move place

Yunlan lowered her head and remained silent, listening as Emperor Yun continued, "I sent Yunrui to the military camp hoping he could lead troops into battle someday. The court is full of cunning and scheming, unsuitable for him. But now it seems the battlefield is dangerous; we should try to avoid sending him out again." For a mother, this was all well and good, but Yunlan shook her head. "Your Majesty, if the court needs me, I must go." These words shocked Emperor Yun, who turned to look at Yunlan. "I am unaware of what is happening outside the palace, but Yun..." "As a prince, it is Yu's duty to protect the country," Emperor Yun said, finding the words quite agreeable. He nodded in agreement. "Although Yu is not one to show off, he has Your Majesty in his heart. If Your Majesty cherishes him and lets him remain idle in Xiling, enjoying a life of leisure, he will feel unappreciated." Emperor Yun was very satisfied with these words, but Yun Lan knew even better that a prince with military power and numerous military achievements would have far greater prestige than Prince Cheng and Prince Yu. These words were also meant to protect the weak forces under Li Yun's command. Compared to his older brothers, Li Yun had grown up in the military camp since childhood and, although he lacked real power, he had many followers. At this moment, Emperor Yun sat up, picked up the teacup on the table, and handed it to Yun Lan, slowly saying, "Yun Rui is dead. The second son is young, the third son, though learned, lacks courage, the fourth son, though like me, has no military achievements, and the ninth son... though not yet of age, must have learned much more in the military these past years." Yun Lan, instead of being overjoyed, immediately comforted him, "Your Majesty need not ponder. The nine sons of the dragon are all different, and Your Highness's princes naturally have different temperaments as well." However, another question lingered in Emperor Yun's mind: "After Yun Rui's death, the previous dynasty has always..." "You submitted a memorial urging me to establish a crown prince as soon as possible. Although I have many princes around me, they are either too young or not mature enough. Only Prince Yu and Prince Cheng are before me. Yunlan, what do you think of... Yun Ye?" Yunlan could tell that the Emperor wanted to establish another crown prince, but knowing the Emperor's sensitive spot, she could only avoid the main point. "That child, Yun Ye, has an extraordinary appearance and noble bearing. He was well-versed in literature from a young age, so naturally he is very good." The Emperor pulled Yunlan's hand away from his shoulder and said seriously, "I'm not asking about appearance, but about character. Don't try to fob me off; the matter of establishing an heir cannot be taken lightly."

Yunlan's heart skipped a beat at the question. She quickly composed herself and lowered her head, saying, "Your Majesty, I have lived in the deep palace for many years and have not left. The last time I saw Yunye, he was only seven or eight years old. I know very little about him, only occasionally hearing gossip in the inner palace that he is a wise prince..." Emperor Yun snorted coldly, "A woman's way! What does she know about wisdom or not? These rumors all come from outside. Now, in court discussions, the ministers are constantly talking in my ear about establishing a virtuous and eldest son. He dares to make such a fuss, I've heard..." "These days he's been running around, with many people coming to visit." Yunlan instantly understood Emperor Yun's wariness of Li Yunye, and said, "If you value him, you'll naturally provide these things. To live up to your expectations, they have no choice but to work tirelessly." Emperor Yun pushed away the tea Yunlan offered, knowing that this was mostly due to him delegating too much power. Li Yunrui had been in the same situation back then. If he had returned earlier, perhaps things wouldn't be like this. Now that the two are of similar talent, it's better to let them grow first, and then make a decision after observing them. Seeing Emperor Yun get up, Yunlan quickly got off the bed and asked Suxi to bring Emperor Yun's outer robe so she could help him put it on. "Your Majesty, although it's spring, it's still windy outside. Please take care of yourself." Emperor Yun took Yunlan's hand and walked outside the palace. "Go back now! I will come to see you again. I've let you down a lot these past years. I will find a way to make it up to you and Yunyu."

