Chapter 246: Violating the reputation
He still didn't know what to do now, but for now, he had to secretly escort his mother, grandmother, brothers and sisters to Beijing safely, and not let them be bullied on the way. On
June 15, a huge summer vacation team set out for Chenzhou. All officials and their families, plus palace maids, eunuchs, and servants from each family, the number of people was as high as a thousand.
I heard that when the huge team set out before dawn today, there was a lot of noise in Concubine Yu's palace.
But she thought that the final list of people leaving the palace was decided by the emperor himself, so she could only vent her anger in her own palace and didn't dare to make a fuss in public.
As for Concubine De, she herself did not go, and she did not intend to let the Third Prince go either. It was Jiang Xinyue who asked the Fourth Prince to act coquettishly with the Emperor and insisted that his Third Brother go with him, so the Third Prince was able to go out of the palace with Jiang Xinyue to get some fresh air.
Emperor Xuanwu sat in the carriage and pushed the ice basin closer to Jiang Xinyue: "Why did Yue'er insist on taking Xuan'er with her?"
Jiang Xinyue wanted to answer his question first, but the next moment her eyes widened: "Your Majesty, the Third Prince...what's his name?"
"Shen Mingxuan, what's wrong?"
Jiang Xinyue widened her eyes, hurriedly opened the curtain, and waved to Xiao Xuanzi who was following behind the carriage.
Xiao Xuanzi ran after her and asked, "My queen, what do you want me to do?"
"What was your name before you went to the cold palace?"
Although Xiao Xuanzi was confused, he still answered honestly, "I entered the palace when I was seven years old. The chief steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave me the name Xiao Xiangzi and assigned me to the flower room to take care of flowers and plants. Later, because I accidentally broke a pot of Green Cloud that Eunuch Chang loved the most, Eunuch Chang said that I was an unlucky person, so he changed my name to Xiao Xuanzi and demoted me to the cold palace."
Green Cloud is a more famous variety of chrysanthemum. Its branches are green, the flower color is also slightly green, and the petals are medium and fine tube petals. In particular, the outer petals extend downward, just like colorful clouds, beautiful and full of fairy spirit.
Hence the name Green Cloud. But every plant, flower and water in this palace belong to the noble masters. How can he, a eunuch, say "Eunuch Chang's favorite Luyun"?
Jiang Xinyue understood that Xiao Xuanzi was trying to deceive Eunuch Chang.
Her own people were almost tricked, so Jiang Xinyue also cooperated and looked at the emperor: "Xiao Xuanzi was of low status at that time and could not contact the masters above. It was normal that he did not know the name of the third prince. The chief eunuch of the flower room often sent flowers and decorations to the masters of each palace. Didn't he know that there was a word "Xuan" in the name of the third prince?"
It is definitely not acceptable to say that he didn't know. The eunuchs who can sit in the position of chief are not idle people. They will even inquire about the families of the ladies in each palace clearly, and then cater to their preferences, so that they can rise step by step.
Xiao Xuanzi was also patient. Even if he didn't know the name of the Third Prince before, after serving Jiang Xinyue, he was considered a well-known eunuch in the palace.
But he didn't rush to complain to Jiang Xinyue, nor did he go to Eunuch Chang to trouble him privately. Instead, he waited for an opportunity like today to let his master find out and then seek justice for him.
He was a person who never bothered his master to stand up for him.
The emperor was already unhappy, and seeing this, Xiao Xuanzi quickly apologized: "I deserve to die. I didn't know that I had the same name as the Third Prince. If I had known, I would never change my name."
Jiang Xinyue tugged at the emperor's sleeve: "I didn't know it before! You call him the Third Prince every day but never ask his name."
Emperor Xuanwu patted her hands: "I'm not blaming you."
He was unhappy that the eunuch surnamed Chang dared to use the Third Prince's name.
Wang Dequan was standing outside the emperor's carriage. As soon as Emperor Xuanwu drew aside the curtain, he came over and said, "Your Majesty..."
"Tell Shiliang to go back and remove the chief eunuch of the flower room for me and send him to the cold palace."
He didn't want Xiaoxuan to... no...
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and said to Xiaoxuanzi, "It's not good to offend the reputation of the Third Prince. From today on, you should change back to your real name, Xiaoxiangzi."
Xiaoxiangzi was delighted: "Thank you, my Lord, for your grace."
God knew how nervous he was every day with the name Xiaoxuanzi, for fear that Concubine De would suddenly attack him.
Jiang Xinyue then poured the emperor a cup of warm tea: "The third prince is not silent because of poisoning. I think it must be due to psychological reasons. I hope that this summer vacation trip will allow him to speak."
What psychological reasons would cause him not to want to speak?
Jiang Xinyue felt that it would be more credible if the third prince explained it to his father in person. There
were also Nanny Xiang and Xi Que in the carriage. Nanny Xiang was going to hold the sixth prince, and Xi Que was also because her leg injury was still very serious.
Nanny Lu had to feed the baby, so she certainly couldn't undress in front of the emperor, so she sat in a carriage at the back, riding in the same carriage with Shuangjiang and several palace maids who served Jiang Xinyue.
The sixth prince's milk was fed at a fixed time and place. When the time came, Nanny Xiang would hold him in the carriage at the back to feed him.
Jiang Chuan stayed in Hexi Palace to guard it. Jiang Xinyue promised to let him come for summer vacation next year and asked Xiao Xiangzi to look after the house.
The Sixth Prince was only two months old. He had no perception of everything around him. He ate and slept, and slept and ate. The few times he was awake, he just lay in the carriage and stared blankly.
But Emperor Xuanwu still had a lot of fun playing with him. Mainly when Emperor Xuanwu teased the Sixth Prince, the Sixth Prince would occasionally smile, which made him feel very accomplished.
The carriages of the princes and princesses followed the emperor's carriage. The Third Prince, the Fourth Prince and the Second Princess were in the same carriage, eating, playing and admiring the scenery along the way.
The eldest princess had passed her twelfth birthday and felt sorry that she could not ride in a carriage with her younger brothers and sisters.
So much so that she got carsick after the team had only been driving for two hours.
Fortunately, the Imperial Concubine had already inquired about the conditions of the young masters and prepared motion sickness medicine and food such as tangerine peel and oranges.
The eldest princess's cakes are mainly light and sour, which can help overcome some of the dizziness caused by motion sickness.
Chenzhou is not too far from the capital. The location of the summer palace was carefully selected. It had to be cool but not too far away, otherwise the carriage would have traveled for a month or two and the summer would be over.
From here to the summer palace, it only takes two days by carriage and one day by water, which adds up to three days.
Chenzhou is surrounded by mountains and rivers. The temperature difference between the four seasons is not big throughout the year. It is not very hot or very cold. It can be said to be the most suitable environment for people to live.
Moreover, because the summer resort was built in Qinzhou, it boosted the local economy. Today, the prosperity of Qinzhou is comparable to that of the prosperous cities such as Beijing and Chang'an.
Two days later, the royal procession to Chenzhou stopped at a magnificently renovated pier, which was heavily guarded.
Emperor Xuanwu helped Jiang Xinyue get off the carriage and prepared to transfer to a boat.
"Help... Help me..."
Suddenly, a woman in gray linen rushed out of the guard of the soldiers and ran towards Jiang Xinyue and his group.