Chapter 108 The Trouble is Caused by the Pamphlet
Xuanye saw Xiuyu suddenly lost in thought and asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about? You're completely lost in thought."
Xiu Yu shook her head: "Nothing, just thinking..." She glanced at the chess pieces on the board: "Where should I go next?"
Xuanye naturally knew that Xiu Yu was talking nonsense, but he didn't ask. He knew very well that if Yu'er wanted to talk, he didn't need to ask, and if Yu'er didn't want to talk, he couldn't ask even more.
"No more playing." Xuanye threw the chess piece back into the box. "We've finally made it south, let's not waste our time playing chess. How about we follow Kejing and Yinqi's lead and go on a boat trip?"
"Then we might as well go with them." Xiu Yu also put the chess piece in his hand back into the chess box: "The four of us can take a boat together, right?"
"Not good." Xuanye reacted quickly: "When we were in the palace, they dominated you as their mother. Now that we are out of the palace, I want to dominate you."
Xiu Yu smiled softly, stood up, walked over to Xuanye, and held his hand: "Then, let's go, my third brother."
The days in the south were naturally happy, but the emperor was not like ordinary people, and government affairs were handled faster in the Forbidden City. Especially since the affairs of Tsarist Russia had already been resolved, and Soetu had already set off from Tsarist Russia and would arrive in Beijing soon. Naturally, Xuanye should return to the palace and hear Soetu talk about the current situation in Tsarist Russia in person, which would be clearer than what he knew from the memorials.
After setting a date for the return trip, Cao Yin immediately prepared the carriage. Nanny Li repeatedly checked with Xuanye the things he was going to bring to the palace. Xuanye smiled and said, "Nanny, the palace has everything."
"I know." Nanny Li smiled and said, "But, this is my sincere gift. I hope Your Majesty will not refuse it, nor despise it."
"How could I dislike it?" Xuanye personally helped Nanny Li sit down. "It's just that preparing so many things and checking them over and over again is really tiring for Nanny."
Nanny Li smiled and shook her head: "Why bother with this? As long as the Emperor likes it and doesn't despise it, Nanny will be very happy."
"When Cao Yin returns to the capital to report on his work, Madam, please go with him. I will keep your room as it is, waiting for you to live in it when you return."
Hearing Xuanye say this, Li Mama was deeply moved: "The emperor has not forgotten me and has kept that room for me. I am really..."
"Madam, please don't cry." Xuanye took out a handkerchief and personally wiped the tears from Madam Li's face. His face darkened slightly. "Madam, now that we're gone, please take good care of yourself. The country is stable now, and the people's lives are getting better and better. I want to go south, and no one will stop me from wasting money and labor. So, I'm afraid I'll have to come to your house many more times in the future."
"Okay... okay!" Nanny Li patted Xuanye's hands and looked into his eyes. "I'll take good care of you and wait for the emperor to come south again."
"Then we have a deal. You take good care of yourself, and I will issue an order to tour the south at a later date."
Sitting in the carriage, Xuanye lifted the curtain and looked at Li Ma and Cao Yin standing outside the weaving house. The carriage finally went north slowly. Xuanye waved to Li Ma and Cao Yin, who bowed deeply and sent Xuanye back to the palace.
Xiu Yu held Xuanye's hand and said sweetly, "Madame Li is in good health and may even live to be a hundred years old. We will have many opportunities to meet in the future."
"Yes, there will be many opportunities to meet in the future." Xuanye saw that he could no longer see Nanny Li's figure, so he lowered the curtain of the carriage and smiled: "These days, in front of Nanny Li, I have been somewhat unruly like an emperor. I am sorry to make you laugh."
"Your Majesty...did you also have children?" Xiu Yu leaned on Xuanye's shoulder. "The Emperor in front of Madam Li feels more real to me. Without the constraints of the Forbidden City's rules, you feel more at ease, and Madam Li feels more at ease."
"From what you said, it seems you don't want to return to the capital?" Xuanye touched Xiu Yu's cheek: "Little Nine and Little Eleven are still waiting for their mother in the palace."
"If it weren't for those two brats, I would really like to stay outside for a moment longer." Xiu Yu picked up a book and flipped through it. It was exactly the kind of sage books that she disliked the most.
Xuanye smiled and said, "Why does Concubine Yi want to take the imperial examination? Are you interested in sage books as well?"
Xiu Yu curled his lips and put the book down again: "Leave the sage books to the sages. I am not interested in the imperial examinations."
Xuanye laughed out loud.
The journey from Jiangning to the capital is actually not far, but perhaps because Xuanye did not want to return to the capital just like that, he dragged his feet on the road and it took him quite a while to reach the capital.
When Xiu Yu returned to Yikun Palace, Xiao Tao was overjoyed: "Master, you are back. If you hadn't come back, the two little ancestors would have torn the roof off our Yikun Palace."
"Are Yin'er and Yin'an making such a fuss?" Xiu Yu, exhausted from the journey, saw the two naughty monkeys sleeping. He rubbed his arms and sat down on the couch, saying with a smile, "I see the roof is still in good condition. You must be taking credit for it."
"The master has been gone for so long. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard. It is only natural that I should be rewarded." Xiao Tao said as he served tea to Xiu Yu.
