Chapter 332: Chapter 212: Cannot Favor the Fourth Prince_2
Yu Hai was startled by the last words of the Eighth Prince, and a chill crept into his heart.
He forced himself to say, "Anyway, we can’t let the Fourth Prince benefit."
The Eighth Prince smiled slightly, "I hope Zheng Rang is as smart as his father."
Zheng Rang, who was working at Lanyuan Pavilion, suddenly felt a chill race up the back of his neck. In that instant, he felt as if he was being watched by a cold and dangerous snake.
Zhao Yao returned to the Kunde Hall and discussed with Liang Zhaoyi about the son of Grand Commandant Zheng.
Liang Zhaoyi had heard of it; the news had already spread through the harem, causing quite a stir.
Noble Princess Consort Rong and the others were already inquiring if Zheng Rang and Zheng Cheng were married. If they were not married or engaged, they wanted to propose their nieces to the brothers.
"What do you think of Grand Commandant Zheng’s son?"
"I haven’t seen Grand Commandant Zheng’s second son, only his eldest," Zhao Yao said while sipping tea. "He looks quite handsome, but doesn’t seem very smart."
"Not very smart?"
"Probably not as smart as his father."
"Grand Commandant Zheng was the foremost strategist of the land back then. His exceptional intellect isn’t easy to match," Liang Zhaoyi commented, having heard many stories about Grand Commandant Zheng. "It’s quite normal for his son to not be as smart."
"It’s not a problem if he’s not as smart as his father. The real issue is if he’s not clear-headed," Zhao Yao said. "But he stays by Prime Minister He’s side, and Prime Minister He won’t let him act foolishly."
"He’s the son of Grand Commandant Zheng; surely, he won’t act foolishly."
"Indeed, otherwise Grand Commandant Zheng wouldn’t have let his son come to the capital," Zhao Yao said, squinting his eyes with a smile. "Their presence has made things lively in both the previous dynasty and the harem."
"It’s going to get even livelier," Liang Zhaoyi said with a knowing smile. "Qin Xiulian is coming to the palace soon."
"Yes, in a few days Qin Xiulian will officially enter the palace," Zhao Yao grinned maliciously. "Noble Princess Consort Rong and Prince Dai must be anxious."
Lately, Qin Xiulian has been recuperating in Zhao Yang Palace. All the medicine and tonics she used were the best in the palace, so she recovered quickly. It’s said her injuries are fully healed now.
"This morning, Qin Xiulian has already left Zhao Yang Palace and returned to her home," Liang Zhaoyi said. "She will enter the palace on an auspicious day."
"She left this morning?"
"Yes, after the court session, Mr. Sun, who serves your father, personally escorted her home," Liang Zhaoyi continued. "After court, the Emperor even went to Zhao Yang Palace to bid her farewell and gifted her many things."
"Then, the Empress surely must have given her a lot of gifts as well."
"Yes, the Empress indeed bestowed many gifts upon her."
"What about Noble Princess Consort Rong?" Zhao Yao asked curiously.
"She gifted some things too," Liang Zhaoyi said. "All the consorts in the palace sent something." Liang Zhaoyi sent Qin Xiulian a pair of jade bracelets.
"Mother, do you think Noble Princess Consort Rong tried to make a move while Qin Xiulian was recuperating in Zhao Yang Palace?"
"Noble Princess Consort Rong probably wanted to, but didn’t dare," Liang Zhaoyi analyzed. "If anything happened to Miss Qin, she would be the first suspect."
"Didn’t Empress Xie try to frame Noble Princess Consort Rong?" Zhao Yao always thought Empress Xie would use Qin Xiulian to set up Noble Princess Consort Rong since she would be the prime suspect if something happened to Qin Xiulian.
"The Emperor often visited Zhao Yang Palace to see Miss Qin, so even if the Empress had such thoughts, she wouldn’t dare act on them." During Qin Xiulian’s recovery at the palace, the Emperor not only visited daily but several times a day. Empress Xie wouldn’t dare make a move on Qin Xiulian under the Emperor’s watchful eyes.
"Now that Miss Qin is out of the palace, it’s hard to say."
"Mother, do you mean that Empress Xie, Noble Princess Consort Rong, or even Princess Consort De might take action against Qin Xiulian?"
"Yes, Miss Qin is not safe after returning home from the palace."
"Father should assign someone to protect her, after all, he likes her very much."
Liang Zhaoyi nodded lightly and said, "It’s possible."
"Sigh, I won’t be able to visit Changle Palace freely in the future." His pomegranates...
"If you want to eat pomegranates from Changle Palace, I’ll take you to pick them then."
"Let’s just forget about it." Zhao Yao said seriously, "Mother, we’d better stay away from Father’s favored concubines to avoid getting entangled."
Liang Zhaoyi nodded slightly, then reminded Zhao Yao, "It’s getting late, you should go to Qin Hall now."
"Mother, I’m off then." This afternoon, he had to go to Qin Hall to learn the qin.
After learning the qin at Qin Hall, Zhao Yao went to Lanyuan Pavilion to find the Fourth Prince and returned to Xingde Palace with him.
He had to go to the Fourth Prince’s place every evening to study the Li Family calligraphy, so he had dinner with the Fourth Prince at Xingde Palace every night.
When he went to Lanyuan Pavilion to find the Fourth Prince, Zhao Yao also made a point to find Zheng Rang to remind him not to forget to bring his hometown’s delicacies the next day.
Zheng Rang hadn’t forgotten, but he didn’t expect Zhao Yao was worried he might forget.
Prime Minister He had a foreboding feeling when he saw Zhao Yao looking at him.
"Your Highness, please don’t set your sights on my orchids."
"Now that we have leeks, I won’t eat orchids," Zhao Yao said with a smile. "Orchids are delicious, but leeks are even better. I prefer scrambled eggs with leeks."
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister He didn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed.
Zhao Yao waved to Prime Minister He and his group before heading to the History Compilation Hall to find the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince had just finished his work and, seeing Zhao Yao, prepared to take him back to Xingde Palace. Unexpectedly, Lady Li sent someone to invite the Fourth Prince to Changding Palace for dinner.
"Please tell Mother that I’ll come to Changding Palace for lunch tomorrow; I’ll skip tonight," the Fourth Prince declined. "I’m not suitable for the harem at night." Although the Fourth Prince had not yet come of age, he was old enough that entering the harem at night was inappropriate.
Qiu Sang didn’t expect the Fourth Prince to refuse and was slightly stunned, but then said, "Your Highness, you aren’t of age yet, so it’s not against the rules to dine in Her Ladyship’s palace at night." She said this because Lady Li had something important to discuss with the Fourth Prince.
"Though it’s not explicitly against the rules, it’s still not suitable. I’ll join Mother for lunch tomorrow," the Fourth Prince said, then took Zhao Yao’s hand and walked towards Xingde Palace.
Qiu Sang knew the Fourth Prince’s temperament well enough to realize that no matter what she said, he wouldn’t dine at Changding Palace that night.
"Fourth Brother, are you really not going to have dinner with Lady Li?"
"I’m quite grown now; it’s not appropriate to go to the harem at night." The Fourth Prince could roughly guess why Lady Li wanted him to have dinner.