Yao Niang will not be able to see the scene of Gao Xuance going to the battle. Even Gao Xuance does not want this kind of farewell scene. It is very sad and can easily break people's defenses and make them cry.
Probably no one knew that their wise and powerful prince was actually very fond of crying.
Cheng Yun is no longer the boy who can only speak one word at a time. At the age of two, he can almost speak normally. He occasionally asks Yao Niang if he doesn't understand something. Now that Gao Xuance is gone, he returns from outside excitedly with a sepak takraw ball, raises his head and asks Yao Niang: "Mother, where is my father? I want him to play Cuju with me."
"Your father? Your father has gone to fight the Western Rong people. Didn't your mother tell you this earlier?" Yao Niang touched her son's bald head which had not yet grown hair.
She originally thought that Cheng Yun would cry, because when Gao Xuance was at home, Yao Niang told him that he could be obsessed with national affairs, but he also had to spend enough time with his son. Therefore, no matter how busy Gao Xuance was, she would take him out to play Cuju every day when she had time, which was actually just playing sepak takraw, or even lifting the ball high, which Yao Niang thought were strenuous tasks.
As expected, Cheng Yun held his chin with both hands, and said with envy: "I really envy my father."
"Ah? Why do you envy your father? Do you also know how to fight the Western Rong?" Yao Niang looked at Cheng Yun.
He nodded like a little adult, and said to Yao Niang: "Actually, my father has told me that. Moreover, my father asked me to protect you that day."
Yao Niang smiled and said, "You are still a child now, your mother will protect you."
In short, when Gao Xuance was not around, the two of them were not very sad at home. Instead, they treated it as if he was attending court as usual. They just went to pay their respects to Concubine Hong, and they were not overly sad.
On this day, a female official came to report to Concubine Hong that Concubine Li was pregnant again. Concubine Hong couldn't help but laugh and said, "Concubine Li is a lucky woman."
As Emperor Jianzhang grows older, he now spends more time with young concubines. Unlike his previous life when he only had four princes, Concubine Li has already given birth to the fifth prince, who is about one year older than Chengyun, and is now pregnant. Although this child will be much younger than the older princes and may not seem to pose a threat on the surface, it is hard to say in reality.
Didn't Emperor Wu of Han depose the eldest son and enthrone the youngest? He deposed the elderly Crown Prince Li and enthrone Lady Gouyi's son Liu Fuling.
"This is a great joyous event. Even the Emperor will surely be happy to hear it." Concubine Hong did not care much about these young concubines because she had two sons and now was a good opportunity for her to establish herself as queen. If she tried to frame the concubines at this time, she would probably not have a good end and it would also affect her sons.
After that, she arranged for the palace maid Xing'er and others to deliver the rewards. Xing'er had been serving Concubine Hong for a long time. She was pretty and had gradually risen from an ordinary palace maid to a senior palace maid. She was the most suitable person to serve Concubine Hong.
"Mother, you just take care of yourself here, we will go back soon." Yao Niang said.
Concubine Hong nodded: "Okay." After that, she seemed to remember something and said to Yao Niang: "Do you still remember Shuyi?"
Hong Shuyi? Yao Niang nodded: "What are you talking about, Madam? Sister Hong has been by your side for so many years and is a very decent person. How could I not know that?"
She had indeed not heard from Hong Shuyi for more than two years. After she married Gao Xuance, she soon became pregnant. She was not allowed to move around the palace freely to inquire about things, and Hong Shuyi was not a big shot, so she didn't care.
Concubine Hong sighed: "Originally, her mother betrothed her to the grandson of Duke Meng, but for some reason, her husband became a monk."
Yao Niang calculated that Duke Meng was deceased, and the one who inherited the title should be a marquis now. By the time of Duke Meng's grandson, if he inherited the title, he would definitely be at least an earl.
But how could the Earl become a monk? Gao Xuance himself had always liked to practice Taoism, and he had never thought about becoming a monk now.
"Did she give up the title?" She thought that Hong Shuyi was not the kind of person who pursued love. If she had a child, it would not be a bad idea for her to inherit the title.
Concubine Hong said, "How is that possible? She didn't get married until she was over 20. To be honest, I was the one who asked for her to leave. Otherwise, how could a palace lady leave the palace so easily?"
