Pingfu followed the eunuch with a little uneasiness, and he was puzzled as to why the emperor wanted to see him. Could it be because he followed Brother Chenglin into the palace without his permission last time?
Thinking about it this way, he felt that this was very likely. After all, he had heard that not everyone could enter the inner courtyard of the imperial palace.
He was thinking wildly like this, and before he knew it, he had entered the palace gate. He followed the eunuchs through twists and turns and walked for an unknown amount of time. Suddenly, a figure bumped into him head-on. He couldn't dodge in time and sat down on the ground with a thump.
"You are so brave that you bumped into the young master. Let's see if the Royal Concubine will forgive you easily!" The eunuch's unique sharp voice rang out. He stared blankly at the young man opposite who was being helped up by others, and recognized that the other person was Zhao Jian.
He got up silently and patted his clothes. The eunuch on the other side wanted to do Zhao Jian a favor, so he pointed at him and cursed him more arrogantly: "Where did you come from, you little bastard? Do you think you can rush into the imperial palace? Do you know who you bumped into? That's the nephew of Consort Rui!"
Zhao Jian also recognized him at this time, and was very proud to see someone admonishing him on his behalf.
The eunuch who led Pingfu into the palace wanted to step forward and say a few words for him, but when he saw that the other person was someone from Concubine Rui's palace, and that Pingfu had bumped into Concubine Rui's nephew, he immediately fell silent and took a step back so that it was almost inaudible.
Everyone in the palace knows that the Imperial Concubine is the apple of His Majesty's eye. Even the servants in the Imperial Concubine's palace are more respectable than the servants in other palaces.
Peng patted her son's clothes and glanced at Peng Fu with some displeasure. Although she was also proud of the eunuch's flattery, she still considered that this was the inner garden of the imperial palace and did not dare to act rashly. So she smiled and interrupted the eunuch who spoke up for her: "Eunuch, forget it. I don't think he did it on purpose."
"Mrs. Zhao is truly kindhearted, so be it. Since you are so generous, you can just kowtow to Mr. Zhao and pay your respects."
Mrs. Peng opened her mouth to say something, but Zhao Jian spoke first: "You don't have to kowtow, just pay your respects."
If I kowtow and Wei Chenglin finds out, I might get into trouble. I'm even more afraid that the Imperial Concubine might misunderstand me as a domineering person.
Pingfu frowned tightly, thinking that the people in this palace were very strange. He had not said a word from beginning to end, so why did it seem that all the faults were his now?
The man who brought Lingfu into the palace finally couldn't help but speak: "Eunuch Wang, His Majesty is still waiting for Master Lingfu to come to the palace. If you delay any longer, His Majesty will blame you. Can you bear it?"
The eunuch Wang was obviously stunned.
Is this the boy that Your Majesty wants to summon to see?
Peng's mother and son were also stunned.
"Eunuch, let's go!" Lin Fu ignored them and nodded to the eunuch who was leading him and reminded him.
"Okay, Master Linfu, please follow me!" The eunuch bowed respectfully and led him to the east.
"Who is he? Why does Your Majesty want to see him?" Peng couldn't help but ask.
"The person serving Wei Chenglin is just a servant and is not worth anything," Zhao Jian replied.
Mrs. Peng was fine, but Eunuch Wang felt a little nervous.
It turned out to be from the British Duke's Mansion?
After all, he had been in the palace for so many years, so he certainly wouldn't be so naive to think that a servant could be summoned by His Majesty to enter the palace. This person must have some background.
The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became. He was no longer in the mood to please Peng and her son, so he sent them out of the palace and hurried off to find out what had happened.
While Lin Fu had not arrived yet, Emperor Yuan You asked him in detail about his years in the Duke of Ying's Mansion. Hearing that Shen Xinyan treated him as her own son and educated him carefully, and that although Lin Fu was not a formal master, he had studied and practiced martial arts with famous teachers since he was a child like Wei Chenglin, he was filled with emotion.
"You married a good lady. It is lucky for Pingfu to meet her in his life!"
What Wei Junhang liked to hear the most was others praising his wife. Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows proudly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the compliment!"
In the past, Emperor Yuanyou would have certainly made fun of him, but this time he just nodded in agreement and said nothing more.
A moment later, an inside messenger came to report that Ling Fu was waiting for him outside the hall.
Emperor Yuanyou hurriedly said, "Please come in quickly." Shao Yu, a young boy about eleven or twelve years old, wearing an indigo robe, followed the eunuch into the hall.
Lin Fu was a little nervous, and his hands clenched in his sleeves were already sweating slightly. But as soon as he saw the familiar face in the hall looking at him with a smile, he was sure in his heart, and the tension gradually dissipated.
"Your Majesty, I, the humble commoner, am here to see you!" He cleared his throat and knelt down respectfully.
Emperor Yuanyou stared at him closely. Although he was young, his words and actions showed the bearing of a child from an aristocratic family. His features were beautiful, and especially the smile he had just secretly shown to Wei Junhang was vaguely similar to that of Concubine Rui.
"Come here and let me take a look." He calmed himself down and waved to Ping Fu.
Ping Fu looked at Wei Junhang subconsciously, and when he saw him smiling and nodding at him, he stood up and walked towards Emperor Yuanyou.
