Having just heard the warning from Changsheng two days ago, Xie Wangzhi didn't take it seriously and thought he would never enter Lizheng Palace again. Unexpectedly, for several days in a row, he seemed to be entangled by Lizheng Palace and even felt annoyed when he saw the eunuchs who came to serve meals.
The reason was quite simple. The sour plum cake I sent last time caught the Crown Princess's eye. Women often like something when they have morning sickness, and it just so happened that the Crown Princess liked sour plums this time, sour plum cakes, sour plum slices, and she wanted to eat the sour plums directly.
Since it was Yao Yupan who did it last time, she should do it again, but she was too timid and refused to go no matter what she was told. Seeing that she was trembling and couldn't speak clearly, Xie Wangzhi had no choice but to go for her. Yao Yupan knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn't take the reward money Xie Wangzhi brought back and gave it all to Xie Wangzhi.
Xie Wangzhi didn't lack this little reward money. She went to Lizheng Palace just to help Yao Yupan. It was okay once or twice, but after doing it again and again, she became a little annoyed and her steps became heavier as she walked forward with her head down.
As soon as we entered the courtyard, the eunuch leading the way suddenly stopped and said in a respectful voice: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, wish you all the best."
Xie Wangzhi also stopped quickly, knelt down and greeted him.
There was no way they could meet on a narrow road. She thought it was just a chance encounter, just like she was brushing shoulders with the prince. But Li Taoqi suddenly asked, "What is this?"
"Your Highness, these are snacks sent by the Imperial Food Bureau. Your Majesty likes to eat them recently." The eunuch replied.
Li Zhuoqi said, "What kind of snacks?"
The eunuch didn't know about this. When he served the meal, he only asked for sour plums. He had to answer the prince's question, so he quickly nudged Xie Wangzhi with his elbow.
Xie Wangzhi understood: "Your Highness, it's sour plum cake and sour plum candy."
She was not tall enough to reach Li Taoqi's chest, and she lowered her head. Li Taoqi saw a dark head of hair, thin shoulders, and narrow winter clothes. She looked like a little palace maid, but he suddenly felt familiar with her and paused: "Look up."
Xie Wang was startled, and immediately remembered what Changsheng said, thinking that the prince might be really sick, liking young palace maids. She was in a state of anxiety, and responded, slowly looking up.
Li Taoqi's expression was quite normal, calm and almost dull, and nothing could be seen. He was not bad looking, and could be said to be good-looking, but this "good-looking" was just like his expression, very dull, from his eyebrows to his lips, there was nothing ugly about him, but there was nothing outstanding about him either.
Xie Wangzhi pondered for a moment and felt that the Crown Prince's face was a bit of a pity. Although he looked good, it was too plain. He was not as good as Changsheng. However, judging from his face, he was a good match for the Crown Princess. They were both plain and regular, and he could forget about them in a moment.
She was looking at Li Tuoqi, and Li Tuoqi was also looking at her. Xie Wangzhi's facial features were pretty, but they had not yet fully developed. Hidden in the heavy winter clothes, she was at most delicate, like a flower that had just emerged, still a bud, without much flavor.
Just now, she lowered her head and looked vaguely like Xie Yunzhi, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Li Taoqi was immediately startled, thinking that this little palace maid had some kind of relationship with Xie Yunzhi, so he called her. But when she looked up, he felt that it was not the case.
Xie Yun was 21 years old, and the little maid looked 12 or 13 years old, obviously not a daughter. Moreover, if she was really from the Xie family of Chang'an, she would not have entered the palace to be a maid serving meals. The two did not look much alike, and Li Taoqi felt that he had seen wrong, nodded, and continued to walk out.
Confused, Xie Wangzhi could only kneel again and salute, then continue walking with the eunuch.
