Entering the palace means entering a high position; I'm His Majesty's cousin, who am I afr

The sedan chair soon stopped in front of the Cining Palace gate.

Shen Jiayu saw the maid who had been following the Duchess of the State under the corridor of the main hall, and a smile involuntarily appeared in her eyes.

She entered the hall.

Sure enough, in the west hall, they saw the Duchess sitting opposite Empress Dowager Shen.

Shen Jiayu first bowed to Empress Dowager Shen, then quickly helped up the Duchess who was about to bow to her.

"How can Mother worship Ayu?"

The Duchess hadn't seen her for several months and missed her terribly. This daughter, whom she had raised herself, had never been separated from her for so long.

Even though she had prepared herself mentally, she still couldn't help but tear up: "You are now His Majesty's concubine, a member of the royal family. According to the rules, it is your humble servant who should pay respects to you."

Hearing the Duchess's polite yet distant words, Shen Jiayu felt a mix of emotions, her eyes welling up with tears. "Mother..."

The Jing Dynasty had a vast territory, and the northern plains were nearly two thousand miles away from the capital. The customs were different, and there were not as many rules as in the capital.

The young children on the border call their parents all sorts of things, but the most common ones call them "father" and "mother".

Shen Jiayu learned this as her first phrase, but she had no one to call upon.

It wasn't until the Duke and his wife appeared that Shen Jiayu, after observing them for several days, dared to timidly ask, "Are you my father and mother?"

At that moment, the Duchess was taken aback. She looked at the Duke and smiled for a while, then squatted down, opened her arms, and said softly, "Yes."

Shen Jiayu then awkwardly nestled into her arms.

From then on, she always called her the Duchess. Later, as she grew older, she began to address her more formally.

This sound now seemed to cross countless mountains and rivers, overlapping with the cries of "Mother" from years past, causing the Duchess to choke with emotion and unable to speak.

Empress Dowager Shen, however, couldn't stand it any longer and sighed, "This isn't somewhere else; it's right here with me, family. Why are we making such a fuss about rules?"

Shen Jiayu hurriedly stepped forward to comfort the Duchess for a while. Once the Duchess had calmed down a bit, Shen Jiayu sat down next to her and asked, "Didn't Father come?"

According to the rules, men from outside the palace were not allowed to enter the inner palace.

However, the Duke of Zhenguo has a special status. He has an older sister who is the Empress Dowager. Therefore, he can take the opportunity of visiting Empress Dowager Shen to have a brief reunion with his daughter at Cining Palace.

When Shen Jiayu entered, he did not see the Duke of Zhenguo and assumed that he had gone to Xuanzheng Hall first.

Unexpectedly, the Duchess said, "Your father was unavailable, so he did not come."

Shen Jiayu asked in confusion, "Don't you have time?"

The Duchess patted the back of her hand and said, "His Majesty values ​​your father and has appointed him as the commander of the Beijing Garrison, in charge of the capital region. Your father has just taken office and is currently leading troops on an inspection tour of the camp, so he cannot come over for the time being."

After listening to the Duchess's explanation, Shen Jiayu remained silent for a while before saying, "Tell your father to take care of his health and not to overwork himself."

The Duchess smiled and nodded, "Alright."

Empress Dowager Shen chatted with the mother and daughter for a while, then stood up and said, "I still need to go to worship Buddha. You two can continue your conversation."

Paying homage to Buddha was just an excuse; it was a chance for them to speak privately.

As soon as Empress Dowager Shen left, Granny Meng and the others withdrew, leaving only Hongling and Lü'e behind.

The Duchess then stopped talking nonsense and couldn't help but touch Shen Jiayu's beautiful face. "How have you been these days?"

"With my aunt here, everything in the palace is going smoothly." Shen Jiayu paused, then added, "His Majesty also treats me very well and has not let me suffer any injustice."

She briefly recounted what had happened in the past few days.

