Chapter 32
Qu Dubian followed Concubine Xuan to Shunning Palace.
Shunning Palace is very close to Fengwu Palace. The palace is deserted and there are not many people.
The front hall was the main hall where Concubine Xuan lived. There were no flowers in the garden. It was all plowed into the ground. I didn’t know what was planted. There were some fruit trees on both sides, but I couldn’t tell the variety.
Concubine Xuan first asked someone to go to the small kitchen to cook, then turned around to look at the Seventh Prince who was following behind her and sighed.
She was confused, and when the child stuck to her, she brought him here in a daze.
Qu Dubian follows wherever he goes, just like a little tail.
He came up and hugged Concubine Xuan's calf, "Concubine Xuan~"
Increase your favorability, beautiful and generous Empress Xuan, and raise it quickly. He is willing to eat both meat and vegetables for the rest of his life.
Concubine Xuan held back the words she wanted to tell the Emperor to pick someone up, thinking that it would be okay to keep the Seventh Prince for a meal. "The meal will have to wait a while. I need to deal with the dirt I just shoveled. Can you play for a while?"
Qu Watanabe: “Okay!”
Ye Xiaoyuan bowed helplessly, "Excuse me, Madam Xuan."
Concubine Xuan: "You guys come in too."
The four people went into the hall. Concubine Xuan placed a porcelain basin on the charcoal basin, put the soil in batches, fried it until it was hot, and then poured it into another wooden barrel.
Stir-fry the soil and sterilize it at high temperature.
Qu Dubian watched from the side, and helped to pass the small shovel from time to time.
The palace maids didn't speak, Concubine Xuan didn't speak, Ye Xiaoyuan and Wen Xiaochun couldn't understand why their prince had to come to Shunning Palace, and they didn't know what to say.
Seeing that the child was staring at the soil, Concubine Xuan thought for a few seconds, then asked the palace maid to bring out a small bowl, filled it with the fried and disinfected soil, then poured an appropriate amount of warm water into it, and handed it to Qu Dubian.
"Give."
Qu Dubian quietly moved closer to Concubine Xuan and said, "Concubine Xuan, do you want me to help you with anything?"
If you want his help, you have to increase your favorability!
"No need," Concubine Xuan shook her head. All she said was words of help. This child was really sensible. Perhaps it was because she had such a hard time in Ju'an Palace before that she developed this kind of personality.
Children don't need to learn to be patient so early. Concubine Xuan said gently, "You have been watching for so long, but you didn't ask me for it. I can see that the soil has been fried and sieved. It's clean. Go and play with it."
Qu Duanbian was silent for a moment, "What are you playing?"
Concubine Xuan pushed the bowl and said, "Play in the mud, no need to be restrained."
Qu Watanabe: “…”
Under the encouraging gaze of Ye Xiaoyuan, Wen Xiaochun, and Xuan Fei, Qu Dubian played with mud for more than twenty minutes with a tense face.
During this period, Concubine Xuan's favorability increased by three points. Qu Dubian felt more and more relaxed as he played. The mud was really fun.
When lunch was finally ready in the small kitchen, a portion of Yun Ni Cake was also sent over from the main kitchen. When Concubine Xuan said it was time to eat, he immediately pushed aside the small bowl of clay and quickly ran to the dining table.
Concubine Xuan asked Ye Xiaoyuan to wash his hands.
"Besides me, there is also a concubine named Guo living in the back hall of Shunning Palace. The princess she gave birth to is nominally raised under my name, but in reality, she is still taking care of her. So, I don't know what the child should eat. Just tell me what you like."
Qu Dubian rolled up his sleeves and raised a wooden spoon. "I'm not picky about food. I'm very easy to feed."
Concubine Xuan looked him up and down. Although she had never raised a child, she had seen others raise children, so she had a rough estimate of how tall and heavy a two-and-a-half-year-old child should be. However, the Seventh Prince looked even thinner than the princesses in the harem when they were over two years old.
So the sentence just now seems unconvincing.
