Outside the Queen's Pepper Room, Prince Yun walked slowly towards them.
"Please come in, Your Majesty. The Queen has been waiting for you." The chief eunuch of the Pepper Room had been waiting there for a long time, and said with a smile.
"Besides me, who else is here?" Pei Yuanjun asked slowly.
He went to the Queen's Pepper Room because of the Emperor's order, and he certainly knew the purpose.
"And His Royal Highness Prince Jing, His Royal Highness Prince Wei, and His Royal Highness Prince Yan are here too." The chief eunuch said with a smile, "The princes have already arrived early and are waiting for you."
"Oh, is it because I came late?" Pei Yuanjun raised his handsome eyebrows with a smile.
The chief eunuch was startled and shook his head hurriedly: "How could it be? The Queen is not ready yet. These princes just came early, but the prince is not late."
No matter how late it was, he didn't dare to say anything, and even the Queen Mother could only wait. Even if he, a eunuch, was somewhat respectable in front of the Queen Mother on weekdays, he was still just a servant in front of this person. The chief eunuch knew this very well. Did the Emperor treat the Prince of Yun as his son
No, it’s not his son. Compared to his son, the emperor favors this prince more. He is not comparable to the other princes and kings.
As expected, several princes were present in the hall.
Seeing Pei Yuanjun coming in, King Jing stood up and saluted first, followed by King Yan. King Wei was not in good health and came in a wheelchair.
When he saw the wheelchair, Pei Yuanjun looked at it twice and then looked away.
"Uncle Wang."
"Uncle Wang!"
"Uncle Prince!" The three princes were all juniors and were very respectful when they saw Pei Yuanjun.
"Everyone, sit down." Pei Yuanjun waved his hand and sat down in the front seat. It was obvious that this seat was specially reserved for him by his nephews.
The seat above is still empty; the Queen has not come out yet.
"Uncle Wang, I heard that the Queen summoned us here today because of you." King Jing said with a smile, and it was obvious that he was in a good mood.
"Why?" Pei Yuanjun picked up the tea brought by the palace servant, lifted the lid elegantly, skimmed off the foam, took a sip, and asked.
"Uncle, don't you know? The Queen has prepared many beautiful brides for you. It's our turn only after uncle has chosen them. Poor us, we have to wait until uncle has selected the rest before it's our turn." Prince Yan was the most outgoing and had a close relationship with Pei Yuanjun. He blurted out whatever he wanted to say. After he finished speaking, he saw the embarrassed expressions on his two brothers' faces.
He hurriedly said, "I was wrong. It's not that Uncle Wang picked out the ones left over. Naturally, Uncle Wang picked the ones that suited his eyes. Now it's our turn to pick the ones that suit our eyes. If Uncle Wang doesn't get married, we can't get married either."
"I am not very old, so you nephews can choose first." Pei Yuanjun said indifferently. If we only talk about age, he is indeed the youngest among the few people. Even the youngest prince, Prince Yan, is slightly older than him.
But no matter how young he is, his generation is still here. Although the royal family gets married late, it is not too early at this time.
"Uncle Wang, if you don't get married, our father won't let us get married. You don't want to hear rumors that all the royal family members are bachelors, do you?" Prince Yan spread his hands.
"The prince has already married, now it's your turn, I'm not in a hurry." Pei Yuanjun said lazily, leaning back and supporting himself on the table with one hand.
There was a sense of ease and elegance on his face, and his sleepy eyes swept over his nephews with a hint of teasing.
The prince is naturally older than Pei Yuanjun, and Pei Yuanjun should have married first, but the prince's marriage was arranged earlier, and the two families postponed it because of Ji Hanyue's matter. After that, Pei Yuanjun was unable to settle down, so the emperor decided to let the prince get married first.
"The Crown Prince is different from us, of course he has to marry first, but the rest of us..." The Prince of Yan stretched out his hand and drew a few people, including the Prince of Jing and the Prince of Wei, "The rest of us are all looking at Uncle Wang, and Father's meaning is very clear, Uncle Wang, please relax!"
If they don't give in, none of them will be able to get married. The Prince of Yan feels that he can actually get married.
"Are you in such a hurry to get married?" Pei Yuanjun raised his eyebrows, his eyes sliding across the faces of his three nephews with a smile on his face. Now no one would think that the Prince of Yun in front of them was sinister and scary.
It was as if he was just a handsome and elegant young man from a noble family, with a gentle voice and a faint smile.
"I'm not in a hurry. I'm not feeling well." The King of Wei coughed softly, turned his head and wiped the corner of his lips with a handkerchief. A hint of ridicule appeared on his pale face. "Fourth brother is in a hurry. Let fourth brother get married first."
"No matter how anxious I am, I have to let my third brother get married first. After my uncle gets married, it will be my second brother, then my third brother, and then me. There may even be the Crown Prince. It will be a few years before it's my turn. So my third brother can think about what kind of beauty to choose first."
