There was a sudden knock on the door, a very light one.
Pei Zheng remained calm and didn't intend to pay any attention. He stared at the pair of bright red lips in front of him and leaned forward.
Qi Changyi shrank back, turned his head away, his face flushed, and he gasped slightly, "Brother Pei, there's someone knocking on the door."
"I heard that."
Pei Zheng turned his little head over and was about to kiss him when someone pressed his lips against his again.
"Then please let someone in quickly, what if there is something important?"
Qi Changyi pouted and pressed Pei Zheng's thin lips with his fingers.
Pei Zheng pulled his hand away, kissed the back of his hand, then put his hands behind his back to prevent those little hands from pushing him away again.
"Nothing is more important than you."
His thin lips pressed down without any explanation, and at this moment, there was another soft knock on the door behind him.
Qi Changyi's body tensed up a little, and his teeth accidentally bit the soft tongue that was exploring his mouth, and then his own soft little tongue was bitten back as if as a punishment.
Qi Changyi groaned in pain, and his eyes suddenly filled with tears.
Seeing how pitiful he looked, Pei Zheng realized that he might have failed to control the strength of his bite and bit too hard, thus hurting this delicate and soft little darling.
He quickly licked the place where he was bitten twice as if to comfort him, then let go of the panting little guy.
"Stick out your tongue."
Qi Changyi, however, simply closed his mouth tightly, staring at Pei Zheng with a pair of misty almond-shaped eyes, and seemed very dissatisfied with Pei Zheng's counterattack just now.
"Brother Pei, why did you bite me?"
Pei Zheng was afraid that he had really bitten someone, so he pinched his little chin and asked him to open his mouth, then leaned over to look at the little tongue. Fortunately, there was no skin breakage or swelling.
"Does it hurt? Can I be gentler next time?"
Qi Changyi nodded at first, then felt something was wrong, "No, no, you are not allowed to bite me anymore, not even gently, it will hurt me."
"Okay, I won't bite." Pei Zheng said.
Except in **. Pei Zheng thought.
There was another knock on the door, heavier than the previous two.
"Come in."
Pei Zheng's figure completely blocked the little man, and Qi Changyi could not be seen at all from the direction of the door.
He stretched out his fingers and wiped the crystal from the corners of the little guy's mouth, which had accidentally overflowed from his lips during the kiss just now. The little guy was still unaware of it. He raised his eyes with pure mist in his eyes and looked at Pei Zheng, his face full of purity and innocence.
The person who came in was Li Yu. He stood at the door with his head down, not daring to go any further.
He had been standing by the door for a long time, not daring to knock. But he had no choice but to knock. He was afraid that if he knocked, the adults would find him annoying and throw him out of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
But when he thought of his own little prince, he felt that someone was backing him up, so Li Yu dared to come in.
"My Lord, Your Highness."
"Tell me something."
Pei Zheng had his back to the door, and no one knew what he was doing, but in fact his fingers had been circling the corners of the little guy's lips, and they almost slipped into his lips several times.
If Qi Changyi hadn't held Pei Zheng's arm tightly with his lips tightly closed, I'm afraid that slender finger would have already entered his mouth.
Li Yu reported tremblingly, "Sir, the Fourth Prince is here and has been waiting in the front hall for quite a while."
The fourth prince Qi Changfeng? I haven't heard this name for a long time. Why is he here suddenly
Pei Zheng asked, "What's the matter?"
Li Yu said, "The Fourth Prince refused to speak, saying that he would only speak after seeing His Highness."
Pei Zheng sneered, "Does he think he can see her whenever he wants? If he refuses to tell me, then let the Fourth Prince go back. Your Highness has other important matters to attend to."
Qi Changyi stood in front of Pei Zheng, looked at him and whispered, "Brother Pei, I don't have anything else important to do."
Seeing how well-behaved he was, Pei Zheng loved him so much that he pinched his soft little face and said, "If I say you have it, then you have it."
He leaned down and whispered in the little man's ear, "I'll tell you what the important matter is later."
Seeing that Li Yu had not left yet, Pei Zheng was already becoming a little impatient.
"Not going yet?"
Li Yu said, "Sir, I may know why the Fourth Prince came here this time."
explain.
Li Yu said, "During the time when you and your Highness were away, a lot of things happened in the palace. The emperor's health was also bad and he has been bedridden for a while. The palace doctors were unable to treat him. The former imperial physician Jiang Yubai has now been brought back to the palace to live temporarily to treat the emperor's condition. Everyone in the palace knows that the emperor has been thinking about our little prince a lot these days. He is always looking forward to his return and seeing him again."
No wonder the emperor never summoned Pei Zheng. It turns out that he couldn't summon him.
"Qi Changfeng came here for this matter?" Pei Zheng asked.
Li Yu nodded, "This is not the first time the Fourth Prince has come here, but the two previous times he came, the Lord and His Highness had not returned yet. This time, the Fourth Prince probably wants to take His Highness to the palace."
