Chapter 92 Hot Spring Palace
Setting off for the hot spring palace is not something that can be prepared in a day or two. Since He Yanchen gave the order, it took at least half a month for the Ministry of Rites to arrange all the travel matters.
The emperor will stay in the temporary palace for two months, accompanied by the empress dowager, Shen Zhaoyi and Rong Jieyu.
Yue Li was immediately unhappy when she heard that he was going to take someone else with him. He Yanchen explained to her, "I have my own arrangements for them. Jiaojiao will know when the time comes."
Yueli covered her ears and rolled over on the couch: "I won't listen!"
He Yanchen laughed, held her in his arms, and pressed his fingers on her waist and abdomen. Yue Li suddenly trembled, and a tingling sensation spread throughout her body.
She quickly twisted her body to avoid his hand: "Your Majesty, don't touch there..."
"Then Jiaojiao, do you want to listen to me?" As he said this, he pinched her waist threateningly.
"Listen! I'm listening!" Yue Li blushed because of his teasing. As soon as he let go, she took the initiative and threw him onto the couch.
"Your Majesty is going too far!" She wanted to scratch herself as he did, but He Yanchen remained indifferent, as if he didn't feel anything at all.
Yue Li's damn competitive spirit came out, she curved her lips into a smile, and moved her fingertips down to hold other parts.
He Yanchen's expression suddenly changed, and he groaned, "Stop it."
Yueli lay in his arms, her hands moving non-stop: "Let His Majesty tease me..."
She demanded confidently: "Your Majesty, please do not pinch my waist in the future. It is very itchy."
He Yanchen glanced at her, and Yueli read a hint of danger in it.
Before she could jump off the bed and run away, the man had already grabbed her wrists, pressed her under him, and bit her lips.
"It really deserves to be dealt with."
......
The hot spring palace is only two hours away from the imperial city, so if we set out early in the morning, we would have plenty of time.
Yue Li was sitting in the imperial carriage. Seeing He Yanchen still talking to the ministers in front, she lifted the curtain and looked at the carriage behind.
Following closely behind the imperial carriage was the empress dowager's carriage. Yue Li hadn't seen the empress dowager since He Yanchen's birthday. The empress dowager didn't seem to allow the concubines to pay their respects to her anymore, and she was very quiet.
Further back were the carriages of Shen Zhaoyi and Rong Jieyu. After she was promoted, Shen Zhaoyi came to ask for an audience, but she was turned away.
I didn’t think so before, but now that I haven’t seen her for a long time, Yueli feels that it’s just like that.
He Yanchen accompanied her every day, and Lianqiao Zisu and the others usually played with her. Jiade would occasionally invite her to go fishing together. Yueli felt that her life was very comfortable, and it didn't seem to matter whether Chen Zhaoyi was there or not.
Just as she was about to lower the curtain out of boredom, Shen Zhaoyi's voice suddenly rose in the background:
"Sister Rong, the charcoal for each carriage is allocated according to rank. If you don't have enough, go to the Central Provincial Palace to ask for more instead of arguing with me here."
Yueli pricked up her ears.
Rong Jieyu's voice was a little cold: "Sister Zhaoyi doesn't need so much, so what if you carry a basin to my place?"
The two seemed to have quarreled over the charcoal fire.
Rong Jieyu usually keeps to herself and is aloof, while Shen Zhaoyi is easygoing and gentle. How could these two people quarrel?
Yueli was lying on the window porch, listening to gossip with great interest, until He Yanchen came in and lowered the jacquard curtain.
"The wind is so strong, why leave the windows open?"
Yue Li leaned closer to him with a smile on her face. "Your Majesty, did you hear that? Concubine Shen and Concubine Rong are arguing."
He Yanchen: “…”So what?
He didn't understand why the two were arguing and what Yueli was so excited about.
"I've never heard of Concubine Shen Zhaoyi arguing with anyone before. I find it strange."
He Yanchen smiled and said, "Then do you want to go down and listen carefully?"
Yue Li said with a smile, "Your Majesty is here, why should I listen to them? It's because Your Majesty was just talking to those ministers, and I couldn't understand them, so I could only listen to the things I could understand."