She didn't say much, but just asked the palace maid to bring him more food.
Seeing that the atmosphere was more lively than at the beginning, Qu Dubian took the initiative to say: "Many ladies came to arrest me today."
Concubine Xuan: “Hmm?”
Then she understood. The palace maid beside her had told her that the Seventh Prince was going to choose a foster mother. At this juncture, this child had become a hot commodity.
Concubine Xuan: "So you followed me to Shunning Palace to avoid them?"
"It's to avoid His Majesty. If he knew about the Imperial Garden, he would beat me up."
The child was like a little adult, with his eyebrows knotted with worry. Concubine Xuan said jokingly, "Your Majesty would never hit the prince casually. You are still young, and he usually won't get angry if you cause trouble. But... I wanted to ask at the beginning, why do you call him Your Majesty?"
Qu Duanbian said solemnly: "It's not time to call me dad yet."
Dad has to use it where it counts.
"When will you shout?"
Qu Watanabe calculated the time: "Soon, right?"
Just then, a palace servant came in to report, in a hurried tone: "Your Majesty, His Majesty has arrived!"
Concubine Xuan frowned and put down her bowl and chopsticks. She didn't shy away from others and said, "Why are you here at this time? Can you choose the right time?"
Qu Watanabe: “?”
Although this did not happen in the previous life of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he knew that a normal concubine would not say such things against the emperor.
He hid his doubts, got down from the stool, followed Concubine Xuan to the front palace courtyard, followed closely behind her and hid behind her skirt.
Emperor Chongzhao strode in and stood in the courtyard. Eunuch Yu wiped the sweat off his face and tried hard to wink at Ye Xiaoyuan and Wen Xiaochun.
Concubine Xuan bowed and said, "Your Majesty."
Qu Dubian quietly poked his head out from behind Concubine Xuan's skirt and smiled shyly: "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Emperor Chongzhao's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He suddenly pulled out a ruler that he had pulled out from somewhere and said, "Still hiding! Come out here!" He strode towards Qu Dubian.
Qu Dubian turned around and ran, circling in the yard with Emperor Chongzhao.
He ran and shouted: "It was Sixth Brother who said it out loud! I just told him secretly, why didn't Your Majesty go and beat Sixth Brother?"
"If you don't tell me, how can Xiaoliu know?"
Emperor Chongzhao was really furious. In one afternoon, most of the palace knew about him. As the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the concubines all gave him medicine to replenish his body. Wasn't this telling others that he was not good enough? Not to mention the embarrassing peeing incident!
But he can't dispel the rumor, how can he dispel it? Tell the whole palace again that he is in good health, and he doesn't even listen to the whistle when he pees?
Isn't this a case of trying to cover up one's own faults?
After running two laps, Emperor Chongzhao took a big step and caught his running little son. He grabbed his thick clothes and swung him in the air. Just as he was about to raise the ruler in his hand, Qu Dubian quickly pounced forward, hugged Emperor Chongzhao's neck tightly, and wrapped his legs around his chest, howling heartbreakingly:
"He's hitting someone! Your Majesty is hitting someone!!"
Emperor Chong Zhao was almost strangled to death by him, "Let me go!"
He even had to free up one hand to hold up the boy's legs. If he fell down like that, his bones would probably be broken!
Eunuch Yu’s eyes almost popped out.
God knows, Yu Decai has followed His Majesty for so many years and has seen everything, but he has never seen a scene like this before.
After looking at the other people in Shunning Palace, he felt satisfied again. Some of these people opened their mouths, some covered their eyes, none of them was as calm as him.
Emperor Chongzhao was getting angrier and angrier when he suddenly heard a cough in his ear. It seemed that the annoying kid was choked by the wind and coughed several times in a row. The two laps he just ran were considered strenuous exercise and his breathing was also rapid.
He suddenly remembered that Xiaoqi recovered very quickly, but the imperial physician said that quick recovery does not mean that he is completely fine, and there is a possibility of relapse.
