Yun Fenghuang praised Princess Zhaoqing in front of Chunjia, saying that she was the most beautiful, filial and considerate daughter in the world. Princess Zhaoqing was happy and confused, and she left very worried.
At this time, the emperor smiled and said: "How could you fool such a young child?"
"You only have to fool around when you are a child. When you grow up and become sensible, why don't you stop worrying so much?" The Central Palace will definitely not tell Chunjia about King Chu's attempt to murder the tenth prince, not to mention that the queen has not yet She completely gave up King Chu. Even if she gave up, she would not make it public. Otherwise, if the child came to her two days after he was born and had such vicious thoughts, wouldn't it show that she was incompetent in educating her son
Therefore, Yun Fenghuang was very happy to remind the emperor. At this moment, he sighed softly and said, "After all, Xiaojiu's body is weak, so I have to pay more attention to my body. However, King Qin and Zhaoqing are still young and are not old enough." It’s time to leave me frequently. I’ve spent a lot of time with Zhang Luo Xiaojiu these past two days, so it’s inevitable that King Zhaoqing Qin will feel aggrieved. If you can coax them to be friendly to each other, it’s better than children making nonsense.”
Chunjia became suspicious after hearing this, and smiled and said: "Children are misbehaving... You are not someone who is afraid of children misbehaving. Earlier, they held dirty soil and put it in front of them, but they didn't see you angry. But they don't know why. What a nonsense that makes you so worried?"
"It's just a precautionary measure." Yun Fenghuang wrote lightly, "After all, Your Majesty also knows that the Xie family, Ding Xingwang, has many brothers and sisters. With more people, there will inevitably be more things to do. I grew up from it, and I am used to many things. But it can be dealt with, so His Majesty won’t have to worry about it.”
After she said this, she immediately changed the subject and talked about other things.
When Chunjia saw this, he didn't ask any further questions. After the court dismissed the next day, he summoned Yanyin and asked several children who could run and talk. Have they been in trouble recently
He usually doesn't pay much attention to the emperor's heirs. At most, King Qin and Zhaoqing are more favored because of Yun Fenghuang. The other children may not be able to see each other a few times throughout the year. Basically, they are either in serious trouble or about to die. Well, the people below didn't dare to report or disturb him. Yan Yin had been aware of the matter between King Chu and the Tenth Prince for a long time, but because the Tenth Prince was not seriously injured after all, and everyone knew that King Chu was not an ordinary child, and the queen had sent benefits, Yan Yin did not Take the initiative to mention.
Now that the emperor took the initiative to ask, he did not dare to hide it and said cautiously: "In reply to Your Majesty, all the emperors have been doing well recently. It's just that His Royal Highness King Chu was naughty and accidentally lit the curtain of the side hall on fire when he was visiting the tenth prince. The palace people put it out in time, but nothing went wrong."
Although Chunjia was a weakling both from his biological father and his successor, he was a shrewd man. He smiled lightly when he heard this: "Stop talking about these untrue things. What's going on?"
"...Yes." Upon seeing this, Yan Yin quickly knelt down and apologized. He just told the whole story in a nonchalant manner. He didn't even dare to hide the benefits of taking in the Queen, "... The people in front of the Queen Mother repeatedly told me that the child's character of His Royal Highness King Chu, It was definitely not intentional, and after the third prince came forward, His Royal Highness the King of Chu also felt very remorseful. The Queen couldn't bear it, so she asked the slave not to report it to Your Majesty. The slave was thinking about whether this matter was a surprise or not, so... "
"My two legitimate sons, one is only three years old and the other is not even a month old, have started killing each other." Chunjia looked calm and said in a gentle tone, "From the queen to the attendants, everyone felt that it was just a surprise." A harmless little thing? Then you don’t have to tell me anything about the emperor’s heirs from now on? Is this still my child?”
Yan Yin prostrates himself on the ground, silent and daring not to speak.
