Chapter 206 Returning to the Court in Victory
Li Yueyao glanced at Li Huaiyu and said, "Now you know how to reflect on yourself.
It's because you're lazy and careless, and I'm afraid you'll distort the morals of the court."
Li Huaiyu quickly defended herself, "Aunt, you know me, I have been like this since I was a child.
It's not that I'm not diligent, I'm telling the truth. I'm not as smart as you and the Right Prime Minister, and my methods are not as ruthless as his, so I won't join in the fun."
The Fourth Prince glanced at him casually and said:
"Then come and help me look at the memorial tomorrow."
Li Huaiyu laughed and said, "I am currently supervising the Ministry of Revenue, which is very busy.
Besides, whether I can help you read the memorials requires the approval of the Right Prime Minister or His Majesty.
You can’t boss me around now.”
The Fourth Prince heard this and sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"Alas... this doesn't work, that doesn't work... what should I do?"
Li Yueyao gloated beside him and said, "This is just the beginning, you will suffer in the future.
Look at your father, he gets up at three in the morning and never goes to bed at five. How can he ever rest?"
The Fourth Prince felt even worse after hearing this: "Grandma, why don't you choose someone else? I can't do this job."
"We spent a long time selecting you. From the looks of it, none of your brothers are as good as you. You are the best candidate."
The Fourth Prince really wants to die now!
He is still a prince now, not a crown prince, nor an emperor. When will this day end?
Li Yueyao felt pity for the Fourth Prince, who was slumped in his chair with a look of despair on his face.
"How about I talk to the Right Prime Minister and ask him to spend less time reviewing the memorials so you can have a break?"
When the Fourth Prince heard this, he sat up straight and said with a smile:
"Thank you, great-aunt."
In the evening, Li Yueyao told Feng Shenyu about the Fourth Prince, but Feng Shenyu said:
"The little fellow is very clever. He can finish reading the memorials assigned to him every day in two hours.
It just dragged on and on until the very end."
Li Yueyao was puzzled after hearing this and asked, "Isn't it a little late to hide your shortcomings now?"
"He's not hiding his incompetence. He's just worried that if he succeeds before Your Majesty is old, it might arouse Your Majesty's suspicion."
Li Yueyao heard this and said, "Didn't anyone tell him about this?"
Feng Shenyu shook his head: "No. He has to figure it out himself."
"Alright, I'll leave it alone. Let him think about it first. If he really can't figure it out, we can talk to him later."
After saying that, Li Yueyao went to soak her feet, take a shower, and prepare to rest.
At the beginning of April, the Duke of Zhenguo returned to the capital with his army.
The emperor ordered the fourth prince to lead all the officials out of the city and welcome them thirty miles away.
The army returned victorious, having conquered two countries in succession, and the people lined the streets to welcome them.
During the subsequent captive presentation session, everyone actually saw a familiar face, Princess Cangli.
When Zhaoqing, Princess Jin and others saw her, they wanted to eat her raw.
The people on the roadside also threw rotten vegetable leaves and eggs at her.
But Princess Cangli kept her eyes closed and sat motionless in the prison car.
The emperor welcomed the Duke of Zhenguo at the palace gate, performed a scene of harmony between the monarch and his subjects, and then entered the palace.
The Duke of Zhenguo reported in detail the war situation over the past six months, and the emperor and the court officials' emotions fluctuated as they listened.
Only Feng Shenyu was absent-minded, wondering when he could go home to be with his wife and children. He already knew what the Duke of Zhenguo said.
The Duke of Zhenguo was talking so much that foam appeared at the corners of his mouth. Feng Shenyu glanced at him with disdain: Why can't you finish what you are saying?
Qian Lou saw Feng Shenyu's eyes and realized the foam at the corner of Zhenguogong's mouth, so he quickly asked someone to make a cup of tea and bring it up.
The Fourth Prince's legs were aching from standing nearby, and when he saw Feng Shenyu's impatience, he felt secretly happy.
Old man, you have come to this day.
Humph! Zhenguogong, please talk for a while. My leg is numb anyway.
By the time the Duke of Zhenguo finished speaking and took care of the affairs in the palace, it was already mid-afternoon when Feng Shenyu returned home.
He originally planned to let the Fourth Prince go for a day, but seeing the Fourth Prince's gloating expression, he took him away.