It was just before lunch, so it was a good time to eat some sour plums to whet the appetite. Usually, the food was delivered at this time. When Xie Wangzhi got to the door, before she even raised her legs, someone came out to stop her. It was Gui Yan, the head maidservant of the Crown Princess: "Wait. The Queen is still asleep."
Xie Wangzhi felt that she shouldn't sleep anymore at this time. Then she changed her mind and thought that maybe this is how pregnant women are. She knew that pregnancy was hard, so she nodded and said, "Then give this lunch box to my sister?"
Guiyan glanced at her and shook his head: "Wait a moment, the queen will wake up soon."
This request was not excessive, Xie Wangzhi responded: "If the queen wakes up and wants to have some snacks, please let me know."
The returning goose said "hmm" and turned back.
Without anyone to greet him, Xie Wangzhi could not enter the palace without permission, nor could he go to the side hall to avoid the wind, so he could only stand at the entrance of the main hall. It was cold in October, and the sun had not yet risen. The wind was getting colder and colder, and Xie Wangzhi felt that his face was frosted.
After standing there for about a quarter of an hour, she could not stand it any longer and tentatively said to the palace servant at the door: "Sister, the sour plum cake is steamed and tastes better when eaten hot. If we wait any longer, I'm afraid it will get cold."
"Is there no hot water under the food box?"
"Yes." Xie Wangzhi said, "I added boiling water, but..."
"Then wait. Do you think we should go and urge Her Majesty to get up?" The palace maid closed her eyes and said, "Don't talk too much."
Seeing her attitude, Xie Wangzhi wanted to use the excuse of changing the hot water, but it seemed that it would not work, so he could only wait in the cold wind.
Another quarter of an hour later, the Crown Princess finally woke up, and it was Gui Yan who came out to pass on the message: "Your Majesty is awake and wants to have some snacks. Come in."
Finally she was able to go in, Xie Wangzhi took the food box and stepped forward with her stiff legs. The hall was heated by a floor heater, and when she first entered, she felt a pain on her face. She endured the pain and put the food box on the table: "Madam, the food has arrived."
The Crown Princess responded indifferently. Gui Yan handed the plate to her. She picked up a small piece of sour plum cake and put it in her mouth, just like she had done several times before.
Xie Wangzhi thought he could leave, but the Crown Princess suddenly vomited out the sour plum cake and her face changed: "This taste..."
Xie Wang was stunned: "What's wrong with the queen?"
"What's wrong? The queen has vomited!" Gui Yan was anxious. "What's wrong with the Shangshi Bureau? Can they just present this?"
Xie Wangzhi was confused. The sour plum cake was sticky, so in order to look good, it was steamed whole before being cut. After it came out of the pot, Yao Yupan tasted a piece and found it tasted fine, so the rest must have the same taste. Even if it cooled, it would only become stickier, and the sweet and sour taste would not change.
"Madam, do you feel it's sticky?" She said blankly, "Maybe it's because of the cold wind, the sour plum cake is a little cold, and when it's heated up..."
Before she finished her words, the Crown Princess spat out the tea she had used to rinse her mouth and held her forehead. Gui Yan smashed the plate directly in front of Xie Wangzhi's knees: "Try it yourself!"
The hall was paved with stone bricks, and the plate broke when it fell to the ground, and Xie Wangzhi was almost splashed with broken porcelain in the face. The hall was cleaned quite well, but the sour plum cake was easily stained with dust, and it would become dirty even after rolling on the ground, so it was definitely not edible.
At this point, Xie Wangzhi understood what she didn't understand. It wasn't that the sour plum cake tasted bad, but that she was inexplicably stopped by the prince outside. The princess took out her anger on her. Making her stand in the cold wind was just an appetizer, and now it was the main thing.
"The sour plum cake has fallen to the ground. I'm sorry I can't taste it." She felt very aggrieved and tried hard to hold back the bitterness. "If your Majesty finds it unpalatable, I will go back to the food bureau and get another portion for you. It should be more palatable if it's hot."
