–– The next day, Cuan, the eldest sister-in-law of Su Jun, submitted a petition to the palace.
–– When Guan Shi was led into the courtyard of the crown prince's wife, she happened to meet Qian Taito and passed by him. Guan Shi looked at Qian Taito twice more.
Su Jun smiled warmly and chatted with Guan Shi for a while, then instructed all the attendants to leave, leaving only Qiulo to serve in the room.
Guan Shi couldn't wait and said, "Speak the truth to me, how is your health now? Is there any serious problem?"
Generally, the time for a checkup of health in the palace is in the afternoon. Now it's only the first hour of Si, which is too early.
Su Jun said lightly, "There's nothing serious, it's just that the prince was struck by Zhang Zhaojun a few days ago, and I had Qian Taishi take a look to see if there would be any scars on my cheek."
She spoke lightly, but Guan Shi couldn't help but suspect that she must have misunderstood. She couldn't believe it and looked at Su Jun in disbelief, then turned to look at Qiu Lu, who didn't seem like she was joking.
This isn't something to joke about.
But, but... this is too absurd.
Guan Shi supported the table with her hand, trembling and said, "Is this really true? Is it not joking with me?"
Su Jun said, "Of course not."
"That means the prince's seclusion yesterday was to cover up this matter? What background does this Ms. Zhaojun have? I've never heard of her outside the palace."
Su Jun said, "It's not to cover up this matter. A few days ago, Zhang's child miscarried, and the prince blamed me for it, so he ordered me to stay at home. As for the reason for Zhang's miscarriage..."
Su Jun scoffed and smiled lightly. She was so disgusted that she didn't want to say it herself. She let Qiu Lu go forward and tell her elder sister-in-law, while she silently pushed the teacup in front of Guan Shi further away.
That was indeed an extremely appropriate gesture.
Guan Shi listened and felt dizzy and disoriented. She couldn't believe what she had just heard and relied on the table to steady herself.
"You mean that when you were serving the Empress Mother, the prince was having an intimate relationship with Ms. Zhang and their actions were so intense that Ms. Zhang miscarried. After the prince found out, instead of feeling ashamed, he slapped you and ordered you to stay at home?"
Su Jun quietly spoke a word of justice, "The prince doesn't yet know the true cause of Ms. Zhang's miscarriage, which is because of saffron..."
Before she finished speaking, Ms. Zhang had already gone crazy.
"Does the prince think that our Su family has fallen? He dare to mistreat the daughter of our Su family in such a way!"
Even in the royal family, one cannot mistreat one's own daughter like this.
Su Shaoxian, although retired, had his disciples and descendants scattered throughout the court, and his reputation in the court remained high to this day. The Su family now seemed to be low-key, but this was not a true decline!
On the contrary, it is precisely because the Su family is at the peak of prosperity and wealth, like oil boiling in a wok, that they can afford to be modest and low-key.
Guan Shi was extremely angry in her heart. She was much older than this little niece, who was beloved by her father-in-law. She had been married into the family and had been sent away with her husband, so she had little contact with this little niece.
But even so, she was very aware that Su Jun was indeed the apple of Su's eye in her life.
Let alone being struck, it's questionable whether Su Jun has ever been spoken to harshly in her entire life.
The Empress Mother in the palace is very fond of Su Jun. Among the high-status young ladies in the whole city, she is the only one who enjoys such unique treatment.
A young girl raised by aristocratic families in such a pampered manner has learned to swallow her pride and suffer in silence!
Guan Shi slammed her hand on the table, angry, "This matter cannot be lightly overlooked. Otherwise, the crown prince will think that our daughter is like those things, who can be beaten and bullied at will."
However, Su Jun was completely confused.
After her anger subsided, Guan Shi calmed down and thought of what Su Jun had said to explain to the crown prince before. She was full of frustration: "The first few months of pregnancy are the most critical time. Saffron can activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and it does have abortifacient effects, but Ms. Zhang only drank a sip! The palace doctors have always been cautious."
"If it was truly saffron that caused the miscarriage, why would he use other reasons at the time? He wouldn't even blame it on the master. He would say that Ms. Zhang's body was weak and difficult to maintain a pregnancy. If the crown prince wasn't an idiot, he should have realized the true cause just by using his brain a little."
"He isn't a child of three or five, so it's well known that sex during the early stages of pregnancy can lead to a miscarriage. What did he do during sex with Ms. Zhang? Do they not know themselves?"
Su Jun opened her mouth, looking a bit confused.
