Chapter 259 On the Eve of the Southern Tour
At night, Xiao Jingheng came to Changle Palace as promised.
Song Zhao prepared a hotpot for dinner today. It didn't require any complicated preparation. All he needed was a delicious soup base and fresh ingredients.
The dining table was moved to the courtyard.
With the sky full of broken stars, Song Zhao and Xiao Jingheng sat around the stove, listening to the bubbling sound of the pot and watching the shy crescent moon hiding in the gauze-like clouds. They were quite happy and comfortable.
During this time, when Song Zhao was putting the slices of grouper into Xiao Jingheng's plate, he saw the wound on her palm that had not yet healed.
Xiao Jingheng put down his bowl and chopsticks, gently grasped Song Zhao's wrist and spread his palm.
The sight of that long, bright red scar made him feel so distressed.
"What's going on?"
"No, nothing..." Song Zhao quickly closed her palm and said with a red face: "I cut it accidentally."
"That's not the case~" Yunshan didn't know the rules and interrupted, "Your Majesty knows that the Emperor likes to eat thin slices of grouper when he eats pot..."
"Yunshan, the emperor is talking to me, please don't lose your manners."
Song Zhao scolded Yunshan and told him not to continue, but Xiao Jingheng had already heard a lot from her words.
"The meat of the giant grouper is soft and tender. It is easy to cut into thin slices on a wooden table. So..."
Xiao Jingheng's gaze suddenly became hot. In his eyes, the scar on Song Zhao's palm seemed to be branded on his heart.
"Zhao'er placed the grouper in his palm, protecting it with the warmth of his palm, and accidentally hurt himself while slicing it with the knife?"
Song Zhao chuckled and shook her head, "There isn't much I can do for His Majesty. Compared to how well His Majesty treats me, this little thing is not worth mentioning."
"Silly girl." Xiao Jingheng held the girl in his arms. The cold moonlight sprinkled on Song Zhao's delicate and bright cheeks, making her skin look even whiter and more beautiful.
The scent of jasmine lingering in her hair attracted Xiao Jingheng's throbbing heart.
He nodded and kissed the girl on the forehead, "Everything you do to me is not a small matter."
Seeing the beauty in his arms blushing, Xiao Jingheng hugged her tighter and said:
"In this southern tour, in addition to the Queen and Huipin, I will also take you with me. Our Chengyu will also go with us, so you don't have to worry about him all the time."
Song Zhao knew from the beginning that whether because of her current importance in Xiao Jingheng's heart or her status as the head of the concubines, Xiao Jingheng would definitely take her with him on this southern tour.
So when Song Zhao heard Xiao Jingheng say this grace in person, there was no ripple in his heart.
He just pretended to be very happy and thanked the emperor for his grace again and again.
After dinner that day, Xiao Jingheng did not stay in Song Zhao Palace. Instead, he said that he was going back to Chaoyang Palace because of the pile of memorials and the busy court affairs, but in fact he went to Yonghe Palace.
He told Concubine Chen the same words he had told Song Zhao, but added some details.
"I will definitely take you with me on this southern tour. And seeing that you were in mourning recently, I also want you to go out for a walk to change your mood, so I have deliberately moved the trip originally scheduled for the end of the month to the day after tomorrow."
When Xiao Jingheng mentioned the loss of Concubine Chen's son, he was afraid that it would further aggravate her sorrow.
But Concubine Chen acted as if nothing had happened, and even smiled and said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty. However, the princess is too young to travel. If we all leave, I will worry about her being left alone in the palace."
Xiao Jingheng said: "I have arranged for a wet nurse to take good care of the child. If you can't bear to leave the child, we can stay there for a shorter time."
As he spoke, he tightly grasped Concubine Chen's hand and said affectionately, "No matter what, I must keep you by my side."
Concubine Chen was more likely than anyone else to indulge in Xiao Jingheng's deep affection. She hesitated for only a moment, then nodded repeatedly in agreement, "I also want to accompany the emperor forever."
