Time flies and it’s the birthday of the loving mother, the Queen Mother.
Ever since she became the Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager Yuan has never celebrated this birthday.
At first, the Ji family deliberately suppressed it and refused to allow it. Later, when Chunjia came to power, Empress Dowager Yuan felt that her relationship with the emperor did not need to be demonstrated by holding a birthday banquet, so she declined.
But this year, perhaps because of the bad blood between mother and son and the death of Yuan Zhiniang, the Empress Dowager Yuan and the Yuan family felt a crisis. When Chunjia said that she wanted to celebrate her good life, she agreed.
… So Chunjia didn’t go hunting.
After all, he chose this time to go hunting in the first place just to express his concern for Empress Dowager Yuan and to express his apology for not being able to congratulate Empress Dowager Yuan on her birthday.
Now that we can all hold a banquet in a dignified manner, there is no need to worry.
The main reason is that Chunjia is very busy at the moment and really doesn't have the energy to hunt and prepare banquets.
King Qin and Zhaoqing were very sad.
When Chunjia went hunting last year, they made noises to follow him, but Chunjia thought they were too young and refused. At that time, the two children could not help but quarrel, and promised that they could go out for a ride together on a pony this year.
For this reason, Yun Fenghuang also asked the Royal Beast Garden to temporarily train two spring outing ponies for them to accompany them this year.
As a result, because Empress Dowager Yuan promised to hold a birthday banquet, the hunting was cancelled. After hearing the news, the brother and sister cried on the spot. Then they ran to Yun Fenghuang, tugged on her sleeves and asked to let them go hunting by themselves: "Father, you are busy with everything, so you can't spare the time." Now that I'm here, my sons and ministers can hunt for me and pray for me. I ask my mother and concubine to talk to my sons and ministers and let my father agree!"
Yun Fenghuang didn't know that these were all excuses. The two children just wanted to go out and play.
After all, they said he was the grandson of Empress Dowager Yuan. Since the relationship between Yun Fenghuang and Empress Dowager Yuan was not very good, Empress Dowager Yuan's attitude towards the emperor's heir in Xuanqing Palace was relatively calm.
The two children have never gotten along with this grandmother, how can they have any feelings for each other
"My mother and concubine can't guarantee this." Of course Yun Fenghuang would not agree to them. He didn't expect much when he was last year. He only thought that there would be many waiters accompanying him, so it would be fine for Chunjia to take the children out for a walk. Son.
But now that Zhaoqing's leg injury has given the imperial concubine a memory, how could they let them run wild again
At this moment, they pushed back and forth, saying that Chunjia had the final say, and he might not be able to plead for mercy. Finally, seeing that they wanted to entangle the emperor in Xingxintang, he quickly sent people to take a small road to spread the news, and told Chunjia to make sure to give him to him. Stopped.
As expected, Chunjia scolded them with a straight face, but he complained to Yun Fenghuang, saying that the imperial concubine was becoming more and more uncaring. Why did she ask him to step in every time she wanted to reject the children
He wouldn't be able to bear it if things continued like this.
Especially this time Zhaoqing cried. He was the child he loved the most, and he still felt guilty about her leg injury. Seeing her standing there wiping her tears, Chunjia almost lost her balance.
"Can you blame me for this?" Yun Fenghuang asked displeasedly, "If Your Majesty hadn't pampered them and I had been strict with them, how could they have dared to make such excessive demands? Your Majesty's pampered children, If you don't let Your Majesty take care of my concubine, how can I take care of it myself? Can I take care of it myself?"
Chunjia couldn't laugh or cry, and said, "Have you ever been harsh to them?"
"Isn't that your Majesty's fault?" Yun Fenghuang asked back, "When I said I wanted to deal with them hard, Your Majesty felt distressed, as if I was afraid that I had wronged the emperor's heir, what else could I do? "
"I just said it casually, but you took it seriously?" The emperor couldn't help but say to her, "Then why didn't you listen to other things I said?"
The two quarreled with each other for a while, but Chunjia felt sorry for Zhaoqing after all, so she decided to let the guards go out to catch some prey to use as targets in the palace, and personally taught her daughter archery.
"Your Majesty, please stop indulging her!" If he had been willing to spend time with his daughter before, Yun Fenghuang would certainly not have objected, but now, she frowned and reminded, "Zhao Qing's leg injury before. Although she was harmed by others, in the end she was too out of touch. First she jumped out of the window and fell, then she didn't take it seriously and continued walking around, giving that bastard an opportunity to take advantage of! Now you have to teach her. When she learns how to ride and shoot, will she still be able to sit still?"