"Your Majesty." When he was about ten feet away from Emperor Yuanyou, he stopped, lowered his eyes and called respectfully.
"Come closer."
Ping Fu obediently walked closer and stopped only when he reached the side of Emperor Yuanyou.
Emperor Yuanyou stared at his face for a long time without saying a word.
Ping Fu felt uncomfortable being stared at by him and looked to Wei Junhang on the other side for help.
Wei Junhang waved his hands at him.
He didn't know how long it had been before he heard the most noble man in the world sigh and ask softly, "I heard that you have a scar on your shoulder, but I don't know what caused it?"
"Ah? This? I heard from my father that I was naughty when I was a child and was accidentally hurt by a hatchet." Lin Fu subconsciously touched his left shoulder, and then suddenly remembered something and hurriedly changed his words, "I heard from my father that this injury was caused by me being naughty when I was a child and was accidentally hurt by a hatchet."
"You don't have to be so polite in front of me. Just speak as you would to the Duke of England." Emperor Yuanyou said with a smile.
Is that okay? Pingfu looked at Wei Junhang inquiringly, and when he saw him nod at him, he replied, "Okay, thank you, Your Majesty!"
Anyway, he was not used to calling himself a commoner.
Emperor Yuanyou asked him some questions such as "What books have you read?", and Pingfu answered them one by one. At the end, he wrote a few big characters on the spot at the request of Emperor Yuanyou.
Emperor Yuanyou touched his head in admiration and said, "You have a beautiful handwriting, which shows that you have put a lot of effort into it."
Pingfu pursed his lips and smiled shyly.
"Do you... still remember your parents?" Emperor Yuanyou asked hesitantly after a long time.
"I remember. My father is a doctor who saves the dying and the wounded. He often took mother and me to travel all over the world. I have been to many places when I was very young. My parents loved me very much. My father taught me how to write, and my mother gave me my name..." When he heard him asking about his deceased parents, Lin Fu couldn't stop talking.
Emperor Yuanyou looked at him deeply with complicated eyes.
It was unfortunate that he had experienced many hardships at such a young age; but despite being so "unfortunate", he met people who truly loved him one after another, such as his two adoptive parents and Wei Junhang's wife.
"You are very good, and your parents are also very good. If your biological parents knew about this, they would be very pleased!" Emperor Yuanyou sighed.
Biological parents? Pingfu frowned in confusion, blinking his eyes a few times, looking at him in confusion.
Facing such a pair of clear eyes, for some reason, Emperor Yuanyou lost the courage to tell him the truth.
The child's biological parents actually died at the hands of the royal family, and his biological aunt also nearly lost her life because of the late emperor's selfishness, and had to endure humiliation and live for many years. As a member of the royal family, at this moment, he felt ashamed to face him.
Wei Junhang had known him for many years and understood his feelings to some extent. Seeing this, he sighed, walked forward, pulled Lin Fu over, and told him his life story in detail.
Ping Fu's eyes widened, and his face was filled with surprise: "The scapegoat that Yue'er mentioned is my biological father?"
Wei Junhang: “…”
Emperor Yuanyou: “…”
Wei Junhang pretended to cough to hide the discomfort on his face, and secretly decided to have a good talk with Yue Ge'er after returning.
"Well, your biological father, well, he was indeed unlucky. But, that's all in the past. He is now the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness in the court, the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness..." Emperor Yuanyou touched his nose awkwardly.
Pingfu said "Oh" and pursed his lips again.
"You, you don't have anything else to say?" After waiting for a while and seeing that he didn't say anything else, Emperor Yuanyou couldn't help but ask.
Ping Fu scratched his ears and asked, "Is the bad guy who killed my biological father dead?"
"He's dead. I watched him take his last breath with my own eyes."
"That's good. Then will I have the chance to pay homage to my biological parents?" Lin Fu asked again.
"Of course! You are a descendant of the Zhao family and the only bloodline of Marquis Zhongyi. Of course you can go to pay homage to them." Emperor Yuanyou nodded without hesitation.
"That's good." Lin Fu smiled at him gratefully and asked, "Can I go back home and ask my wife to prepare the things for the worship?"
Emperor Yuanyou was rarely stunned.
Just like that? No resentment? No questions? No demands for compensation or anything like that?
Wei Junhang couldn't help laughing.
It turns out that this is a lucky boy who grew up under his care!
Seeing Emperor Yuanyou staring at him with wide eyes, Pingfu felt a little uneasy and quietly hid to the side of Wei Junhang.
After a long time, Emperor Yuanyou finally burst into laughter, and tears appeared in his eyes as he laughed.
"Jun Hang, your wife taught him very well, very well..."
Wei Junhang smiled slightly and patted Pingfu's shoulder appreciatively.
"Someone, come in, invite the Imperial Concubine!" Emperor Yuanyou called loudly.
A eunuch took the order and left.
At this time, Concubine Rui Gui was instructing the maid in charge: "Tell them that I have chosen Zhao Jin, and let them choose an auspicious day to officially pass Zhao Jin on to the title of Marquis of Loyalty."
"Yes, I'll go now." The palace maid knelt down, bowed, and left.
Concubine Rui let out a long sigh. This way, she had temporarily put an end to the important matter in her mind. As for what would happen after the succession... she still needed to think about it carefully.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty invites you to the Zhengming Palace."