Chapter 121 Chapter 121
[Chapter 121]
Ruan Jun's breathing was stagnant for a moment. She grabbed Yan Shiyu's collar, but she didn't dare to resist the emperor. She could only say in a low and pitiful voice:
"My concubine is in pain, Your Majesty, please don't tease me."
Seeing her pitiful expression, Yan Shiyu was speechless.
His throat rolled as he asked, "Madam, can you tell me how long it will take?"
Ruan Yun raised her little face and said obediently, "It will probably take another half a month."
Yan Shiyu said in a hoarse voice, "Xiaoxiao, don't forget what I just said."
The inner hall was filled with the fragrance of flowers on her body. The rich and refreshing aroma came over him. Yan Shiyu rubbed his brows and felt that he could not stay there any longer.
"The government is busy today, I will come again tomorrow."
Hearing the emperor say this, Ruan Yun felt completely relieved and nodded as she watched the emperor leave.
Yingning opened the curtains, and the nurse brought the baby in and moved it to Ruan Yun's side:
"Look, Madam, how well behaved the Third Prince is."
Having just woken up and having eaten, Dongdong was particularly energetic. As soon as he saw Ruan Jun, he started moving his little hands and feet. Ruan Jun's eyes were full of tenderness. She touched Dongdong's little face and said softly:
"So good."
Dongdong seemed to understand, and Ruan Jun felt relieved to see that he was fine.
She used to be afraid that she would give birth prematurely and that it would affect the baby, but now that she sees the baby moving, she feels relieved.
…
As soon as Yan Shiyu sat on the imperial carriage, Wei Maoyuan said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother just sent someone to invite Your Majesty to come over."
He looked down at Wei Maoyuan, who said with a bitter face, "The Queen Mother sent someone to come here in person to deliver the message. I dare not refuse!"
"I'm busy." Yan Shiyu knocked down the imperial staff. After the palace maid lifted it up, Yan Shiyu left without saying anything, leaving Wei Maoyuan standing there dumbfounded.
Little Muzi wanted to go forward to comfort his master but failed. He could only watch his master walk towards Shoukang Palace with a sad face.
The Queen Mother listened to Wei Maoyuan's words and felt angry. She waved her hand and let Wei Maoyuan go.
Wei Maoyuan hurried out of the inner hall and wiped the sweat from his head.
But suddenly he heard some breaking sounds in the inner hall. He was frightened and headed towards the Zichen Palace.
The Queen Mother frowned and said, "The Emperor went to Linxuan Palace just a quarter of an hour ago, and now he tells me that he is busy. Does he...does he think that I am old and my eyesight is blurry?"
Concubine Xian looked at the Second Prince in her arms and felt extremely sad.
Although the emperor treated the eldest prince and the second prince roughly the same, his treatment of the third prince was very different.
The Third Prince's biological mother is in the Emperor's favor and is now the Imperial Concubine. Everyone wants to curry favor with her. It was thought that if she raised the Second Prince, the Emperor would come to see her more often. However, it turned out that the Emperor might not come to Chaoxi Palace even once a month. It would be better for the Emperor to see her more often in Shoukang Palace.
The second prince could already say a few simple words, looked up at Concubine Xian's sad face, raised his little hand to touch Concubine Xian's face, "Mother, don't cry."
Concubine Xian smiled faintly at the Second Prince, took his hand and said, "Mother, I'm fine."
The Queen Mother saw Concubine Xian's expression and said sternly, "The summer heat is coming. Jingqiao, go and ask the Emperor in person to tell him that I am not feeling well."
Concubine Xian thought of the emperor's behavior several times before, and handed the second prince to the wet nurse beside her, saying softly: "Aunt, I'm afraid the emperor will not like it."
The Queen Mother sneered, "The Queen is useless and doesn't care about anything. The power of Concubine De to assist in managing the six palaces has also been quietly seized by the Emperor. If I don't care, I'm afraid the harem will have to change its master."
When Concubine Xian heard this, she dared not say anything more and could only stand aside with sad eyes.
