The next day, Duan Changchuan woke up in a warm bed, hugged by Bai Su, with his whole body curled up in her arms.
After so many times of climbing on the bed involuntarily, he was now completely desensitized. He immediately climbed out of bed without changing his expression or heartbeat and went to court.
Yesterday was thrilling. The news of the marriage between the eldest son of the Regent and the daughter of the Prime Minister's family had spread like wildfire in just one night.
When Duan Changchuan and Changle were walking in the yard, they could actually hear the servants talking underground.
"Have you heard? Miss Jinzhi from the Bai family and the young master from the Regent family got engaged at the flower viewing party yesterday."
"How come I haven't heard of it? Everyone in the imperial court and harem is talking about this right now."
"Ah... Speaking of which, our Majesty is also quite pitiful..."
"Why should we pity those in power? No matter how much they are bullied, they still live a life of luxury. Let's pity ourselves first. If such a day really comes, we don't know how we will be dealt with."
"Hey, why are you so careless when you speak? Be careful with your words! Be careful with your words."
"We are alone here, so I just said that... No one will hear it."
Duan Changchuan, who had just walked to the rockery and was tired and ready to find a quiet place to rest, said:
There was no movement for a moment.
It's not right to leave, nor is it right to stay...
Changle, who was following behind him, saw that he looked unhappy and thought he was angry, so she stepped forward and shouted, "Which palace do you two serve in? Who is the aunt in charge? Didn't I teach you the rules? Do you think you can interfere in the affairs of the emperor of the Heavenly Family?"
Immediately, two servants, a man and a woman, came out from behind the rockery, tumbling and crawling.
"Slave... (slave) Damn it! We didn't know that Eunuch Le was here..."
When he looked up again, he saw a man in bright yellow standing not far away, and he was so frightened that he almost lost his soul.
"Your Majesty?! Your Majesty, please spare me! I will never dare to do it again! Your Majesty, please spare me..."
Then, he slapped himself.
The sound of slapping hands came into his ears one after another... Duan Changchuan frowned and stared blankly...
Somehow, a dignified figure suddenly flashed before my eyes.
It was a man: wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a white shirt, sitting on a long, soft couch, holding a beautiful long-haired cat in his arms.
"Ah Chuan, what did Daddy tell you? Granny Chen is responsible for cleaning and cooking in our house. This is her job, just like Daddy has to go out to work. If Daddy gets beaten while he's out at work, do you think this is right?"
In my mind, a clear and tender voice came again, crying and saying: "Daddy can't be beaten... Daddy doesn't want to be beaten by others..."
"Should Grandma Chen be beaten?"
"Grandma shouldn't... oooh..."
The man's expression finally eased a little, and he raised his chin towards the side and said, "Go apologize to grandma."
Then, a woman in an apron suddenly entered the picture.
He smiled distressedly: "Oh, Master Shi, this is not a big deal, don't embarrass the child. The young master didn't mean it."
"Aunt Chen, don't feel bad, let him apologize."
The child was crying out of breath: "Grandma... I was wrong, I'm sorry... Woo, I will never hit you again, woo..."
"Hey, hey... Okay, don't cry anymore. Grandma, please forgive me, young master."
"Woo, Dad..."
The child was crying, and the man sitting on the sofa finally smiled faintly and placed his palm on the child's head.
"Well, now that you know you're wrong, you won't make the same mistake again, right?"
The voice is gentle and pleasant...
Duan Changchuan even felt that the pair of beautifully maintained hands were gently stroking his hair.
The scene in front of him gradually faded away... The boy blinked and saw the familiar rockery and garden in front of him.
There was a sudden pain in the chest, a dull and aching pain.
Who is that? Where did he go... Will I meet him again
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard the attendants behind him greet him in unison: "Long live the Queen Mother."
Turning around, I saw a woman in luxurious clothes walking towards me with reserved and elegant steps.
Extremely dignified... dignified, like a mannequin.
