Chapter 77
When Shen Jin woke up, she saw Chu Xiuyuan in the room, and the child he was holding. After discovering that Shen Jin was awake, Chu Xiuming took the child over. Nanny Zhao helped Shen Jin sit up, and then fed Shen Jin some brown sugar water with boiled pigeon eggs in it. Shen Jin found that Chu Xiuming seemed very skilled in holding the child, at least more skilled than her. Shen Jin held Dongdong in her arms and fed him milk. Chu Xiuming sat aside and didn't say anything, but Shen Jin found that Chu Xiuming was in a good mood.
"Have you eaten?" Shen Jin asked.
Chu Xiuming responded, and when Shen Jin finished feeding the child, Chu Xiuming picked up Dongdong and gently stroked his back. After Dongdong burped, he placed Dongdong next to Shen Jin. Shen Jin also finished a bowl of brown sugar pigeon eggs. "Hey, Dongdong seems to be a lot prettier."
"Yes." Chu Xiuming gently touched Dongdong's tender face with his fingers and said with a smile in his eyes, "Our child."
"Yeah." Shen Jin also looked at it curiously for a while, and Concubine Chen came in with something.
Madam Zhao picked up the child and said, "Madam, please have some more soup."
Shen Jin nodded. She was very hungry. Although there was no seasoning in these things, Shen Jin still ate them with relish. After Concubine Chen brought the food over, she ignored her daughter and took care of her little grandson with Nanny Zhao. Anyway, Chu Xiuming was taking care of Shen Jin.
When Dongdong was having his third day bath, although many people sent gifts, Chu Xiuming did not invite anyone. The King of Rui and the Princess of Rui did come. Shen Qi carefully held the child with the help of her maid, touched her belly with some envy and said, "I just hope my child can be as cute as Dongdong."
Children grow up day by day. Shen Jin always feels that every time she sees her son, he becomes much more beautiful. After hearing Shen Qi's words, Shen Jin said, "Sister, I found that the uglier the child is when he is just born, the more beautiful he will become."
"Really?" Shen Qi looked at Shen Jin in surprise.
Shen Jin nodded seriously, "When Dongdong was born, he was very ugly."
Princess Rui laughed at what the two sisters said, "Nonsense, Dongdong was born beautiful."
Prince Rui and Princess Rui did not stay in the Yongning Marquis's Mansion for too long. They left after lunch. Concubine Chen also left with them. She was satisfied to be able to take care of her daughter for a few days. Moreover, with Chu Xiuming around, even Nanny Zhao could not help with the matter of taking care of Shen Jin.
Although Shen Jin was reluctant to leave her mother, she did not say anything. She could not leave the room yet, so Chu Xiuming was the one to see her off. Prince Rui actually liked Dongdong very much. After all, he was his first grandson. He held him for a while, but because Prince Rui did not know how to hold a child, Dongdong felt uncomfortable and was snatched away by Princess Rui. At this time, she also said, "Dongdong is a smart child at first glance."
Chu Xiuming smiled but said nothing. King Rui sighed, "I think this child's eyes look like mine."
Princess Rui glared at Prince Rui. In fact, the child was too young to tell who he looked like. However, he definitely couldn't look like Prince Rui. But looking at Prince Rui's appearance, Princess Rui didn't say anything. Prince Rui sighed, then looked at Shen Qi and said, "I wonder who Qi'er's child will look like?"
Shen Qi smiled and said, "It would be great if I could be like my father."
A long time later, Shen Qi regretted saying this countless times. In fact, Prince Rui was not bad looking, but it was not a good thing to have a girl who looked like Prince Rui. Because of this, Prince Rui especially liked his granddaughter, and even his own grandson had to give way to her.
After seeing off Prince Rui and his family, Chu Xiuming returned to the house. Shen Jin had already fallen asleep, and the child was lying on the cradle beside him, sleeping soundly, his little hands clenched into fists, and he smelled of milk.
