Chapter 844, Gathering
The Empress Dowager often summoned concubines, princes, and princesses to the Cining Palace for talks under the pretext of being sick. Among them, the ones she summoned the most were the princes who were serving in the court.
In the Qianqing Palace, when the emperor heard that the eldest prince and others had gone to the Cining Palace again, he just said "hmm" lightly, and Xiao Yeyang, who came to report the errand, lowered his head silently.
After the death of Prince Jiang and Jiang Jinghui, the Queen Mother and Duke Cheng'en knew that the Jiang family was unable to raise another obedient and sensible little prince, so they turned their attention to the adult princes?
The Jiang family still has a lot of resources, and I wonder if the eldest prince can withstand the test?
After reporting the mission, Xiao Yeyang left the palace. When he was about to reach the palace gate, he met the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince was the first to greet Xiao Yeyang: "I want to leave the palace too, would you like to come with me?"
Xiao Yeyang glanced at the Fourth Prince and nodded in agreement. As he walked towards the palace gate, he casually asked, "I heard that you and the eldest prince went to the Cining Palace to see the Empress Dowager. Why did you come out so soon?"
The Fourth Prince looked at Xiao Yeyang and knew that he came from the Palace of Heavenly Purity. He thought to himself that his father had indeed seen them go to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. He smiled faintly and said, "I have never been favored by the Empress Dowager. Every time I go to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, I just pay my respects and leave."
Xiao Yeyang nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
The Fourth Prince hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively, "You entered the palace, why didn't you go to see the Queen Mother?"
Xiao Yeyang raised an eyebrow and looked at the Fourth Prince, then said with a smile, "The entire capital knows the Queen Mother's attitude towards me now, so why should I bother to embarrass myself?"
After saying this, he paused and smiled meaningfully.
"Besides, since the Queen Mother is ill, I think it would be best if we don't bother her enough while she recovers."
Hearing this, the Fourth Prince's heart moved. Seeing that Xiao Yeyang had quickened his pace and seemed unwilling to say more, he smiled and changed the subject: "Mo Rong really liked the snacks my sister-in-law sent. When you go back, thank my sister-in-law for me."
Xiao Yeyang: "It's just a little snack, there's no need to thank me."
The last time I went to Four Seasons Villa, the Fourth Prince and his family were also staying at the villa in Tangyu Mountain. Daohua invited this family to visit the villa, and when they left, she brought a lot of food for Mo Rong.
As they were talking, the two of them had already left the palace. Xiao Yeyang quickly said goodbye to the Fourth Prince, then mounted his horse and left.
Looking at Xiao Yeyang's receding back, the Fourth Prince carefully recalled what he had just said and immediately decided that he would go to the Cining Palace to pay respects with the First Prince and others less often in the future.
Although the investigation concluded that the fire of the Lantern Festival lanterns was caused by the mistake of the palace servants, he instinctively felt that something was wrong.
Furthermore, the increasingly subtle relationship between his father, the Empress Dowager, and the Jiang family made him feel that something was amiss.
The fact that my father was secretly paying attention to them paying their respects to the Empress Dowager shows that he cares.
Maybe this is a time to take sides.
To stand with his father or the Jiang family, he naturally chose the former. Even though he had an ear disease and had no chance of becoming emperor, being valued by his father was better than being marginalized.
Not long after the fourth prince left the palace, the eldest prince and the fifth prince also left the palace one after another.
A prince who does not want to be an emperor is not a good prince. Among the adult princes who serve as officials in the court, if there is one who does not want to sit on the throne, it is probably the fourth prince who suffers from ear disease.
The eldest prince and the fifth prince also wanted to win the favor of the empress dowager so that they could get the support of the Jiang family and increase their chances of ascending the throne. However, the eldest prince's father-in-law and the fifth prince's grandfather had both advised them not to get too close to the Jiang family and the empress dowager.
The two of them also vaguely felt that the emperor was deliberately suppressing the Jiang family, so they put their thoughts aside.
As for the second prince and the third prince, they were always the last to leave.
