Chapter 71 Chapter 71 “Who is the strength, what should he say…
Looking at the wrinkled banknotes on the table, Li Shuyao suddenly felt sad.
She... She had been the emperor's concubine for nearly half a year, and she was already pregnant, but she hadn't even saved two thousand taels.
As for the eldest prince, a little kid of only five years old, he just took out five thousand taels.
His tone was so nonchalant, as if he was just taking out a few pieces of white rice paper.
Look at the little prince next to him...
Forget it. The little prince was born to the late queen. As soon as he was born, he was taken to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and raised by the emperor himself. The amount of money in his small treasury must be no less than that of the eldest prince.
So among the three people present, she is the only one who is truly poor?
Li Shuyao was furious——
He simply reached out and took the several banknotes in front of the eldest prince, lowered his head, and angrily read through them front and back.
I found that the denomination of each bill was one thousand, and there were five bills in total.
...Is it really five thousand taels?
When the eldest prince saw her take the banknote, his eyebrows curved instantly and he felt an indescribable joy in his heart.
He stood up by holding onto the edge of the table, his round bald head leaning very close to Li Shuyao, with a faint scent of milk on his body.
Then, she said to Li Shuyao in a soft voice, "This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it, Your Highness."
Li Shuyao regained consciousness. Her first reaction was to crumple the banknotes in her hand and stuff them back into the small pocket on the eldest prince's chest. Then, she pressed his head and made him sit back on the couch. Then, she said in a serious tone, "I don't want it."
"I'm already an adult, how can I accept money from a child like you?"
"Besides, I am also your concubine mother now. It is your mother's responsibility to protect you. As your concubine mother, it is natural for me to protect you as well."
Although she had never thought of "protecting the eldest prince" before, from today on, she had it!
Oh yes, and there’s the little prince next to him.
She can also protect... me, right?
Li Shuyao looked confidently at the little prince next to her. When she met his dark eyes, her hot head suddenly stopped and she realized how outrageous her thoughts were.
Why do the eldest prince and the crown prince need her protection?
It's already great that she can protect herself and the baby in her belly.
The complacent aura on Li Shuyao's body suddenly faded.
She looked at the little prince and then at the eldest prince.
No one knew what the two little balls were thinking, their four big round black eyes were staring at her very seriously.
Li Shuyao thought for a moment and tried to explain, "What I mean is, I'm older than you two, right? The combined ages of the two of you are less than half my age. So if I took your banknotes and spread the news, people would laugh at me."
The eldest prince puffed up his cheeks and seemed to think seriously for a moment. He leaned his little head over again, lowered it on the table, and said in a soft voice, "Then why don't we do it secretly and not tell anyone?"
Li Shuyao also imitated him, lowered her head and leaned it on the table, then replied in a small whisper: "No, okay."
"Why not?" The little prince next to them suddenly interrupted the conversation between Li Shuyao and the eldest prince.
Li Shuyao turned her head to look at him: "No reason, I said no and it's no."
Although she is poor, she has great ambition.
It’s just five thousand taels. If you save for another year, you can save it.
And it probably won’t take more than a year... When the baby in her belly is born, there will be a third-day bath, a full-month banquet, a first-year birthday banquet... There will be plenty of opportunities for her to save money.
After hearing her words, the eldest prince turned his head and looked at the young prince, and said, "Brother, what should we do? The Concubine Ling doesn't want it."
The little prince replied in a muffled voice, "Well, all right then."
So the eldest prince reached into the small pocket on his chest again, rummaging around, and pulled out the banknotes. Under Li Shuyao's puzzled gaze, he spread them out on the table, one by one, evenly arranged, and then handed them to the little prince. "Here you go, brother."
The little prince lowered his head and took it. He used his fingers to crunch the flattened banknotes into small paper balls again, and then stuffed them all into the small purse at his waist.
Li Shuyao: "..."
So what do these two actions of flattening and kneading represent?
Is this a unique sense of ritual between little ones?
…
As the New Year approaches, the temperature outside is getting colder day by day.
After several consecutive heavy snowfalls in the palace, today is a rare sunny day.
Otherwise, Eunuch Dai wouldn't have insisted on roasting lamb for Li Shuyao today.
He first ordered people to build a barbecue grill in the open space of the rear hall of Changchun Palace, and then he stayed alone in the small kitchen. After preparing a whole sheep, he dipped it inside and out with his unique sauce.
While waiting for the pickling, he suddenly had an idea and decided to make a few of his signature dishes for Concubine Ling.
Just as he was preparing, Nanny Yan suddenly came to tell him that the eldest prince and the Crown Prince would stay in Changchun Palace for dinner, and warned him not to make the roasted whole lamb too strong or to add too much chili powder, so as not to make the two princes uncomfortable with the taste.
