Traveling through the harem: the favorite concubine

Chapter 17

Deng Xian came back after delivering the rewards, and took a sip of the tea brought by the servants with a bit of sadness on his face.

"Where is Your Highness?" He put down the teacup and asked the little eunuch who had just brought him tea.

The little eunuch was young, and had just been assigned to the Eastern Palace, so he didn't understand anything. He only knew that Deng asked first, and he answered honestly, "His Royal Highness is meeting the minister in the outer study."

As the crown prince, the crown prince is different from other princes in that he can form a small court of his own. When other princes secretly accept staff, the crown prince can respect corporals and recruit talents openly and aboveboard.After the crown prince ascends the throne, these courtiers who have followed him since the prince's time will naturally become his closest and most powerful humerus ministers.

Of course, it’s not absolute. There is a limit to everything. After all, the emperor above is still alive. If you encounter a suspicious emperor, the minister you recruit is too good, the emperor will be suspicious, and if you are not good enough, the emperor will doubt your ability.

On this point, the prince seems to have used the golden mean to the extreme.The people under the prince are all talented, but not particularly outstanding, and most importantly, they are all very law-abiding.The prince has used these people for these years, and they have not performed particularly well to make the prince face, but they have never made the prince lose face.

After listening to the little eunuch's answer, Deng Xian felt relieved, leaned on his couch and let the little eunuch beat his legs, while he closed his eyes and meditated: His Highness probably will meet the minister for a while, I probably won't remember to ask him about things when it's over.

Unexpectedly, not long after he closed his eyes, he heard another little eunuch coming outside the house, yelling anxiously outside the house: "Eunuch Deng, Your Highness wants you to go over."

Deng Xian suddenly opened his eyes, hurriedly got down on the bed and put on his boots, and asked the little eunuch, "Your Highness is still in the study outside?"

"His Highness has already returned to the inner study, father-in-law, please go there quickly."

After listening to the little eunuch's answer, Deng Xian didn't care about anything else. He hurriedly arranging his clothes while rushing to the door of the study. Then he stopped, took a breath, and walked outside. Called: "Your Highness."

A deep voice came from the room: "Come in!"

Only then did Deng Xian cautiously push open the door of the study, only to see the prince standing by the window beside the table, looking at the scenery outside with his hands behind his back.

When he walked in, the prince didn't look back at him, let alone make a sound.

Deng Xian groaned secretly in his heart, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "Your Highness, I have just returned from Mrs. Chen's place, and the silk and satin you asked me to give to Mrs. Chen's maid."

Deng Xian originally wanted to avoid this topic, but who knows, after he finished speaking, the prince turned around and looked at him, but he didn't say a word.

"Your Highness..." Deng Xian had a mournful expression on his face, and finally said: "Mrs. Chen was made to kneel by the concubine today. Mrs. Chen was still unconscious when the servant left."

After Deng Xian said this, his mouth was full of bitterness. He shouldn't have told the prince about this matter from his servant. Although he is the most trusted servant around the prince, the princess is the hostess of the East Palace after all, and Mrs. Chen He saw clearly that the prince's attitude was unusual.

"Go back!"

Deng Xian thought that the crown prince would ask in detail, but who knew, after the crown prince listened to his words, he gave the order directly.

Deng Xian was a little dazed, and took a peek at the prince, only to see that the prince walked back to the position just now with a calm expression.

Walking out of the study, Deng Xian only felt sweating all over his body. He didn't know if what he said just now was right, and he didn't dare to leave. He stood outside the study door in an orderly manner, waiting for orders from inside.

Until dinner time, there was no order from inside. Mr. Deng was pacing up and down outside anxiously, looking around from time to time, but he heard footsteps suddenly coming from inside. Mr. Deng hurriedly stood at the door and bowed his body.

I saw that the prince had changed into a blue uniform and came out from inside: "Go to the princess."

Deng Xian hurriedly followed after hearing the words.

In the palace of the crown prince, Chen Yuanxiang was dressed properly as usual and waited for the arrival of the crown prince.

The dishes were carefully selected, which were in line with the season and had a bit of heart. The prince also cleaned his hands as always, and let Chen Yuanxiang serve the meal.

After Chen Yuanxiang handed the soup to the crown prince, she seemed to have no intention of mentioning: "Your Highness, my concubine invited an imperial physician for Sister Chen this afternoon."

The prince took the soup and just nodded, as if he didn't care about it.