Because the second prince was on good terms with the eldest princess and had heard many good things about the empress dowager and the Jiang family, he was the prince closest to the empress dowager.
The third prince, having incurred the emperor's dislike some time ago, was eager to seek a backer. As soon as the empress dowager showed any sign, he immediately approached her.
Pingxi Hall.
After Xiao Yeyang came back, he told Daohua about the eldest prince and others paying their respects at the Cining Palace. Unless it was a confidential mission, he would tell Daohua everything else so that she could know more about the situation outside and avoid being cheated.
Daohua: "The Queen Mother and the Jiang family want to recruit the prince and use him for their own purposes?"
Xiao Yeyang particularly likes the transparency of rice flowers. He doesn't need to explain many things, she can understand what he wants to express.
"The Jiang family has always been very bold. Their goal is probably to pull down the emperor's uncle and then push a prince who can control him to the throne, just like the emperor's uncle continued to do in the past."
Daohua was curious: "Tell me, which prince did the Queen Mother take a fancy to?"
Xiao Yeyang shook his head: "I can't tell now." Then he looked at Daohua with a smile, "What do you think?"
Daohua rested his chin on his hand and pondered, "The princes who attended the court all had some power behind them. If we want to control them, we should definitely choose the weakest one. The Fourth Prince has the worst family background, but he has an ear problem, so we can rule him out."
"The remaining eldest prince, second prince, third prince, and fifth prince all have decent maternal families. If I had to choose, I would definitely choose the one who has leverage over them."
As he said that, he looked at Xiao Yeyang.
"Have any of these eldest princes done anything particularly bad, the kind that would ruin their reputation if it were made public?"
Xiao Yeyang narrowed his eyes and said, "I really don't know about this." As he spoke, he touched his chin. Perhaps he should pay more attention to the princes in the future.
The first day of August is the birthday of rice flowers.
Because Xiao Yeyang was so busy last night, the rice flowers only slowly opened their eyes at noon.
Daohua rubbed her eyes and sat up. She saw Xiao Yeyang in his shirt, standing in front of the table, painting with a brush. She couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing so early in the morning?"
Xiao Yeyang smiled at her, said nothing, and continued to paint.
Daohua got out of bed, put on her clothes, walked to the table and saw the portrait of herself sleeping on the bed.
Xiao Yeyang finished the last stroke and looked at Daohua: "Today is your eighteenth birthday. I want to draw what you looked like when you were eighteen. When we are old, we can look at it slowly."
Daohua glanced at Xiao Yeyang coquettishly, with a smile in her eyes: "Isn't it too disrespectful to draw a portrait of a sleeping face?"
Xiao Yeyang smiled: "We're just watching it, why should we be so solemn? It's just that we're a little pressed for time today, otherwise I would have drawn myself in too."
When Daohua heard this, she quickly shook her head and said, "Forget it."
Xiao Yeyang: "Why, you don't want to paint with me?"
Daohua: "Of course not. We can draw together in daily life, but not when we are sleeping."
Xiao Yeyang laughed: "You're not going to hang it outside, so why should you be embarrassed?"
Daohua blew the ink on the painting carefully. "I have carefully kept the portrait you drew for me." Then she smiled and said, "We can show it to our children in the future."
Xiao Yeyang hugged Daohua from behind and asked with a smile, "Why, do you want a child? I see you like that little guy Mo Rong very much."
Daohua: "The child is so cute, of course I like him, but I'm going to have a baby and I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of him." She looked a little nervous.
Xiao Yeyang was speechless: "There are wet nurses, maids, and old women."
Daohua rolled her eyes in response. "Please, the child is ours. You're really capable of leaving him to the wet nurse and the maids. I told you in advance that we are going to have a child, and you have to spend time with him every day."
Xiao Yeyang quickly said, "I will definitely do it."
Daohua talked about Zhou Jingwan again: "Jingwan is going to give birth this month, but I don't know when it will be. I haven't prepared a gift yet."
Xiao Yeyang thought about how every time he saw Yan Wentao recently, Yan Wentao would pull him aside and ask him to guess whether his first child would be a son or a daughter. He began to fantasize about his and Daohua's child.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
