Chapter 152: Shengshou Festival

In a blink of an eye, it was the birthday of the loving mother, the Empress Dowager.

Ever since she became the empress dowager, the empress dowager yuan has never passed this birthday.

In the early days, it was Ji's deliberate repression, and he didn't allow it; later, when Chunjia came to power, Empress Dowager Yuan felt that her relationship with the emperor didn't need to be demonstrated through a big birthday banquet, so she declined.

But this year, perhaps because of the estrangement between mother and child and Yuan Zhiniang's death, the Empress Dowager Yuan and the Yuan family felt a crisis. When Chunjia said that she would celebrate her good life, she agreed.

... So Chunjia did not go hunting.

After all, he first picked this time to hunt, just to use this method to express his concern for Queen Mother Yuan and to express his apology for not being able to celebrate Queen Mother Yuan's birthday.

Now that they can hold a banquet in an upright manner, naturally there is no need to toss about.

The main thing is that Chunjia is very busy at the moment, she really has no energy and is hunting and setting up banquets.

King Qin and Zhaoqing were very sad.

When Chunjia went hunting last year, they clamored to follow them, but Chunjia felt that they were too young to refuse. At that time, the two children couldn't help being entangled, and promised that they could go out for a ride together on a pony this year.

For this reason, Yun Fenghuang specially asked the Royal Beast Garden to temporarily train two spring outing ponies for them to accompany them this year.

As a result, the hunting was canceled because the Empress Dowager Yuan promised to hold a birthday banquet. After hearing the news, the brother and sister cried on the spot. Let's go, the ministers can hunt and offer their birthdays on their behalf, I beg the concubine mother to help the ministers talk about it, let the emperor 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 they were the grandsons 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 heirs of Xuanqing Palace was relatively flat.

The two children have never been with this grandmother at all, so what kind of relationship can they have?

"Mother and concubine can't guarantee this." Of course Yun Fenghuang would not agree to them. When he was last year, he didn't expect too much. He only thought that it would be fine for Chunjia to take the children to go out for a walk with many waiters. Son.

But now Zhaoqing's leg injury can be regarded as giving the imperial concubine a long memory, how could they let them mess around again?

At this moment, they pushed two six five, saying that Chunjia was in charge, and he might not be able to plead for mercy. Finally, seeing that they wanted to go to Xingxintang to pester the emperor, they quickly sent someone to take a small route to inform Chunjia, and asked Chunjia to give them to him. blocked.

Sure enough, Chunjia scolded them with a straight face, but he complained to Yun Fenghuang, saying that the imperial concubine is becoming more and more inconsiderate now, why does he let him come forward every time he wants to reject the children?

If things go on like this, he can't bear it.

Especially this time Zhaoqing was crying, she was the most beloved child, and she felt guilty about her leg injury, seeing her standing there wiping her tears, Chunjia almost lost her grip.

"Can this be my concubine's fault?" Yun Fenghuang said displeased, "If His Majesty hadn't doted on them, I would have been strict with them, how dare they make such excessive demands? The child that His Majesty pampered himself, If the concubine does not let His Majesty take care of me, how can I take care of myself? Can I take care of myself?"

Chunjia couldn't help but laugh, and said, "Have you ever been strict with them?"

"Isn't that your Majesty's fault?" Yun Fenghuang asked back, "The concubine said that he wanted to take care of them, and His Majesty felt distressed, and he acted as if he was afraid that the concubine would treat the emperor's heir badly, what else could the concubine do? "

"I just said it casually, but you still take it to your heart?" The emperor couldn't help but said to her, "Then why didn't you listen to other things I said?"

The two flirted with each other for a while, and Chunjia felt sorry for Zhaoqing, so she decided to let the guards go out to catch some prey to be used as targets in the palace, and teach her daughter how to shoot arrows herself.

"Your Majesty, don't indulge her!" If he was willing to spend time with his daughter before, Yun Fenghuang would not object, but now, she frowned and reminded, "Zhaoqing's leg injury before, Although she was harmed by others, after all she was too jumpy, first she fell over the window, and then she ignored it and continued to wander around, so she gave that bitch a chance! Now you have to teach her Riding and shooting, when she learns it, can she still sit still?"

