After Gao Xuance's return, the happiest person was Emperor Jianzhang, as he now had help in handling government affairs. The second happiest person was Chengyun, as father and son could meet often before the war.
On this day, Cheng Yun was released by the emperor. Yao Niang asked the kitchen to prepare delicious food. The family of five gathered together, looking at each other and feeling very happy.
Gao Xuance saw the little kids sitting next to him. Although he was not a very filial person, he felt very comfortable under the lights of thousands of homes.
"Okay, everyone, don't just stand there. Chengyun, we have your favorite honey-roasted quail and crispy fish. Since you don't like mutton, I asked someone to prepare eel noodles. There are also rice dishes such as Pantao Rice and Yujing Rice. Just tell them what you want, okay?" Yao Niang only remembered to let Chengyun enjoy his meal.
After all, Chengze and Xun Ge'er were by his side, and Chengze would have dinner with Yao Niang every night when he came home, so there was no need for him to do so. Yao Niang would ask the kitchen to prepare whatever he wanted to eat.
As long as he has the luck, he will not suffer in Fu Ning Palace, but there will be some inconvenience after all.
Following your grandfather is different from following your own mother.
Cheng Yun smiled and said, "I understand, mother."
The children were not allowed to drink alcohol yet, and Yao Niang was also not allowed to drink alcohol as she was pregnant, so everyone used pulp and honey water instead of alcohol and drank together.
Sometimes Yao Niang is not as meticulous as Gao Xuance. She has always adhered to the principle of grasping the big picture and letting go. Although she likes to worry, she only likes to worry about things she likes. It doesn't matter if she suffers some losses in other things.
Gao Xuance asked Cheng Yun one by one about how his life was in Funing Palace, who he got along with, whether he suffered any losses, etc.
Of course, both father and son are good at riding, archery, and military tactics. For Cheng Yun, he regards Gao Xuance as the only person with whom he can speak freely, because Gao Xuance has practiced martial arts for many years and does not act like a father.
Yao Niang didn't understand a lot of things they talked about, but she didn't interrupt to ask questions. Instead, she took care of the two children while taking careful note of what she didn't understand so that she could learn about it in the future.
She is not the kind of person who would ignore something just because she thinks it has nothing to do with her.
In a family, there must be both a mother and a father to educate their children together so that the children can grow up healthily. For example, when Chengyun said he wanted to go horse racing after dinner, Chengze also insisted on going, and even Xun'er looked at his brothers with eagerness in his eyes.
Before the meal was finished, Gao Xuance found that Yao Niang was already drowsy. He said to the children, "Your mother is very sleepy. I will carry her in to rest."
The three boys were very obedient. They didn't say a word and kept quiet. Yao Niang didn't even notice that she was being carried to bed. She only found herself in bed when she woke up in the middle of the night to drink tea.
She pushed the person next to her: "I want to drink some water."
Gao Xuance was pushed awake from his sleep. He was about to get angry, but when he heard that it was Yao Niang who wanted to drink water, he quickly got up and poured water for her. Looking at her small face hidden in her soft long hair, he felt heartbroken.
"It's all my fault. We have three sons, which is enough."
Yao Niang shook her head: "Well, we are already pregnant, why are you still talking about this? If you say this to our father and mother, we will be really finished."
To be honest, if she was in poor health, had narrow hips, or even had uterine cold and irregular periods, she would not be so stupid as to enter the palace. Although she wanted to be a support for Yu, she was not so stupid as to completely ignore her own life or death.
In her previous life, it was relatively easy for her to give birth to a child in that condition. Although she had some minor ailments, they were all properly managed.
But the imperial physician would prescribe medicine for her from time to time, and she would not hide it. In this palace where fertility plays an absolute role in a woman's development, you can't say that you have it easy. You must say that you also have minor ailments and problems. Only in this way can others feel that giving birth to children is not easy and that it is really hard work for women.
After drinking the water, she went to the toilet again and lay on the bed, feeling upset and irritable and unable to fall asleep.
