Traveling through the harem: the favorite concubine

Chapter 31

The prince's illness got better day by day, and he no longer lay on the bed or rested in the house, and occasionally let Ruyi help him to walk around in the courtyard.

In the yard, apart from a few flowers and trees that Ruyi doesn't recognize, there are only some vegetables planted by the palace people who stayed here. Every day, the palace people diligently draw water from a nearby well to irrigate. It's very gratifying to look at the water and spirit.

Deng Xian asked people to tidy up and arrange a room next to the prince's main house, and turned it into a study. The prince spent more than half of the time in the study every day, reading and practicing calligraphy.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the Prince hadn't got rid of his sickness, so all the heat-relief items such as ice cubes in the house were forbidden, even cold foods like watermelon and mung bean soup were not allowed to be eaten.Ruyi ate and lived with the prince on this side, but she could only enjoy the cool with a round fan.

Fortunately, she also came through hardships in the early years, and now she feels extremely comfortable.

Occasionally when she went back to the room, the ice cubes that the prince didn't use were cheaper for her. As for the watermelon soaked in well water, she could occasionally use them for a few cents.

After really entering the dog days, the imperial doctor Wei made the final diagnosis and treatment for the prince, packed up the medicine box, and left with the little eunuch who accompanied him.The departure of Imperial Doctor Wei also ignited the fire of hope in the hearts of everyone in this confined courtyard.

The prince recovered, so some things that had been postponed should also be put on the agenda.

Will the emperor let the prince go?

At least, most of the people have positive thoughts in their hearts.The prince is the emperor's own son, father and son, father and son, no matter how big it is, it is not a big deal.The prince fell ill first, didn't the emperor also ordered the prince to be moved to the best courtyard in Dongxiangkou to recuperate, and also sent an imperial doctor and servants to take care of him?

As for why the emperor has not chosen to lift the confinement, everyone's thoughts are also amazingly consistent. After all, the crown prince has a seasonal epidemic, and this disease is always contagious, so it is definitely not easy to move back to the palace.

When Ruyi went to the small kitchen at noon, she heard Shao Yao and the two young eunuchs brought by Deng Xian talking about it, and even planned to clean it up.

"Before the emperor's decree comes down, do your own job well, don't think about it and talk about it everywhere."

When Ruyi was alone in private, she made a point to Shaoyao.

"Ma'am, will the emperor lift the crown prince's confinement?" Shao Yao straightened her face and nodded, but still couldn't help asking Ruyi.

Ruyi didn't answer, and her expression was a little complicated.

At first, she might have had the same idea as Shaoyao in her heart, and Nanny Cao had always been confident about it, and even Ruyi felt that as long as the prince recovered from his illness, they could pack up and return to the East Palace.

However, these days, since that day when the prince overheard the conversation between the prince and Mr. Deng, the prince will never deliberately avoid her when talking about the previous court.Although Ruyi doesn't understand these major national events, she can tell the good and the bad. At least, she feels that the situation is not as optimistic as everyone thinks.

To be honest, Ruyi's desire to go out is not as strong as Shaoyao and the others, and she even thinks it's good to stay here.It doesn't matter if she is short-sighted, she hasn't lived such a comfortable life for a long time.

Even though she was sometimes under pressure because of getting along with the prince, at least she didn't have to worry about being dragged out and blamed for her inappropriate words and deeds, and she could eat and drink enough, and even eat what she wanted.

However, no matter what Ruyi thinks, it doesn't matter. The person who can really decide whether to stay here is the emperor who sits high in the palace.

When Ruyi returned to the prince's room with her lunch, the prince was walking with Deng Xian from the study, and there was no trace of anxiety on the handsome face that had recovered its good complexion.When he saw Ruyi, he smiled and asked Deng Xian to stay outside, walked in by himself, and asked Ruyi what he had eaten today with a good mood.

The food was not the same as in the past, although the imperial physician had declared the prince cured, but Ruyi didn't dare to feed the prince indiscriminately, and just added two home-cooked dishes on the basis of the past.

