Chapter 139
King Jing was made the Crown Prince, and Li Yu was made the Crown Princess.
Li Yu’s background in this ancient era was that he was a general without an army. He didn’t have any background. He originally thought that he would be criticized. The Crown Prince had even made preparations. If anyone had any objections to the Crown Princess, he would refute them on the spot. Unexpectedly, not a single minister objected.
It wasn’t that some people didn’t covet the position of Crown Princess. After all, once the Crown Princess ascended the throne and became the Emperor, the Crown Princess would be the Empress. If it was possible, who wouldn’t want to fight for it? But these people had been busy until now. King Jing’s husband’s relationship with his wife was extremely good. King Jing hadn’t even taken a concubine, let alone a concubine. The Emperor obviously followed King Jing’s lead. Now that King Jing had become the Crown Prince, would they be able to succeed if they rashly fought for the position of Crown Princess?
He was afraid that if he angered the Crown Prince, the gains would not make up for the losses. Marriage was marriage, marriage was marriage, not enemies.
It was true that Li Yu’s birth was a sore point, but this person already had four sons, and all four of them were favored by the Emperor. When they were just born, the Emperor bestowed them with nobility, and often held the children on his knees. It was clear that he favored them greatly. If she wanted to become the Crown Prince’s consort, would she offend these little imperial grandsons?
The ministers did not dare to do so, so no one dared to obstruct the decree to confer the title of Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess was thus settled. The Crown Prince originally lived in the King Jing fu. The Emperor originally wanted the Crown Prince to move into the palace, but the Crown Prince said that the original fu was very good and that there was no need to make a big fuss. The Emperor thought that the Crown Princess was still pregnant and that it was indeed inconvenient to move the palace. In this dynasty, the Crown Prince did not have to live in the palace. The Emperor listened to the Crown Prince and changed the King Jing fu to the Crown Prince fu.
The Emperor was very satisfied with what he had done. But when he was done, he suddenly realized that Da Bao was originally King Jing’s Heir Apparent. Now that King Jing had become the Crown Prince, Da Bao’s Heir Apparent position was gone.
Although the son of the Crown Prince had a much brighter future than the son of a Wangye, Da Bao did not have a title. The Emperor stubbornly believed that Da Bao had been wronged. How could the Emperor be willing? He waved his hand and gave Da Bao the title of a third-rank light carriage commander.
Originally, the Emperor wanted to bestow the title of Prince to Dabao, which could be considered a good story. When he told Luo Ruisheng, Head Steward Luo was so scared that his legs went soft. He hurriedly tried to persuade the Emperor, but the Emperor changed his mind and reluctantly chose Captain Qingche. Even so, the Emperor still felt that Dabao was wronged.
When Li Yu received the edict, the corner of his mouth twitched. He thought to himself, How could this be? He was really afraid that the Emperor would spoil Dabao too much. What if he gave Dabao a grandson? Fortunately, the Emperor still had a trace of reason left.
Dabao was also a very lucky fish cub. He had been using cheats since he was born, and even helped his father conquer his grandfather. A child who was less than two years old actually had a third-rank noble title. If this wasn’t cheating, then what was?
Look, who was the real lucky fish in their family? Clearly, it was Dabao.
After receiving the title, he had to enter the palace to give thanks. Li Yu tidied up and prepared to leave. He didn’t go out much to begin with, and after becoming pregnant, he was even more careful. However, he had no choice but to enter the palace. Li Yu had someone send a letter to the Crown Prince, Old Gong, early in the morning to notify the Crown Prince.
He also brought a crystal bottle with a fish substitute inside. The Emperor had given him the title of “Number One Fish in the World.” This was also to give thanks, so it was on the way.
Wang Xi personally accompanied Li Yu into the palace. As the Crown Princess was seriously ill, Wang Xi specially chose a round-faced servant girl who knew martial arts and medicine to guard Li Yu at all times.
Just as they were preparing to leave, the Crown Prince sent a message for the Crown Princess to wait in the fu.
The eunuch who came to deliver the message only received this unclear message. Although Li Yu felt it was strange, he still did as Old Gong said and temporarily delayed entering the palace.
After waiting for less than five minutes, the Crown Prince quickly rode back to the fu.
“Why did you come back?”
Li Yu was shocked at first, but then he asked Old Gong with a smile.
“To take you into the palace,” the Crown Prince replied with a smile.
“Really, it’s too troublesome …”
Li Yu kept muttering, but his mouth was wide open, a classic example of saying one thing and thinking another.
Who didn’t like to have their other half in mind at all times?
In the past, at the hunting grounds, King Jing had personally taken him everywhere. Now that he was the Crown Prince, this habit still hadn’t changed.