Nanny Zhao was taking care of the child nearby. Although there was a wet nurse, even when Shen Jin fell asleep and it was inconvenient, they did not let the wet nurse get close to the child. They squeezed the milk into a bowl and gave it to An Ning to feed Dongdong little by little. After all, except for people from the border town, they did not trust anyone in the capital.
Chu Xiuming reached out to tidy up the hair on Shen Jin's face. Shen Jin subconsciously rubbed against Chu Xiuming. Chu Xiuming smiled. After looking at Shen Jin again, he looked at Aunt Zhao and said in a low voice, "If there is anything, call me."
"Yes." Nanny Zhao responded respectfully.
Chu Xiuming nodded and left the delivery room. Chu Xiuming had been staying here to take care of Shen Jin for the past few days. He turned his head and glanced at the delivery room. Chu Xiuming went back to his room, took a shower, changed clothes and went to the study. Manager Zhao was helping to deal with things in the study. When he saw Chu Xiuming, he smiled and said, "Congratulations, General."
"Yeah." Chu Xiuming responded and said, "How are things arranged?"
Manager Zhao said, "I have asked someone to investigate. The incident in Shuzhong is indeed the work of the Crown Prince of Ying."
It was the King of England who colluded with the barbarians and almost succeeded in the mutiny, but he was beheaded by the Crown Prince and his men. Neither the Crown Prince nor the King of England had expected that Emperor Cheng would be the one who benefited in the end. Otherwise... the throne would not have been passed down to anyone except Emperor Cheng.
In fact, to be honest, although the King of Ying is not that good, he is very good at leading troops. When Emperor Cheng was trying his best to kill the people left by the Crown Prince in order to secure his throne, the Prince of Ying hid with the remaining forces of the King of Ying and had been acting in secret. Emperor Cheng regarded the Chu family as a thorn in his side every day and completely ignored the Prince of Ying and people like him.
The late emperor had always been in poor health, and many things and power were handed over to the crown prince. If it weren't for the matter of King Ying, the late emperor would have abdicated. The Chu family was also left to the crown prince by the late emperor, but the late emperor did not expect that Emperor Cheng would be so ambitious and actually do such a thing, killing his brother and father...
Emperor Cheng is bent on strangling and purging the remaining forces of the Crown Prince, but he does not know that the Prince left by the King of England is the one who really needs to be vigilant. At least people like Chu Xiuming put Apocalypse and the people of Apocalypse first, while the Prince of England does not care about these at all. The King of England can cooperate with barbarians for the throne, so how could the Prince of England be worse than the King of England?
The Prince of England had been hiding for twenty-five years, and even Chu Xiuming didn't know how much power he had secretly developed. After all, at that time, in order to protect... Emperor Cheng had been suppressing the Chu family, and Chu Xiuming was the only one left in the Chu family. His ability was really limited, and all he could do was to keep arranging people to secretly pay attention to and inquire about it, especially the original territory of the King of England.
Chu Xiuming calculated in his mind, "I'm afraid they have already arrived in Shuzhong."
Manager Zhao agreed, and Chu Xiuming said, "She'll leave in early April." Although the doctor said that Shen Jin had a premature birth but was not hurt, Chu Xiuming still wanted Shen Jin to stay in confinement for the full 40 days. Nanny Zhao had said that it would be very bad for a woman to get sick during confinement.
"Yes." Manager Zhao said respectfully.
Chu Xiuming looked at Manager Zhao and said, "When the time comes, escort Madam and the others away first, and I will catch up with them later."
Manager Zhao understood Chu Xiuming's plan. He secretly sent Shen Jin and the child away under the pretext of letting them recuperate in the manor, while he himself stayed in the capital to hide from Emperor Cheng's spies. Without Shen Jin and the child, it would be easier for Chu Xiuming to escape.
"I understand." Manager Zhao responded respectfully.
