"Why?"
In the quiet room, Prince Huai's questioning voice rang out: "Mother, why did you do this?"
He could never have imagined that his mother, who had seemed so gentle and frail in his eyes all these years, was actually faking illness.
But why did she do this?
Worried that Empress Su would make things difficult for her?
Is she afraid that other concubines in the harem will plot against her?
But since my father ascended the throne, he has only favored Empress Su. The only one the concubines in the harem are jealous of is Empress Su. Why should my mother put herself in such a difficult position?
"I do everything for you, of course." Concubine Xu looked at her son and said slowly, "Liu'an, you are your father's eldest son. The future throne should belong to you."
Prince Huai looked at Concubine Xu in astonishment. This ambitious mother became unfamiliar in his eyes. In his memory, his mother was gentle. She would not force his fourth brother to study like Zheng Lanyin did, nor would she let his second brother give in to other brothers like Lu Zhaoyi did. She even never mentioned the words "eldest son" or "prince" in front of him.
"Now that Su has been canonized as the empress, what's the use of me being the eldest son?" Prince Huai accepted his fate and said, "Mother, don't put yourself in a difficult position in the future. Medicines are poisonous. Even if you are not sick, drinking these bitter medicines often will not be good for your health."
"If I wasn't so weak and sickly, how could His Majesty let me go?" Concubine Xu lifted the quilt, walked to the table and sat down, sneering: "Your father is a man who is very good at forbearance. When the princes fought for the throne, he just used a little trick to hide in the palace and finally won the throne..."
"My father was clearly framed by the other princes and was kept under house arrest in the palace for two whole years." He was like a tiger in troubled water, being bullied by a dog. What kind of life was he going through during those two years under house arrest? He almost didn't want to recall it again.
"But it was this imprisoned prince who finally ascended the throne." Concubine Xu looked at her ignorant son and asked: "Why was it him?"
"Father is the chosen one by heaven. He is both talented and virtuous. He is better than all the other princes." Prince Huai could not understand Concubine Xu's words even more: "Isn't this as it should be?"
"There are not so many things to do in the capital." Concubine Xu raised her eyebrows: "With your stupid personality, how can you win over the court officials in the future?"
Prince Huai frowned and said nothing.
"I used to think that your father was a gentle and kind person, until one day, I found that there was no warmth in his eyes when he looked at me." Concubine Xu fell into the past memories: "In his eyes, I was no different from the flowers and trees on the roadside. Although he didn't kill me, he had no feelings for me."
"Mother, what are you talking about? Why does father want to kill you?" He looked at Concubine Xu in horror, thinking that she was sick and talking nonsense: "Son will help you to the bed to rest."
"Sixteen years ago, the King of England's men found me and asked me to steal a list from your father's study. They promised that if I got the list, they would protect my son and me and take us out of the palace." Concubine Xu laughed at herself and said, "When people are desperate, they tend to lose their minds. I promised the King of England."
Prince Huai looked at Concubine Xu in disbelief: "Mother, you are lying to me, right?"
How could my mother, who is gentle and kindhearted and devoted to my father, do something like selling the palace?
At that time, there were dozens of people in the palace. If my mother had given the list to someone else...
He asked hoarsely, "What happened next?"
"Later, the King of England was defeated and died under the sword of the Golden Armored Guards. I don't know which brick in the palace was stained red by his blood." When mentioning this past event, Concubine Xu felt regretful: "If I had known that he would end up like this, I would never have agreed to him."
"You didn't steal the list?" Prince Huai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"I stole it." Concubine Xu lowered her eyelids. "After the King of England was defeated, I burned this list."
Prince Huai recalled an incident in which his mother was burning something in the house with red eyes and looked very sad.
"You told me that you burned the poem you wrote for your father." Prince Huai sat on the stool dejectedly: "Are you lying to me too?"
He thought his mother was sad because she saw the deep affection between his father and Su, so she burned the things written to his father. It turned out that there was no love poem at all, only a list of names related to life and death in the royal palace.
Concubine Xu did not admit it, but she did not deny it either.
"I don't know when your father found out about this, but in order to make him stop hating me, I can only pretend to be sick every day and try not to let him notice me."
"But after my father ascended the throne, he gave you the title of consort and also gave my son the title of prince." Prince Huai's mind was in a mess: "If he really cared, why would he give you the title of consort?"
"You are the eldest son. As your biological mother, he only gave you a concubine position, not even a title. Isn't that perfunctory enough?" Concubine Xu tightly grasped Prince Huai's hand and said, "Liu'an, Zheng has been sentenced to death by His Majesty. If you can't become the crown prince, I will die under the three-foot white silk like Zheng. Do you understand?"
Concubine Xu's grip was frighteningly strong. Prince Huai looked down at the hand that was tightly grasped by Concubine Xu and said, "My fourth brother's mother, didn't you poison the prince..."
