Extra 4 Chess Score
"This child has beautiful eyebrows and eyes. It's up to you. He will definitely be as beautiful as you in the future."
Song Lingyi glanced at the baby in the cradle. It looked like an alien, with a pointed chin, no eyebrows, and its eyes were not open yet. How could it be seen that its eyebrows and eyes resembled hers?
As a loving father, Xiao Mingyi saw that the little princess was satisfied with everything, so he immediately rewarded everyone in Yongning Palace, including the midwife who delivered the baby. He also invited the Duke's family into the palace to visit the empress and the little princess.
The old lady, already very old, was delighted to see her great-granddaughter born, and she specially ordered a gilded pearl necklace to be made for the little princess. The Duke and his wife also prepared a longevity lock for the little princess to celebrate her birth.
When the civil and military officials heard that the empress had given birth to a princess, they all came forward to congratulate her, but privately they couldn't help but feel sorry for the child. His Majesty only had the empress in his harem, and if the first child was a little prince, he would be the well-deserved crown prince of Dayuan.
Three days after the little princess was born, the emperor ordered a buffet to be set up in all the major restaurants in Kyoto and distributed wedding candies and cakes to all officials.
The content of the court meeting was as expected. In addition to the daily official reports of each department, the ministers also expressed their concern and congratulations to the little princess. The emperor, who usually did not show his emotions, rarely smiled and laughed freely.
Pei Zhao listened to the beginning and stood there with his eyelids half closed, without any emotion.
Purple smoke swirled around the high platform, and the emperor's face was half hidden in the purple smoke. After listening to the congratulations of a minister, Xiao Mingyi's eyes turned slightly and cast towards Pei Zhao, who was standing among the ministers. He spoke in a calm and condescending voice:
"The little princess was born a few days ago, and I didn't have time to summon Master Pei. Master Pei should take the lead in the Qizhou case."
Pei Zhao's eyelids twitched slightly, and he stepped out of the ranks. His expression was calm as he replied, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. Without your order, I would not have been able to mobilize troops in time to suppress the rebellion in Qizhou."
The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, a faint smile on his lips: "Master Pei is too modest."
After the court was finally dismissed, Pei Zhao thought he could go back to the Censorate to do his work, but a eunuch came to inform him that the emperor had summoned him to the Purple Palace to report on his previous duties.
Under the inquiring gazes of his colleagues, Pei Zhao followed the eunuchs towards the Purple Palace, walked around several corridors, and came outside the palace, waiting to be summoned by the emperor.
After about a cup of tea, Feng Tong personally opened the carved wooden door, "Master Pei, please come in."
The hall was spacious and quiet. The emperor sat behind a large ebony desk, busy at his work.
Although he had been back in Beijing for several days, this was Pei Zhao's first report on his duties, which was of extraordinary significance. He lifted the hem of his official robe and bowed:
"Your Majesty, I, Pei Zhao, respectfully wish you the best of times."
As he finished speaking, he heard the sound of the dragon throne rubbing against the ground.
Xiao Mingyi glanced at him calmly and said, "No need to be polite. Please take a seat."
Being granted a seat by the Emperor was a great honor. A flicker of surprise flashed across Pei Zhao's eyes. He paused before saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Feng Tong sent two eunuchs to bring a chair. Pei Zhao sat down, but he didn't let his guard down. Since ancient times, all capable kings have been deeply suspicious. When acting in front of the emperor, one must be cautious and careful.
Xiao Mingyi sat back casually, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk. "I have read the memorial submitted by Master Pei, but the details of the corruption case in Qizhou are not very clear in the memorial. I need you to explain it in detail."
Pei Zhao nodded in agreement, and since then, starting from his inspection of Biancheng last year, he has directly taken up the aforementioned position.
The corruption case was complex, but fortunately he had been well prepared. His narrative was calm and clear, and he laid out the priorities of the case. Before he knew it, he had been talking for half an hour. After two cups of tea brought by the eunuchs, he felt thirsty.
Fortunately, the emperor was not too picky and did not ask him to elaborate on the parts that were clearly stated in the memorial.
The king and his minister chatted for a while, and then Pei Zhao found an opportunity to bow and leave.
Walking out of the palace along the Red Palace Road, the towering red walls on both sides separate the world into four directions, and the people walking in between look as small as ants.
At the same time in Yongning Palace.
The courtyard was filled with gifts sent by dignitaries, and Hongju was still the one who counted and recorded them, and then carried them into the private warehouse.
The weather has been hot recently, but Song Lingyi still put on a thin shirt, leaned against the couch, and gently pushed the little princess's rocking bed with her hand. The little girl opened her big black eyes and looked around, without making any noise or fuss, and was very well-behaved.
"My Lady."