Huang Rushuang also had trouble sleeping. Her mother Zhuang Lingyi had also returned with her stepfather. When she saw her mother again after returning from the palace, she seemed unable to recognize her.
"Mom, what's wrong with you? Why are you so thin?"
Zhuang Lingyi had been ill for some time at the border since she was humiliated by Gao Xuance last time. Later, she was relieved to see that Gao Xuance did not look for her again.
But from now on she no longer had the airs of a legitimate daughter of the Duke of Xian. No matter what, she had to live her life well now.
The Xian Guo Mansion has become a mere shell, and Madam Zhuang has lost her mind. This has probably happened in the past two years. With her mother, she still has a home. Without her mother, she has no home.
Precisely because she is so clear-headed, she wants to live well because she still has children.
"I'm fine. How about you? How are you doing in the palace?" She wanted to know whether the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess had targeted her daughter.
Huang Rushuang smiled and said, "It's very good in the palace. My daughter and Miss Jing have moved out of the East Palace and have been living in the Hanfang Palace. We usually pay our respects to the Empress, and the Crown Princess always sends us snacks and takes very good care of us."
Huang Rushuang said that she still liked the life in the palace. Although her grandmother's house was good, she was a granddaughter and had to live under someone else's roof.
In the palace, she just needs to follow Jing Wan, and Wan Wan is also a very nice person.
Zhuang Lingyi finally put aside her lofty side and went to Princess Zhenyang's mansion to flatter her. If her daughter wants to gain a foothold in the palace now, she still has to rely on Princess Zhenyang.
There is just one thing. Zhuang Lingyi said to Huang Rushuang: "Don't think too much about what your mother told you before about pursuing a career. With our family background, it's good enough to be valued by nobles."
Even she, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Xian, had never thought that she would be despised like that by Gao Xuance, let alone a daughter?
Perhaps, she expected Gao Xuance to be tolerant, but at the same time she felt that he might not care about Huang Rushuang at all.
After a while of being distracted, I heard my daughter say, "Mother, I feel that in the palace, although I am just a servant, as long as I am by the side of the Queen, everyone will subconsciously try to please me. Even if the person who comes is a first-rank imperial minister, they will be very polite to me, but my daughter knows that they are not being polite because of me, but because I am by the Queen's side."
Her daughter actually understood something that she had not understood for many years.
When she was very young, she had everything, but she looked down upon it, thinking that a simple life was best. The life in the palace, which was as deep as the sea, would drive a person crazy.
Now she realizes the importance of power and status.
That is the courage to make others shut up, but it is very difficult because her husband does not hold a high position and seems to want to get benefits from her.
But Gao Xuance in the palace made her feel uneasy: "Shuang'er, now that mother is back, why don't you leave the palace too? I think it's not that easy to get by in the palace."
Huang Rushuang shook her head: "If you can choose to fly, who would choose to walk?"
She didn't like her stepfather, who was very rude and snorted while eating. And her stepsister looked at her with unfriendly eyes and was very defensive. In the Duke of Xian's Mansion, she was living under someone else's roof, so it would be better for her to enter the palace.
I heard that the Crown Princess also served as a reading companion before she took the leap.
Moreover, although there are many rules in the palace, she can see hope.
Zhuang Lingyi had no choice but to go to Princess Zhenyang's mansion again while Wanwan was still at home, using his former study partner's identity. Princess Zhenyang met Zhuang Lingyi for a few days after her daughter came back.
She asked Wanwan privately, "Did Miss Huang have an accident in the palace?"
Wanwan shook her head: "No, how could anything go wrong?"
"Then why does she come to my house so often? After Zhuang Lingyi remarried, her personality changed." Princess Zhenyang found it strange.
"I don't know." Wanwan felt that everything was much easier now that she could return to the princess's mansion.
In the princess's mansion, she could do whatever she wanted and was not as restricted as in the palace.
Princess Zhenyang also felt sorry for her daughter: "You have to get up early every day to study. Look at your hair, it has become much thinner."
