002

He didn't laugh, he just felt confused.

Could something have happened that made her come here?

Lu Jingzhuo asked the official who was giving the lecture to stop for a moment, then stood up and walked out.

"Go ahead," he said.

There wasn't even a hint of surprise in those eyes as bright as the moon, let alone enthusiasm.

Before this, she had always thought that he was just that kind of person, like the surface of a lake without wind, always calm and peaceful. But now, she had seen another side of him, and she understood that he was hiding very deeply.

Looking at Lu Jingzhuo again, she felt very strange and said with a smile, "I'm fine."

Lu Jingzhuo: “…”

"I just wanted to come and see you, Your Highness."

She tilted her head back, her eyes were clear, her skin was as white as snow, and she looked like a young girl.

Lu Jingzhuo pursed his thin lips tightly, without changing his expression.

Their eyes met and there was a moment of dead silence.

After a moment he said, "Since everything is fine, go back." He turned around and left her with a cold back.

Chu Yin was not angry. She thought that Lu Jingzhuo must be very surprised because it was the first time she spoke to him like this.

His princess was still at the window.

Amid the lush green of the garden, this touch of cherry blossom stands out particularly, so bright that it dazzles the eyes.

Lu Jingzhuo glanced at the scene and recalled what happened four years ago. At that time, their family was still in Qingzhou and his father was still a vassal king. However, judging from the situation in the palace, his father would most likely be the next emperor, so he was very cautious in choosing a wife.

In the end, my father and mother chose Chu Yin.

They had only met twice before and didn't know each other, but children have never had the final say in life-long affairs.

Not long after he married Chu Yin, the emperor died without a successor, and that group of officials pushed his father onto the throne.

When they were preparing to move their family to the capital, they discovered that Chu Yin was pregnant.

Fearing that the long journey would harm his body and the child, Chu Yin chose to stay in Qingzhou, and very considerately said that he did not need his care or company, and asked him to help his father deal with matters related to his ascension.

He saw Chu Yin clearly at that moment.

She let him go to the capital because she was afraid that something might happen during this period that would affect the future succession to the throne. For this reason, she would rather face the danger of having a child alone and bear everything.

In her heart, the most important thing is that he can become the crown prince and she can become the crown princess.

Later, she gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, in Qingzhou. However, because the children were small and weak, she stayed there for almost two years before returning to Beijing.

Although they had been married for four years, they had actually only been together for a few months. Plus, they had been apart for so long that they felt a little estranged from each other.

Why did she suddenly behave like this today?

Lu Jingzhuo was puzzled.

The eunuch Dong Ling reminded him, "Your Highness, you haven't read your book for a long time."

Lu Jingzhuo: “…”

Never mind her. Actually, she just came to see him. It’s not a big deal.

He concentrated again.

When Chu Yin returned to the East Palace, the two children had already finished their meal and were being taken by Qi Niang and Zhou to look at the brocade fish kept in the celadon jar.

For good luck, the number of broccoli is always kept in an even number, either twelve or ten, with different colors, golden, red and white, black and spotted, and they are fat and big, and look very cute.

Lu Zhen waved: "Mom, come here!"

When the two wet nurses saw her, they bowed in greeting.

Chu Yin's eyes fell on Zhou.

Zhou took good care of her son and her ability was on par with Qiniang's. She was very satisfied with him, but it was not until after his death that she saw Zhou's ambition.

At that time, the son had lost his mother and was heartbroken. He was particularly dependent on Zhou. Zhou took the opportunity to use all her skills to entangle him.

Later, the son's feelings for her grew deeper and deeper, and most of Zhou's requests would be met. Zhou acted tyrannically in the palace and placed all her relatives in the palace, acting like an empress dowager.

Chu Yin almost vomited blood when he saw it.

But what can she do? Who made her die early?

Feeling the Crown Princess's cold gaze, Zhou's eyelashes trembled and she asked in a low voice, "But what did I do wrong?"

Chu Yin ignored her and just took her son and daughter's hands and said, "Let's go and see the pomegranate flowers. Pomegranates will grow soon..."

Watching her back walk away, Zhou asked Qi Niang in a low voice: "What happened to the Crown Princess?"

Qi Niang shook her head: "I don't know. I've been acting weird this morning. But don't worry. You raised Er Ge'er. As long as he doesn't make any mistakes, the Crown Princess won't punish you for no reason." She was also saying this to comfort herself.

But in fact, Chu Yin was already thinking about how to drive Zhou away.

Of course, given her status, it is not impossible for her to do it now. It's just that Zhou was the wet nurse chosen for her by her mother-in-law before she went to the capital. She also stayed in Qingzhou and took good care of her son. There was nothing wrong with her.

Chu Yin looked down at her son, who was squatting and observing the ants on the ground.

He is three years old now and he certainly doesn't have much affection for Zhou, so he probably won't be reluctant to let her go.

Besides, even if you are reluctant, you can just coax him. His memory is not deep enough yet, so it is better to stop it as soon as possible.

She decided to talk to Lu Jingzhuo about it in the evening.

Lu Zhen didn't care about the ants, she only looked at the pomegranate flowers: "Are pomegranates delicious?"

"Don't you remember, Zhen'er? I ate it last year, it was very sweet." Chu Yin pinched her little face, "As sweet as Zhen'er."

