Of course she couldn't pick up the light, Sui Sui knew it clearly, but at that moment her hands moved involuntarily.
The lamp is really beautiful, a small ball with half-closed lotus petals and the wick hidden inside. At first glance, it looks like a crystal clear heart.
Huan Xuan had an injury on his back, so it was a bit difficult for him to hold it up, and cold sweat was almost breaking out on his forehead. Sui Sui didn't take it, nor did he withdraw his hand. He just looked at her quietly and stubbornly.
It's never easy to reject such people.
Fortunately, Gao Mai's voice helped her out, and she heaved a sigh of relief: "Your Highness has something to do at home, I will leave you now."
Huan Xuan refused to let her go, as if he never knew when to let go.
He said to the outside, "Let him wait."
His eyes were always on Sui Sui: "Take your lamp away."
Sui Sui lowered his eyelids slightly, avoiding his gaze: "I still have to go to the palace to pay respects to the emperor. I have been here for too long. Your Highness, please forgive me for leaving you."
After taking two steps, she paused and turned around. There was undisguised surprise in the man's eyes. He was still dragging the lamp, and his arm had begun to tremble due to the wound.
Sui Sui pursed her lips and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured. I will do my best to protect the Crown Princess."
Huan Xuan's expression changed slightly: "Xiao Suisui..."
There was no time to say anything else, Sui Sui had already walked out without looking back.
After what happened, no matter how much Sui Sui tried to deceive himself, he would never think that Huan Xuan was still infatuated with Ruan Yuewei.
Now that the prince had failed, there was no obstacle between him and Ruan Yuewei. If he still had feelings for her, he would never come to provoke me again.
She mentioned the Crown Princess, but only to remind him that feelings will fade, change, and shift. Even the friendship between childhood sweethearts and childhood friends will change, not to mention that they made a mistake from the beginning.
If Huan Xuan had no injuries, he would have chased her and held her to talk things out. However, every time he moved, the wound on his back was agitated, and a piercing pain came over him, making his eyes go black.
The lotus lantern slipped out of his hand and rolled onto the couch. Fortunately, the couch was covered with soft cushions, so the thin and fragile colored glass was not broken.
Huan Xuan was angry and in pain. He lay on the bed and gasped, almost bursting his wound. Fortunately, although General Xiao's needlework was simple and elegant, it was very strong.
He didn't believe that a smart person like Xiao Suisui would not be able to see through his feelings. She probably just wanted to piss him off to death.
Just then, Gao Mai tiptoed behind the screen and said cautiously, "Your Highness, the eunuch from the Queen's palace has been waiting outside for a long time..."
Huan Xuan frowned and asked, "Wang Yuandao?"
Gao Mai said.
The eunuch Wang is the chief eunuch who is close to the queen.
Gao Mai explained, "The Saint was frightened and had a stroke when he returned to the palace. After His Highness was injured, I sent someone to the palace to report the news. The Empress was afraid that Your Majesty would worry, so she did not report the matter to Your Majesty."
He paused and said, "Your Highness has been in a coma for the past two days, and the Queen has sent eunuchs to visit him every morning and evening..."
Gao Mai had watched Huan Xuan grow up and knew that he had few relatives since childhood, so the empress avoided him even more after the crown prince passed away. Now that the empress finally cared about her son, Gao Mai was sincerely happy for his master.
Huan Xuan's face darkened slightly when he heard this. The crown prince had plotted a rebellion, and the queen now only had him as her son. However, the concubines had given birth to many sons, so the emperor was not short of sons.
It was a foregone conclusion that the crown prince would be demoted to a commoner for treason. The emperor had been suffering from illness for two years and his old illness had recurred, so it was urgent to appoint another crown prince.
If the emperor knew he was injured, he might consider the sixth or seventh prince.
Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, the Queen will not allow such a thing to happen.
Huan Xuan's eyes turned cold: "Please ask him to come."
Wang Yuandao walked into the room, followed by a group of eunuchs, holding various precious and valuable medicinal materials in their hands, ranging from century-old ginseng, purple Ganoderma lucidum to finest deer antlers.
He bowed respectfully to Huan Xuan and said, "Is your Highness' injury better? The Queen wanted to come and visit you in person, but now that His Majesty is ill and unable to manage affairs, all matters in the palace depend on you, so it is inconvenient for her to come to the palace, so she can only send an old servant here."
