The two of them walked hand in hand into the room again, walked around the screen and passed through the door. The candlelight in the room gradually dimmed, and there were occasional knocking sounds on the windows on both sides. As the coverings on the windows were removed, the sunlight shone into the room through every available gap.
Concubine Xiao Shufei was dressed in plain clothes, her face was pale, and her hair was casually draped behind her head. She looked at Li Hong who came in and smiled subtly.
Li Hong watched as Concubine Xiao Shufei's expression returned to normal and her mood was obviously much better than before. As more and more sunlight shone into the room, her originally pale cheeks became a little rosy and her spirit improved.
"Your son Li Hong greets Mother Concubine Xiao." Li Hong saluted respectfully, just like he usually saluted her, there was no difference.
Concubine Xiao Shu moved slightly and said in a dry voice, "Get up, Hong'er. Yiyang, you go out first. I have something to say to Hong'er."
Even if Yi Yang was stupid, he knew that things were different now and this was not the time to mess around. So he nodded obediently, said "oh" and walked to the door obediently, standing next to Xia Zhi, glancing at the eunuch at the door from time to time.
As soon as Yi Yang's figure disappeared, Concubine Xiao Shu immediately showed a tragic smile on her face, and suddenly knelt in front of Li Hong again. Li Hong was so frightened that he hurriedly got up from the cushion, walked quickly to Concubine Xiao Shu, and tried hard to help her up with his two small hands.
"Hong'er, considering what you said at the door just now, you deserve to be kneeled down by your mother." Concubine Xiao Shu was pulled up by Li Hong and said miserably.
"Mother, how can I accept such a great gift? I was just angry for a moment..."
...
...
Concubine Xiao Shu interrupted Li Hong with a miserable look on her face, shaking her head and saying, "Since you were born, you have been different from other babies. When you grew up and could run, you started to have fun teasing Yi Yang and the others. Which of the several princes and princesses in this palace is your opponent? The youngest, Li Sujie, is two years older than you, but none of them is half as smart as you. Aren't they all fooled around by you every day?"
"Mother, you are too kind to me. I am truly unworthy of the compliment. I was too naughty to tease them. I hope you will forgive me." Li Hong didn't know if Concubine Xiao Shu was really praising him.
Concubine Xiao Shu continued to shake her head, her hair swaying behind her like a waterfall. She calmed herself down, looked at Li Hong quietly and said, "Just now you were outside the door, recklessly killing that eunuch. Although my mother didn't see it, she heard everything. You are deliberately trying to establish authority for Yi Yang, Su Jie and others. You know that their mother is doomed and will inevitably be bullied by the palace maids and eunuchs in the future, so you killed one person to warn all the palace maids and eunuchs."
Li Hong was stunned. He didn't expect that Concubine Xiao Shu actually saw through his ultimate purpose of decisively killing the eunuch at the door to establish his authority. In this way, it was obvious that Concubine Xiao Shu also anticipated her fate. She asked Yi Yang to come to her, obviously not for help, not for him to help her survive.
Concubine Xiao Shu looked at Li Hong, whose expression was frozen, and a smile appeared on her flawless face. She continued, "Mother would like to thank Hong'er here. Mother begs Hong'er to protect your sister and brother in the palace in the future. If so, mother will die with peace of mind."
Concubine Xiao Shufei knelt down in front of Li Hong again and kowtowed deeply. Her beautiful hair buried her entire head in the bluestone slab, which made Li Hong feel a determination to die.
As expected, when Concubine Xiao Shu raised her head, her eyes were dim and she stared at Li Hong blankly with a sad expression.
Suddenly, Concubine Xiao Shu looked ferocious, as if she was mentally ill. She said in a harsh voice, "Wu Mei is so lucky to have given birth to such a smart child like you. Otherwise, how could she be the queen? It's retribution, it's all retribution... Thinking back to the time when Wang Shi hadn't given birth to a son or a daughter for Your Majesty for many years, but I gave birth to a prince and two princesses for Your Majesty. Wang Shi saw that her position as the master of the harem was in jeopardy, so she first adopted the son of Liu Gongren to consolidate her position as queen. Seeing that it was useless, Your Majesty became more and more fond of me, so she had no choice but to pull Wu Mei to unite against me to protect her position as queen. But Wang Shi never dreamed that this was inviting a wolf into the house, haha... In this way, it was a bargain for Wu Shi, the foxy woman, and she benefited from it and became the master of the harem! Hong'er, your mother..."
"Hmph! Such a despicable woman, slandering others behind their backs in front of me, is simply shameful! His Majesty demoted you to a commoner, yet you still refuse to repent. Hong'er is kind and filial to you and comes to visit you, but you are here spreading rumors and misleading people, what is your intention? In the harem, there is such a seductress as you, it is simply a shame for my Tang Dynasty. Lanling Xiao family is a noble family, but you are so despicable. Xiao, I will not pursue the matter today, but if you dare to spread rumors and mislead people again, I will not treat you like this!"
Wu Mei walked in at some point, wearing a phoenix robe that symbolized the queen's elegance and grace, and a rosy crown on her head. With a cold face, she walked in front of the two of them with a domineering step, looking down at Concubine Xiao Shu with a cold look.
"Mother..." Li Hong hurriedly stood up and saluted.