Chunjia sighed: "Why haven't I thought about it this way? But think about it, children grow up very quickly. We don't know how long our lies will be able to deceive Zhaoqing. She will definitely be very sad by then... Now while she is here When you are still ignorant, how happy can you be?"
He paused and then said, "Actually, even if you have a lame leg, you may not be unable to ride and shoot. Look at the old soldiers in the army, and they are not without physical disabilities. How many people are missing arms and legs and still go into battle to kill the enemy? Zhaoqing He is our child, so he should have such an ambition."
Yun Fenghuang was startled and sighed: "Your Majesty has troubled Zhaoqing."
This is because Zhaoqing is afraid that when she grows up, she will feel inferior and uncomfortable if her legs are not healed, so she needs to take precautions in advance.
After a while, Chunjia would try to recruit some disabled but capable old soldiers to the front, so that Zhaoqing could be influenced by them and not be obsessed with the broken legs.
Naturally, Yun Fenghuang would not stop the emperor from feeling sorry for his daughter. He also said that he would go and have a look at that time: "When I was a child, I was among the sisters, and I could ride and shoot. I don't know if Zhaoqing can catch up with me?" "
Chunjia immediately said that this was for sure: "How could Zhaoqing be inferior to Ah Huang?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang didn't say anything, but his eyes became very dangerous.
The emperor reacted belatedly and made amends without changing his face: "After all, although A Huang is very smart, the person who taught A Huang how to ride and shoot must not be as good as me!"
It's okay if he didn't say that, but after saying that, Yun Fenghuang subconsciously thought of Qi Jiulu... She calmed down, and Fang sneered: "Then I won't show off my shame, anyway, your majesty has Zhaoqing in front of me, I This imperial concubine is also an eyesore!"
Saying this, he waved his hands and left.
Chunjia couldn't help but held her back: "Why are you so jealous of your own daughter now?"
"How dare I?" Yun Fenghuang snorted and pushed him away, "I just feel that I am stupid and I am afraid that staying in front of His Majesty will stain His Majesty's eyes!"
Chunjia had no choice but to hug her and coax her with gentle words.
Yun Fenghuang held the air for a while before humming and talking about the business in a slow voice: "Since His Majesty wants to teach Zhao Qing, then King Qin, the second prince, the third prince, the second prince's daughter and the third princess should also come together. After all, they are all your Majesty's flesh and blood. , You can't favor one over the other. This will make the children feel uncomfortable and is not conducive to the harmony between their brothers and sisters."
Zhaoqing's emperor's favorite is almost overtaking him. If she is allowed to enjoy the freedom of being taught archery skills by the emperor, she will be filial in the future. If she is not filial, can she still handle it
It would be better to let the other children go together, so as to dilute the emperor's attention and favor.
The emperor was completely unaware of the imperial concubine's true intentions. Hearing this, he sighed softly: "You are really good to the children."
His eyes subconsciously crossed Yun Fenghuang's belly, feeling rather regretful: Why is there no news about the imperial concubine who loves her children so much
That's what he thought. The news spread out and the concubines knew about Yun Fenghuang's generosity, but he had another idea.
Gu Zhen was very anxious: "Ever since the imperial concubine entered the palace, she has been very aggressive and repays her. If others don't provoke her, they may be tricked by her. Count the people in the palace. Anyone who has a problem with her will never end well. . After all these years, who in the previous dynasty and harem still doesn’t know her temperament? At this moment, His Majesty just wants to teach Princess Zhaoqing, so she can just take Prince Qin with her. After all, Prince Qin is also raised by her. But even the second prince and the third prince The prince, the second princess, and the third princess were all told. What does this mean? I am not dead yet, and she is still just a noble concubine. I am so sure that she will be able to take the position of my queen in the future, so I started to carry my mother's clothes in advance. Have you shown sympathy to the emperor’s heirs???”
I can't blame the Queen for thinking this way.
After all, according to the tacit understanding, all the emperors' heirs are responsible for their respective mothers and concubines, and only the queen can legitimately inquire about their situations and show them concern.
