A wicked mother swaps her son and sucks his blood? The true legitimate daughter is reborn and goes o

"I have a secret, a secret that no one knows."

A smug smile played on Su Ling's lips. Unaware of the person at the door, her fist clenched tighter as she spoke.

"What secret?" Xie Yunli continued to probe.

Su Ling wanted to tell him that she was chosen by destiny, but after being punished with fifty strokes of the cane a few days ago, she became much more cautious.

We can't tell him yet!

"In short, Young Master Meng saved me, and I will definitely repay him. I am different from all the other women here," Su Ling said.

Secret, different...

Xie Yunli was almost certain of his fourth brother's guess.

This woman, like Fourth Brother's great-grandmother, is a spirit from another world.

And the media...

Xie Yunli knew that he couldn't rush to extract this so-called "secret".

After that, Xie Yunli would come to the courtyard every few days.

A month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study.

Xie Xuanjin just came from Jinhua Palace.

Song Qingning's sleep time became longer and longer each day, and sometimes she would sleep for two or three days at a time.

This situation was known only to a few close friends and family members, and the news was kept secret from the outside world.

"Fourth sister-in-law is still..." Xie Yunli asked with concern, but seeing his fourth brother's expression, he already knew the answer. He swallowed the question he was about to ask.

"How is Su Ling doing?" Xie Xuanjin was still worried and had been concerned for days.

He stayed by Song Qingning's side all night, and now his eyes are covered in dark bruises.

Xie Yunli observed this and said, "I have tried to test her many times, but she only said that she is different from others. She mentioned the mountain where she used to study medicine. I sent people there, but they did not find anything unusual."

"Ha, that woman, even if she is a soul from another world, is far too arrogant. Her words seem to suggest that she wants to help me rebel and overthrow the imperial power."

With her? That's wishful thinking!

Xie Xuanjin frowned and closed his eyes.

After a while, when he opened his eyes again, a fierce look suddenly gathered in them.

"She wants to help you overthrow the imperial power, so let her have her way! Let her see that she's just one step away from her goal, and then..."

Xie Yunli understood Xie Xuanjin's meaning.

Inside the imperial study, the two brothers talked behind closed doors for a long time before Xie Yunli finally left.

After spending some time alone in the room, Xie Xuanjin left the Imperial Study and returned to Jinhua Palace.

Inside Jinhua Palace.

Song Qingning lay on the couch with her eyes closed.

Hongling, who was guarding the bedside, looked worried. Upon hearing footsteps, she knew who it was.

Hongling immediately turned around and knelt down to pay her respects.

Before Xie Xuanjin could ask, Hongling reported as usual, "Just now, the Empress Dowager sent some snacks to Her Highness through a nanny. The nanny said that the Empress Dowager instructed that they be delivered to Her Highness personally, but Her Highness..."

"Later, the Empress Dowager happened to arrive and found an excuse to send the old woman away."

"The Empress Dowager has sent people over repeatedly, but each time they have failed to see Her Highness. She must be suspicious."

Hongling's worry deepened.

Empress Dowager Meng and the Emperor both doted on the girl, but the Grand Empress Dowager did not.

Previously, she had asked the Emperor to select a concubine on the grounds that the Empress had not conceived for a long time, but Empress Dowager Meng intervened and stopped her, which calmed things down a bit.

The Empress was pregnant, and it was thought that the Empress Dowager would have nothing to say. However, the matter of establishing an Empress was never put on the agenda, and the Empress Dowager once again had the idea of ​​letting the Emperor choose a concubine.

I heard that a few days ago, she brought a distant cousin of the Xue family to the palace.

If she knew that the Empress was sleeping all day long without waking up, she would probably seize on this matter and make a fuss about it.

Xie Xuanjin frowned and gestured for Hongling to step back.

Only the couple remained in the room.

As the weather grew hotter, ice was placed in the room, but Song Qingning's face was still covered with a thin layer of sweat. Xie Xuanjin picked up a fan from the side and fanned her, his deeply furrowed brows never relaxing.

Another hour passed before Song Qingning finally woke up.

Xie Xuanjin suppressed his worry, but he was still a little slow. Song Qingning noticed the moment his brows deliberately relaxed, and she understood.

"How long have I been asleep?" Song Qingning asked.

Xie Xuanjin helped Song Qingning up, thinking about the time she fell asleep two days ago, "Three hours ago."

His words were flawless, and Song Qingning looked at the sun outside the door.

"Three hours have passed, no wonder I'm a little hungry." She remembered that it wasn't lunchtime before she fell asleep.

Knowing that the "three hours" Xie Xuanjin mentioned might be one day plus three hours, or two or three days plus three hours.

Jin Hua Palace and those around her seemed to have reached a consensus.

Song Qingning did not point it out.

"I'll have someone bring some food. I'm hungry too. Let's eat together," Xie Xuanjin said, and soon a table of delicacies was served.

These were all dishes that Song Qingning loved to eat, as if they were always ready, just waiting for her to wake up.

Xie Xuanjin claimed he was dining with her, but he only watched Song Qingning eat the entire time.

Song Qingning was really hungry. She estimated in her mind whether she had slept for three days or two days, depending on how hungry she was.

The final decision was: "Two days!"

"What?"

She was chewing food, so Xie Xuanjin didn't hear those two words clearly.

Song Qingning looked up to meet his probing gaze, smiled and shook her head, just as she was about to divert his attention, when Hongling's panicked voice came from outside the door.

A moment later, the Empress Dowager strode in.

The Empress Dowager was very powerful. She had heard earlier that Song Qingning was unwell and slept all day. Every time she sent people to check on her, they returned empty-handed.

The old woman was scolded by Meng Fu again and left in defeat.

She finally couldn't resist and decided to come and see for herself what was wrong with Jinhua Palace and Song Qingning.

The Empress Dowager walked around the screen, expecting to see Song Qingning sleeping in bed, but there was no one in bed.

The Empress Dowager frowned.

"Royal Grandmother..."

Song Qingning's voice came from behind the curtain on the other side.

Song Qingning was about to stand up and bow when Xie Xuanjin pressed her shoulder down first.

The Empress Dowager looked over and saw that Song Qingning was sitting, while Xie Xuanjin had already stood up.

"Ning'er is pregnant and unable to perform the proper etiquette, so I, her grandson, will pay my respects to the Empress Dowager on her behalf."

Xie Xuanjin was there too!

Are the two of them having a meal together?

The Empress Dowager's gaze lingered on Song Qingning, as if trying to discern something.

"Eating at this hour? Are you feeling unwell?" the Empress Dowager asked tentatively.

"She is not feeling unwell," Xie Xuanjin said.

The way the Empress Dowager protected Song Qingning displeased her.

She didn't know where Song Qingning got her abilities from, that Meng Fu and Xie Xuanjin, mother and son, protected her like the apple of their eye.

Even the commoners in the imperial court did not mention the matter of establishing an empress or selecting concubines.

It is truly improper for Xie Xuanjin, an emperor, to have only Song Qingning in his harem.

She only wanted the Xue family to have a continuous presence in the harem in order to preserve the Xue family's prosperity for generations, but Xue San did not listen to her, and the other girls of the Xue family were also betrothed one after another.

She had no choice but to find a distant cousin to enter the palace.

What kind of drug did Song Qingning give to each of them?

The Empress Dowager disliked her more and more.

Remembering the purpose of her visit, she smiled again. "Whether you feel unwell or not, the imperial physician will know once he examines you. Fortunately, I brought the imperial physician with me."

"Qingning, you've always been filial. You won't refuse your grandmother's concern, will you?"