These past few days, the Crown Prince had been swamped with work at the Ministry of Rites. Because he wanted to enter the palace, he specially rushed back to the fu.
“This … will it affect you?” Li Yu was overjoyed. He also knew that Old Gong would be criticized if he wasn’t careful.
The Crown Prince smiled easily. “It won’t. I’ve already asked the minister for leave.”
Since he had already asked for leave, then it was fine. Li Yu nodded in confusion. He felt that this minister seemed to be very considerate of his subordinates.
He completely didn’t realize that with his status as Old Gong, even if he didn’t ask for leave, no one in the Ministry of Rites would dare to stop him.
Since the Crown Prince had specially rushed back, he left with the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess was pregnant and couldn’t ride a horse. When the Crown Prince returned to the fu, he rode a fast horse. When he sent the Crown Princess to the palace, he rode in a carriage with her.
The carriage moved extremely slowly. When they arrived at the palace gates, the Crown Princess had already slept comfortably in the Crown Prince’s arms.
“We’ve arrived so quickly?”
Li Yu used to feel that there was a distance between home and the palace, but this time, they flew by quickly.
Wang Xi, who was following the carriage, did his best to suppress his laughter. His Highness the Crown Prince knew best whether it was fast or not.
The Crown Prince helped Li Yu out of the carriage. One of Steward Luo’s attendants was already waiting at the palace gates. When he saw the Crown Prince, he quickly came over to bow and lead the Crown Prince’s group to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Because of the Crown Princess’s inconvenient health, the eunuch specially prepared a soft sedan for her.
The Crown Prince glanced at the sedan and shook his head. He ordered Wang Xi to bring in the small sedan that had followed them all the way from the fu.
Li Yu:???
When did Old Gong prepare this? How come he didn’t know?
However, since there was a sedan to sit in, there was no need to walk. The lazy fish immediately sat in the sedan.
He thought that the Crown Prince still wanted to sit with him, so he quickly patted the area beside him, asking the Crown Prince to sit as well.
However, the Crown Prince didn’t move.
The sedan wasn’t as big as the carriage. The Crown Prince was afraid of squeezing Li Yu, so he didn’t enter the sedan. Instead, he opened the curtains on the left and right. This way, he wouldn’t be stuffy and could see this fish at all times.
After the Crown Princess sat down, the eight servants from the Crown Prince’s fu were responsible for lifting the sedan and moving it forward. The Crown Prince followed beside the sedan.
The eunuch had heard that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were very loving, but he didn’t expect to be slapped in the face with hot dog food just by inviting the Crown Princess onto the sedan.
The Crown Prince didn’t need him to follow, so the eunuch returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to inform the Emperor.
The sedan wasn’t fast, so nothing happened along the way. Li Yu also saw the scenery along the way.
When they were near the imperial garden, Li Yu suddenly saw a white ball curled up in the bushes.
Li Yu’s heart jumped, and he quickly said, “Wait.”
The Crown Prince hurriedly ordered the servants carrying the sedan to stop and looked at Li Yu.
Li Yu said, “That white ball …”
Were his eyes playing tricks on him? He actually felt that it looked a bit like Piao Xue.
When he delivered the tiger tally last time, Piao Xue had helped him by luring away the guards. Li Yu had asked Eunuch Wang to inquire after the incident. Piao Xue wasn’t caught by the guards at that time. The guards thought that it was a stray cat and didn’t go to the Cold Palace to look for it. Later on, when the Palace of Heavenly Purity was in chaos, the Cold Palace was relatively peaceful.
Li Yu was quite happy that Piao Xue wasn’t hurt because of him. However, the Crown Prince had a grudge against Madam Chou’s son, An Hou, so it wasn’t good for him to display too much. Li Yu asked Eunuch Wang to deliver a bag of dried fish to Piao Xue as a form of thanks.
Although he didn’t explicitly order Eunuch Wang to do anything else, the eunuch in the Cold Palace knew that Eunuch Wang valued this cat and didn’t dare to bully Piao Xue. As a result, Madam Chou’s days were better.
Li Yu didn’t hide the matter of Piao Xue from the Crown Prince. Instead, he took the initiative to tell the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince understood his personality very well. Xiaoyu was kind-hearted and would repay kindness. Even if the other party was a cat, he would do his best to repay it. The Crown Prince knew that he knew his limits and still trusted him as before.
On this trip to the palace, Li Yu had also asked Wang Xi to bring some dried fish, thinking that if they encountered Piao Xue, they could feed it. Perhaps because of this, he would think of Piao Xue from time to time. Now that he saw a white shadow in the imperial garden, he subconsciously thought that it was Piao Xue.
The Crown Prince followed Li Yu’s gaze and also saw the white thing. He ordered the round-faced maidservant, Xiao Luo, to take a look.