As soon as he heard the news, Eunuch Dai rushed out from behind the stove and hurriedly used the clean water in the water tank to rinse the whole lamb on the table that had been marinated for half an hour.
Nanny Yan stood at the door and watched with a smile.
After watching Eunuch Dai clean the sauce off the whole lamb, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked to the stove to prepare the sauce again.
Nanny Yan asked him, "Do you need my help, sir?"
Eunuch Dai shook his head and said that it was not necessary, he could handle it alone.
He immediately turned around and busied himself among the stoves. After a moment, he couldn't help but ask in a hoarse voice, "When did the eldest prince and the crown prince come here?"
Nanny Yan said, "About a quarter of an hour ago."
That is, when he was preparing the sauce, the eldest prince and the crown prince had already arrived.
But no one came to tell him...
Eunuch Dai suddenly felt a little resentful, worried that the combination of the two sauces would ruin his reputation.
Nanny Yan, perhaps sensing his thoughts, added calmly, "When the eldest prince and the crown prince came down earlier, they had no idea that you, Eunuch Dai, were going to show off your skills today. So, when the two princes said they wanted to stay for dinner, didn't I come to tell you, Eunuch Dai?"
Eunuch Dai quickly gave a dry laugh and said, "So that's how it is."
After a pause, he continued, "But over at Yanxi Palace, there's the Emperor. Will they allow the eldest prince and the Crown Prince to dine in Changchun Palace?"
Nanny Yan raised her eyelids and glanced at him, "This has nothing to do with Eunuch Dai, right?"
"That's right." Eunuch Dai nodded and continued to prepare the sauce carefully.
…
Meanwhile, in the Yanxi Palace.
When Huipin learned that Baoqing could not come back to have dinner with her today, she felt inexplicably disappointed.
She asked the young eunuch beside Baoqing, "But the homework in the study room is not finished, so after Baoqing thanks Lingpin, he will go back to continue his homework?"
The young eunuch shook his head and answered honestly, "No, I heard that Concubine Ling from Changchun Palace wanted to eat roasted whole lamb today, so the eldest prince stayed."
"Roasted whole lamb?" Huipin was a little surprised when she heard that.
The young eunuch replied, "Yes, it's the eunuch Dai who used to serve the Grand Empress Dowager. He's now in Changchun Palace and wants to make a roasted whole lamb for Concubine Ling."
"Eunuch Dai?"
Is that the way lamb is roasted on the grassland?
No wonder Baoqing was curious.
Huipin thought for a moment and stood up from her chair. "Come to think of it, I haven't had much dealings with this Lingpin before."
She turned around and told the senior palace maid beside her to go to the storehouse and get some cloth, then she led her people in a mighty procession towards Changchun Palace.
As soon as Huipin left, news of her departure was quickly transmitted to Jingren Palace, Chengqian Palace and Zhongcui Palace.
Concubine An, Concubine Rong, and Concubine Tong were all curious about where Concubine Hui was going.
After sending someone to inquire——
"Is Changchun Palace going to make roasted whole lamb today?"
"Is it the work of Eunuch Dai?"
So they also became interested and went in groups of three or four to ride in sedan chairs to Li Shuyao's Changchun Palace.
The same is true for the East Six Palaces.
The Imperial Study of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
After the Emperor heard Ling Ma's report, his handsome face remained expressionless. His dark eyes remained fixed on the memorial in his hand. He only casually advised, "Although Lingpin's personality is a bit erratic, she doesn't have any bad intentions. Besides, there are people sent by the Royal Ma's in Changchun Palace. I don't think Baocheng and Lingpin will act as they please. So, there's no need to worry."
"If Madam is truly worried, you can send a few more palace maids, or go over there yourself to look after her."
Nanny Ling thought about it and agreed.
So he knelt down and saluted the emperor, turned around and left the imperial study, and went straight to Changchun Palace where Li Shuyao and the prince were, with a few capable subordinates.
Changchun Palace.
Li Shuyao had no idea how much "traffic" the two little guys' casual words would bring her.
Nanny Yan didn't allow her to go out to watch Eunuch Dai roast the lamb, and there was really nothing to play with in the house.
After eating a few simple snacks, Li Shuyao ordered people to clear a space in the outer hall used for receiving guests, and as before, drew straight and curved lines on the floor tiles with charcoal.
The little prince quietly approached his brother and introduced him softly, "This is 'hopscotch'."
The eldest prince looked carefully with his round eyes like black grapes, "There is no house."
The little prince nodded and said, "I know there is no house, but Concubine Ling said this is a house, so this is the house."