He began to hesitate as he raised the ruler. If he got sick again, not only his youngest son would suffer, but he as well.
Or just hit me once as a token of my appreciation.
The ruler is raised again!
The kid on his shoulder howled again: "Dad! It hurts!"
...I can’t use the ruler to hit him anymore.
Emperor Chongzhao said angrily: "I haven't fought yet!"
Qu Dubian hummed twice, "I really didn't mean it."
"You know to call me daddy when you're being beaten... Also, I'm your father, how can you call me daddy!"
"Oh," Qu Watanabe said, "Your Majesty."
Emperor Chongzhao: “…”
It was not right to beat him, nor was it right not to beat him. Eunuch Yu stepped forward and took away the ruler with great foresight, giving Emperor Chongzhao a way out. "Your Majesty, the young prince has just recovered from a serious illness, and he didn't do it on purpose. He knows he was wrong."
Ye Xiaoyuan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Your Majesty."
He gave Wen Xiaochun a look, and the latter immediately took the ruler from Eunuch Yu and hid it behind his back.
"Let me go!"
"don't want."
The child grabbed his neck and whispered in his ear, "I know everything. You took care of me at night, and you treated me better than I thought... well, a little better!"
He placed his thumb on the first joint of his index finger to demonstrate how tiny it was.
So this is the reason why the child is closer to him? Emperor Chongzhao glanced at Qu Duanbian's finger, "Is that all? I haven't slept well for two or three days."
Two or three nights is just a small interest, how much more do you want? What a fool. Qu Watanabe grabbed his neck again and hung himself on it, saying a child's straightforward words accurately, "You are good to me, and I am good to you. I am still young, but I can grow up, and my kindness to you will also grow up."
“…”
Emperor Chongzhao supported his buttocks and said with a straight face: "You are being so disrespectful. Go back to Zichen Palace."
He glanced at Concubine Xuan and nodded slightly, not as if he was treating a concubine, but as if he was treating a friend about whom he felt guilty.
Concubine Xuan: "Farewell, Your Majesty." It turns out that this is the time to call him "Dad".
The group left Shunning Palace. During the period, Eunuch Yu wanted to take Qu Dubian over, but Emperor Chongzhao did not let go. He held her for half of the way before giving her to Ye Xiaoyuan.
Inside Shunning Palace.
The excitement just now disappeared with the departure of the Seventh Prince.
Returning to the original silence made people feel uncomfortable for a moment.
Concubine Xuan stood there in a daze for a while, then looked down at her palms, which still retained the warm touch of the child's holding.
In the back hall, the five-year-old Princess Zhiyi came over curiously, holding a smooth round piece of wood, "Empress Xuan, was it my father who came just now?"
The heirs of the Great Zhou Dynasty were ranked separately among princes and princesses. Although Princess Zhiyi was young, she was the eldest princess.
Concubine Xuan came back to her senses: "Yes, and your seventh brother. Why is Zhiyi here? Did she disturb you?"
Zhiyi held up the wood and said, "The axe in the back hall is broken, and my mother needs it now as a carpenter, so I want your help."
Concubine Xuan took the wood, held it with both hands, and bent it with a little force. With a snap, the round wood as thick as her calf broke into two pieces.
Zhiyi was used to it and said happily, "Thank you, Madam Xuan. The back hall is having dinner. Would you like to go over?"
"Well, let's go. Your mother is doing carpentry work, and I guess she needs my help. Remember to send someone to change the axe tomorrow morning."
"Uh-huh!"
-
Purple Palace.
West Warm Pavilion.
"Why would he go to Shunning Palace?"
After Emperor Chongzhao found Qu Dubian, he took advantage of the time before going to bed to review some memorials.
He pondered over it and was puzzled. "I know Concubine Xuan. She usually just grows vegetables and chops firewood. She doesn't like to pay attention to me. She never goes out of the house. How could these two bump into each other?"
"It's just a coincidence. The ladies in the harem are chasing after me."