Chunjia sighed: "Why didn't I think about it? But think about it, children grow up very quickly. We don't know how long our lies can deceive Zhaoqing, and she will definitely be very sad when the time comes... Now, taking advantage of When she is still ignorant, how happy can be."

After a pause, he continued, "Actually, it's not necessarily impossible to ride and shoot if you're lame. Look at the old soldiers in the army, and they're not without disabilities. How many people lack arms and legs and still go to battle to kill the enemy? Zhao Qing He is our child, so he should have such a heart."

Yun Fenghuang was startled, and sighed: "Your Majesty has been bothering Zhaoqing."

This is to prevent Zhaoqing from feeling inferior when she grows up knowing that her legs are not going to heal.

Maybe in a few days, Chunjia will try to bring some disabled but capable old soldiers to the front, so that Zhaoqing can be influenced by what he sees and hears, so that he won't be wallowing in his broken legs and unable to extricate himself.

Naturally, Yun Fenghuang would not stop the emperor from feeling sorry for his daughter, and said that he would go and see it when the time came: "I was among my sisters when I was young, and riding and shooting is also acceptable. I don't know if Zhaoqing can catch up with my daughter? "

Chunjia immediately said it was certain: "How can Zhaoqing be inferior to Ah Huang?"

"..." Yun Fenghuang didn't speak, but his eyes became very dangerous.

The emperor reacted later, and made up without changing his face: "After all, although Ah Huang is very smart, the person who teaches Ah Huang 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, Fang sneered and said: "The concubine will not show her shame, anyway, your majesty has Zhaoqing in front of you, concubine This imperial concubine is also an eyesore!"

Saying that he shook his hand and was about to leave.

Chunjia couldn't help but hold her back: "Why do you even want to drink your own daughter's vinegar now?"

"How dare this concubine?" Yun Fenghuang snorted and pushed him away, "I just feel that I am so stupid, and I am afraid that staying in front of His Majesty will spoil His Majesty's eyes!"

Chunjia had no choice but to hug him and coax him softly.

Yun Fenghuang took the airs for a long time before humming softly, and slowly talking about the business: "Since Your Majesty wants to teach Zhaoqing, then the King of Qin, the Second Prince, the Third Prince, the Second Princess and the Third Princess should be together. After all, they are all His Majesty's flesh and blood." , You can’t treat one more favorably than another, so the children feel uncomfortable, and it’s not conducive to the harmony between their brothers and sisters.”

This Zhaoqing's emperor's favor almost surpassed her, if she was allowed to enjoy the independence of being guided by the emperor's arrow skills again, it would be fine to be filial in the future, if she was not filial, how could she handle it?

It's better to let the other children go together, so as to divide the emperor's attention and favor.

The emperor was completely unaware of the real intentions of the imperial concubine, and sighed softly after hearing the words: "You are really kind to the children."

His eyes subconsciously passed across Yunfenghuang's lower abdomen, quite regrettable: Why is there no news about the imperial concubine who loves children so much?

He thought so, but the news was spread out, letting the concubines know Yun Fenghuang's generosity, but it was another way of thinking.

Gu Zhen was very anxious: "Since the imperial concubine entered the palace, she has always paid more than a penny, and if anyone doesn't provoke her, she may be tricked by her. Count the people in the palace, and anyone who has a problem with her will have no good end. After all these years, no one in the previous court and harem knows her temperament? Right now, His Majesty only wants to teach Princess Zhaoqing, so it’s fine for her to bring King Qin along with her. After all, King Qin was raised by her. But even the second prince and three The prince, the second emperor and the third emperor have all been told. What does this mean? Bengong is not dead yet, she is just a noble concubine, so she is so sure that she will be able to sit on Bengong's seat in the future, so she started to carry the queen mother's fan ahead of time. Are you sympathetic to the heirs of the emperor???"

I can't blame the Queen for thinking this way.

After all, according to the tacit agreement, the emperor's heirs are responsible for their respective mothers and concubines, and only the queen can legitimately ask about their situation and give them care.