"You are so precious?" Gui Yan pretended to kick Xie Wangzhi, "I'll let you taste it..."
"That's enough." The Crown Princess held her forehead and glanced at Xie Wangzhi. "You've given me a headache. Go kneel outside for an hour and then come back. Remember this lesson."
The stone slabs outside were hard and cold, and Xie Wangzhi's legs were not made of wood. If she knelt for an hour, she would have to crawl back to the Shangshi Bureau. She also had a temper. If an ordinary person did this, she would want to pick up the sour plum cake on the ground and throw it at the person's face, and then shout "Eat it if you like it or not."
But this is the Crown Princess, the future Queen, and she is carrying the heir to the empire. Xie Wangzhi has no way to deal with it, and no one will help her.
She suppressed her anger and without even begging for mercy, she stood up and walked outside, lifted her skirt, and knelt down straight.
It was cold, really cold. After leaving the palace, it felt even colder. The wind felt like a knife cutting. Xie Wangzhi knelt on the ground, his shoulders trembling slightly.
For a moment, she wanted to run away and go to the Ministry of Personnel to find her brother, or even go to the Ministry of Central Secretariat to find her father. But they were ultimately subjects, the Crown Princess was the sovereign, and this was a matter of the harem, so even if she could find him, there was nothing she could do.
She still has someone to look for. If she is really a commoner, then it is really wronged, and she can only swallow this anger. Xie Wangzhi thought, when the Crown Princess was angry when she was pregnant, she could beat or punish the palace maids at will. The Crown Princess is a human being, but aren't the palace maids who were punished by her for no reason also human beings? Can the monarch do whatever he wants
…can’t think.
Xie Wangzhi's heart trembled, and he suppressed the thought that came to his mind. He knelt obediently on the ground, intending to endure it for an hour.
After kneeling for a while, she heard a voice: "Why are you kneeling here?"
"...Eternal Life?" Xie Wang was stunned, "How did you..."
Changsheng probably guessed what was going on and sighed. The palace servants at the entrance of Lizheng Palace didn't recognize him and didn't look at him well because he was dressed in green. Changsheng didn't get angry and just said, "I'm here to deliver the message from Qingsi Palace."
Qingsi Palace and the Eastern Palace have never gotten along. Although that person has no chance of succeeding to the throne and can't even compete with the crown prince, he is still a prince after all. The palace servant who choked Xie Wangzhi before didn't dare to stop him. He pursed his lips and pretended not to see it, and let Changsheng in reluctantly.
Changsheng didn't bother to pay attention to her, and went around the screen and entered the inner hall. In front of Li Chengjing, he could still pretend, but in front of the Crown Princess, he was too lazy to bother, and bowed for the sake of courtesy: "I will take the palace maid outside. Your Majesty, have a good rest and accumulate some virtue for the child in your belly."
The Crown Princess shuddered, clearly angry: "Is that how you talk to me?"
After all, she was pregnant, so Changsheng didn't bother with her. He glanced at her, then suddenly bent down properly and performed the etiquette of a palace maid.
The Crown Princess didn't know what he was up to, and was slightly startled, then she heard Changsheng continue to speak. His voice was hoarse, a characteristic of teenagers, but not unpleasant to the ear. When he spoke calmly, he actually sounded a bit obedient, as if he were really a little eunuch: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The Seventh Prince of Qingsi Palace sent a message, specifically requesting the Begonia Cake made by the palace maid outside."
The Crown Princess' pupils shrank, and before she could say anything, Changsheng had already turned around and walked out. She only had time to see his back.
Xie Wangzhi was kneeling outside the hall, feeling cold all over and his knees aching. He had no idea what was said in the hall. When he saw Changsheng coming out, he forced a smile at him.
Changsheng thought there was nothing funny about this, but he couldn't help touching her head and helping her up: "Let's go and cook for His Majesty the Seventh Prince."