"I just want to see Concubine Xian's father. There's no need to come with anyone else. I'll come when I'm done with my work." Ning Chen felt a little itchy from her rubbing, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise.
Ye Jun stretched out her hands and hooked her arms around his neck. "Your Majesty, if you want to take me anywhere, just sleep in the outer room. It's cool outside."
"I'm afraid your small recliner can't sleep two people." Ning Chen called her in a lazy voice, which made her heart itchy.
Ye Jun half opened his eyes, took a look, and then compromised.
"If you are afraid of the heat, ask the servants to spread a bamboo mat and put two more ice basins."
Having said that, Ning Chen gave instructions to the outside.
The servants came in quickly to make arrangements, all with their heads down, not daring to take another look.
It was not for anything else, I just vaguely saw that the imperial concubine was asking the emperor to hold her in his arms like a boneless person.
There was ice in the room, and it quickly cooled down. The two of them lay down together for an afternoon nap, with a thin blanket covering their waists.
When I woke up, it was almost dusk.
Ye Jun woke up first, and then he reached out and pinched Ning Chen's nose, waking him up.
Ning Chen couldn't even get angry when facing the clumsy Qingqing.
Hearing the noise, Huiyue asked outside if they wanted to serve, and mentioned that several princes had just sent over some things.
Ye Jun was curious, so he called her in.
After they changed their clothes and washed up, they came out of the inner room and saw a lot of things on the table outside.
"After hearing that the Emperor was at His Majesty's place, several young princes brought gifts to honor the Emperor. These were all new things they saw when they left the palace today," Nan Zhi introduced.
Ning Chen nodded in a good mood.
It’s good for children to be filial.
The eldest prince gave her a jade fan pendant.
The children now have monthly allowances and cannot buy top-quality jade, so this fan pendant is more novel in style and more interesting than the ones in the palace.
The second prince gave a folding fan with a nice landscape painting on it and a unique poem on it.
It's an elegant gift.
Looking at the third prince again, he came up with an exquisite brocade box that looked very valuable.
When he opened it, he found it was indeed a valuable item, a dagger with a gold handle and gemstones.
When you take off the scabbard, you can see the cold and sparkling blade. It is undoubtedly a good knife.
Men naturally love these things. Ning Chen held it in his hand and looked at it repeatedly, which showed that he liked it.
After a while, he put it down and asked, "What did the Fourth Prince buy?"
Huiyue was a little embarrassed, but still answered truthfully.
"His Highness the Fourth Prince bought some local snacks that the Empress wanted to eat. He said he bought a lot and asked the Emperor and the Empress to eat together. There was also a straw-woven rabbit."
After saying that, he pointed to a small tray on the corner of the table.
It was indeed a nest of rabbits, two large and three small, made of straw, and quite cute.
Ning Chen was a little surprised, but he still walked closer, picked it up and took a look.
All I can say is... this kid is really creative.
But when he put it down, he saw a piece of red paper in the tray.
Pick it up and look, there are the Fourth Prince's words on it.
I, the son, pay my respects to my father. Today I went out with my brothers. I wanted to show my filial piety as much as possible, but I was short of money. Therefore, I bought some more special foods to appease my father. All of them are delicacies that I will taste personally. I also invite my father and mother to appreciate my filial piety.
At the end, he wrote a line in small characters at the bottom: Dad, my son has been practicing hard every day. Has my calligraphy improved
Seeing this, Ning Chen couldn't help but laugh.
"Look at this kid, he's so good at acting like a spoiled brat. No one can compare to him."
Ye Jun had already opened a bag of preserved fruit and was taking a bite. When he heard him say this, he came over to take a look.
Then he said, "Your Majesty is still laughing. This child has been spoiled. He is so slick and needs to be beaten."
"But Jing'er is the most honest. I'm an experienced person, so I don't know how much money the princes have. It's enough to buy this table of expensive cakes." Ning Chen said indifferently, "Among the children, he is the most relaxed in front of me."
Thinking of this, Ning Chen looked at the other three children's things again. They were indeed gifts. Although they were exquisite, they also seemed distant.
His eyes fell on the dagger given by the Third Prince, and he paused again.
If it weren't for the note from the Fourth Prince, he wouldn't have thought of this detail.
This dagger was not something the princes could afford by just saving up their monthly allowance. I guess he took the money from Concubine Yi before leaving.
Thinking of this, the joy in my heart faded a little.
Looking at this dagger again, it has less of a filial piety connotation and instead looks more like... flattery.
Ning Chen was not willing to speculate on the relationship between himself and his son in this way, but as the Third Prince grew up, although the child was smart and capable, he always felt that their relationship was more like that of a monarch and his subjects than that of a father and son.
"Your Majesty, please try this soft cheese. It tastes different from the one in the palace."
Ye Jun handed over the small plate in his hand, interrupting Ning Chen's thoughts.
Ning Chen took a bite and nodded, "It's really good. Jing'er must have tried a lot today. Don't eat too much of this. Don't upset your stomach."
Then he instructed Yuan Jiu, "Go and give some digestive pills to the Fourth Prince, so that he won't have food accumulation. Also, pick some things to send to the other princes."
"The emperor treats that kid too well, which makes me, as a mother, look bad. In the future, Jing'er will only be close to the emperor and not to me. I will feel jealous." Ye Jun said deliberately.
Ning Chen laughed and pinched her nose.
"The children learned this from you. They are very clever."
Ye Jun snorted twice, raised his eyebrows in disapproval, and pulled Ning Chen to try other snacks.
Outside.
The princes were all happy when they received the rewards from their father.
Yuan Jiu was prudent in his work. He sent the same thing to all the princes, treating them all equally and there was nothing to fault with.
If there is any bias, it is that the Fourth Prince got an extra box of hawthorn pills for digestion than the others.
It's not something expensive.
However, the third prince still looked gloomy when he found out.
He was always meticulous, and thinking about how the Fourth Prince had been eating and buying things all the way during their outing today, he guessed that his father had given him this box of meatballs because he was worried that he might have indigestion.
The more Ning Chen cared about the Fourth Prince, the more aggrieved the Third Prince felt.
He didn't understand why the dagger he spent so much money to buy was not as good as the few bags of snacks from the fourth brother
Or maybe his father has always been partial, and no matter how hard he tries to please him, it's useless.
It's no use studying hard, and it's no use trying to be filial, because your father can't see it.
As this thought became more and more intense, the Third Prince, who was two years older than the Fourth Prince, looked very depressed.
Maybe it's not obvious on the surface, but if you look closely into his eyes, you'll find that they are filled with jealousy, resentment, unwillingness, sinisterness and ambition.
But at this moment, no one realized that the child had gone a little crazy.
The day of repairs at the Yuzhou Palace passed quickly, and they continued on their journey the next day.
There are no more palaces on the road further down, which means we have to go all the way to Zasak before we can rest.
After traveling for six or seven days, we finally arrived at the destination the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.