In the emperor's palace, several palace ladies were chatting and laughing while placing chrysanthemums.
"Your Majesty, would you like to see this place?" Concubine An turned around and asked.
The queen was sitting in front of the emperor's bed, taking the towel from the maid's hand and wiping the emperor's face.
"Okay." she said.
"Your Majesty, you didn't even look." Concubine An scolded, thinking of something, "I sent it to the Queen Mother, but she actually smashed all of my chrysanthemums."
"Didn't I tell you not to disturb the Queen Mother's rest?" the Queen said with a frown.
"Empress, you asked me to manage the harem. How could I neglect the Queen Mother?" Concubine An said with a smile.
How could Jinyi Yexing endure it? She was the eldest in the harem now, so she naturally had to enjoy it.
There were footsteps outside the door.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is here," the chamberlain said.
Concubine An hurriedly bowed and left and left the side hall.
Fang Bocong walked into the palace and saluted the queen and emperor respectfully.
The queen looked at Fang Bocong who was giving the salute with a smile.
"The imperial meeting is over?" she asked, "Do you still want to come here to discuss politics?"
Fang Bocong nodded.
"Just wait a moment until I give His Majesty the medicine," the Queen said, sitting down.
"Come on, kid." Fang Bocong said.
"You go to eat first. This is not the only time you show your filial piety." The queen said, smiling again, "What's more, if you want to show your son's filial piety, I have to fulfill my duties as a wife."
Fang Bocong responded with a smile, bowed and went to the other side, while letting the waiters pass the food around.
"The courtiers sent some soup over there. It's getting cold, so they all stood there early in the morning to keep them warm," he said.
The waiters responded and went to work.
"They say the prince has a bad temper." The queen smiled and said to the chamberlain beside her, "but the prince is obviously very kind-hearted."
The waiters laughed and responded.
"When there are old ministers in the court, the prince will give him a seat." They said, "This is a portrait of His Majesty's kindness and kindness."
The emperors and queens of Taizong's lineage were naturally unwilling to listen to those who said that the prince had the legacy of Taizu.
The queen turned to look at the emperor.
"Your Majesty has liked him since he was a child, and even personally took him to handle court affairs. Although the prince is not your Majesty's biological child, he grew up next to your Majesty. He has been influenced by your eyes and ears, so he naturally looks like your Majesty." She said with a smile.
The chamberlains responded and watched the queen take the decoction handed by the palace maid, then stepped forward to help the emperor up and fetch the crane-mouthed pot.
"Your Majesty, Princess Xiu hasn't left yet," the chamberlain said in a low voice.
The funeral of Prince Xuanwen has ended, and the royal family members have left the capital. Only Princess Xiu said she was ill and stayed in the capital to recuperate.
"I've been raising this for almost a month," the waiter said.
The queen slowly stirred the soup.
"She will be fine even if she is raised for a year." She said, "Prince Xuanwen is no longer here."
What does the presence of Prince Xuanwen have to do with His Highness the Prince and Princess Xiu? The chamberlain was puzzled.
"When something happened to Prince Xuanwen, Prince Wei smashed a whole room of gifts. Have you forgotten?" the queen said.
The waiters thought for a while before they remembered that they really didn't pay attention to such small things.
"Prince Wei doesn't want to remember the past, and naturally he doesn't want to see those people from the past." The queen said, blowing on the potion gently, "If anyone forces the prince to think about it, then he can't blame the prince for his bad temper."
His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't care much whether others are happy or not. Anyway, he will never let himself be unhappy.
The waiters laughed when they understood.
"Actually, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince attaches great importance to friendship," said a chamberlain.
The queen nodded and looked at the emperor. The servants were busy supporting the emperor and watching the queen feed the medicine.
Although the emperor could swallow, he was unable to take care of himself due to coma, so it was very laborious to feed him the medicine. It took him as long as a cup of tea to finish a small bowl of soup.
"Your Majesty, thank you for your hard work. Just leave these things to me," the chamberlain said, looking at the queen who was wiping her sweat with a towel.
The queen smiled and wiped the corners of the emperor's mouth.
"It doesn't matter who does the work, but the intention is different," she said.
"Now I am the only one who has this intention." The chamberlain sighed.
"That's not the case," the queen said. "Your Majesty received too many favors in the past."
She said and stood up.
"Okay, don't delay the court affairs."
The queen walked out of the emperor's palace and looked back to see the courtiers filing in.
Concubine An was waiting to welcome her and personally helped the queen move forward.
"Empress, do you think your Majesty can hear me?" she said suddenly.
Except for the great court meetings where the emperor was unable to go, the prince insisted on staying in the emperor's palace during other court affairs. Even the memorials were reviewed here, and every memorial was read to the emperor.
The outside world praises the prince for his pure filial piety, but at the same time there is a lot of ridicule in private.
