Then Concubine Li bit her lip and said, "It's not that I'm unwell, I'm just thinking about the emperor..." When the Seventh Prince Gu Cheng was mentioned, the emperor's expression was no longer as good as before, but after all, Concubine Li had just given him a beauty, and it was not a good idea for him to get angry with Concubine Li now.
"Your Majesty, I know that Old Seventh was wrong this time. He was wrong. Your Majesty, you should punish him. But today is your birthday. Old Seventh also knows that he was wrong. He is now imprisoned in the mansion and reflects on his mistakes every day. He has not thought about anything else. He just wrote the Filial Piety Sutra by hand and wants to give it to you, Your Majesty, today."
Concubine Li sniffed as she spoke, looking as if she was about to cry. "But the child is too honest. It's so cold that he didn't even light a charcoal fire. He insisted that sincerity would work. Now he's frozen and injured with frostbite. As a mother, I can't bear it, so I came to ask Your Majesty to have mercy. After all, it's your birthday. Even if you don't want to see the Seventh Prince, ask him to send the scriptures he copied with great effort."
Concubine Li's eloquence was rare in the world. The emperor was already somewhat moved by the fact that Gu Cheng's hands were covered with chilblains because of copying scriptures for him. When Concubine Li spoke again, he also went along with it. "Well, he has been under house arrest for almost three months. Since he knows he is wrong, let him out."
Concubine Li kowtowed and thanked the emperor immediately, "I thank the emperor."
The emperor and his concubines were naturally seated far away from the ground, so others couldn't hear them. However, Shen Qingqiu had extraordinary hearing and vision, so just because others couldn't hear them didn't mean she couldn't hear them either. No wonder, the Seventh Prince was simple-minded, and he was used as a gun by the Princess of Changping, and he still had a chance to shoot in the court.
It turns out there is such a powerful mother concubine.
Not long after, Gu Cheng arrived at the palace. Since Concubine Li had spoken, Gu Cheng naturally did a very good job. He had lost a lot of weight, and he also copied a full volume of the Filial Piety Classic. When he presented the Filial Piety Classic, he also wrote a poem about the deep love between father and son. Even the emperor was moved to tears on such an occasion.
Soon the rift between father and son was gone.
Shen Qingqiu just watched, and soon it was time for the Ninth Prince Gu Yanwei to present a gift to the Emperor. Like the Crown Prince, he presented a treasure. But he had been weak since childhood, and he had been very good at handling cases these days, so although he was not very interested in the gift, the Emperor still singled him out and praised him.
As Gu Yanwei's teacher, Master Lin also stood up and talked about several major cases that Gu Yanwei had handled recently.
Everyone in the court and the public knew that the Ninth Prince, who had previously kept a low profile, had great talent, so they praised him in various ways. There were few fathers in the world who didn't like to hear others praise their sons. The emperor was the same, except that he always worried that his other sons would form cliques when they were praised too much, but the Ninth Prince was different.
With his current health, there's no need to worry about him trying to seize his throne.
Therefore, the emperor experienced a rare sense of pride as a father in him.
Originally, everyone's eyes were on him, but now they were all on Gu Yanwei. Such a big gap naturally made Gu Cheng unhappy, and the jade cup in his hand was almost crushed. Concubine Li glanced at her son lightly and whispered, "I will not do anything embarrassing at the banquet."
Gu Cheng couldn't breathe out and could only suppress it in his heart.
But at this moment, his mother stood up and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, it's your birthday today. I have a gift for you." The emperor looked over suspiciously, "Oh?"
Concubine Li said, "Present it."
Several servants brought up a black box, and Concubine Li said, "This is what my second brother got in Persia. It is the Tianshan Snow Lotus. Although the Ninth Prince is seriously ill, this snow lotus is a magical item. Ask the Crown Prince to give it to the Ninth Prince to take while recuperating. Who knows, it may help him get better."
Concubine Li's words only sounded nice.
Although Tianshan Snow Lotus is rare, it is also available in the imperial court. Gu Yanwei had eaten it before, but the imperial physician only extended his life for a few months after examining his pulse. Others would be cured of serious illnesses by eating such a precious thing, but he only slowed down the time of death by eating it.
But after all, she put her heart into it, and the emperor was satisfied, "My beloved concubine, you have worked hard."
Gu Yanwei stood up and just smiled at Concubine Li, "Thank you, Concubine Li."
Gu Cheng, who was standing below, just clenched his hands tightly. He couldn't understand why his mother did this! Fortunately, the palace banquet would soon be over. It was getting late today, so Gu Cheng didn't plan to go back to his own residence, so he went directly back to his previous residence in the palace. But just as he lay down, he was called away by the maid next to Concubine Li.
Gu Cheng arrived at the gate of Concubine Li's palace.
"Mother." Gu Cheng said.
"Kneel down!" Concubine Li slammed the table hard.