Aunt Jingqiao hurriedly went to Zichen Palace. Wei Maoyuan saw her from a distance and cold sweat started to drip down his neck. He hurriedly stepped forward, stopped Aunt Jingqiao and said:
"Hey, why are you here at this time?"
Aunt Jing Qiao frowned and said, "The Queen Mother was feeling dizzy just now. I have come to ask the Emperor to come over. Is the Emperor here?"
Wei Maoyuan didn't dare to stop the people around the empress dowager. He just glanced at the inner hall and said hesitantly, "The emperor is meeting the three new adults this year. I'm afraid he won't be able to get away for a while."
Jing Qiao's expression froze. She didn't expect that the emperor really had something to do, so she said, "The Queen Mother can't leave her alone. Eunuch Wei, don't forget to tell the emperor."
Wei Maoyuan agreed to Aunt Jingqiao's words repeatedly and dared not delay for even a moment.
Wei Maoyuan paced anxiously in the outer hall, not daring to go in. The emperor had ordered that no one was allowed to disturb him, and he knew he only had this one life.
However, Wei Maoyuan could probably guess what the empress dowager wanted to do. The emperor's promotion to Concubine Ying bypassed the rank of noble concubine, which made everyone in the harem jealous. Naturally, this was not a good thing for the empress dowager.
At that time, the Empress Dowager's mother's family was weak, so they wanted to let Concubine Xian become the princess at that time. However, the Emperor was very ambitious and could see that the Empress Dowager's mother's family was mostly greedy people, so he naturally did not agree to this.
In recent years, although the emperor disliked the people from the empress dowager's mother's family, he took care of the Ming family for the sake of family face. Unfortunately, they relied on the emperor's favor and dared to do treasonous things under the emperor's feet. The court officials reported it, and the emperor was determined to implement performance appraisal of officials, so all the Ming family members dismissed their posts.
This year, there is no one in the Ming court, and it is the Queen Mother who is struggling to support it.
But if Concubine Xian had been more obedient, now that the Emperor has allowed Concubine Xian to raise the Second Prince, he will certainly not treat Concubine Xian and the Ming family unfairly in the future. The Empress Dowager and Concubine Xian, why can't they understand this?
Wei Maoyuan looked embarrassed. No matter whether the empress dowager was sick or not, the emperor would have to go and see her anyway.
Wei Maoyuan paced back and forth in the outer hall, hoping that the emperor could finish handling state affairs as soon as possible.
Finally, after a stick of incense, the palace door opened and three new scholars walked out one after another.
Wei Maoyuan hurriedly bowed, and after the others left, he entered the inner hall. He saw that the emperor looked calm, but a little tired, and his words were sore:
"Your Majesty, Aunt Jingqiao from Shoukang Palace said that the Queen Mother is ill and would like Your Majesty to come over."
A hint of worry first appeared in Yan Shiyu's dark eyes, but then he quickly regained his composure. He leaned lazily on the back of the chair, unable to speak for a long time.
Wei Maoyuan waited for a long time but did not hear the emperor's words. He raised his head cautiously and looked at the emperor. However, he saw the emperor looked at him with a neutral look. The coldness in his black eyes made Wei Maoyuan's legs go weak and he knelt down directly:
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I dare not stop you."
Yan Shiyu opened his lips and said, "Shoukang Palace."
Wei Maoyuan then let out a long sigh of relief and said repeatedly, "I'll go right away."
Yan Shiyu looked at the memorial on the table, frowned, threw it aside, and strode towards the outer hall.
Wrapped in ambergris, Yan Shiyu got on the imperial carriage.
Shoukang Palace was eerily quiet, and the palace maids even walked much more slowly.
Yan Shiyu strode into the inner hall and saw Concubine Xian standing behind the empress dowager, pressing the ends of her eyebrows.
Seeing the emperor wearing the dark imperial robes and stepping into the main hall, Concubine Xian's hands trembled, she took her hands away, knelt down and said, "May the emperor be well."
The Queen Mother then opened her eyes and said quietly, "The Emperor is here. I thought the Emperor would never come to Shoukang Palace again."
The palace maid respectfully placed the teacup next to the emperor's hand and then quietly left.
Yan Shiyu looked at the Queen Mother and asked in a calm voice, "I heard that Mother had a heat stroke. Is she feeling better now?"
