The words were spoken to the Song family, to Song Yanjiao and Mu Hansu, but not to Song Chaoyu and Mu Changxi.
Even if Mu Hansu wanted to explain further, the Emperor did not give him the chance.
Seeing the Emperor's annoyance, the eunuchs and palace maids nearby stepped forward and "escorted" Mu Hansu and Song Yanjiao out.
When the Emperor looked at Mu Changxi and Song Yanjiao, his eyes softened slightly. "You were coming to the palace today, did you not intend to tell Us about it?"
He raised his eyes and glanced at Song Chaoyu. "Or did you know that your father and grandmother would bring the County Princess Consort to the palace, so you were waiting for them to speak?"
These words were quite probing, and Song Chaoyu calmly replied to the Emperor, "This concubine did not know that Grandmother and Father would bring Second Sister today. We truly found the matter of Little Peach too unbelievable. So we simply hadn't decided how to tell Father Emperor."
Song Chaoyu had kept Liu Siniang before with this intention.
She wanted to wait for a suitable opportunity to reveal the matter.
She hadn't expected Old Madam Song to be so decisive and immediately bring Song Yanjiao into the palace, leading to everything that happened today.
Seeing Song Chaoyu's calm and seemingly upright demeanor, the Emperor sighed and nodded. "Fine, fine! What is the point of Us saying these things now? You shall stay and dine with Us, the Empress, and your Imperial Concubine. The rest can be discussed later!"
Song Chaoyu understood that perhaps at this point, the Emperor could no longer trust anyone.
But for now, they only needed to dine with the Emperor properly.
After the meal, the Emperor went to the morning court.
Song Chaoyu and Mu Changxi naturally returned to their residence.
However, as soon as they arrived, a servant from outside delivered the message that Song Yanjiao wished to see Song Chaoyu.
Tiaohong's first reaction was as if her hair stood on end. "No, no! Who knows what her intentions are? Princess Consort, you absolutely must not go to see her!"
But Song Chaoyu glanced at Mu Changxi, who understood Song Chaoyu's meaning and smiled, nodding. "Go ahead."
He said nothing more, but Song Chaoyu understood that he likely understood her.
However, before she left, Mu Changxi still cautioned her, "No matter what happens, take good care of yourself and the child. Nothing else is important."
Yes, in Mu Changxi's heart, nothing else was important; this was something Song Chaoyu had long known.
The carriage traveled towards the Ning Prince's residence. Today, the Ning Prince's residence was vastly different from before.
Before the carriage even reached the Ning Prince's residence, Song Chaoyu heard people discussing it.
Most people seemed to express more disdain for the Ning Prince's residence. "Look at the arrogant demeanor of the Ning Prince's residence in normal times. It's truly laughable! What about now? They have to move to the outskirts of the capital in disgrace! It's truly satisfying!"
Song Chaoyu was somewhat confused and asked softly to Tiaohong, "Why is the Ning Prince's residence so unpopular in the capital?"
Tiaohong nodded earnestly. "Isn't that so? The people of the Ning Prince's residence are very overbearing in their actions. It's just that in the past, people dared not speak out, unlike our Chang Prince's residence, which no one can fault!"
This girl actually knows how to flatter herself with nice words?
Song Chaoyu reached out and tapped Tiaohong's forehead. "Tiaohong, you mustn't say such things in front of others in the future. Otherwise, if they laugh at our Chang Prince's residence, won't it cause trouble?"
There was no need for Tiaohong to say anything; Qiu Qing smiled and said, "Princess Consort, rest assured! This girl only dares to talk nonsense in front of you! In front of others, she wouldn't dare to speak like this, so please be at ease."
Song Chaoyu naturally knew this. The mistresses and servants chatted and laughed as they arrived at the gate of the Ning Prince's residence.
Coincidentally, when Song Chaoyu arrived at the gate of the Ning Prince's residence, she happened to see the household dismissing their maids and servants.
Although the Emperor had ordered everyone in the Ning Prince's residence to enter the Yongxiang, it was impossible for all the hundred or so people in the Ning Prince's residence to enter the Yongxiang.
Therefore, most of the servants had to be sent to the slave traders to be resold.
Only those servants of slightly higher rank would be sent to the Yongxiang.
Song Chaoyu knew that once one entered the Yongxiang, they would never be able to turn their lives around.
Looking at the maids and servants who had once been arrogant in front of others, now dejected and allowing the palace officials to scold and beat them, Song Chaoyu couldn't tell if she felt happy or a sense of the fickleness of life.
If the Chang Prince's residence were to face such a day, would they also be ridiculed like this?
However, this was not the time to think about these things. Song Chaoyu entered the Ning Prince's residence and saw a scene of disarray.
In the main hall of the prince's residence, two women were pulling at a package, arguing.
Judging by their clothing, they seemed to be Mu Hansu's concubines.
The two of them seemed to be planning to leave the Ning Prince's residence.
One of them tightly clutched a bundle filled with pearls and jewelry, cursing at the other. "You little slut! When we were in the prince's residence, you always opposed me, always taking the prince away from me in the middle of the night. Now that we are leaving, you still want to snatch my things. You truly have no shame!"
The other, seeing her ferocity, was not to be outdone. "What are your things? These are clearly things that the prince bestowed upon me! But you used tricks to trick them away from me. Now that you are leaving, do you still have to return the things to me!"
Seeing their unseemly behavior, Song Chaoyu sneered, "Prince Ning truly doesn't discriminate, taking in any kind of woman into his residence!"
Hearing someone speak, both of them looked up, their faces filled with anger. "Who is it? Speaking so presumptuously here?"
However, upon seeing that it was Song Chaoyu, they stopped fighting. They knew that the Chang Prince's residence was not to be trifled with now.
They knelt on the ground and respectfully greeted Song Chaoyu, "Greetings to Princess Consort Chang!"
Song Chaoyu frowned and waved her hand slightly at them. "Rise."
Seeing that the two of them were still trying to snatch the package, Song Chaoyu's tone was cold. "I must make it clear to you, if there are any imperial gifts in this package, you might not even be able to leave the capital before being accused of 'stealing imperial gifts.' Do you want these lives or not?"
The two exchanged glances and almost simultaneously withdrew their hands.
One of them even spat at the package. "If you don't want it, then don't!"
Song Chaoyu sneered, "Are you planning to elope?"
One of them quickly shook her head. "No, no, no, we wouldn't dare to elope! The prince gave us divorce papers!"
As concubines, and being divorced and cast out, if they didn't feel that following Mu Hansu was a dead end, these two would likely not dare to risk their reputations for this.