Xiao Luo went for a moment and carried a white cat over. Because this cat hadn’t been examined, Xiao Luo didn’t dare to get too close. She only took a few steps forward for the Crown Princess to take a look.
Li Yu took a look and saw that it was indeed Piao Xue. This was really fate!
“What’s wrong with it?” Why was it hiding in the bushes?
Xiao Luo held Piao Xue and examined it carefully. Piao Xue was very clean and didn’t have any dirt on it, but there was a bloody smell.
Xiao Luo sniffed and examined Piao Xue’s body. It turned out that one of Piao Xue’s hind legs was wrapped in thick gauze, and there were bloodstains on the gauze.
“It’s injured,” Xiao Luo said with understanding.
Wang Xi took the initiative to go forward and wiped the cat’s fur with a silver needle. The silver needle didn’t change color. Wang Xi looked at the Crown Prince to seek his opinion, not knowing how the Crown Prince would decide.
Usually, this kind of examination was enough.
Li Yu was a little worried when he heard that Piao Xue’s leg was injured. He also looked at the Crown Prince pitifully.
The Crown Prince, “…”
The Crown Prince’s heart itched under his dark eyes. He turned his face and coughed softly. “Let’s take a look. It’s never wrong to be cautious.”
The Crown Prince ordered Xiao Luo to hold Piao Xue and not let her get close. The Crown Prince walked over and personally examined Piao Xue.
When Piao Xue saw the Crown Prince, it suddenly screamed miserably and bit the gauze on its leg twice. The blood on the gauze quickly spread.
Because of this, the Crown Prince noticed Piao Xue’s injury. After thinking for a while, he said to Xiao Luo, “Open it.”
Xiao Luo had brought Jinchuang ointment with her. If there was really no problem with the wound, she could apply the ointment on Piao Xue again.
Xiao Luo didn’t dare to neglect the Crown Prince’s order. She immediately opened the gauze, and a blood-red ball of cloth rolled out from under the gauze.
Xiao Luo felt that something was strange. After taking a closer look, although there was blood on Piao Xue’s leg, there was no wound. It should have been on the ball of cloth.
“It’s my negligence!” Xiao Luo hurriedly knelt down and apologized.
“What’s wrong?” Li Yu was still in the sedan. He was inevitably surprised to see Xiao Luo suddenly kneel down.
“… It’s nothing. I’m bandaging the cat. Don’t worry.” The Crown Prince’s face had already darkened. Piao Xue wasn’t injured, but it was wrapped in gauze. It made people think that the cat was injured. There must be something wrong with the thing hidden in the gauze.
The Crown Prince thought of many things in an instant, but he was afraid of startling this fish, so he first calmed down with a gentle voice.
With his explanation, Li Yu was relieved, but he still sat and waited.
The Crown Prince gave Wang Xi a look. Wang Xi hurriedly pulled Xiao Luo up. The two of them walked away with Piao Xue and took the gauze and ball of cloth off Piao Xue’s leg.
They were sure that the reason why the blood kept coming out was because of the ball of cloth. Wang Xi had seen a lot of evil, so he knew that the ball of cloth was very dangerous. If someone who didn’t know about it approached Piao Xue, it was very likely that the thing in the ball of cloth would be stained by it.
Xiao Luo wrapped the handkerchief and removed the ball of cloth. There was more and more blood inside.
The blood smelled so bad that Xiao Luo hurriedly covered her nose. “What is this?”
Wang Xi was old and knowledgeable. He took a closer look and said to the Crown Prince, “Your Highness, this isn’t human blood. This old servant smells like dog blood or chicken blood.”
The Crown Prince was speechless.
The Crown Prince asked, “What’s the use of it?”
Wang Xi said, “I heard that among the people, dog blood or chicken blood are sometimes splashed to dispel evil spirits, especially black dog blood.”
“… Evil spirits?”
The Crown Prince had never heard of this saying. It was hidden in gauze in such a sinister way. How could it be used to dispel evil spirits?
Wang Xi said, “Yes, it’s to dispel evil spirits and demons. I heard that if evil spirits come into contact with this kind of dirty blood, they will change back to their original forms in public. ”
Dispel evil spirits and change back to their original forms?
The Crown Prince’s expression suddenly changed. He looked up at Xiao Yu, who was waiting for him in the sedan chair.
He knew that there was a demon beside him. If they hadn’t discovered these things, Xiao Yu would have come into contact with Piao Xue and stained the ball of cloth. What would happen then?
A voice in his heart said, “She will change back to her original form in public.”
Xiao Yu’s original form was a fish.
He had always found it strange that a cat raised in the Cold Palace would have this kind of thing on its body. Moreover, it appeared on the path they had to pass to get to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
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