"My son, I went to the Mingsheng Temple to look for you. Yiman said that you and Changle came to the small garden, so she came here to look for you." After she finished speaking, without waiting for Duan Changchuan to respond, she took his sleeve and led him back: "Accompany me back, I have something to tell you."
When he left, he saw two servants kneeling below. He only glanced at them and ordered them in a cold voice: "Send them to the palace and follow the rules. Why are you delaying here? The ghosts and wolves are howling and disturbing me and the emperor."
When the two servants heard that they were going to enter the palace, they cried even louder.
Once again, he was stopped: "If they shout again, I will pull out their tongues."
Suddenly, the whole garden became quiet.
Duan Changchuan followed behind the empress dowager and could not help but look back, only to see that the two men had been dragged away.
One of them looked at them with hatred in his eyes.
"Emperor."
The Queen Mother saw that he was standing there without moving, so she turned around and called out.
Duan Changchuan then suppressed the strangeness in his heart and followed.
-
The two of them returned to the Mingsheng Temple one after the other.
At this time, Bai Su went to the training ground to learn horse riding and archery. The hall was quiet, but the fragrance of peony spread to every corner.
Obviously, the person is not there, yet he is everywhere.
Duan Changchuan smelled the soothing pheromones, and the stuffy feeling in his chest finally improved a lot.
He sat down on the couch and asked, "Why did my mother come to see me in such a hurry?"
The Queen Mother dismissed everyone and got straight to the point: "I already know about Bai Jinzhi's engagement with the Duan family boy. I wonder how the prince plans to deal with it... I am relieved that you have been getting along well with the eldest daughter of the Bai family these days. As early as the day when Bai Su married into the palace, I knew that Prime Minister Bai had chosen your uncle. You should obey them and be a good boy... All they want is the imperial power. As long as they have this power, the title is not necessary for them."
The woman said she was asking Duan Changchuan what he thought, but she actually started giving a long speech of her own.
After all, it's still the same old saying: Don't disobey your uncle. As long as you are obedient enough, easy to control, and give him enough power, he won't do anything to you.
Duan Changchuan found it ridiculous every time he heard it.
If there are mosquitoes in the house in the summer, is the best way to deal with it to just leave them alone and wait for them to be fed
Over there, his mother was still analyzing tirelessly: "But I always feel that this is not safe enough... Your uncle is not a particularly cruel person, unlike the prime minister. He usually spoils his own daughter."
Then he changed the subject and turned to Duan Qinxue, asking him, "Qinxue looks pretty good to me. She grew up in the Northwest Army Camp. She is straightforward and pretty. My son, why don't you get to know her more? If you can win Qinxue's heart and make her fall in love with you and marry you, not only will your throne be secure, but the marriage between Prime Minister Bai and your uncle will also be doomed."
After hearing this, Duan Changchuan finally understood: No wonder he came here in such a hurry, he was thinking of selling his son.
What's funny is that they were at a flower-viewing party the day before, mocking Bai Xiang for being obsessed with profit and worse than a beast, and for not even sparing his own daughter in order to gain power.
I never thought that just two days later, the exact same thing would happen to me.
"Do you think, mother, that I need women to hold on to my position as emperor?" he asked, "Do you think that I need women to hold on to my position as a puppet regent?"
The question was naturally asked: "Isn't it?"
She said, "I have long said that you are not cut out to be an emperor. You are not as brave and resourceful as your father, and your uncle is as capable as you, and he has been in the business for more than a decade longer than you. You simply cannot compete for this position. So many years have passed, and you have fought for it. Don't you see clearly that you have got it?"
Duan Changchuan looked at the person in front of him and suddenly felt extremely unfamiliar.
He pressed down the corners of his straight lips, tried to control himself, made his voice steady, and asked: "After fighting for so many years and for so long, I got nothing. Isn't it because of my mother?"
