Concubine Yi is not like the other concubines in the harem who are always thinking about getting some benefits from her. Maybe there are some ulterior motives in making friends with her, but she is honest and does not flatter. She is willing to honor those who have done real things for her.
The two of them exchanged some heart-to-heart words before Ning Yuxi took the little ones back to Shuqing Palace. Before leaving, the empress dowager asked her to come to Cining Palace the next day.
Because tomorrow the Empress Dowager's two princesses will bring their princes-in-law to the palace to pay New Year's greetings to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, she, a concubine, is not allowed to go.
But the Queen Mother thought that she had not seen her family for a long time, and her brother would enter the palace with Princess Yincheng tomorrow, so she asked her to go as well.
Ning Yuxi couldn't help but feel happy. She hadn't seen her family for a long time. After her brother married the princess, he was transferred to the military camp by the emperor.
She returned to the palace and coaxed the little ones to sleep. She also slept for a while. Not long after she woke up, she heard the eunuch at the door shouting, "The Emperor has arrived!"
Ning Yuxi was bored and reading a storybook. When she heard the voice, she hurriedly got up and went out to greet him. It was still snowing, and even though she was holding an umbrella, she couldn't stop the snowflakes. A lot of them stuck to Gu Qilan's ink-colored cloak.
After Ning Yuxi paid her respects, she took off the emperor's cloak and said, "It's so snowy and windy. How could the emperor come here? What if he catches a cold?"
Gu Qilan smiled slightly: "I'm not cold, where are Cheng Zhao's brothers and sisters?"
Ning Yuxi glared at him and said, "They are still asleep. They got up a little early this morning."
Gu Qilan nodded, then looked at Ning Yuxi and said, "Didn't you sleep for a while?"
Ning Yuxi smiled and said, "I just woke up. Has the emperor rested yet?"
"I'm not tired. I'll just read the memorial."
Hearing this, Ning Yuxi said with disapproval, "It's only the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the Emperor has already started reading memorials. Our ancestors stipulated that writing should be suspended for seven days during the Lunar New Year. The Emperor should also rest and balance work and rest."
The emperors of the Jin Dynasty always had seven days of rest during the New Year: three days before the New Year, three days after the New Year, and New Year's Eve. However, the emperor did not stop writing and rest until the 29th, and today is only the first day, but he went to read memorials again.
Although Gu Qilan didn't like others interfering in his affairs, Concubine Yi was doing it for him, and she was right. He really needed to rest these days, so he didn't refute her. Instead, he asked, "Work and rest? That's a new term."
Ning Yuxi looked at him resentfully: "I asked Your Majesty to take care of himself, but Your Majesty's attention is on the poem."
Gu Qilan smiled softly: "Okay, okay, I'll combine work and rest." As he spoke, Gu Qilan pulled the person into his arms: "Today, I will spend some time with my Xier."
Seeing this scene, all the palace people in the room retreated tactfully. Ning Yuxi sat in Gu Qilan's arms and rolled her eyes where he couldn't see. What was this shameless old man doing in broad daylight?
"Your Majesty...it's still daylight." Ning Yuxi's original intention was to remind the emperor to be careful and not think about those things in broad daylight.
But she didn't expect that the emperor's original intention was just to hug her, and he didn't want to go any further. When he heard her words, he smiled mockingly: "Xi'er, what are you thinking about? I just want to hug you. What does it have to do with whether it's daybreak or not?"
Hearing this, Ning Yuxi's old face turned red. It was all because of this dog emperor's criminal record. It was not like he had never done that before in broad daylight. Now seeing that he was just hugging her, she wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
Ning Yuxi was embarrassed and didn't say anything.
Gu Qilan, however, was smiling, and deliberately whispered in her ear: "Xier is right, it's still daylight now, let's talk about it after it gets dark."
Her ears felt itchy, and when she heard him say that, Ning Yuxi's ears turned red visibly. This old man has no shame. He is thirty years old and still so indecent!
After dinner, Gu Qilan stayed. Ning Yuxi was still thinking that today was the first day of the lunar month. Usually, the emperor would go to the queen's palace on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month.
Gu Qilan said, "I was accompanying the Queen yesterday, so there is no need to go today."
Yesterday was New Year's Eve, and the emperor and empress were supposed to be together, so there was no need to go today, the first day of the new year. After all, the empress was pregnant now and it was not convenient for her to serve.
Ning Yuxi felt relieved and let this shameless old man drag her to do something shameful in the middle of the night. How could a thirty-year-old man still have so much energy? Ning Yuxi rubbed her waist and fell asleep cursing in her heart.
On the morning of the second day, after the palace maids from the Empress Dowager's palace came to inform the two princesses and their husbands that they had arrived, Ning Yuxi went to the Cining Palace with the Emperor.
Originally, they were going to pay their respects to the emperor before going to the Cining Palace, but the emperor was with Ning Yuxi, so he asked them to go directly to the Cining Palace.
After the two of them had packed up, they took the three little ones to the Cining Palace.
When they were almost at the Cining Palace, they could see the Queen's carriage not far away. Ning Yuxi's sedan chair was following behind the Emperor's dragon sedan chair, and the group stopped the sedan chair when they met them.
The emperor sat motionless. The empress got off the phoenix sedan and paid her respects to the emperor. Ning Yuxi also got off the sedan chair and paid her respects to the empress.
The Queen looked at the Queen accompanied by Concubine Yi. She was unhappy that she, as the Queen, came alone, but she did not show it on her face.
Gu Qilan raised her hand to signal the Queen to stand up: "Stand up, Queen, you are pregnant, there is no need for such formalities."
The queen responded softly, "Yes."
When meeting the emperor, the emperor naturally had to be put first, and the queen's phoenix sedan followed behind the emperor. Ning Yuxi was originally behind the emperor, but now she could only give up her seat to the queen and follow at the back.
The group entered the main hall of Cining Palace. The empress dowager was sitting at the top, holding a little boy of two or three years old. Princess Shuluan and her husband Wei Qin, as well as Princess Yincheng and Ning Chen were sitting on both sides of the hall. There was also a boy in his teens standing next to Princess Shuluan and her husband.
After the emperor and his entourage came in, they first paid their respects to the empress dowager, and then everyone stood up to pay their respects to the emperor and empress. Ning Yuxi also greeted them. When they saw her, Princess Yincheng and her brother Ning Chen's eyes lit up.
After everyone greeted each other and sat down again, Ning Yuxi took a look at Princess Shuluan's husband, Wei Qin, the prince of Yu. He had a handsome face but a thin body. It was also true that he had been weak since childhood and was not suitable for practicing martial arts. This was the only way to save his life.
Duke Yu spent his life in military service and four of his five sons died in battle. Wei Qin was the fifth son and was born weak, so he did not learn martial arts. Otherwise, the Duke Yu's mansion would have been cut off from inheritance.
The teenage boy standing next to Princess Shuluan and her husband should be their eldest son Wei Heng, who is twelve years old this year. He has inherited the style of the Duke of Yu's Mansion. He has outstanding martial arts skills at a young age and is very talented in leading troops in battle.
The person in the empress dowager's arms was Princess Shuluan's second son Wei Yan, who was only three years old this year. He was chubby and very cute.
After the adults exchanged greetings, the Queen motioned to the Second Princess who was following her: "Shu Jin, quickly go and pay your respects to your two Imperial Aunts and Uncles."
The Queen only brought her second princess with her today. The eldest prince had caught a cold some time ago and had not yet fully recovered. The Queen was afraid that he would catch a cold again, so she did not let him come.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