When Ruyi was about to transfer half of the dishes to an empty plate for testing as usual, the prince suddenly smiled and grabbed Ruyi's hand, and said, "Let's use it with Gu!"

"Your Highness..." Ruyi was puzzled and looked up at the prince.

However, the prince picked up the chopsticks and put one of the dishes into Ruyi's plate: "You eat first, you can also try the dishes."

Ruyi looked down at the dishes that the crown prince put into her bowl, and always felt a little hard to eat.

"It's meaningless to use it alone, you can eat with you!"

The prince picked up the chopsticks in a natural manner, picked up the food and put it in his mouth, the movement was so fast that Ruyi didn't have time to stop it.Ruyi pursed her lips, and wanted to say something like rules, but saw that the prince was just eating on his own, without even looking at her.

When Ruyi came to his lips, he was suddenly speechless.She knows that she is dull and can't speak, but she is not really dull and dull. She knows that saying those words at this time will only destroy the current good atmosphere.

She thought for a while, smiled, picked up a piece of fish meat, removed the bones, and put it into the prince's bowl: "If Your Highness doesn't dislike your servant, then your servant will naturally be willing to eat with His Highness."

However, this seemingly warm lunch did not end smoothly.

The emperor's decree came suddenly, and the eunuch holding the imperial decree was so hot that he was sweating profusely, but he didn't drink any tea, so he stood in front of the door that was rarely opened wide, opened the yellow and orange imperial decree and read it out.

Ruyi knelt down behind the prince to receive the order. She lowered her head and stared at the land below her head.

The imperial decree is very long, and it is all expressed in classical Chinese. Ruyi seems to understand but does not understand. I vaguely understand that the first half seems to describe the emperor's high hopes and cultivation for the prince, while the second half reprimands the prince for failing to live up to the holy will and the common people...

Until the last sentence of the eunuch: "The foundation of the ancestors must not be handed over to you and other villains. Remember their blood and keep them at the entrance of the east alley."

Ruyi subconsciously looked at the straight prince kneeling in front of him, but saw that his body was stretched straight.

After the imperial decree was read, the courtyard was silent for a while, only the prince bent down half of his body, raised his hands to receive the imperial decree, and replied in a calm voice: "Your servant obeys the decree."

The door was closed again, to be precise, it was tightly locked, as if it would never be opened again.

Only a dozen or so people were still kneeling in the courtyard, and Deng Xian, who was kneeling beside him, was the first to react. He walked up to the prince and stretched out his hand to help him up.The prince stood up slowly, holding the imperial decree in one hand, lightly patted the hem of his clothes twice, turned around and looked at the person still kneeling behind him, and finally his eyes fell on Ruyi.

He didn't speak, just walked up to Ruyi and stretched out his empty left hand towards her.

Ruyi raised her head, her eyes followed the slender hand and slowly fell on the prince's expressionless face, she stretched out her hand and put it into the prince's hand, the prince wrapped Ruyi's hand and pulled her up from the ground.

"Your Highness..." Ruyi didn't know how to comfort the prince, so she could only look at him worriedly.

The prince suddenly smiled lightly, stroked Ruyi's face with his left hand, but his eyes fell on the group of people behind Ruyi, and he said, "Get up!"

He didn't speak any more, nor was he doing anything. He just took the imperial decree and walked slowly towards the main room.

Grandma Cao hesitated to speak, everyone looked at the prince in bewilderment, while Shao Yao held Ruyi's hand tightly, and whispered worriedly: "Ma'am."

"fine."

Even though everyone was worried that the prince would collapse, Ruyi didn't think that the prince would be overwhelmed by this blow. These days, she was by his side, knowing that the prince was not ignorant of the outside world, so she should have been mentally prepared.At most, the punishment was too severe, which made the prince unable to face it for a while.

Moreover, the feeling of the prince to Ruyi is too unfathomable. She always feels that he is not a person who can be hit by such things.

Although Ruyi thought so in her heart, not everyone felt that way.

Even Nanny Cao felt uneasy. The sudden shattering of her usual beliefs is the easiest way to make people vulnerable. At this time, Nanny Cao couldn't help but look hopefully at Ruyi.