Guan Shi saw this and became even more angry. She wasn't as shy as young girls about such matters, and said, "When you were intimate with the crown prince, did you not know? The crown prince is young and has plenty of energy..."
Guan Shi felt that she had done her duty by reminding her sister-in-law this far, but still!
Su Jun was even more confused. She stammered, "I haven't had an intimate relationship with the crown prince yet..."
"Ah?!"
Guan Shi had just heard two earth-shattering revelations. At this moment, her head was buzzing. She calculated the dates and realized that Su Jun had been married into the Eastern Palace for two years.
"Has the crown prince not touched you for the past two years? When did the tutor in the Empress Mother's palace leave?"
Guan Shi didn't originally agree with Su Jun and the crown prince to delay intimacy. As a young person, the crown prince's hormones were raging. Why would an older person force them not to have intimacy?
But Guan Shi's voice was weak and she dared not express her true thoughts.
On the other hand, she didn't dare to risk her sister-in-law's body. Both the Su family and the royal family had prosperous offspring. If her younger sister really became pregnant at an early age, and something went wrong, Guan Shi couldn't bear the consequences.
At the time, everyone thought that the crown prince liked Su Jun, and they were young, so waiting a while wouldn't be a problem. But now what is this situation?
Su Jun said, "Grandmother came back to the palace a year ago."
Guan Shi urgently asked, "What happened after that? Why haven't you had an intimate relationship since then?"
Su Jun bit her lip, feeling embarrassed. She didn't know her elder sister-in-law well, and being asked about such intimate matters made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Guan Shi thought of something and asked, "When did Ms. Zhang appear by the prince's side? Has the crown prince been favoring her for the past two years? Are there anyone else in the Eastern Palace?"
Su Jun answered one by one, saying, "I had Dongshuang investigate and found that Ms. Zhang was taken in by the prince before his marriage. She became a selected concubine a year ago and was promoted to a formal position after participating in the worship of our ancestor's tomb. There are no other people with rank in the Eastern Palace."
Su Jun frowned and thought for a moment, adding, "There were none who were designated as selected concubines, but I don't know if the prince has favored other palace maids."
Guan Shi listened to her younger sister-in-law speaking slowly and calmly, and she was dying of worry in her heart.
However, Su Jun's face looked innocent and childlike, as if she had never experienced anything before.
So, it seems that marrying into the Eastern Palace was to manage the prince's harem for two years and also to help the prince show filial piety to the Empress Mother.
Although anxious, Guan Shi also understood the reason.
It's because there are no older women around her to teach her, Su Jun doesn't understand these things well, and is completely unaware of the important details!
How could the prince like Su Jun but resist not touching her for a year? His little sister-in-law was beautiful, a delicate beauty in front of him, and his wife brought home through proper procedures. If the prince didn't touch her, it must be that he was lured away by some vixen!
Su Jun blinked, puzzled by why her elder sister-in-law suddenly made such a judgment. She had been using her heart and mind these days to make others believe that the prince didn't love her, so how could the elder sister-in-law believe it just after a few sentences?
This should be proof that the crown prince loves her!
Because he cares about her body, so he wants to wait another year for her, until she is in her late teens before consummating their marriage.
After hearing Su Jun's thoughts, Guan Shi winced at the corner of her mouth and commented, "That's truly a child's notion."
At that time, communication was limited. Although Su Jun had read many books, she had read only serious books. Even if she was interested in the romantic stories in the folklore of the talented scholars and beautiful women, the books she had encountered were all classic works.
Such low-quality items are not available to her.
The people who wrote such classic texts were among the outstanding scholars, although they may not have been successful in the imperial examinations. But when writing books, they must always aim to educate the public!
So, indeed, Su Jun doesn't know the common sense in Guan Shih's eyes, such as the husband always wanting to have intimacy with his wife.
This kind of thing that cannot be written on paper has always been passed down orally.
According to custom, after Su Jun was married into the palace, an elderly nurse would accompany her. At that time, she would naturally hear about these matters that unmarried girls wouldn't be interested in.
But just at that time, the Empress Mother would appoint the nurse to Su Jun, and the Su family, considering this point, specifically only brought in palace maids as dowries.
But the nursemaids around the Empress Mother couldn't mention this point for no reason. After she left the Eastern Palace, there were no older women around Su Jun.
Such matters should generally be taught by the husband, but the crown prince...
Guan Shi thought for a moment, yeah, it's still the crown prince's fault!