As the father of all the emperor's heirs, and his preference for Yun Fenghuang, Chunjia faced the imperial concubine's repeated suggestions that the other emperor's heirs should also have the opportunity to be close to him and receive his teachings. He only felt that the imperial concubine was really kind-hearted and had never expected that she would be so kind. Is there any overstep in doing so
But as the head of the harem and the aunt of all the emperor's heirs, the queen is the one who has the most reason to care about any of the emperor's heirs. How can she be insensitive
Not to mention her, even the palace attendants couldn't think of any reason to appease the queen.
The master and servant looked at each other for a moment. Gu Zhen sighed and sat down slumped: "Even so, what can I do?"
"Empress, Uncle Zuo has stabilized the situation for the time being." Seeing this, Zuo Zuo persuaded in a low voice, "Your Majesty is not an impulsive person. Even if he is confused by the noble concubine, he will definitely not do anything in a short time. Get through this. In a few years, the ten and twelve princes will grow up, and the courtiers will also propose to establish a heir. By then, the legitimate sons in your name will be better than the concubines in front of the imperial concubine. Even if His Majesty is partial, how can the ministers condone it? The general trend After all, they are still on our side. Don’t argue with the imperial concubine’s side, we will be in the middle palace gracefully, so that your majesty and the imperial concubine won’t have anything to pick on. Once the east palace is settled, you can feel at ease.”
This is of course impossible. Becoming a legitimate son to the East Palace is only the first step.
How can I feel at ease if I live in Qingci Palace
But Gu Zhen has endured humiliation and heavy burdens over the years, so it would be despairing to say that.
The waiters then advised her to set a small goal first, such as making her legitimate son the crown prince.
With this, Gu Zhen finally calmed down a little and thought: "We will call the third prince here later, but we can't let him continue to let King Qin and the others go."
The queen had always told the third prince not to fight with Qin Wang Zhaoqing, or even with any of the emperor's heirs.
Because of his biological mother, he and the second prince were not favored by Chunjia. In this regard, those imperial heirs whose biological mothers were humble and whose adoptive mothers were not favored were actually better than them.
If there were too many conflicts and Chunjia was not happy, he could find a nook and send them far away, so that the descendants could only live in a remote place.
But it's different now.
Now Gu Zhen's trust in Chunjia has been further shaken. Considering that both the tenth and twelfth princes are several years younger than King Qin and the others, the queen believes that it is necessary to take precautions now to build her reputation.
Well, it’s the queen’s reputation as a dignified, virtuous, and well-educated child.
Think about it, when the two healthy legitimate sons were young and had no idea of their virtuous and foolish abilities, King Qin and Zhaoqing were already smart and filial enough to spread their stories both internally and externally.
At this time, if the queen cannot stand up and is good at teaching children, the queen's children will definitely be able to become talents. This makes the courtiers full of expectations and trust for the legitimate son. Maybe when the ten and twelve princes grow up, King Qin will have already The wings are full!
And the queen will have to teach her children how to build a reputation
We can only let the third prince step forward and make this sign.
Doing so would sacrifice the third prince's future and even push him into a dangerous situation.
After all, Yun Fenghuang was not someone who would tolerate other emperor heirs stealing the limelight from the children before her. She was so favored that the queen was helpless. The second and third princes were still the heirs that Chunjia despised... To put it bluntly, Yun Fenghuang If he murdered the third prince in a fit of rage, Chunjia would most likely have known about it and pretended to be ignorant, helping his concubine cover up the matter.
If it goes well, the Queen will definitely not be able to part with it.
The third prince was the first child she raised, and it was the child she raised when she had never foreseen that she would become a queen and had many heirs.
During those days, she sincerely wanted to take good care of the third prince, depend on the child, and spend the rest of her life talking.
Moreover, the third prince has always been very good and obedient, especially when there was King Chu as a comparison, the queen could not help but love him from the bottom of her heart.
But now...
For the sake of the two strong legitimate sons, as well as for herself and the family, the queen had to let him be at the forefront of the storm.
After a while, looking at the third prince in front of him who was obedient and promised to work hard to compete with King Qin, Gu Zhen asked with a complicated mood: "Don't you want to ask why?"
"???" The third prince looked at her doubtfully, thought for a while, and whispered, "My sons and ministers must obey the Queen Mother's instructions."
So what's the reason
Gu Zhen almost burst into tears when he heard this. He quickly looked away and endured it. He held his hand, took a deep breath and said, "Don't always carry King Chu with you in the future. He is not a grown up." My child is not very sensible, so I won’t delay your homework. From now on... "
She hesitated for a moment, then became firm and whispered, "Go and visit your eighth brother more often. Remember, you feel that you are very close to your eighth brother and you like him very much."
