In the afternoon, the three of them went to Concubine Jingde together to express their feelings.
No matter how embarrassing it is, proper etiquette should be maintained.
After they left, Ning Chen came over.
Concubine Jingde was personally feeding medicine to the second prince.
When she saw him come in, she was about to stand up and salute, but was stopped.
"Feed the child the medicine first. Don't worry about these formalities." Ning Chen waved his hand and sat down on the chair next to him.
After the Second Prince drank the medicine, he ate a candied fruit to remove the bitterness, and then spoke to Ning Chen.
"I'm sorry to have made you worried. It's because I'm too naughty." The second prince said in a low voice.
The second prince, who is already three years old this year, can already speak fluently.
Ning Chen sat closer and touched his head, "Chun'er, be careful in the future. Such dangerous things must never happen again. It's also because the servants around you are too careless."
After hearing this, the Second Prince's expression relaxed a little and he nodded silently.
He just blinked a few times and bit his lip, as if he wanted to say something but didn't dare to.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Concubine Jingde became nervous.
He hugged the child and touched the second prince's forehead with the back of his hand.
"Mother, my son is fine." The second prince pursed his lips and looked at Ning Chen, "Father, Xiao Shunzi is fine. I want him to come back. Is that okay? This time it's my son's fault. He, he was also beaten..."
The child spoke in a lower voice and lowered his head slightly, looking a little afraid.
But those eyes were always looking at Ning Chen with pleading.
Concubine Jingde also spoke at the right time, "Your Majesty, the people around Chun'er have always been very useful. This time, it was indeed an accident. I have punished them, and Your Majesty has also punished them. They have served Chun'er for a long time, so they are more familiar with him. After all, it is almost the New Year, so why not forgive them this time?"
Ning Chen lowered his eyes, was silent for a while, and finally nodded.
"Since both you and your son have begged for mercy, I can't refuse. I'll just ask you to come back and continue to serve me."
"Thank you, Father!"
The second prince immediately smiled and cupped his hands, extremely happy.
"Chun'er is kind and forgiving, Concubine De, you have taught him very well." Ning Chen's expression showed a bit of satisfaction.
Concubine Jingde smiled and said, "This child is just like this by nature. I just gave him some guidance."
After a pause, he spoke softly again.
"Since I have asked for your help for the first time, I have one more thing I would like to ask of Your Majesty."
"What is it?"
"I would like to ask for mercy for Qin Baolin. If she had not rescued the second prince in time, I'm afraid he would be in great danger. It was the coldest time of the year and the water in the lake was freezing. Qin Baolin jumped in and has been sick for several days." Concubine Jingde said.
Ning Chen nodded, "This is what I should do. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten. I will promote her to Wanrong. I have saved someone, so I can be promoted to a higher rank."
Although Cairen and Wanrong did not find much, Wanrong was able to live in the main house of the pavilion at least.
It's just a matter of words, I won't be stingy with this.
After sitting in Xiefang Hall for a while, he left without having dinner.
I haven't paid my respects to the Queen Mother since returning from Lingxi Garden, but I have to go there.
He took the queen to the Cining Palace for dinner.
The Empress Dowager has caught a cold these past two days and has a slight cough, and it is Concubine Chen who is taking care of her.
Since you are here, let’s have dinner together.
The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, Concubine Chen and the eldest prince sat at a table.
During the dinner, the eldest prince sat next to Concubine Chen, and seemed very close to her. He would take the initiative to tell her what she wanted to eat.
Chen Jieyu seemed very skilled in picking up food for him.
The Queen saw this and smiled, "Concubine Chen often comes to pay respects to the Queen Mother and serve her, and she has become quite close to the eldest prince."
"Chen Jieyu is gentle and patient. The eldest prince has seen her more often, so he will naturally be close to her." The Queen Mother glanced at the Queen indifferently, "If the Queen also came to pay her respects to me more often, the eldest prince would also be closer to the Queen."
This is an implicit criticism that the queen is unfilial and does not care about her as much as a concubine.
The queen's face changed and she cursed in her heart, but she still looked frightened on her face.
"It is my daughter-in-law who was careless. There are many things to do at the end of the year, and it is always busy. In the future, I will come to pay my respects to my mother more often."
"I didn't see you come here often when I was not busy before." The Queen Mother snorted.
Very disrespectful.
The queen cursed in her heart when she heard this.
At the beginning, they also came to pay respects to the empress dowager every day. The concubines would pay their respects at Fengqi Palace, and then bring those above the rank of Jieyu to Cining Palace.
The Queen Mother was the one who was bothering herself by not inviting them, but now she is complaining again.
However, due to the pressure from her mother-in-law’s status, the queen could not refute the word “filial piety”.
I had no choice but to humble myself and make amends.
Fortunately, Ning Chen smoothed the situation over in time.
"The eldest prince is already four years old. He is already one year late for enlightenment. Let's find a master to start enlightenment together with the second and third princes next year."
Prince Nanqi started to attend school at the age of six and began his enlightenment at the age of three.
Nowadays, enlightenment is not only about recognizing words and reading, but more about learning rules and etiquette. Students only study for one hour a day, study for three days and rest for one day, and learn some simple words in addition.
Find someone from the Ministry of Rites and teach him slowly.
"Your Majesty means that the three children should be taught together?" The Queen Mother frowned.
Ning Chen nodded, "Rong'er is weak and rarely comes out to see people. Brothers should get closer to each other. Since we are of similar age, let's go together."
The Queen Mother took one look at the eldest prince and became a little worried. After thinking for a while, she spoke.
"The emperor also said that Rong'er is weak, and with more children, it's inevitable that they will bump into each other and make noises. What if one gets startled and hurt? We have to go to the study together in the future, so we'll see each other someday."
After saying this, Ning Chen's eyes darkened.
Looking at the spoiled eldest son who was raised next to him, he realized that the queen mother was doting on the eldest prince too much.
As the eldest son, he did not expect the eldest prince to help him in anything, but he should at least set an example for his younger brothers and sisters.
Although Concubine Shu is not a very smart person, she is the daughter of a wealthy family and raised the eldest princess to be well-educated and capable.
The second and third princes, who are one year younger, are both stronger.
In comparison, the eldest prince is really not good enough.
"Don't worry, mother. With so many servants watching over him, nothing will happen. The eldest prince is a boy, and he can't be pampered forever. This matter is settled." Ning Chen said directly.
Things have come to this point, and the Queen Mother had no choice but to agree even though she was reluctant.
After dinner, he left the Cining Palace.
Ning Chen went to Fengqi Palace with the Queen to rest.
Ning Chen hadn't had the chance to look at the New Year gift book these days, so now that he had finished washing up, the Queen brought it to him to look at.
As she watched, the queen spoke with a slight hesitation.
"Your Majesty, I know that as a daughter-in-law, I shouldn't speak ill of my mother-in-law, but the eldest prince is also my child. Since he wants to call me his legal mother, I can't just watch him get raised astray."
"The Queen Mother is old and loves her grandson, but she loves the eldest prince too much. After all, he is the emperor's eldest son. It's not good for things to continue like this."