Chapter 109
Princess Rui suddenly discovered that Prince Rui had been a little uneasy recently. When asked, he was unwilling to say anything, so Princess Rui simply ignored him. Princess Rui also entrusted Shen Xi to Zhao Duan for counseling. Although Shen Xi said he would listen to Princess Rui, he was unable to come around for a while, so Princess Rui did not let him come back. With Baozhu's company, Shen Qi's temper improved a little, and sometimes he would go out for a walk with Princess Rui.
Actually, when it comes down to it, Prince Rui has been in the capital for so long. Even if he is confused, he finds that the situation seems to be different from what he imagined on the road. Although he is asked to go to the meeting room every day, but... Prince Rui feels that these people do not seem to regard him as the future king. Prince Rui does not want to hide it from Princess Rui, but when he thinks of the promises he made to Princess Rui along the way, he doesn't know what to say. At night, Prince Rui rests in Princess Rui's room. After all, he did not bring any concubines with him. Unless Prince Rui goes to sleep in the study, there is really no other place to go.
Princess Rui was sleeping, and Prince Rui suddenly sat up and said, "I remember!"
"What's wrong?" Princess Rui yawned, opened her eyes and looked at the emotional Prince Rui.
Prince Rui turned his head and looked at Princess Rui and asked, "Is Dongdong really the child of Chu Xiuming and Jin Yatou?"
"Of course." Princess Rui looked at Prince Rui with some suspicion and said, "Have you forgotten? Jin gave birth in the capital."
King Rui was stunned for a moment, "But the child didn't grow up with us!"
Princess Rui stood up and looked at Prince Rui suspiciously and said, "What does your Highness mean?"
It was not known whether it was excitement or something else, but the expression on King Rui's face was a little distorted as he said, "I'm afraid Dongdong is not the child of my daughter and son-in-law."
Princess Rui's eyes twitched, and she looked at Prince Rui, not knowing what to say, "Your Highness, please don't say that."
King Rui said seriously, "I'm not talking nonsense. I always felt that Dongdong looked familiar... I just suddenly thought of why I felt that Dongdong looked familiar."
Princess Rui looked at Prince Rui in confusion. Prince Rui swallowed and said, "Dongdong looks like the youngest son of the crown prince! He is not my grandson but my nephew!"
"Your Highness...even if the Crown Prince's youngest son were still alive, he would be twenty-five or twenty-six years old now." Princess Rui didn't know what to say.
King Rui frowned and said, "That's the son of the youngest prince."
Princess Rui saw that Prince Rui was serious and asked, "Why did your Highness say that?"
"The youngest son of the crown prince... looks the most like the crown prince." Prince Rui thought for a moment and said, "Because of this, my father also liked this grandson very much and even held him in his arms..."
Zhao Duan actually told Princess Rui that Dongdong looked like the prince, but Dongdong was indeed the child of Chu Xiuming and Shen Jin, so she did not look surprised at this time, but lowered her eyes slightly and said, "My lord, if there really is a legitimate grandson of the prince, I'm afraid the throne will not fall to you."
Prince Rui pursed his lips and finally said, "Actually, I think... neither my son-in-law nor my brother wants me to be the emperor."
Princess Rui looked at King Rui and said nothing. King Rui said, "I think they have other plans."
"Yes." Princess Rui thought of what Chu Xiuming said before he left, and said, "Because there is indeed a legitimate grandson of the crown prince."
"What?" King Rui looked at him in surprise.
Princess Rui said, "It's not Dongdong, but someone else."
"How do you know?" King Rui asked in a deep voice.
Princess Rui said, "Zhao Duan told me after I came here." Princess Rui was not stupid. It was impossible for her to tell the king that she had known about this all along, so she was embarrassed and said, "I don't know how to tell the prince."
Although Prince Rui suspected that Dongdong was the grandson of the crown prince, it was just a suspicion. When he really knew that there was such a person, he was completely stunned, "Did my son-in-law lie to me?"
"Your Highness, your son-in-law only came to the border town to comfort you." Princess Rui said softly, "Did he promise anything else?"
Prince Rui shook his head, and Princess Rui said, "I think neither my brother nor my son-in-law knows how to start the conversation, so they told me quietly and asked me to tell the prince, but... I don't know how to say it either."
"Let me think about it..." King Rui said somewhat at a loss.
Princess Rui nodded and stopped talking. In fact, she didn't know whether it was right or wrong to tell King Rui at this time, but it was Chu Xiuming's arrangement, so that King Rui would be mentally prepared step by step, so that he would not be too excited at that time. Princess Rui looked at King Rui's expression and agreed with Chu Xiuming's arrangement in her heart.
King Rui was in a complicated mood. He felt cheated, but also relieved, as if all the responsibilities were no longer on him. Whether he won or lost, it had nothing to do with him. However, he also felt lost...
Princess Rui did not try to persuade her further and just lay down to rest. When she woke up the next day, she found that Prince Rui was still a little absent-minded, but she did not care and let him think about it on his own. She just asked someone to send a message to Zhao Duan.
In the capital, since the Queen Mother said that Shen Jin did not need to go to greet her in the morning, Shen Jin had no intention of getting up early to wait. But he also did not sleep until noon like he did when he was in Prince Rui's Mansion. It was more like when he was in the capital and Chu Xiuming was not around.
