Yuan Qingling smiled. “Your Highness, I’m afraid your father might not invite me to dinner again.”
“That may not be true. Let’s make a deal first.” Prince Sun said.
Your Highness, you must have eaten a lot of royal meals. Yuan Qingling said indifferently.
“It’s not the same. Don’t you know that my father’s cooks only cook for him? Don’t you notice the different taste as the other imperial meals?”
Yuan Qingling shook her head. “I don’t know how to tell.”
“What a pity! What a pity!” Prince Sun said very regretfully, “You have let down the delicious food. You have let down the delicious food.”
He looked at the remaining chicken leg in his hand and sighed. “The chicken leg is not good than the father’s royal meal, but we can’t let down the chicken leg.”
After that, he continued to bite.
When Yuan Qingling saw him eating, she felt very satisfied and comfortable.
“Why is His Highness hiding in the grass to eat?” Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, and that Yuan Qingling really had no place to go, she didn’t know the road in the imperial palace, and she was afraid that she would bump into others. Therefore, she hoped that Prince Sun could leave as soon as possible.
“I don’t want anyone to find out that I stole a chicken leg.” He was very focused on eating. But when he was eating, his words were extremely clear and not ambiguous at all.
“He ate secretly?” Yuan Qingling was puzzled. Did he still need to eat secretly?
“I’m losing weight!” While he was talking, he had already finished eating the chicken leg. He threw the chicken bone to the lake and splashed the water. It sank. He wiped his hands and looked at Yuan Qingling. He raised his hands and said, “Let’s go.”
Losing weight and eating secretly? Yuan Qingling felt that none of Emperor Mingyuan’s sons were normal.
She took a few deep breaths and was distracted by Prince Sun’s question about the royal meal. She felt a little better.
In fact, why was she angry? She believed that Chu Mingcui was normal. They were childhood sweethearts. If it weren’t for the fact that Yuan Qingling interfered, they would have been husband and wife long ago.
If she had a childhood sweetheart lover, would she choose to believe in her lover or a bad man who ruined her marriage? This was obvious.
Looking at the surface of the lake, which was gradually becoming calm, Yuan Qingling’s sadness gradually dissipated.
The words that the retired emperor had said were clear to her the moment she left the hall.
He said that he would let her fight.
The retired emperor knew a lot of things in his heart, and he didn’t know it in advance. But after thinking about it later, he knew everything.
There was a person who can understand her that she calmed down a lot.
In Queen Xian’s Qingyu Palace.
Queen Xian had not been feeling well these days. When the autumn wind blew, she would feel uncomfortable. She had not been out of the Qingyu Palace for several days and did not even go to greet the Empress.
These few days, because of the retired emperor’s illness, the various palaces were all listening to the news. No one was willing to pay him a visit on account of their reputation. Chu Mingcui’s arrival could be considered to bring a hint of anger into the Qingyu Palace.
Queen Xian liked Chu Mingcui very much. This woman had a good reputation, and the Chu family’s power in the court was also at its peak. If Yu Wenhao married her as a concubine, it would be of great help to his future.
Queen Mother had once said that Master Chu was a shrewd person and would not gather all his strength on the Empress’ legitimate son. If Yu Wenhao could marry into the Chu family through marriage, there would be great hope.
Unfortunately, everything had been ruined by Yuan Qingling.
Therefore, Queen Xian did not want to see Yuan Qingling until now.
She hated Yuan Qingling so much.
Now seeing Prince Wenqing and Chu Mingcui enter the room gracefully, as if they were a perfect couple, her head hurt even more, but she could not help smiling at them.
“Greetings, Queen Xian!” Prince Wenqing and Chu Mingcui went forward to greet her.
“Please don’t stand on ceremony. Sit down!” Queen Xian said with a smile.
The two of them sat down. Chu Mingcui looked at Queen Xian and asked with concern, “I heard that Queen Xian’s head has been hurt again. Have you invited an imperial physician? Do you feel better?”
