Little Prince
Chen Yuanyuan was confused by these incoherent words, and she was even more bewildered by the way she was lifted up high and then put down gently.
The little prince was even more puzzled. As soon as he arrived at the side hall, he dismissed everyone and stared at her face.
"Your Highness, is my face unclean?" Chen Yuanyuan felt uneasy when she was stared at by an eight-year-old child.
"Nothing unclean." The little prince withdrew his gaze and clasped his hands. "You look a bit like my mother."
Looks like Empress Yan? No way, the late Empress Yan was said to be very dignified.
"Not the Queen." The little prince seemed to see what Ling Wan was thinking and smiled gently at her, "I was talking about my mother. Your eyes are very similar to hers."
Ah. Chen Yuanyuan took a long time to react. She had been inadvertently informed of a palace secret.
Ahhh. Does this little political monster wish the Shen and Xu families weren't exterminated fast enough?
"Don't be afraid. As long as you don't say it, only heaven and earth, you and I will know it." The little prince's eyes seemed to have X-ray vision, and he could see Chen Yuanyuan's thoughts clearly.
Xu Lingwan coughed unnaturally several times, but after drinking several sips of water, she realized that she didn't know if the water was poisonous.
"Don't worry, father won't kill you." Xiao Yuanxi looked at the pair of bitter eyes in front of him who realized the truth belatedly, and spoke again to reassure her.
Logically speaking, a daughter from the Xu family wouldn't be so careless. But... Father also said that there is always a but.
"Just now you told father that you are not afraid of the teacher?" Xiao Yuanxi looked at the pair of apricot eyes that were exactly the same as his mother's, and couldn't help wanting to talk to her more.
"Chen Cong is my husband, so naturally I am not afraid." Although she couldn't understand why the old emperor let her be alone with the prince, the series of actions of the young prince after arriving at the side hall made her like him more.
Maybe it was because she was a mother, but she felt a sense of familiarity towards the little prince.
"That teacher was very good to you. He was very strict when he taught me in the East Palace." Xiao Yuanxi didn't know what he was thinking about and smiled leisurely.
Ling Wan secretly clicked her tongue and said, "Then you must not be paying attention in class or doing your homework well." You see, studying has always been a difficult problem for primary school students.
"Yeah. When I was reciting the lesson that day, I was thinking about asking the eunuch to play a spinning top for me after school, so I lost track of where I was." Xiao Yuanxi half-closed his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering like two butterfly wings. "The teacher was furious and punished all the tutors and eunuchs in the East Palace, and even himself."
The royal family was a noble family, so when the princes made mistakes as children, they were punished by their close eunuchs or tutors. But it was rare for a teacher to punish himself.
Chen Yuanyuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Why did Chen Cong punish himself?"
"The teacher said that if a teacher does not teach strictly, he will be lazy. He did not take good care of me, so the servants around him took advantage of this opportunity to please me." Xiao Yuanxi said in a light tone.
In ancient times, there really wasn't much of a concept of combining education with entertainment, let alone a crown prince.
Top-notch teaching staff are indeed rare, but those great scholars and important officials only think about how to teach a wise ruler, and never consider that a wise ruler was also a curious and playful child when he was young.
"Chen Cong was right to punish himself." Naturally, she couldn't say that her husband's parenting methods were wrong. Chen Yuanyuan thought for a moment, looked into the little prince's eyes and asked seriously, "Your Highness, do you know why I think the Right Minister's actions at that time were correct?"
Xiao Yuanxi glanced at her, pursed his lips and said, "I am the crown prince of a country. Teacher, I am afraid that if I indulge in pleasure and become lazy, how can I face the people of the world in the future?"
He is a wise ruler, insightful and pragmatic.
Chen Yuanyuan nodded, but she was afraid that the little prince was just pretending, so she couldn't help but continue to explain to her husband: "Your Highness is intelligent. As the crown prince, it is indeed your responsibility to ensure peace in the world and the people's well-being."
"But I think that when Youshang punished the attendants around you and punished himself, there was another meaning. Do you want to hear my opinion?" Xu Lingwan's words were actually very presumptuous, but she was also afraid that Shen Cong would raise a little Wanli.
Xiao Yuanxi didn't take it seriously. He stared at Chen Yuanyuan for a while, then waved his sleeves and said, "Then tell me what you have to say. I'll listen."
Chen Yuanyuan quickly thanked him and then began to tell the story of "Lychees in Chang'an" in a vivid way.
"Oh, this Emperor Ming is so foolish! He wastes people's money and mobilizes the whole country's strength just to eat a few fresh lychees. It's really stupid!" Xiao Yuanxi was only eight years old after all. When he heard the end of the story, he couldn't wait to be filled with righteous indignation.
"Your Highness is right. He is indeed foolish and stupid." Children all like to listen to stories. This time, Chen Yuanyuan smiled and drank a sip of water.
"Knowing clearly that this cannot be done, why did no one in the Censorate directly criticize him? And how could all the civil and military officials just let the Emperor do what he wanted?!" As expected of the political monster of the Xiao family, the little prince quickly grasped the key point after he became angry.
Chen Yuanyuan looked at his angry expression, suppressed the urge to pinch his face, and smiled, "Because he's the emperor."
The young prince frowned, about to argue, but Ling Wan gently interrupted him, asking, "Your Highness, I've heard that there's a palace rule that states that the crown prince and heir apparent are only allowed to eat with three chopsticks. Is that true?"
This was a well-known fact in the palace. Ever since he was old enough to understand, he had been taught that no matter how much he liked something, he should not use more than three chopsticks to show his love for it. So Xiao Yuanxi nodded indifferently: "Yes, this is the rule not only in this dynasty, but also in all previous dynasties."
Chen Yuanyuan narrowed her eyes. "Then I would like to ask Your Highness, why?"
"Of course it is to prevent the palace servants from knowing the master's preferences, so as to avoid them using love and evil to harm the master." Xiao Yuanxi didn't understand why the wife of the right prime minister asked him again even though she knew the answer.
Just as he was about to continue expressing his opinion on "Chang'an Lychees", he looked at the beautiful lady in front of him who had the same eyes as her mother and smiled deeply. Suddenly, his pupils shrank slightly, and the indignant anger in his chest slowly died down.
"Madam, you want to tell me that your teacher's previous actions were, first, to accuse me of indulging in pleasure and wasting my time on pleasure; second, to punish myself as a warning to those around me who are trying to curry my favor or are observing my preferences: if you do it again, I will kill you without mercy."
After all, if the Eastern Palace Master repeatedly punished the Crown Prince for his indulgence in sensual pleasures, the Emperor and Empress would find out and, for the sake of their reputation, would only punish all the tutors and bury all the eunuchs with him.
The emperor's wrath can lead to the death of millions. This unquestionable majesty and dignity of the royal family is not just talk.
"Your Highness is intelligent." Chen Yuanyuan smiled brightly. "Your Majesty and your Highness's teachers have taught you the ways of being a monarch and the essentials of serving the country. I only know that I am just a mistress of the inner chambers, and there are people below me who want to curry my favor by currying favor with me, not to mention that Your Highness is the ruler of the Eastern Palace."
Xiao Yuanxi nodded thoughtfully. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "So what happened to Emperor Ming's kingdom?"
Chen Yuanyuan could not help but marvel at his political acumen once again and laughed, "Your Highness must have already guessed that this court is rotten to the core, with neither loyal nor good officials, let alone virtuous ones. The natural outcome is the destruction of the nation."
Xiao Yuanxi uttered an "oh" and said sternly, "It's certainly not unjust that he was killed."
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