As the father of all the emperor's heirs, Chunjia also prefers Yun Fenghuang, facing the imperial concubine's repeated proposals to let other emperor's heirs have the opportunity to get close to him and be taught by him, he only thinks that the imperial concubine is really kind-hearted and kind-hearted. To do is not to go beyond.

But the queen, as the lord of the harem, the aunt of all the emperor's heirs, is the person 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 servants of the central palace could not think of a 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?"

"Your Majesty, Uncle Left and Right have stabilized the situation for the time being." Seeing this, Left and Right persuaded in a low voice, "Your Majesty is not an impulsive person. Even if you are confused by the concubine, you will definitely not do anything in a short time. Get through this In a few years, when the ten and twelve princes grow up, the courtiers should also propose a heir. At that time, the sons under your name will be better than those concubines in front of the imperial concubine. Even if your majesty is partial, how can the ministers condone it? General trend After all, it's still on our side. Don't bother with the noble concubine, we'll just live in the middle palace in a decent manner, so that your majesty and the noble concubine can't be picky, and when the east palace is settled, we can feel at ease."

This is of course impossible, and it is only the first step for the son-in-law to become the East Palace.

If it's wrong to live in Qingci Palace, how could he feel at ease?

But Gu Zhen has endured enough humiliation over the years, it would be hopeless to say that it is so far away.

The waiters all advised her to set a small goal first, such as making her son-in-law the crown prince.

In this way, Gu Zhen finally calmed down a bit, and thought: "Call the third prince over later, but in the future, he can't let King Qin and the others continue."

Before that, the empress had been telling the third prince not to compete with Qin Wang Zhaoqing, or even any of the emperor's heirs.

Because of his biological mother, he and the second prince were not welcomed by Chunjia. In this regard, those heirs whose biological mothers were humble and their adoptive mothers were not favored were better than them.

If there are too many conflicts, nothing will make Chunjia unhappy, then just find a corner and send people far away, so that the descendants and grandchildren can only spend their days chatting in a remote place.

But it's different now.

Now Gu Zhen's trust in Chunjia has been further shaken. Considering that the tenth prince or the twelve princes are several years younger than the King of Qin and the others, the queen thinks that it is necessary to plan ahead now and build her reputation.

Well, it is the queen's reputation of being dignified, virtuous and well-educated.

Think about it, when the two healthy sons-in-law were young and didn't know the virtues and ignorance, King Qin and Zhao Qing already had enough deeds of wisdom and filial piety to spread inside and outside.

At this time, if the queen can't stand up, she will be able to teach the children, and the queen's heirs will definitely be able to become talents. The courtiers are full of expectations and trust in the sons. Maybe when the ten princes and twelve princes grow up, the king of Qin will have already grown up. The wings are full!

And the queen will have to teach the child how to build up his reputation?

We can only let the third prince stand up and make this signboard.

Doing so would even put him in a dangerous situation if he sacrificed the future of the Third Prince.

After all, Yun Fenghuang is not someone who will tolerate other heirs stealing the limelight from her children before her. She is so favored that the empress has nothing to do. The second and third princes are still Chunjia's heirs whom Chunjia despises... To put it mildly, Yunfeng If Huang murdered the third prince in a fit of rage, there is a high probability that Chunjia will pretend to be confused when she finds out, and help Concubine Ai to cover up the matter.

If it's all right, the queen will definitely be reluctant.

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 have many heirs under her knees.

In those days, she really wanted to guard the third prince well, and spend the rest of her life chatting with this child.

And the third prince has always been very obedient and obedient, especially when there is King Chu as a comparison, the queen can't help but love him from the bottom of her heart.

But now...

For the sake of the two strong sons-in-law, 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 who obediently responded and would try his best to compete with King Qin, Gu Zhen asked in a complicated mood, "Don't you ask why?"

"??" The third prince looked at her suspiciously, thought for a while, and said in a low voice, "The queen mother's orders, the servants must follow."

So why?

Gu Zhen almost burst into tears when he heard that, quickly looked away and endured it, held his hand, took a deep breath, and said: "Don't always bring the King of Chu with you in the future, he is a young man My child, I'm not very sensible, so I don't have to delay your homework. From now on..."