Huan Xuan said, "Thank you for your concern, mother. I'll ask the eunuch to go back and report that my injuries are not serious."
The eunuch looked around and said thoughtfully, "Your Highness is a noble and precious person. The Buddhist temple is simple and noisy. I'm afraid it will not be conducive to your recovery. Your Highness is kindly requested to move to the east palace so that Your Highness can take care of anything."
Huan Xuan said calmly: "Mother has to take care of father and manage the overall situation, so I won't bother her anymore."
Eunuch Wang did not expect that he would refuse outright. The attentiveness on his face faded a bit, but his smile did not diminish: "Your Highness, what are you saying? Isn't it too formal for the Queen? Please understand that the Queen is a loving mother."
Huan Xuan said, "No need. Please, Eunuch, thank the Queen for her gift on my behalf. After I recover from my injury, I will go to the palace to pay my respects to Your Majesty and the Queen."
Gao Mai explained: "Zheng Fengyu also said yesterday that your highness's wound is deep and prone to rupture, so he should not be moved for two days."
Eunuch Wang's eyes turned cold, but seeing that Huan Xuan had already made up his mind, he could not force him to leave, so he could only say, "Your Highness, please take good care of him. I will take my leave now."
Having said this, he signaled the eunuch to put down the herbs and then left.
Gao Mai glanced at the red sandalwood and cypress boxes piled on the table, and he couldn't tell what he felt. The queen gave so many precious medicinal herbs and seemed to care about her son, but she knew how badly he was injured, but she wanted to take him back to the palace immediately to keep him under her nose. If it was her other two sons who were injured, she would definitely not do this.
The former Queen came to their prince's birthday party, and Gao Mai saw that he had a cold attitude and thought that he had a knot in his heart that was difficult to resolve for many years. Only now did he realize that he saw things more clearly than them. He had probably long recognized the Queen's feelings for him and was already disheartened.
Eunuch Wang hit a snag in his attempt to persuade the Prince of Qi and immediately returned to the palace to report to the Queen. The Queen hated anyone who disobeyed her the most in her life, especially her own son. She was naturally unhappy after hearing what Eunuch Wang said, but she didn't have much time to think about him at this time. She only ordered him to arrange a few eunuchs and palace maids to serve the Prince of Qi - in name only, they were there to supervise him.
The queen was trying her best to save her two sons' lives.
It was true that the emperor had been frightened at the Lantern Festival, and it was also true that he had a stroke. But it was too much of a coincidence that the empress fell into a coma every time she went to see him.
The empress wanted to see her second son, but the crown prince came back from outside the palace on Lantern Festival night, and was placed under house arrest in Zhangde Hall together with the crown princess. There were guards outside the hall, and no one could leave without the emperor's handwritten order.
She could only summon the eldest princess to the palace that night and said to her, "Your father has loved you since you were a child and listened to your advice the most. Your second brother was instigated by the traitor and made a mistake in a moment of confusion. He deserves to be deposed from the throne and demoted to a commoner. I only ask that he be spared, whether he be exiled to the ends of the earth or kept in the palace until his death..."
The eldest princess fell to her knees with a plop, and said with tears in her eyes, "Mother, I naturally can't bear to see my brother who grew up with me end up in such a miserable state, but Erlang's rebellion is too much. Mother, do you know how many casualties there were when the lantern wheel collapsed and the city was in chaos? As the crown prince, he ignored the lives of the people. If I plead for him to my father, how can I be worthy of those who died unjustly..."
Before she could finish her words, there was a crisp "snap" sound, and the eldest princess's head was buzzing and her left cheek was suddenly swollen.
The Queen sneered, "The eldest princess is very righteous and concerned about the country and the people. She is worthy of being your father's good daughter. You insist on killing them all and letting me send off my young son. Are you satisfied?"
The eldest princess did not expect her mother to be so unreasonable. She covered her face for a long time before she came to her senses. She knelt forward and knelt on the ground: "Mother..."
The Queen interrupted her and asked, "Are you willing to plead for your second brother?"