She herself was in poor health because of the exhaustion from studying. She suffered pain and discomfort all over her body every time she had her period. If it weren't for her desire for her daughter to be given the title of a princess, Princess Zhenyang would have felt sorry for her daughter and wanted to take her back.
"My daughter can't get up in the morning, but she's afraid of what others will say, so she has to wake up early. Mother, it's really hard. My daughter heard that my second cousin is a little behind in his studies, and the Crown Princess even scolded him for not being diligent enough." Wanwan was still frightened after hearing this.
Princess Zhenyang shook her head: "I don't know what the Crown Princess will do? She was so diligent and hardworking before, and she is still the same after becoming the Crown Princess. Let me say--"
She couldn't say anything more about what would happen if the second or third son worked too hard and then tried to seize the throne.
Isn't history going to repeat itself?
But she still knows her limits and won't say anything irresponsible.
Wanwan was puzzled again: "Mom, my uncle doesn't seem to be as good to me as my aunt? Isn't he your biological brother?"
Everyone said that my mother was the only legitimate princess and had been doted on since she was a child, but why did everyone in the palace revolve around my uncle? It was really everyone, including my grandparents and even the Crown Princess. Since the Crown Prince came back, the Crown Princess has been revolving around him.
What’s even more exaggerated is that even among the children, Cheng Yun’s eldest cousin and his brothers always revolve around their uncle in various ways.
Princess Zhenyang didn't care after hearing this: "Your uncle is the crown prince, this is as it should be."
Since childhood, the Queen Mother has loved the third brother the most. What's so strange about that?
She had been dissatisfied before and even expressed it to Yao Niang, but Yao Niang later became like her mother, almost regarding her husband as her God.
