Chapter 51 His Highness deliberately went out for a walk to create an encounter

Concubine Jing Gui was extremely anxious, but after entering the room, she smiled calmly and saluted.

The Imperial Concubine put down the account book in her hand, raised her eyes and looked at her with a smile: "Sister is here, sit down."

Concubine Jing Gui thanked him and sat down as he said.

The Imperial Concubine ordered tea to be served, and the two of them sipped the tea from their cups slowly, neither of them speaking a word.

After a while, Concubine Jinggui couldn't hold back her anger and spoke first: "It's interesting to say that I encountered a strange thing today."

The imperial concubine pretended not to know: "What's so strange? Tell me about it."

Concubine Jing Gui told the story of how she met several princesses on the road, how she overheard the conversation between the strange man and the Ninth Princess, and how she wanted to catch up with the man to get to the bottom of things, but was unable to enter the Fengyi Palace and was instead sent to the Furong Palace.

After she finished speaking, seeing that the Imperial Concubine showed no sign of surprise, Concubine Jing leaned towards the Imperial Concubine, lowered her voice, and asked tentatively: "Sister, what do you think, for such a weird thing, should we ask a master to perform a ritual to exorcise the evil spirits for the Ninth Princess?"

"Is this what Concubine Jing thinks?" The Imperial Concubine raised her eyebrows slightly and her tone turned cold.

This was the first time anyone had offered to exorcise evil spirits for Xiaojiu since everyone had heard him and Tongtong chatting.

Concubine Jing was just testing the waters. Seeing that Concubine Huang no longer called her sister, she quickly changed her words with a smile: "I just said that. After all, this matter is really too weird. Could it be that my sister also heard that conversation?"

"Not only me, but also Your Majesty, the Queen... everyone can hear it." The Royal Concubine said the names of all the people who had heard Tong Tong speak.

At last, he said, "The fight between the two noble ladies in the Jade Palace, the falling out between Concubine Shun and Concubine Jiang, and the quarrel between Fourteen and Thirteen were all because of what Tong Tong said. Besides that, there are some other things that have nothing to do with you, Concubine Jing, so I won't tell you about them."

Listening to the long list of names, thinking of the many concubines who were under house arrest, and the uproar over the demotion of Concubine Li, Concubine Jing Gui felt a wave of fear.

It turned out that so many people could hear it. Fortunately, she came to inquire first and did not directly punish the little girl who spoke rudely.

But so many people heard it, how come it was kept so secret that it never reached her ears?

Seeing that the Royal Concubine was still looking at her, she could only suppress her doubts and pretended to be shocked and exclaimed, "No wonder there have been so many incidents in the palace in recent days. It turns out that it's all because of this reason. This is really true that people's hearts are separated from their stomachs. What you see may not be the truth."

"That's right." The Imperial Concubine chuckled. "So, Concubine Jing said before that she wanted to exorcise the evil spirit for Xiao Jiu, but she heard some of your secrets from Tong Tong, and she wanted to silence you in the name of exorcism?"

These words were very harsh to hear, and Concubine Jing was extremely unhappy, but she also knew that Concubine Huang was someone who even dared to confront His Majesty, so how could she dare to show any dissatisfaction?

She smiled and glared at the Imperial Concubine, "Sister, what are you talking about? We have been sisters for so many years, don't you know what secrets my sister has?"

The Imperial Concubine smiled and said, "Come to think of it, I really have something to ask my sister."

Seeing the Imperial Concubine's smile, Concubine Jing felt a pang in her heart, but she pretended to be calm on the surface: "Sister, just tell me, I will tell you everything I know."

"It's not a big deal." The Imperial Concubine took a sip from her teacup and continued, "It's just that someone put a prostitute next to my Xiaoliu. I heard that it was your third son who did it."

The smile on Concubine Jing Gui's face froze instantly, and she thought to herself, "Oh no!"

She knew that the Third Prince had secretly arranged this. She also knew that the Sixth Prince had discovered the identity of the brothel girl.

She asked the third brother, who assured her not to worry, saying that everything had been arranged and that he would not be the cause of the crime.

But the Royal Concubine said this now, could it be that the truth has been revealed?