"No, she died of stupidity." Concubine Xu interrupted Prince Huai and said, "After she met her family, her complexion improved. It was no secret that she had secretly contacted the guards guarding the palace several times."
"The plan failed but he didn't know how to stop. He kept provoking Su Meidai in the harem. If she didn't die, who would die?" When mentioning Zheng Lanyin, Concubine Xu's tone was full of disdain: "Yun Yanze was raised by her to be just like her. He looks glamorous on the surface, but he is a fool on the inside. At such a young age, he dared to proclaim that he is a wise king and a man of both civil and military talents. He even wanted to stick the word gentleman on his forehead."
“Mother…” Prince Huai turned his head and looked at the setting sun that had climbed onto the window frame: “Forget it.”
"I don't want any more storage positions or dragon thrones." He became disinterested: "As long as we are all fine, that's better than anything else."
"I have endured for so many years, all for you, and you told me to just forget it?!" Concubine Xu took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the tears from her eyes: "Do you know how scared my mother was when Zheng was sentenced to death?"
"Can you bear to watch your mother follow the footsteps of the Zheng family?"
His mother's crying was like a net that tightly wrapped him from head to toe, making it hard for him to breathe.
"Even if it's for my mother." Tears as big as beans dripped onto the back of Prince Huai's hand: "Liu'an, my mother only has you. If even you are unwilling to help me, I will be the second Zheng Lanyin, do you understand?"
Prince Huai almost fled in panic. He covered the back of his tear-stained hand and did not even dare to look back when he left Zhaoxiang Palace.
Concubine Xu slowly wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a sip of the tea on the table.
The throne is within reach, why should we give up?
It’s a pity that Your Majesty protected Su Meidai too well, leaving her no room to attack.
Neither the Zheng family nor the Wei family is the biggest threat.
As long as Su Meidai and Yun Duqing were not eliminated, they would always be a major worry for her.
After walking out of Zhaoxiang Palace, Prince Huai walked straight ahead with his head down. The eunuch behind him did not dare to ask any more questions and just trotted after him.
He didn't know how far he had walked before he gradually regained his senses and looked up to see the paper ibis in the sky.
"Who is so bold as to release paper orioles in the palace?" Because a concubine in the previous dynasty used paper orioles to send messages to people outside the palace, causing a big commotion. Therefore, although there is no explicit prohibition on releasing paper orioles in the harem of this dynasty, the concubines all tacitly agree not to touch this thing.
"Your Highness, I don't know." He followed behind the prince, so how could he know who was releasing the paper finch?
The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the entire palace. Prince Huai walked around the palace wall and saw the person releasing the paper orioles.
"Sister-in-law, you can't pull it like that, or you'll tear the paper iris." Jiuzhu handed the iris's lead string to Chunfen and tied the hem of her skirt around her waist: "Wait, I'll help you take it off."
Before Princess Huai could react, she saw Ming Jiuju jumping onto the tree.
"What are you still standing there for? Go and help the princess." Princess An reacted, threw the string in her hand to the palace maid behind her, and walked nervously to the tree: "Fifth brother's sister, please come down quickly. Leave this matter to the palace maids and eunuchs. Don't fall down by yourself."
"I got it." Jiuzhu threw the paper iris on the ground, climbed down from the tree, picked up the paper iris on the ground and handed it to Princess Huai: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, the paper iris is not damaged at all."
Princess Huai took the paper iris, bent down, and straightened her nine-bead skirt with one hand: "If the paper iris is damaged, it can be remade. What if you drop it?"
"This paper ibis has a pattern drawn by my sister-in-law herself. It's different from other paper ibis." Jiuzhu patted the folds on her skirt and said, "I've been used to climbing trees since I was a child. I won't fall."
Princess Huai held the paper eagle in her hand, and a smile appeared on her usually calm and composed face.
She hasn't been this happy for a long time. Ever since she married King Huai and became a princess, she has been restricted in her words and actions.
Her mother was still seriously ill, but when she walked out of the yard, she saw her two younger siblings sitting at the table making paper orioles. Perhaps they were laughing too happily, which made her drop everything and do such a bold thing.
"Thank you, sister-in-law." She touched the paper ibis lovingly and handed it to the palace maid behind her, asking her to keep it carefully.
"It's just a small thing, no need to thank me." Jiuzhu took the paper iris string from Chunfen and looked up at the paper iris flying steadily in the sky: "Sister-in-law, you are too serious."
Princess An teased, "Sister-in-law, at the roasted deer banquet later, you can roast a piece of deer meat for her yourself, as a way of thanking her."
"Okay." Princess Huai was infected by the happiness of her two younger siblings: "Later, I will not only grill it for Jiuzhu, but also for you, so that you won't accuse me of being partial."
"It's unfair. I didn't say anything." Princess An went to pull Jiuzhu's arm, and before she had the chance to act pitiful, she started laughing.