Chu Xiuming was probably not willing to see the future situation, but he had been prepared for it. He slowly let out a breath, but no matter for whom, he could not let the Prince of England get his wish, because in their eyes, they did not care about the people of the world, only themselves.
Shen Jin's complexion has been taken care of during this period and has become increasingly fair and tender. She no longer looks haggard as she did right after giving birth. Even Dongdong has become more and more beautiful, and Dongdong is a very well-behaved child. He doesn't cry much, and spends the whole day either eating or sleeping. His little arms and legs are like lotus roots.
Dongdong had opened his eyes at this time, and Shen Jin had also expelled all the lochia. Dongdong was moving very happily. When Chu Xiuming came over, he saw Shen Jin holding Dongdong and feeding him. Dongdong's little hands were clenched into fists, and he was trying hard to suck the milk, as if he was exerting force.
After feeding the child, Chu Xiuming picked up Dongdong without Madam Zhao. Madam Zhao helped Shen Jin to tidy up her clothes, and then she heard Shen Jin say, "Madam, why do I feel that Dongdong looks more and more like my husband, and not like me at all?"
Chu Xiuming also heard it, looked down at Dongdong and said, "Dongdong has dimples." Chu Xiuming does not have dimples, but Shen Jin does, so Dongdong looks like Shen Jin in this respect.
Shen Jin wrinkled his nose and said, "But the eyes don't look like mine."
In fact, Chu Xiuming thought it was a good thing that his son's eyes did not look like his wife's. However, when he thought about how his wife Jiao had just given birth to a child and how Shen Jin had turned hostile when he just followed her words and said that the child was ugly, he wisely said nothing.
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhao said, "Madam, the young master is a boy, so it is normal for him to look more like his father."
Shen Jin thought about it and nodded, then suddenly laughed, "I have never seen what my husband looked like when he was a child, so this is a good opportunity for me to see Dongdong."
Nanny Zhao smiled and nodded. Shen Jin suddenly asked, "Why do I feel that my husband is very skilled in holding a child?"
"When the young general was brought back to the mansion, the general was already grown up. The young general was almost raised by the general himself." Nanny Zhao said gently.
Shen Jin nodded and said, "No wonder."
Chu Xiuming sat next to Shen Jin holding the child, watching Shen Jin holding Dongdong, and he hugged Shen Jin from behind.
Shen Jin whispered, "Don't get so close to me. I haven't taken a shower in a long time."
Chu Xiuming kissed Shen Jin's hair gently and said, "My wife is always clean and beautiful."
Although Shen Jin knew it was fake, she was happy in her heart. However, she suddenly thought that she hadn't washed her hair for a long time, and Chu Xiuming... said in a tender voice, "You are so dirty..."
Chu Xiuming looked at Shen Jin in confusion, and heard Shen Jin muttering softly that he hadn't washed his hair for a long time, and then pushed Chu Xiuming in disgust, making Chu Xiuming laugh and cry. Nanny Zhao looked at Shen Jin and slowly let out a sigh of helplessness. Fortunately, the madam married the general. If she had married someone else... But it was precisely because she married the general that she became more and more spoiled and stupid.
Chu Xiuming was not angry when Shen Jin despised him. Instead, he leaned close to Shen Jin's ear and whispered a few words. Shen Jin laughed and said, "No, that's not possible."
Chu Xiuming said a few more words, and Shen Jin's face turned red, and even her eyes became moist. She said something coquettishly, and looking at his wife's appearance, Chu Xiuming also smiled.
Just like a third-day bath, Dongdong’s full moon celebration didn’t invite too many people. However, not many people cared at this time, because everyone’s attention was turned to the affairs in Shuzhong. News of victory kept coming, which was a good start anyway. Even King Rui’s expression relaxed.