Concubine Jing was panicked and thought quickly. She changed her mind and decided that this shouldn't happen. Given Concubine Huang's bad temper, if she really had something to hold against the Third Princess, she would have exploded long ago. How could she sit here and chat with her in a friendly manner?

After figuring out the key, Concubine Jing Gui quickly regained her composure, "Sister, you're joking. The Third Brother has always liked the Sixth Brother. How could he do such a thing?"

Knowing that she would not admit it easily, the Imperial Concubine sneered in her heart and continued to lie to her: "Xiao Liu has already found out that it was Lao Wu, but the child was reluctant to report it to His Majesty because of their brotherly love. He said that he would give Lao Wu a chance. If Lao Wu was willing to take the initiative to admit his fault to him, he would let bygones be bygones."

The two have been dealing with each other for nearly twenty years, and they both know that the other is scheming and that what they say is true and false and cannot be fully trusted.

"It turned out that it was that stupid old fifth brother who did it." Concubine Jing Gui pretended to be filled with righteous indignation, and then perfunctorily said, "Little Six is ​​kind, no wonder his brothers like him."

She didn't know how much truth there was in what the Royal Concubine said, and she was afraid that if she said too much she would make mistakes, so she just responded and said no more.

The Imperial Concubine stared at her for a while, and seeing that she only lowered her head to drink tea, she sneered in her heart and continued, "I know that the third child values ​​brotherhood. I didn't think of the third child at first, but everyone knows that the fifth child always follows the third child's lead."

Knowing that the fifth child would be a useless chess piece in the end, Concubine Jing Guifei hurriedly distanced herself from the matter: "Don't think too much, sister. The third child saw that the fifth child was too stupid and occasionally gave him some advice. Who would have thought that the fifth child would rely on the third child and always hang around him. In fact, the third child is also impatient in his heart."

"Oh, so that's it." Imperial Concubine said, and just when Jing Concubine was obviously relieved, she said, "But that day, Tong Tong mentioned it so much, saying that this matter was related to the third brother."

That Tongtong said that? Concubine Jing's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly, and she looked up at Concubine Huang, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

The two looked at each other silently, trying to figure out what was in the other's mind.

After a long time, Concubine Jing Gui finally decided to take a gamble. If she won, she could get away with it. If she lost, His Majesty would punish her and her son, so she wouldn't mind telling another lie.

After making up her mind, she chuckled, "Sister, you scared me. The third child has always been filial and never hides anything from me. If he really did it, you don't need to tell me anything. I will personally apologize to His Majesty."

The Imperial Concubine saw that she could not find out the fraud, so she lost interest in dealing with it. She put the teacup on the table and said, "I have a lot of things to do. I will not chat with you today. Please go back."

Concubine Jing originally wanted to ask more about Tongtong, but when she saw Concubine Huang's cold face, she had to put down her teacup, stood up, bowed according to the hierarchy, and turned to walk out.

The moment she turned around, her expression changed, her smile disappeared, and her eyes showed anxiety and worry.

Now that the Royal Concubine has become suspicious, she has to quickly send a message to the Third Brother, asking him to make sure everything is in order and not let anyone trace him back through that idiot Fifth Brother.

She quickened her pace and walked out. Just as she was about to reach the door, the Imperial Concubine spoke again, her tone was leisurely: "Oh, by the way, I almost forgot that His Majesty's previous demotion of Concubine Li was also related to my sister."

When Concubine Jing Gui heard this, she immediately turned around and asked in confusion, "Does it have anything to do with me?"

The Imperial Concubine picked up the account book and said casually, "It is said that Concubine Li will frame my sister for having an affair with the eunuch in the future."

Having said that, he started to calculate and said nothing more.

Just a few simple words made Concubine Jing Guifei feel extremely disgusted. She wanted to ask for details, but then she felt that if she did, she would only be causing trouble for herself. Her face darkened and she turned around and walked out.

When she got outside, she called her personal maid and left. The maid saw that Concubine Jing looked unhappy and asked her in a low voice what was wrong.

How could Concubine Jinggui say such a dirty thing? She frowned and shook her head, whispering, "Go back and send a message to the Third Prince, asking him to come to the palace to see me as soon as possible."