"Mrs. Chen, the crown prince..."

Ruyi knew what Nanny Cao meant and asked her to persuade the prince, but she didn't think it was a good idea to persuade him at this time. If she were the prince, what she wanted most at this time was to be alone.

But as soon as Nanny Cao said the words, all the people in the yard looked at Ruyi with hope.

Ruyi was a little dumbfounded, if she said no, she might immediately turn to a condemning look.

She has also been a slave, so she naturally knows how it feels to be a servant. Although the master has fallen, the master is still the master, and the servant is still the servant.Whether the master is active or not has a great influence on the subordinates.

"You all go back and do your work, I'll go to the prince's place to have a look."

Ruyi sighed and walked slowly to the prince's house.

In fact, Ruyi was also worried. Although she knew that the prince would not be defeated so easily, she also knew that the prince's mood would not be much better at this time, and she was afraid that the prince would take his anger out on her.

But she still knocked on the door, after three times, there was no movement from inside.She raised her hand, a little hesitant to knock on the door again, when the prince's voice suddenly came from inside.

"Come in."

Neither light nor heavy, without any emotion.At that moment, Ruyi thought it was her hallucination, she gently opened the door, and in just a moment, her eyes fell on the prince who was sitting at the table.

After closing the door, Ruyi walked up to the prince, knelt down and saluted, the prince pulled Ruyi up and laughed at himself: "Nowadays, I'm still not a prince."

"Your Highness, don't say that, Your Majesty... After all, he hasn't..." Ruyi didn't dare to say the words "abandon the prince, for fear of touching the prince's nerves."Indeed, the emperor was particularly weird on this point. He clearly banned the prince and scolded the prince for not being worthy of inheriting the inheritance of his ancestors, but he didn't mention the abolition of the prince's title.

"Yes, there is still a leeway left, and the prince is not abolished." The prince turned his head and looked at the food on the table, but suddenly said to Ruyi: "You are still the concubine of the prince, if you return to the East Palace, You can enjoy the same treatment as before.”

"Your Highness..."

Ruyi was a little puzzled, but vaguely understood what the prince was going to say to her.

"Father only banned me, but didn't mention you, you can go back..."

"The servant will not return."

It was almost as if the prince hadn't finished speaking, Ruyi said decisively.She raised her head, looked straight into the prince's eyes, and replied seriously: "I want to stay here."

The prince didn't speak, but just looked at Ruyi, Ruyi lowered her eyelids, leaned her head on the prince's knee, and said softly: "This servant has never thought of leaving His Highness since I came here, Your Highness, please don't drive this servant away."

The crown prince raised Ruyi's head, and the prince stared at Ruyi closely, trying to find a trace of falsehood on her face, but he couldn't see it, only the sincerity in Ruyi's eyes.

"You..." The prince opened his mouth, but did not speak.His fingers were slightly trembling as he caressed Ruyi's face. After a while, he suddenly withdrew and said, "Have you ever thought that you will be imprisoned here with me for the rest of your life?"

"His Royal Highness has already told the servants that the servants don't care."

As soon as Ruyi's words came out, unexpectedly, the prince hugged Ruyi's body tightly. Ruyi's head rested on the prince's arms, and she couldn't see the prince's expression at this time, but Ruyi felt the pressure from the prince's heaving chest. , felt the prince's excited emotions.

Ruyi was a little at a loss, she put her hands on the prince's back, not knowing how to comfort him, she patted the prince's back lightly, suddenly, the prince bowed his head and kissed the corner of Ruyi's lips.

As if wanting to plunder, Ruyi's head swelled after being kissed, and everything in her head felt like a paste.

Ruyi thought that the prince wanted to vent, but the prince's movements were unprecedentedly gentle, kissing her all over her body gently, giving her the illusion that she had become a peerless treasure and was cherished by others.

She held the quilt tightly with her hands, her body was so hot that she was only sweating. In the end, her eyes stared blankly at the prince's handsome eyebrows, and she felt that she had no strength in her whole body.

(End of this chapter)