After this day, Xue Shu put away the badge of Ciqing Palace and went to work in the Imperial Household Department.
As Emperor Longfeng was ill, Yin Chengyu had to handle all court affairs and was even busier than usual.
It was not until after Laba that Emperor Longfeng announced the end of court and the cessation of writing, and all civil and military officials took a break and no longer attended court meetings. Only then did Yin Chengyu feel a little more free.
But this leisure time only meant that he didn't have to attend court meetings. There were many affairs to attend to before the New Year, and this year there were also envoys from the Oirat and Tatars to be received. Officials came to the Hongren Hall of the Ciqing Palace every day to seek an audience and discuss matters.
It was not until the tenth day of the first lunar month that Yin Chengyu finally found time to pay his respects at Kunning Palace. Before leaving, he thought for a moment and decided to take the young tiger with him.
Since Yin Chengqian was born, Empress Yu, at the instruction of Yin Chengyu, used the excuses of poor health and the need for care of her young son to turn down many affairs that required the Empress's attendance, and focused on educating Yin Chengqian in Kunning Palace.
Yin Chengqi is now eight months old. Because he is well taken care of, he has grown into a plump, fair and round child, like a round pink dumpling.
When he smiled with his little mouth that had just grown two baby teeth, his innocence was completely different from that of his previous life.
In the previous life, when Yin Chengyu was found, he was already five years old. He was taciturn, without any childish innocence in his eyes, and had an extreme and stubborn personality. Yin Chengyu spent a lot of effort to change him. Although Yin Chengyu had never seen his appearance when he was young, he knew that his childhood must have been unhappy.
Looking at his now innocent little brother and his mother who looked mellow and peaceful, Yin Chengyu smiled. He placed the tiger cub on the carpet, held Yin Chengqin who was sitting in the cradle in his arms, and tapped the tiger cub on the ground: "I brought you a playmate today."
The tiger cub was only about one foot long. After returning to the capital, palace maids gave it a bath and took very good care of its food and drink. It had grown a lot fatter than when it was first picked up.
At this moment, it was placed on the ground by Yin Chengyu, and was carefully exploring the surrounding environment with its short and stubby limbs, its round eyes full of curiosity.
Yin Chengqian also stared at the young tiger with wide eyes.
He could not talk or walk yet, he could only crawl, but he already knew how to play, and even learned to hum and act coquettishly. But he was still too young, and was usually confined to Kunning Palace. He could only go out to the garden to relax when accompanied by Queen Yu.
Probably, the person he saw coming and going every day was either Empress Yu or the wet nurse, so the little child was very interested in Yin Chengyu who only came occasionally, and was not shy at all.
He was held in his arms, biting his fingers, looking at Yin Chengyu for a while, then looking at the tiger cub on the ground, his eyes like glass beads were wide open, as if he didn't know which one to look at.
Seeing this, Queen Yu smiled and said, "He is much more noisy than when you were a child. He wants to go out and play all day long. It's only when I get too annoyed that I take him out to have some fun."
At this point, she showed a little worry on her face, but she didn't show it because she was thinking about Yin Chengyu's hard work.
Although she did not participate in the affairs of the court, she had read the Four Books and Five Classics since she was a child. Naturally, she could understand the changing situation of the previous dynasty.
Emperor Longfeng was addicted to wine and women, and there were countless women in his harem. There was also a powerful Concubine Wen Gui. Although she was the Empress of the Central Palace, she was not favored by Emperor Longfeng and could not help with many things.
All I can do now is to take good care of Yin Chengqian and not hold my son back.
Yin Chengyu understood her concerns and put Yin Chengqin on the ground to let him play with the tiger cub. He sat down beside Queen Yu and said softly, "Yue'er is getting older and older. We can't keep him in Kunning Palace like this any longer. After a while, I will have someone pick a few trustworthy eunuchs who know martial arts from the East Factory, so that you can feel more at ease."
After living a new life, he changed many things. The Yu family was not destroyed, and Queen Yu and Yin Chengqin were safe and sound.
But this does not mean that those who were targeting him and the Yu family gave up.
The relationship between the former dynasty and the harem was close, and those people could not find a way to break through him, so they wanted to start with Queen Yu and Yin Chengqin. If Queen Yu had not been cautious and did not leave Kunning Palace easily, those secret conspiracies would have succeeded many times.
"What's the hardship, mother?" Empress Yu raised her hand and touched his cheek, saying distressedly, "You have lost some weight. Now your grandfather and uncles are unable to help with many things in order to avoid suspicion. You can only rely on yourself."
Yin Chengyu didn't feel that he had lost weight, nor did he feel tired.
Although he was busy these days, Emperor Longfeng was ill and could not attend court affairs. Second Assistant Emperor Shao Tian and others had become much more obedient since Yin Chengzhang's death, and many things were carried out according to his arrangements.
Compared to the previous life, it is much better.
He only regretted that time was too short and there were too few people who could be used.
…
Yin Chengyu sat in Kunning Palace for a whole morning, letting Youhu play with Yin Chengqin for a long time before he prepared to return to Ciqing Palace.
Yin Chengqian had already treated the little tiger as his playmate. When he saw that he was going to take his playmate away, he started to cry loudly with his mouth clenched.
Queen Yu held him in her arms and coaxed him for a long time before he stopped crying. He just had tears in his eyes and looked at the young tiger in Yin Chengyu's arms with a pouty mouth, as if he was about to cry, and a "ah ah wu wu" sound came out of his mouth.