After Shen Jin finished breakfast, he took An Ning and An Yi to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was already in the Buddhist hall. After being informed, Shen Jin went in by himself. The Queen Mother was dressed very plainly, twirling Buddhist beads in her hands. She was gentle to Shen Jin and asked, "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"Grandmother." Shen Jin greeted the Queen Mother with a smile and said, "I don't feel like sleeping anymore."
The Queen Mother waved her hand and asked Shen Jin to help her stand up, then asked, "How is your father?"
Shen Jin looked at the Queen Mother with some suspicion, and then looked at the servants in the Buddhist hall. The Queen Mother smiled, stretched out her hand and patted Shen Jin on the arm, "Don't worry."
"Oh." Shen Jin smiled and whispered, "Father and mother should have arrived at the border town, but I didn't see them."
The Queen Mother estimated the time in her mind, nodded, sat down with Shen Jin and said, "That's good. I'm sorry to have wronged you."
"I'm not wronged." Shen Jin looked at the Queen Mother and said.
The Queen Mother looked at Shen Jin and said, "You are a good child." The Queen Mother also knew why Shen Jin came. In her mind, it was naturally for Prince Rui, so it was inevitable that she was more tolerant of Shen Jin, "You will definitely have good fortune in the future."
Shen Jin pursed her lips and smiled, a little shyly, but without any intention of explaining, "Grandma, I have something to trouble you with."
"What's wrong?" asked the Queen Mother. "But what's missing?"
Shen Jin shook her head, "I'm pregnant."
The Queen Mother frowned and looked at Shen Jin, then Shen Jin said calmly, "We found it just after we left the city, but...if I hadn't come, my father would have been in danger." Touching her belly, she said she had given birth a month earlier.
Shen Jin gently stroked her belly, "I kept this a secret from my husband. I only told the maidservant by my side. After I arrived in the capital, I asked the maidservant to go back to the border town and tell my husband."
The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes and said, "You kid, you're taking risks when you're pregnant."
Shen Jin shook his head, "Father is so good to me, I can't bear to see him in danger." He paused and said, "Besides, Father is really...good for me."
If Shen Jin had not asked the maid to tell Chu Xiuming this, the Queen Mother would have chosen the simplest way and persuaded Shen Jin to abort the child. But now she can't do that, and the Queen Mother did not doubt that Shen Jin was lying. If Prince Rui ascended the throne, then Shen Jin would not only be promoted from a county princess to a princess, but because of this trip to Beijing as a hostage, Prince Rui would probably remember the kindness of his daughter.
If Shen Jin said that Chu Xiuming knew she was pregnant but still asked her to come, the Queen Mother would not believe it, "This matter..." The Queen Mother looked at Shen Jin's belly, "Your child, in this case, this is also my great-grandson, I must save him no matter what." Prince Rui's life and future depend on Chu Xiuming's thoughts. If he really couldn't save this child, there might be trouble on Prince Rui's side again. Therefore, the Queen Mother would not let Shen Jin get into trouble now.
Shen Jin heard this and said, "Then I'll trouble the Imperial Grandmother."
The Queen Mother shook her head. "You should rest in your room for the time being. Just say that you are weak from the bumpy ride. I will call the imperial physician to see you."
Shen Jin smiled and nodded, "Okay."
The Queen Mother said, "We have been on this journey... Let's go back and rest first."
"Yes." Shen Jin then left with a smile. An Ning and An Yi were waiting for her outside.
After Shen Jin left, the Queen Mother's face darkened. The maid who had been standing in the corner said, "Queen Mother, do you need this old servant?"
"No." The Queen Mother understood what the nanny meant. Not to mention just being pregnant, even if the child was really born, as long as the Queen Mother didn't want to see the child, there were countless ways to make the child disappear. It's not that she didn't want to, but she couldn't, because Shen Jin had taken the lead. If Shen Jin had been on guard and kept it from her, then after she knew it, she would have no problem using some tricks. But now Shen Jin had said it openly and added an layer of protection for himself and the child, namely Chu Xiuming and Prince Rui from the border town. This made the Queen Mother have to save the child and Shen Jin.
Slowly exhaling, it was unknown whether Shen Jin had come up with this idea herself or someone had told her about it. The Queen Mother twirled her Buddhist beads and said, "Go and make arrangements. Ask Imperial Doctor Lin..."
After returning to the house, An Ning asked in a low voice, "Madam, is it really okay to tell the Queen Mother this?"
"Even if we have to keep it a secret, how long can we keep it a secret?" Shen Jin leaned on the couch, holding the pregnancy-protecting tea and drinking it slowly, saying, "In the harem, there are only things that the Queen Mother doesn't want to know. There is no such thing as something that she can't know. What's more, we still live in the Queen Mother's palace. If we show that we are pregnant, we won't be able to hide it."
An Ning also understood, "Then will the Queen Mother..."
Shen Jin touched her belly, lowered her eyes slightly and said, "At least not in the short term, and..." Shen Jin suspected that the Queen Mother might find a way to take her out of the palace. After all, there was the Queen watching closely. The relationship between the Queen Mother and the Queen was a bit subtle, but what was certain was that these two didn't care much about Emperor Cheng now.
Deserted by everyone? Shen Jin pursed her lips. Forget it. These things have nothing to do with her. Now she is in the palace and it is not easy to contact the outside world. After leaving the palace, some things have to be arranged. She can entrust all her hopes to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother can give up even her own son, let alone a granddaughter like her.
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