The Queen Mother snorted softly, pushed away Concubine Xian's hand that was about to continue pressing on her, and said, "I invited the Emperor to come some time ago, but you refused again and again. I feel that the Emperor's filial piety and brotherly love have all been forgotten."
Yan Shiyu's eyes were cold and gloomy. Seeing the Queen Mother's expression, he only said:
"It seems that the Queen Mother is well now. In that case, I will take my leave."
Yan Shiyu was about to stand up when the empress dowager slammed the table and stood up:
"You favor Concubine Ying. I can pretend not to see it, but a palace maid cannot be promoted above her rank. In the past, Concubine Ying was of a lower rank and I could ignore her, but now, you let her sit in the position of Concubine. The Queen is incompetent. I think it is best to let someone else take charge of the harem!"
Yan Shiyu turned the white jade ring, and a sarcastic arc appeared on his lips:
"These are all matters of my harem, and my mother is meddling too much."
The Queen Mother was angered by Yan Shiyu's words. Before she could finish her next words, Yan Shiyu continued, "The Queen is virtuous. I don't think she is incompetent. It's the Queen Mother. After talking about this several times, I don't understand her at all."
The atmosphere between the two was so tense that no one in the inner hall dared to speak.
Concubine Xian stood nervously beside the Queen Mother. At this moment, the sound of the Second Prince crying was heard, causing Yan Shiyu to frown:
"If I can't even take care of the Second Prince, what's the point?"
The nurses knelt down in fear. The second prince sobbed and choked, saying, "Father...Father..."
It was rare for Concubine Xian to hear the Second Prince speak such complete words, and her eyes fell on the Emperor expectantly. However, Yan Shiyu said, "Take the Second Prince away first."
Concubine Xian's heart suddenly turned cold. She couldn't believe what she heard, but this was the fact.
It was as if she had been slapped in the face by the emperor. Concubine Xian wiped her tears and quickly walked out of the inner hall.
The Queen Mother looked at Concubine Xian's back, as if all the strength in her body had been drained away. She leaned back on the pillow and said wearily:
"I know, Your Majesty, that you blame me for what happened in the past, but I, if it weren't for the favor of the late emperor, the Ming family was just a small family back then. How could it protect you in the harem surrounded by wolves? You hate me for making you suffer so much. When you were seven years old, I did know that you were bullied by the prince, but I couldn't step forward. I could only wait for the late emperor to come. If I stepped forward, how could the empress let me go, and you would become a thorn in her eyes."
"What does a momentary anger mean? The person sitting on the throne now is you, the emperor!"
After listening to this, Yan Shiyu sighed heavily and said with self-mockery:
"It seems that mother never thinks that what you did back then was wrong."
The Queen Mother was speechless and didn't know what to say. "When you fell from the tree into the water, I was watching from a distance. I knew you were good at swimming and would never let anything happen to you."
"The Ming family has made mistakes over the years, but no matter what, it is still your maternal family. Emperor, do you have to be so cruel and ruthless and kill them all? If Concubine Xian becomes the empress, she will definitely do a good job."
After listening to the Queen Mother's words, Yan Shiyu stood up and left.
The Queen Mother took a quick step forward, without moving, and just turned aside and said:
"Mother, please take good care of yourself. From now on, if anyone dares to say these idle words in front of you again, I will never show mercy!"
When the Queen Mother heard what the Emperor said, she took a step back and sat down on the couch.
Concubine Xian entered the palace alone. Seeing the Queen Mother's appearance, she wiped her tears and said, "Aunt, you still have me. Song Shuang will always be here. As long as the Ming family has me, I will definitely preserve the glory of the Ming family."
The Queen Mother shed tears and hugged Concubine Xian and said, "Good child."
There was a bit of determination in Concubine Xian's eyes. She was doing this not only for the Ming family, but also for herself.
If the Ming family had other daughters who could enter the palace, she would not be the only one in the palace. She had to secure the position of Concubine Xian. She also had the Second Prince, so she had to fight for what she wanted!
…
Yan Shiyu sat on the imperial staff and did not speak for a long time.