"I know exactly what they are planning. They are fighting over it before the election even starts. Do they really think my son is just a piece of meat?"
Emperor Chongzhao was also upset. What would it look like if this got out? How could he raise an imperial heir if he was so unstable?
Eunuch Yu: "Actually, Concubine Xuan can also..."
"No." Emperor Chongzhao interrupted, "You've seen it too, Xiaoqi is naughty and stubborn. If she annoys Concubine Xuan, she'll get beaten. Besides, she... probably doesn't want to see me."
"All the concubines who went to the Imperial Garden today are not allowed to do so."
Eunuch Yu: "There aren't many people left. Why don't you let the young prince choose for himself? At least the young prince should be satisfied."
Emperor Chongzhao held his forehead in worry, "This matter not only needs to consider the balance of relations with the previous dynasty, but also the temperament of the concubines, and also needs to satisfy Xiaoqi... Could this child be here to collect a debt?"
Eunuch Yu: "Your Majesty is a king and a father, and you can't help but worry about your children."
"If that doesn't work, let him choose for himself."
Sleeping hall.
Qu Dubian ate half of it in Shunning Palace and had the remaining half in Zichen Hall.
She was lying on her back, occupying the dragon couch of Emperor Chongzhao. A different kind of incense was burned in the bedroom today, and it smelled like a light pine scent.
"Xiaochun, is father going to choose a new mother for me?"
At this time, there were only two of them in the bedroom. Wen Xiaochun asked: "How did Your Highness know?"
"I overheard it by accident."
Actually, I guessed it.
Although the higher the sunk cost, the more his father the emperor will care about him in this life, but he can't live in the Purple Palace forever, otherwise the former dynasty and the harem will not be happy. In addition, judging from the attitude of the concubines in the harem today, he can guess what he knows with just a little thought.
Wen Xiaochun asked softly: "Does Your Highness want a new mother?"
Qu Duan thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, what does it feel like to have a mother?"
It seemed like he was born without a mother, not in his previous life nor in this life, so he didn't know what it felt like to be loved by his mother.
Wen Xiaochun did have one, but it was his mother who sold him for money.
People who are close to you can hurt you the most.
But he couldn't tell these words to His Highness.
He just said: "Maybe you will know later."
Emperor Chong Zhao stood outside and listened for a while. When there was no movement inside, he went in. After washing up, he lay on the bed and said, "Is there any lady you like in the Imperial Garden today?"
Qu Dubian turned over, leaned forward and raised his head, "The fragrance on their bodies is not as good as the one you mix."
Emperor Chongzhao snorted, "You are quite knowledgeable. The school will start tomorrow. You will recover quickly, but it is better to wait a few days. Do you want to go?"
Qu Watanabe: "Walking is too tiring."
"You don't have to leave. I'll hold you."
“They get tired, too.”
"So you don't want to go?"
"Father, do you have a dog?"
“…”
The topic changed suddenly, and Emperor Chongzhao considered the value of the word "Father". When he called him "Dad", it meant he was in trouble and was cowardly, but when he called him "Father", did he mean he had a request from him?
He said cautiously, "Yes, if you want one, pick a docile one and raise it. What do you want to do?"
Qu Watanabe said mysteriously: "I won't tell you."
Emperor Chongzhao glanced at him and said, "It's okay if you don't go to the academy. Seven days later, it will be the day of your mother's posthumous title ceremony. Someone will come to make clothes for you."
Although Emperor Chongzhao abolished the previous system, posthumously conferring the title of empress on a concubine was still no small matter, requiring the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple and other departments to work together. On the day of the ceremony, music was played according to the procedure and nine fairy lanterns were offered in the Fengde Hall.
As the son of Concubine Yun, Qu Dubian had to attend even though he was very young.
Qu Dubian didn't know about this. He smelled something unusual. He poked Emperor Chongzhao's arm and said, "Tell me about it."
Emperor Chongzhao closed his eyes and said, "I won't tell you either."
“…”
Bah! Lao Deng!
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