The Queen Mother seemed to have heard something extraordinary, and she stared at him in astonishment, "I? Haven't you and your uncle always been fighting? Why do you blame me when you can't win? If I hadn't been on your side and tried to smooth over the relationship between you and your uncle, I would have been implicated by you and died sooner or later."
She said it so matter-of-factly... She even took credit for it.
She felt that she was extremely great, because all their lives were saved by her alone.
Duan Changchuan had countless rebuttals in his mind...
Isn't it because you are loyal to the Regent that your uncle took on the responsibility of going to the border
Didn't Zhao Chengfu, the most capable chief steward my father left me, die of exhaustion because he had to mediate in this deep palace all by himself without anyone to look after him
There were so many people around her, and they all left one by one. In the end, she only had one sentence: If I hadn't intervened for you, I would have been killed by you sooner or later... right
These countless words were stuck in my throat and choked in my chest... I have been holding them back for more than ten years, and I have endured them for more than ten years.
He had always wanted to vent to her.
But today, he suddenly felt so tired... It would be a waste of words to say even one more word to her.
The young man forced a smile and responded in a low, hoarse voice, "I know everything that the Queen Mother said. Please go back, Queen Mother."
The queen no longer cared whether she agreed or not, and directly called Changle who was standing at the door and said, "Send the queen mother back."
Not another word.
-
After the Queen Mother left, the young man sat alone in the study, quietly for a long time.
The pheromones left by the Alpha before he left enveloped him, soaking his skin, soft and fluffy... It was like lying on a cloud, extremely comfortable, and even the abdominal pain he had suffered for the past two days was much better.
A long time has passed since the two of them got married in the snow.
Winter is gone and spring is here... In a blink of an eye, the catkins are all gone.
The boy blinked and walked to the window. The wind blew in, bringing waves of floral fragrance.
He had been living so comfortably these days that he had forgotten that any contact between him and Bai Su was being watched by outsiders, magnified countless times, and studied carefully.
Duan Changchuan couldn't help sneering in his heart: The Queen Mother must have been paying attention to him since the first time he walked into Qinglu Palace.
Not only the Queen Mother, but also the Regent, Bai Yanyuan... the servants of each palace, the patrolling guards, countless eyes were secretly watching him. Watching him seize power, watching his marriage, watching him marry, watching him consummate his marriage.
In the future, I will have to watch him have children.
nausea.
So gross…
When he thought of this, Duan Changchuan felt a sudden surge of nausea.
He slowly squatted on the ground and began to retch.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, what happened to you?" Changle was startled and hurried over to help him: "Your Majesty, what happened to you? Why did you suddenly vomit when you were fine?"
The boy's face was pale, with tears of pain hanging from the corners of his eyes. He shook his head weakly: "Nothing, I am disgusted by the disgusting person. I feel like vomiting."
The young eunuch hurriedly tried to comfort him out of concern.
As soon as the Queen Mother left, His Majesty vomited and said it was because he was nauseated. It’s easy to imagine what happened.
"Please don't torture yourself like this. It makes me feel uncomfortable... The Empress came back with you two days ago, saying that you were sick... Now he is so angry that he vomits again. Doctor Fang has asked for leave to go find his master. The only person in the entire Imperial Hospital who can be trusted is Sheng Yusheng, a little kid... I am always worried and uneasy."
Duan Changchuan was supported by Changle and slowly sat back on the couch, closing his eyes to relax.
"The anti-nausea patch that Doctor Fang gave me last time has not been used up yet. Shall I go get you one? Doctor Fang said that whenever Your Majesty feels uncomfortable and wants to vomit, I will bring you a patch to apply."
Duan Changchuan still felt nauseous. He didn't want to open his eyes or speak. He just nodded weakly and uttered a low "hmm".
-
After putting on the anti-emetic patch, Duan Changchuan closed his eyes and sat for a long time before he barely felt better.
The nausea in his stomach finally went away, but he felt even worse.
But I don’t know where the pain is.
