In the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren was fiddling with an abacus and couldn't help pulling his hair. He pushed the abacus away in annoyance, making a loud noise that the retired emperor heard before he even entered the room.
"What could make the Shangshu-sama angry?"
Zhou Shuren, "..."
He really came in a hurry. If you knew, you would think he was dissatisfied with something!
Zhou Shuren's eyes darkened. This was the bad thing about ancient times. The emperor had the greatest power, and the emperor and the retired emperor had no obstacles. He was unhappy in his heart, but he had to pretend on his face. He said in a depressed tone: "I am worried about the money."
If he had known earlier, he would not have been so willing to give the emperor the money. Now he wanted to tear down the emperor's greenhouse.
The retired emperor did not think much about it. He knew Zhou Shuren's dilemma. Man proposes, God disposes. The emperor had planned everything, but unexpected events occurred. The river reconstruction could not be completed in one go. Up to now, five states had suffered floods. Three states had not completed the river reconstruction, while two states were rebuilding at a fast speed. What's the point of cutting corners? A flood would destroy everything.
The Emperor gestured for Zhou Shuren to sit down, "The Crown Prince will arrive in the capital tomorrow."
Zhou Shuren was stunned. "So fast?"
He calculated that it would take at least four days to reach the capital.
The Emperor, "The prince left alone."
Zhou Shuren understood. The emperor told him this, which meant that Mingrui and the prince returned to the capital together. "I thank the emperor for his grace."
After the prince was assassinated, the people around him were the safest. This time the prince secretly left alone, and the team he left behind became a target.
The Emperor said, "Don't go out when your grandson comes back. The King of Qi will be in the capital in four days."
Zhou Shuren understood that Mingrui was safe with the prince. If he showed off outside, it would be too conspicuous and would make people hate him. "Yes, I understand."
"Um."
Zhou Shuren felt much better. "Your Majesty, if you are here to ask for silver, I really don't have any."
Don't think that if you bring him good news, he will get excited and negotiate everything, but he won't give in on money.
The emperor pulled the corner of his mouth and twitched his beard, "I just came to chat with you."
Zhou Shuren, "Chat?"
What to talk about? His sons and grandsons are filial, and the Zhou family is doing well. He is only thinking about his youngest son and worried about his third son. There is really nothing else to talk about.
The Emperor, "The princes are old."
He stayed in the palace for a long time this year. When he had nothing to do, he would go to check on the princes' homework. However, he found it boring after going there a few times.
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard. People are biased. The emperor is biased towards the legitimate son from the bottom of his heart. Even though the son of Prince Qi is also a grandson, the emperor really won't care much.
Human hearts are so small, how could anyone take everything to heart, especially someone like the emperor who has the most power and willfulness.
The retired emperor only values the empress's son and only sees the children of other concubines if they are willing to do so. Now that they live in the palace, the princes are like cats seeing fish, and they all want to please them. However, the retired emperor feels that the princes have too many thoughts on their minds.
Zhou Shuren felt that there was really no normal family relationship in the royal family. "Time flies so fast, and the princes are also at the age to increase their studies."
The Emperor, "... Shu Ren is right."
Instead of spending time thinking, it is better to spend more time on reading. The books compiled by Mrs. Zhou Shuren are good.
Zhou Shuren continued, "Now our country is trading with many countries, and foreign princes and princesses are all learning Chinese. I have always thought it is convenient to learn another language."
The Emperor raised his eyes to look at Zhou Shuren, and thought to himself, "You are right, it is not good for a prince to need an interpreter. I really need to learn a few more languages."
Zhou Shuren didn't feel that he had a black heart at all. He was doing it for the good of the princes. Instead of thinking about the throne, they might as well learn more and see the outside world. However, it was none of his business how many languages the princes learned.
The emperor didn't want to continue the conversation. He felt that if he continued, his grandchildren would be even more miserable.
The emperor stopped talking and a look of pity flashed in Zhou Shuren's eyes.
In the evening, Zhou Shuren returned home in a good mood. Zhulan took one look and said, "Let me guess why you are so happy."
Zhou Shuren hummed, "You guess."
Zhulan smiled and said, "Mingrui will arrive in the capital tomorrow."
Zhou Shuren, "How do you know?"
He didn't believe it was a guess, how could it be so accurate.
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "The Fourth Prince came to the mansion today to pick up Linxi and Ze'er and take them back to the palace. The Fourth Prince said so."
The queen also wanted to do the Zhou family a favor.
Zhou Shuren, "My news was given by the Emperor."
Zhu Lan said, "It's not easy for the queen. She has to worry about her family while pregnant."
Zhou Shuren whispered, "The queen's pregnancy will probably affect her life span."
"How do you know?"
"The head of the academy has been guarding the queen. The emperor did not wait until the prince returned to the capital to deal with Wen Qingfeng. It can be seen that the queen's condition is not good."
Zhulan recalled how the queen looked when she was pregnant. The queen was indeed very tired during pregnancy and had a miscarriage. She sighed and said, "I don't know if the queen will regret it later."
Did the queen regret it? She did regret it. She regretted not having prevented the birth of a second son, which caused her health to become so poor. During this pregnancy, she overestimated her physical condition and underestimated the worries of her family. Now her belly was so big that she could only hold on and wait for the baby to be born.
The queen touched her belly and said, "You must have a daughter."
She should just hold on a little longer and wait for the child to be born. As for her life span, it's all fate. She shouldn't have gotten pregnant earlier or later, but she is pregnant now. This is fate.
When the emperor came in, he saw the queen touching her belly with a gentle expression. She was not displeased with the child because it would affect her lifespan. "Did the child bother you today?"
The queen looked up and said, "This child is very obedient. It's my body that's failing."
Since she stopped vomiting, the child has never bothered her.
The emperor raised his hand and placed it on the queen's hand. The baby in his belly moved and kicked the queen's palm. The queen asked in surprise, "Did the emperor feel it?"
The sharpness in the emperor's brows was gone, "I feel it."
The queen's spirits improved a lot, and she curled her lips, "The child heard us talking."
The emperor said, "You will be able to see your son tomorrow, so don't worry about it anymore."
The Queen nodded, "Yes, I made the Emperor worry."
"You are my wife, and you are pregnant. If I don't worry about you, who will?"
The queen looked up at the emperor who was becoming more and more majestic, and told herself that the emperor had been good enough to her. "Ouch, our little princess kicked again."
The emperor smiled directly into his eyes, "This child is quite lively today."
The next day, the prince and his entourage arrived in Beijing in a low-key manner. The emperor sent someone to take the prince away, and Mingrui and Shangguan Liu were also secretly taken back home.
Mingrui was surrounded when he returned home. His grandmother and mother were relieved only after they confirmed that he was not injured.
Mingrui touched his face and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the wound on his face was not deep and it healed in a few days, otherwise his grandmother and mother would definitely cry.