Deep down in his heart, Mu Ci was comparing Qiao Yunting and Li Guiji. Although Qiao Yunting disliked him and had questioned Long Si's biological father, other than that, Qiao Yunting had not really done anything. In order to get rid of Concubine Yang, he and Qiao Yunting had briefly joined forces. Qiao Yunting had a straightforward personality, and if he really hated someone, he would not hide it, and would not even bother to frame them. Mu Ci felt that it would not be Concubine Qiao.
As for Li Guiji, Mu Ci did not have a deep impression of her. He only knew that she was the son of the emperor's wet nurse, Madam Fengsheng, and had been the emperor's trusted servant since childhood. After the emperor ascended the throne, the empress dowager saw that she had a good appearance and promoted her to be a concubine. However, because of Li Guiji's background, she was often ridiculed by other concubines. For example, Qiao Yunting looked down on Li Guiji. If the empress dowager wanted to reprimand the concubines, she would pick Li Guiji first. The palace gave her the seemingly honorable status of an imperial concubine, but in reality, Li Guiji was always on her knees, no one looked up to her, and the empress dowager still treated her as a slave.
He was as unfavored as Wen Ziran was before, but Wen Ziran tried his best not to be noticed by anyone and did not fight or compete. Li Guiji, on the other hand, often chased after the emperor's sedan chair, brought him soup and tonic, and used all kinds of humble means that other male concubines disdained to use in an attempt to please the emperor, but she was slapped in the face by the emperor every time. The emperor, out of consideration for the fact that Li Guiji had served him since childhood and for the empress dowager's sake, gave a few words of warning and did not pursue the matter.
Such a person might hate an heir who is not his own, but he has many years of friendship with the emperor and should not take action against him. Moreover, Li Guiji has a weak background and has no helpers in the palace. The secret guards have investigated and found that Yunguang Palace has the fewest spies everywhere. Mu Ci knew that if the water was too clear, there would be no fish. The concubines in the harem must have their own methods, but this also showed that Li Guiji had limited manpower and could not make too much waves, let alone reach into the heavily protected Xuande Hall.
Could it be Concubine Qiao?
Mu Ci was still thinking hard as he was still in doubt. He rubbed his brows and suddenly heard someone outside the palace report that Concubine Qiao from Jinhua Palace had arrived.
Mu Ci nodded. Since Ye An resumed attending court, Qiao Yunting would occasionally come to Zhaoyang Palace. Usually, she would do so when the little prince was around. She would never get close to him, but would just stay at a distance and give him a proper look. On the day when the little prince turned one hundred days old, the Jinhua Palace presented generous gifts. Some people also said that Concubine Qiao took the opportunity to curry favor with Concubine Chen. Qiao Yunting was dismissive of this. He was the son of the Grand Tutor and one of the Four Concubines. Why would he want to curry favor with Concubine Chen?
He just liked the little prince born by the emperor.
Concubine Qiao entered the palace, and Mu Ci ordered someone to serve tea, saying calmly, "You're here."
A trace of discomfort flashed across Qiao Yunting's face, and he nodded slightly: "Just do your thing, don't worry about me."
The wet nurse carried the little prince out. Mu Ci winked at the wet nurse, asking her to be careful at all times. He himself would not really turn around to do other things. Since there were guests coming, of course he would stay in the main hall.
Doudou has now grown up to have double eyes, a future handsome man. He is wearing a turquoise silk shirt and a beautiful jade that the empress dowager herself has hung on his chest. His hair is still tied in a bun at the back of his head. His little face is rosy. He smiled as soon as he saw Mu Ci, and shouted "ah ah", stretching out his hands to ask his daddy to hold him.
Mu Ci curled his lips and smiled, then carefully picked up Dou Dou, hugged Dou Dou's round body, and let him help him sit steadily. Doudou held onto Mu Ci's clothes tightly with his two paws. Mu Ci was much taller than the wet nurse. Doudou felt that he was sitting high up and was immediately satisfied. His pair of dark eyes then looked away.
