Back in the imperial city, it was already early September. The weather was getting cooler, and the cicadas were chirping a lot less. Yun Shang started sketching on the paper carefully. After a while, he stopped writing. What suddenly appeared on the paper was clearly from the Xia Kingdom.
map.
When Qian Yin came in with tea, she saw the map drawn by Yun Shang. She frowned and asked softly, "Princess, why do you always draw this map of Xia Kingdom?"
Yun Shang was silent, put down the picture in his hand, picked up the teacup, walked to the soft couch aside and sat down, with a bit of melancholy in his eyebrows, "Counting the days, Ning Qian should be in Ningguo, right?"
Qianyin tilted her head and thought for a while, "If it were normal, the time should have arrived, but now the border is not peaceful, I'm afraid it will have to be delayed for some time, maybe a few more days."
Yun Shang nodded.
It has been a few days since I returned to the Imperial City. The tense atmosphere in the Imperial City a few months ago seems to have disappeared. It seems that everyone has forgotten what happened during that time, except for a few families who disappeared inexplicably. Yun
Shang curled his lips. In fact, many times, the most ruthless people are these common people. Even if a different person becomes the emperor, they will only be able to say a few words of surprise and how they can live their lives in the blink of an eye.
After sighing faintly, Yun Shang raised her eyes and looked at Qianyin, "These days, let the people below buy more food and grass to prepare for emergencies."
Qianyin nodded, and then heard the butler's voice coming from outside, "Princess, Princess Shunqing is here to visit."
Princess Shunqing. Yun Shang paused. What was she doing here? She remembered that Ning Ye had been dormant in her house for so many years. I wonder if Prince Shunqing and Princess Shunqing knew about it.
Yun Shang put the tea cup in her hand on the table and stood up, "Let's go, I'll go to the front hall to have a look."
Compared with the last time they met, Princess Shunqing seemed much older, and there were a lot more gray hairs in her hair. Yun Shang sighed. During this period, a lot of things did happen in Prince Shunqing's palace. A daughter-in-law and the queen
Collusion almost killed her. One daughter-in-law disappeared and has not been found yet. Another son inexplicably turned into another person and colluded with Xia Guo. Everything was like a heavy blow.
Punch to her heart.
Yun Chang raised his steps hesitantly and walked into the front hall, "Shang'er has met Princess Shunqing..." After bowing, he walked to the main seat and sat down, and ordered the maid to bring tea and snacks.
He smiled and said, "Princess Shunqing is coming over today, but what orders do you have?"
Princess Shunqing's eyes fell on Yun Shang. After a long while, she opened her mouth and said, "I didn't want to trouble Princess Jing at first, but now that Prince Jing is not in the imperial city, I have no other choice. You came here today because of me."
As for my son..." After a pause, he sighed, "After all, he shouldn't be my son."
When Yun Shang heard this, she knew that she was talking about Ning Ye.
Princess Shunqing smiled bitterly, "In total, I have given birth to four sons in my life. Ning Ye, the youngest, has a naughty nature, which has caused the prince and me to worry the most. Although he is still a naughty boy in the past few years, he has become more sensible.
Many, before the prince and I could get some comfort, we knew that it turned out that he was not our son..." Princess Shunqing's lips trembled slightly, "My Ning Ye, I even lost him.
have no idea."
Yun Shang listened silently, and couldn't help but sigh deeply in her heart, pitying the hearts of parents all over the world.
As Princess Shunqing spoke, she paused again, and after a long while, she spoke tremblingly again, with red eyes and a trembling voice, "I have always asked Princess Jing to send a message to Prince Jing.
, if you meet Ning on the battlefield...if you meet that person...if you can capture him alive, then try to capture him alive. The prince and I just want to ask him, where are the bones of my Ning Ye..."
Yun Shang's hands shook slightly, and she answered after a while, "Okay."
After Princess Shunqing left, another palace attendant came to deliver the message, saying that Princess Jin had summoned her to the palace to meet her.
Yun Shang tidied up and changed into a water-pink palace dress before entering the palace. Concubine Jin was watching the nanny feeding Chen Xi, with a bit of a smile on her face.
"Mother Concubine." Yun Shang bowed, and Concubine Jin pulled her to her side and sat down.
"I haven't seen you come into the palace for so many days. What are you doing in the palace?" The nanny had finished feeding her milk, so Jin Fei took Chen Xi over, held her in her arms, and asked with a smile.
Yun Shang shook his head, "Nothing, just reading a book."
Concubine Jin glanced at her and then said, "Today, Prince Jing received news. He said that he was almost at the house and was ambushed not far from the house. However, Prince Jing had already prepared for it, so there was no major threat.
of damage.”
There was someone from Yun Shang beside Prince Jing, and Yun Shang had already known the news, so he didn't have much reaction and only nodded slightly.
Seeing Yun Shang's appearance, Concubine Jin handed Chenxi to Nanny and let her carry her out. Then she took Yun Shang's hand and said, "I asked my father privately, and he said, you have learned from him all these years."
You have learned a lot. My father is very sure of your talent. He said frankly that even if you have three people, I'm afraid I won't be able to match it."
Yun Shang smiled slightly and said, "Concubine Mother praises me like this, which makes Chang'er feel flattered."