There are such things as being pretentious, seeking fame and reputation, and being a cunning person.
"Sometimes people don't do things just to be heard or seen," the queen said.
"What's that for?" Concubine An asked.
It's normal for a woman to tolerate others just to please herself.
"Nothing." said the Queen.
How is that possible!
Concubine An said in her heart, of course she didn't dare to say it out loud, she was not a fool.
When I think of a fool, one thing comes to mind.
"Empress, have you visited the Crown Princess?" she asked in a low voice.
The queen's steps paused slightly.
Since the palace incident, Cheng Jiaoniang has not appeared again. She has been hiding in the inner house from Jin'an County Prince's Palace to the Prince's Palace. News that the Crown Princess is ill gradually spread.
It was said that the Crown Princess was ill, but no imperial doctor had ever been there to diagnose and treat her. Because of the identity of the miraculous doctor, the rumors became more and more outrageous.
The queen was even more certain that it was because Sun Gongbian was injured that day. She didn't expect the injury to be so serious.
She proposed to visit the Crown Princess, but the Crown Prince politely refused.
Don't know what happened.
In the afternoon, the quiet East Palace became lively. Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, the maids in the courtyard bowed their heads and saluted.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Fang Bocong walked quickly past with his hands behind his back. The maid in front of the door opened the door. The maids in the room followed him into the clean room. They washed and changed clothes. They took off the prince's robe and put on a moon-white household robe without any belt.
Holding a wooden hairpin on her crown, she walked out loosely.
"What did you eat today?" he asked.
In the inner room, two maids were busy giving gifts.
"Back to Your Highness, Your Highness the Crown Princess had a bowl of ginseng porridge." One said.
"After dinner, I waited on the princess and walked in the garden for a quarter of an hour," another said.
"After I came back, I drank the tea soup prepared by Dr. Li." The first one continued, "I rested for a while."
"I just read a section to the Crown Princess." Another one continued.
A maid came in from outside holding a covered cup.
"Your Highness, the pear juice used by the Crown Princess is ready," she said.
Fang Bocong nodded and stretched out his hand.
The maid hurriedly bent over and handed it over.
The two maids helped Cheng Jiaoniang sit up on the couch, cushioned the backrest, then bowed their heads and left.
Fang Bocong sat cross-legged on the couch and carefully and slowly fed the pear juice in the soup cup to Cheng Jiaoniang.
"Does it taste better when it's cold? Or does it taste better when it's hot?" He said, holding her chin with one hand and helping her to close her mouth, but even so, juice still flowed out, and he picked up the handkerchief to wipe it.
Feeding soup, assisting in swallowing, and wiping all happen at the same time almost instantly, but the movements are smooth and there is no panic at all.
"I've tasted them all and found them delicious cold." He continued, "But who knows about you?"
He said and looked at Cheng Jiaoniang.
"You are such a weird person."
He raised his hand and slowly fed me another mouthful, repeating the stroking motion.
"Mr. Li has arrived in southern Hunan, but I don't know if he can find what he is looking for." He sighed again, "If I don't ask you, you won't tell me these things. Look, how troublesome it is now."
, I can’t find it anywhere, and I don’t know where to ask.”
As he spoke, he reached out and poked Cheng Jiaoniang's forehead.
"You really do what you say. When you close your eyes and throw away these things and don't care about anything else, aren't you just bullying me, an honest person?"
There was a lot of chattering in the room, but there was only one voice speaking all the time, and the maids outside the door couldn't help but look at each other.
"His Royal Highness and Prince Xuanwen were together like this before." A maid whispered.
It was like this with Prince Xuanwen in the past. He said his own words, but the other party couldn't hear, understand or respond at all.
Prince Xuanwen is no longer here, and the princess has become like this again.
"Your Highness is so pitiful." A maid murmured in a low voice.
I didn't think much of it at first, but after hearing the maid's pitiful words, all the maids present were stunned for a moment, and then they felt stuffy in their hearts when they heard the voices in the room.
It is quite pitiful for a person to entertain himself and talk to himself.
The voices inside gradually became quieter, and the maid outside looked through the bead curtain and saw Bo Cong lying on his side above the couch, sleeping with one hand on Cheng Jiaoniang's body.
The maids hurriedly bowed their heads and retreated quietly, closing the door, and the courtyard became quiet again.
…………………………………………………….
The lamps were lit one after another, making the pavilions and pavilions shine brightly, and a chrysanthemum among them was dazzling.
"Look over there." Fang Bocong said, pointing in the distance, "That's the tribute. There are only three pots. Your Majesty left one pot with you, and the remaining queens sent it."
As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Cheng Jiaoniang, who was on a soft sedan being carried by four chamberlains.
"The queen said she wanted you to see the painting and write it down."