Pei Zheng snorted coldly, "You came to the Prime Minister's Mansion to pick someone up, but you didn't even know you had to get my approval first."
"Sir, do you still want the Fourth Prince to go back directly?"
Qi Changyi spoke at this time, "Brother Pei, are you saying that Fourth Brother is here to take me back to the palace, to take me back to see Father?"
Pei Zheng touched his hair and said, "It's okay. If you don't want to go, then don't go. I'll protect you. No one can force you."
Qi Changyi pulled Pei Zheng's hand and said in a low voice, "Brother Pei, father is sick, right? Is it serious? Will he die?"
The one who emerged in Qi Changyi's mind now was not the father who sent him to marry, not the father who did not see him even when he fainted in the rain, nor the father who no longer loved him and always punished and alienated him, but the father who carried him on his shoulders when he was a child and held him in his arms and coaxed him like a baby.
Li Yu replied, "Your Highness, I don't want to lie to you. According to Imperial Doctor Jiang, the Emperor's condition is serious and his life may be in danger."
When Qi Changyi heard this, the corners of his eyes instantly turned red.
"Brother Pei, I want to go back. I want to see my father and see how he is doing."
Qi Changyi leaned his head slowly on Pei Zheng, "Brother Pei, I don't want anything to happen to father. Even if father doesn't love me anymore, I don't want anything to happen to him. I want father to be well and not get sick. Father can love other brothers and sisters. I won't be sad."
Pei Zheng listened to his voice getting smaller and smaller, and recognized the crying tone in it. He hugged his trembling little body with heartache and gently lifted his head.
Sure enough, the pair of eyes that were originally misty were now filled with tears. When she blinked her long eyelashes, the tears fell like little pearls.
Pei Zheng wiped away his tears and said, "If you are not sad, why are you crying?"
Qi Changyi pursed his lips, feeling extremely aggrieved. "I, I am sad. I am actually very sad, but I have always endured it.
I lived there but I couldn’t help it today.”
The little guy cried so sadly that he sobbed.
Pei Zheng patted his back gently to calm him down, his voice so gentle that water could drip out of it, "Okay, stop crying. If you want to go back and take a look, go back. I'll listen to you, okay?"
''good."
Qi Changyi let Pei Zheng wipe his tears and tidy up his clothes. Then Pei Zheng held his hand tightly and led him all the way to the lobby in the front yard of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Qi Changfeng was still sitting inside, and was a little surprised when he saw the two people.
"Master Pei, I didn't even get any advance information on when you came back."
Qi Changfeng's position in the court has been stabilized recently. Although it is no longer as glorious as before, at least he can participate in politics again.
"Chang, Changyi" Qi Changfeng saw Qi Changyi following Pei Zheng and was stunned for a moment.
This is his biological brother who has disappeared for several years. Blood is thicker than bones. Moreover, after Qi Changfeng thought that Qi Changyi was dead, he blamed himself and was negative for a long time. Now that he sees his brother standing in front of him again, it would be a lie for him to say that he is not happy.
But why is this soft and sweet brother who always greeted me with a smile and obeyed me no matter what happened, now looking at me so coldly
"Fourth brother." Qi Changyi called out indifferently, in a very normal tone. The corners of his eyes were red, and it was obvious that he had just cried.
Just now in the small building, Pei Zheng had already agreed with Qi Changyi that he was not allowed to be too nice to Qi Changfeng, nor to try to please him anymore.
"Changyi, you, you..." Qi Changfeng was overwhelmed with emotions and didn't know what to say for a moment.
"How are you?"
"He is fine. There is no need for you to worry, Fourth Prince."
Pei Zheng raised his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes. "I wonder why the Fourth Prince came to my residence?"
Qi Changfeng paused, "I, I'm Changyi, I'm here to take you back to the palace."
Pei Zheng shook Qi Changyi's hand. He looked up at Pei Zheng, then looked at Qi Changfeng and said, "Okay, Fourth Brother, I'll go back with you."
Two carriages set out from the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion and drove all the way into the palace. After entering the palace gate, they stopped outside an archway.
After getting off the carriage, he took a sedan chair and went to the outside of the emperor's bedroom.
Pei Zheng got off the sedan chair and carried Qi Changyi down from it.
"Can I go in by myself?"
Qi Changyi sniffed and nodded.
Qi Changfeng had already walked to the door of the bedroom to wait for Qi Changyi, but Pei Zheng was still a little worried that he would leave his sight. However, this was the imperial palace, so nothing would happen.
"Brother Pei, don't leave. You have to wait for me here."
Qi Changyi pulled Pei Zheng's sleeve and said, "I'll come out to find you later. You can't go anywhere."
Pei Zheng laughed and pinched his little chin lovingly, not caring at all about the looks of the people around him.
Whoever dares to look, just watch. If you have the courage to stick out your tongue, you must have the ability to prevent it from reaching Pei Zheng's ears. Otherwise, whoever dares to say one more word, he will have his tongue pulled out.