Concubine Jin couldn't help laughing, and after a while she said, "I heard from your father that you intend to go to Kangyang."
Yun Shang's expression paused slightly, and she was silent for a moment before nodding her head. She tapped her fingers on the table three times and heard a sound like a bird chirping from outside. Then Yun Shang said, "Concubine, Prince Jing...
…He is from the Xia Kingdom.”
Concubine Jin was startled, and she retracted her hand suddenly, accidentally touching the teacup on the table. The teacup fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and the tea spilled all over the floor.
"Your Majesty?" came the somewhat confused voice of the palace maid from outside.
"It's okay. I accidentally knocked over the tea cup. Come in and clean it up." Concubine Jin calmed down before raising her voice.
A palace maid quickly opened the bead curtain and walked in. She collected the broken tea cups on the ground and hurriedly stepped back. The sound of the bead curtain colliding with each other made a tinkling sound. Jin Fei's expression changed several times before she sighed.
"You already knew this?"
Yun Shang shook his head, "It's not early, it was just a few days ago. He... is not only a member of the Xia Kingdom, but also the eldest son of the Emperor of the Xia Kingdom..."
There was a bit of surprise in Concubine Jin's eyes. It took her a while to recover, and she murmured to herself, "It's so..." After a pause, she seemed to think of something again, with some surprise in her eyes, "Then now Jing
The king and the Xia Kingdom..."
Yun Shang sighed, "The prince has always been grateful to the late emperor for his life-saving and nurturing grace. At this time, he should not betray his father. However, the Xia Kingdom is his after all..."
But after all, he couldn't say anything anymore. After a while, he said, "I don't want to see him in trouble, but I also don't want to see Xia Guo unscrupulously pursuing our Ning Guo's ideas. These days, I have read a lot of information, and now even if it is closed
By looking at it, I can accurately draw the maps of Xia, Yelang and Ning, and I can also know the information about the border guards, including their families, their personalities, and their preferences. Although I have no real command
There was a battle, but I think it shouldn’t be much different. I wonder if my grandfather told my mother and concubine that I had placed hidden stakes in every town in various countries a few years ago..."
Concubine Jin was silent for a moment, and finally nodded, but she was a little worried, "But, you are a woman after all..." The last words sounded like a sigh.
Yun Shang smiled and said, "Father is also sighing, but it's a pity that I am not a man. Nowadays, the power in the court is turbulent, and Prime Minister Li is doing the opposite. In the early days of the court, most of the seats in the entire Jinluan Palace were empty. It will take a long time to recover.
Some days. Now is the critical moment. It is still unknown who the soldiers at the border are heading towards, so I want to take a look."
"Shang'er..."
Yun Chang interrupted Concubine Jin's words and said, "Now in this palace, there are almost no people who threaten the mother and concubine. Chang'er is very relieved now that she is gone. I think, sooner or later, there will be someone in this country."
The day must be handed over to Chen Xi, and I don’t want Chen Xi to receive a turbulent country when the time comes."
Yun Shang sighed in her heart. She made this decision partly for Prince Jing, and the other half for Chen Xi. In her previous life, she owed a lot to Concubine Jin. In this life, she wants to give the best in this world to her.
Everything should be compensated to her.
As he was talking, a whirring sound suddenly came from outside, "It's not good, it's not good."
Yun Shang couldn't help but frown and turned to look at the palace maid who hurried in. She knew this palace maid. She was the one who had been with her mother since she came out of the cold palace. Her name was Yingyu. She must be the mother's concubine.
Trustworthy.
"Is there a wolf chasing you behind?" Concubine Jin looked at Yingyu with a smile, "What's wrong?"
Na Yingyu stamped her feet and said angrily, "I just heard from the attendants waiting outside the Jinluan Palace that during this morning's court, many ministers proposed a draft, saying that the emperor had few heirs and needed to replenish the harem to support the royal family.
Sanye. Your Majesty... Your Majesty actually agreed..."
Yun Shang was slightly stunned when she saw Concubine Jin's expression, but it only lasted for a moment. In the blink of an eye, she returned to her usual calm look, "Well, I understand."
Seeing that Concubine Jin didn't seem to care, Na Yingyu became even more anxious. Just as she was about to speak, Concubine Jin waved her hand to stop her, "Go down."
Yingyu stamped her feet, but also retreated obediently.
The palace fell silent for a while, and it took a while before Concubine Jin's soft and inaudible voice was heard, "Now that the government is in turmoil, it is normal for him to want to use the concubine to stabilize people's hearts."
Yun Shang felt a dull pain in her heart, "Mother Concubine..."
Concubine Jin suddenly turned her eyes and looked at Yun Shang, "If you want to go to Kangyang, I will mention it to the emperor later."
Yun Shang was stunned for a moment, but she saw a certain determination in Concubine Jin's eyes, "When I was in the cold palace before, my father resigned and returned to his fields, so I had no one to rely on in the court. In this case, there are some things that should be done.
Do it to avoid Chen Xi suffering a loss in the future."
Yun Chang paused for a moment, then heard the hidden meaning of Jin Fei's words, nodded and said, "Shang'er understands." (To be continued)
