Chapter 148 Chapter 148 This is really a serious one...
Li Shuyao stumbled and bumped herself into the Yiku Palace.
Her legs were as soft as noodles soaked in boiling water, her face was as red as a tomato, her fingertips were trembling as if she had Parkinson's disease, her forehead was covered with sweat, her temples were slightly wet and stuck to her cheeks, and she was visibly panicked.
At Li Shuyao's feet, little Yinzhen had a rare heavy expression on his face.
He remembered that Yi'enniang was probably pregnant with the ninth son, Yinzhen, the venomous younger brother.
"Qingyao!" Li Shuyao rushed into the east side room of the main hall of Yiku Palace. She was always as fast as the wind and as fiery as fire, but she stopped when she was only three steps away from Qingyao.
Then he moved closer cautiously, as if he was afraid that the wind caused by his walking would disturb the baby in Qingyao's belly.
The imperial physician, who hadn't left yet, saw this and said with a smile, "There's no need for Empress Ling to be so nervous. Empress Yi's pregnancy is already three months old and is very stable."
Li Shuyao: "Ah?"
Three months?
Qingyao's cheeks flushed slightly. She caressed her belly with one hand and reached out to Li Shuyao with the other. "Don't worry, it's definitely three months."
Worried that Li Shuyao might misunderstand, she hurriedly began to explain, "You know, my periods have always been irregular. It's not uncommon for me to miss a period for several months. Just now, I felt nauseous while eating fish. I called the imperial physician to see me, and only then did I realize I was pregnant."
Li Shuyao nodded blankly, "Oh, then you only knew it a little earlier than me."
Qingyao: "Really?"
She pulled Li Shuyao to sit next to her.
Li Shuyao moved to the side.
Qingyao pinched the back of her hand and said, "Why are your hands so cold? Why is there so much sweat on your forehead?" As she spoke, she wiped the sweat off Li Shuyao with a handkerchief.
The maid in her palace quickly took the imperial physician out.
Yinzhen looked around and saw no one paying any attention to him. He climbed onto the chair and sat down with a sullen expression.
Li Shuyao explained: "I was scared."
She said: "Jiarou can't speak. She said at the beginning that something happened to you. I thought something was wrong. My heart almost jumped out of my throat."
"Then I started sweating. Later she said I was pregnant, and I felt better. But I had no strength in my legs, and it was hard for me to run over here..."
Li Shuyao didn't dare to touch Qingyao's belly, so she could only pull her wrist and act coquettishly in a low voice.
Qingyao felt distressed after hearing her words, "Don't you think about it, if I stay in Yikun Palace well, what can happen?"
Li Shuyao touched her chest and said, "I know, but I'm just worried."
Qingyao: "You."
Having said that, I was still very moved by Li Shuyao's reaction.
He just wanted to give all the good things he had on hand to Li Shuyao. "Some time ago, I got a pair of kingfisher feather headpiece. I will have it delivered to your palace later."
"By the way, do you have enough silver on hand? My mother gave me five thousand taels last time. I'll give you half later."
"Also, I have some lychees here that were sent as tribute from the south. I'm pregnant and can't eat hot things like this, and Yinqi doesn't like them either. Can you help me take them away and pack them up?"
Li Shuyao nodded, "Okay, okay."
She didn't think about anything else at all. If Qingyao dared to give it, she would take it.
But she also wanted to return the gift, so she said, "I'll exchange the painting the emperor gave me for yours."
"It looks like it was painted by a famous artist from the Tang Dynasty, with flowers and birds. I can't appreciate it, so I'll give it to you."
Qingyao didn't think much about it and said, "Sure."
"Give me whatever you don't like."
Li Shuyao said solemnly, "It's not that I don't like it, but I really can't appreciate it. If you can appreciate it, then naturally I should give it to you."
Although Qingyao was also a palace maid of bondservant origin, her father was an official and had been proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting since childhood. Naturally, he was better at appreciating famous paintings than Qingyao.
Li Shuyao read a few more ancient paintings and calligraphy, and said to Qingyao, "These are all for you."
Qingyao pondered for a moment. The ancient Tang Dynasty painting that Shuyao mentioned was already worth more than ten thousand taels. She added four or five more. Qingyao was afraid that two thousand five hundred taels would not be enough for a headpiece and a few plates of lychees.
So he started to add more!
Since he was a child, Yinzhen often went to Yi E'niang's private treasury, and he knew better than Yinqi how strong his mother's background was.
Hearing that his own mother had only given a few ancient paintings and calligraphy works that she had taken back from his Khan-Ama, and had nearly taken away a quarter of Yi-Niang's private treasury, he could no longer maintain his calm expression.
His mother is really too much!
He used to lie to children, so why is he lying to Yi's mother now?!
*
The good news came from Yiku Palace, and the entire harem was alarmed again.
Wave after wave of generous rewards flowed like water from the Qianqing Palace and the Cining Palace into the Yikun Palace.
There was an endless stream of concubines coming to congratulate the emperor, and they were noisy and joyful for several days.
Li Shuyao was like another mistress of the Yiku Palace. She stayed by Qingyao's side all the time, listening to the congratulations from other concubines, some sincere and some insincere, with a smile on her face as bright as if she was the one who was pregnant.
Yinqi specially asked for leave from the upper study and stayed with Qingyao in Yiku Palace for two full days.