Wei Maoyuan stood by and waited respectfully. He thought for a while and said, "Ji Zhaoyi should be taking the little princess to review her lessons at this moment. Your Majesty, why don't you go and take a look?"
Yan Shiyu didn't even look at Wei Maoyuan, but frowned and said coldly, "In Xuan Palace."
Wei Maoyuan paused for a moment, glanced inconspicuously towards Shoukang Palace, and then ordered the palace servants carrying the imperial procession to go to Linxuan Palace.
The Royal Concubine had just given birth, and I'm afraid she would have gone to bed early after dinner. I wonder how worried the Royal Concubine would be if the Emperor passed by now.
But Wei Maoyuan racked his brains and could not think of anyone in the palace who could compare with the Imperial Concubine.
Ruan Yun lay on the bed with her eyes still open. Ting Xu lay beside her. Ruan Yun rubbed her black hair and said:
"In a few years, you will be old enough, and I still want to find you a good marriage and give you a generous dowry. Even if it is a minor official, as long as he has a good character and a clean family background, it will be fine."
Tingxu looked at Ruan Yun's expectant expression through the moonlight, sniffed and said, "A palace maid can only leave the palace at the age of 25, it's too early for me."
Ruan Yun shook her head gently, "While the emperor is so fond of me now, I will ask him to let you out of the palace as soon as possible. Tingxu, the palace is a place where people are eaten. I will not feel at ease until I see you get married in person."
Tingxu held Ruan Yun's hand and nodded, saying, "I will obey your majesty. I understand your majesty's meaning. As long as the person is the kind of person your majesty said, it doesn't matter if the official position is low."
Ruan Jun then smiled and said softly, "Go to sleep now. You don't have to stay with me."
Tingxu took a step forward, but suddenly there was a sound of footsteps behind the screen. She was immediately surprised and asked, "Who is it?"
He hurriedly took out a lighter from his sleeve, lit it and found that it was the emperor.
Tingxu could hardly hold the candlestick in her hand steady, and knelt on the ground in panic, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I didn't know it was you."
Seeing this, Ruan Jun hurriedly got off the bed and was about to kneel down. Yan Shiyu grabbed her arm with a stern look in his eyes, staring at Ruan Jun intently.
Wei Maoyuan hurriedly took Tingxu out. Tingxu looked inside from time to time. Wei Maoyuan said, "Miss Tingxu, please don't look at it. The emperor may be really angry soon."
In the inner hall, Ruan Jun looked at the emperor's hand and felt something was wrong.
She said in surprise, "Why are your hands so cold? Your Majesty, have you not had dinner yet? Can I ask them to serve you dinner?"
As she spoke, she raised her voice to call the palace maid to come in, but Yan Shiyu hugged her tightly, with her face buried in her neck, and her voice was filled with rare fatigue:
"No need, Xiaoxiao, just talk to me."
Ruan Yunmin sensed something was wrong. The emperor had always been adept at handling state affairs, and there was almost no one in the court who could hinder him. It was so late, the emperor would not still be meeting with ministers in the court. Although the emperor did not say it, she smelled a faint scent of sandalwood.
Sandalwood has a light scent and almost no concubines like it. Only the empress dowager who worships Buddha would use it.
Ruan Yun bit her lower lip, climbed onto the emperor's shoulder, and said, "Your Majesty, did you go to see the Empress Dowager just now?"
Yan Shiyu did not answer, but his tacit consent was already implied.
Ruan Yun said softly, "I don't want to make the emperor unhappy."
Yan Shiyu's brows relaxed, and in the dim candlelight, he could clearly see Ruan Jun's naive and charming look.
She had a pretty face, and there was never a shortage of beauties in the harem, but the only one who touched the dark corner of his heart was Ruan Yun.
"Have you ever seen a mistress of a noble family pretend not to see her child in danger in order to win the favor of her master, and only save the child when the master arrives?"
It was not a short sentence, but it caused a huge wave in Ruan Yun's heart.
The last layer of window paper between the two of them was pierced, and when the daylight came out, the emperor revealed to her his past and the taboo that he was most reluctant to mention.
She would definitely seize this opportunity.
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