The tiger cub poked its head out of Yin Chengyu's arms and looked at him, its two round ears trembling, but it didn't show any reluctance.
"You are still too young, I will raise him for you first. When you grow up, let him be your mount." Yin Chengyu touched his younger brother's head with a helpless smile, and said a few soothing words in a gentle voice. Seeing that he was not about to cry anymore, he left.
After leaving Kunning Palace, Zheng Duobao came up to him and whispered in his ear: "The eldest princess sent someone to tell you to have tea at Quyang Pavilion. It seems like there is something going on."
It was a rare opportunity for His Highness to come to Kunning Palace, so he did not rush in to interrupt, but waited until the prince came out before delivering the message.
Yin Ciguang has always been sensible, and he would not come to look for him easily if there was nothing wrong. Yin Chengyu handed the tiger cub to Zheng Duobao after hearing this: "You send the tiger cub back, and I will go alone."
Quyang Pavilion.
When Yin Chengyu walked over, he saw Yin Ciguang sitting in the pavilion. On the small red clay stove beside him, a pottery pot was emitting wisps of steam. The boiling water had lifted up the lid of the pot, as if it had been burning for a long time.
Signaling the guards to stay where they were, Yin Chengyu walked forward and sat down opposite him without being polite: "Have you been waiting for a long time, Sister Royal?"
"That means he arrived a little earlier than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Seeing him coming, Yin Ci Guang gathered his scattered thoughts, signaled the maid to leave, picked up the boiling hot water on the stove to warm the cup, and made tea for him personally.
Whether it's high pouring or low brewing, his movements in making tea are smooth and flowing, a delight to the eyes.
The clear tea soup fell into the teacup, exactly seven-tenths full, and was pushed in front of Yin Chengyu.
"Mother likes the tea I brew the most. Your Highness, please try it." Yin Ci Guang looked at him through the drifting white mist.
Yin Chengyu picked up the teacup, lowered his head to smell the tea, and took a sip slowly.
“Good tea.”
The teacup was small. After Yin Chengyu finished drinking, he poured himself another cup of tea.
He sipped his tea slowly, his expression calm, and did not rush Yin Ciguang, waiting for him to think it over before speaking.
Yin Ciguang would not invite him to taste tea for no reason, he must have something to say. He was afraid that he was having difficulty in not speaking at the moment.
The fragrance of tea wafted through the pavilion. Yin Ciguang lowered his eyes to look at the tea leaves floating in the cup, and finally made up his mind: "Your Highness asked me before if I wanted to restore my identity. If I say now that I don't want to be trapped by this identity anymore, will Your Highness still be willing to help me?"
When he mentioned "restoring his identity", he clenched his fingers and didn't even dare to look at Yin Chengyu.
He was not sure whether Yin Chengyu had said it casually or was really willing to help him last time in the palace. He had a vague feeling that it was the latter, but he was afraid of disappointing him.
It would be fine if he was just an ordinary prince, but he happened to be the eldest son.
Throughout history, all disputes over the throne have been inseparable from the word "eldest son".
He has no interest in the throne and only wants to live a peaceful life with his mother in a corner, but others may not believe it.
He was also afraid that the prince would not believe it.
Yin Ci Guang felt extremely sad and could only wait anxiously for the answer.
"I can help you, but this is indeed risky. If it doesn't work out, you and Concubine Rong may be punished by our father. Have you thought it through?"
Yin Ciguang suddenly looked up at him, with surprise still in his eyes. He imagined many answers in his mind, but he didn't dare to expect that he would agree so easily.
After a moment, he finally responded, his expression seemed to be both sad and happy, and his voice was a little hoarse: "I have thought it through. I have no other choice."
"But what happened?" Yin Chengyu heard the hidden meaning in his words.
Yin Ciguang did not hide what happened in the palace at that time.
"I was drugged at the time and was not in a clear state of mind. I was not sure if I had exposed myself. But after returning to the palace, I found that someone had been watching me in secret, and there were signs that my personal belongings in the house had been rummaged through..."
Rong Fei was very careful and in order to prevent any leaks, she asked her maid to prepare a menstrual belt and put it in his room every month. But after returning to the palace, he found that the cabinet where the menstrual belt and other private items were placed had been searched.
Xixue, the maid who had served him since childhood, also told him that in recent days, there were always palace maids getting close to her and asking about him in a roundabout way.
Yin Ciguang was always alert. When he recalled the hands that closed the door when he was kidnapped by Mubar to the side hall, he guessed that his secret might have been exposed. He asked Xixue to keep an eye on him secretly and found that those who tried to test him were inextricably linked to Jingren Palace.
Concubine Wen is not a pushover. She has not taken any further action yet, probably because she is still unsure whether it is true or not.
But he didn't dare to gamble.
Rather than leaving the handle in the other party's hands, it is better to strike first.
Yin Chengyu knew that Mubal's injury was strange, but he never expected that Yin Ciguang was involved.
He frowned, looking somewhat unhappy: "Then this matter needs to be done as soon as possible. Now that Concubine Wen is suspicious, she won't tolerate it for too long." He knocked on the table, called the accompanying guard over, and asked him to call Xue Shu over.
If we want to accomplish this, we need the cooperation of Master Ziyuan.
Just as the guard came out of the pavilion and was about to look for someone, he saw Xue Shu, dressed in a crimson python robe, walking towards him from the end of the corridor.
Xue Shu's eyes were fixed on the person he hadn't seen for a few days, and his tone was somewhat resentful: "Is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince looking for me?"
The author has something to say:
Big Dog Gou: My wife came to me because of someone else.
Your Highness:?