"Wanwan, you must remember, you may be my daughter, but in the palace, you must be careful with your words and actions." She warned her daughter.
Wanwan has always been obedient and listens to her mother.
從高玄策回來，瑤娘就更從容了，畢竟一人計短兩人計長，有高玄策在，她就有個絕對執行她命令的跑腿的了。
當然，今天他沒法跑腿，因為今日是承運拜師。
羅至正被選為承運的師傅，他本身又是他的外公，承運連忙要行禮，羅至正連忙擺手：“請您千萬別多禮，老夫受不起。”
“先生在上，弟子行禮是尊師重道，請您讓弟子行禮吧？”承運認真說着。
羅至正被衆人壓着勉強受了禮，一幅“這如何受的起”多的模樣，心裏卻是暢快的很，無論如何，自己以後也能經常和外孫接觸了。
高玄策笑道：“以後就勞煩羅閣老了。”
“又作怪，喊什麽羅閣老，這不是你的老泰山麽？”建章帝笑罵。
近些年建章帝雖然很疼幾個年紀小的兒子，但不知怎麽他也總覺得高玄策性子沒長大似的，今天早上父子倆還鬧別扭，建章帝對高玄策還是一貫疼愛。
羅至正悄悄看了高玄策一眼，心道連女兒都被他哄了去，更何況是皇上？難得有太子這麽受寵的。
高玄策恍然不覺，等等兒子的拜師禮過後，才回到東宮，跟瑤娘說這個好消息。
“有我爹教肯定無事，你不知曉我的幾位兄弟，我爹爹眼高于頂，誰都看不上，所以他要求很嚴格。有他管教咱們兒子，我就放心了。”瑤娘笑。
高玄策卻搖頭：“你不知道，這人啊，隔輩親，攔都攔不住的。”
真是旁觀者親，瑤娘苦惱：“那如何是好？”
高玄策扶着她的肩膀：“不比擔心，父皇這麽做，肯定有他的理由，興許，他的身體不是很好了。”
最直接的是，福寧殿的太監幾乎都開始時不時給高玄策傳遞消息，皇帝的人開始投靠你，就說明皇上身體很有可能有問題。
他越發按捺不動，甚至在建章帝提出要把麗貴妃侄女許配給他做良娣的時候，高玄策直接拒絕了。
“父皇，固然長者賜不敢辭，但是太子妃賢惠，她有身孕時，也讓人在伺候兒子。何苦又要再納一個呢？再說了，她是麗貴妃的侄女，按照身份都可以做皇子正妃了。”
建章帝聽兒子義正言辭，也是松了一口氣，他自從上次暈倒一次後，麗貴妃因為當場見證過，所以人心惶惶，一直在他面前提及她的侄女，似乎是想讓他說一門親事。
而這個宮中，誰的身份最高，當然是太子高玄策。
也許将來自己駕崩，五皇子和六皇子就藩也能去更好點的封地，否則，高玄策自己就好幾個兒子，憑什麽要把好地方給弟弟而不給自己的親兒子呢？
要知曉麗貴妃的五皇子和承運年紀差不多的。
要說高玄策也是個很任性的人，他不能允許皇帝賜人，否則，到時候自己礙于孝道得還得把一個女人供着，何其對不起瑤娘？
如果自己無子，父皇這般賜人還算是情有可原，現下瑤娘有了三個兒子，還肚子裏又揣着一個，他再賜人下來，不是打瑤娘的臉嗎？
“好，朕知道了，難道你們夫妻恩愛。罷了，今日無事，你先下去吧。”
如果高玄策知道自己是要托孤，肯定就答應了，并且揣測自己的心意，很有可能不敢拂逆。如今看來，兒子還不知曉自己到底情況如何。
他回來立馬就和瑤娘報備：“你放心，就是父皇也沒有辦法強迫我的。”
“可是若父皇用這件事情看你是否孝順呢？”瑤娘覺得這個問題很尖銳，但還是問了出來。
江山和自己，他覺得哪一個更重要？
就像自己當年提起的絕纓會中，楚莊王寧可犧牲美人被人揩油，也不願意軍士受罰，影響軍心。
因為一個人有了權力，要多少美人沒有？
高玄策知道最好的辦法就是良娣也娶進門，當擺設就行，自己和瑤娘結締，一心一意。
可這個念頭他不敢想，因為他不能容許自己這樣，名義上也不行。
“即便父皇如此無禮，那我也要抗旨不遵，大不了就做個藩王。等以後我自己再奪回這個位置咯，我不想看到你受委屈。”高玄策下意識就如此。
瑤娘沒想到他這麽說，一時也不知道說什麽。
“你舍得嗎？舍得那些追随你的人？舍得一步之遙的位置嗎？”也不知道怎麽，平日她從來不會問這麽尖銳的地步。
高玄策走到她的前面，“我不敢瞞你，如果是娶的別人，就是三房五妾于我而言也沒什麽大不了的。但是對你，我可以放棄，什麽都可以放棄。我永遠都不可能被人哄着走。”
只是因為是你——
不是因為我博愛。
如果沒有你，我對誰也就那樣。
“我高玄策這一輩子真真假假，說了很多謊話，對誰都不是真心，唯獨對你，我從不會負心。”
瑤娘看了他一眼，這已經是深秋了，他額頭上流下豆大的汗，一看就是急出來的。
她把他拉到圈椅上坐下，自己則依偎在他懷裏：“我信你。”
高玄策把頭埋在她的肩膀上：“不管別人怎麽說，你信我永遠都是對你一片真心，沒有人能夠哄的走我。”
夫妻相擁，久久不能分開。
建章帝當然也對麗貴妃說起賜婚的事情，這次，他說的是五皇子的婚事，“建國侯聽聞有個女兒，是正妻所出，朕想将她許配給老五，等老五到了年紀就成婚。”
至于沈惜音他就完全沒提。
比起侄女來，兒子能和建國侯府聯姻，麗貴妃盈盈下拜：“臣妾替老五謝皇上您的隆恩。”