Still feeling uncomfortable, Xiu Yu simply leaned over to the beauty and said, "The Southern Tour is certainly nice, and life outside doesn't feel as restrictive as in the palace. But when it comes to comfort, my own palace is still the most comfortable."
Seeing that Xiu Yu's eyes were slightly closed and she looked like she was about to sleep, Xiao Tao lit Xiu Yu's favorite incense in the incense burner, took a brocade quilt to cover Xiu Yu, and then gently waved a round fan around Xiu Yu.
Xiu Yu slept very soundly that night and didn't wake up until the sun set.
At that time, Xuanye had already brought Zou Ben to Yikun Palace. Seeing Xiu Yu awake, he smiled and said, "I have been here for a long time, and you didn't feel anything at all."
"You must be a little tired after traveling all the way north. Didn't you take a break?" Xiu Yu stood up and walked over to sit next to Xuanye. "I thought you wouldn't come today."
"You're like a magician. The more I spend time with you, the more I want to be with you." Xuanye smiled and gave Xiu Yu a clever glance, then turned back to reviewing memorials. "After a southern tour, I came back to see a mountain of memorials. Although none of them were major events, I felt uneasy if I didn't personally review them. I deserve to be busy."
"You are destined to be the emperor." Xiu Yu took the teacup from Xiao Tao and placed it next to Xuanye's hand: "A person who doesn't work hard probably can't be a good emperor."
"Then you will stay with me for a while. I will look at as many as you bring to the palace. You can go to sleep after you finish looking at them." Xuanye said as he used the imperial pen to correct the memorial.
Xiu Yu wasn't one to go out of her way to stir up trouble. Having no interest in the emperor's memorials, and knowing she wasn't supposed to read them, she stood up and went to the Duobao Pavilion to pick out a weapon catalog. But to her surprise, someone had somehow placed her little booklet, which recorded Xuanye's preferences, in the Duobao Pavilion.
After returning to sit beside Xuanye, Xiuyu felt a sense of unease, a mix of guilt and doubt. She and Xiaotao had hidden the booklet together, and displaying it so openly was clearly not Xiaotao's doing. So who else could it be?
After about an hour, the memorial that had been placed on Xuanye's left hand finally returned to his right. He stretched his shoulders and said, "Finally, I've finished reviewing it." Turning his head, he saw Xiu Yu was in a daze. He pulled out the "trinkets" Xiu Yu was holding and saw that it was a weapon manual. As he stood up and walked towards the Duobao Pavilion, he said, "You've read this book so many times. You really enjoy it."
"emperor…"
By the time Xiu Yu came to her senses, Xuanye had already pulled out the booklet. "What is this? I've never seen it before. Who did you send it from outside the palace?" Xuanye asked as he flipped open the booklet. The first page read: "This book contains strategies for conquering the emperor. The so-called 'strategy' is nothing more than finding out what the emperor likes, giving him what he likes, and doing what he likes. Everything is ready, waiting for you to fall into the trap."
Xiu Yu had originally written this for fun, but every word pierced Xuanye's heart. His smiling face immediately fell like an iceberg.
"Yu'er, this is your handwriting." Xuanye threw the booklet in front of Xiuyu. "I want to know, are these words really written by you?"
"I..." Xiu Yu was a little panicked for a moment. After all, Xiao Tao had said a long time ago that this thing would be a disaster if left behind. He didn't expect that it would really become a disaster today.
Xuanye sneered, turned around and shouted, "Liang Jiugong, hold the memorial and follow me!"
He left very decisively, without even asking her why she wrote such a thing.
Xiu Yu sighed softly, picked up the booklet, and flipped through the records of her boredom. At that moment, she felt that no matter who put this thing out, it was written by her after all. Since she wrote it, probably no matter where it was placed, this day would come.
"Master." Xiao Tao saw Xuanye leave Yikun Palace in anger and hurried into the study. Seeing Xiu Yu holding the booklet in his hand, he immediately understood what had happened. "How did you find this thing? Did the Emperor see it?"
"I didn't find it." Xiu Yu simply put the book back on the Duobao Pavilion: "It doesn't matter who it was, at least he saw it."
Xiao Tao was completely worried this time: "This is bad, this thing is really a disaster."
"So what?" Xiu Yu rubbed her left arm with her right hand. She thought it must be because the weather was getting cooler, so she felt cold all over. "Actually..."
"Don't tell me you expected this, or that you were prepared for it." Xiao Tao was a little furious. "The Emperor is the Emperor after all. There are more than one or two concubines in the harem who are eagerly waiting for you to fall from grace. I'm afraid some of them will get what they want this time."
"What will happen if I fall out of favor?"
"My master!" Xiao Tao was speechless at Xiu Yu's reaction. "You've probably been pampered for so long that you don't know what it means to fall out of favor. The Emperor left Yikun Palace in a rage tonight, and word will spread throughout the harem tomorrow morning. At this point, the people in the harem are probably still waiting and watching. But if the Emperor doesn't come for a few days, those servants who look down on others will get the news and act recklessly. Then, we probably won't be able to get anything good out of this palace."
That night, Xiu Yu still felt that Xiao Tao's words were somewhat alarmist, but after a few days, she truly experienced the fickleness of human nature.
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