Chunjia looked at him and said coldly: "I hope you will serve me for several years. I will spare your life this time. Go down and get the board yourself!"
"My servant, thank you for your kindness!" Yan Yin was relieved after hearing this. For a servant like him, being beaten and scolded was a trivial matter. The most fearful thing was that the emperor would no longer want to serve him.
At this time, he had too much time to care for himself and did not dare to plead for the queen and the King of Chu. After repeatedly apologizing for his sins and showing gratitude, he withdrew to accept the punishment.
The emperor put aside his government affairs and went to Chongchang Hall in person.
When Gu Zhen heard that he was coming, he was not happy but was surprised: "Your Majesty should be dealing with government affairs at the moment, why did you suddenly come to me?"
"Can't I come?" Chunjia said lightly, "Didn't the Queen always say that King Chu and the others miss me very much? I have some free time today, so I came here. Why is the Queen unhappy?"
"How dare I, I? I'm just afraid of delaying the important affairs of the temple." Gu Zhen's heart sank when he heard him mention King Chu. Seeing that it was not Yan Yin who was serving the emperor at the moment, his heart became heavier and he forced a smile and said, "I, I Let the kids come here.”
After a while, the third prince and the King of Chu went to the palace to pay their respects. The third prince was timid, but the King of Chu was very forgetful. He no longer remembered how he had been punished by Gu Zhen before and cried bitterly. When he saw Chunjia, his eyes lit up, because before the tenth prince Before, he was the only legitimate son and had met the emperor quite a few times. He was no stranger to his father. After bowing, he heard a cry and ran to Chunjia, kicking and screaming. He shouted "Father".
Chunjia stared at his child, because the appearance of the concubines in the harem was carefully checked, and the emperor himself was also a rare handsome man, so the appearance of all the emperor's heirs was of course guaranteed.
The King of Chu, whose biological mother came from a humble background, is even more beautiful. After all, without the blessing of family background, being able to enter the palace and still be favored is definitely gained by her beauty.
The three-year-old prince's skin was as fair as milk, his eyes were dark and bright, and the pupils he looked over were full of joy and admiration.
"..." Chunjia was silent for a while, then reached out to touch his head, then turned to the queen and said, "King Chu is getting older. Although he has not yet reached the age of enlightenment, it is time for him to teach him some principles."
When he stared at King Chu, the queen beside him was so nervous that she was almost trembling, fearing that Chunjia would severely punish King Chu.
For twins like the second and third princes, because of their biological mothers, even if they were smart and sensible, their status in the palace was still limited.
Not to mention the torment the Second Prince suffered at the hands of Concubine Shu earlier, now he is under the hands of Madam Qingshu. Because he is Madam Qingshu’s only child, his life is not bad. The third prince was the first child raised by the queen. First there were Queen Chu, then the eighth prince, and now there is the tenth prince. It can be said that his status has been declining again and again. But he is normal after all. No matter how much his treatment as a prince is deducted and mistreated, if he is enfeoffed when he grows up, the land will not be very good at most, and he is not well-received at ordinary times, but he can live a good life after all.
But if King Chu is disliked by the emperor, the queen doesn't know what he will do in the future
Simply looking at the emperor's intentions, he felt somewhat pity for his son, and his words were tactful.
"Your Majesty said that I was negligent, and I will teach the King of Chu well in the future." Gu Zhen quickly promised, and asked the King of Chu to kneel down to thank the emperor.
The King of Chu thanked him without knowing why, and wanted to say something else, but Gu Zhen was afraid that he would yell that he didn't like the tenth prince, so he hurriedly asked the third prince to pull him away.
Seeing the disappointed look in the third prince's eyes before he left, she felt very sad, but King Chu had just committed a crime and did not dare to say anything for the third prince.
"Is the King of Chu doing this because of his own naughtiness, or because of someone's instigation?" After the two children left, Chunjia looked at the queen and asked calmly, "Normally, since this child is much slower, even if he doesn't like Xiao Shi, he will cry at most. But you may not want to murder Xiao Shi?"