Emperor Cheng was in a good mood after receiving the news. Li Fu took the opportunity to tell him that everyone in Yongning Marquis's mansion had gone to the farm. Emperor Cheng's face changed, and Li Fu quickly said, "But in the evening, Yongning Marquis came back."
"Oh?" Hearing that Chu Xiuming had returned, Emperor Cheng relaxed a little and asked.
Li Fu said respectfully, "It is the wife of the Earl of Yongning and the child who stayed at the manor."
Emperor Cheng frowned and said, "What does this Chu Xiuming want to do?"
Li Fu lowered his head and said nothing. Emperor Cheng then asked, "I heard that the child was born prematurely?"
"Yes." Li Fu said respectfully, "Even the third-day bath and the full moon were not celebrated in a big way. We only invited Prince Rui and his family to come."
Emperor Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Send someone to keep an eye on them, mainly Chu Xiuming."
Li Fu agreed, and Emperor Cheng said, "Go to the emperor... Forget it, go to Concubine Lan's palace."
"Yes." Li Fu immediately sent someone to inform Concubine Lan.
After Concubine Chang and Concubine Lan formed an alliance, they knew the Queen's plan, so how could they not take the initiative? Not only did the Queen's plan fail, but Emperor Cheng also had a special opinion of the Queen. When he arrived at Concubine Lan's palace, he saw not only Concubine Lan, but also Concubine Chang and his youngest son. Concubine Chang's son was still young and it was not the time for her to avoid suspicion. He saw Concubine Chang and Concubine Lan sitting together and watching him standing in front of them reciting. When they saw Emperor Cheng coming, they saluted and then sat down. Although Emperor Cheng was an emperor, he was also an ordinary man. Seeing that his son was smart and well-behaved, and that the two concubines were not jealous, but got along well with each other, he was naturally proud and said, "What's this for?"
Concubine Lan said softly, "Sister Chang and I are listening to the little prince reciting his lessons."
"Oh? Let me hear it too." Emperor Cheng looked at his son and smiled.
Concubine Chang was all smiles, but she didn't say much. The more the emperor liked her son, the better. After he recited two poems and Emperor Cheng praised him and gave him gifts, Concubine Chang had her son taken away. Concubine Lan made tea herself, and Concubine Chang chatted with Emperor Cheng, "Your Majesty, is there any happy event today?"
Emperor Cheng smiled and told him about what happened in Shu. Concubine Chang looked at him with joy and admiration. Although Concubine Chang was already the mother of two children, she was well maintained and beautiful. This kind of posture did not make people feel disgusted. Concubine Lan served tea to Emperor Cheng and Concubine Chang before saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Hahaha." Emperor Cheng was naturally in high spirits. He suddenly remembered that Concubine Chang had two sons. He told the story of Chu Xiuming and Shen Jin, hiding their names, and asked, "Why do you think this happened?"
Concubine Chang frowned and said, "I'm afraid that child is not in good condition."
Concubine Lan did not speak, so Emperor Cheng looked at Concubine Chang and asked, "Why do you say that?"
Concubine Chang explained, "Your Majesty has already said that he is the eldest son. If it weren't for your poor health, I really can't think of any reason why you would treat the child so badly."
Emperor Cheng narrowed his eyes, and Concubine Chang continued, "And the child was born prematurely. I wonder how early? I heard people say that if a child is born at seven months, he will survive. If he is born at eight months..."
"Really?" Emperor Cheng looked at Concubine Chang and asked.
Concubine Chang said, "I also heard it from an experienced old nanny." Children are prone to dying early, which is why offspring are usually not named until they are three years old.
Emperor Cheng looked at Li Fu, and Li Fu said, "Your Majesty, it should be more than eight months."
"Then why did you suddenly go to Zhuangzi?" Emperor Cheng asked.
Concubine Chang didn't know how to respond when she heard this. She was in a dilemma when she heard Concubine Lan say, "Are you trying to pray for the child?"
Emperor Cheng frowned and said, "Go check it out."