As he walked up the steps, he walked along the path filled with chrysanthemums. The servants followed him in a soft sedan chair.
"It turns out that your calligraphy is good and your painting is even better. That bastard Zhou Feng didn't want anything, so he just took a scroll from home."
He said and turned around with a smile.
"Gu, I won't give it to him. I'll make him mad."
The woman wrapped in a bright red cloak on the soft sedan looked quiet, and the late autumn night wind blew, and the hood fluttered to cover her face.
Fang Bocong stretched out his hand to open his hood and put it in order.
"I've been busy these days, and I didn't have time to hang out with you until today. I know you don't care, but who makes me care."
Standing by the roadside, Eunuch Jing frowned slightly while looking at him, and a chamberlain beside him sighed.
"Sir," he whispered, "it won't be good if this continues."
Obviously the Crown Princess is not a normal person, but His Highness treats her like a normal person, sleeping together at night, eating together, and even takes the Crown Princess with her for morning exercises. He shoots bows and arrows in the school grounds, and the Crown Princess's soft sedan is beside him.
Not to mention talking anytime and anywhere.
The people around them sometimes looked at him with horror.
"At least it's time for some new people to enter the Prince's Palace." The chamberlain continued, "There has been no one around His Highness. His Highness is not young..."
Eunuch Jing turned to look at him.
"Who told you this?" he asked.
The waiter was stunned for a moment.
"There is no one." He said, "I thought about it myself, sir. I have followed His Highness the Crown Prince for so many years and I have no other thoughts."
Eunuch Jing nodded.
"That's good, if you want to die, die on your own and don't drag others down," he said.
The waiter was stunned, suddenly panicked, and raised his hand to hit himself hard in the face.
Eunuch Jing stopped looking at him and saw that the sedan chairs of Fang Bocong and Cheng Jiaoniang were turning back, and he hurried to greet them.
The chamberlain lowered his head and stepped aside. He waited until the group of people left for the palace before raising his head again.
"But, this is a matter of time." He murmured, "Your Majesty adopted the heir because of the difficulties. Don't His Highness the Crown Prince consider the heir? If you don't think about it now, what will happen when he ascends the throne and becomes emperor in the future?"
………………………………………………………………..
The night at the end of September is already chilly, the north wind is blowing, and the lights in the emperor's palace are flickering.
The queen in the side hall had already put on her obscene clothes and was reading under the lamp with her hair loose. When she heard the sound of the wind, she raised her head.
"Has your majesty added bedding?" she asked. "The imperial doctor said that your majesty, who has been ill for a long time, cannot bear the cold."
The waiter outside the door responded.
"Already added," he said.
The queen lowered her head and continued reading.
"Mother." A somewhat urgent voice came from outside the door.
The queen raised her head.
Seeing that it was His Majesty's chamberlain serving over there, the chamberlain looked panicked under the lamp.
The queen's heart skipped a beat and she stood up suddenly.
"What's wrong, Your Majesty?" she asked.
……………………………………………………….
The gentle knocking on the door was particularly harsh in the night, and Fang Bocong stood up suddenly on the couch.
The night lights inside were dim, and there were two more sounds outside the door.
"Your Highness, Your Highness." He called in a low voice.
"What's the matter?" Fang Bocong asked, stretching out his hand to tuck in the quilt that he had picked up due to the sudden movement.
Under the dim night light inside, Cheng Jiaoniang was still sleeping peacefully.
The door was opened, and Eunuch Jing walked in quickly.
"Your Highness, the Queen asked, can you enter the palace conveniently?" he said in a low voice.
Fang Bocong's complexion changed slightly.
It is not a matter of passing the news to the palace, but entering the palace upon asking.
Naturally, the palace is not accessible to anyone casually, but if you are asked to enter the palace, you will not be asked if it is convenient for you.
Something inconvenient must have happened in the palace.
His Majesty the Emperor.
Fang Bocong thought of it immediately and got up and got out of bed.
"Your Highness." Jinggong called out, with a hint of reminder.
Although according to common sense, the emperor should go immediately when something happens, but as an adopted prince, it is still a little different. What's more, because Fang Bocong led troops into the city and bombed the palaces during the Prince Xuanwen incident, there are many private rumors now.
If something happens to the emperor and he is around, I'm afraid there will be even more unbearable rumors.
This is probably the reason why the queen came to ask quietly.
If the prince is not around and something happens to the emperor, although there may still be rumors, they will ultimately be more groundless and insubstantial.
Fang Bocong's steps did not stop.
"Change clothes and prepare the car," he said.
Why should I, Fang Bocong, be afraid of what others will say?
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I originally wanted to finish the big chapter in one go, but I don’t want to keep everyone waiting, and I still can’t finish it after writing and writing, so I will write and update it separately. There will be another update in the evening. (To be continued)