The emperor was unreliable, and he could not protect himself. After much thought, in the huge palace, the only person who could give the third prince some protection was the eighth prince who was extremely reluctant to accept him as a hot potato.
... Even if Queen Mother Yuan knew Chunjia's taboo against the third prince, in order to give the eighth prince more help in the future, she would be willing to take care of her grandson, right
Gu Zhen smiled bitterly, she could only look forward to this now.
As for whether the third prince would really be won over by the eighth prince in the future, the queen was not very worried.
The eighth prince is about the same age as the tenth and twelfth princes. When he grows up, the tenth and twelfth princes will almost be able to come in handy. By then, the middle palace will not need the third prince to charge into battle.
This year's Holy Birthday Festival comes amid this undercurrent.
During the banquet, the queen specially arranged for the third prince to guard the eighth prince at all times.
Mrs. Yuan indeed noticed it and asked the queen privately: "Isn't the third child always clinging to the King of Chu? Why is he following the eighth child again?"
"Mother, you don't know that Bing'er has always had this temperament." The queen showed helplessness and whispered, "She cares about her younger brothers and sisters very much. Isn't this... the queen also knew about King Chu's illness. She had already known about it. I have disturbed the tenth prince. Not long ago, perhaps because my wife asked a few more questions about the eighth prince, she... "
Queen Mother Yuan's expression suddenly changed, and she shouted: "What did he do to Lao Ba?!"
"... The queen calmed down, it didn't matter, because Bing'er arrived in time and stopped him." The queen felt a pain in her heart. The third prince's well-behavedness won her heart. Wasn't it possible that she had spent a lot of time raising King Chu
But now, the third prince is destined to die, and King Chu... must also come in handy!
She was cruel and sighed as if nothing had happened, "No, now he also knows that it is impossible to reason with the King of Chu. He is afraid that he will repeat his old tricks, so he has been following the Eighth Prince for the past two days to prevent the Eighth Prince from suffering disaster."
"He is a good boy." Sure enough, Empress Dowager Yuan glanced at the third prince a few more times and sighed, "It's really rare... It's just that his mother's family has been involved."
The queen knew that things could not be rushed, and urging the queen mother to protect the third prince would only arouse suspicion, so she smiled and said nothing.
Empress Dowager Yuan didn't mention it again. She only gave the third prince a little extra support during her birthday greetings and told him: "Listen carefully to your mother."
Since King Qin, Zhaoqing, the Second Prince and other heirs who were ranked ahead of the Third Prince did not receive any support or instructions, this move showed that Empress Dowager Yuan was satisfied with the Third Prince.
So much so that Chunjia asked with a smile: "The queen mother seems to be very close to Lao San?"
"It's just that I felt a little emotional when I saw that he knew how to protect his brothers at a young age." Empress Dowager Yuan said lightly, "The Ai family remembers that when Mother Neem made a mistake, you also protected her in the same way. At that time, you guys Both of them are just a little bit small, and the Ai family’s birthday is not that grand, but I just asked you to have a casual banquet with the Ai family... In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed."
Chunjia was also a little sad about this past incident she mentioned.
He felt very depressed at that time, but because of the contrast of being dormant under Ji's hands, looking back, he felt that those were the most carefree and fulfilling years of his life.
After all, the biggest pressure is simply not being able to inherit the title of king.
At least his life is safe.
And ever since he stepped into the Imperial Capital, let alone Ji's time, even now, he is still in a situation where he loses everything if he is not careful.
The emperor's eyes were dazed for a moment, and he smiled and said: "She has been a few years, but the queen still looks as young as she did then."
"Come to coax the Ai family again." Empress Dowager Yuan said angrily, "The King of Qin is about to go to school, how can the Ai family still be young?"
Although the close relationship between her and the emperor was no longer the same as when Yun Fenghuang first entered the palace, they still had the accumulation of many years of dependence on each other.
As long as Empress Dowager Yuan didn't make any demands that Chunjia was very resistant to, or quarrel with Yun Fenghuang and embarrass Chunjia... Chunjia would still be willing to comply with her.
Especially what the Queen Mother is recalling right now are all things that have been long lost and warm to the Emperor.
For a while, mother and son were chatting so tenderly that no one else could interrupt.
At this moment, Yun Fenghuang noticed that there was a palace man at the door looking around, as if he had something important to report.