"Yes." Li Fu responded respectfully.
Concubine Chang also spoke up, "It would make sense if it was closer to the temple. It could be to give the woman some relaxation, or the doctor might think it would be better for the child if she lived on the farm."
Emperor Cheng's mind was no longer here, he just nodded perfunctorily, Concubine Chang and Concubine Lan looked at each other, Concubine Lan lowered her eyes slightly and said, "Your Majesty, is there anything bothering you?"
In fact, Emperor Cheng was just thinking about whether to send someone to secretly kidnap Shen Jin and the child. After all, they would not have many people protecting them outside the capital. But if it were him...if the queen and an eldest son who he didn't know if he could grow up were kidnapped, would he compromise?
It certainly wouldn't happen, so Emperor Cheng felt a little useless again, and then he hesitated a little, and when he heard Concubine Lan's voice, he just said, "Nothing."
Concubine Lan stopped asking questions. Concubine Chang stood up and walked behind Emperor Cheng to rub his shoulders. Emperor Cheng thought of Shen Jin's temper again, and finally decided that as long as he kept an eye on Chu Xiuming, it would be fine. Emperor Cheng stayed with Concubine Lan to eat, but in the end he followed Concubine Chang. Jingxi felt particularly dissatisfied, and while serving Concubine Lan to bed, she couldn't help but say, "Why is Concubine Chang like this?"
"It's okay." Lan Fei said softly, "Okay, don't mention it again. Jingxi, I can't have children in my lifetime. What's the point of pampering you more?"
Jingxi's eyes turned red and she said, "My Lady, Jingxi will serve you for the rest of my life."
Concubine Lan smiled slightly, picked up the wick with a silver stick and said, "Okay."
When Chu Xiuming sent Shen Jin to the manor, he told Shen Jin the purpose. Shen Jin still asked, "Will you come and meet me safely and go back to the border town together?"
"Yes." Chu Xiuming still answered like this, so Shen Jin nodded and asked someone to pack up and go to the farm. Chu Xiuming would come to visit her every other day and then rush back on the same day.
Emperor Cheng ordered people to strengthen the surveillance of Duo Chu Xiuming, and Li Fu also confirmed that there was indeed a temple near the manor, and every morning, Shen Jin's personal maid would go to the temple and stay there for an hour, regardless of wind or rain, without interruption.
After more than ten days, not only the people sent by Emperor Cheng to monitor him, but even Emperor Cheng gradually relaxed his surveillance on Zhuangzi. He changed from asking him every day to now asking him only when he remembered.
Soon when the news came from Shu, Emperor Cheng couldn't believe it and asked sternly, "Say it again." In fact, not only Emperor Cheng, but also the ministers in the court were unwilling to believe it.
"The second prince was captured... Tianqi was defeated..." The man kneeling in the middle of the hall lowered his head, holding a letter in his hands, "These are the demands made by the anti-civilian people..."
In fact, the Second Prince deserved to be captured. In order to compete with his brothers for military merits, he led his troops to pursue those people directly and did not listen to anyone's dissuasion. Who would have thought that the rebels who were originally weak were deliberately lured into the defeats in the previous period. When the rescue troops arrived, it was too late. The soldiers led by the Second Prince were all killed, and the Second Prince was also captured. With the Second Prince, these rebels demanded a lot of food and grass. Even if other princes wished that the Second Prince would die quickly, they dared not show it openly. They could only send everything those people wanted, and then wrote a letter to Emperor Cheng.
Those anti-people also wrote letters, making many demands and asking Emperor Cheng to exchange them for the second prince.
In fact, even if the second prince was arrested, these people did not take those traitors seriously. They just thought that the second prince was careless.
The second prince was born to the queen. Although he was not the eldest son, he was the legitimate son... They just hoped that these people would accidentally kill the second prince.
