"Hongxi!" Seeing her son's dejected appearance, Madam Li's heart skipped a beat. At that moment, her greatest concern was for her son.
When Hongxi saw Li Shi, he rushed over from inside and called out, "Mother."
"Hongxi, what's wrong?" Madam Li noticed something was off about Hongxi's eyes and looked down into them.
Hongxi quickly avoided the Crown Princess's eyes, his face showing a hint of fear.
"What's wrong? Hongxi, tell your mother, what's wrong?" Madam Li noticed that something was wrong with her son, grabbed Hongxi's chin, and forced him to look up at her.
"My lady, why don't you go sit in the eldest prince's room?" Qiaohong suggested softly, glancing at the servants at the gatehouse.
"Oh, right, right!" Li Shi also realized something and immediately pulled Hongxi's hand and walked towards his room.
Once they entered the house, Madam Li asked impatiently, "Hongxi, tell your mother quickly, what happened?"
Hongxi's eyes gradually reddened, and he stammered, "Just now, I went to find Father, and then, and then!"
Li's heart sank. She glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes and forced out a voice from her throat, "What did you see?"
Qiaohong, who was standing to the side, immediately blushed as well. The Crown Prince's quirks were already an open secret in Yuqing Palace.
“Mother, why is Father hugging that eunuch?! Waaaaah…” Hongxi’s worldview seemed to have been completely overturned, and he suddenly threw himself into Li’s arms and started crying loudly.
Li felt as if her heart was being clenched, and she hugged her son and quickly comforted him, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, your mother is here! It must be that eunuch who is bad. They are all extremely filthy things. Quickly clear those images from your mind, do you understand?"
Hongxi cried harder and harder. To them, the Crown Prince had always been a strict father figure. But when Hongxi took the Crown Prince from the room, he was shocked and terrified to see the Crown Prince and the eunuch engaging in homosexual acts. He could no longer bear it.
"Hongxi, Hongxi, listen to your mother. Those things weren't your fault, understand? You must forget them, forget them!" Li Shi's calm mind was suddenly thrown into turmoil by Hongxi's crying.
"Mother, why did Father do that!" Hongxi sobbed, still unable to understand.
Lady Li couldn't explain to him why the Crown Prince favored eunuchs. Tears streamed down her face, some even dripping onto Hongxi's forehead. She wanted to ask that man: why did he disregard years of affection to favor those eunuchs?
"Hongxi, don't think about it anymore. Listen to your mother, okay? Where is Hongxi? Where did he go?" Madam Li wiped her eldest son's face with her handkerchief.
“Hongxi went to see Master Zhu today. My son wrote an article and wanted to go see his father, but…” Hongxi continued to cry.
"Hongxi, come on, let's go to Mother's Palace. Mother has made something delicious for you." Li Shi was at a loss and could only say this.
Li pulled Hongxi out of the courtyard and walked towards her own rooms.
Li kept Hongxi in her room, bringing him food and talking to him about school, trying to distract him and pull him out of that stimulating pit. Finally, she managed to coax Hongxi to sleep.
"Alright, mistress, we servants have helped the eldest prince undress and fall asleep." Qiaohong came out of Li's bedroom and said to Li, who was sitting on the main couch in the main hall in a daze.
"Qiaohong, does this concubine look like someone who's easy to bully?" Li asked.
"Master?" Qiaohong asked.
"The Crown Prince no longer favors me, so she just watches me like meat on a chopping board, letting him slaughter me?" Li's eyes, which had just been dull and lifeless, gradually filled with an anxious and sharp aura.
"Master, do you suspect that Hongxi's encounter with the Crown Prince was deliberately arranged?" Qiaohong asked.
“Otherwise what! I don’t believe it’s such a coincidence. Where are those servants who guard the Imperial Study? Why didn’t they stop my Hongxi and let him go in and see?” Li Shi’s eyes began to glow red, like a wounded mother beast.
"My lady, do you have any evidence? How can the Crown Prince get here now?" Qiaohong said softly, bowing her head.
“Vile! Shi deliberately let Hongxi run into it.” Li shouted as if she had been provoked. “The Crown Prince will only think that I, the Consort, sent him there. As a result, he will not only blame me, the Consort, but also distance himself from Hongxi.”
"Princess Consort! She's trying to undermine the First Prince's standing in the Crown Prince's eyes!" Qiaohong exclaimed.
"That's right, that's her goal. Since she can't harm them, she tries every means to drive a wedge between the father and son. How utterly vicious!" Madam Li said angrily.
"Master, what should we do? We can't just sit here and wait to die!" Qiaohong said.
"Qiaohong, go and find someone for me. But you must avoid Shi's people and make sure she doesn't see you." Li said, as if she had made up her mind.
"Give your orders, Master," Qiaohong said.
“Go find Abao!” said Madam Li.
"Abao?" Qiaohong looked at Li Shi in confusion, thinking that she had lost her mind in anger.
“Yes, it really is him. Isn’t he in the same situation as me now? The Crown Prince has a new favorite. I understand his feelings very well.” Lady Li said with a mocking laugh.
"Master, do you intend to join forces with A Bao to deal with the Crown Princess?" Qiao Hong asked.
“This concubine is weak and alone, but A Bao is at least the eunuch who has been by the Crown Prince’s side the longest. I don’t think he will just sit and wait to die,” said Lady Li.
Qiaohong nodded. After dark, she avoided the Crown Princess's spies and secretly went to find Abao.
Abao lived in a small room at the end of the row of servants' quarters behind the Crown Prince's palace. Because he was the Crown Prince's personal attendant, he had his own room. In the past few days, the Crown Prince had gradually favored the girl named Xiao Quanzi, while Abao himself had been neglected.
"Eunuch Bao?" A woman's voice came from the doorway, making A Bao, who was sitting in the dark room, shudder.
"Who is it?" Abao's shrill voice came from the darkness.
"I am Qiaohong, a palace maid serving Consort Li. Does Eunuch Bao recognize me?" Qiaohong asked.
“I remember, why would Consort Li send you to find me?” Abao asked.
“Eunuch Bao, now our concubine is in the same boat as you. Would you be willing to meet with our mistress and have a word?” Qiaohong asked.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
