Walking around a 12-panel agarwood wood-carved ruyi screen, Tao Ti walked in slowly under the guidance of the little eunuch.
Originally, she still had a gentle smile on her face, but when she saw Xu Wenhe sitting opposite Pei Yan, her smile froze, and her already round eyes opened even wider.
She blinked her eyes, and was sure that the person in front of her was really the old man Yao Nong in Taoyuan Village, Luoyang, and said in surprise, "Old man Xu, why is it you?"
Xu Wenhe stood up Shi Shiran, and bowed respectfully to Tao Ti, "Caomin greets the Crown Princess, and the Crown Princess is safe and blessed."
Tao Ti hurriedly said, "You don't need to be too polite."
Xu Wenhe stood up straight, and smiled kindly at her, "I haven't seen you in a few months, how is the Crown Princess?"
Tao Ti nodded, "Everything is fine. But old man Xu, how could you be a genius doctor Xu? By the way, you have come to Chang'an. What about Brother Hao, he is here too?"
"Brother Hao is here too, and he's living in the Xianliang Mansion right now." Xu Wenhe stroked his beard and said, "As for why I am Xu Wenhe... the old man wants to be old man Xu, a medicine farmer, but His Majesty the Emperor wants me to be Xu Wenhe, I can only be Xu Wenhe."
In the whole world is it the king's land, no matter how much he hides his name, as long as he is still in the land of Dayuan, he will not be able to hide, not to mention, he has a little grandson.
Anyway, he had dealt with the crown prince before, as long as the crown prince cooperates, Xu Wenhe doesn't seek fame and fortune, but only wants to get out of the way.
Seeing Tao Ti and Xu Wenhe talking about the old days, as if they had completely forgotten that there was such a person as himself, Pei Yan raised his hand to his lips and coughed lightly.
Only then did Tao Ti look at Pei Yan, and said calmly, "Your Highness, if your throat is itchy, drink some warm water."
Pei Yan could hear her little emotions and asked, "Ah Ti, why are you here?"
Tao Ti walked to the crescent stool and sat down, leaning towards Pei Yan, "I heard that the miracle doctor has come to the East Palace, and I also want to hear the result of the miracle doctor's diagnosis for Your Highness."
As she said that, she asked Xu Wenhe with concern, "Uncle Xu, how is Your Highness doing? Can you take care of yourself?"
Xu Wenhe didn't answer right away, but raised his head and glanced at Pei Yan, meaning "Should I tell the truth, or should I lie to your wife with you?".
Pei Yan: ... Look at Gu, everything has been exposed.
Pei Yan rubbed his eyebrows, and said lightly, "Old Mr. Xu, you are exhausted, go back to the post house to rest first. Talk to the princess alone."
Xu Wenhe knew that he was going to confess, and was delighted to hear it, so he cupped his hands and bowed, "Yes, then the old man will not bother the crown prince and princess, and leave first."
Seeing the eyebrows and eyes of the two, Tao Ti became more certain: Pei Yan is clearly not sick! ! !
Recalling her worries about his body in the past, and how foolishly comforting him so many times, she felt a little blocked.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Xu Wenhe was about to leave.
Tao Ti called him to stop, and said with a smile, "Uncle Xu, it's a coincidence that you came here. I made some fresh food today. You can take it back to eat with Brother Hao."
Xu Wenhe was startled, thinking of the concubine's cooking skills, tsk tsk, after she left last time, both grandparents and grandchildren didn't like eating meat. He was greedy in his heart, but he still said politely, "This is specially prepared by the Crown Princess for the Crown Prince, so it's inappropriate for the old man to take it back."
Tao Ti said, "It's suitable, it's very suitable. You and Brother Hao are new to Chang'an, we are the hosts, so we must treat them well. Besides..."
She raised her eyebrows and looked at Pei Yan, "Your Highness's throat is itchy, it may be due to a cold, so it's not suitable to eat this kind of heavy oil and spicy food."
Xu Wenhe, "The old man would be more respectful than obedient, thank you Crown Princess for giving me the food."
The young couple had an awkward quarrel, but the old man took advantage of him. He carried a food box and left in a happy mood.
Pei Yan couldn't see that the little girl was angry and didn't even give him food.