When the palace maid saw her serious expression, she knew that something serious must have happened, and she quickly responded.

Seeing that Concubine Jing Gui was not heading back to the palace, the maid asked curiously, "Madam, are we not going back to the palace?"

Concubine Jing gritted her teeth and said, "Let's go talk to Concubine Jiang first."

After the Imperial Concubine finished checking the account books, she called Hong Yu in and asked, "What's going on with Imperial Concubine Jing? Did she go to see Imperial Concubine Chun, or did she go to see Concubine Jiang?"

Hong Yu replied, "Jing Guifei didn't go to Concubine Chun's place, but went directly to Feixuexuan. After closing the door, I don't know what she talked about with Jiang Cairen. Later, she asked the palace maids to go in and slap Jiang Cairen twenty times. When Jing Guifei left, her face was so dark that you could scrape off a layer of ash."

The Imperial Concubine nodded calmly and instructed, "Send a message to Xiao Liu, asking him to pay more attention to what Lao San and Lao Wu are doing in the next few days."

---

In Fengyi Palace, the Queen held Xiaojiu in her arms and listened to the Seventh and Eighth Princesses vividly describing how Xiaojiu was able to do arithmetic.

The queen was very surprised, and immediately gave Xiaojiu a few more questions, such as four plus three, five plus two, eight minus five, etc., all of which were addition and subtraction within ten.

Ji Jinyou was helpless, but she had to answer. In order not to appear too evil, she would count on her fingers and pretend to calculate very hard before answering.

The queen was so happy to see that the little girl could guess correctly every time. She hugged the little girl and praised her for a long time, and then asked someone to call Rupin.

Dangui thought that Rupin was timid, so she did not send other palace maids to go. Instead, she went there in person and gave Rupin a message, saying that it was good news.

Rupin was relieved and followed Dangui to Fengyi Palace. After entering, she bowed to the empress sitting on the couch and said, "I am here to see the empress."

Upon seeing this, Ji Jinyou immediately stood up from the Queen's arms and ran to the other side of the couch on his short legs to avoid being treated with respect by his mother.

"Hurry up and get up. Look how scared Xiaojiu is." The queen said with a smile, amused.

Rupin stood up with a smile, and the seventh and eighth princesses greeted her again. Then, the queen called Rupin to sit on the couch.

季瑾悠見到如嫔很開心，走到她身邊，往她身上一靠，奶聲奶氣喊了句：“母妃。”

如嫔也笑，伸手摸摸她的小手：“可有乖？”

季瑾悠點點頭，一本正經道：“悠悠可乖了。”

皇後忍不住笑，将小姑娘拉回自己懷裏，摸着她小腦袋，又是好一番誇贊。

末了說：“小九心地善良，乖巧懂事，小小年紀說起話來頭頭是道，還會算術，這都是你這個做母妃的教的好。”

如嫔有些受寵若驚，忙欠身謝恩，“多謝皇後娘娘誇贊，嫔妾也沒教什麽，是悠悠這孩子自己懂事。”

季瑾悠生怕大家夥再把注意力集中到她身上，回頭兩下一交流，再發現她有什麽不對來，忙接話道：“悠悠笨笨的，都是母妃教的好。”

小姑娘一本正經的模樣，惹得屋內衆人都忍不住笑了。

皇後看着笑得開心的母女倆，在心底嘆了口氣，頗為感慨。若所有皇子公主都和小九這般乖巧懂事，後宮所有嫔妃都能和如嫔這樣安心過自己的小日子，那這後宮不知道該多安穩，多和諧。

