Chapter 73
On the second day, when Lin Qingyu entered the palace to take the emperor's pulse, the empress and Concubine Chen were there. The Queen is in charge of the six palaces, and Concubine Chen assists her. The three are discussing arrangements for celebrating the New Year in the palace.
Both the Empress and Concubine Chen were stunning beauties when they were young. Now that they are old, the Empress is graceful and dignified, with the temperament of a mother of the country; Concubine Chen has taken good care of herself and has been favored for many years, so she looks no more than 30 years old, like a peony in full bloom.
Lin Qingyu knelt down and saluted the three people: "Your Highness, Queen, and Imperial Concubine."
The emperor was already upset by the two women on his left and right, and when he saw Lin Qingyu, he felt that his wives and concubines were even more noisy. But Lin Qingyu had no official position and was wearing a crescent-white casual suit, which caught people's attention without any decoration.
When the queen saw him, her expression turned a little colder. Concubine Chen was quite polite to him: "The emperor's headache has improved a lot recently, this is all thanks to Doctor Lin."
Lin Qingyu said: "It is a blessing for me to share your majesty's worries."
"I heard that Doctor Lin also found a prescription to cure the epidemic last year in the south." Concubine Chen took the emperor's arm and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to borrow Doctor Lin's medicine."
The emperor asked casually, "My beloved concubine, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"
"It's not me, it's the prince." Concubine Chen frowned, her eyes full of love for her child. "Since the prince had...since he had a serious illness, his health has been much worse than before, no matter how many medicines he took, it didn't get better. In the end, it's all because of the incompetence of the imperial doctors in the Imperial Hospital. They couldn't cure the emperor's headache, and they couldn't take good care of the prince's health."
The emperor said indifferently: "I think the prince has a heart disease that is difficult to cure, otherwise he would not have done the task I gave him so carelessly."
Concubine Chen's face changed slightly, her fingertips clenched, and she forced a smile, "The prince must want to complete the task, but he may be a little overwhelmed."
Lin Qingyu glanced at the queen quietly. The queen hid her emotions very well and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.
"Forget it." The emperor stretched out his wrist and said to Lin Qingyu, "Go back to the East Palace to check on the prince."
Lin Qingyu replied: "Yes."
The Queen hesitated for a moment and said, "I have already prepared the list for the New Year's Eve family dinner. Please review it, Your Majesty."
The emperor said: "No need, I trust the queen to do the job."
"Your Majesty, please take a look." Concubine Chen raised her lips, "The Queen has reserved a place for the Sixth Prince this time."
The emperor was displeased and asked, "Really?"
The Queen knelt down hurriedly, no longer as calm as before: "New Year's Eve is a time for family reunion. After all, Li'er is the blood of the Emperor and me, and the brother of all the princes and princesses..."
The emperor interrupted coldly: "The Sixth Prince doesn't understand these things, why go to so much trouble to get him back."
The queen pleaded, "Your Majesty..."
"Queen, please stop talking." Concubine Chen looked kind and tried to smooth things over. "The Emperor is almost angry."
The emperor was quite impatient: "Okay, both of you leave."
The queen forbeared and said, "I will take my leave."
As soon as the Queen and Concubine Chen left, Lin Qingyu's pulse was diagnosed: "The Emperor's headache has not been cured. No matter how heavy the state affairs are, he should rest more."
The emperor also wants to rest. In the past, there was a crown prince who could govern the country, but now no one knows where the crown prince’s heart is, and he has to do many things by himself.
The emperor stared at Lin Qingyu and suddenly asked, "You have been married to Gu Fuzhou for some time, right?"
"yes."
"Is he kind to you?"
Lin Qingyu smiled and said, "The general treats me very well."
The emperor became more and more impatient and waved his hand to send the man away.
Lin Qingyu left the Qinzheng Palace and went directly to the Fengyi Palace to meet the queen. When the maid of Fengyi Palace saw him, she said without even saying goodbye, "The Queen will not see you, Doctor Lin, please go back."
Lin Qingyu said: "I went to Jinyang Garden two days ago."
The maid turned around and paused.
"There are things I want to tell the Queen about the Sixth Prince. Miss, can you pass it on for me?"
After the palace maid passed the message, Lin Qingyu was invited into Fengyi Palace. The Queen was originally sad because she couldn't reunite with her son on New Year's Eve. When she heard the news that Lin Qingyu had Xiao Li, she didn't care about the past grudges and asked immediately, "Did Li'er have any problems in Jinyang Garden?"
