"Granny, send the Fourteenth Prince out." Consort De no longer looked at Yinzhen; she had to correct her youngest son's manners.
"Hmph, I can walk by myself!" Yinzhen glared at Yinzhen with red eyes and left. In his opinion, it must be because his fourth brother and mother had spoken ill of him that his mother treated him like this. Otherwise, how could his mother, who doted on him so much, be so heartless as to drive him away?
Yinzhen remained silent, simply watching quietly. He didn't care about Yinzhen's glare; he was now quite curious about what his mother wanted him to do, that she would go to such lengths to treat the fourteenth prince like this.
"Little Fourteenth is spoiled by calling me Mother. Sigh~ Let's not talk about him anymore. It's almost lunchtime. Fourth Prince, why don't you stay and have some with Mother?" Consort De had naturally seen the glare Yinzhen gave Yinzhen, and felt helpless. This little Fourteenth. Stopping thinking about him, Consort De put on a gentle smile again, looked at Yinzhen and asked, her eyes showing a hint of trepidation and nervousness.
“Alright.” Yinzhen’s eyes were filled with inquiry. He wanted to know his mother’s purpose, so he naturally agreed to what Consort De said.
Consort De immediately smiled, and the old nanny who had seen Yinzhen off at the door also smiled. She had long advised the Consort to treat the Fourth Prince better; they were both her sons, why be so distant? But the Consort wouldn't listen. Now that the Consort had finally come to her senses, she could finally relax.
The meal was served quickly. During this time, Consort De went out once but returned shortly afterward, and Yinzhen did not ask any questions.
But when the meal was served, Yinzhen looked at the uniformly bland dishes and his doubts deepened. These were indeed the dishes he usually ate, but whenever he dined with Consort De, his tastes always leaned towards the Fourteenth Prince's, so he didn't like eating there. The only reason he agreed to eat today was because he wanted to know what his mother was up to, thinking he could just eat whatever he wanted, but he didn't expect...
"Do these dishes suit your taste?" Consort De asked expectantly, looking at Yinzhen who hadn't touched his chopsticks.
"Mother, you've gone to so much trouble. This dish is very good." Yinzhen's feelings at this moment were hard to describe. He was both nervous and expectant. Although the expectation was small, it was real. Yinzhen still had a little bit of hope in his heart for his mother's care.
"I'm glad you like it. Eat more if you like it." Consort De was even happier to hear Yinzhen say this.
The mother and son enjoyed the most comfortable meal they had in many years. After the meal, Yinzhen got up to take his leave.
"Yes, go back now. Come visit your mother often in the future." Consort De nodded with a slight smile.
"Alright, then I'll take my leave." Yinzhen nodded, thinking to himself, "Isn't she going to say anything? She's made such a grand show of humiliating Yinzhen in front of me today, and now that I'm leaving, she still won't explain her purpose?" But a very subtle thought lingered in his mind. Perhaps Mother really didn't have any ulterior motive?
He turned around and walked step by step, getting closer and closer to the door, just as he was about to cross the threshold.
"Fourth Prince," Consort De spoke from behind.
Yinzhen's somewhat excited heart immediately plummeted. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides, stopped in his tracks, pursed his lips, and turned to look at Consort De.
"Is there anything else, Mother?" The voice was cold, and the look in her eyes was no longer gentle.
"I... I just wanted to say that when you have time, please have your wife, Lady Yin, come visit me. It would be best if she could bring her child, as I haven't seen him yet." Consort De's heart skipped a beat when she saw Yinzhen's gaze, and she felt a little bitter. Her smile became somewhat forced, but her voice remained gentle as she spoke to Yinzhen.
"Yes, when the Fujin comes to pay her respects in the future, I will have Lady Yin come along. It's just that the child may not be able to be brought along often, since he is still too young and the back-and-forth travel might be too much for him..." Yinzhen's eyes flashed, and his voice regained its warmth.
"Mother knows, she just wants to see him, there's no need to bring him every time." Consort De nodded, she understood this.
"Then I will return. Mother, please take care of yourself. I will come to see you when I have time." A very faint smile appeared on Yinzhen's usually expressionless face. It was so faint that it was almost invisible if you weren't paying attention, but Consort De saw it.
"Alright." Consort De felt a pang of sadness. How long had it been since Yinzhen had smiled at her? She couldn't remember—was it ten years, twenty years, or perhaps never? Or perhaps it had happened. When he was very young, Yinzhen would give her a timid smile and cautiously call her "Mother." But what did she do? She looked at that little Yinzhen with cold indifference, neither holding him nor comforting him, and distancing herself from him during his difficult time. So it was understandable that Yinzhen didn't smile at her.
Yinzhen walked out of Yonghe Palace and left the palace. Although his face was expressionless, Su Peisheng, who was following behind him, could feel that his master was in a very good mood! This was the first time his master had been happy to leave Consort De's palace. In the past, he would get angry every time he went there.
Halfway there, they saw Yinzhen storming towards Yinzhen.
"Tell me, did you say bad things about me to Mother?" Yinzhen's eyes were red, as if he had been crying.
"Do you think everyone is as idle as you?" Yinzhen's good mood instantly vanished by half.
"Then why is Mother treating me like this today? You must have said something that made Mother misunderstand me! Go and explain to Mother clearly." Yinzhen did not believe Yinzhen's words at all. In his opinion, everything was fine yesterday, but Mother treated him like this as soon as his fourth brother went today, so it must be the fourth brother's fault.
"Explanation? Did Mother say something wrong? Do you have any manners? Shouting at your elder brother in this busy street, is that your manners?" Yinzhen looked at his younger brother with a dark face.
"I...I...I don't care, you...you have to go to Mother's to help me, Fourth Brother, please help me, okay? I really don't know what I did to offend Mother, can you go and ask her for me?" Yinzhen was startled by his Fourth Brother's dark face and couldn't speak properly. He even started to whine as he spoke.
"Didn't Mother say that you can see her when you've learned your manners? That's your business, I can't help you. Alright, don't block my way." Yinzhen felt a chill. There's a right and wrong way to act cute. He couldn't resist a little woman acting cute, but this big brother acting cute in front of him was a testament to his amazing self-control!
"Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother!" Yinzhen watched as I rode away at full speed on my horse. He was so angry that he kicked the little eunuch following behind him, then turned around and went back to the palace. He wanted to go find his mother again. He didn't believe that his mother would really not see him!
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