The Minister of Rites, unconvinced, muttered under his breath, "Hmph, you old stubborn fool, you're afraid of dying and won't step forward, but you won't even let us speak?"
Several of his students and officials gathered around and tried to persuade him.
"My lord, there's no need to be angry. The Emperor will definitely establish a crown prince; it's just a matter of time."
“That’s right, sir. We’re doing this for the sake of the Heavenly Martial inheritance. Even if we’re a little impatient, we have a clear conscience.”
The other court officials, seeing this, also silently left.
The noisy and chaotic incident of electing the crown prince has come to an end.
Those who submitted memorials were certain that the emperor would adopt them, and they had already begun to dream of promotion and wealth.
Those who didn't get their tickets are filled with anxiety and regret, sometimes regretting it, sometimes telling themselves to let things take their course. They're so conflicted that they can't even enjoy their meals.
In the imperial study, the emperor rubbed his throbbing temples, took a sip of strong tea, and then picked up the list beside him.
The list was three pages long, with the names on the first page marked in red. These were the families and court officials who had started currying favor with the Imperial Concubine and the Second Prince long ago, and who had completely aligned themselves with the Imperial Concubine.
The second page refers to those who only recently started acting, commonly known as opportunists, following the trend and siding with the Second Prince.
The third page contains only the names of seven or eight court officials, who are indeed loyal and devoted, considering the interests of Emperor Tianwu and believing that establishing a crown prince early would be advantageous. Moreover, they only submitted memorials and did not privately contact the Imperial Concubine or the Second Prince to seek benefits for themselves and their families.
The Emperor carefully reviewed the list, added a few more sentences, and then said, "Someone, send this list to Xilong Pavilion."
Steward Yi was standing not far from the desk, but he kept his head down, as if he hadn't heard anything.
At this moment, an old eunuch in gray clothes suddenly appeared from the corner of the room, stepped forward, took the list with both hands, bowed respectfully, and then retreated to the corner of the room and disappeared.
The Emperor finished his tea, thought for a moment, and then called to Chief Eunuch Yi, "My mouth feels tasteless, and I'm feeling restless. Go to Zhilan Palace and see what pastries those two maids baked today, and bring me a box."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This old servant will go right away! Perhaps the princess and the county princess are opening the jade melon, and this old servant can even join in and satisfy his craving!" Steward Yi replied with a smile, looking as if he was about to drool, which made the emperor smile as well.
"Alright, go to Zhilan Palace and eat your fill. That will save you from thinking about my few jade melons every day."
Chief Eunuch Yi smiled and took a few steps back. Once outside the door, his expression changed, and he quickly took two eunuchs with him and rushed to Zhilan Palace.
Inside the Zhilan Palace, several young palace maids were fetching water to water the flowers. The small wooden water jugs evenly sprinkled strings of water droplets, which landed on the green leaves and petals. The air was filled with a faint fragrance of earth, making the hot midday seem a bit cooler.
Under the eaves, two rocking chairs were placed. The Third Princess and Jiayin each occupied one, chatting and eating chilled grapes with ice, looking extremely comfortable.
Caiyun and Shuiling sat on small stools, dividing colorful silk threads, intending to weave some nets.
The silk threads were leftovers from wrapping the rice dumplings, so it was a good use of them.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, Jiayin made a special trip back to Suijintan and brought the village women to wrap a lot of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), which were then distributed to villagers in several villages.
As for the zongzi gift boxes given to each family, they all come from Baiyunjian, which is very convenient.
Meanwhile, back in the palace, Jiayin only brought a few dozen ordinary rice dumplings wrapped in water and clouds as a token gesture.
Yesterday at noon, the third princess saw the rice cakes on the plate and suddenly remembered that she wanted to eat zongzi, especially those with red bean paste and egg yolk fillings.
These two items are quite complicated to make, and Jiayin was lazy and didn't prepare them at all this year.
These past few days, Jiayin has also been somewhat irritable. Not only is she worried about Mu Xu, who is away on a long trip, but the matter of the Emperor's poisoning is like a sharp sword hanging over her head, not knowing when it will fall.
Everyone is under the sword; no one dares to say they won't get hurt.
Although my grandmother and mother were sent to Quanzhou, my brothers were almost all no longer in Xindu.
But her second uncle, third uncle, Jia Huan, Mao Ge'er, Mr. Wen, and even the Liu and Jia families are all family. She couldn't bear to hurt any of them.
This anxiety made her lose her appetite and sleep poorly.
Like a bird that knows a storm is coming, powerless to fight back and with nowhere to hide...
Right now, it's a good thing that the Third Princess wants to eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). I'm so busy that I don't have time to think about it anymore.
So last night, we soaked glutinous rice and prepared the ingredients. This morning, Jiayin and Shuiyun quickly wrapped about a hundred rice dumplings and tied them with different colored silk threads to distinguish the fillings.
At this moment, a fragrant aroma was already wafting from the kitchen.
Just then, Steward Yi stepped into the threshold of Zhilan Palace.
He couldn't help but laugh, "Better late than early! I wonder what delicious food the princess and the county princess are planning this time. This old servant is in for a treat!"
The Third Princess and Jiayin both got up and invited him to sit under the eaves.
The third princess, concerned for her father, inquired in detail about his daily routine and diet.
Steward Yi answered all her questions, which put the Third Princess at ease.
At this moment, Shui Ling ran to the kitchen and brought out several cooked zongzi.
Everyone washed their hands and ate zongzi together.
Manager Yi smiled and held a salted egg yolk, eating it with great satisfaction.
Jiayin was about to peel another one for him, but he waved his hand and laughed, "This old servant is too old to eat too much, otherwise I'll suffer if I can't digest it. Thank you, Princess! One of these delicious rice dumplings is enough."
After saying that, he glanced around and saw that there was no one else. Shui Ling and Cai Yun were both trustworthy, so he said, "His Majesty has not had a good appetite today, so he sent this old servant to check on things. If the princess and the county princess have baked any good pastries, please bring a box back to His Majesty."
"I never expected the princess to have made zongzi. How about you reward this old servant with a few more so I can finish my task?"
Jiayin readily agreed, and the Third Princess was also very happy, personally packing zongzi for her father.
Taking advantage of this break, Steward Yi chatted with Jiayin again, "Princess, I heard that you and the princess played cards until very late last night? All the eunuchs and maids in the palace are looking forward to working at Zhilan Palace. They all say that the food at Zhilan Palace is good, the masters are kind, and life is lively. But staying up late is bad for a woman's skin, so you should go to bed early tonight."
Jiayin's pupils contracted, but in the next instant she smiled and replied, "Okay, Steward. We were just bored last night, so we played around a bit longer. Tonight we'll definitely close the doors and windows and go to bed early."
Steward Yi nodded with a smile, "The princess is intelligent."
Jiayin barely managed to calm her wildly beating chest and then called Shuiling to fetch a jade melon.
"Steward, the jade melon quenches thirst, but it is cold in nature, so it is best not to eat too much."
"Oh, thank you so much for your generous gift, Princess. This old servant will remember it!" Steward Yi said happily, and after sitting for a while, he took his things and left.
The third princess was quite excited and exclaimed, "We only sent a few zongzi. What if Father doesn't like them? Why don't we go out of the palace and take a trip to Baiyun Mountain to pick up some ready-made snacks?"
Jiayin quickly stopped her, "Forget it, look how hot the sun is overhead! If we go out at this time, we'll both be tanned darker than charcoal when we come back, and it'll take us a year or two to recover. If you want to be a dark-faced bride on your wedding day, then go ahead and go!"
Two updates today!
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