Prince Rui lowered his head, feeling ashamed when he thought about how he doubted Chu Xiuming's words a few days ago. He didn't know what had happened to his eldest son-in-law, and he didn't want his daughter to be a widow at such a young age.
Emperor Cheng no longer had the heart to care about Shen Jin's affairs, and asked sternly, "How did those people protect my son!" After opening the anti-people letter, he saw that these people's demands were not excessive. They only asked Emperor Cheng not to pursue their responsibilities, punish those officials in Shu, and then make a public apology.
Apart from the other things, he would never agree to the last one. He threw the letter to the ground and said, "No way. Go back and tell Gao Chang that if my son is hurt in the slightest, I will kill him. Ask him to rescue my son safely!"
Prince Rui found this matter difficult, but he had no feelings for his nephew. His eldest son was sent back covered in blood after going out with this nephew. Thinking of his eldest son who was still in Fujian, Prince Rui felt that his son was indeed better than Emperor Cheng's son.
Emperor Cheng was in a bad mood because of the events in Shu. After the court session, Prince Rui returned to the palace and told Princess Rui about the events. Princess Rui lowered her eyes slightly and did not speak, but she was thinking about Shen Jin's move to the manor, and then thought about the events in Shu. Suddenly, her face turned pale and she said, "Everyone go down."
King Rui was startled by Princess Rui's voice. He turned his head to look at Princess Rui, but saw that her face was very ugly. King Rui asked cautiously, "Princess...what's wrong with you?"
After making sure that no one was in the room, Princess Rui said, "Your Majesty, do you think there are really only some anti-people people in Shu?"
"What else could it be other than being anti-people?" King Rui asked.
Princess Rui said, "Your Majesty, do you think that anti-people can do this?"
“Didn’t they say that the Second Prince was careless?” Prince Rui looked at Princess Rui, somewhat confused as to what she meant.
Princess Rui dipped her finger in tea and said she wrote three words, namely Crown Prince and Ying. Emperor Cheng has not appointed a crown prince yet, so who is this crown prince referring to? King Rui was stunned for a moment before he understood, and that Ying... could only be King Ying. King Rui turned pale and said, "That's impossible."
"I don't know." Princess Rui said, "There are only less than a thousand rebels and the 50,000 troops sent by His Majesty..."
King Rui shook his head, "Impossible." Although he said so, he believed it in his heart. In King Rui's mind, the people were so ignorant. If there were no one behind him, even if the second prince was reckless, he would not be captured so easily. "What should I do?"
"Your Highness, at least the capital is safe now." Princess Rui calmed down and said softly, "Besides, this is just my guess." If it weren't for Chu Xiuming's attitude, Princess Rui would not have thought of this. Moreover, Princess Rui felt that King Ying might have intervened. Although Chu Xiuming did not tell them clearly, he did not hide his taboos about Shuzhong. There were only a few things that could make Chu Xiuming do this.
King Rui gritted his teeth and said, "Send Xi'er to Xuan'er."
Princess Rui said, "Your Majesty, I want Xi'er to follow Earl Yongning to the border town."
"Ah?" Prince Rui looked at Princess Rui.
Princess Rui said, "Didn't we agree on this at the beginning?"
"But it's different now." King Rui lowered his voice and said, "Don't you know that the Chu family was originally left to me by my father..."
Princess Rui just looked at King Rui and said, "No matter what happens, we must keep a son."
Prince Rui was stunned, then looked at Princess Rui for a long time and said, "You are right, then Chu Xiuming can no longer stay in the capital. If he does not return to the border town, the border town will be too dangerous..." Although Emperor Cheng and Prince Rui are brothers, Prince Rui prefers the Crown Prince as his elder brother. Unfortunately... the Crown Prince is especially kind to them, his younger brothers. Prince Rui still remembers that the Crown Prince taught him calligraphy and archery himself, but he had no ability to intervene in what happened later. In fact, sometimes Prince Rui would think, if the Crown Prince were still alive... he would not be like this now.