眼看着到了晚飯時分，皇後就讓如嫔留下來用膳，又讓人去喊了皇貴妃來，三個大人，三個孩子，開開心心，熱熱鬧鬧吃了一頓飯。

飯後，皇後獎賞如嫔教女有方，賞了她好些東西，首飾，料子，用物，吃食，一應物品，應有盡有。

等如嫔帶着季瑾悠告辭離開，回妙雲軒的時候，四個宮女外加六個太監，手裏各自捧着東西跟在後頭，很是壯觀。

很快，這件事就在後宮傳遍了，自然也引起了不小的轟動。

母女二人回去之後，沒過一會兒，賞賜都剛剛收拾完，就有兩位低位嫔妃登門拜訪。

如嫔知道她們是來做什麽，她不想讓悠悠跟着一起聽那些虛情假意的話，便打發金杏帶着悠悠出去遛彎消食。

季瑾悠牽着金杏的手走出妙雲軒院門，慢悠悠在小路上散步，正走着，就見到薛翊禮帶着從安從遠處走過來。

季瑾悠便朝着他走過去，到了近前，她福了一禮，笑着打招呼：“殿下，好巧哦，我們又遇到了。”

薛翊禮笑着彎腰還禮：“是好巧。”

從安在薛翊禮身後跟着行禮，心中卻道，這可不是巧，這是他家殿下得知小公主回了妙雲軒，故意出來遛彎，制造偶遇的。

他都跟着殿下在這條小路上來來回回溜達幾個來回了，可算把人給等到了。

雖然小公主是很可愛，對他家殿下也多有照拂，可他實在不明白，殿下為什麽非要拖着一條傷得擡不起來的胳膊來見小公主，就不能再等幾天，等傷好一些再來嘛。

季瑾悠望望天上的晚霞，好奇問：“殿下，這麽晚了，你怎麽出來了，你傷怎麽樣了？”

“傷無大礙。”薛翊禮伸手摸摸小姑娘頭上的小揪揪，“我吃得有些多，出來遛遛彎。”

以往他和從安每日要做飯，打水，劈柴，收拾屋子，洗衣服，光是這些日常瑣事，就占去了兩人大半時間。

如今文昭帝給他撥了宮女太監，四個人幹的又快又好，把所有活計全都包了，他們兩個一整天都空閑出來。

如今他胳膊上有傷，也練不了武，就看了一天的書，天色暗下來，從安把書搶了不讓他看，說再看眼睛該看壞了。

一閑下來，他就覺得無聊起來，開始回想這幾日發生的事情，想着想着，就想到圓乎乎的小公主，想到抱起她時那溫暖的感覺，他突然就坐不住了，很想見見她，最好再能抱一下她。

他在這附近走了幾圈，也沒見人，本以為今日見不着了，頗為失望，正打算回去，沒想到她就出來了，今天他運氣真的很好。

見薛翊禮看起來心情不錯，季瑾悠笑了：“真的好巧啊，我也是吃多了，出來遛彎的。”

見小姑娘笑得見牙不見眼，薛翊禮也情不自禁笑了，“那要不，我們一起？”

季瑾悠點頭：“好哦。”

薛翊禮便伸出好的那只手，試探着問：“要我牽着你嗎？”

季瑾悠早就被大家夥牽習慣了，只當薛翊禮是怕自己走不好摔跤，于是把手從金杏手裏拽出來，放到他手上：“走吧。”

薛翊禮用手掌将小姑娘軟乎乎的小圓手包裹住，還稍微用力攥了攥，只覺得心裏暖呼呼的，“走。”

兩個小的手牽手，溜溜達達走在前頭，從安和金杏沉默地跟在後頭。

季瑾悠好奇小質子的生活，問了許多問題，薛翊禮都一一耐心回答，兩人一問一答，從日常生活聊到看書學習。

季瑾悠好奇問薛翊禮：“殿下，你沒有去上學，那你是跟誰學的認字？”

薛翊禮：“我來大盛之前，就已開蒙讀書，該認的字都認過了。”

四五歲認那麽多字，那學的還怪早的。季瑾悠又問：“那你來大盛從來沒去哪裏聽過課嗎？”

薛翊禮點頭：“不曾，前兩年我同陛下提過，陛下沒允，後來我就跟陛下要書，陛下倒是給了不少。”

想到他來自敵國，季瑾悠稍微一琢磨，便明白陛下不讓他去上學的原因。

她又問：“我聽說你會功夫，那你是跟誰學的？”

薛翊禮：“我在大耀的時候有拳腳師父，自幼學了一些，來這之後，跟從安學又了一些，之後就是看書，自己練的。”

