Royal Palace
Concubine Liang, the Second Prince is having dinner with the Emperor.
Concubine Liang was dressed in a gorgeous palace dress and wore a phoenix-tail hairpin on her head. She had a stunning appearance and looked extremely noble and elegant!
A man in his thirties or almost forty years old looks only in his twenties, but he has more charm than women in their twenties.
She has been in charge of the harem for many years and is the most favored one in the harem. In addition to being charming and graceful, her every move is also domineering!
She picked up a sea cucumber dumpling for the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, try this dumpling. I made it myself."
The emperor opened his mouth and took a bite, smiling, "My beloved concubine made dumplings by herself, I like them the most! Yu'er also tried some."
Chu Tianyu looked aggrieved: "Father, please forgive me! I am most afraid of eating dumplings made by my mother! She knows that father likes to eat sea cucumbers, so she always puts sea cucumbers in them. Mother only cares about father's taste, not her son's."
Concubine Liang glared at him with her beautiful eyes, picked up a dumpling and put it in his bowl: "The imperial physician said that sea cucumbers are good for health! Eating them regularly can prolong your life. The emperor has been busy with state affairs, so of course he should eat more sea cucumbers. You should eat some too!"
Concubine Liang turned her beautiful eyes to look at the emperor again: "Your Majesty, you don't care about Yu'er. He doesn't listen to me as his mother. Punish him!"
Her eyes are full of brilliance as they move around, and she is so beautiful even when she pretends to be angry!
The emperor laughed loudly upon hearing this: "Haha..., your mother is right, Yu'er should eat more! Listen to your mother, and I will punish you by making you eat all these dumplings."
"Father..."
Just when the family of three was enjoying a warm and loving mother and filial son, the eunuch who served the emperor came in and said, "Your Majesty, the prince has returned to the capital and is seeking an audience outside."
The laughter suddenly quieted down!
After a while, Concubine Liang said in surprise: "The prince has returned to the capital? Your Majesty, the prince has not returned to the capital for many years, right? He is finally back! Please invite him in to have dinner together!"
The second prince also nodded: "My brother must have gone back to wash and comb his hair and then went to the palace immediately. I'm afraid he hasn't had his meal yet! Father must have missed my brother very much after not seeing him for so many years. My brother is finally back! It's been seven years since we last met, right?!"
The emperor put away his smile and said, "Didn't you see I was having a meal? After being out of the palace for a few years, have you forgotten the etiquette? Let him kneel outside!"
Upon hearing this, Concubine Liang pulled the emperor's hand and said, "Your Majesty, the prince has not returned to the capital for many years. I don't know how much he has suffered outside these years! Your Majesty, please let him in! I also want to pay my respects to the prince."
"You are my concubine, an elder, so why should you pay him respects? He should pay you a visit! You unfilial son, you haven't been back to the capital for seven years. You don't have to serve me. You are so free and easy! How can you suffer? Look, he didn't even come back to the palace immediately after he came back. It's been an hour since Yu'er saw him at the city gate! Let him wait outside! Let's continue with the meal."
"Your Majesty~"
"Father~"
"Whoever gives advice again will be punished by me!"
The two of them seemed to be hesitant to speak after hearing this, and did not dare to persuade him anymore.
Seeing this, the eunuch walked out.
Concubine Liang changed the subject: "Your Majesty, regarding the selection of women, this is a general election held every five years. How many people do you plan to select to enter the palace? How many women from the local areas do you plan to select?"
"Just follow the usual practice. This time, we can also choose wives for the adult princes. This is the most important thing." The emperor picked up a piece of fish for Concubine Liang: "My beloved concubine loves fish, eat more."
Concubine Liang smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Just as Concubine Liang was about to pick up the fish and put it into her mouth, her stomach suddenly churned and she couldn't help but dry heave.
The palace maids reacted the fastest and rushed forward to serve.
The second prince's face changed: "Mother, what's wrong with you?"
The emperor was also anxious. He jumped away hastily and shouted from a distance: "Call the imperial physician!"
~
Outside the house, the eunuch conveyed the emperor's words.
Chu Tiankuo lifted his skirt and knelt down without any expression.
The eunuch glanced at him and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.
At this moment, there was a chaotic sound in the house. He didn't care about anything and ran back in a hurry.
Soon, a palace maid ran out in a hurry to call the imperial physician without even looking at Chu Tiankuo lying on the ground.
Not long after, a royal doctor was brought over by a palace maid.
The imperial physician saw the prince kneeling on the ground and was about to bow, but the palace maid pulled him aside and urged him, "Imperial physician, my queen is feeling very uncomfortable. I wonder if she has been poisoned! Hurry up! If something happens to the queen, can you bear the responsibility?"
The imperial physician was dragged away by her.
Immediately afterwards, another palace maid ran out to call for the imperial physician, and soon all the imperial physicians from the entire Imperial Hospital were invited.
A group of imperial doctors saw Chu Tiankuo kneeling there, and those who wanted to pay their respects were urged to go inside.
Soon, a loud shout came from the room: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Imperial Concubine is pregnant again!"
Inside the room, the emperor was stunned for a moment, then he said happily: "Haha, reward! A huge reward!"
Chu Tiankuo pulled up a sarcastic smile.
Soon the imperial doctors and the second prince came out together.
None of the other imperial doctors dared to step forward and salute Chu Tiankuo, and they all looked at the Second Prince.
Only the director of the Imperial Hospital bowed to Chu Tiankuo and said, "Your humble servant greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
The second prince glanced at the director of the Imperial Hospital and smiled: "Why don't you all pay your respects to my brother?"
After that, he bowed and saluted: "My royal brother greets my royal brother. I hope you are well!"
The imperial doctors quickly saluted Chu Tiankuo.
The second prince walked up to Chu Tiankuo and advised, "Brother, our father is in the room with my mother, you should go back first! Our father punished you because he was angry, and he must be so happy that he forgot you were outside. Otherwise, he would not want to punish you, and it would be the same if you come in and ask for an audience tomorrow."
Chu Tiankuo ignored him.
The second prince shook his head when he saw this: "Royal brother is really filial. My mother will probably be out soon. I have to see the doctors off. Excuse me!"
That night, Concubine Liang felt dizzy and nauseous, and was not sent out of the Emperor's bedroom until late at night.
Except for the Queen, no one is qualified to spend the night in the Emperor's bedroom.
The emperor's eunuch came out and said to Chu Tiankuo, "Your Highness, the emperor has gone to bed. The emperor asked you to come and pay your respects tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Chu Tiankuo bowed and saluted towards the room: "Your son, I'll take my leave!"
It was over. Chu Tiankuo stood up. His feet were numb, but he remained calm. He straightened his back and walked away in steady steps.
After the eunuch beside the emperor delivered the message, he hurried back to the room, looked back, then retracted his gaze and hurried in.
Inside the room, the emperor sat on a chair tiredly, "Leaving?"
"Replying to the prince, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already left. He has been kneeling for so long that his feet are numb."
The emperor sneered, "It's really timely that the imperial concubine is pregnant this time! It's been a long time since there has been a new addition to the palace!"
"Yes, it's a great joy!" The eunuch whispered, "The prince has grown a lot taller, and people look..."
... ..
The emperor listened for a long time before he said, "I am sleepy, please help me to rest!"
"yes."
But not long after the emperor rested, he had another nightmare.