Chapter 25: For the sake of the Emperor, Ah Zhu went to great lengths...
Just as Prince Rui left, the Crown Prince arrived at Kunning Palace in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Unlike the Prince Rui, who was born with a touch of gentleness, the Crown Prince, who was already twenty, was truly in the prime of his life. His brows were distant and not arrogant, and while he was reserved, he had a gentle smile on his face, which gave him a graceful demeanor that was not alarmed even if the sky were to fall.
Upon entering the palace, Empress Wang told them that Prince Rui had just left... The Crown Prince naturally knew about this.
Logically speaking, since the Crown Prince is currently in the Eastern Palace and Prince Rui is also in the palace, and Guangyang Palace is not far from the Eastern Palace, the two of them could easily come together to pay their respects to Empress Wang.
But Prince Rui insisted on arriving earlier than the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince had tried to arrive a little earlier, but Prince Rui arrived even earlier.
Crown Prince: ......
The Crown Prince was long past the age of being prone to petty squabbles, and Prince Rui was his own younger brother who had always been frail, so the Crown Prince could only let him be.
"...Yun'er, how can Prince Rui say that he is your own brother?"
"He's getting older now, yet he's still confined to the Imperial Study. He's a bit arrogant, so it's no wonder he's unhappy..."
Empress Wang couldn't speak to Emperor Xuanpei, so if anything happened, she would naturally rely on her eldest son.
Therefore, she would often lecture Prince Rui in front of him while also praising the Crown Prince, and in front of the Crown Prince, she would ask for some leniency for Prince Rui so that the two brothers could support each other.
But given Prince Rui's temperament... even the Crown Prince couldn't help but feel a headache listening to these words. One was his mother, and the other was his younger brother, who shared the same father and mother. What could the Crown Prince do?
Therefore, seeing the eager gaze of Empress Wang, the Crown Prince could only smile and nod.
“In previous years, Mingzhen needed to recuperate. Now that he is getting older, it is only natural that he should have a job to gain experience.”
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will discuss this with him properly when I get back."
Hearing the Crown Prince say this, Empress Wang had no reason not to agree, and could only nod and smile repeatedly.
Once outside Kunning Palace, the Crown Prince didn't hesitate to fulfill his earlier promise, instructing Changshun beside him, "Please invite Prince Rui to the Eastern Palace. Tell him..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Crown Prince stopped himself. He shook his head and said with a hint of helplessness, "Never mind, never mind, I'll just go to his Guangyang Palace myself."
Upon hearing this, Chang Shun quickly replied, "Your Highness, Prince Rui is not currently at Guangyang Palace."
"He's not at Guangyang Palace?" The Crown Prince's brow furrowed involuntarily. "Then where is he now?"
"After paying his respects to the Empress, Prince Rui left Kunning Palace and headed straight for Furong Garden with Guifu."
"Hibiscus Garden." The Crown Prince exclaimed warily, "What's he doing there so early in the morning?"
"This..." Chang Shun shook his head and replied with an embarrassed smile, "This, this servant doesn't know."
Without saying anything more, the prince turned and headed towards Furong Garden to grab his younger brother.
*
Furong Garden
The Hibiscus Garden in the palace is not as grand in scale as the Garden of Nine Harmonies or the Chenghua Mountain Resort, but it is neither too big nor too small, and it can accommodate a few small boats.
Since we were already here, we decided to just have a tea and snack with lotus flowers that sounded elegant.
Therefore, besides collecting dewdrops, Azhu also picked lotus flowers and lotus pods.
The workload wasn't heavy this time, and it felt more like a sightseeing trip. Everyone who came with us from the tea room was in a good mood.
This naturally included A-Zhu.
She was only a teenager, but she was usually very reserved and always trying to please others with great care.
They were always carrying things or leading errands, hurrying back and forth in the palace, seemingly never stopping.
Now, as we float on the pond in a boat, the sky is clear and the clouds are light. The green lotus leaves are intertwined, and the lotus flowers are graceful and elegant. A gentle breeze blows, and the fragrance of lotus fills the air.
The palace maids' dresses were mostly in shades of blue, green, and pink, but in the summer, they wore lighter and more cheerful colors.
For example, Ah Zhu was wearing a pink and white silk skirt today, which looked like white jade and pink silk against the scenery. At this moment, she picked a lotus leaf, held it with both hands and supported it on her head. With a turn, the water droplets on the lotus leaf flew and scattered in all directions.