Upon hearing this, the Duchess breathed a sigh of relief. "When you sent a letter home earlier saying that everything was fine in the palace, your father and I were worried, fearing that you were only reporting good news and not bad. Now that I've heard you say it with my own ears, I can finally rest easy."

Shen Jiayu leaned against her shoulder and said coquettishly, "But I miss my father and mother all the time while I'm in the palace."

The Duchess smiled kindly and said, "You're such a grown woman, yet you're still so clingy."

Shen Jiayu said coquettishly, "No matter how old I am, I'm still my father and mother's daughter. Isn't it normal for me to miss you?"

"Alright, alright." The Duchess hugged her and said softly, "Your father misses you very much. When he learned that I was going to the palace today, he specially sent someone to tell you."

Shen Jiayu asked curiously, "What did Father say?"

The Duchess pondered for a while.

He was afraid that if he said this, she would become even more spoiled in the palace, but if he didn't tell the truth, he was afraid that she would be bullied.

After hesitating for a while, the Duchess decided not to change a single word. She sighed.

"Your father said that if you suffer any injustice in the palace, don't keep it to yourself, just write a letter home."

Whoever made you uncomfortable in the palace, our Duke's Mansion will make sure their family doesn't have an easy time in the imperial court.

Your father also said that with him around, no one can bully you.

Upon hearing this, Shen Jiayu felt like crying again.

When her father was in Beiyuan, he would often say that after he stepped down, he wanted to live a few years of leisure and enjoy his retirement.

But now, having just returned to the capital and only a few months later, he has once again taken command of the military.

It's not hard to figure out who he did it for.

Shen Jiayu took a long time to suppress the sob in her throat. She shook her head and said, "Mother, no one else would dare to do that. Even if there were one or two who didn't know what was good for them, I dealt with them. His Majesty and my aunt also reprimanded them."

The Duchess was still worried and added, "Even though we are powerful in the court, the inner palace is a place where people's hearts are unpredictable and hidden arrows are hard to guard against. You must always be careful in everything you do."

Shen Jiayu agreed to all of them.

After giving her her instructions, the Duchess took out a stack of large silver notes from her sleeve and handed them over, saying, "Keep these silver notes to bribe the palace servants."

Shen Jiayu looked down and saw that they were all silver notes worth one thousand taels each, about twenty in total, which amounted to another twenty thousand taels.

She had brought a lot of silver notes from home when she entered the palace, and now the Duchess of the State has sent them again, probably because she is afraid that she will suffer any hardship in the palace.

Shen Jiayu refused: "Mother, I have a monthly allowance, and His Majesty has also bestowed many gifts upon me, which is more than enough."

The Duchess insisted, "Take it. The palace will inevitably have expenses, so it's better to be prepared. If you accept it, Father and Mother will feel more at ease."

Since the Duchess said so, Shen Jiayu had no choice but to accept it.

The meeting was short-lived, and the Duchess had to leave the palace in the afternoon.

Shen Jiayu had never felt time pass so quickly. She wanted to keep the Duchess a little longer, but the Duchess did not want to cause her any more trouble and insisted on leaving.

The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

There was no grand celebration in the palace; only a simple family banquet was held. In addition to the imperial concubines, about ten important members of the royal family and their female relatives attended.

Empress Luo was still "recuperating" and did not attend the palace banquet. Consort Li was in charge of organizing and hosting the entire event.

These people of royal lineage were always sharp-minded and noticed something amiss.

Immediately, some people flattered Consort Kai Li, while a small number praised Consort Hui and Shen Jiayu, and the rest remained silent.

This does resemble taking sides.

Shen Jiayu had never been interested in palace banquets, nor in flattery from others. She left the banquet early with Empress Dowager Shen.

Shen Jiayu was looking forward to something else.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, her eighteenth birthday will be coming soon. I wonder what kind of birthday gift the emperor will give her?

She doesn't want anything bad!