Chapter 494 Foster Care
[The real Concubine Yu is currently killing everyone on the battlefield, eager to dig a hole for Xixia. How can we support her?]
Shao Liyi is indeed a beautiful and kind person, and she is indeed good at taking care of the child. However, in two years, her childhood sweetheart will retire after completing his mission. The tyrant must keep his promise and let her go. If he raises the prince as his own, I'm afraid it will become another problem.
After analyzing it this way, Chu Liuzheng couldn't even choose a suitable one among the high-ranking concubines. As for the lower-ranking concubines, there was no way he could even think about it.
She spread her hands and said to the emperor, "Everyone is suitable, and no one is suitable."
【You should worry about it yourself.】
She was about to go back to sleep when she suddenly heard Xiao Jingfan say, "I have a choice in mind."
For some reason, Chu Liuzheng's eyelids twitched twice. Seeing the emperor's gaze on her, she pointed at herself with her backhand and asked in surprise, "Me?"
Xiao Jingfan nodded.
Chu Liuzheng: “…”
[Frog Fun! Are you kidding? I haven't had enough of my leisurely days yet, who wants to raise a child?]
[Well, even though there are a lot of wet nurses and palace maids, and I might only need to talk, but the bet hasn't been completed yet, and what will happen in the future is still uncertain, I don't want to support them!]
Xiao Jingfan got a headache after hearing this.
The prince is a popular figure in the entire harem and is fought over by everyone, except the woman next to him.
Does this woman know what it means to raise a prince?
He raised his eyebrows and asked, "You don't want to?"
"How can I decide whether I want to or not?" Chu Liuzheng pouted, hooking his slender fingers around his sleeve. "I'm already being criticized for just living in the Yangxin Palace. People say I'm a scoundrel that's ruining the country. If I really raise another prince, won't the imperial court and harem be in turmoil?"
"You already have enough worries, why add this one? Besides, if you take the eldest prince from Wanshou Palace and then hand him over to me, what will the Queen Mother think? She will then come to you for a talk."
Xiao Jingfan: "I will handle these matters myself."
"Less trouble is worse than more." Chu Liuzheng said, "In fact, there is someone who is more suitable to take care of the eldest prince than me."
"Who?" Xiao Jingfan grabbed the entire hand along the slender fingers and played with it in his palm.
"Your Highness the Princess." Chu Liuzheng felt a little itchy and pulled his hand back, but Xiao Jingfan grabbed it and interlocked their fingers.
"Her Royal Highness the Princess is the eldest prince's aunt. If you entrust the eldest prince to her care, there will be some complaints from the court and the harem, but it won't cause any unrest. At most, the imperial censors will complain about the prince being kept outside the palace, and you will have much less worries."
"You actually think about me." Xiao Jingfan lowered his eyes to look at the white and soft hand in his palm, and said in a low voice, "Actually, you just don't want to."
Chu Liuzheng was silent.
[Painless motherhood, isn't that legitimate? What's the point of me picking up a prince and raising him? Besides, if you can ask me to raise a child, then I can fulfill the bet. I have the money and raising a child is easy, so I'll just adopt him. I can afford two more.]
[Speaking of which, apart from the princesses born to Concubine Shu and the eldest prince born to the Queen, the tyrant shouldn't have any pearls left among the people, right?]
Xiao Jingfan: No!
If he had known that he would meet such a woman who would bring bad luck to him, he would...
"I just don't want to for the time being." Thinking of how the emperor treated her these days, Chu Liuzheng explained softly, not caring whether the emperor would think wrongly or not. Anyway, she would not say another word.
The wind from the running carriage blew up the curtains, and a beam of light poured in from the window, illuminating the woman's beautiful eyebrows and eyes at an angle. The enamel butterfly hairpin swayed gently at her temples, and the light shadow slid across her jade-white skin.
Xiao Jingfan stared, his chest pounding, nearly causing tinnitus. He wanted to ask further questions, but was afraid to disturb the carefully alight butterfly. Instead, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, whispering, "I understand."
【I don’t know a damn thing! 】
Chu Liuzheng closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his waist, his voice soft and low beside his ear, "I was impatient and thoughtless, causing you trouble."
【That's not bad.】
Chu Liuzheng uttered a vague "hmm" and buried his head in the sandalwood-scented chest. After a long while, he muttered, "Remember to think more carefully next time."
He's really pushing things too far. Thinking this, Xiao Jingfan lowered his head and placed a light kiss on the top of the head of the person in his arms, then replied, "Okay."
*
The next day, after the morning court session, the emperor summoned the eldest princess to the palace for an audience.
Half an hour later, the emperor and the eldest princess went to Wanshou Palace to pay their respects to the empress dowager. When leaving, the eldest princess took the eldest prince Xiao Dunyan with her.
It was rumored that the Empress Dowager was unwell and unable to take care of the eldest prince, so the Emperor decided to temporarily place the eldest prince in the eldest princess's mansion.
In the main hall of Zhaoyang Palace, Concubine Shu coaxed the princess to finish drinking the goat's milk, and then coaxed her to sleep before leaving and walking to the study on the east side.
"Your Majesty, you were so preoccupied with the princess this morning that you didn't even have time to eat before you began dealing with the matters reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Yan Hui presented a bowl of lotus seed soup and said softly, "It's still some time before lunch. You should eat something, otherwise you'll have another stomachache."
Concubine Shu picked up the lotus seed soup and stirred it with a spoon. A sweet aroma immediately wafted out. She reluctantly ate two bites and put it down.
Yan Hui advised, "My Lady, please use some more."
"I have no appetite." Shu Fei wiped the corner of her lips with a handkerchief, her face looking somewhat gloomy.
Seeing her like this, Yan Hui did not try to persuade her anymore. He put the lotus seed soup on the tray and ordered people to take it away.
She knew why her queen was in a bad mood.
Ever since the emperor sent the eldest prince to Wanshou Palace for upbringing, his own queen said that the eldest prince would not stay in Wanshou Palace for long. These days she has been planning how to bring the eldest prince to her own palace for upbringing. She even had some unpleasantness with Chun Zhaoyi for this, because Chun Zhaoyi, who had no children, did not want to miss this opportunity.
Everything was clearly planned out, and they were 60% to 70% sure of it. But the emperor had a brilliant idea and ignored all the concubines in the palace and sent the eldest prince to be fostered in the eldest princess's mansion. The emperor was not afraid of being chased and scolded by the censors.
Even if he didn't like the queen, the eldest prince was just a child, and the only prince now. He should be kept in the palace and educated. Yan Hui really couldn't figure out what the emperor was thinking.
Concubine Shu glanced out the window and asked, "Has Pan Shouyi returned?"
"Eunuch Pan returned after finding out the news," Yan replied. "You were taking care of the princess, so Eunuch Pan didn't dare to disturb you. I'm afraid he must have gone to the Imperial Household Department."
Concubine Shu looked at her and asked, "What news did he find out?"
"Nothing else matters. I roughly understand why Your Majesty took the eldest prince out of Wanshou Palace," Yan Hui said. "According to a young maid in Wanshou Palace, the eldest prince was always crying and making a fuss at night, which kept the Queen Dowager awake, and that's why she became sick."
"Your Majesty has asked the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to calculate. The officials at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau said that the eldest princess's good fortune can protect the eldest prince from evil spirits and reduce his illness. Therefore, Your Majesty decided to temporarily foster the eldest prince in the eldest princess's mansion."
(End of this chapter)
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