"Last year, when I was investigating the cult, I planned to tour southern Taiwan, but something happened and interrupted it. Now that spring has arrived and the flowers are blooming, it's a good time to tour southern Taiwan."
But last year, he planned to keep a low profile and make a secret visit.
This time it certainly won't be like that.
According to regulations, the emperor must conduct a southern tour every few years. Especially after so many events in the palace last year, it is even more necessary to inspect various places in the south to see if there is any power from the Southern Yan Kingdom infiltrating into places far away from the capital.
"We will sail all the way south, all the way to Jiangnan."
Emperor Chengxuan introduced the route of the southern tour and the future to Xiao Shuangbao.
Jiangnan was the fief of a prince of a different surname from the Jing royal family. This prince's title was King of Jiangnan, and his name was Zhao Cheng. He was a war king who had made great military achievements during the previous emperor's time. Now in his early fifties, after Emperor Chengxuan ascended the throne, he no longer cared about the affairs of the court. He exchanged his military achievements for the fief of Jiangnan and lived a carefree and leisurely life.
Every time he made a southern tour, he was accompanied by many people.
In addition to the palace maids, eunuchs, and guards that Emperor Chengxuan was accustomed to, in previous years there were usually also the empress dowager, the queen, and other concubines.
But Queen Mother Jiang has only been back in the palace for a few months, and now she just wants to recuperate in the palace, while the Queen has to stay in the harem to take charge of the overall situation.
Among the concubines, except for Concubine Wang, the other four concubines were Concubine Su, Concubine Hui, Concubine Chou, and Concubine Zhao. However, Concubine Su and Concubine Hui were executed one after another, and now only Concubine Chou and Concubine Zhao are still there.
The ugly concubine Ling Ge is an excellent doctor, so Emperor Cheng Xuan decided to take her with him to prevent little Shuangbao from getting a headache or fever on the way. He was not confident in the medical skills of other imperial doctors.
In addition, he specially brought along Concubine Zhao and her twin sons, the third prince Jing Gan and the fourth prince Jing Yuan.
Princess Zhao is the daughter of King Zhao Cheng of Jiangnan. She is the daughter of a general. She usually behaves in a low-key manner and never competes for favor or causes trouble.
Although Emperor Chengxuan did not say how much he doted on Concubine Zhao, he respected her very much.
Because before entering the palace, Concubine Zhao was a female general who could go to the battlefield, Emperor Chengxuan still had some admiration for her in his heart.
Xiao Shuangbao was very unfamiliar with Concubine Zhao and the third and fourth princes.
On the one hand, Concubine Zhao almost never showed up in the palace and rarely interacted with others.
On the other hand, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were both equally cold. Every time they saw her, they would not even lower their heads, but would look at her with a pair of identical eyes, which would lower their eyelids as if they were condescending and looking at her as if she were trash.
Therefore, even though Xiao Shuangbao had met the third prince and the fourth prince several times in the upper study.
But as soon as she saw the look in the two brothers' eyes, she suddenly felt like she was really a disgusting little trash and didn't dare to go up and talk to them.
So, when Xiao Shuangbao heard Emperor Cheng Xuan say that he wanted to take them both with him, he felt a little scared.
Especially this time, none of her brothers came out with her.
The princes must stay in the palace and study hard every day.
Brother Li Ye will stay in Tianyan Palace with the old national teacher. When Emperor Chengxuan is away, they need to be the master and disciple to take charge to prevent anyone from causing any more trouble.
Xiao Shuangbao's master Liu Zhuanying is a seventh-rank captain of the Wucheng Bingmasi. Because of his official position, it is inconvenient for him to leave the capital.
As for Zhongli Yu, he was a hostage of the Southern Yan Kingdom and it was not convenient for him to leave the palace.
It was fine in the carriage at first.
Concubine Zhao and the two princes rode alone in a carriage.
Xiao Shuangbao and Emperor Cheng Xuan were in the same carriage.
But when she arrived at the dock and boarded the boat, she came face to face with Concubine Zhao and the third and fourth princes.
Concubine Zhao was fine.
She just seems to be quiet, but when she does speak, she is quite gentle.
The third prince and the fourth prince both had identical faces, making it impossible for Xiao Shuangbao to tell one from the other. They sat opposite her and looked at her with the same cold eyes as if she were looking at trash.
This caused Xiao Shuangbao to have a nightmare on his first night on the boat.
She dreamed of her past life again.
In her previous life, when she entered the palace at the age of fifteen, she had a feud with the third and fourth princes.
She took advantage of Emperor Chengxuan's favor for her and caused the Third Prince to be whipped and the Fourth Prince to be punished by being made to kneel in the rain all night. The next day he fell ill and nearly died. Although he survived, he developed a chronic illness and could no longer practice martial arts.
The third and fourth princes also have half military blood in their veins and love the battlefield in their bones. However, because of Su Chushuang in his previous life, the fourth prince bid farewell to the battlefield.
Both brothers hated Su Chushuang.
However, in the previous life, the third prince and the fourth prince died in mysterious circumstances.
In the dream, Xiao Shuangbao saw that the third prince and the fourth prince later accompanied Emperor Chengxuan on a southern tour, and both died suddenly on their way back to the capital.
This incident was also a big blow to Emperor Cheng Xuan.
At that time, Emperor Chengxuan was almost fifty years old, and his temperament had changed greatly.
He was heartbroken to see his two sons die before him. He fell ill as soon as he returned to the palace.
Later, Concubine Hui and the Second Prince found an opportunity to poison her, causing her to die suddenly...
Xiao Shuangbao was almost woken up by this dream.
When she thought about how Emperor Chengxuan was later found an opportunity by Concubine Hui because of his illness and was killed by Concubine Hui and the second prince, she became extremely scared.
In the dream of the previous life, the third prince and the fourth prince followed Emperor Chengxuan on the southern tour when they were twenty years old.
But now, they are both only nine years old.
The timeline of the Southern Tour was suddenly advanced by more than ten years.
Will the cause that led to the sudden death of the two brothers also happen earlier?
The next day, Xiao Shuangbao appeared in front of Emperor Cheng Xuan and others with this question in mind and dark circles under his eyes.
When Emperor Cheng Xuan saw her listless look, he felt heartbroken.
"What's wrong with Shuangbao? Didn't you sleep well last night? Where's Lingge? Quickly send her over to Shuangbao for treatment."
Emperor Chengxuan immediately gave the order.
"No need, Daddy. Shuangbao is fine. Shuangbao just had a nightmare last night and was frightened awake and couldn't fall asleep again."
Xiao Shuangbao yawned and shook his head, not allowing Emperor Chengxuan to call the ugly concubine over.
At this time, Concubine Zhao, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were sitting upright, preparing to have breakfast.
Xiao Shuangbao turned his head and his eyes met the third and fourth princes.
Normally, in situations like this, she would subconsciously avoid looking away.
But this time, she did not hide, but looked at her two prince brothers.
According to last night's dream, it was obvious that these two prince brothers, like the eldest prince and the fifth prince, were her enemies in her previous life.
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