The eldest prince seemed to have learned some ways to get along with Li Shuyao.
On the other side, Li Shuyao quickly drew all the lines.
She straightened up from the ground, and felt that things were different after she became pregnant. She just squatted on the ground and drew a few lines, but her lower back felt extremely sore.
She stood there and punched her lower back a few times.
The eldest prince and the young prince ran towards her at the same time, and asked in a soft voice, "Is Concubine Ling feeling unwell?"
Li Shuyao nodded and said honestly, "It's easier to get tired than before."
The young prince asked, "Then Lady Lingpin can't play hopscotch with us?"
"Of course. I can't jump around now, otherwise Nanny Yan will be scared to death." Li Shuyao said.
The eldest prince tilted his head, "Why?" After saying that, he lowered his gaze to look at Li Shuyao's belly, "Is it because his brother is in Concubine Ling's belly, so he doesn't let Concubine Ling play hopscotch?"
He kept calling her "Empress Lingpin" which made Li Shuyao very uncomfortable, but she couldn't find any alternative title, so she could only continue to endure it.
Li Shuyao said, "That's right, it's because I'm pregnant that I can't play hopscotch with you guys right now." Then, she held up six fingers on both hands and continued to the two little ones on the ground, "But don't worry, after six months, when I give birth to the baby, I'll be able to hopscotch like before."
The eldest prince and the youngest prince looked at her finger at the same time.
Neither of them cared about hopscotch or not. They were only curious about the baby in Li Shuyao's belly.
The young prince pinched Li Shuyao's fingers and gently led her to sit on a chair nearby. Then he said a little awkwardly, "Brother, my brother is in Concubine Ling's belly. Can I touch him?"
Li Shuyao shook her head, "I can't touch it yet."
The eldest prince asked, "Why?"
"Because he hasn't grown up yet. He is only this small now." Li Shuyao pointed to a circle the size of a walnut.
In the end, I felt something was wrong, because she is almost four months old now, and Little Walnut should have grown a little bigger, right?
So he spread his fingers outward, stretched his index finger and thumb to their longest length, and made a circle the size of a peach.
The little prince clenched his little fists and moved them back and forth in the circle made by Li Shuyao. The eldest prince immediately followed suit.
Then they both lowered their heads and exclaimed "Wow!" The little prince said, "My little brother has grown so big."
The eldest prince also said: "It's bigger than my fist."
Li Shuyao: "..."
Is this something worthy of praise?
She couldn't quite understand the kids' train of thought.
Just when she didn't know what to say, the little prince and the eldest prince's two little heads came towards her belly at the same time.
Li Shuyao quickly stretched out her hands to protect him, fearing that their heads would hit each other and start a quarrel.
Unexpectedly, the two of them seemed to have done this action many times. With a slight "dong" sound, their round heads touched together, and then they were very close to Li Shuyao's belly, as if they wanted to talk to the baby in her belly.
Li Shuyao thought about it and sat forward a little.
Then she heard the little prince cough twice in a serious tone and said to her belly: "Hello, brother, I am your second brother, the prince."
The eldest brother followed suit and said, "Hello, little brother. I am your eldest brother."
Li Shuyao suddenly felt like laughing.
She quickly took a deep breath, and her lower abdomen rose and fell.
The little prince and the eldest prince instantly became very happy and looked at Li Shuyao eagerly: "Brother, was it you who just responded to what my brother and I said?"
Li Shuyao couldn't bear to shatter their fantasy, so she pursed her lips and nodded, "Maybe... I'm not sure."
"Empress Lingpin is my brother's biological mother. Why can't you be sure?"
Li Shuyao racked her brains to think of an excuse, "Because, because he never responded to me before, so I don't know, it's normal."
The eldest prince was even more surprised when he heard this, "Brother, have you never responded to me before?"
He acted as if he had seen a ghost. He first looked down at Li Shuyao's belly, then looked up at Li Shuyao again. He didn't know what he was thinking about. After a while, a trace of sympathy appeared on his face. "Is it true, Concubine Ling, that your relationship with your brother is not good? Is that why your brother didn't respond to you before?"
Li Shuyao: “?”
She pointed at herself in disbelief, "Me? He and I, I have a bad relationship with him?"
The eldest prince nodded his irritating little head again and continued, "Don't be too sad, Concubine Ling. There are mothers and sons like this in the world. I saw one before when I was still outside the palace, in the home of the family that took care of me."
"That person is just like you. After giving birth to a baby, he said that the baby was here to collect debts, and that he owed him money in his past life..."
"If this isn't a bad relationship, what is it?"
He could actually speak so...reasonably and with evidence?
