Chapter 346: Chapter 347 - Demonic Possession?

“Lady of Yan!” During her pregnancy, Dowager Concubine Nuan had put on some weight, but she still looked radiant due to her stunning beauty and her delicate age.

Having changed from Beautiful Lady Nuan to Dowager Concubine Nuan, there was little timidity on her look. Instead, there was a calmness like stagnant water. At this moment, holding the subordinate’s hand, she nodded slightly towards Song Yixiao and Xie Yiren with a slight reserve, “Wife of Earl Yiping’s son. What a coincidence. It’s still early. I wonder why everyone is leaving. Is there a story inside?”

“How could there be any stories inside?” Song Yixiao and Xie Yiren found that she was dressed in a homely way. It was not like she was here for the banquet. But considering that Dowager Concubine Nuan was pregnant with Emperor Xianjia’s son, it was not surprising that she was dressed simply.

But…even without Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Su reminiscing about Emperor Xianjia and leaving early, her arrival was too late.

Of course the two ladies were not in a position to ask about this, so they just said, “Originally, they would not have dispersed so early. But Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager were reminded of the former emperor. Then they became sad and had no desire to stay. His Majesty and Empress were worried and followed them up. We are not in a position to disturb them any further, so we are leaving.”

Dowager Concubine Nuan understood and said, “I see!”

She took the initiative to explain, “Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager were sympathetic to me and asked me not to come here today. But when I was taking a walk in the back, I saw many people leaving the palace and was surprised, so I came over to take a look. Thank you both for solving my confusion!”

“You are welcome. It’s just a matter of a few words. How can it be solving confusion?” Xie Yiren saw that her companions had almost left and secretly gave a sign to Song Yixiao, then said to Dowager Concubine Nuan with a smile, “Your Highness is pregnant with a royal child, so don’t exert yourself…”

Dowager Concubine understood that they didn’t want to stay here any longer, and embarrassment flashed across her face before she said, “I was being silly. Your husbands are still waiting outside the palace. But you are delayed by me.”

“Don’t say so. Does Your Highness have any other orders?” Although this was indeed the case, they would not admit it.

Only after they had asked Dowager Concubine Nuan if she had anything else to order did they leave.

After they had walked a distance, Song Yixiao asked Xie Yiren, “When did Dowager Concubine Nuan get back? I didn’t hear anything about it.”

“I think it was right after Jinxun reported it.” Xie Yiren didn’t care much about it and said, “She was just a Dowager Concubine. Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager and Empress were still in the palace. So the return of a Dowager Concubine to the palace wouldn’t be a big deal. Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager were sick for some time at present. And Empress was upset because of the loss of her son. So they definitely are not into a too big scene.”

Speaking of this, she was reminded of something, and said, “Did you hear about that? Dowager Concubine Nuan was not the only one to be brought back this time! Dowager Concubine Fu was also back. And it was ordered by Grand Empress Dowager. Grand Empress Dowager said that she had always served in the Palace of Mingren before, so she could take advantage of Dowager Concubine Nuan’s return and come back altogether, so that she could keep Grand Empress Dowager’s company.”

“Is that so?” Song Yixiao said, “But I didn’t see Dowager Concubine Fu just now. Who said that?”

“When I visited Yinlian two days ago, she casually said it.” Xie Yiren said with a bit of self-deprecation, “I have no children, so I’m relaxed and I can visit other families if I want to. With your child to care for, you are not as free as I am.”

Song Yixiao said, “You’ll be pleased with yourself for a while. When you have children sometime, you’ll be chained to the mansion all day long!”

“I wish I could!” Xie Yiren sighed. She looked at the snowflakes falling down in the night, a touch of helplessness showed in her eyes.

As they spoke, they arrived outside the palace. Jian Xubai and Xu Xishi were both waiting there. Seeing this, they greeted each other and went their separate ways.

Song Yixiao didn’t know that Dowager Concubine Nuan and her husband had turned against each other, so she didn’t care much about the chance encounter just now. Therefore, when she got into the carriage, she only comforted her husband, who was also thinking of Emperor Xianjia and was obviously depressed, but didn’t say anything else.

The next day she remembered that Xie Yiren had said that she had visited Wei Yinlian only two days before. Song Yixiao thought about it and found that she hadn’t visited other people initiatively for a long time. Since Jian Qingyue was born, as Xie Yiren had said, she had spent time managing the mansion’s stuff and looking after her daughter. There were only circumstances where other people came to visit her for the past half year!