As a prince, Doudou has met a lot of people and is not afraid of strangers. But if there are too many people around him at once, Doudou will feel uncomfortable and lose his temper. In fact, there are only a few people who can always hang around in front of Doudou and be remembered by him.
Doudou looked around. He had seen the furnishings of Zhaoyang Palace countless times and was no longer unfamiliar with them. He looked around and finally discovered Concubine Qiao and looked towards her.
Qiao Yunting pursed his lips, moved his fingers, and sat there with restraint, not getting up.
Doudou tilted his head and said "ah" out of curiosity.
The wet nurse took the initiative to step forward and bow, reporting loudly to Mu Ci about the little prince's recent situation. Mu Ci saw Dou Dou every day, so how could he not know about it? He asked the wet nurse to tell Concubine Qiao on purpose. Qiao Yunting sat aside with a blank expression on his face, but he actually listened carefully. He didn't come to Zhaoyang Palace very often, and it was at times like this that he could hear more about the little prince.
Many other concubines came to Zhaoyang Palace and wanted to tease or even hug the little prince, but Qiao Yunting never mentioned it. He would not bring shame upon himself because Mu Ci would never allow anyone else to get close to the little prince.
The floor of Zhaoyang Palace has been covered with blankets recently, and the sharp corners of all furniture have been tied up with cloth. Doudou can already turn over smoothly, so he starts to lie on his stomach often, using his arms and legs to swing forward with all his strength. The wet nurse said that the prince wanted to crawl, and the little prince's lively and active personality was undoubtedly revealed, but his hands and feet were not strong enough to support his round body. At most, he could only flutter on the spot a few times.
Doudou called out twice again and leaned forward, indicating that he wanted to climb down. Mu Ci followed his wishes and put him on the blanket. As soon as Dou Dou landed on the ground, he used all his strength to excitedly "crawl" towards Qiao Yunting, but after struggling for a long time, there was still no progress.
After a while, the nurse suddenly said happily: "It's moving!"
Several people looked at the same time and saw that the little prince's position had indeed changed - he moved back a little bit.
Mu Ci, Qiao Yunting: "..."
Doudou:? ? ?
Doudou continued to "climb" with a gloomy face, and moved back a little. He still didn't understand how to move forward, so he kept trying, but instead got further and further away from Qiao Yunting.
Qiao Yunting couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Doudou couldn't stand it anymore, screamed twice, and lay down instead.
Everyone thought he was going to howl, but Doudou just giggled foolishly, turned over, took a breath, and turned over again. He turned over and over again and finally rolled to Qiao Yunting's feet.
The wet nurse's eyes suddenly lit up. The little prince was so smart that he could roll over when he couldn't crawl. The next moment she became very nervous and wanted to pick up the little prince.
Concubine Chen asked her to take good care of the little prince at all times, as she could not bear the consequences if anything happened to the little prince while in contact with other concubines.
As a result, Mu Ci waved his hand faster than her, signaling her to follow and not move.
Doudou smiled and stretched out his paw, wanting to hug Qiao Yunting. Qiao Yunting hesitated for a moment and glanced at Mu Ci's expression. Seeing that Mu Ci had no intention of stopping him, Qiao Yunting plucked up his courage and extended his arm. Halfway through, he remembered something and retracted his arm. He took off a leather wristband on his hand and put it aside.
He was afraid that his wristband was too thick and might hurt the child, so he extended his arm to the child. Doudou hugged his arm tightly, just like he was hugging his father.
This happened a bit suddenly, and Qiao Yunting didn't know how to react. The child's tender cheek touched the back of his hand, and his whole body trembled, and the corners of his lips raised uncontrollably.
This child was born to the emperor and looked so much like the emperor. He only really saw this child clearly when the child was one hundred days old. It was this child who was almost killed by Yang Shuxuan.
At the beginning, he was blinded by greed and listened to Yang Shuxuan's lies to question the child, trying to use it to attack Mu Ci. If he succeeded, what would happen to the child when it was born? His biological father is unknown and he has no chance of becoming emperor. The gossip and slander behind his back are enough to make this child suffer for the rest of his life.
