On the way back to Qiyuan Palace, Jiang Changning didn't say a word, and Emperor Xuanzhi didn't say a word either. The couple entered the side hall of Qiyuan Palace in silence.
"Are you angry?" Emperor Xuanzhi broke the silence.
Jiang Changning shook his head, "No."
"Then why don't you speak?"
Jiang Changning lowered his eyelids and said, "There's nothing much to say."
“That’s still angry.”
"No, I'm not angry." Jiang Changning denied firmly.
"Then Ningning is jealous." Emperor Xuanzhi said with a smile.
Jiang Changning raised his eyes and looked at him, "No."
He is the emperor, the ruler of the world. He can legitimately have three palaces, six courtyards and seventy-two concubines. Can she bear the jealousy
Most importantly, she was a little confused now, and couldn't tell whether she was angry or jealous.
She used to be a princess, and if she couldn't live with him anymore, she could still find a way to divorce.
Now she is the queen. In history, there were women who divorced for peace and became queens or queen mothers, but there was no queen who divorced for peace and became queen.
Jiang Changning felt like she was on an isolated island, with nothing but the sea around her and no way out.
"Then if I favor them, the Queen won't mind?"
Jiang Changning was silent for a moment, then asked, "If I say I care, Your Majesty won't go?"
Without waiting for Emperor Xuanzhi to answer, Jiang Changning continued, "Your Majesty, I cannot be eighteen forever, but there will always be someone eighteen."
"In the eyes of the Queen, am I so superficial?" Emperor Xuanzhi asked in a deep voice.
"Then what does Your Majesty like about me?" Jiang Changning asked.
She was just an orphan, and Emperor Xuanzhi was willing to marry her, which could be explained as him doing it to confuse people.
But after marriage, it was unnecessary for Emperor Xuanzhi to treat her so well.
"I don't know where the love comes from, but it is so deep and lasting." Emperor Xuanzhi gazed at her with deep affection in his eyes.
Jiang Changning ignored the affection in his eyes and said coldly: "Love has no end, and it will be ruined if it goes on forever."
Emperor Xuanzhi was stunned, "Ningning, do you not believe that I will always love you?"
Jiang Changning pursed his lips and said nothing, obviously agreeing.
"Ningning, do you have no confidence in me or in yourself?" Emperor Xuanzhi stretched out his hand and hugged her into his arms. "Since I have made up my mind, I will not change it easily. Ningning, you have to believe in yourself too. You have a fatal attraction to me."
Jiang Changning hesitated for a moment before leaning into his arms.
Listening to his heartbeat, she closed her eyes. That was it. Things had come to this point, she could no longer leave and could only try to "monopolize" him.
When she really grows old and ugly and he favors someone else, she will support her son and seize the throne from him.
The most honorable position for a woman is not that of a queen, but that of a queen mother who has a filial son who serves as the emperor!
Emperor Xuanzhi had no idea that his good queen had such a rebellious and dangerous idea.
After that, the couple seemed to have a better relationship and were inseparable.
After the beginning of winter, the weather became colder day by day. In the warm hall of Qiyuan Palace, the floor heating and the fire wall were burning vigorously. Xiaobai and Xiaoqian were wearing early autumn clothes and sitting on the carpet playing.
Jiang Changning sat aside and read a storybook, which was a supernatural novel.
Just then, a pale hand stretched out from under the table and grabbed the
"Ah!" Jiang Changning screamed as she felt someone grab her feet. She looked down and saw that the person grabbing her feet was her youngest son. "Xiao Qian, you almost scared me to death."
As she said this, she bent down and picked up Xiao Qian. "Why don't you play with your second brother anymore? Instead, you crawled to your mother's feet. You scared her."
Xiao Qian couldn't speak yet, but he grinned at his mother.
"My little darling has such a cute smile." Jiang Changning gave him a big kiss on his little face.
"Brother." Xiaobai came over, hugged his mother's legs, and shouted with his face up.
Xiao Qian knew that his younger brother was himself, so he lowered his head to look at Xiao Bai, and a drop of saliva fell on Xiao Bai's nose.
"Brother, why are you drooling again?" Xiaobai didn't mind and wiped it off with his sleeve.
Jiang Changning held Xiaoqian in his arms and sat on the couch. He opened Xiaoqian's mouth and saw white spots on his pink gums. He smiled and said, "Our Xiaoqian is about to grow teeth."
Xiao Qian shook her head vigorously a few times to avoid Jiang Changning's hand, then pounced on her and bit her face.
Only a little bit of its white and pointed teeth are exposed, and it hurts quite a bit when it bites.
"Oh, my kid!" Jiang Changning hugged Xiao Qian a little further away, "Bad boy, how did you learn to bite people?"
The wet nurse came over and took the little guy away.
Xiao Qian refused and tried to get back into his mother's arms.
Xiulan came over and took a look, "Madam, it seems that the skin has been bitten."
"No way, his teeth haven't grown out yet." Jiang Changning took out a mirror from the drawer, looked at himself, and found that his skin was really broken.
Xiulan quickly found some medicine to help Jiang Changning apply it.
At early noon, Jiang Changning sent his two sons to Ciren Palace to have lunch with the empress dowager.
As soon as the two sons left, Emperor Xuanzhi arrived.
He immediately noticed the wound on Jiang Changning's face and frowned, "Who hurt you?"
"In this palace, the only person who dares to hurt me is your youngest son. If he bites you, go and beat him up."
Emperor Xuanzhi held her face in his hands, looked at it carefully, and confirmed that the injury was not serious. He smiled and said, "If I really beat him, you would be heartbroken again."
Jiang Changning smiled and told Xiulan, "Serve the meal."
After dinner, the couple went to Ciren Palace to pick up their son.
When the Queen Mother saw the two of them, she chatted for a while and then said, "Emperor, I have thought about it and it is better not to hold my Qianqiu this year."
"Mother, don't worry." Emperor Xuanzhi came here to discuss her birthday with the empress dowager.
"I'm not worried. I know you're filial, but I made this decision after careful consideration. Your Majesty, doing everything thoroughly is the greatest virtue." The Queen Mother said solemnly.
In the eyes of those pedantic people, Emperor Xuanzhi's accession to the throne was not legitimate. Both his coronation ceremony and the empress-crowned ceremony were grand. If her birthday celebration was also grand, those people would probably criticize her in writing and verbally.
Jiang Changning's eyebrows twitched slightly. The Queen Mother was very wise in many things.
"I understand what you mean, mother." Emperor Xuanzhi said solemnly, "On the day of your passing, we will have a family feast together."
"Okay, okay." The Queen Mother nodded with a smile.
"Since my mother doesn't want to hold a Qianqiu ceremony, I can save myself the trouble of holding one too." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
The Queen Mother gave Jiang Changning an approving look. Jiang was pretty good except for her jealousy. "It's better to save it all. It's less trouble and you don't have to suffer so much."
The next day, both the Empress Dowager and the Empress issued an imperial decree, stating that they would not hold a banquet to celebrate the Chinese New Year and would not accept congratulations from court officials and ladies of honor.
Everyone in the court praised the Queen Mother and the Empress for their actions.
A few days later, it was Laba Festival. Jiang Changning followed the custom and went outside the palace to enjoy the Laba porridge.
Of course, not every palace received the Laba porridge cooked "personally" by the Queen. For example, the Wuchang Earl's Palace did not receive it, nor did the Runan Prince's Palace.
The Queen Mother is not only protective of her own people, but also holds grudges. Although she will not retaliate against the Prince of Runan's Palace, she will definitely not take it seriously.
(End of this chapter)