It was just very awkward, and everything he saw was not pleasing to the eye... He even felt that every breath he took was very unpleasant to the eye. If he could, he would have wanted to just stop breathing out of spite.
So annoying. Very annoying.
There is no place on my body that feels comfortable.
The young man grabbed the armrests of the couch with such strength that the veins on the back of his hands were exposed.
Changle was startled again by him: "Your Majesty! Are you still not feeling well? Where are you feeling unwell? Your servant, I will go and call Yusheng over right now!"
As she spoke, she came over and knelt in front of him, helping him up worriedly.
Duan Changchuan originally just felt that his breathing was not smooth and he was very upset, but after Changle came over, he could clearly smell the scent of soapberry from the washing of his clothes. It was this smell that made him feel like a small beast whose territory was invaded, and all the thorns on his body were about to explode.
Before the brain could react, the hand had already pushed the person, causing him to stagger.
"Don't touch me..." He endured the discomfort, gritted his teeth and spat out a few words, saying: "Get out!"
[Don't touch me, and don't set foot in my room! ]
[Here, in this entire room, all the pheromones are left for me by Bai Su. No one else can smell even a little bit of them! ]
Duan Changchuan tried hard to inhale every bit of the peony fragrance around him into his lungs, but the harder he tried, the more it felt not enough.
Every cell and every drop of blood in my body is clamoring, want... want, want!
I want more... I want white essence, I want pheromones, I want her!
The boy stood up with a confused mind, and followed his instinct to grope his way back to the bedroom.
Finding the place where the peony scent was the thickest, he fell forward, threw his face onto the quilt, and took a long, deep breath.
He was like a drug addict, smelling the pheromones left in the quilt. He lay unconsciously on the bed, pretending to be embraced, and arched into the soft quilt, as if this small world was his only nest that could protect him from the wind and snow outside.
…
-
"Aiya, it's normal for your majesty to feel like vomiting. Eunuch Le, don't make a fuss. Just apply an anti-nausea patch. If you don't trust Yu Sheng, I've already sent a message to Master two days ago, asking him to come back soon. When Master comes back, you can ask him, and the result will be the same."
"No, no, young sir, I don't disbelieve you at all. I am just worried about Your Majesty."
"Well, Yusheng understands, so that's why I came here."
The sound of Changle and Yusheng talking came from outside...
Duan Changchuan's senses gradually returned, and he realized that he had not only taken off Bai Su's quilt and buried himself in it, but he also took Bai Su's underwear and covered himself with it.
He was like a pervert, pulling all other people's personal belongings into his own little nest, struggling to absorb their scent.
he:
!!!
He came to his senses immediately, and before Changle and Yusheng came in, he pushed all his things under the quilt and put them in an inconspicuous place.
Then he straightened his disheveled robe and sat upright in the hall.
Trying to create the illusion that "I am in good spirits" and "nothing has happened to me".
Then, the nine-year-old kid came in with a medicine box on his back, checked his pulse again, and came to a conclusion: "Your Majesty is in good health. Apart from a little nausea, everything else is fine. Don't make a fuss."
Then, he left a message: "I'll leave some more anti-nausea patches for your majesty. If you feel like vomiting in the future, you don't have to go to the Imperial Hospital to call me. If you have stomachaches or something, please come over again, Eunuch Le."
He waved to the two of them and went out.
Seeing that Changle was about to go out to see him off, he was particularly sensible and said to others: "Eunuch Le, please stay. Yusheng knows the way back to the Imperial Hospital. You can go back and serve His Majesty."
Unreliable, yet extremely reliable...
Changle walked in with a gloomy face, almost crying:
"Your Majesty, why don't you issue an imperial decree to ask Doctor Fang and Senior Huang to come back together..."
"Please... I still feel uneasy..."
The boy looked at the still somewhat messy bed and touched the anti-nausea patch behind his ear.
After a long silence... he said, "Change your clothes and follow me to the Sitianjian."