她也很聰明的沒有問侄女兒的婚事，也正是因為麗貴妃知道進退，皇帝一直都很喜歡她。
那麗貴妃雖然有些失望，但和侄女兒提起此事時，也是松了一口氣：“其實若真的把你給了太子，即便你顏若朝華，可太子妃和太子感情不是一般的好。羅家可不是我們沈家這樣的外戚，要對付你太容易了。現在你自由了，日後出去讓家裏替你說一門好親事，本宮也就放心了。”
沈惜音更是道：“能夠出宮，侄女兒也開心，在外面能時常和爹娘見面。太子妃為人極好，但侄女想她常年一個人在宮中，面對周王妃和四皇子妃來勢洶洶，還能抵擋得住，可見她心機頗深，恐怕侄女并非是她的對手。”
“欸，你也不要妄自菲薄，以你的相貌才情，讓男子傾心也很容易。”麗貴妃也并不覺得侄女哪裏差。
就像當年她進宮時，洪皇後很得寵，她還得小心服侍着，現在皇帝幾乎都不去年紀大的妃子那裏了。
男人都是喜歡年輕漂亮的小姑娘的，就是再喜歡的人，年紀大了就不喜歡了。
可惜，皇上不開聲，大抵是覺得沈家地位太低了，沈家女連良娣都不成。畢竟，對于太子，皇帝一向都是給最好的。
皇帝不同意，她是絕對不可能唱反調的，況且羅家也不是好惹的。
沈惜音是外戚，有麗貴妃這個寵妃在內，本身姿容不俗，倒是嫁入一戶大戶人家，此事也是之後的事情了。
現下，瑤娘得了高玄策的承諾，扶着肚子總覺得這輩子，她好像把前世缺的東西都彌補回來了。
父母疼愛，嫁得如意郎君，身居高位，即将母儀天下，甚至連兒子也不是前世那個只做髒活的錦衣衛，而是光明正大的皇上的嫡長孫。
可是她自己呢？
她雖然感念于父母丈夫都在身邊，可不知怎麽，還是和前世一樣，她依舊要避忌鋒芒，前世是為了避諱徐青容，現在是為了做太子的賢妻良母，不能讓皇帝認為她出格。
其實內心還是沒什麽兩樣。
或許我将來該做一些什麽事情？
想到這裏，她自己也搖搖頭。
卻說真陽公主過了些時日進宮來，她是琢磨婉婉的封號問題，也不想孩子受苦，她希望瑤娘也能幫忙：“你我當年讀書十分疲累，我膝下只有這一個女兒，不希望她和我們一樣受苦，只希望她平平安安的長大。”
這就是說想婉婉回家，但回家之前盡快把郡主封诰的事情搞定。
果然，她自嘲的笑笑：“其實我不在意什麽虛名，但我身子早壞了，不可能再生孩子了。将來婉婉若有個身份庇佑，我才能放心。”
“這事兒我也聽母後說了，你別急，大公主的女兒也在宮中，除非一起封賞，否則皇上肯定不肯。”瑤娘覺得真陽公主太急。
真陽公主卻道：“驸馬歸來後，我們想着要回江南了，這些年，我還是喜歡在江南，自在不拘束。所以希望快些把事情定下來，這樣，我們也好走。”
關鍵是瑤娘本身無法作主，而真陽公主說這些，其實是想她和高玄策提起。
她們兄妹關系一直都不太好，這和瑤娘無關，從很早開始真陽就覺得母親偏愛高玄策，所以一直就不喜三哥，經常為二哥打抱不平。
But as to why Queen Hong likes Gao Xuance, it is probably because he is smart, intelligent, filial, and most importantly, he is on her side.
In the palace, giving birth to a daughter and a son are completely different, unless the girl can inherit the throne. Queen Hong is not stupid, of course she knows how to choose, and Princess Zhenyang is not the kind of person who is good at reading people's expressions and fighting for favors.
In many children's homes, parents are usually partial. Some pity the poor and weak, some want to rob the rich and help the poor, and some like those who are smart and good-looking.
If she were Princess Zhenyang's companion, she would definitely feel sorry for her, but as Gao Xuance's wife, she felt that who would not be partial to Gao Xuance?
After all, he is such a lovely person that makes people's heart beat.
She was always considered fair and just by others, but the only time she showed moral bias was towards him.