Li Shuyao almost believed his lies.
The little prince beside him was so absorbed in listening that he didn't even bother to greet the baby in Li Shuyao's belly. Instead, he tugged at his brother's sleeve and kept asking, "So what happened next? Did she pay back the debt?"
The eldest prince said, "I don't know either. Anyway, whenever the baby started crying, the lady would say these words. The more she said, the louder the baby cried."
After the eldest prince finished speaking, he looked up at Li Shuyao and said slowly, "Actually, there's nothing we can do about this. Your Highness, don't you think it's right? She owed the little baby money in her previous life, so it's only natural for the little baby to come and collect the debt."
Li Shuyao didn't say anything.
The little prince nodded, "Big brother is right."
The eldest prince ignored him and suddenly looked towards Li Shuyao, saying with some sympathy, "That lady seemed to have said something, that she would have to pay him back for the rest of her life. I think the same thing will happen to you, Concubine Ling."
"But you're much better off than that lady, because Khan Ama is rich and powerful, and he can send many people to take care of your brother. This way, you don't have to spend your entire next life paying off your debt, right?"
Li Shuyao: ...
Then she has to thank the emperor?
A light flashed in Li Shuyao's apricot blossom eyes, and she felt that it would be impossible not to explain.
She coughed twice, then put on a serious face and said to the eldest prince, "But that's not what Director Xu of the Imperial Hospital said."
"Xu Yuanzheng?" The eldest prince was startled when he heard this, and then asked, "Is it the Xu Yuanzheng who rescued my brother Changsheng, Master Xu?"
What is Changsheng's younger brother?
Are you referring to the little prince born to Concubine Rong?
What about rescuing him?
Li Shuyao didn't know much about this past event, so she asked out of curiosity.
Then the little prince and the eldest prince became excited at the same time, so excited that their cheeks turned red. They stood on the ground, gesticulating, talking back and forth, and occasionally disrupting each other's speaking rhythm. Finally, after arguing for a long time, Li Shuyao was able to piece together the truth of the matter from their few available words.
In short, Prince Changsheng has not been in good health since he was born.
During the Chinese New Year last year, he fell seriously ill and was almost beyond recovery. Fortunately, Xu Yuanzheng rushed back to the Forbidden City from his hometown in time and brought Prince Changsheng back from the brink of death.
Since then, Rongpin has always been very polite to the imperial doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Even when the emperor mentioned Xu Yuanzheng, his tone was mostly admiring.
The eldest prince heard the whole story from his biological mother, Concubine Hui, while the youngest prince often heard the emperor praising Xu Yuanzheng from his mouth.
This resulted in an imbalance of information between the two people, and a simple matter was turned into a court debate.
Li Shuyao sat in the chair blankly, and the more she listened, the more numb her expression became.
Still a little sleepy.
After an unknown amount of time, the eldest prince and the young prince finally finished their argument. They both looked at Li Shuyao and said in unison, "Lady Lingpin, do you believe me or him?"
Li Shuyao thought for a moment and said, "I believe it all."
Seeing that the eldest prince and the young prince were about to quarrel again, Li Shuyao frowned and raised her hand, "Because I have a reason!"
"You two, listen to me first, okay?"
The two little cubs puffed their cheeks angrily and nodded at the same time.
Li Shuyao first asked the eldest prince, "Do you trust your mother?"
The eldest prince nodded vigorously, and the flesh on his face swayed.
Li Shuyao asked again: "Do you trust your Khan Ama?"
The eldest prince continued to nod.
Li Shuyao turned to the young prince, but before she could speak, he had already learned to answer: "I believe what Khan Ama said, and I also believe what Concubine Hui said, because Concubine Hui would not lie to my brother!"
"But what I said is right!"
Li Shuyao said, "So, is it possible that both of you are right?"
The little prince and the eldest prince looked at each other angrily.
Li Shuyao had a headache because these two little guys were stubborn in their own ways.
Moreover, how did the topic shift from hopscotch to the baby in her belly and then to who was right and who was wrong?
The emperor even said that she had an eccentric personality, but he didn't even look at what his own two sons were like...
Li Shuyao sighed, and when her gaze shifted to the straight and curved charcoal lines on the ground, her apricot blossom eyes suddenly lit up.
She has a solution!
Li Shuyao's spirits suddenly lifted, and he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
After successfully calling the attention of the kids on the ground who were still glaring at each other, she pointed at the lines on the ground and said to them seriously, "Men, if you can't win over me with words, then let your strength do the talking!"
The young prince asked, "What is strength?"
The eldest prince also asked: "Who is the strength, how should he speak?"
Li Shuyao: "..."
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