a pair of sisters.

These two sisters had already been Li Changge's women when Li Changge was still a prince.

As for now, the younger sister is still quite favored and has lived in Qiantian Garden for a long time, while the elder sister seems to have fallen out of favor and has been banished to the cold palace, Shuangsheng Garden.

The rumors about another woman in Shuangshengyuan are even more bizarre.

The woman was dark-skinned and had decent features, but in the eyes of a girl from an aristocratic family like Cao Mengde, she was just ugly.

And her family background was even stranger. Although her surname was Cui and she was very distantly related to the Cui family, she was actually just an ordinary fisherman's girl from Xuzhou. When the eunuch White-browed brought this girl into the palace, countless people were speculating about who this woman was.

But now Cao Mengde has clearly understood through Yuan Shao's letters that this woman is indeed just an ordinary fisherman's daughter, but she had some connection with Li Changge in Xuzhou.

But how could a woman like this, who has a sense of loyalty and has nothing to do with other interests, fall out of favor for no reason?

And there is Xia Naiyang, who followed Li Changge when she was in obscurity. It is strange that she suddenly fell out of favor.

After thinking about it, Cao Mengde felt that perhaps the Shuangsheng Garden in the cold palace was the breakthrough point, and starting from here might be able to get the information she wanted.

So Cao Mengde changed his clothes and walked towards Shuangsheng Garden alone.

Qiantian Garden is a den of dragons and tigers, but this cold palace does not pose any threat. Xia Naiyang and Cui Sanniang are both ordinary women and are not dangerous at all.

……

Xia Naiyang was a little surprised by Cao Mengde's sudden visit, but out of courtesy or various considerations, she welcomed Cao Mengde in with a smile on her face. Faced with Xia Naiyang's warm hospitality, Cao Mengde did not put on any airs of a daughter of a noble family, and entered Shuangsheng Garden as a guest in an approachable manner.

However, along the way, Cao Mengde was observing the situation of Xia Naiyang and Shuang Shengyuan, and his thoughts never stopped.

Although it is a cold palace, there are very few palace servants serving there, which is incomparable to the situation in Xingmeng Garden.

But the environment here is still good, and there is no trace of paleness on Xia Naiyang's face. From her appearance, you can tell that she is living a good life.

In other words, although this is the cold palace and Xia Naiyang is just an ordinary woman, she is not treated harshly?

Cao Mengde was born into a noble family, and one of his ancestors had been a eunuch. Naturally, he knew that there were many dirty things in the palace. If the concubines in the cold palace had no background and no ability, they would be like a phoenix with its feathers plucked, worse than a chicken.

However, the Xia family could not reach into the palace, and Xia Naiyang had not awakened her bloodline, but she lived a good life. It seemed that there was no sign of deduction for basic expenses...

Although she was sent to the cold palace because she offended the emperor for unknown reasons, His Majesty still has feelings for her, right?

As for the other Cui Sanniang, the situation was probably similar.

Cao Mengde followed Xia Naiyang into the backyard, and indeed saw the dark-skinned and handsome fisherman's daughter, which confirmed her guess.

Cui Sanniang was not wearing much and had her sleeves rolled up. She was planting vegetables in the backyard. Her movements were light and quick, and she looked capable.

In addition, Da Lei and Da Yu Pan are obviously good at giving birth. Ordinary civilians should like this kind of daughter-in-law very much.

Cao Mengde thought thoughtfully, perhaps this was the reason why Emperor Fuyi was willing to take her into the palace.

People always yearn for things they don't have, even the emperor is no exception. Perhaps it is this simplicity that only ordinary people have that is the reason why Li Changge likes her?

Wrong cognition will lead to wrong conclusions, and the image of Li Changge in Cao Mengde's mind naturally also had some deviations.

"Sister Sanniang, let me introduce you to this sister. She is the new concubine Cao who has just entered the palace..."

"I'm not worthy of that. I'm just an unpopular person like you. There's no need to address me like that. You can just call me Sister Meng De."

Are you kidding? Cao Mengde came here to build relationships and get information, and he even changed his clothes for this purpose. How could he allow the other party to address him in such a distant way?

After hearing this, Xia Naiyang still kept smiling, but she was a little cautious in her heart.

Cao Mengde is 92% of top-level mixed-blood, and she is also the legitimate daughter of the powerful Cao family. It is already very strange that such a definite heir would enter the palace as a concubine, and she even lowered herself to build relationships with the two small shrimps. It is really abnormal to a certain extent.

However, Cui Sanniang did not have so many thoughts. The simple-minded Sanniang felt that the visitor was a guest, and what's more, this sister Meng De looked approachable and easy to get along with.

"Sister Meng De, please stay for dinner today. I have grown some side dishes. I will cook them myself so you can taste my cooking skills."

"Okay, then sister, I am really blessed today, but I don't know how to address this sister."

"Just call me Sanniang."

"Then I won't be polite, Sanniang."

(End of this chapter)