RNP Chapter 65: Summoned, Didn't Sleep
Chapter 65: Summoned, Didn't Sleep
Shen Shixi followed Li Yuanke back to Qingyan Palace.
Li Yuanke glanced at her speechlessly, "Is it really necessary to resort to such a self-inflicted injury tactic?"
He even got slapped!
"What can we do? It's my fault for being unable to bear a son for the Emperor. A mother's status depends on her son, so we lowly concubines without any power or influence can only endure beatings and punishments."
Shen Shixi snorted coldly and sat with her back to Li Yuanke.
"You bastard, you think I'm stopping you from having children?"
Shen Shixi didn't bother him at this time. She turned around, hugged him again, and kissed his face all over, like a kitten licking its face. Li Yuanke laughed and complained at the same time.
"I just love your face!" Shen Shixi traced his eyebrows and eyes with her fingers. "Li Yuanke, that's the only thing that can captivate me!"
"That's my skill; no one else has my face." Li Yuanke was in a very good mood.
[Ha, just you wait. Wait until I give birth to a son who looks just like you, then let's see if you can still say things like that! I'll make you furious!]
Li Yuanke laughed loudly, "Are you hungry? Serve the meal, and stay with me for a rest in a while."
After a noisy morning, Shen Shixi was also hungry. She served them food, and the two of them ate without saying a word.
Seeing that he was enjoying a plate of braised fish with milk and had almost finished it, Shen Shixi couldn't help but ask curiously, "Isn't it said that emperors shouldn't eat more than three times? Li Yuanke, how many chopsticks have you used?"
The person eating stood to the side with their head down, wishing they didn't exist.
They wanted to remind the emperor, but no one dared to.
Li Yuanke said, "Do I need anyone to tell me what to do when I eat? Are you going to eat or not? If not, go to sleep."
"Sleeping right after eating? You'll gain weight. How about we go for a walk to digest?" Shen Shixi rubbed her stomach, having eaten too much.
Every time Li Yuanke eats with Shen Shixi, it's like they're fighting over food, and he often ends up stuffed without even realizing it.
Just as the two were about to leave, Li Yuanyin arrived. Li Yuanke had asked him to work in the Imperial Household Department, and he was then assigned to handle the funeral arrangements for Consort Shun and Consort He. This was a tricky matter, as the Emperor's thoughts were unfathomable.
Although the Empress Dowager said that she should be buried with the rites due to a Jieyu (a concubine of the third rank), she was, after all, a person sent for a political marriage. The officials of the Imperial Household Department felt that it might be inappropriate, so they sent him to inquire about the situation.
"Your Majesty, the surviving envoys from the Donghu and Xiqiang are crying foul in prison, saying they did not collude with the rebels. They also say that our people and the rebels wore the same clothes at the time, and they could not distinguish friend from foe, which caused the misunderstanding."
Li Yuanke sneered, "You believe that? No matter what the reason, it's a fact that they attacked my people. Interrogate them properly. They offered their daughters at this time for no reason, and even after I took them, they didn't leave. When the rebels attacked, at least half of them helped the rebels."
Do you think I'm a fool? Tell me, what benefits did Li Yuanjian give them? Besides, it's not Li Yuanjian's place to be the one behind this.
"Yes!" Li Yuanyin replied. "Does Your Majesty have any further instructions regarding the funerals of Consort Shun and Consort He?"
"As the Empress Dowager commands!"
"Your Majesty, should Consort Shun be posthumously granted a title?" Li Yuanyin's question was a veiled reminder, implying a difference between Consort Shun having served the Emperor and Consort Shun not having done so.
"I didn't favor her, so what posthumous title should I bestow upon her?"
He summoned me, meaning he wasn't asleep.
[Li Yuanke actually managed to hold back? What's wrong with him?]
Upon hearing this, Li Yuanke's face darkened, and he angrily pulled Shen Shixi away.
Li Yuanyin wiped the sweat from his forehead, speechless. How did he know if the emperor had been favored? Why was his elder brother so unhappy?
[Li Yuanyin is such an idiot. If it were me, what job would I do? Don't I get tired of it?]
The two walked towards Wanglu Pavilion. Shen Shixi said, "The crops I planted in the palace should be ready for harvest by now. I wonder when Bai Kui and the others will send them over?"