Queen Xian sighed in her heart. What a pity! This child had always been the most beloved and filial to her. Even Yu Wenhao could not compare with her.
“The wind is strong and my head hurts. I’m used to it. It doesn’t matter.” Queen Xian answered.
“Queen Xian, you should pay attention to your health.” Chu Mingcui stood up and walked to Queen Xian. “I’ll give you a massage.”
Her gentle fingers pressed against Queen Xian’s taiyang point and massaged them skillfully. Queen Xian sighed comfortably. “Aunt Lu can’t learn your skills no matter how hard she tries.”
She raised her eyes slightly and looked at Prince Wenqing. “Yu Wenqing, you are lucky to marry a good princess.”
In fact, Queen Xian’s heart was extremely sour. But she had been in the imperial palace for many years and had a lot of experience; so naturally, she did not show her emotions. Therefore, in the ears of Prince Wenqing, a heartless person, he only felt praise.
Prince Wenqing proudly glanced at Chu Mingcui and said, “Queen Xian is right.”
Chu Mingcui’s face turned red with embarrassment. She glared at him and said, “Alright, go out. I’ll talk to Queen Xian.”
Prince Wenqing was not interested in talking to women, so he got up and left.
As soon as Prince Wenqing went out, Chu Mingcui’s eyes turned red. “Queen Xian, you must take care of yourself. I can’t always serve you. If you don’t care about yourself, I will always worry about you.”
Queen Xian took her hand and patted the back of her hand gently. “Yu Wenhao is not lucky enough to be unable to marry you. It’s too late to say anything now.”
“His Highness is also very good now. Princess Chu is favored by His Majesty. His Majesty rewarded her with two Southern Pearls. She said that she would send them to Your Highness. She is filial.” Chu Mingcui said.
Queen Xian was stunned. “His Majesty rewarded her with the Southern Pearl? Is it an ordinary Southern Pearl?”
“No, it’s made of crystal ball.”
“Did His Majesty reward her with the crystal ball as a tribute?” Queen Xian was surprised. “I remember that His Majesty doesn’t like her very much.”
“She did a great job serving the retired emperor. If the retired emperor likes her, then the emperor likes her more.” Chu Mingcui said with a smile.
“Is there really such a thing?” Queen Xian did not know this. The news of the Qinkun Palace had always been blocked, and she was not qualified to serve the empress. It was the empress who went, and not even the Honored Consort Ya could get close to the Qiankun Palace.
She did not expect that the retired emperor and the Emperor liked Yuan Qingling too much and even rewarded Southern Pearl. If so, it would be another story.
Chu Mingcui could tell that Queen Xian had changed her mind. Her eyes turned cold and she sneered in her heart.
Queen Xian, I’m afraid you are happy too early.
After Chu Mingcui left, Queen Xian was waiting for Yuan Qingling to come over.
After getting two strings of Southern Pearl, she was filial to her.
However, after waiting for an hour, she still did not see Yuan Qingling. She sent Aunt Lu to inquire about it. Aunt Lu returned not long after she left and said, “Your Highness, you don’t have to wait. My Lady has already given a string of Southern Pearls to the empress.”
Queen Xian’s heart turned cold when she heard that. After a while, she said coldly, “Yes, it’s good to give it to the empress. She’s a sensible person.”
Aunt Lu could not help but ask, “Princess Chu, what’s wrong with you? Why are you trying to please the Empress? You didn’t even come to pay your respects to the empress when you came to the imperial palace to take care of her. Now that you’ve received the reward, you’re thinking about the empress.”
Queen Xian had always been angry with Yuan Qingling. Now that she had done such a thing, she became angrier and said coldly, “Your Majesty, I don’t know what you will think when you know that she is being kind to the empress.”
Aunt Lu was stunned. “Your Grace, this can’t be done. I’m afraid it will implicate His Highness.”