"Wrong idea." He Yanchen closed the window tightly, and without paying attention to what happened behind him, he directly ordered to set off.
Yue Li was in high spirits the entire way. "Your Majesty, have you seen the streets of Jiangning? I think Jiangning is even more lively than the capital. When I was little, my favorite thing was to go out and play in the streets with my sisters."
He Yanchen listened to her talk about her childhood and saw the joy in her eyes, but he felt a little pain in his heart.
She had such a hard life as a child, but she never talked about it in front of him. No matter when, Yueli always smiled at him, making people feel that she was very strong.
He Yanchen suddenly hugged her from behind and looked at the scenery outside with her: "Next summer, I will take you back to see it, okay?"
Yueli turned back in surprise: "Really?"
"Well, the Holy Emperor goes there every year to escape the summer heat. However, I used to find it troublesome, so I've only been there once since I ascended the throne. I'll take Jiaojiao back with me next year."
Yueli was very happy. She quickly kissed him on the face, then hugged his neck and wanted to kiss his lips again.
He Yanchen raised his head, and Yue Li only kissed his chin.
"We're almost there, no fooling around."
"No, no, no." Yue Li said with a smile, "I need to keep my spirits high and go play in the hot spring."
He Yanchen: “…”
No matter where he goes, he is still a greedy little cat.
*
The emperor arrived at the palace at noon.
Yueli lived with He Yanchen in Hezheng Palace. A Begonia Spring was dug in the backyard of the palace. It was filled with fresh water brought down from the top of the mountain and was still gurgling.
He Yanchen told her to rest first, as he still had to meet the court officials. Even in the temporary palace, daily memorials were delivered at full speed. Ministers of the fifth rank and above had to accompany him, and other ministers could also report to the emperor if they had urgent matters.
Yueli originally wanted to take him to the hot springs, but now they had to wait until night.
She took a short nap, and the long-awaited sunshine came out in the afternoon. Seeing that He Yanchen had not returned yet, Yue Li took Lian Qiao to look around the palace.
The palace was built against the mountain, and most of the hot springs were brought down from the mountain. There was a spring on the small hill to the east of the garden. Yueli stood below and looked up curiously.
The spring is a small hole with hot water coming out of it. The hole is surrounded by snow, but the small spring is the only one that is not frozen, which is quite novel.
Yueli's curiosity lasted only a moment, and she left after looking for a while.
Before she could turn around, Yueli heard Lianqiao scream, "My Lady, be careful!"
Yueli felt a gust of wind blowing behind her ears. Before she could react, a pair of strong arms hugged her waist, spun her around and took her away from where she had just stood.
Just as she was leaving, a snowball brushed past her ear and hit the stone.
Yue Li was still in shock, and the hands holding her quickly loosened. Xiao Mingcheng took two steps back and asked, "Is your Majesty okay?"
He turned around and angrily scolded the two children playing in the snow: "How dare you! Who allowed you to play here?"
The two children looked like the sons of nobles who were accompanying them because of their clothes. They were so scared by Xiao Mingcheng's roar that they trembled all over.
Soon, two wet nurses came over and apologized to them repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It is my fault that I did not take good care of the young master. I deserve to die!"
Yue Li looked at the smashed snowball and felt a little angry. "The child is misbehaving, and you, as a wet nurse, can't control him. Kneel here for an hour."
"Yes..." The two wet nurses didn't dare to speak at all and accepted the punishment tremblingly.
Xiao Mingcheng looked at Yueli's slightly flushed cheeks and hid his fingers slightly behind his back: "Are you scared, Madam?"
Yue Li was in no mood to waste time chatting with him, so she said politely, "Thank you very much, General Xiao."
"I dare not."
Looking at Yue Li's departing back, Xiao Mingcheng lowered his eyes silently, unable to explain what he felt in his heart.
He always couldn't help wanting to pay attention to her, just like just now, when he saw that she only brought a maid out, he couldn't help but follow her from a distance, so that he could arrive in time.
After Xiao Mingcheng left, a figure slowly walked out from behind a rockery in another part of the garden.
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