But Chen Yuanxiang couldn't see what the prince's expression meant, so he just said: "Sister Yu said that Sister Chen bumped into her in the morning, and Sister Chen also admitted her mistake. The concubine thinks that Sister Chen has always behaved very well, so it's nothing Big mistake, let her kneel outside as punishment. Who knows, Sister Chen is too honest, she really knelt outside all morning seriously, she is not in good health, I heard that she will not be able to go back..."

Chen Yuanxiang's voice stopped abruptly. In the time she was talking, the crown prince had already finished his meal, and it seemed that he didn't listen to what she just said at all.

"Your Highness..." Chen Yuanxiang opened his mouth, but in the end he just called out.

The prince stood up and said, "You can deal with the affairs in the backyard."

Before Chen Yuanxiang showed a smile, the prince said again: "I still have something to do in my study, you should rest early!"

After all, he left without looking back.

Chen Yuanxiang looked at the leaving figure of the prince, and didn't even realize that she forgot to kneel and salute. She sat in front of the big dining table, and suddenly threw the chopsticks in her hand violently.

"Your Majesty!" Liu Gongren stepped forward sadly and distressed.

"Nurse, do you think the prince cares about that bitch, that's why you showed my face." Chen Yuanxiang only thought that this meal was the shortest meal the prince had ever had. She couldn't figure out why the prince treated her like this. The only thing he could think of was whether the prince offended her because of what happened in the morning.

"Your Majesty, why do you think so!" Liu Gongren comforted softly, "You are the only wife of His Highness the Crown Prince. You also said that this Chen family is a joke. How could the Crown Prince anger you because of the Chen family?"

"But why did the prince treat me like this..."

"Your Majesty, there must be something wrong with the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince really blames you, why would you come here specially for dinner!" The man from Gong Liu took a pair of new chopsticks and stuffed them into Chen Yuanxiang's hands, "Your Majesty, please eat more. Only by taking good care of your body will you be able to give birth to your little grandson."

Chen Yuanxiang's heart moved when he heard the words, and he picked up the chopsticks.

It was not the first time that the crown prince did this. There was also a precedent in the past when he was supposed to rest in Chen Yuanxiang, but he stayed in the study because of business.Liu Gongren's persuasion made the resentment in her heart slowly disappear.

The punishment this time, if it is said that Ruyi suffered too much, it would not be enough.

Ruyi worked in the small kitchen before, and it is not uncommon to burn a fire under the stove on a hot day. Although she was dizzy in the sun, she went back to lie down in the house, drank a bowl of heat-relieving medicine, and even There is no need for scraping, and I recovered my spirit the next day.It's just that the knee on the leg was really hurt by kneeling, and it was red, swollen and congested, and it turned purple the next day.

After applying the medicine, when the dressing was changed for the second time, it turned into pitch black, which was really scary to look at.

However, the medicine is quite effective. Although the leg looks scary, the pain in the leg is really gone. Ruyi simply took the opportunity to lie on the bed and pretend to be sick, which also saved her from being watched.

The days are getting hotter and hotter, and Ruyi has started to distribute ice cubes, but there are so few, it is impossible to put them in the house to dispel the heat, but they can be used to freeze mung beans and other sweet soups Have fun.In addition, the dining room also began to supply ice bowls, which are made of lotus root, ribs, walnuts, almonds, etc., as well as melon and peaches. Occasionally a small bowl is distributed, and now the supply is almost unlimited, which makes Ruyi so addicted that she rarely even eats rice.

Shaoyao and Qiangwei tried to persuade them several times. Although this stuff was always kept in the dining room, the other mistresses really ate very little, and most of them forbade it, fearing that eating too much would hurt their children. , how can there be Ruyi who can't wait to eat three meals a day.

But persuasion is of no use, Ruyi should eat as much as she wants.

The sun had just set that day, and Ruyi hurriedly asked Shaoyao and Qiangwei to open the windows to diffuse the heat in the room, planning to sit under the window to enjoy the coolness and eat ice bowls, when suddenly the prince came in.

Because the weather was hot, Ruyi wore very little on her body, and her face was so tired of makeup that she didn't even put it on. Seeing the prince suddenly approaching, she was also startled, and quickly put down the ice bowl and got up to say hello.

"Sit down!" The prince didn't seem to be in a good mood, and there was no smile on his face.

Ruyi didn't dare to sit still, and hurriedly walked to the prince's side, ready to pour tea for the prince, but the prince waved his hand and said, "What kind of hot tea are you drinking on a hot day? What were you eating just now?"

If you think about this, you quickly said: "The servant is eating an ice bowl, if your highness wants to eat some, the servant will ask someone to go to the dining room to get a bowl."