"Hong'er, your kindness and filial piety have been seen by your mother, and she is pleased. But your mother, Concubine Xiao, is a lowly villain. She has made things difficult for your mother in the palace over the years. She is arrogant and domineering because she gave birth to a son and two phoenixes for your father. She has been fighting secretly with Queen Wang, and instigated your father to abolish Queen Wang in order to compete for the position of Queen. She was banished to the cold palace because your father found out. Now, she is talking nonsense in front of you. How vicious her mind is." Wu Mei said coldly, putting her arm around Li Hong's shoulder.
"So what? Wang has never given birth to any children for Your Majesty, so how can she be qualified to be the queen? The position of queen should have been held by me long ago, and the position of crown prince should have been held by Su Jie! It's just that Wang encouraged Your Majesty to recruit you into the palace, but she never thought that she would shoot herself in the foot. If it weren't for you, I would have been the queen long ago." Concubine Xiao Shufei was not willing to be outdone. She stood up from the cushion, head held high and chest puffed out, and retorted.
Li Hong leaned on Wu Mei and shook his head while listening. This Concubine Xiao Shu was just like Yi Yang, as if she was missing a nerve in her brain. She actually dared to say this at this time. He had originally thought of making Su Jie the crown prince. Wasn't this obviously to make his mother wary and persecute Li Su Jie to kill him and reincarnate as soon as possible?
"Mother, I have finished visiting Concubine Xiao Shufei, and will go back with Sister Yi Yang now." It was no longer convenient for Li Hong to stay here. The fate of Concubine Xiao Shufei and Queen Wang could not be changed. He just hoped that they would not die too tragically.
Wu Mei put her arm around Li Hong's shoulders, sighed and said to Concubine Xiao Shufei: "Then you can continue to dream of becoming the queen here! I hope that one day Li Sujie can be appointed as the crown prince by His Majesty. When that time comes, come and ask the crown prince to ask you to leave!"
Concubine Xiao Shu looked at Wu Mei pulling Li Hong away and thinking about what Wu Mei had just said. Suddenly she realized that what she had just said had harmed her own son Li Sujie again. Her words just now were undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire, as if she had ignited Wu Mei's intention to deal with Li Sujie and others!
"No, Wu Mei. No, Queen, listen to me, I don't want to compete with you for the position of Queen, and I have never thought of asking Your Majesty to make Sujie the Crown Prince. All this is Wang's calculations, Queen..." Xiao Shufei, who had woken up, staggered and followed the light to chase the figures of Wu Mei and Li Hong, but was blocked by the eunuchs at the door. The door was also ruthlessly closed, leaving only Xiao Shufei's miserable and helpless pleading inside the door.
Yi Yang was no longer at the door, and even the Grain in Ear and Summer Solstice had disappeared. At this moment, there were only a few of Wu Mei's palace maids and eunuchs standing on both sides, obeying her orders.
The eunuch named Lian Tie was also standing inside, looking down at his feet.
Li Hong held Wu Mei's hand, and the two of them walked slowly through the long and narrow corridor. In front of them was the desolate scene with towering trees.
"Pa" Wu Mei suddenly let go of Li Hong's hand and slapped Li Hong on the face.
Li Hong was caught off guard and staggered by Wu Mei's sudden slap. He looked at Wu Mei blankly, with half of his cheek quickly becoming red and swollen.
"Who gave you the courage to come here? This is a place you can come to! It's lawless! Do you think a three-year-old child like you can see that monster? Tell me, was it Yi Yang who asked you to come here!" Wu Mei's face turned pale and she shouted angrily.
Li Hong touched his swollen cheek with one hand, his eyes blank, and looked at Wu Mei with a hint of disbelief, and said softly: "It was I who wanted to come here. I threatened Yiyang to bring me here."
"Asshole! Do you know where this is? Why did you come here? You even killed a eunuch privately. Do you have any rules? Is this something you, a prince, can decide?" Wu Mei looked at Li Hong's little eyes, but she was inexplicably afraid to face him.
This little guy, his own child, actually dared to decisively order someone to kill a eunuch. Where did he get the confidence and self-confidence? In the past few years...
Wu Mei looked at the stunned Li Hong and his unyielding eyes, and her heart softened. In the past few years, she was busy fighting with Wang and Xiao for the position of queen. Because of this, she gradually neglected the growth and existence of her eldest son.
She was sent out of her palace early and lived alone with the palace maids. After all, she only owed Li Hong. She had never fulfilled her responsibilities as a mother and never watched him grow up.
But the little man in front of her was all Wu Mei's hope. Only he could make her sit firmly on the throne of the queen. After all, he was her and Li Zhi's eldest son. After some time, when the turmoil in the harem faded, she would instigate His Majesty to depose Li Zhong. At that time, His Majesty and the ministers would naturally make Li Hong the crown prince, and her position as queen would be truly legitimate!
Therefore, if she wants to secure her position as queen in the harem, no matter the queen's coronation ceremony or the many opinions of the court officials, they are not as beneficial to her position as having this little person sitting in the East Palace!
Wu Mei looked at Li Hong with a conflicted look, wanting to go over and comfort him, even covering his swollen cheek. But looking at Li Hong's stubborn eyes, she was unwilling to comfort him at this moment, and the two of them just stood there and competed secretly, neither of them wanted to speak first.
Lian Tie had obviously been following Wu Mei for a long time. Seeing the deadlock before him, he moved his feet, bent his waist and lowered his head, walked to Wu Mei, and said respectfully: "Empress, the weather is very hot and humid. Standing for a long time may be bad for your pregnancy..."
"Get out! Do you have the right to speak here?" Wu Mei and Li Hong scolded in unison.
After scolding, the mother and son couldn't help but look at each other. From each other's eyes, they saw the warm love for each other and a smile.
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