"I have been conducting an investigation these past two days. It seems that someone said something that should not have been said in front of the King of Chu." Gu Zhen said hurriedly, "The King of Chu is usually very well-behaved. I was also very shocked when I found out about this... Please, Your Majesty Give me another three or two days, and I will definitely get to the bottom of it!"
This was half true and half false. In fact, the queen did not find out that anyone had instigated King Chu.
But since the emperor knows about this matter, there must be an explanation.
It is better to drag a slave out to take the blame than the emperor feeling that the King of Chu is cruel by nature or the queen being incompetent in educating his son. It is also better than the tenth prince growing up to resent his elder brother.
"Just look at the arrangement. After all, they are all children in front of you. I believe that the palms and backs of the hands are all flesh, and the queen will not be biased against anyone." Chunjia took a sip of tea, stood up and planned to leave, "It's just The King of Chu’s incident must not be repeated again, whether it is the incident during the summer vacation or the incident now.”
In fact, he was well aware of the queen's lies, but he also felt that it would be better to drag someone from the palace to take the blame for this matter.
It would be better than having the tenth prince hold a grudge against the King of Chu in the future.
After sending the emperor away, Gu Zhen sat on the soft couch for a while and couldn't recover. He tried to persuade her: "Mother, your Majesty has never punished His Highness the King of Chu. He has not even said harsh words in front of His Highness. This shows that he still loves His Highness. Yes. My Majesty, don’t worry, after all, His Royal Highness King Chu is Your Majesty’s first legitimate son, how can Your Majesty not feel distressed?”
"I am thinking about the future." Gu Zhen sighed softly and said, "The King of Chu is still young at the moment, and their brothers have caused such a thing. Now they can still use the palace people to fool them, and in the future , the eighth prince and the tenth prince have all grown up, and if they still can't get along, how much hardship can I endure in my life?"
Everyone on the left and right advised her not to think too much, and then said: "Before, Concubine Xian claimed to be ill and thought she was about to die, but the result was that she is still here now. After a few days, why don't you find an opportunity to send the Eighth Prince back?"
Gu Zhen thought the same way. She originally thought that the eighth prince was an ancestor, and now that she had a tenth prince, she no longer wanted to raise the eighth prince. After hearing this, she looked for opportunities to get rid of this bastard.
Who knew that in just two days, the New Year's Eve banquet would be just around the corner. The virtuous concubine Yuan Zhiniang, who had been in bed for more than half a year and everyone thought she would not die, passed away.
This is not the point. The point is that Yuan Zhiniang committed suicide and left a suicide note saying that she could not bear the pain. In the end, she was Queen Tuogu.
In her suicide note, Yuan Zhiniang stated that she had wanted to die long before her summer vacation, but she managed to survive because she was worried about the Eighth Prince.
During this period of time, the Queen took good care of the Eighth Prince, and she left without any worries.
After reading the suicide note with tears in her eyes, Empress Dowager Yuan said to the empress: "In that case, just keep Xiaoba. Treat him well, let alone a good concubine who will not be able to live in peace."
Gu Zhen: "..."
I really want to drag out Concubine Xian and whip her corpse!
But she can't.
Not only could she not do it, she also promised with sincerity that she would raise the eighth prince as her own flesh and blood, and she would never treat him badly.
... Returning to Chongchang Palace, the queen ordered the people who served the eighth prince to take advantage of the approaching new year to let the child have some troubles, whether he was sick or cold, anyway, she couldn't bear it anymore!
She's had enough of Yuan's aunt and nephew, these bitches!
Although the Eighth Prince made a mistake and the Empress Dowager Yuan would definitely not let it go, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain, right
And with such a hot potato in Chongchang Palace, who knows whether it will affect the King of Chu and the Tenth Prince in the future
Gu Zhen was determined to show no mercy.