Back then, Hong Shuyi's mother insisted that the family send her to the palace. At that time, it was already a great effort by Concubine Hong that she was assigned to the eldest prince's palace. When the previous emperor passed away, she asked Old Lady Hong to tell her whether she should be allowed to go home. However, Hong Shuyi's mother never said anything, and just waited for the Queen's arrangement.
In this case, Concubine Hong couldn't say anything more.
To ruin someone's future is like killing their parents. Besides, she is his niece, so if she had luck, it would be fine.
Otherwise, she couldn't use her status as a noble concubine to force others to marry her niece. She was not Jia Nanfeng, who had to win over these powerful families to enhance her prestige. Otherwise, she would offend everyone. She was not that stupid.
"Then what is Sister Hong going to do?" Yao Niang asked.
Concubine Hong thought for a moment and said, "She is indeed not living a good life these days, and she has no children. Her mother passed away this year. The other day, she came to the palace with your aunt and her family to see me. She knelt down and begged me to come to the palace, and I agreed."
That Hong Shuyi is not a good person either. Half of the reason why Tang Huijun was instigated was because of her.
Therefore, Yao Niang smiled and said, "Mother, entering the palace to be by your side is of course a great thing, but isn't Sister Hong's youth going to be wasted in the palace?"
"But she said she didn't want to marry again. Well, after what she had gone through, she didn't know how to marry again." Concubine Hong herself had been a concubine before. It was really discouraging for a woman if she couldn't marry a good man in her life.
Yao Niang smiled and said, "Now that something like this has happened, Sister Hong is disheartened. But if she really stays in the palace for too long, it will be difficult for her to get married. We can't delay her happiness."
Hong Shuyi and Xu Qingrong are equally matched. Xu Qingrong is a hypocrite who kills people for no reason, while Hong Shuyi is best at killing people by borrowing others' knife.
When Concubine Hong heard what Yao Niang said, she agreed: "You are right. How old is a girl? It would be bad if she was really delayed."
"Yes." Yao Niang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Little did they know that Hong Shuyi had come to the palace anyway. It was Xu Qingrong who arranged it. Xu Qingrong had a very good reason: "My mother's family affairs are my daughter-in-law's affairs. My daughter-in-law just happens to be short of a female official. My daughter-in-law doesn't even treat her as a female official. In this way, cousin Hong has an official position, an easy job, and a respectable appearance."
Concubine Hong would not deny Xu Qingrong's face. Since Prince Chen went to war, Prince Zhou returned to the capital and was commended by the emperor for his good work in disaster relief, which also made Concubine Hong proud.
When she entered the palace again, Hong Shuyi was dressed in plain clothes, with a trace of sadness between her brows, which even scared Yao Niang.
I haven't seen her for just a few years, but she seems to have aged a lot. She has lost all her former plumpness and charm. She has wrinkles on her face or something, but she just looks much more miserable.
"Your Highness, Princess Zhou, and Princess Chen, I pay my respects to you." Hong Shuyi knelt down and kowtowed.
It must be said that Hong Shuyi is still proud. She does not call herself a slave, but "I". This time she enters the palace, she will probably not be inferior to others. And Xu Qingrong, who appears to be virtuous but actually targets anyone who is favored by her, actually invited Hong Shuyi into the palace. I'm afraid...
Yao Niang narrowed her eyes, that was to deal with herself.
Hong Shuyi also looked at Xu Qingrong and Yao Niang. Xu Qingrong stopped dressing brightly after she turned 20, and because of her status as a princess, she only cared about being dignified. Most of her clothes were stone blue and crimson purple, which made people look old after all. She had also given birth twice, so her face had become slightly fatter, and her pores were exposed.
Luo Yaoniang was completely different. Compared to the yellow-haired girl she used to be, she was now dressed much more luxuriously. Her good looks, coupled with a head full of pearls and jade, and her complexion was extremely good. She was so radiant that one dared not look directly at her.
She was really just shooting geese all day, but ended up getting her eyes pecked by the geese.
She had always regarded Tang Huijun as her rival and even came up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Little did she know that Tang Huijun would be eliminated and Luo Yaoniang would take over.
"Sister Hong, please get up quickly. We are all family, so why do we have to go through such a big ceremony?" Xu Qingrong personally stood up and helped Hong Shuyi up.
She can't deal with the Prince of Chen who is outside, but Luo Yaoniang, so what if your father entered the inner cabinet? The people around the Royal Concubine don't like you, and Hong Shuyi has her own wish. Humph, if something really happens to Luo Yaoniang, it will be easy to deal with Gao Xuance.