Prince Yan rubbed his eyebrows.
He did not believe in ghosts and gods, and inviting a Taoist priest to the palace in public would naturally cause criticism from the court.
But he was still worried about letting Chen Wei continue to live in Fangfei Garden.
"Your Highness, the princess is here." The guard came to report.
The princess was wearing a dark red peony hibiscus dress, her black hair tied into a bun, and she knelt politely to greet the Prince of Yan.
Prince Yan sat at the table, took the Biluochun tea handed to him by Fugui, and asked casually, "What's the matter?"
The princess had long been accustomed to Prince Yan's distant and cold attitude.
She said calmly, "Your Highness, Scholar Zhang has retired and returned to his hometown. I would like to ask Your Highness to invite Scholar Sun from the Hanlin Academy to be the children's teacher. Scholar Sun is a learned scholar with a wealth of knowledge. If Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen can be taught by Scholar Sun, they will surely make rapid progress."
Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen were children of the royal family. They studied at the Imperial Academy during the day and had Scholar Zhang give them extra lessons when they returned home at night.
But Master Zhang's ability was limited, and Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen still failed to take the top spot in the Imperial College.
The princess was disappointed.
She hoped that her son could do well and get first or second place in the Imperial College.
Since Mr. Zhang is not capable, we can find a capable tutor.
After much deliberation, the princess set her sights on the knowledgeable scholar Sun. He wanted the Prince of Yan to come forward and invite Master Sun to give his child extra lessons.
Prince Yan put down the celadon teacup and frowned slightly: "Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen study in the Imperial Academy during the day, and their coursework is already very full. There is no need to find a teacher for them in private."
The child reads during the day and also reads when he gets home. He is only ten years old and at such a young age he is immersed in reading and doesn’t even have enough time to rest.
Due to lack of rest, I get sick every now and then and my body becomes weaker day by day.
The princess was very persistent: "Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen should work hard and make progress. When they have a promising future, they can also help the prince to share his worries."
King Yan looked at him coldly and said word by word: "Are you doing this for me or for yourself?"
The princess felt a chill on her back from the cold look in her eyes. She stammered and couldn't utter a word for a long time.
The princess shut her mouth wisely.
Prince Yan calmly took a sip of tea and changed the subject: "Fangfei Garden has been haunted recently, and Shen Shi has been unable to sleep or eat. Does the princess know about this?"
The princess forced a smile and said, "I have heard about this matter. But most of the ghost stories are fictitious and will be gone in a few days."
The princess knew that it was Zhang Yue who was maliciously targeting Shen Wei, but she had no intention of caring about the fight between the two concubines.
The fight will soon stop, so there is no need to worry about it.
Prince Yan narrowed his eyes and said, "As the mistress of the palace, it is your duty to manage the harem and protect its safety. But now, apart from the children, you don't care about anything else."
This is also the thing that makes Prince Yan most disappointed in his princess.
As the princess consort, her responsibilities are to be in charge of the household affairs - managing the palace's property, comforting and caring for concubines, managing servants, educating children, etc.
But the princess spent all her time revolving around her two sons and one daughter, and seldom cared about the children of her concubines or other women. He was too indecisive to even take care of the palace's farmland and shops, causing the palace to lose a lot of property every year.
Previously, the princess was in charge of preparing the spring banquet at the palace, but it was a mess and she didn't even notice that the assassin was hiding there.
She doesn't care about anything, just sits in her position and does nothing, and still thinks she is as indifferent as a chrysanthemum. What kind of mistress is she?
The princess was nervous, her knees softened and she knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I failed in my duty. I will send someone to visit Fangfei Garden tomorrow."
Although the princess knelt quickly, Prince Yan knew very well that deep down in her heart she had not admitted her mistake at all.
King Yan sighed: "Forget it, you go back first."
The princess lowered her head and tiptoed out of Prince Yan's study. Prince Yan watched the slightly plump figure of the princess as she left, and tried hard to recall the old days when they had loved each other happily.
But after thinking about it for a long time, the years have worn away that period of time, and it is hazy and the King of Yan can't recall the good times at all.
Outside the window, the night was dark. King Yan said:
"Go to Fangfei Garden."
...
The princess held onto Nanny Liu's hand and returned to her own courtyard, exhausted. The princess walked along with tears falling all the way.
The princess felt very aggrieved.
The mistresses of other large families in Yanjing often fought to the death with their concubines, causing unrest in the harem. The princess saw through the hypocrisy of the palace fighting and became as calm as a chrysanthemum. In the whole of Yanjing, is there any mistress who is more non-competitive than her?
But the prince became more and more dissatisfied with her.
Aunt Liu wiped her tears distressedly and said, "Princess, please don't cry. The prince doesn't understand your painstaking efforts."
The princess wiped away her tears and looked determined: "Madame Liu, take some money to find Scholar Sun in private. Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen must rank first in the Imperial College in terms of academic performance."
The child is her only hope and support.
As for the concubines in the palace's backyard, whether they are dead or alive, what does it have to do with her?
...
King Yan walked in the hazy night and came to Fangfei Garden.
Chen Wei had not fallen asleep yet. She was squatting beside the vegetable patch with Cai Lian and Cai Ping, looking at it with sad faces.
Hearing the movement at the gate of the courtyard, Shen Wei forced herself to cheer up and greeted: "My Lord, you are back."
When Prince Yan saw her pale and thin face, he felt pity for her. King Yan held Shen Wei's hand, her palm was cold, like a piece of ice in summer.
My body is weak and my warm hands become cold.
"What is Weiwei looking at by the vegetable garden?" Prince Yan asked in a friendly manner.
Shen Wei lowered her head and said worriedly: "My Lord, all the vegetables we planted have wilted for some reason..."
King Yan was astonished and his eyes fell on the vegetable patch. The seedlings in the originally green vegetable field were all leaning to one side or the other, the eggplants were lying crookedly on the ground, and the cherry tomatoes that had just produced fruit were rotten.
Eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers were all planted by him himself.
Now it's all destroyed!
Prince Yan was annoyed.
Shen Wei frowned, her voice a little tearful, and she whispered, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I take good care of this vegetable garden every day, but I didn't expect something like this to happen. And the pavilion by the pond also collapsed inexplicably this afternoon..."
All the fresh vegetable seedlings wilted and the water pavilion collapsed.
Chen Wei's eyes were red, and her almond-shaped eyes were filled with hazy and flickering tears, like a freshly peeled lychee, and she looked very pitiful.
"Your Highness, it's cold outside. I made some red date tea that you like." Shen Wei forced herself to cheer up and put on a fake strong smile.
She held King Yan's hand and walked into the house with a heavy heart.
At night, the two of them slept on the same bed, and the sound of rustling wind came from outside the house. It was originally a very ordinary sound of the night wind, but Shen Wei was like a frightened grasshopper, huddled in King Yan's arms, her delicate body trembling slightly.
King Yan could see that she was very scared.
But in order not to make him worry, Shen Wei did not mention a word about the haunting of Fangfei Garden, and endured it all silently.
King Yan sighed in his heart, and he put his arm around Shen Wei's slender waist: "I have asked someone to clean up the Glazed Pavilion, and you will move in tomorrow."
The candlelight in the room was still on, and King Yan could clearly see the surprise on Shen Wei's pretty face. Shen Wei blinked blankly and stammered: "Liu, Liuli Pavilion?"
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