He pushed back all the palace people in the palace, got up slowly, walked in front of Tao Ti, and whispered, "Ah Ti?"
Tao Ti twisted her face, "Hmph!"
Seeing her swollen little bun face, Pei Yan was both helpless and funny, reached out to hold her shoulder, bent over, lowered her eyes and said, "Are you really ignoring me?"
Tao Ti pursed her lips, still not looking at him.
The little girl has a big temper.
Pei Yan bent her lips, squatted in front of her, held her hand and put it on his face, coaxing in a low voice, "I know Arti is the most reasonable, give me a chance to explain?"
His voice is low and melodious, and his beautiful peach blossom eyes have a sincere and gentle expression, as if a pool of moonlight has melted into his eyes, sparkling.
With such a beautiful and delicate face, such a gentle voice, no matter how strong her temper was, more than half of it disappeared immediately.
Tao Ti understood the phrase "As long as the villain is good-looking, the three views follow the five senses", so she fell into his hands!
She hated herself for not being up to date, and muttered awkwardly, "Then you explain. If you can't explain well, I won't make delicious food for you in the future!"
Pei Yan smiled deeply, and led her up, "Go, sit on the couch."
Tao Ti sat on the couch with him.
Pei Yan wanted to hug her shoulder, but she slapped her away, staring at her, "You didn't explain clearly, don't move your hands."
Pei Yan responded with a good greeting, suppressed her smile, and explained seriously, "I am indeed not sick. It is all false what the Qin Tianjian said that I am sick or that my life is not long."
Tao Ti frowned. At first she knew that she was being concealed, she was still a little angry, but when she calmed down and thought about it, he not only hid it from her, but also the whole world, and she felt less angry.
Thinking that he has been "sick and weak" since he was five years old, Tao Ti raised her small face, looked at him firmly with her dark eyes, and said doubtfully, "You have lied to so many people, even His Majesty, and you have lied to him." So long... why did you do this?"
Pei Yan twitched the corner of his mouth, casually turned the white jade finger on his thumb, and the drooping eyelashes just covered the indifference in his eyes, "For survival."
His answer made Tao Ti choke for a moment.
She looked at his clear profile, and there was light golden sunlight cast from the window, illuminating his slender eyelashes clearly.
Obviously his expression was calm, but her heart was inexplicably tugged, and she felt a little uncomfortable.
Pursing her lips, she tentatively asked in a low voice, "Someone wants to harm you?"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of Queen Zhou and Pei Changzhou popped up in her mind.
Pei Yan said calmly, "I fell into the water when I was five years old. It was not an accident, but someone pushed me down."
Tao Ti's expression froze, and she stared at him nervously, "Who is so courageous to murder the prince? Did you see that man's face?"
Pei Yan nodded and said, "It's a court lady serving by my side."
"Lady? Why did she want to harm you?"
"She left a farewell letter. The letter said that my mother was harsh on her, so she held a grudge and deliberately retaliated. When I woke up, she had jumped into the well and died... The emperor was furious, cut her into pieces, and threw her away. Feed the dog to the mass grave. Later, You felt that it was not enough, and punished the nine clans of the court lady."
Tao Ti was silent, this was something Emperor Zhaokang could do.
"Since the palace lady is dead, why do you continue to pretend to be sick?" Tao Ti felt that if Pei Yan was healthy, Pei Changzhou and Queen Zhou would not be so complacent, with the arrogant appearance of the throne in their hands.
"Little fool."
Pei Yan bent her finger and tapped her forehead lightly, "The maid is just a scapegoat, there are other people who really can't tolerate me."
"Queen Zhou?"
Pei Yan's eyes flickered slightly, he didn't say exactly, he just said, "Not only her, but other women with children in the harem all have reason to hate me."
At this time, Tao Ti also somewhat understood that in a place like the harem, a five-year-old child like him could only use this method to protect himself, so that others would reduce their intention to kill him.
As Tao Ti, who grew up bathed in the love of her parents and family, when she thought of Pei Yan's trembling and cautious life when she was a child, her heart felt sour.
She held Pei Yan's hand and whispered, "Your Highness must have suffered a lot in childhood."