Qiao Yunting felt guilty and said silently: My Lord, I am really sorry, I was confused.
Doudou had no idea what he was thinking at the moment. Children were carefree. They hugged Qiao Yunting's arms and smiled brightly. The expression on Qiao Yunting's face also softened.
Mu Ci has been keeping an eye on Qiao Yunting and Doudou. He is certain that Concubine Qiao would not do anything in front of him, and there are secret guards protecting the little prince. That's why he decided to let Qiao Yunting get close to Doudou. This is a test for Qiao Yunting. In fact, when Qiao Yunting took off his wristband for Doudou, he already knew that Concubine Qiao would never harm the emperor and the dragon heir.
As for Dou Dou's inexplicable closeness to Qiao Yunting, although Mu Ci, as his biological father, was a little unhappy, he respected Dou Dou's own wishes, and Ye An had also expressed this so generously.
Qiao Yunting was just about to take the opportunity to hug this soft little thing, when Doudou suddenly opened his eyes wide, wrinkled his nose and sneezed loudly, scaring everyone present.
The wet nurse thought that the little prince had caught a cold, but Doudou screamed in anger, loosened his grip on Qiao Yunting, and turned back to the wet nurse with his butt sticking up and his head not raising.
Qiao Yunting: “…”
Qiao Yunting looked at his hands in confusion. Was there some unpleasant smell on his body? It seemed that the emperor had sneezed before. Why did the emperor and the little prince dislike him so much?
The nurse passed by Concubine Qiao and gently reminded her, "You... should change into less fragrant clothes next time. The little prince doesn't like it."
Qiao Yunting was stunned. He had never used any perfume before. That was used by people like Yang Fei who liked to spend time on dressing up!
Qiao Yunting didn't believe it, so he sniffed his arm hard, and only smelled a faint scent of locust flowers.
Sophora japonica was his favorite flower. Even when he moved into Jinhua Palace, he ordered locust trees to be planted in the courtyard.
Is this the problem?
Qiao Yunting smiled bitterly. He always felt that he was inferior to Mu Ci in every way. It turned out that he had not been liked by the emperor from the very beginning.
"I will pay attention next time." Qiao Yunting said softly.
Mu Ci glanced at him without comment. In fact, how many next times can there be in life?
Qiao Yunting did not stay in Zhaoyang Palace for too long. Before leaving, he seemed to have finally made up his mind and said to Mu Ci, "Pay attention to Yunguang Palace."
Mu Ci: “…”
Yunguang Palace is where Concubine Li lives. Does Concubine Qiao mean to remind him of Li Guiji's conspiracy?
Qiao Yunting turned away reluctantly: "Mu Ci, don't get me wrong, I don't have time to hate you, I'm only doing this for him."
Qiao Yunting nodded his chin towards the child in the nurse's arms from a distance and said meaningfully, "Since he is your son, you should be more careful."
Qiao Yunting's awkward suggestion was quite strange. Mu Ci smiled knowingly and said, "Then I won't thank you."
Qiao Yunting said angrily: "I didn't need you to tell me that."
After Qiao Yunting left, Mu Ci immediately ordered the secret guards to investigate. It turned out that there was a rumor in the palace recently, saying that the eldest prince Ye Xi did not look like Concubine Chen at all, and the date of the emperor's delivery was also different from the date when Concubine Chen was in the emperor's bedchamber. It was feared that Concubine Chen had stolen the title of the prince's biological father.
Not only did the rumor bring up old matters again, but it also directed all the blame at Mu Ci. After investigation, it was found that it was Wu Ying, a eunuch serving Li Guiji in Yunguang Palace, who spread the rumor.
You came just in time, Mu Ci thought indifferently, the empress dowager has already issued an edict to clarify the matter, but they still dare to make a fuss about the little prince's background. Since they have already done it, you can't blame him for cutting off the person's arm.
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In fact, the little prince really looks like Xiao An.
Xiao An will be out in the next chapter! Thank you to the little angels who cast their votes for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who cast [mine]: 22214894 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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