She felt very sorry for that, so she deliberately managed the mansion and took two days off to visit Jiang Muting, Wei Yinlian and Xie Yiren one by one.

Even Gu Tongxu and Lu Chai’er were not left behind.

She didn’t need to worry about Jiang Muting or Xie Yiren. The former, despite her husband’s limited mobility, was completely in charge of the household and had rendered her step-grandmother completely invisible in the mansion. Jiang Muting and her husband loved each other, so they surely were in harmony. Although they didn’t have a kid yet, they were not in a hurry and lived a pleasant life.

The latter had nothing to complain about except for having no children. But Song Yixiao couldn’t help her with this kind of thing. After all, she had given Xie Yiren a copy of the so-called secret prescription for pregnancy with a son, which Wei Mengying had given her as a dowry. Song Yixiao still gave birth to a daughter after having had the medicine according to the prescription.

So, was this prescription useful? Song Yixiao thought it was probably just harmless.

And Wei Yinlian didn’t have any big problems.

Before his death, Emperor Xianjia had said that Great Grand Princess Daiguo’s family would be exiled to Qiongzhou after he died.

So a few days after Prince of Su and Prince of Xiang had arrived in their lands, Great Grand Princess Daiguo departed. At this time, she was almost there with Ji Zifu and his wife.

The only two members of the Ji Family left in the imperial capital at present were Ji Mingfei and Wei Yinlian. They were not exiled because Ji Mingfei was only the nephew of Great Grand Princess Daiguo. Also, Emperor Duanhua felt sorry for Empress who had lost her young son at that time and could not bear to let her sister stay away from the imperial capital.

Therefore, he rejected Ji Mingfei’s request to share the hardships of his uncle’s family and didn’t even remove his post in the Ministry of Works, as a way to make Empress happy.

When Wei Yinlian got married, she had the mentality of serving her family, so she was very calm and peaceful. When Song Yixiao went to see her this time and asked her politely about her life after marriage, she was not unhappy and said, “My husband has a reputation for debauchery. But actually, he has his rules to do things. I think the world has a lot of misconceptions about him.”

As Ji Mingfei’s reputation was notorious, Song Yixiao didn’t dare to ask more, lest Wei Yinlian be unable to round up the situation and be embarrassed in vain.

Gu Tongxu was much the same as Jiang Muting. She was very well off. Unlike Jiang Muting, her husband’s family was all very cozy and submissive, and she was not a fussy person, so they got along very well.

When she saw Song Yixiao, Gu Tongxu treated her warmly and even gave her an ancient book, saying that it was from the ancestral collection of the Gu Family of Hongzhou, “You are a descendant of Jiangnan Hall, so naturally, you don’t need it. But this one is almost out of print nowadays, so it’s good to pass the time.”

“Now you are making fun of me. I am not fortunate enough to have grown up in the Song Family, so I have never read many ancient books!” Song Yixiao refused to take it for a while. But seeing Gu Tongxu’s firm attitude, she accepted it and said with a smile, “I must take good care of it for collection when I go back home!”

Although the circumstances of these girls were different, they were still within the normal range. There was nothing unexpected about them.

What made Song Yixiao most puzzled was Lu Chai’er.

When she just arrived at the Gu Family’s mansion, she was told that Lu Chai’er was ill and it was inconvenient for her to meet guests. Song Yixiao thought she had come at a bad time. She was planning to exchange pleasantries with Lu Chai’er’s mother-in-law, Madam Deng, before leaving and sending over some herbs and tonic later.

But before she could finish her pleasantries, Madam Deng sighed and said, “It’s just an excuse that she’s not fit to meet visitors! In fact, she really can’t see anyone now!”

Without waiting for Song Yixiao to ask for the reason, she continued to say, “I don’t know what crime we’ve done. Such a thing actually happened to our family. Before this year’s summer vacation, my daughter-in-law was still going about her business as usual and would come over to talk with me when she could. I always said that although this kid was born by a concubine, her manners and personalities were good. She was from a royal family, anyway. But I never imagined that before the summer vacation was over, she would be…”

Speaking of this, Madam Deng was a little guilty, “Because the big event happened and all the people were on edge at that time, I didn’t think much of it when I heard she was sick! After the state mourning was over, I realized that something was wrong. But when we got her treated, the doctor could only give the prescription to calm her spirit!”