“Woooo ...
As they were in love, the little princess, who had been lying quietly on the nursery couch, suddenly started crying.
Concubine Chen quickly let go of Xiao Jingheng's hand and ran to the nursery bed to coax the child.
She rocked the nursery couch gently, smiled and sang a slow nursery rhyme to the little princess.
Xiao Jingheng followed behind her, picked up the rattle beside him, and shook it twice at the little princess.
Strangely enough,
As soon as the little princess saw Xiao Jingheng, her crying became noticeably weaker.
As Xiao Jingheng shook the rattle in his hand faster and faster, the little princess burst into laughter and giggled at him.
The smile of a child is always filled with the warmest power.
Xiao Jingheng saw this and felt his heart melt, and he started laughing too.
At this moment of trance, a thought suddenly emerged in his mind.
If his son with Concubine Chen were still alive, he would probably be as cute as the little princess, right?
When she saw her father, no matter how hard she cried, she would soon smile.
Thinking of this, the smile on his face froze again.
A child's crying always comes and goes quickly. Concubine Chen rocked the nursery couch, and soon the little princess fell into a sound sleep again.
Xiao Jingheng put the rattle aside and said softly to Concubine Chen:
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed several names for our daughter before, but I didn't think any of them were good, so I came up with one myself, calling her 'Jin Yue'. What do you think?"
"Jin Yue?"
Concubine Chen followed and recited a sentence, but she had little education and did not understand the meaning of the name, so she just smiled and said:
“It sounds nice.”
Xiao Jingheng glanced at the harp on the table and explained, "It sounds nice and has a good meaning. The harp is happy and I am pleased with you. This name also represents the friendship between Wan'er and me."
Hearing his words, Concubine Chen was quite moved.
She snuggled in Jamel Xiao's arms, feeling the warmth of his solid chest.
He freed up one hand and gently stroked Jin Yue's cheek, murmuring softly,
"Little Jinyue, did you hear that? You also like the name your father gave you, right? So does your mother."
The next day, the list of people accompanying the southern tour was delivered to the Queen.
The accompanying personnel on the list are, in descending order of rank:
The Empress, Imperial Concubine Chen, Imperial Concubine Yi, Imperial Concubine Ying, Imperial Concubine Hui, Imperial Concubine Yao, and...Concubine Tong.
When the Queen turned to Rong Yue, her movements paused for a moment.
"This Concubine Tong is very favored by the Emperor."
Shuang Ruo said, "Yes, among all the new concubines who entered the palace, the emperor picked her the most times, and her father is the admiral of the navy, so her family background is also very good."
The queen smiled and nodded, "It would be good for her to go with us on the southern tour. This would also allow me to take a look at her and see if she is someone I can use."
As she was talking, she turned to the last page of the book and saw that it said March 23rd. She was a little surprised and said:
"Wasn't it scheduled to take place in late March or early April? Why are you in such a hurry to leave the day after tomorrow?"
"He said he wanted to comfort Concubine Chen and take her out of the palace to relax early, but I got some terrible good news from the master."
Shuang Ruo approached the queen and whispered in her ear:
"Yesterday, the emperor urgently summoned me to the palace. This time, he can no longer tolerate the Ning family and plans to take action against them."
"Oh? Hahaha~" The Queen laughed after hearing this and said, "Great, this day is finally here. No wonder the Emperor is in such a hurry to leave. If the Imperial Concubine leaves Kyoto, she won't know what happened to her mother's family. When she returns from the Southern Tour and learns of her family's death, everything will be a foregone conclusion by then. Even if she kneels before the Emperor and cries her heart out, it will be of no use."
"Yes." Shuang Ruo smiled sinisterly and echoed:
"The Imperial Concubine has relied on her family's power to bully the Empress for so many years. Now that the Ning family has completely fallen, the Imperial Concubine has no one to rely on. So when will she remove this dish? Isn't it up to you, the Empress?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