Lin Qingyu said slowly: "Nothing serious will happen."
"What do you mean?" the Queen asked anxiously, "Is Li'er not doing well?"
Lin Qingyu shook his head: "Not good - very bad. When I saw His Highness, he was squatting in the snow, wearing only a single layer of clothing, digging handfuls of snow to eat."
The eyes of the usually calm queen suddenly turned red: "How, how could this be... Lai Fu! Bring Lai Fu in to me!"
The queen was not allowed to leave the palace to visit her son, so she could only send eunuch Lai Fu to deliver some things to Jinyang Garden from time to time. All the things she sent were of the best quality, and Lai Fu always reported back, saying that the Sixth Prince was doing well in the other palace. She always thought that although her Li'er was not as good as the prince who grew up in the palace, she also lived a wealthy life. Who could have thought that those servants would dare to say one thing in front of her and another behind her back, deceiving her for so many years.
Facing the Queen's questioning, Lai Fu said in a sad voice: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Every time I went to Jinyang Garden, His Highness the Sixth Prince was served very well! I really don't know anything!"
The Queen had lost her mind and wanted to torture him to extract a confession, but was stopped by Lin Qingyu: "Lai Fu is your confidant and is loyal to you. The problem should be in Jinyang Garden. The Emperor has not been to the other palaces for many years. The servants in the garden are lazy by nature, and they don't get any rewards from their master, so they will naturally try every means to make some money."
Thinking of her son's situation in the other palace, the queen couldn't help but burst into tears: "They just bully Li'er because she is ignorant and can't speak... My Li'er..."
Even though the queen is the mother of a country, at this time she is just an ordinary mother. When she cried, she didn't whine like most people did, she just shed silent tears. The maid handed over a clean handkerchief and said, "Your Highness, please take care of your body. If you cry, who can the Sixth Prince rely on?"
The queen wiped her tears and pulled herself together: "You are right. Those servants in Jinyang Garden are still waiting for me to deal with them."
Lin Qingyu said: "Even if your Majesty replaces all the people in Jinyang Garden, how can you guarantee that the new people will not treat Your Highness as harshly as they did in the future?"
The Queen glared at him and said, "Then what do you think I should do?"
"The best way is to bring His Majesty the Sixth Prince back to the palace and have Her Majesty take care of him personally."
The Queen smiled strangely: "Do you think I don't want to? You saw today that the Emperor didn't even want to see Li'er at the New Year's Eve family dinner, so how could he allow me to keep Li'er by his side?"
Lin Qingyu pretended to think: "The emperor's mind is difficult to change. Your Majesty may explain this matter to the prince, and ask the prince to speak to the emperor."
"Crown Prince?" The Queen said coldly, "I thought you were a smart man. The Crown Prince and Concubine Chen wish Li'er would stay away from the palace, so why would they speak for me?"
Lin Qingyu said calmly: "In this case, even if Your Majesty becomes the Queen Mother in the future, you will still have to endure the pain of separation from your flesh and blood."
The queen vaguely sensed Lin Qingyu's intention, and her heart suddenly tightened. She asked the others to leave and asked uncertainly, "Do you know what you are talking about?"
"After the crown prince ascends the throne, you should know more than I do about what the situation will be like for you and His Highness the Sixth Prince."
"How dare you!" The Queen's eyes were sharp. "How dare you discuss the issue of the crown prince with me? Aren't you afraid of losing your head?"
Lin Qingyu said calmly: "What I said is the thing that the young marquis can't let go of the most before he dies."
The queen was stunned: "Is it Wan Cheng...?"
"The Queen treats the young Marquis as her own son, and the young Marquis is always thinking about you and the Sixth Prince. He is worried about your situation in the palace and that you are embarrassed by Concubine Chen. He asked me to do my best to share your worries."
The queen looked at him coldly: "If you really care about Wan Cheng, how could you remarry someone else when his body is still warm!"
Lin Qingyu sighed softly: "If I don't do this, how can I help the queen."
The queen looked at Lin Qingyu with a serious look. The man in front of him was handsome and dignified, with a pair of eyes as deep as a pool, as if he was luring people to come closer and then looking for the right moment to drown them.