"Your Highness, if you intervene..." Princess Rui did not expect Prince Rui to say such a thing, and asked with some concern. Princess Rui was also worried that Prince Rui would do something bad with good intentions.
King Rui thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry."
Princess Rui saw that Prince Rui was becoming more and more worried, so she asked, "What does the prince want to do?"
"I will go and ask my mother for help." Prince Rui said.
Princess Rui didn't know what to say, so she asked, "Please Queen Mother?"
Prince Rui nodded. Princess Rui looked at his serious expression and said, "Your Highness, why don't you tell the Queen Mother about the events in Shu? You got the news that it was done by the descendants of King Ying."
"But I have no news." said King Rui.
Princess Rui lowered her eyes slightly and said, "When the Queen Mother asked, you just said that you were punished for the earthquake in Shu, and you felt unwilling to accept it, so you sent people to pay attention to it. That's how you got this news by chance, and you also saw the barbarians..."
King Rui asked, "If His Majesty asks about this and finds out about it, I'm afraid I won't be in a good situation either."
"So the prince can only go and talk to the queen mother." Princess Rui said, "The queen mother is the prince's mother, so she will naturally protect the prince. Remember to mention the earthquake in Shu. Then the queen mother will understand why the prince went to talk to her instead of His Majesty."
Prince Rui also understood, nodded and said, "Then I will go to the palace now."
Princess Rui agreed, helped Prince Rui change his clothes and sent him out, then looked at Cui Xi and said, "Repeat what I just said to Earl Yongning."
"Yes." Cui Xi responded respectfully.
With the help of Prince Rui, the Earl of Yongning would not have to leave the capital secretly. Instead, he could receive the imperial decree openly. However, Princess Rui did not expect that Prince Rui would be willing to help.
Princess Rui was surprised by the decision of the King Rui, not to mention Chu Xiuming. After listening to Cui Xi's words, he just nodded and said, "Tell the princess that I will take good care of my wife's brother."
Cui Xi agreed and hurried back to Prince Rui's Palace.
It was a pleasant surprise that Prince Rui was willing to help them like this, but Chu Xiuming did not go to pick up Shen Jin. After all, the current situation was still unknown. Zhuangzi had been planning for a long time. If there was really a change, it would be the same to bring the person back. But Princess Rui was gambled everything? Prince Rui probably didn't understand. After this incident, he might never be able to get rid of the relationship. Chu Xiuming narrowed his eyes. Could it be... In that case, how did Emperor Cheng offend Princess Rui?
Chu Xiuming thought of Nanny Zhao's evaluation of Princess Rui, saying that it was a pity for someone like Princess Rui to be in her current position.
The Empress Dowager had only two sons, Emperor Cheng and Prince Rui, and Prince Rui was her youngest son. Even if she didn't show it usually, she still had a preference for this son in her heart. So when she heard that Prince Rui was coming, she came out of the Buddhist temple and asked someone to prepare Prince Rui's favorite cakes.
Prince Rui looked unhappy. The Queen Mother also knew the news from Shuzhong and thought that she was worried about her eldest son-in-law, so she said, "I will tell His Majesty to let the Prince of Yongle come back first."
"Mother, it's not about this." Prince Rui said, "I have something I want to talk to you about."
The Queen Mother looked at Prince Rui's expression and sent everyone out of the room, not even Nanny Zhen. Prince Rui leaned over to the Queen Mother's ear and said, "Mother, you also know that there was an earthquake in Shu on my birthday, and my brother had people beat me and locked me up."
"They are all brothers." The empress dowager knew that Emperor Cheng was being unkind, but there was nothing she could do. After all, the eldest son was the emperor.
"I know." Prince Rui said quickly, "I didn't come here for this." Thinking of Princess Rui's words, "I just felt unwell, so I sent people to Shuzhong to pay attention to the earthquake, and I also wanted to secretly get something to act as a cough..."
