The more she talked about this, the angrier Concubine Lin became. Her son was so filial, he would come to the palace every now and then to bring his mother some gifts. But her own son, who was so unworthy, not only gave all his belongings to the emperor, but he almost lost his life.
"It's all my fault. I now live in the Eastern Palace, and I promise to visit you every day to pay my respects to you."
"That's more like it." Concubine Lin was extremely pleased with Xu Jing's attitude. After having the servants serve tea and snacks, she said, "Qi'er, your father wants to find a marriage for you. He's currently considering the Lan family, the Wen family, the Chen family, the Chen family, the Zhang family, the Zhang family. Do you think there's anything you like?"
Xu Jing shook his head and said, "Mother, I don't want to marry a wife yet."
"Nonsense. It's only natural for the Crown Prince to choose the Crown Princess. Mother is now thankful that you didn't marry Lin Wanru. If you had, it would have been a disaster."
Ever since Lin Guangmao married his daughter to Prince Chen as a concubine, Concubine Lin has harbored a deep hatred for the entire Lin family. She'd spend her free time trying to find out Lin Wanru's whereabouts, sharing everything she learned with her son as gossip. "To consolidate his power, Prince Chen married the Empress Shen's niece as his principal wife and took the Wen family's concubine as his concubine. Now the Prince Chen's mansion is bustling with activity, with wives and concubines vying for the favor of one man, and even Lin Wanru's miscarriage."
Concubine Lin delighted in gossip, gushing eloquently. "I heard Concubine Wen framed Lin Wanru and drugged her, but she didn't fall for it, and Concubine Wen suffered a heavy loss. Then, out of anger, Concubine Wen bribed Lin Wanru's servants to pour oil on her path, causing her to fall and drop the child. Tsk tsk, don't you think she's quite stupid?"
Xu Jing smiled and said, "Mother, the Lin family is your family after all. If she gets into trouble, it will also be embarrassing for you."
"Bah, what 'mother's family'?" Lin Guifei said angrily, "When you were down and out, the Lin family didn't even help you. Now that you've become the crown prince, you only know how to come back and curry favor with us mother and mother. How can you be so snobbish?"
Xu Jing said, "Xiangpu told me that my second uncle is planning to give me the third daughter of the Lin family as the Crown Princess..."
Concubine Lin spat and said, "Bah! How dare he send his daughter here to be the Crown Princess? She's not even qualified to be a concubine. Now that my son has become so popular, he's rushing to send his daughter here. What were he doing in the first place?"
"My lady, please don't be angry. You might get yourself hurt."
Concubine Lin took Xu Jing's hand and said, "Qi'er, don't worry. I can't make decisions about other people, but I'm more than capable of dealing with the Lin family. It's impossible for the Lin family to force a daughter here."
"Thank you, Mother."
"What's there to thank me for? As long as you have time to come and see Mother, that's all that's enough. Well, it's getting late, you should go back to the East Palace."
Xu Jing stood up and bowed. "I'll take my leave."
Back at the Eastern Palace, Xu Jing studied the necessary courses for becoming a crown prince with Grand Tutor Wen Qingjiu. Just the organized books were enough to make Xu Jing overwhelmed. Fortunately, he had experience as a crown prince, and the books were largely similar to what he had learned before, though he had to relearn and organize the history.
Wen Qingjiu originally had some prejudice against the prince, but when he saw that he was learning well, he put aside his prejudice for a while and stuffed everything he saw and heard into Xu Jing's head.
After taking classes with Wen Qingjiu for a few days, Xu Jing became familiar with Wen Qingjiu's teaching methods and found learning easy.
In addition, Xu Jing also followed the Grand Tutor Song Xingcheng to learn etiquette and moral education, and followed the Grand Guardian to learn horse riding, archery, sports, etc. He was as busy as a top and had no time to rest.
Since moving into the Eastern Palace, the guards had been replaced by the Imperial Guards, who patrolled every hour of the twelve hours. Xu Jing even had to register before leaving the palace, a much stricter rule than when he was at the Prince of Qin's mansion.
The team Xu Jing had assembled during his time as the Prince of Qin had passed the Emperor's assessment and was successfully retained in the Eastern Palace as a military commander, a position of superior rank to the Eastern Palace's guards. The Eastern Palace was heavily guarded, and not even a fly could get in, let alone an assassin.
Xu Jing's daily diet, clothing, housing, and transportation were monitored, and even the eunuchs kept daily records. Every meeting and every action was recorded, allowing for easy auditing. Being a crown prince was like being in prison, with no personal freedom at all.
After finally waiting for the day off on January 1st, Xu Jing first went to Prince Zhuang's Mansion to meet Xie Yunxiu.
Xie Yunxiu hadn't spoken to Xu Jing properly for a long time. When he saw Xu Jing, he bowed first, then teased, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has become a very busy man now. I'm afraid he has long forgotten about us brothers."
"I can forget anyone but you."
Nowadays, whenever Xu Jing goes out, he is inevitably accompanied by a large group of people. To avoid traffic congestion, Xu Jing selected four top-notch fighters to accompany him, and the others stayed behind to provide protection.
It was useless for others to object to the prince's request. Song Xingcheng tried to persuade him several times but to no avail. He simply turned a blind eye and followed his lead.
Xie Yunxiu saw the people following Xu Jing. Even though he felt unhappy, he knew that his fifth brother's status was different from his own. He was a minister, and the prince was the ruler. He had to accept it. Even when joking, he had to be careful. Otherwise, if he was not careful, he would be scolded or beaten. Xie Yunxiu didn't want to offend him, so he subconsciously ignored the people following his fifth brother.
"Fifth brother, no, it's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. What's the important matter that brings you to my house today?"
"Can't you come if you have nothing to do? Go and get the pear blossom wine from your house. Let's get drunk today."
Xie Yunxiu smiled and said, "I knew you were thinking about the wine, so I prepared it for you long ago. Shuangxi, go and bring the wine over. I want to drink and have fun with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Yes, I'll go right away."
"Prince, what's the point of just drinking? Nanfu has two pieces of music today. How about we review them together?"
"Very good."
A waiter filled Xu Jing's glass with wine. He took a sip and it still tasted the same as before. "Ninth brother's pear blossom wine is excellent. Lingxiao, remember to bring back five jars later."
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I only have a few jars of wine in my house, and I gave them all to Your Highness. What else can I drink?" Xie Yunxiu said with a wicked smile, "How about I give you a beautiful woman? I guarantee you'll like her then."
"Your hobby remains unchanged over the years. You should keep this beauty for yourself."
Xie Yunxiu shook his head. "My Royal Highness, you'll know how good it is once you see it. Come out."
The beauty walked out from behind the screen, graceful and elegant, her steps flowing like lotus flowers. Her exotic style had a unique charm, and it was obvious that she was quite suitable for Xie Yunxiu's taste.
"Ninth brother, why not keep such a beauty for yourself? Why give it up?"
"That's wrong. Good things should be shared." Xie Yunxiu said, "Why are you still standing there? Drink for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
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