When the other children in the Forbidden City heard the news, they also ran to Qingyao to congratulate her and please her.
They are all very well-behaved.
Even that naughty boy Yinzhi temporarily put aside his arrogant behavior, stood in front of Qingyao and bowed, and when he asked for golden melon seeds with his hands raised, his voice was as sweet as a piece of glutinous rice cake.
Li Shuyao was so scared that she couldn't help but look up to see if red rain was about to fall from the sky.
The eldest prince and the crown prince also came once.
The two of them arrived at different times.
And the first thing he did after coming out of Yiku Palace was to run directly to Changchun Palace not far away, and whispered with Li Shuyao for a long time.
Afterwards, Li Shuyao was called to the imperial study to accompany the emperor.
As a few years passed, the imperial pressure emanating from the emperor grew stronger.
It was fine when she had a smile on her face, as bright as a sunny day; but when she didn't, even someone as heartless as Li Shuyao couldn't help but shudder, and her mind couldn't help but reflect and think about whether she had said or done anything wrong just now.
Fortunately, most of the time, when he faced Li Shuyao, he rarely had a smile on his face.
Perhaps loving someone is like growing flowers. When he looked at Li Shuyao, it was like looking at a desert rose that he had carefully cultivated. Naturally, he liked her no matter how he looked at her.
Just today.
As soon as Li Shuyao entered the East Warm Pavilion, she saw the emperor sitting behind the imperial desk with a gloomy face. He held nothing in his hands, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his eyes looking at her contained a trace of subtle scrutiny.
Li Shuyao's feet were almost turning into soft noodles again.
She walked over reluctantly and bowed cautiously.
The emperor said nothing.
Li Shuyao naturally did not dare to speak. She maintained the posture of saluting and soon her face turned pale and she began to stagger.
The emperor seemed to have just seen her and asked, "Why are you still kneeling? Get up."
"Yes." Li Shuyao lowered her head, and in an instant she dreamed back to when she was a maid in the Qianqing Palace. She couldn't suppress the grievances in her heart, and her nose was sore.
"Come here."
The emperor, however, was still sitting steadily. He did not come over to pull her hand, but waved at her casually as if he was teasing a kitten.
Li Shuyao walked over, her mind still in a mess.
Half of her was angry and aggrieved, and half was confused and puzzled. What had she done? She clearly did nothing.
She walked to the emperor's side.
The man tapped his hands on the table and asked succinctly, "You've been getting along well with the Crown Prince, Yinzhen, lately."
It sounds like a question, but the ending tone of the last word is pressed down, so it doesn't sound like a question at all, but rather like a question.
Li Shuyao raised her head in confusion, and her peach-like face fell into the man's eyes.
He felt a slight swelling and pain in his heart.
He hadn't seen her cry like this in years.
Li Shuyao was still thinking about which heavenly law she had violated.
After thinking for a long time, she couldn't figure it out, so she raised her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes and said in a hoarse voice: "Yes, it seems so, but Your Majesty, haven't I always had a good relationship with the eldest prince and the crown prince?"
"When they were little, they all loved to come to Changchun Palace to play."
"That's not what I'm asking." The emperor came back to his senses, paused, and continued in a cold voice.
Li Shuyao tilted her head, "Which one is that?"
After she asked, the emperor fell silent again.
This means that she should confess herself.
Li Shuyao didn't understand what she was going to confess, so she just started from the beginning. "It all started that day when the Imperial Noble Consort and Sister Huifei had a quarrel. Qingyao, I and I went to mediate, and then the eldest prince took me to the Imperial Garden for some snacks."
"The eldest prince said something to me, that's all. When Yinzhen came back to pay his respects to me this afternoon, he also told me about the quarrel between the eldest prince and the crown prince. I thought about how good their relationship was before, and how it was not worth it to have it broken down just because of a momentary quarrel."
"So I used a clever trick and gave them some things from their childhood."
"During this period, I have been secretly trying to bring Yinzhen together. Although it hasn't been successful...but Yinzhen and I have really tried very hard..."
She chattered about everything that had happened during this period, even mentioning the calming soup.
She also truthfully explained her future plans, "I was planning to go to the prince's residence tomorrow to see the eldest prince. Since Yuqing Palace cannot be entered, I was thinking of sending Yinzhen, Yinqi and others to go."
"An'er's birthday is in two months. He has been raised in the palace since he was a child. He is six years old. Your Majesty, do you know how important six is?"
"...I plan to hold a birthday banquet for An'er in Changchun Palace, inviting both the eldest prince and the crown prince. I will then have someone pour wine on them and lock them up together while I change clothes..."
"We're all brothers, why can't we just talk it out directly..."
Her little mouth chattered non-stop, and once she opened her mouth, she gave the emperor almost no chance to interrupt her.
The emperor then realized that he had misunderstood her.
While Li Shuyao was catching her breath, he finally found the right moment to speak, "Is everything you said true?"
Li Shuyao nodded repeatedly while panting.
The emperor's tense jawline relaxed, and he reached out to pinch Li Shuyao's wrist. "Do you know the consequences of lying to me?"
Li Shuyao raised three fingers on her other hand and swore, "If I tell you a lie, Your Majesty will remove the small kitchen from my palace and send all the chefs who know how to cook out of the palace. I will never be able to find them and I will never be able to eat delicious food!"
emperor:"……"
This is a really serious oath.
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