After A Mao left, Yan Qingqing called Ruyi in and instructed her, "Mo Chen has been appointed Crown Prince by the Emperor. Go and prepare some congratulatory gifts and send them to Prince Chen's residence later."
Ruyi was also very happy to hear this. In the eyes of these servants, although Xiao Mochen was a prince who was high and mighty, he was no different from their young master.
Their young master was named Crown Prince, who was the future emperor. How could they not be happy?
So Ruyi quickly led people to open Yan Qingqing's private vault, picked out a bunch of good things, and then wrote a gift list for Yan Qingqing to review.
After looking at them, Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "You're quite generous, girl. You've picked out the best things from my storeroom."
Over the years, Yan Qingqing has indeed collected a lot of valuable and good things, which Ruyi has stored in the warehouse.
Normally, when giving gifts, Ruyi would choose something less valuable, but this time was different; she would give whatever was most expensive.
Ruyi smiled and said, "How can His Highness the Crown Prince be the same as others? He is also a young master of our household. Even if I don't prepare anything, Madam will still give him some good things."
Ruyi knew that Yan Qingqing had secretly given Xiao Mochen 200,000 taels of silver last time.
Although Ruyi felt bad about spending so much money all at once.
However, since the madam treats Xiao Mochen no differently than the other young masters, isn't it only right that she spends money on her own young master?
Therefore, Ruyi was very generous this time, and selected many good things for Xiao Mochen as congratulatory gifts.
Yan Qingqing just smiled and didn't say anything more. Then she called over A'da and asked him to personally deliver the gifts to Prince Chen's residence.
However, Yan Qingqing guessed that Xiao Mochen had just been promoted to Crown Prince and should be very busy recently, so it was uncertain whether he was even at the Prince Chen's residence.
As expected, when Ah Da returned, he told Yan Qingqing that he had not seen Xiao Mochen and had heard that His Highness the Crown Prince had gone to the palace to express his gratitude.
He hasn't returned yet, and it's possible he's staying in the East Palace and won't come back, so A'da didn't wait for Xiao Mochen and just handed the gift to the little eunuch beside him.
But the next morning, Yan Qingqing heard a servant report that His Highness the Crown Prince had arrived.
Yan Qingqing was taken aback. Xiao Mochen usually treated this place as his own home, coming and going as he pleased, and rarely asked anyone to announce his arrival. Moreover, Yan Qingqing had even reserved a courtyard for Xiao Mochen in Mingzhao Prefecture.
Xiao Mochen would occasionally stay overnight, but he had never asked anyone to give such a formal notification.
Yan Qingqing took a deep breath and instructed, "Get ready, we're going to welcome His Highness the Crown Prince."
Yan Qingqing didn't quite understand what Xiao Mochen meant, but no matter what, it shouldn't be that he was showing off in front of her after being named crown prince.
Yan Qingqing encountered Yuan Huiniang and a group of women from the Li family halfway there. Li Xiang'an had been busy expanding his business and had not been at home recently.
Li Xiangkang and Ding Xiu also studied at the Imperial Academy.
So the family consists mostly of girls.
Yuan Huiniang probably heard from the servants that His Highness the Crown Prince had come to greet him, so she quickly led everyone to come and welcome him.
Unlike Yan Qingqing's composure, Yuan Huiniang was somewhat uneasy, after all, Xiao Mochen had never acted like a prince in front of them.
Has he changed now that he's become the crown prince?
Yuan Huiniang had a thousand words in her heart, but she still held them back.
He went to the front yard with Yan Qingqing.
As soon as I entered the front yard, a bright yellow figure stood there.
The boy had bright features and deep eyes; just standing there, he exuded an air of nobility and seemed unapproachable.
Yan Qingqing led the group forward and was about to pay their respects when Xiao Mochen turned around and, before Yan Qingqing could, lifted his robe and knelt respectfully on the ground.
Xiao Mochen's action startled Yan Qingqing. She quickly stepped forward to help him up and said, "Mochen, get up quickly!"
What are you doing? You are now the Crown Prince. If word gets out, won't the censors accuse your aunt of a grave offense of disrespect?
Xiao Mochen knelt on the ground and refused to get up, saying, "Aunt, in front of you I have always been just Xiao Mochen, not the Ninth Prince, not the Prince of Chen, and certainly not His Highness the Crown Prince."
"My current favor with the Emperor and my being named Crown Prince are half thanks to my aunt, so she deserves Mo Chen's bow."
Xiao Mochen knew very well that without Yan Qingqing, he would never be where he is today.
Even if he eventually defeats Xiao Moyan and obtains the position of Crown Prince, it won't be as easy as it is now.
Yan Qingqing naturally didn't dare to take credit, and said to Xiao Mochen, "Child, you got to where you are today because of your own efforts. Your aunt only helped you a little."
You must believe that the Emperor appointed you as Crown Prince because you are exceptionally talented and hardworking.
Xiao Mochen is indeed outstanding, and in Yan Qingqing's opinion, he will definitely be a qualified emperor in the future.
Xiao Mochen remained kneeling on the ground. Yan Qingqing said helplessly, "Mochen, if you don't get up, tomorrow the censors' spittle will drown your aunt."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Mochen stubbornly said, "Aunt, Mochen has another request, and I hope you will grant it."
Yan Qingqing quickly replied, "Alright, my little darling, get up. Auntie promises you, okay?"
Xiao Mochen chuckled and stood up, saying, "Then Auntie has agreed, and she can't go back on her word."
Seeing his smug look, Yan Qingqing knew that this little brat had done it on purpose.
He must have known she wouldn't dare make him kneel any longer, so he deliberately set a trap for himself.
Hopefully, Xiao Mochen has a conscience and won't make any unreasonable demands.
So Yan Qingqing said irritably, "You haven't even said what it is yet, how am I supposed to know if I want to back out?"
Xiao Mochen then spoke up, "Aunt, I am now the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. Father Emperor specially set up the position of the Crown Prince's three tutors and asked me if I had anyone I wanted to choose. I recommended Aunt to Father Emperor."
The three tutors of the crown prince include the crown prince's grand tutor, the crown prince's grand preceptor, and the crown prince's grand protector. All of these are first-rank official positions, and the emperor and the crown prince are the most trusted people.
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing exclaimed in surprise. Not to mention that no woman has ever served as one of the three tutors of the Crown Prince since ancient times, even if she had, she couldn't have done it.
She knew her own limitations. Although she had a lot of modern knowledge, it wasn't something an emperor should learn.
Moreover, she herself was overwhelmed by those classical Chinese books, so how could she possibly teach Xiao Mochen?
Moreover, she planned to rest for a while before returning to Canghe Town.
That little brat really knows how to cause her trouble.
Xiao Mochen watched Yan Qingqing's ever-changing expression and felt very uneasy. He had only come up with this plan to keep his aunt here after hearing that she wanted to return to Canghe Town.
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