"You don't need to be so troublesome." After saying that, the prince got up himself, picked up the bowl that Ruyi had just eaten, and started to eat.

Ruyi was taken aback, but saw the prince put down the ice bowl as if nothing had happened, and asked, "Why is your room so stuffy?"

"The sun has just set, and the heat hasn't dissipated." Ruyi replied, but she felt a little helpless in her heart. The orientation of her room was not in a good direction, and with the limited number of ice cubes, it was impossible to be comfortable. go.

The prince is so spoiled and spoiled, so he is naturally not used to it.

Just as he was thinking, Deng Xian brought the little eunuch outside the house and came in holding several basins of ice cubes.

Ruyi looked at the cold air emanating from the basin, and felt that her body became much cooler all of a sudden, but she heard the prince say: "Go and bring some more basins."

Ruyi looked at the prince, but saw that the prince impatiently unbuttoned the collar of his coat, and his face was frighteningly pale.

Ruyi's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help thinking suspiciously: In just such a short while, the crown prince suffered from heatstroke in her room, this is too weak!

"Your Highness, this servant has asked someone to bring some heat-relieving soup..." Before Ruyi finished speaking, the prince fell headfirst on the table.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

Ruyi turned pale with shock, and quickly went up to help him, while Deng Xian on the other end also turned pale in a hurry, and with great strength, he helped the prince lie on Ruyi's bed, and hurriedly called the imperial doctor.

The room was in chaos, Ruyi's face turned pale with fright, and she looked more bad than the prince lying on the bed.

When the imperial doctor from outside came over, the Crown Princess, Ye Liangdi and the others also came over noisy, filling Ruyi's small room to the brim.

Chen Yuanxiang looked at the messy group of people, and at Ye Liangdi who was in a hurry to act. He was anxious and angry, and directly ordered: "Sister Chen's room is too small for His Highness to recuperate. First, use a cloth chariot to carry it to my place." go."

"Sister Crown Princess, your place is not close, why don't you just take it back to His Highness's own place." Ye Liangdi would rather fight that she didn't have this opportunity than give such a good opportunity to the Crown Princess.

"Ye Liangdi, the prince is seriously ill now, how can he not have someone close to him to take care of him." Chen Yuanxiang said sternly.

Ye Liangdi opened her mouth and wanted to say something else, but Chen Yuanxiang continued: "I am His Highness's wife, and I have the responsibility and right to take care of His Highness personally."

Ye Liangdi closed her mouth unwillingly.

After a while of commotion, Ruyi's room was finally empty.

Ruyi sighed, and was supported by Shaoyao and Qiangwei onto the bed. Just as she sat down, she couldn't help but grabbed Shaoyao's hand, and said: "Go and find out later, what happened!"

Just now things happened too suddenly, Ruyi was unprepared, frightened and frightened, and didn't think about it carefully, but thinking about it now, she felt that something was wrong.

Even if the prince's body is weak, he won't get hot after sitting in her room for a while.

"Yes, servant girl will go right away!"

Shao Yao also had a serious face, knowing whether this matter is big or small.

But before she could go out, Ruyi took her hand again, and said, "Wait a minute, it's too conspicuous to inquire now, and by tomorrow, the news will probably spread!"

Ruyi is really a little frightened and anxious at the moment. In doing things, she has somewhat lost her sense of propriety. Now she thinks again, no matter whether the matter has anything to do with her, but now it is a mess, she still sends people out to inquire, isn't it? Are you deliberately giving someone a handle?

The whole night, Ruyi tossed and turned. When the sky was just getting dark, Ruyi opened her eyes and looked at the sky outside.

I don't know how long it took, Shaoyao and Qiangwei walked in carrying the basket, but the expressions on their faces were relieved, Ruyi finally felt relieved.

"Your Majesty, I found out. Your Highness suffered from heat stroke after standing outside the imperial study for too long yesterday."

Ruyi listened, but she didn't breathe a sigh of relief because she had nothing to do with her, but asked anxiously: "Why did the prince stand outside the door of the imperial study for so long?"

"This, I don't know about this. I just heard that His Highness is going to report the matter to the Emperor..." Shao Yao said vaguely, and continued secretly, "I heard that the Crown Prince left the Crown Princess's place early in the morning and went to the Imperial Study Room. No matter how hard the princess concubine stopped her, she didn't stop her."

After Ruyi heard this, she couldn't help but feel a little dignified. She didn't know what happened here, but she just felt that something big was about to happen.

(End of this chapter)