After Emperor Yun left, Yunlan rose and returned to her room. She said to Suxi beside her, "This plan, though risky, is also the safest. Yunyu is too upright to see through the intricacies involved. While I can help, I can't inquire too much about matters outside the palace… I'll have to trouble Mr. Tang. If possible, I'd like to meet him." Suxi poured Yunlan a cup of tea and handed it to her, saying, "Your Highness, we will meet eventually."

Since returning home last time, Tang Feng had been much more obedient, but he still couldn't escape the fate of having a fever. Not only was he forced to drink medicine by Zhou Ziliang, but he was also nagged by Madam Zhou every morning. Tang Feng spent his days holding his books, flipping through them again and again, staring at the blooming crabapple trees outside, and couldn't help but sigh, "Ziliang, you're all better now, can't you stop staying home?" Zhou Ziliang glanced at Tang Feng, pointed to the withered potted plant by the door, and laughed, "Then can Xiao Feng explain to me what's going on with this potted plant? I remember it was green just a few days ago?" Tang Feng frowned. A few days ago, he had discovered a good place to pour the medicine. Every day before his medicine time, he would send Zhou Ziliang away and pour the medicine into the potted plant by the door. But after a day or two... "It's nothing," Tang Feng said. "After a while, not only did the tree in the pot die, but I also became seriously ill." Zhou Ziliang noticed something was wrong and picked up the pot to check; it was full of medicine dregs. "I... I didn't want to drink such bitter medicine. You know I hate bitterness the most..." Zhou Ziliang sighed. What could he do? If he got sick, he would be the one who felt the most heartache. He sat down by Tang Feng's bedside, pulled the clothes draped over Tang Feng's body, and said, "Father said the mansion is finished, and we'll move there in a few days. The place is a bit far from Jiming Street, and we're afraid the noise outside will disturb your recovery." Tang Feng looked at the crabapple tree outside and asked, "Then can we... plant a crabapple tree in the yard?"

"Of course, if you'd like, you can plant the backyard full of crabapple trees," Tang Feng said, but he shook his head. "One tree is precious, a patch is common. Since I've given my heart to one person, I'm willing to give my all for the rest of my life. Right, Ziliang?" Zhou Ziliang understood what Tang Feng meant and put his arm around him. "Don't worry, for the rest of my life, it's you, only you." Tang Feng couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you suddenly so serious? Have you prepared everything for the housewarming?"

Zhou Ziliang nodded. "With Mother handling everything, nothing will go wrong. You don't need to worry anymore." Tang Feng threw back the covers, sat up, and said in a low voice, "A few days ago, I asked Meng Lie to find a few people outside and have him bring them over for me to see. Now I feel it's not appropriate to bring people to the Marquis's mansion so abruptly. How about we have them come over when we're hosting guests for our housewarming?" Zhou Ziliang thought there was no problem. "Then let's go all the way. I'll give General Meng an invitation. Don't worry."

On the day of the housewarming, everyone in the family except for Old Master Tang attended. Tang Feng stood at the door, somewhat disappointed not to see Tang Zhaonan. Zhou Ziliang comforted him, "Uncle Tang must have been held up by something. You are his only son, how could he not miss you?" "...Perhaps he is still concerned about what happened before. Oh well, there's plenty of time in the future. Father will understand my predicament." Tang Feng smiled and adjusted his mindset. There weren't many guests who came to congratulate him. Originally, Zhou Ziliang didn't want to invite them. Tang Feng's health had just improved these past few days, and he didn't want him to be overworked. However, Tang Feng wanted Meng Lie to bring people over, so he couldn't just invite him alone. He only invited a few people as a formality. Zhang Mobai arrived and saw Tang Feng standing at the door. He hurried over and asked, "How have you been these past few days? I heard from Ziliang that you've moved out, so I came to join the festivities." When Zhou Ziliang saw Zhang Mobai, he wanted Tang Feng to go back inside, since it was windy outside and he was afraid Tang Feng would catch a cold. Tang Feng didn't refuse, and led Zhang Mobai back to the house. He sat down at the table and, without waiting to sit down, asked Zhang Mobai, "You didn't bring Yang Fei with you when you came out for a stroll?"