She hesitated for a moment, then became firm, and said in a low voice, "I will visit your eighth brother more in the future. Remember, you think 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 thinking about it, in the huge palace, the only one who could give the third prince a little 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 towards the third prince, in order to let the eighth prince have more helpers in the future, she would be willing to take care of this grandson, right?

Gu Zhen smiled bitterly, she can only look forward to this now.

As for whether the third prince will really be drawn over by the eighth prince in the future, the queen is not very worried.

The Eighth Prince is about the same age as the Tenth and Twelfth Princes, and when he grows up, the Tenth and Twelfth Princes will almost be able to come in handy. At that time, the Central Palace will not need the Third Prince to charge forward.

This year's Shengshou Festival is coming amidst this turbulent undercurrent.

During the banquet, the empress specially arranged for the third prince to guard the eighth prince at every step.

The Empress Dowager Yuan noticed it, and asked the queen in private: "Didn't the third child stick to the king of Chu all the time, why did he follow the eighth child again?"

"Mother, you don't know, Bing'er has always been like this." The queen revealed a helpless look, and said in a low voice, "I take good care of my younger brothers and sisters. It's not... The queen mother is also aware of King Chu's illness. Earlier I have disturbed the tenth prince, not long ago perhaps because my daughter-in-law asked a few more questions about the eighth prince, so..."

Empress Dowager Yuan's complexion suddenly changed, and she said in a low voice, "What did he do to Lao Ba?!"

"...Queen Mother calm down, it's okay, because Bing'er arrived in time and stopped him." The queen felt a pain in her heart, and the third prince's obedience won her heart. Could it be that she spent a lot of effort to raise the king of Chu?

But now, the third prince is destined to sacrifice, and the king of Chu... must come in handy!

She was ruthless, and sighed as if nothing had happened, "No, now he also knows that it is impossible to reason with the King of Chu, and he is afraid that he will repeat his old tricks, so he has been following the eighth prince for the past two days, so as not to cause the eighth prince to suffer."

"He's a good boy." Sure enough, Empress Dowager Yuan glanced at the third prince a few more times, and sighed softly, "It's really rare... It's just that I was troubled by my mother's family."

The queen knew that there was no need to rush things, 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 extra support to the third prince during the birthday greetings and asked him: "Listen to your mother's words carefully."

Under the circumstances that King Qin, Zhao Qing, the second prince and other heirs who ranked ahead of the third prince did not receive support or advice, this move showed that the Queen Mother Yuan was satisfied with the third prince.

So much so that Chunjia asked with a smile on the side: "The queen mother seems to hit it off with the third child?"

"It's just that he knows how to protect his younger brothers at such a young age. I feel a little emotional." The Queen Mother Yuan said lightly, "I remember that Niangniang made a mistake at that time, and you protected her like this. At that time you Both of them are a little bit small, and the Ai family's birthday is not so big, it's just for you to accompany Ai's family to have a casual dinner... In a blink of an eye, many years have passed."

The past incident she mentioned made Chunjia feel a little sad.

At that time, he felt depressed, 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 in his life.

After all, the biggest pressure is nothing more than not being able to inherit the prince.

At least life is safe.

And ever since he stepped into the imperial capital, not to mention when the Ji family was there, even now, he is still in a situation where he will lose everything if he is careless.

The emperor's eyes were in a daze, and he smiled and said, "It's been a few years, but the queen mother still looks as young as before."

"Come to coax the Ai family again." The Queen Mother Yuan said angrily, "The king of Qin is about to go to school, how can the Ai family still be young?"

Although the intimacy between her and the emperor is no longer the same as when Yun Fenghuang first entered the palace, after all, there is an accumulation of years of mutual dependence.

As long as the Empress Dowager Yuan doesn't make demands that make Chunjia very contradictory, or make things difficult for Chunjia by tearing up with Yun Fenghuang... Chunjia is still very willing to follow her.

In particular, the Empress Dowager recalled the long-lost and warm things for the emperor.

For a while, the mother and son chatted so tenderly that no one else could interrupt.

At this moment, Yun Fenghuang noticed that there was a palace official looking around at the door, as if he had something important to report.