Jiuzhu laughed along with her and said, "The eldest and second sisters-in-law should bake for me. I am thick-skinned and eat a lot, and I don't mind your cooking skills."
Princess Huai thought their laughter was a little silly, but she couldn't help laughing along with them.
She temporarily forgot that her mother was still ill and as a daughter-in-law, she shouldn't laugh.
Rules and etiquette are not important at this moment.
Maybe the sunset was too beautiful and the paper ibis flew too high, so high that it seemed as if she had flown out of the rules and etiquette and turned back into the little girl she once was.
"Sister-in-law." Jiuzhu bent down and picked a flower that was in full bloom, and put it in her hair: "Flowers go well with beauties. Whose family are you from?"
Princess Huai was stunned for a moment, then she laughed: "Where did this lecher come from, to put flowers in a woman's hair casually?"
"I am intoxicated by your beauty, how can I be a pervert?" Jiuzhu pretended to be shocked and widened his eyes: "I am very sad, and I need you to roast venison for me for an hour before I can feel better."
"So you're not a lecher, you're a little liar who wants to eat venison." Princess Huai pinched her cheek lightly and said, "Forget it, for your good looks, I'll do as you say."
Princess An, who was standing nearby, looked at her sister-in-law who was in a sullen mood. Ming Jiuzhu's few words made her smile again and she chuckled.
No wonder even an arrogant prince like Prince Chen softened his voice in front of her and protected her like the apple of his eye.
For those who are used to seeing the ugliness and evil of human nature in the palace, if they can receive a pure heart, it is the best gift from God.
Not to mention men, even women would be softened by her eyes and smile.
"Your Highness..." The eunuch following behind Prince Huai was a little nervous. He had never expected that the princess was also releasing paper finch.
"Let's go." Prince Huai turned around and left. His shadow was stretched out by the setting sun and reflected on the palace wall, so distorted that he didn't look like a human being.
"What happened just now." Shadow paused, still with a distorted look: "Don't mention it to others."
"Yes." The young eunuch responded quickly.
He was a little surprised. With the prince's previous temper, he would have questioned the princess as to why she was laughing and having fun when his mother was seriously ill. He didn't expect that she would hold back today.
"Jiuzhu, what's that over there?" Princess Huai noticed that Jiuzhu looked at the round moon gate on the other side of the palace wall several times.
"Nothing, I just felt like someone was looking at this place." Jiuzhu retracted her gaze: "It might be a palace maid or a eunuch."
Princess Huai chuckled and didn't take the matter to heart.
As soon as he stepped into the gate of Zhangliu Palace, Prince Huai smelled the aroma of barbecue spices.
Looking around, there was a big grilling table in the middle of the yard. The palace maids and eunuchs were busy around the table. The second brother and Yun Duqing were playing chess beside them, and the third brother was dozing off while watching them. It was enough to prove how boring this game of chess was for the two of them.
No one knew where Yun Yanze was, and there was no sign of him in the yard.
"Brother, you are finally back." When Prince An saw Prince Huai appear, he threw away the chess piece in his hand and walked towards Prince Huai as if he was relieved.
Playing chess with my fifth brother is so painful. Every move he makes is in an unexpected place and there is no pattern at all.
If his opponent had not won several games against him, he would have almost suspected that he was making random moves.
All this is just to curry favor with someone!
"What do you want from me?" It was not until Prince An walked up to him that Prince Huai slowly reacted.
"We got some fresh venison today, so let's have a good get-together." Prince An took Prince Huai's arm and pulled him to sit at the table. "We'll have a drink and chat later, and we won't leave until we're drunk."
"Look, everything is ready and waiting for you."
"Okay." Prince Huai nodded in agreement.
Prince Chen paused holding the chess piece, looked up at Prince Huai, and asked with a smile, "Big brother, do you like to eat it roasted or boiled in a hot pot?"
"It tastes better when grilled." Prince Huai perked up: "No need to prepare a warm pot."
"Okay." Prince Chen smiled meaningfully, threw the chess piece into the chess basket, and a chess piece jumped out.
King Jing reached out and picked up the chess piece, and at the same time picked up a black chess piece from the white chess basket and put it back into the black chess basket.
“When grilling, brush it with a layer of oil and sprinkle a few sesame seeds on it so that it will taste better when you drink wine.” Prince Huai wanted to get drunk so that he could forget what his mother had said to him.
My biological mother is seriously ill, but I still have time to think about how to roast venison to make it taste good.
Really interesting.
Prince Chen chuckled and picked up a few chess pieces to play with. He accidentally dropped a few black pieces into the white chess basket. "As you wish, big brother."
King Jing stared at the black chess pieces and turned his head away after a moment.
After the three princesses who released the paper ibis returned, everyone sat down around the table. Prince An asked, "Did we forget something?"
Strange, what did I forget?
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