"How fun!" Ah Zhu smiled, her eyes sparkling, and scooped up some water to add to the lotus leaf.
Perhaps it was the beautiful, sunny weather, or perhaps it was the stunning scenery of the newly blossoming lotus in the pond, or perhaps it was just a good mood... In any case, everyone's eyes were unconsciously drawn to the person who seemed to be surrounded by layers of light.
On the viewing platform beside the lotus pond, Guifu, who had been anxious and chanting Amitabha Buddha the whole way, was now staring at the lotus pond with eyes wide open.
Seeing Ah Zhu laughing, he couldn't help but laugh along: "Hehe."
!!
Gui Fu, who had burst out laughing, was startled and his smile instantly crumbled.
He looked at Prince Rui with a slight tremor, only to find that Prince Rui was only looking at the lotus pond and had not noticed what he looked like at all.
"call--"
Guifu breathed a quiet sigh of relief and gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Seeing Prince Rui gazing at the pond with a smile, Guifu dared not speak and disturb the prince's enjoyment. However, he also dared not look at the beautiful "fairy" who was like a painting for too long, and could only lower his head to endure it.
Only when A-Zhu's figure was blocked did Prince Rui reluctantly withdraw his gaze, and then look at Gui Fu beside him.
By now, how could Prince Rui not know Guifu's little scheme?
However, if it were someone like Chi Zhongren... Prince Rui wouldn't be angry at all. His brows relaxed, and his voice even sounded like a smile as he directly asked, "Who is she?"
Guifu chuckled and was about to reply when he heard the Crown Prince's voice coming from not far away.
"Mingzhen!"
Subconsciously turning my head in the direction of the sound, I saw that it was indeed the Crown Prince striding towards the observation deck.
Guifu hurriedly bowed and said, "This servant greets the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince had no interest in wealth and status.
His expression was slightly somber as he met the Prince Rui's gaze, which was looking down at him. He climbed the viewing platform step by step, and then the Crown Prince looked in the direction the Prince Rui had been looking—
When the prince heard from the garden keeper that there were still palace servants collecting dew from lotus leaves in the Hibiscus Garden, he felt something was amiss.
The scenery in this palace is all the same; it's not that I'm tired of seeing it, but there's really nothing new or interesting about it either.
Where did his brother get the leisure to come and enjoy the scenery?
Sure enough, the Crown Prince didn't even need to look for her; he spotted A-Zhu stuffing lotus seeds into her mouth at a glance.
The lotus seed didn't have the lotus heart removed. Ah Zhu had just chewed it a couple of times when she stopped. But then she noticed the palace servants in the tea room were watching her, and she figured they probably wanted to see her make a fool of herself... Ah Zhu frowned and forced herself to swallow it, still holding her head high: "Delicious!"
Amidst laughter from the pool, Prince Rui spoke up: "Your Majesty, you wouldn't even fight with your own brother for a palace maid, would you?"
"Mingzhen!"
Seeing the anger on the usually composed Crown Prince's face, Prince Rui seemed completely oblivious, looking at the Crown Prince with a mischievous grin.
Indeed, everyone in this world has their own tribulations, like a debt being repaid.
The prince clenched his fist in his sleeve, then relaxed it.
*
The lively scene inside the observation deck was invisible to the people in the pool. Seeing that she had almost finished collecting everything, Ah Zhu, who had been playing around for a while, was still thinking about her "great cause".
After all, since it's meant to be a novelty for the Emperor, it needs to be delivered to him as soon as possible. Besides, Ah Zhu had already thought about it carefully last night while lying in bed—
The Empress Dowager loves the Emperor dearly, so she naturally hopes that the Emperor can accompany her, instead of accompanying Consort Zhang in the Fu Palace last year.
Could she take the opportunity of delivering the gifts to invite the Emperor to Kunning Palace?
Having this idea wasn't exactly a pipe dream for A-Zhu, since Nianfu Palace often used the pretext of sending gifts to curry favor.
The Empress, being of noble status, would naturally not be so direct, but Ah Zhu could be shameless.
She had never heard of a palace maid being beaten to death for trying to curry favor with the emperor, so A-Zhu, who was wholeheartedly plotting for the empress, became quite bold—she had to act as if she were serving her ancestors, or if that didn't work, she would act as if she were serving her nanny, and try to please the emperor.
Without giving himself time to regret, Ah Zhu led his people and their belongings ashore in a flurry of activity.
A note from the author:
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