The Queen Mother had already understood what Prince Rui meant without Prince Rui explaining it clearly. He wanted to find something to symbolize auspiciousness. The Queen Mother patted Prince Rui's hand gently, but she did not mean to blame him. After all, doing so would not only wash away the dirty water on his body, but would also give an explanation to Emperor Cheng.
"But I didn't expect so many things to happen. I lost contact with the people I sent." Prince Rui chose to lie down next to the Queen Mother's ear to talk, because he was afraid that the Queen Mother would see that his face was not right. "I thought they were all killed by the rebels, but I didn't expect someone to escape and send a letter."
The Queen Mother knew something was wrong and asked, "What's going on?"
"Those people found out... that there seemed to be descendants of Ying... in Shu... and they also saw two barbarians..." King Rui said hesitantly.
The Queen Mother's face changed, and Prince Rui continued, "What should I do, Mother?"
"Where are the people?" asked the Queen Mother.
King Rui said, "I had him killed..."
The Queen Mother breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Did your princess ask you to come to me?"
"Yes." Prince Rui said, "I wanted to find my brother, but the princess asked me to find my mother first."
The Queen Mother's brows finally relaxed. "Just pretend you don't know about this."
"But..." Prince Rui asked hesitantly, "Mother, I am quite scared."
The Queen Mother did not mean to blame Prince Rui, but only warned him, "Go back and pretend you knew nothing."
Prince Rui asked, "What about my brother?"
"I'll arrange it." The Queen Mother knew that her eldest son was the most suspicious, while her younger son was a little... If Emperor Cheng knew that it was Prince Rui who discovered it, he would probably suspect that Prince Rui was planning something ill or was dissatisfied with him, which would not do Prince Rui any good. Perhaps because of this, Princess Rui asked Prince Rui to come to her, and it was fortunate that Princess Rui stopped him. If Prince Rui really went directly to Emperor Cheng, I'm afraid the first person Emperor Cheng would deal with would be Prince Rui.
Prince Rui said hesitantly, "If my mother is really Ying...what should we do? Is the capital safe?"
"Is there any place safer than the capital?" the Queen Mother asked.
Prince Rui said somewhat awkwardly, "I want to send Xi'er to Ruyang."
The Queen Mother frowned, and Prince Rui said, "I...Ruyang will definitely take good care of Xi'er."
"That's fine," the Queen Mother said, "but don't rush."
Prince Rui looked at the Queen Mother in confusion, but the Queen Mother did not say anything else and directly drove Prince Rui away. However, she kept thinking about Prince Rui's words in her heart. The Queen Mother never thought that Prince Rui would lie to her. Thinking of what King Ying had done, the Queen Mother felt a chill in her heart. Even so, she did not immediately send someone to call Emperor Cheng. Instead, she called Nanny Zhen over and made other arrangements.
There was no news for three consecutive days, and Prince Rui was a little restless. However, Princess Rui's expression did not change at all. Even Chu Xiuming went to the manor every other day as usual to accompany Shen Jin and the children. He told Shen Jin about Prince Rui's affairs. Shen Jin was also surprised and said, "How could my father..."
Chu Xiuming shook his head and said, "I don't know either."
Shen Jin thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid it's because of Shen Xuan and Shen Xi."
Prince Rui attached great importance to these two legitimate sons. Thinking of this, Shen Jin felt that it was possible, "What did Prince Ying do back then?" She thought that in addition to doing it for her two sons, Prince Rui might have been frightened by Prince Ying's cruelty, so he felt that the capital was not safe, so he arranged places for his sons early. In order to let Chu Xiuming help protect his sons, she was willing to take the risk.
Chu Xiuming gently touched his son's face and said, "Too much."
Shen Jin stopped asking after hearing this. Chu Xiuming looked at Madam Zhao and asked, "Madam, do you know what the relationship was between Princess Rui and the Crown Princess?"
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