Hearing this, Song Yixiao hurriedly asked, “What happened to Chai’er?”

“We tell others that she’s sick. But the Song Family of Jiangnan is a family friend of ours. I’ll say it as a senior that I always see you as if you are my own junior.” After saying this, Madam Deng paused.

Song Yixiao naturally followed her to say, “When Prime Minister Gu just arrived at the imperial capital, I took the liberty of calling him Uncle. Aunt, if you don’t mind, why don’t you call me Yixiao?”

“In that case, I won’t hide it from you. I tell others that my daughter-in-law is sick!” As she spoke, Madam Deng ordered the subordinates to leave. Then her face showed complex emotions such as panic, worry and helplessness. She even lowered her voice a bit, “In my opinion, she is actually possessed by a demon!”

“Possessed by a demon?” Song Yixiao was expecting to hear some secrets. Hearing this, she didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. But she just accepted that Madam Deng was a junior. So, she couldn’t doubt Madam Deng’s thoughts to her face. She only said politely, “I haven’t met anyone who has been possessed by a demon, so I don’t know how to judge.”

Madam Deng didn’t imagine it without evidence, “We had five or six doctors to treat her. And even Commissioner came once. They all said that she was suffering from a shock! Now, she locks herself in the room all day. Her doors and windows are covered with thick cloths. No one except for her maids is allowed in, including her husband. She is still feeling terrified!”

She looked terrified, “As long as there is any movement, she will shout and scream, saying that someone is trying to kill her!”

Song Yixiao noticed that Madam Deng’s look was a little strange when she said that. she subconsciously asked, “Someone is trying to kill her? Who does Chai’er suspect to be against her?”

“That’s why I think she is possessed by a demon!” Madam Deng frowned, “She actually suspects that your mother, Princess Consort of Hengshan, wants to kill her! How is that possible? To put it mildly, if it wasn’t for Princess Consort of Hengshan, she might not have married my son!”

“Your son?” Hearing this, Song Yixiao was surprised in her heart. Madam Deng didn’t believe that Wei Mengying would turn against the concubine’s daughter, at least not on the surface. But Song Yixiao knew the nature of her own mother. Although Lu Chai’er should not be able to prevent Wei Mengying from doing anything, she didn’t need a reason to harm people!

But compared to suspecting her own mother, another situation confused her more at present. Lu Chai’er’s husband…was a good match, according to the observations and descriptions of Xie Yiren and Jiang Muting!

But Madam Deng said, “Although he’s not my own son, I have to say that he is the best choice for anyone only asking for harmony and unity between the couple. This kid is not only good-looking, but also good-natured. The rarest thing is that he admires Jian Yiyou, your Third Uncle, and vowed to follow the example of Jian Yiyou and marry only one wife in his life. He will never marry again, no matter what his life after marriage will be! Not to mention concubinage!”

She cited an example to prove it, “Ever since my daughter-in-law was possessed by a demon in June, she has kept my son out of the room for months!”

“If he hadn’t had a conscience, even if he wouldn’t marry a concubine, he would have moved to the study or a side room and not seen her!”

“But that kid didn’t do so. He actually slept on the floor outside the room like a subordinate!”

“Besides that, he has been secretly asking the doctor to get medicine to cure her all day now. There have been several months. But you haven’t heard any of this matter.”

“It’s all because the kid is convinced that his wife will definitely recover. He is afraid that if words get out about her condition, it will leave a stigma for others to talk about when his wife goes out to social events in the future. Therefore, he asks the doctors not to tell others about it.”

“Those doctors are also moved by his unfailing love for his wife, so they keep their mouths shut.”

“Otherwise, words would have spread all over the city!”

So Madam Deng thought it was impossible for Wei Mengying to harm Lu Chai’er, “My daughter-in-law doesn’t seem to be a snob, and she has never complained about the mediocrity of my son’s studies since she entered our family. The couple’s life is as sweet as honey. If Princess Consort of Hengshan was not a generous person, how could she have proposed such a satisfactory marriage for the concubine’s daughter? And how could Princess Consort of Hengshan harm her?”

Song Yixiao thought, “…”

What was this situation?

Thinking of her rebirth, she couldn’t help but feel a cold chill and thought, “Could it be that she was really possessed by a demon?”