Pei Yan said lightly, "Those are all in the past."
Tao Ti didn't know how to comfort him for a while, so she patted herself on the shoulder, "Let me rely on you."
Looking at her petite and thin shoulders, Pei Yan smiled dumbly, grabbed her shoulders, and hugged her directly in his arms.
He was tall, like a big quilt, covering Tao Ti tightly, and his whole body was enveloped by his clear and pleasant breath.
Pei Yan pressed his chin against her forehead, stroking a lock of her hair with his slender fingers, and seemed to be talking to himself, "I used to read "Mencius" when I felt that I couldn't bear it any longer: Human beings must first suffer from their will, exhaust their muscles and bones, starve their skin, empty their bodies, and disturb their actions. Therefore, the heart and tolerance have benefited what they cannot do.［1］
Reading it once is not enough, so I read it a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, and gradually, I survived. "
Tao Ti relaxed in his arms, and said a little embarrassedly, "You read when you are sad, and I eat when I am sad. If one meal is not enough, I will eat two or three meals..."
Pei Yan bent her eyes, pinched her slender waist with warm palms, "Eating so much every day, I don't see you getting fat."
Tao Ti was tickled by him, and laughed while hiding, "I have a physique that can't eat fat."
Pei Yan didn't continue to tease her, she adjusted her angle, nestled in his arms again, and said curiously, "Your Highness, then you have been pretending to be sick for so long, and no one in the Tai Hospital will see that you are pretending to be sick? And you are pretending to be sick every day?" Taking medicine is three-point poisonous, aren't you afraid of hurting your body... "
"My uncle found a kind of medicine for me. Taking it every day can make the pulse condition weak. Besides, I am a prince, and I said I was not feeling well. Even if the imperial doctor can't find out the cause of the disease and report it to the emperor, he can only say that I fell into the water. The root is hurt, and the body is weak."
What kind of temper Emperor Zhaokang had, everyone in the Tai Hospital knew very well. If they dared to say that the prince was in good health, Emperor Zhaokang would only consider them shallow and incompetent, and take off their black hats and heads.
"But didn't the Gu family go to the Northland?"
"Uncle secretly sent someone to protect me."
"Is it a hidden guard? Or some mysterious martial arts master?" Tao Ti suddenly became interested.
Pei Yan smiled slightly, "If there is a chance, I will show you to meet him."
Next, Tao Ti nestled in his arms, listening to him talk about the past.
After talking about it, Tao Ti couldn't get angry at all about him pretending to be sick. She just felt that her relatives and husband were too pitiful, and had suffered so much since childhood.
She put her arms around his waist, buried her face in his arms, and said distressedly, "I will be with you from now on. Whoever bullies you, I will beat him up."
Pei Yan felt warm in his heart, hugged her soft body, and said in a soft voice, "It's good that you stay with me."
He is no longer the fragile child who can only survive by pretending to be sick. After years of painstaking efforts, he already has enough strength.
Since he was sure that Xu Wenhe would enter the East Palace and stop pretending to be weak, he was confident that he would clear up all the people and things that were an eyesore, so that others would no longer dare to covet the position of the crown prince.
As for her, as long as she obediently stays by his side, that's fine.
…
Ganlu Palace.
"Clatter—" There was a sharp sound of cups falling to the ground.
The palace lady silently cleaned up the broken porcelain pieces on the floor. Empress Zhou sat on the red sandalwood carved armchair with a livid face, pinching the armrest tightly with her slender fingers, and the bulging veins on the back of her hand showed her anger at the moment.
Xu Wenhe found it and entered the East Palace. His Majesty actually kept the news so tightly!
I heard that when Xu Wenhe came out of the East Palace, his expression was very contented, which showed that he was very confident in curing Pei Yan's body.
If Pei Yan is really cured and the Gu family returns to Chang'an, how can their Zhou family still have a foothold
The more Empress Zhou thought about it, the heavier her heart became, her long eyebrows were furrowed tightly, she was silent for a long time, she slowly raised her head, and called the big maid beside her,
"I haven't seen my natal family for more than a month. You pass on the oral order to my palace, and invite Mrs. Zuo Xiang into the palace tomorrow."
The grand maid promised and hurried down to deliver the order.