On the way, he met the virtuous concubine and cried out for help:
"Mother, save me."
The virtuous concubine stopped, and the fourth prince dodged behind her.
"Mother, I am already very tired today, and this old man asked me to go to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion to read the memorials."
After hearing this, Concubine Xian pulled the Fourth Prince out from behind her and tidied his clothes.
Then he patted his shoulder and said, "You don't want to read the memorial, do you want your sick father to read it?"
The Fourth Prince retorted, "Can't the old man see for himself?"
"Look, you call him old man, which means he is old and will leave the court sooner or later." said the virtuous concubine.
"I call him old man because of his generation. He is clearly in his prime."
"In his youth, he was only the right prime minister, and his surname was not Li." The virtuous concubine said nonchalantly.
"My great-aunt's surname is Li."
"Your great-aunt is a woman, and she has a child at home. Could you bear to let her abandon her child to read the memorials?"
The Fourth Prince shook his head after hearing this and finally sighed:
"Can't our Li family find someone who can help review the memorials?"
The virtuous concubine shook her head pitifully and said, "I can read all the memorials, but you are the only one who can give the appropriate instructions, or even give the unexpected ones."
When the Fourth Prince heard what Li Yueyao said, he said dejectedly:
"I don't want to do this anymore."
When Concubine Xian saw that her son looked like he had given up, her expression of anticipation subsided a little.
He still tried to comfort her, "That won't do. We are all old and our eyesight is dim. If you don't read the memorial, who will?
Be good and listen to me, go with the Right Prime Minister. Didn’t you say that the food at your great aunt’s house is delicious?
At worst, just eat more after reading the memorial. You've lost weight recently."
The Fourth Prince wailed, "Mother, I've been so tired lately, it would be strange if I didn't lose weight."
Feng Shenyu said disdainfully beside him;
"You are so thin because you are growing taller. It's just like we are short of food and drink for you.
Who was the one who drank two bowls of oil-splashed noodles yesterday, holding a bowl bigger than his head?"
After saying that, he reached out and grabbed the Fourth Prince by the scruff of the neck and carried him away.
The army returned to the capital fifteen days later.
The King of Jin had himself carried to the Heavenly Prison.
Looking at the tortured and dying Princess Cangli, he poisoned her to death with a cup of poisoned wine.
Lei Jing, who was in another cell, committed suicide after hearing that Princess Cangli had died.
The prince of Cangli was shot to death when the Nanli Palace was destroyed.
Now only the old emperor of Cangli Kingdom is left, kept in Dajin as a mascot, occasionally appearing at palace banquets to sing and dance, barely surviving.
The Dragon Boat Festival is here again.
Last year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the palace was selecting concubines for the eldest and second princes. Concubine Rong and Gao Hongchen even kidnapped the emperor, which almost caused a palace coup.
This year's Dragon Boat Festival, Concubine Xian was too lazy to do anything and just held a banquet in the palace and ended it.
Li Yueyao has rarely appeared in public since the winter of last year. When her child was one month old, there was not even a full-month banquet.
It’s not that Li Yueyao doesn’t want to do it, but her body has not recovered yet, her figure is out of shape, and her complexion is not as good as before.
It happened that during the Dragon Boat Festival palace banquet, Li Yueyao came over with her child, took a walk around the palace and showed her face.
When the virtuous concubine saw her, she smiled and said, "You have given birth to a child, but it looks like you haven't given birth yet. Your figure and complexion are the same as before."
Li Yueyao laughed and said, "With so many maids and wet nurses following me, I don't have to worry too much. I'll be back soon after I take care of her."
The emperor looked at the chubby white child in Li Yueyao's arms and loved him very much. He reached out to take the child and hugged him.
The virtuous concubine was shocked when she saw this.
"Your Majesty, the way you hold the baby is wrong. You've never held a baby before. Give it to me now. Don't drop the baby."
As he said this, he hurried forward and took the child from the emperor's arms.
The emperor turned his head and glanced at Fengshenyu: "Have you ever held him?"
"Of course, he is my son." Feng Shenyu said.
The emperor scratched his head. He seemed to remember that he had never held the princes when they were this old.
Several people appeared at the banquet, and Li Yueyao was holding the child.
As soon as he sat down, Prince Laocheng looked at Li Yueyao and said, "Yueyao, bring your baby here for me to see."
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