After Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi finished their meal in silence, Meier and Yinger had the dishes and chopsticks removed, and the two followed Consort Yu to the room.
Consort Yu sat in her seat, looking at Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi standing in front of her. "Yongqi, you speak."
Consort Yu originally wanted Xiao Yanzi to speak, but seeing Xiao Yanzi's still dazed expression, she figured that today's events must have frightened her.
So all I heard was Yongqi slowly recount the story, "After class this morning, Fourth Brother invited us to Qixiang Palace to play..."
"We didn't want to spoil the fun, so we went along."
"I never expected that after we arrived, Consort Jia would pull a 'thief crying 'stop thief'' act and try to pin the blame on Xiao Yanzi..."
Consort Yu sighed, "Actually, you know that this time, although it seems to be targeting Xiao Yanzi, it's actually targeting you behind Xiao Yanzi, right?"
"Now everyone in the palace knows that your Fifth Prince brought back a woman of unknown origin from outside the palace..."
"Yet you show her such favoritism, so of course Consort Jia wants to take this opportunity to use the suppression of Xiao Yanzi to deal with you!"
"You're so openly protecting Xiao Yanzi, which exposes your weakness to everyone. Xiao Yanzi will have to face even more challenges in the future!"
"Let's just consider this matter concerning Consort Jia as an appetizer."
"In the future, anyone who wants to sit in your father's position will come after you!"
Yongqi asked, puzzled, "Mother, do you mean that Fourth Brother also knew about this?"
Consort Yu said calmly, "Whether he knew or not, you and he can't be brothers, understand?"
"Everything his mother did was for him, so the sins she committed will also be attributed to him!"
"If she could behave herself, or at least do things more neatly, then it would be fine..."
"But if the Emperor catches them doing something wrong, their good days will be over!"
Although Consort Yu's words were somewhat heartless, that was indeed the case in this palace.
Regardless of whether Yongcheng knew about what Consort Jia was doing behind the scenes, he was a beneficiary, so he had to bear the consequences of Consort Jia's sins!
"Little Swallow, did today's play scare you?"
Consort Yu suddenly called out Xiao Yanzi's name, and Xiao Yanzi seemed to only then fully come to her senses, "Yes..."
This was her first time experiencing the power struggles and intrigues within the palace. The words spoken on the surface were as sweet as could be, but in reality, every word was a trap, and one wrong move could lead to utter ruin!
Consort Yu sighed, "So, this is the world of the royal family!"
"If you really want to be with Yongqi in the future, what you will face will be a hundred times more terrifying than what you are facing now. You might even be in danger of losing your life!"
Little Swallow shook her head firmly, "I'm not afraid!"
"I will definitely make myself stronger, and then I can protect you!"
Although she was still a little scared, she had calmed down.
She still had that determined look, and that same spirited demeanor!
Consort Yu smiled and said, "If I had had your mindset back then, perhaps things wouldn't have ended up like this!"
“Mother…” Hearing Consort Yu’s words, Yongqi looked at her with some worry, “You and Father Emperor, do you…”
Consort Yu gave a bitter smile. "Yongqi, I thought you knew your father better than your mother what kind of person he was!"
"So, I'll stop reading and stop complaining. I'll just stay peacefully in Yonghe Palace, waiting for you to get married and have children, so I can enjoy the happiness of family life!"
"Your Highness, Little Swallow will definitely seize the time and work hard to make this day come sooner!"
"Alright, you can go and rest now. Aren't you going horseback riding and archery this afternoon? Make sure you're well-rested!"
After resting for half an hour, the two headed to the archery range to continue their training.
During the break in training, Yunxi walked over to Yongqi and whispered, "Was that girl frightened?"
Yongqi nodded helplessly, "It would be strange if she, a girl from outside the palace, wasn't frightened when she suddenly saw such a shocking scene!"
Yunxi smiled helplessly, "So, this is the tragedy of the royal family!"
"It's difficult to enjoy the peace and happiness of ordinary people!"
"Yongqi, if you ever encounter difficulties that you can't solve, remember to come to me!"
"No matter what, I'm on your side!"
Yongqi smiled and said, "Then thank you very much, Uncle!"
He longed for the life of an ordinary person, but he clearly couldn't live that kind of life.
Because he wanted more ordinary people in the world to be able to live a good life, he had no choice but to sacrifice his own free time!
After the training session ended, Fu Erkang and Fu Ertai gathered around.
Fu Erkang frowned and said, "Fifth Prince, we've all heard about what happened today. It was too dangerous!"
Yongqi waved his hand, "There's nothing I can do. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark..."
Fortaire sighed, "This matter is quite serious. I think it would be better if you went to tell the Empress Dowager in person."
"Consort Ling has already gone there and will be helping out!"
"Okay, Erkang and Ertai, thank you!" After expressing his gratitude, Yongqi, Xiaoyanzi, and Qing'er returned to Cining Palace.
"Your Majesty, Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi have come to pay their respects!" Qing'er said as soon as she entered Cining Palace.
Then she looked at Consort Ling and said, "Qing'er greets Consort Ling. May Your Highness be blessed!"
After Consort Ling nodded, Qing'er stood next to the Empress Dowager.
Immediately afterwards, Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi's voices came through, and the two bowed to the Empress Dowager and Consort Ling one after the other, saying, "Greetings, Empress Dowager; Greetings, Consort Ling..."
The Empress Dowager waved her hand and said, "No need for formalities."
Yongqi explained, "Your Majesty, although you should have already heard about what happened this morning from Qing'er, I still wanted to tell you to avoid any misunderstandings!"
The Empress Dowager chuckled and sighed, "What could I possibly misunderstand? Qing'er was helping you this morning, and Consort Ling came to plead for you this afternoon. What else could I do?"
"I won't let anyone falsely accuse Little Swallow of anything she didn't do."
"But if she does it, you can't cover for her. Can you do that?"
Yongqi nodded and replied, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Xiaoyanzi would never be that kind of person. I, Yongqi, am willing to guarantee it with my life!"
Hearing Yongqi's words, the Empress Dowager laughed again, "It's fortunate that there are only a few of us here, otherwise if your words were to get out, it's uncertain whether Xiaoyanzi would see the sun tomorrow!"
"You've lived in the palace for several years now, don't you understand what you can and can't say?"
Yongqi lowered his head and said, "Yongqi is dull-witted, please enlighten me, Your Majesty!"
The Empress Dowager continued, "The more you like someone, the more you should keep it a secret!"
"The more you care about something, the less you should let others see it!"
"If everyone knows your fatal flaw, how can you become as powerful as the emperor, or even stronger?"
“You like her, that's fine, but if you tell people you love her more than your own life, then she has to die, do you understand?”
"A woman who can influence the prince's decisions, or even the emperor's decisions, cannot live!"
Consort Ling chimed in from the side, "Fifth Prince, I know you may not agree with these words, but you must understand that those who live in the palace must accept them, otherwise she will only face death!"
Yongqi naturally could not agree with this viewpoint!
But living deep within the palace, as royalty, they were forced to accept this absurd theory…
If a man's decisions are constantly influenced by women, people will only blame the women for being beautiful and causing trouble, but no one will ever blame the man for being lustful and tempted by beauty!
Looking back at past events concerning Su Daji and Bao Si, how many people have criticized them?
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