The eldest princess felt as if her heart was being torn apart, tears streaming down her cheeks, and she almost bit her lips until they bled, but she still gritted her teeth and said, "Please forgive me for not being able to obey your command..."
"Okay," the queen looked at her daughter with a strange and cold gaze, "Okay, remember what I said tonight, remember how you left your own brother to die without saving him and even killed him."
The eldest princess' face turned pale, but she clenched her teeth and didn't utter a single word.
The queen glanced at her, nodded and said, "I will just pretend that I have never given birth to your daughter."
After saying this, he ignored his daughter and went straight to the emperor's bedroom.
She did not even ask the eunuchs whether the emperor was awake or not. She got off the phoenix chariot, took off her hairpins, and knelt down on the steps.
The eunuchs around the emperor all understood the queen's temperament, and after a few words of persuasion, they had no choice but to go inside and report to the emperor.
The emperor had just finished taking the medicine and was leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed. He was silent for a long time after hearing this. He knew that he couldn't hide from his wife forever, so he finally said awkwardly, "Please ask the queen to come."
The queen was dressed in plain clothes, had taken off her hairpin, and had her long hair loose. Her eyes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that she had not slept all night.
She walked into the palace, and without waiting for the emperor to speak, she knelt down in front of the imperial couch and said, "I will teach my son how to behave. I beg you to die in his place."
The emperor's already ugly face turned even more gloomy, and he said in a trembling voice: "I will decide this matter myself, the queen does not need to ask."
Tears welled up in the queen's eyes: "Your Majesty, please let me serve you for a while and spare the life of that rebellious son..."
The emperor said, "You also know that we are husband and wife. If that rebellious son succeeds in his rebellion and takes my life, what will you do?"
The queen's face turned pale, and she was speechless for a moment. Her affection for the emperor had long been worn away as concubines entered the palace one after another and gave birth to children. Naturally, her son meant more to her than her husband.
If her son succeeded, she would probably scold him in private, feel sad for a while, and then accept the fact.
She bowed and said, "Your Majesty is the true dragon emperor. With the protection of God, you will surely be able to turn danger into fortune."
The emperor did not expose her thoughts, but only laughed at himself: "If Xiao Ling had not brought his personal soldiers to rescue me, the True Dragon Son of Heaven on the imperial couch would have been replaced."
The Queen hurriedly said, "That rebellious son has great ambitions but little talent. He is more likely to cause trouble than accomplish anything. Your Majesty can lock him up and cripple his legs so that he will never dare to have any wishful thinking again. As long as you can save his life..."
She cried, "Your Majesty, Dalang is gone. If your rebellious son is gone too, how can Your Majesty expect me to live?"
The emperor glanced at his haggard wife and sighed softly: "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Do you think I feel good about this? But you have no idea what your ambitious but incompetent son has done."
He paused, his eyes becoming cold again: "I have made up my mind, you don't have to say anything more. Don't forget that you still have a son. Instead of worrying about that rebellious son, why not pay more attention to Sanlang."
Just then, a eunuch came from behind the screen and said, "Your Majesty, General Xiao Ling has arrived and is waiting in the side hall for an audience."
When the queen heard the word "Xiao Ling", a fierce look flashed across her eyes.
The emperor glanced at his wife and said, "I have something else to do at home, please go back, Queen."
Before the queen could say anything else, the emperor told the eunuch beside him, "Send the queen back to her bedroom."
Although the empress was unwilling, she also knew that the emperor had summoned foreign ministers, and that further talk would only backfire, so she had to proceed slowly, and thus she bowed and withdrew silently.
Sui Sui followed the eunuch who was leading the way to the emperor's bedroom. When he reached the steps, he saw the empress in plain clothes walking down the steps.
Sui Sui bowed and said: "I wish you a happy new year, Her Majesty the Queen."
The Queen shuddered slightly and stopped in her tracks: "General Xiao, please excuse me."
Sui Sui bowed slightly and waited for the queen to leave.
The queen slowly walked up to her, looked her over, lowered her eyes, and suddenly bowed.
Sui Sui quickly dodged: "Your Majesty, please forgive me."
The Queen said: "General Xiao is a man of high integrity. He has done favors for the Huan family and has made contributions to the people of Xiji. I am ashamed to pay my respects to General Xiao."
After saying that, he nodded slightly and walked down the stairs.