In the Queen's bedroom, the Queen was in a good mood. She was not sad at all because of the concubines' requests for comfort. She had now completely let go of the fact that there would be more women in the harem in the future. No matter how many women there were, she was the Queen and the real master. She had two legitimate sons and only needed to take care of the harem.
The Queen invited Yang here today, really just wanting to meet Miss Zhou in her capacity as the Queen, give her some rewards, and express goodwill.
The queen held the hands of a girl in each hand, and sighed in her heart that it was fortunate that the girl of the Zhou family did not take after Lord Zhou. "These two girls are good-looking, and Madam is blessed."
Zhulan felt the same way, "I would like to thank the queen for her compliment on behalf of her granddaughter."
When the Queen was the Crown Princess, she never paid attention to little girls. But after becoming the Queen, she paid more attention to them. Recently, she has met many young girls who are waiting to be married. Some of them are pleasing to her eyes, while others are attractive to her. Although these two granddaughters of the Zhou family have different personalities, they are calm and steady and particularly pleasing to the eye.
The queen signaled the maid to present the reward, "These two pairs of hairpins are very suitable for the two girls, take them quickly."
Yu Shuang and Yu Lu were still nervous, especially when they were pulled by the Queen. Fortunately, their grandmother was there so they didn't make any mistakes. They greeted the Queen politely and thanked her, then stepped aside.
The queen admired the two well-behaved girls and said enviously, "I also hope to have a daughter!"
Zhu Lan replied, "Children are fate. The Queen likes me so much, I will feel it."
She didn't dare to say directly that she had gotten what she wanted. What if she was not pregnant? Everything she said would be wrong. She could only say it vaguely.
The queen did not care about Yang's ambiguity. She knew her own situation. She was injured. The emperor rarely came to the harem. She understood her husband, an ambitious husband. She felt more at ease because the harem would not trap her husband.
The queen thought that the princess who was to be married off was a rare beauty. However, the ambitious emperor only cared about the country and threw the beauty aside. Instead, he often stayed overnight in the main palace when he came to the harem.
Half an hour later, Zhulan took her granddaughter away. Today the queen was particularly approachable. She only talked about family matters and did not mention the little prince at all!
Zhulan was a little uneasy when she came, but when she left, she had already made up her mind that the royal family had not changed their minds.
Halfway out of the palace, he met Concubine Liu's maid. He accepted the reward, thanked her, and left quickly with his granddaughter.
After leaving the palace, Yu Shuang opened Concubine Liu's box in her own carriage. "Grandma, look, there are two pairs of bracelets."
Zhulan took the bracelet and then the hairpin given by the Queen, "This reward is more valuable than the Queen herself."
Yu Lu asked worriedly, "Is it okay for us to accept the gift?"
Zhulan put the box back, "Concubine Liu's reward is in the box, and we didn't see it. Okay, it's okay, don't worry."
As to whether Concubine Liu did it intentionally or unintentionally, it had little impact on them.
Zhulan took the hairpin given by the Queen Mother and said, "This is what is important. The Queen is the mother of a country and the gift has a different meaning. It will be respectable for you to bring it to your husband's house when you get married. It will also have surprising effects at some critical moments. You must keep it properly."
Zhulan signaled to her two granddaughters to put away the things. Yushuang and Yulu, two girls who were about to reach marriage age, already understood everything.
Zhulan thought about her eldest grandson and her second grandson, "Now all three games are over. I wonder how Mingyun and Jiang Du performed in the last game?"
Speaking of which, the eldest grandson is really good. He has won two first places in a row, and the only thing he needs to get is the third place.
To be honest, when their eldest grandson took the exam, she and Zhou Shuren were prepared that he would get second place. They never expected that he would be so amazing.
Yu Lu's lips curled up. Her parents were waiting for a letter from her elder brother. As for her sister who idolized her brother, Yu Lu was very confident, "My elder brother will definitely be the first in the case."
Yu Shuang also nodded, "Yes, big brother is the best."
Ever since the news of my eldest brother's grades came back, my father has been talking about him every day, and even said that the Zhou family is lacking a top scholar.
Well, Jiang Du was ignored by the two sisters. Jiang Du’s grades were also good, one was third and the other was second. There was nothing they could do about it, because the first place was his more capable cousin.
In the Hanlin Academy, Mingshan finally came to Uncle Changzhi, "Uncle, let me make tea for you."
Changzhi dodged with the teapot in his hand, "If you are here to ask the prince's master, I know nothing."
He really didn't know that these people were still holding on to him. His father really didn't reveal anything. He had been annoyed for the past half month.
Mingshan's excited heart suddenly cooled.
Chang Zhi saw that there was no one around, so he continued, "I think what you should do now is to do your job well and strive to get a good job after the three-year assessment, instead of trying to find out about things that are too far away from you. Don't be too ambitious, it's better to look at what's in front of you first."
Mingshan's face turned even paler. "Uncle, I'm not... I..."
Changzhi just didn't bother to pay attention to Mingshan, but that didn't mean he couldn't see through people's hearts. He was also good at criticizing people. "The children in the clan are gradually growing up. I heard that there will be a few more scholars this year. That's great."
Mingshan's face turned completely pale this time. He was not the only one. The young people in the clan had risen to prominence. He naturally knew about this year's examination for the postgraduate entrance examination. Some of them were younger than him, had more potential than him, and had a closer relationship with Lord Zhou than he did.
He was praised a lot in recent days, but now he has completely fallen to the ground.
Chang Zhi was disappointed. As long as Mingshan didn't appear in front of him, he thought this young man in the clan was okay. Unfortunately, he was still disappointed.
In the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren looked at the article written by the little prince, "What is this?"
The little prince looks better than the emperor. This is what Zhou Shuren discovered after recent observation. A good-looking child who looks at you with admiration and is also the prince of the current dynasty. Well, this is how Zhou Shuren was deceived.
The little prince held up the article and said, "I had a few debates with the emperor yesterday. The emperor asked me to write my thoughts. I have finished writing, so I would like to ask Lord Zhou to take a look."
Zhou Shuren wanted to say that he was busy, his eyes fell on the table. Well, the efficiency of the Ministry of Revenue has improved, he has finished what he should be busy with recently, small matters will not fall into his hands, so he is really not busy at the moment. Feeling the emperor's gaze, he clicked his tongue twice. What else can he do? He can only take it over.
The little prince blinked his eyes. Grandpa was right. It was wise to make good use of one's advantages. He used to deliberately put on a stern face hoping to appear dignified, but he didn't think so now. His young age was also an advantage.
Why did the retired emperor bring the little prince here? He didn't have time to teach his grandson before, and the same went for the emperor. Now the emperor teaches his grandson personally, and his grandson has become a prince. The eldest grandson wants everything to be perfect and to be a prince like the emperor.
The child is under a lot of pressure and has to follow the emperor closely. This is too tiring. He demands too much of himself and limits himself.
So when the retired emperor found out that the little prince paid special attention to Zhou Shuren, he talked to the emperor and then naturally took the little prince out of the palace.
Sure enough, his judgment was correct. Zhou Shuren's unconventional approach was slowly breaking the limitations of the little prince.
Zhou Shuren, "..."
The emperor should quickly take his gaze away from him, he is panicking!