Lu Zhen was surprised: "I am sweet?" She lowered her head and licked the back of her hand, then shook her head, "Not sweet."

Chu Yin burst out laughing at her cuteness.

In the future, Lu Zhen’s husband will also say that she is sweet. She will not doubt it then, but will just blush.

However, her future son-in-law is still young, only seven years old, four years older than her daughter. He is Fu Yue, the eldest son of the Duke of Song.

The time for their first meeting has not yet arrived. Although Chu Yin really wants to meet her son-in-law, she dare not disturb the process of their getting to know each other for fear of affecting the outcome, so she can only wait slowly.

Lu Jingzhuo did not return to the East Palace until the evening.

When the two children saw their father, they ran up to him and called him "Daddy".

Lu Jingzhuo curled his lips, rubbed the two men's heads, and said a few words casually, but without much enthusiasm.

Maybe it was because he was not around when the children were born and missed too many things, so his relationship with them was always weak, not as close as the one between her and her children. But Chu Yin had nothing to regret. Things have their priorities. Although Lu Jingzhuo is the legitimate son, his half-brother is also very much liked by his father-in-law. Who knows what changes may happen, and no one can predict.

"Your Highness," Chu Yin stepped forward and said, "I have something to discuss with you."

Lu Jingzhuo asked, "What's the matter?"

"I want Er's wet nurse to leave the palace."

Lu Jingzhuo was puzzled: "Didn't you bring her from Qingzhou? Why do you suddenly not want her?"

Of course Chu Yin couldn't tell the truth.

"After all, he is a boy. He will move out of the East Palace in two years. It is not good for him to always have a wet nurse by his side. I want him to be independent as soon as possible... or add two more eunuchs and fewer women to serve him."

After hearing her say this, Lu Jingzhuo had the wrong idea. He thought that she was afraid that her son would become addicted to women and be as unrestrained as his grandfather.

But is it too early to take precautions?

However, Chu Yin had always been the one who was concerned about the two children, and he did not understand the situation: "Do whatever you want."

"But we still need the Queen Mother's consent. After all, it was the Queen Mother who chose this person." Chu Yin moved closer to him. "Your Highness, you won't forget it, right?"

He had indeed forgotten.

Lu Jingzhuo glanced at her.

Her smile remained unchanged, with half of her body almost pressed against his arm.

Through the thin summer shirt, I can feel the warmth of the skin underneath, and a sense of fullness somewhere.

Thinking about what happened in Chunhui Pavilion before, he felt that Chu Yin was a little abnormal today.

Even if you want him to speak up in front of his mother, there's no need to be so close to him, right?

But he did not push her away: "When the Queen Mother feels better, I will find time to talk to her."

In her previous life, she would not bother him with trivial matters because they each had their own responsibilities to fulfill. He was a good crown prince and she was a good crown princess, and they would not burden each other, so she did not know how he would react.

But now she saw that he did not think she was too much trouble and was willing to take the initiative to look for his mother-in-law. It was obvious that he really liked her. It was just that she was blinded by his serious appearance and never tried to discover it.

Chu Yin shook his arm gently: "Thank you, Your Highness."

The fragrance was so abundant, the sweet-scented osmanthus in her hair, the orchid on her clothes, the unique feminine scent on her body, all overlapping and enveloping him like mist, and also her overly sweet voice and coquettish movements...

He suddenly felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

"Is it time to eat?" He pulled out his arm and walked towards the round table.

Normally, the two children would not stay in the main hall at this time, but Chu Yin had not been with her family for a long time, so she asked them to eat here as well.

Naturally, I couldn't eat peacefully.

Seeing her feeding this and that, Lu Jingzhuo couldn't help but say, "Why don't you let them eat by themselves? It's not like they can't hold chopsticks."

"It's a rare occasion, it's okay."

As far as she could remember, she hadn't been with her child for twelve years, so naturally she didn't think anything of it.

Lu Jingzhuo stared at her and said nothing more.

If Chu Yin continues like this tomorrow, he will not allow it.

After dinner, the two children played in the hall for a while before returning to the side hall.

Chu Yin ordered Lian Xuan to prepare orchid-scented bath soup. She wanted to take a bath and enjoy the joy of living a new life.

When she closed her eyes in the bucket, she felt so comfortable that she almost fell asleep.

It was already the hour of Xu when we returned to the inner hall.

Lu Jingzhuo would rest at this time every day and get up at the morning hour the next day.

When he lay down, Chu Yin smelled the slightly cool fragrance on his shirt, and suddenly thought of those days and nights. He would attend court early in the day and handle government affairs, but at night he was invaded by longing and suffered from insomnia. She wanted to hug him countless times, to comfort him and let him live well, but she only hugged emptiness.

But now she can touch it.

Chu Yin turned around and snuggled gently in his arms.

Lu Jingzhuo's body stiffened.

They are husband and wife, so such behavior is normal, but Chu Yin would never do this before. Unless he took action first, she would fall asleep peacefully and was very sensible.

What happened to her today?

I came to Chunhui Pavilion to see him this morning. He was sticking to me just now, and now he is just...

Thinking of how she showed love for children during dinner, Lu Jingzhuo suddenly had a thought in his mind: is she in a hurry to have another one?

This is the only possibility.

How else to explain her actions?

The woman was shy and must have been too embarrassed to say that she wanted a child, so she could only hint through her actions.

He considered for a moment and placed his hands on her waist.