So on the second day of the new year, news spread that the eighth prince had contracted the cold.
After Yun Fenghuang heard the news, he sent someone to send something to the middle palace to express his feelings. He smiled and said to the people around him: "The Yuan family has made the queen anxious, but the queen is more naive after all. The empress dowager is a loving mother. Who wouldn’t think of this?”
Sure enough, in the evening of that day, Queen Mother Yuan invited Chunjia to come and talk to him about the Eighth Prince.
But the Queen Mother was not targeting Queen Gu Zhen, but the third prince and the King of Chu.
She felt that these two princes should have murdered the eighth prince.
The evidence is that the King of Chu had just murdered the tenth prince a few days ago. With such a criminal record, it is reasonable to despise the eighth prince's younger brother.
"Mother, the tenth prince is the legitimate son like the King of Chu, so the queen can't help but take extra care of him." Chunjia objected tactfully, "That's why the king of Chu is young and ignorant, so he is jealous of the tenth prince. But although the eighth prince is raised by the queen, after all, He's just a concubine, why should the King of Chu be jealous of him? It seems that the eighth prince came to the queen several months before the tenth prince, and I haven't heard of the King of Chu going to target him."
Empress Dowager Yuan said calmly: "The third prince is also a concubine. Do you think the queen has ever treated her badly? After all, the Gu family comes from a eldest son, and she still has the grace of the middle palace. All the emperors in the palace call her mother, and she does take on the responsibility. She deserves the status of mother and queen. Therefore, why is the eighth prince not raised carefully by the queen? The Ai family heard that the queen treats the eighth prince as her own! If she hadn’t raised the eighth prince with such care, the concubine would not have As for letting go with peace of mind."
"This..." Although both mother and son knew in their hearts that the Queen didn't care at all when raising the Eighth Prince, and she hadn't even visited him in person a few times in the past year, the Eighth Prince was able to grow up well until now, mainly because of the people he served. As a loving mother, the Queen Mother, I dare not be careless.
But neither Chunjia nor Gu Zhen himself could admit that Gu Zhen was careless about the eighth prince.
Empress Dowager Yuan also said: "Furthermore, after Concubine Xian was left alone, the Ai family was worried, so they summoned the empress to encourage her. Maybe this news reached the ears of the third prince and the King of Chu, making them even more jealous of the eighth prince. It's pitiful. Xiaoba is only so young and yet he has to deal with two such cruel and ruthless brothers. The Ai family doesn’t know what to say."
Chunjia suggested that the eighth prince should be moved out of Chongchang Palace and raised by someone else
After all, the Queen Mother felt that the third prince and the King of Chu were ruthless, and the Eighth Prince was no longer safe in the Queen's presence. Of course, it would be better to raise him in a place where the Queen Mother felt safe, right
But the Empress Dowager Yuan was unwilling. What the Empress Dowager meant was that the Eighth Prince was completely innocent, and the Third Prince and King Chu were completely vicious. It was the Third Prince and King Chu who were originally at fault, so why should the Eighth Prince be driven away? Isn't this indulging the arrogance of the third prince and King Chu!
"You've been like this at such a young age, will you still suffer from it in the future?" Empress Dowager Yuan said lightly, "Looking at the Ai family, it's better to let the queen teach them well. It's not the queen's fault for this. After all, the queen has many things to do, and the children under her knees are also busy. Quite a few, so it’s understandable that I’m too busy for a while. It’s just that the matter is so big that one cannot have two.”
He added, "And this is also for the good of the third prince and the King of Chu. Their younger brothers and sisters are more than just the eighth prince. As a descendant of the Tian family, Fu Zuo has many brothers and sisters. How can he be jealous? It is no longer appropriate to target the eighth prince now. Yes, in the future, when Xiao Shi grows up, they won’t be able to accommodate Xiao Shi, so what will it be like?”
Chunjia was silent for a long time, and then Wen Yan said that he would tell the queen.