"Your Majesty, when do you plan to return to the palace?"
"I went back around the beginning of August. I spent the Mid-Autumn Festival in the palace, and I also had to go back to the palace to deal with Li Yuanjian's matter."
"Then I had someone transport the goods back ahead of schedule. I had previously told them that the crops were ripe and would be delivered, so they didn't need to send them."
Li Yuanke didn't have anyone clear the road. The Wanglu Pavilion was occupied by someone, Wang Yuehuai and Yuan Zhaoyue, who were talking about something.
Upon seeing Li Yuanke, the two women hurriedly came forward to pay their respects, saying, "Your Majesty, we greet you; Consort Zhao, we greet you. May you enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"
"No need for formalities!" the emperor said.
Seeing Li Yuanke holding Shen Shixi's hand, Yuan Zhaoyue was extremely jealous.
"The Emperor is so good to Sister Zhao, he even holds her hand when they walk." The maid helped her up, and she deliberately touched her lower abdomen.
The emperor also saw it and asked, "How is the imperial fetus?"
How bad could it be in just over a month!
"It's not good at all. These days, I can't eat or sleep well. My wife and the prince in my belly only want Your Majesty. If Your Majesty could spend more time with us, mother and child, that would be wonderful." Yuan Zhaoyue leaned closer to the emperor.
Wang Yuehuai stepped aside, trying to minimize her presence.
Shen Shixi turned her head away, not daring to look.
[Wow, it's only the size of a bean sprout, and he calls himself a prince? He can already tell the difference between a boy and a girl? Using a dragon fetus to curry favor is really something!]
"If it's not good, then please summon the imperial physician." Li Yuanke pulled Shen Shixi to sit down in the pavilion and asked Wang Yuehuai, "Are you not injured?"
He didn't really have any impression of Wang Yuehuai, but judging from her clothes, she was the new concubine this year. Apart from the pregnant Yuan Zhaoyue, everyone else accompanied the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I was not skilled in riding and couldn't keep up with you. I was a step too slow and thus escaped a disaster. Although I unfortunately fell off my horse, thankfully I was not injured."
"Yes, you're a lucky one!" Li Yuanke gestured for them to sit down.
Yuan Zhaoyue was overjoyed, while Wang Yuehuai sat down cautiously.
"If you can't ride a horse, why bother coming along?" Yuan Zhaoyue attacked Wang Yuehuai. "You say you're slow, but who knows if you knew something was wrong and deliberately lagged behind?"
Wang Yuehua knelt down with a thud and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! How could I know? I am truly not good at riding and archery. Seeing that my sisters had all gone, I felt it would be wrong for me not to go alone, so I reluctantly went along."
"But I didn't go either, did I?" Yuan Zhaoyue said smugly. She was just imitating Shen Shixi in criticizing Qing Zhaoyuan. Shen Shixi was fine, and she was pregnant with the emperor's child, so the emperor would not blame her.
[Is she copying me? Seriously, what's the real grudge between Yuan Zhaoyue and Wang Yuehuai? Why is she always targeting Wang Yuehuai? Why can't she just peacefully get pregnant? Why is she constantly stirring up trouble? Does she think she's carrying an invincible monster?]
She said to Li Yuanke, "Your Majesty, Consort Wang is indeed not skilled in riding and archery. Yesterday, I noticed her by chance, and she rode very cautiously, so naturally she couldn't ride fast!"
Wang Yuehuai cried and said, "Thank you, Consort Zhao, for speaking up for me. My family does not have horses. I only learned to ride a few times by chance before, but I am not good at it. Your Majesty is wise. You can send someone to investigate. I have not said a single falsehood."
Li Yuanke said, "Get up!"
He turned the jade thumb ring on his thumb and said to Li Fude, "Issue an order to the Imperial Household Department that all the concubines who accompanied me on this hunting trip shall be rewarded. Consort Rong shall be promoted to Consort Xian, and Lady Lin shall be promoted to Lady Jieyu, with the title Jin. The rest shall be promoted one rank in turn, except for Lady Xue."
Lin Guiyou injured her abdomen, and the imperial physician said that she could not conceive again.
From this day forward, her favor was in the hands of the emperor.
Yuan Zhaoyue pouted and leaned against the emperor. "Your Majesty, if I had known you would be so biased, I would have gone with you yesterday!"