就這樣，什麽師父先生的都沒有，最後竟然能成為一個文武雙全的人，季瑾悠很是佩服，看他的目光中滿是敬佩。

見小姑娘仰着小腦袋看他，一雙大眼睛亮晶晶的，薛翊禮很開心，攥緊了她的手，問：“九公主你呢，你可識字？”

季瑾悠說道：“我不識字的，不過我正準備學了。”

原先她是覺得自己活不久，壓根就沒心思考慮這些事，可照着如今的情形發展下去，好像她們活下去不是太大的問題，那這學習的事情就要盡早提上日程，免得回頭她不小心再暴露什麽，讓人起疑。

薛翊禮眼睛一亮，“你要和誰學識字？”

季瑾悠想了想，不确定地說，“我得問問我母妃。”

見她還沒有人選，薛翊禮忙說：“要不，我來教你可好？”

季瑾悠有些意外，歪着小腦袋，納悶道：“你為什麽要教我？”

薛翊禮忙解釋：“你也知道的，我一個人在那小院子，也沒有朋友，如今就你一個人願意到我那裏來，如果我教你識字，那我們就能多在一起玩一會兒。”

想着他的處境，季瑾悠也沒懷疑，在心裏認真琢磨起跟小質子學識字這件事的可能性。

小質子年紀小，她跟他學識字的話，哪怕自己“學會”的速度比正常人快上許多，他應該也不會懷疑。

這樣的話，她就可以很快把該認的字全認一遍，不用一直故意裝傻。

回頭要是別人問起她為什麽學那麽快，她就可以說，是小質子教的好。

這麽一想，還真是個好主意，季瑾悠于是爽快點頭：“那也行的。”

薛翊禮笑了，停下來，将小姑娘兩只小手都攥起來：“那我們從現在就開始？”

季瑾悠擡頭望望越來越暗的天，搖了搖頭：“今天太晚了，要不，我們從明天開始吧。”

薛翊禮暗道自己太過着急，點頭說好，又牽着小姑娘往前走。

眼看着越走越遠，金杏提醒：“小主子，天色不早了，咱往回走吧，娘娘那裏應該也忙完了。”

季瑾悠應了好，拽着薛翊禮的手往回走，一行人慢悠悠又走回妙雲軒的門口。

季瑾悠把手從薛翊禮手裏拽出來，和他告別：“殿下，你也早些回去歇息吧，我明日再來找你。”

薛翊禮有些不舍，彎腰，單手将小姑娘抱起來，擡腳跨過門檻：“天黑了，路不好走，我送你進門。”

毫無預兆地被抱起，季瑾悠吓一跳，忙緊緊摟住他脖子：“殿下我自己能走，你胳膊上還有傷呢，別抻着了。”

在他那的時候，他抱她上下椅子，也不用走路，倒沒什麽。

可這院門到屋門那麽遠呢，可別摔着她，上回她跑的時候，一不小心摔了一跤，摔得可疼了，半天沒爬起來。

那回還是平地摔呢，這要是這麽高摔下去，別再把她摔出個好歹來。

金杏見小男孩瘦瘦小小，竟然敢單手去抱自家胖乎乎的小主子，吓得忙伸過手去接：“有勞殿下費心，還是給我吧，我們小主子重，您別再摔了。”

金杏的話可謂十分直白，可薛翊禮還沒體驗夠這溫暖的感覺，哪裏肯給，腳下一挪，快步繞過金杏就往前走：“我能抱動的。”

說罷單手還往上颠了颠，吓得季瑾悠死死摟住他脖子，小奶音兇巴巴的，“你好好走路。”

金杏追上來，兩只手扶着季瑾悠的後背，幫忙托着。

薛翊禮不敢再嘚瑟，穩穩當當抱着，将人送到了屋門口，這才把人放下。

After experiencing the warm feeling, Xue Yili was in a very good mood, with an especially bright smile on his face. He squatted down and squeezed the little girl's hand: "Okay, little princess, you can go back, don't forget to come see me tomorrow."

Ji Jinyou was frightened by him, so she pulled her hands back and put them on her waist, and warned him very seriously: "Next time you hug me like this, I won't come to you again."