Chapter 36
The fourth prince stood in front of Consort De, his head bowed, his face feigning innocence, but his eyes were full of gloom.
His birth mother was of lowly status, and after being raised by Consort De, she never showed him any genuine affection.
Although she treated him with great kindness in public, she instilled in him the idea of seizing power behind his back, and even beat him in order to make him live up to her expectations.
Therefore, there was almost no good skin under his sleeves.
He slowly raised his head, staring at Ling Wu with a bittersweet feeling, as well as a envious admiration.
It's good that someone has escaped from such a sea of suffering.
Ling Wu received everyone's gazes one by one, and finally returned a simple and lovely smile to each of them.
It did heal the hearts of many people.
Compared to others' subtle or complex expressions of affection, Consort Shu and her daughter were both exceptionally eloquent in their praise.
The exchange of glances between Consort Xian and Consort De was noticeable.
Consort Xian: Is this Consort Shu and her daughter?
Consort De: Ha, what else? Could it be you and your son?
Consort Xian: Are you kidding me?
Consort De: Didn't you start joking with me?
Ling Wu's gaze broke their line of sight. Consort Xian smiled gently, and Consort De smiled gently as well...
Lingwu withdrew her gaze and looked at the items for the baby's first birthday celebration. A soft red cloth was placed on the red table, and there weren't many items on it.
A jade ruyi, a small wooden sword, a writing brush, a phoenix hairpin, paper, bamboo slips, a handful of pistachios, and a jade seal.
Everyone could understand the rest, but when they saw the imperial seal, their expressions changed!
Sheng Yu was quite satisfied. He had specifically emphasized that items such as female rules and regulations, needlework, and other things that were meant to restrain women were not present here.
The Crown Prince's expression remained unchanged, but the Empress hesitated for a moment before simply frowning and saying nothing.
What he was thinking was that the imperial seal was so big, what if Jiaojiao bumped into it?
Sheng Yu placed Ling Wu on the red table and leaned down to whisper to her, "Jiao Jiao, go and pick out what you like. If you like them all... then you can take them all."
Lingwu blinked and nodded. Amidst the stunned silence of the crowd, Lingwu embraced the Imperial Seal of the State.
Sheng Yu's eyes swept across everyone's faces, his eyebrows slightly raised and his thin lips curving into a smile.
He had experienced the struggle for the throne himself, but he did not want his descendants to go through the same thing, nor did he want his courtiers to have two masters. Today's test revealed some disloyal intentions.
The courtiers, each supporting a different prince, all changed their expressions.
Lingwu hugged him tightly, then raised her head, her gaze searching for Sheng Yu's figure.
After finding it, Lingwu's sweet, childlike voice rang out in the eerily quiet palace:
"Father, here you go!"
Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Haha, Your Highness is truly intelligent!"
"Yes, yes, the young prince is very filial. He is only one year old and yet he is so intelligent, knowing that His Majesty is the ruler of the world!"
"Wow~ Little sister is so cute, let big sister kiss you—mmmmm~" The Fifth Princess's mouth was covered by Consort Shu.
Consort Shu chuckled awkwardly, "Hehe, Xiao Wu likes to joke."
Sheng Yu strode up to Ling Wu, patted her head, and smiled, "Jiao Jiao, do you know what this is?"
Lingwu released her hand, revealing the enormous Imperial Seal of the State in her arms, and then pulled Sheng Yu's hand to place it on top of the Imperial Seal of the State.
"I know!" The little baby nodded emphatically, and the small round bead on his forehead swayed, revealing the bright red birthmark.
As soon as Sheng Yu spoke, all around fell silent. The jade seal in his hand was the kind of material he had touched many times.
He didn't know why, but before the baby's first birthday celebration, he inexplicably had a sudden inspiration and took this jade seal.
"Oh? Then Jiaojiao, tell your father what this is?" Sheng Yu squatted down, not caring at all as his dragon robe fell to the ground.
The little toddler pondered for a while, taking a deep breath with each sentence because of his young age, "Daddy's amazing, every time he gets a stamp, it's this one..."
Ling Wu pointed at the Imperial Seal of the State, and as Sheng Yu smiled, she took another breath and said, "Father is amazing, and Zhang Zhang is amazing too. Zhang Zhang was taken away by bad people, so bad people will become powerful, and bad people will bully others..."
Sheng Yu, who understood the meaning, gleaned another layer of meaning from Ling Wu's childlike words. He smiled gently and simply praised, "Jiao Jiao is so clever."
The emperor holds the power of life and death, and all the people under heaven are subject to his every thought. Although his crown prince is well-read, he has never traveled far and wide and cannot see the hardships of life, which is not enough.
The others could not fathom the emperor's intentions, but they knew a thing or two.
They simply nodded in agreement, but the Crown Prince suddenly rubbed his nose, suppressing the urge to sneeze.
The baby's first birthday celebration continues.
Under everyone's gaze, the little baby reached for the phoenix hairpin again.
During the prosperous dynasty, not only the empress could wear phoenix hairpins, but all four concubines, except for Bai Mihan whose hairpins were confiscated, each possessed a five-tailed phoenix hairpin.
Other ladies of the court and princesses with titles may also be awarded five- or three-tailed phoenix hairpins.
Originally, the phoenix hairpin given to Lingwu at her first birthday celebration should have had five tails, but for some unknown reason, it became a seven-tailed phoenix hairpin, which belonged to the empress and was only given to princesses who were sent to marry foreign rulers in previous dynasties!
As Lingwu grasped the phoenix hairpin, Sheng Yu and the Empress also noticed its seven tails, and both of them turned cold.
The others were unaware, but the two of them were well aware.
The couple personally prepared all the arrangements for Jiao Jiao's first birthday celebration, so how could they possibly have the evil thought of hoping that Jiao Jiao would be sent to a political marriage in the future?
Moreover, his dynasty is so prosperous that a marriage alliance would be tantamount to cursing its prosperity.
Sheng Yu remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was filled with murderous intent.
Everyone held their breath again. Although the young prince was extremely favored, who was it that cursed the young prince and also cursed their great prosperity?
Lingwu sat up and staggered towards the Empress's place.
The tip of the phoenix hairpin in her hand had been carefully wrapped up, but the Empress was still afraid that something might go wrong, so she hurriedly stepped forward to greet her.
The moment the Empress embraced Jiao Jiao, her eyes crinkled with even greater joy than Sheng Yu's had just been.
"My darling is so good. I wish she could stay by my side forever." After saying this, the Empress kissed Lingwu without regard for decorum.
"Mother is beautiful, here's the hairpin!" The little boy handed the hairpin to the Empress, thus dispelling the "curse" that had been cast upon him.
"My darling is so good."
If the Empress weren't worried about disrupting Jiao Jiao's first birthday celebration, she would have loved to hide Ling Wu away right now and not share her adorable nature with anyone.
Afterwards, amidst the admiring gazes of the crowd, Lingwu presented the jade ruyi to the most inconspicuous fourth prince.
The fourth prince's gloomy face showed some surprise. "Give...give it to me?" He was so nervous that he forgot to refer to himself as "Your Highness".
Lingwu nodded solemnly, "Fourth brother, be happy." Then she ran back with her short legs.
A jade ruyi symbolizes good fortune, peace, and happiness.
In his previous life, the Fourth Prince, under the daily brainwashing of Consort De, fought with the Crown Prince for the throne. He was ruthless and disregarded the lives of others, resulting in the deaths of many common people. In the end, he committed suicide in the capital city.
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