"Tch," Zhang Mobai scoffed. "Bring him? He'd be a pain the whole way. I'd rather bring Lin'an! Lin'an's starting to recognize people now. When my old man asks where the kid came from, I just say I found him. He even took Lin'an to your house to show your dad!" Seeing Tang Feng's expression, Zhang Mobai realized his mistake. "Little brother... Uncle Tang doesn't mean to blame you. Don't overthink it. It's just about the succession struggle... Actually, I don't really agree with it either, but you haven't gotten involved yet, so it's best to stay out of it!" Tang Feng was preoccupied with a thousand thoughts and couldn't pay attention to Zhang Mobai's advice, only vaguely agreeing, "I know... I know." An awkward silence fell between them. Seeing Tang Feng's lack of enthusiasm, Zhang Mobai could only say... "I'll head back now," said Zhang Mobai. "You look quite unwell. In a few days, I'll bring Lin'an to visit you. That child must remember you; he kept trying to reach your door when we went to your house, and even Miss Jiu couldn't hold him." Tang Feng smiled. "That's fine. You've been in the court for so long, while I've been at home, so there are bound to be many things I don't know. In the future, if anything happens, you should talk to me about it. Since I got married, you've rarely visited me." Zhang Mobai patted Tang Feng's shoulder apologetically. "I really haven't been to your place much these past few days. Lin'an needs constant attention. In a few days, when the court enters its spring break, I'll come and stay with you for a while." "Spring break?" Tang Feng had never heard this term before and found it quite novel. "Yes, there's a spring break and a winter break every year, a total of twenty-odd days off. But when I get back, I'm swamped with work."

"So Your Majesty is resting too?" "Of course, with the ministers not attending court, Your Majesty naturally needs to rest as well." Tang Feng rested his chin on one hand and tapped the table with the other. He then smiled at Zhang Mobai, "Alright, come find me again during your spring break! I'm so bored at home alone." Zhang Mobai laughed, "Don't you still have Ziliang? How could you be bored?" Tang Feng leaned on the table, turning his head to look at Zhang Mobai, complaining, "Him? He goes to the military camp every day to handle matters. This huge mansion is just me all alone, drinking medicine, reading, lying down... And the servants at home... Ziliang has hired quite a few, but I still feel a bit uneasy."

"That's easy. I'll inform Miss Jiu and have Liu Yiwan come and help you." Tang Feng shook his head and handed Zhang Mobai a banana. "He likes Sister Jiu. I settled this before I went to Shanghan. He can't stay with me forever! Forget it, let's go with Ziliang's plan! Now, I won't even be allowed to leave the house, let alone go out. All those servants are useless. They'll probably start gossiping after a while. The young master in the mansion is rarely seen going out these days. Is he about to die?"

"Nonsense! You'll be fine!" Zhang Mobai frowned and scolded, "If they're talking nonsense, I'll discipline the servants for you. Old Wu is Ziliang's old military doctor. Over the years, he's cured countless people. He takes care of your health every day, so you can relax and not overthink things." Tang Feng sighed inwardly. This wasn't something he could simply relax about. He felt like he was standing on a cliff, one wrong step and he'd fall, never to return. Even Hua Tuo reborn probably couldn't save him. "Relax, relax! Look at me, so carefree every day, how can I not be relaxed?" Tang Feng looked out the window and saw Zhou Ziliang winking at him, knowing Meng Lie had arrived. He said to Zhang Mobai, "Little madman, you should go back first! The guests have mostly left, I need to go out and take my medicine." Zhang Mobai looked at the time and nodded. "Take good care of yourself. I'll also remind Ziliang about this."