Hong Qi came in holding the gift book and asked Song Lingyi to review it one by one. "The gifts from the ministers are all recorded here. Please check if there are any mistakes or omissions."
Most of the items in the gift book were birthday gifts for the little princess. Song Lingyi flipped through two pages quickly and suddenly saw something written at the bottom of the third page. To be more precise, it was a chess book, and the gift was given by Pei Zhao.
Everyone was giving rare gifts, but he was the only one who gave a chess manual. The little princess was still in her infancy, how could she play chess? This should not be a birthday gift for the little princess.
Seeing the Queen's gaze resting on the page for a long time, Hongqiu explained tacitly, "I heard that this chess manual is a rare copy left by a chess master from the previous dynasty, and it is a treasure in the world. I guess Master Pei learned about it from Miss Pei. The Queen has been honing her chess skills for the past few years, so she sent this manual to you."
"Do you need me to show it to you?"
Song Lingyi's eyes turned slightly. It would be boring to lie down anyway, so she looked at the chess record for a while to kill time.
"Bring it here."
Hongju replied "yes", then took out the chess manual from among the gifts and brought it to the main hall.
In the evening, the wet nurse took the little princess to the side hall to feed her.
Although the little princess was well-behaved, she was always taken care of by the wet nurse at night. Xiao Mingyi felt that Song Lingyi was weak as she had just given birth. There were several wet nurses in the side hall anyway, so the little princess would not starve.
The main hall was quiet. Song Lingyi sat leaning against the couch, holding the chess book and reading it for the whole day.
"My queen, reading for too long hurts your eyes. You should take a break." Hongqi advised.
Song Lingyi pulled her eyes away from the chess record, glanced at the dim sky outside the window, and took a sip of the red bean soup placed on the small table beside the couch. "I didn't realize I'd been reading for so long. Where's His Majesty? Is he still attending to government affairs?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the palace servants' greetings rang out in the courtyard: "May Your Majesty be blessed with good health."
The light from the vermilion palace lanterns was dim. Xiao Mingyi stepped down from the sedan chair, said "Stand up", and walked straight into the main hall.
Walking around the eight-foot-high folding gauze screen, he saw Song Lingyi stuffing something under her pillow, then turning to look at him with a bright smile.
"It's so late, Your Majesty, have you had any meal?"
Xiao Mingyi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Of course not. Unless I'm busy with official business, I always eat with you."
“…”That’s right.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I will serve the meal right away." Hongju bowed and left the main hall.
"The wet nurse has taken Yan'er to the side hall to feed her. Please have her bring her back in two quarters of an hour."
As they spoke, Song Lingyi lifted the thin blanket covering her. She had been lying down all day and hadn't gotten up to walk around, feeling a bit stiff all over. Xiao Mingyi naturally supported her and said calmly, "Don't worry, Yan'er should be asleep by now. We'll see tomorrow morning."
Hearing this, Song Lingyi glanced at him sideways.
It's really strange. Ever since the little one was born, this man has been wanting to hold the little one in his arms every day. His posture of holding the little one has also changed from being clumsy at the beginning to being more skillful than her now. But tonight he was acting out of character and didn't even want to hold the little one?
Dinner was served on a round table outside, and the dishes were very light.
After the Emperor and Empress took their seats, Xiao Mingyi grabbed his ivory chopsticks and casually asked, "I heard the ministers and their families sent quite a few gifts?"
Song Lingyi followed suit, picking up her chopsticks and speaking without hesitation, "They're all birth gifts for Yan'er. They're either immortality locks, gold bracelets, or various necklaces and silks. Hongju knows best."
"Oh." Xiao Mingyi picked up a dish for her with his chopsticks and glanced at Hongju, who was waiting at the table with her head lowered. His tone was casual, as if he was chatting, "Apart from these, don't you have any special gifts?"
Hongqiu's eyes sparkled, and she whispered, "Of course there are..." Following her memory, she deliberately avoided the chess book and picked out some special gifts to tell Xiao Mingyi.
After hearing this, Xiao Mingyi chuckled and put another piece of steamed fish into Song Lingyi's bowl. "It's nothing special."
Both the master and the servant noticed that he was in a somewhat strange mood, but one did not dare to ask, and the other was embarrassed to ask in front of everyone.
Song Lingyi didn't have a big appetite. After eating, she didn't want to lie back on the couch, but she also didn't want to sit there and wait for Xiao Mingyi to finish eating, so she suggested going to the side hall to see the little guy.
The little one in the rocking cradle was sleeping soundly, with his little finger placed at his lips, sucking them unconsciously. Song Lingyi stood by, content even if she only watched quietly.
After about a cup of tea, Song Lingyi returned to the main hall to rest. The hall was very quiet. Xiao Mingyi was sitting on the couch behind the window, flipping through the gift list in his hand, while Hongju was standing beside him, looking a little flustered.
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