Lin Qingyu might have ulterior motives, but one thing is beyond doubt: if Xiao Cheng succeeds in ascending the throne, her Li'er will never come back in this lifetime.
After weighing the pros and cons several times, the queen said calmly: "What do you want me to do?"
Not long after, the Marquis of Nan'an asked to see the emperor alone and proposed that Xiao Jie be made a king. The emperor was a little surprised. Marquis Nan'an never participated in party struggles. When the fight for the throne was the most intense, he never spoke for any prince. Why would he speak for a mediocre fourth prince now?
Nan'an Hou brought out the reason Lin Qingyu had thought of in advance: "The Crown Prince is a talent for governing the country, but he has been indifferent to government affairs for a long time due to illness. I think that the Emperor can use the matter of the Fourth Prince being crowned a king to give the Crown Prince a little warning. The disputes among the princes are terrible, but they can also be used."
The emperor took the words to heart, but did not immediately express his opinion. He only said, "Let me think about this matter."
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. On New Year’s Eve, the palace banquet was held, and the concubines, princes and princesses gathered together to have a New Year’s Eve dinner. There was singing and dancing during the banquet, and everyone was talking and laughing. It was very lively.
Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, the queen smiled and said, "The fourth prince will be nineteen after the Chinese New Year, and it's time to find him a princess."
Xiao Jie had just picked up a piece of dessert and had taken a bite of it before quickly swallowing it whole: "Thank you, mother, for your concern. I am not in a hurry."
"Why aren't you anxious?" the queen scolded, "Several of your uncles, when they were your age, not only had they all married princesses, many of them had even become fathers."
The Queen's words reminded the Emperor of Marquis Nan'an's request. He glanced at Xiao Cheng and saw that he was holding the wine glass absent-mindedly with a dejected look, no longer as high-spirited as before. He made a decision immediately.
——Xiao Jie was named a prince and given the title Ning at the palace banquet on New Year’s Eve.
Compared to the bustle in the palace, the general's mansion was much quieter, with only the general and his wife celebrating the New Year together. Even so, Yuan Yin still decorated the mansion from top to bottom. There are window flowers on the windows and lanterns hanging under the eaves, creating an atmosphere of joy and happiness.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner was served, Lin Qingyu gave the servants a day off. Gu Fuzhou moved the table to the corridor, and the two of them sat under the red lanterns, enjoying the moon and drinking.
After completing a plan, Lin Qingyu drank a few more glasses. His jade-like face was drunk and even the teardrop mole under his eyes was stained red. Gu Fuzhou's drinking capacity was honed in the military camp and he was much better than Lin Qingyu. Seeing that Lin Qingyu was a little drunk, he said, "Shall I carry you back to the room?"
Lin Qingyu propped up her forehead with her hand and looked at him with drunken eyes, as if she was shrouded in a layer of light: "Why do you like hugging me so much..."
Gu Fuzhou said half-truthfully: "Because I want to look cool in front of you."
Lin Qingyu laughed, stretched out his hand lazily towards Gu Fuzhou, and invited him: "Come on then."
Gu Fuzhou leaned over and picked up Lin Qingyu horizontally. The two of them have such a huge difference in body shape, and when hugged like this, Lin Qingyu looks even smaller. In fact, he is considered tall among men of the same age.
Gu Fuzhou returned to the room and sat down beside the bed, but he did not put Lin Qingyu down. Instead, he let him sit on his lap. "Would you like some hangover soup?"
Lin Qingyu hugged his neck, leaned close to his ear, and asked in a hoarse voice: "What are you...hard about?"
Gu Fuzhou chuckled and said in distress, "Alas, have you been discovered? I'm sorry, I can't help it." His voice was low and sharp, and it entered Lin Qingyu's ears, "I miss you so much."
Lin Qingyu raised the corners of her red eyes slightly: "Do you want to?"
Gu Fuzhou's Adam's apple rolled, and he asked back: "Qingyu, do you still only like girls?"
A layer of confusion appeared in Lin Qingyu's eyes, as if even he himself didn't know the answer.
Gu Fuzhou sighed, stood up, laid Lin Qingyu down on the bed, and planned to ask the servants to cook some sobering soup. When he turned around, he felt his sleeve being pulled. He looked down and met Lin Qingyu's bright eyes.
Lin Qingyu's breath was hot from the alcohol: "... not necessarily."
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