When the King of Yan saw that the King of Wei was also teasing him, his face turned red for a moment and he quickly retorted.
"See, the fourth brother is really anxious." Pei Yuanjun smiled and patted the corner of the table with his hand. His movements were very wanton, as if he didn't know that this was the Queen's Pepper Room.
However, since the few people inside were in the middle of a lively conversation and had distinguished status, no one was surprised and for a moment the others also started laughing.
The empress who had just walked over stopped and suppressed the annoyance on her brow. She really didn't like Pei Yuanjun, and she didn't like these princes being so presumptuous in her Pepper Room even more. But no matter how much she disliked it, she couldn't show it on her face. The emperor had repeatedly said before that the old Prince of Yun was very kind to him and asked her to respect the Prince of Yun's Mansion.
They also say that an elder sister-in-law is like a mother. The old Princess Consort of Yun died early, and now the only one who can arrange Yun's marriage is the Empress Dowager, and she has to worry about it too much.
But is it useful for someone like Pei Yuanjun to worry so much? Looking at the scroll in the hands of the palace servant behind her, the Queen's eyebrows jumped, and she felt depressed. She had been so worried about this matter, but now there was no benefit, and it was always sent back, making people laugh at her.
The mother of a country actually asked a prince to send people back, and the prince kept sending them back.
This time he even called several other princes over to build up momentum together. What made the Empress most angry was that she implicitly stated that the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace must be occupied and the position of the Crown Princess must be decided first. However, the Emperor said that the Princess of Yun must be decided first, and there must be an order of seniority and the social order must not be disrupted.
What's the order of seniority? In terms of age, the prince is the oldest. Why should a minister be able to suppress the prince
The Queen was very unconvinced, but she had to agree, and even said that she would definitely choose a princess that satisfied the Prince of Yun. Today was different from the past. Didn't you see that the Prince of Yun was relieved? What else could not be done
!
After taking a deep breath, the Queen led her people out.
A eunuch called out shrilly, "The Queen is here."
Two rows of palace maids, each holding a palace fan and other items, came out from the back in an orderly manner, followed by two rows of eunuchs, and finally the Empress.
The queen sat down, and several people came forward to pay their respects, and then sat down again.
"The emperor mentioned the matter of Prince Yun to me before. Prince Yun, you are our elder, and we really can't delay it any longer. If we delay any longer, the emperor will say that I am not devoted to you." The queen smiled and looked at Pei Yuanjun with a face full of kindness and concern. She didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly, which made people feel more intimate.
If he didn't really regard Pei Yuanjun as his own family, how could he say such a thing
King Jing looked at the lazy Pei Yuanjun, and then looked at the queen who was sitting there with a gentle smile. His eyes darkened. He heard that the beauties that the queen sent to the Prince of Yun's Mansion were not good at all. Could they be fake
"Thank you, Queen. I haven't decided on a candidate yet. If I do, I will tell you." Pei Yuanjun gently pushed away the tea set in front of him. His smile was elegant but a little cold.
"This... you haven't chosen one yet? Why not let the Emperor hold a beauty pageant and choose directly?" The Queen suggested with a smile.
"If it is the princes who want to choose, it is all fine, but for me, it depends on personal liking." Pei Yuanjun leaned back and said lazily. He stretched out his hand and touched the teacup elegantly, speaking lightly, as if what he said was not disobedient to the Queen.
This sounds polite, but the rejection is obvious.
If any of the princes present had said this, the queen would have been furious and would have tried to control her anger. Even her own son could not go against her wishes in front of so many people.
But the person in front of her was Pei Yuanjun, so the Queen Mother had to suppress her anger. Others might not know, but she knew clearly that the Emperor really treated the Prince of Yun as his son.
Obviously he had many sons, but he raised his uncle Wang's son, his younger brother, as his own son, and doted on him especially. Because of this, the queen was jealous overtly and covertly. But even so, this one was still the only one favored by the emperor. Her eyes swept across his ear, where there was a tiny earring. This was specially obtained because he was afraid that he would not grow up when he was young and that he would suffer from many diseases and disasters.
That was a folk rumor. People were afraid that boys would not grow up, so it would be easier to raise them as girls. That's why Pei Yuanjun had the earring on his ear. The Empress even heard a rumor that the earring was obtained by the Emperor himself, and was sent to the Prince of Yun's Mansion, so that Pei Yuanjun, who caught her eye at the time, could wear it.
Even princes born in the palace do not receive such treatment, so why should Pei Yuanjun receive it
At first glance? These two words were what the Empress hated to hear the most. If Pei Yuanjun was the Emperor's biological son, then there would be no chance for her own son. Whenever she thought of this, the Empress couldn't control her anger.
"Things like liking each other are the most uncontrollable and the most illusory. The Emperor means that the Prince of Yun should first pick a principal wife and a concubine. If there are any that he likes, then it's up to us to decide based on liking each other!" The Empress' smile could not be maintained and the corners of her mouth drooped slightly.
There is a different meaning in this statement.