"Mother?" Gu Cheng was completely stunned. Seeing that Concubine Li was staring at him, he could only kneel down unwillingly.
"Why? Are you unwilling to kneel down when your mother asks you to?" asked Concubine Li.
"I dare not." Gu Cheng said.
"I dare not! I think you dare to cooperate with someone like Princess Changping. Did you ignore what your mother told you?!" Concubine Li said, "Changping is the queen's match. Don't you know how scheming that old witch is? How dare you cooperate with her?"
"But mother, didn't you tell me that there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests?" Gu Cheng was unwilling.
Concubine Li smiled sarcastically, "Benefits? That's only if you have benefits. What did you get from cooperating with Changping? No money, but your father became wary of you? Why do you think Changping wanted to find you?"
Gu Cheng was stunned. Seeing that he was still standing there, Concubine Li became even more disappointed. "She is setting a trap for you again!"
"If Shen Qingqiu was so easy to deal with, she wouldn't have fallen into her hands so many times in a row! She cooperated with you. If you really tripped Shen Qingqiu together, she would naturally not say anything. What's wrong with getting a textile factory that makes a lot of money for free? And you, who do you think is behind Changping? If you get this textile factory, it will only make your father jealous!"
Although Gu Cheng is not a talent for governing the country, he is not a fool after all. Moreover, Concubine Li has already made her words clear to this extent.
"She used me!"
Concubine Li closed her eyes and sighed, "You are not completely hopeless."
She continued, "You have to thank Shen Qingqiu for setting a trap for you this time. Otherwise, if you really had control of her financial resources, your father would be wary of you. You have to remember that between power and money, power always comes first."
Gu Chengruo nodded with an unpleasant expression. This woman from Changping actually dared to set a trap for him. He would definitely make this woman pay the price! He didn't know what he was thinking of, "But mother, why did you give the Tianshan Snow Lotus to Gu Yanwei? He stole all the limelight from my son at the banquet today."
As soon as he finished speaking, Concubine Li glared at him several times, "What do you mean by limelight? Only women can steal the limelight. You are a man, and a prince. You should focus on the court. You should be in the court and not steal the limelight with some women at your father's birthday party!"
"But mother..."
Concubine Li waved her hand, "I know you are worried about Gu Yanwei, but he has never been our enemy. Don't be scared by his glory. The emperor will never hand over the court to a sickly man who will not live past the age of 25. I have been with your father for so many years, and I know his character to some extent."
"Gu Yanwei cannot inherit the throne. In the end, no matter how much the emperor dotes on him, it has nothing to do with you. Why do you have to fight him? If you fight him, won't you push him to the crown prince?" Concubine Li said angrily, "You only care about the present and forget about the future. You have offended Gu Yanwei, and nothing will come of you!"
Even though Gu Cheng listened unwillingly, he felt that what Concubine Li said made sense, so he nodded in agreement.
As soon as he finished speaking, Concubine Li looked at him coldly, "What's going on between you and Gu Yanran, the legitimate daughter of the Gu family?" Concubine Li had been out of the palace to worship Buddha for the Queen Mother some time ago, so she didn't know what was happening in the palace. Gu Cheng listened to his mother's question and said angrily, "That woman framed me!"
He then told everyone how he met Gu Yanran, how he married her as a concubine, and how he drove her away some time ago.
"Stupid, stupid!" Concubine Li shook her head again after hearing this, "How could you be so stupid! Gu Yanran is the legitimate daughter of the Gu family. I told you a long time ago that your father was afraid of the Gu family. Why did you take her as a concubine?"
"Your son..." was framed.
Before Gu Cheng could finish his words, Concubine Li said, "You are so stupid that you still think you were framed by Gu Yanran. If it weren't for the Queen, who in the palace would have such a huge power to ask everyone to watch your and Gu Yanran's scandal? Gu Cheng was struck by lightning in an instant, and many things that he couldn't understand became clear in an instant.
His voice trembled as he said, "But mother, I have divorced her and returned home. Father will not..."
But Concubine Li just shook her head and said, "This is your second mistake. You have already married Gu Yanran, and your father is already afraid of you. It's useless to say anything more. But you drove her out of the mansion. Even if Gu Yanran did something wrong, she is still the daughter of the Marquis's mansion. Aren't you trampling on the face of the Marquis's mansion by doing this?"
Concubine Li pinched her forehead, thinking that she had only been gone for such a short time, and her son had the ability to disrupt all her plans. "Fortunately, it's not too late now. Go and bring Gu Yanran back."
Gu Cheng was somewhat reluctant and stood there with a frown.
Concubine Li raised her eyes, "What's wrong?"
Gu Cheng replied, "Mother, you don't know that Gu Yanran's face was disfigured by Changping. Now she is as ugly as a woman without a face. If I ask her to come back and continue to be my concubine, wouldn't people laugh at me?"
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