Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 162: Legend of Zhen Huan 34

With Concubine Duan's intelligence, she had already figured out that the bowl of safflower soup she served to Concubine Nian must have come from the Queen, who was still the legitimate wife. However, this must have been done with the Emperor's tacit approval, and perhaps even involved the deceased Queen Mother.

She had fallen in love with the emperor when she was just beginning to fall in love. Over the years, she had seen how difficult it was for the emperor to win the throne, and how difficult it was for him to handle state affairs and implement various policies. So she didn't hate the emperor at all. Even now, when she thought of that bowl of safflower soup, she felt that even if she knew the inside story, she might still be willing to do that thing.

But now she is old. After witnessing the relationship between Concubine Wan and the emperor, she keenly realized that the emperor's attitude towards Concubine Wan is not just a substitute for Empress Chunyuan. But she does not want to die with the emperor's guilt. She wants to seek a higher position so that she can be buried with the emperor a hundred years later.

Originally, she did choose Princess Wen Yi. After all, she knew that the emperor would not tolerate Nian Gengyao for too long, and the Nian family would fall sooner or later. And Xiang Guiren, who was the military advisor to Concubine Nian, would not have a good ending either, so it was just right for her to take over Princess Wen Yi.

But unexpectedly, the emperor sent Princess Wen Yi directly to Concubine Jing. In this way, she could only consider the Fourth Prince who lost his mother at a young age, or the Fifth Prince who was far away in Rehe.

The news her people sent back from Rehe showed that the relationship between the Fifth Prince and Concubine Yu was very deep, and Concubine Yu was not a simple woman, so choosing the Fourth Prince could at least ensure that she paid the least and gained the most.

Soon, the emperor came to Yi Xin to test her: "I intend to give Hongli to Concubine Duan to raise. What do you think, Jin Qing?"

Yi Xin showed a look of relief, saying, "Your Majesty has come at the right time. The Third Prince is already seventeen, and the Empress is seriously ill. But I am only a concubine, so how can I bypass the Empress to find a wife for the princes?"

"Besides, the Fourth Prince is already grown up, and he will want to see his wife in two years. In my opinion, it is quite appropriate for the Emperor to entrust the Fourth Prince to Concubine Duan for upbringing. Concubine Duan has not been in good health, and she has been recuperating for many years. When the Fourth Prince grows up, he will move directly into the prince's residence when he returns to the palace. Concubine Duan only needs to send someone to take care of the Fourth Prince's diet and daily life, and she doesn't need to spend any energy on it."

"And the Fifth Prince, it's not a big deal for him to live outside all the time. Anyway, there are a lot of doctors watching over him in the palace. I'm sure the Fifth Prince can get better care."

The emperor didn't expect that just one sentence from him would elicit so much talk from Yi Xin, and seeing that Yi Xin had no intention of forcing him, he felt relieved. In the blink of an eye, he began to worry about the Third Prince's marriage and the Fifth Prince's studies.

As for the Fourth Prince, I'm sorry, if he had not been sure that the woman named Li Jingui had never had contact with other men, he would not have wanted to admit that Hongli was his child. Sometimes he even thought that Hongli was the son of the Eighth Prince, and that the Eighth Prince framed Hongli with Li Jingui's pregnancy in order to save Hongli from the clutches of Guo Luoluo.

There was still some time before dinner, and Yi Xin didn't want to deal with the emperor's endless temptations, so she pushed the emperor to play games with Hong Sheng.

There are many skilled craftsmen in the Imperial Household Department. Yi Xin first made a jigsaw puzzle, and gradually the Imperial Household Department was able to make even Lego. Right now, Hong Sheng is assembling a water-penetrating mill. After it is assembled, pour water into it from a specific entrance to start the pestle and the millstone.

The father and son followed the instructions and worked together for nearly an hour before finally finishing the water mill. Su Peisheng watched for a long time and wanted to get involved in it himself. Seeing the eunuch Ping An beside Hong Sheng coming over with a bucket of water, he quickly took the bucket and scooped a bucket of water himself and handed it to the emperor. The emperor slowly poured the water into the mouth, and the whole water mill and mill started up.

Even the emperor felt that completing this puzzle was a great feat, let alone the real kid Hongsheng.

When Hong Sheng also poured a bucket of water with his own hands, the whole yard was filled with Hong Sheng's laughter.

Even though Su Peisheng just held Hong Sheng's hand to satisfy his craving, he still thought this thing called a puzzle was quite fun.

The emperor was an emperor after all. While eating, he sighed: "It would be great if water-powered pestles and mills could be used everywhere..."

Yi Xin was not too defensive and replied, "The water flow of this thing is very important. It can only be used in the south where there are a lot of rain and rivers. It is not suitable for the north. Your Majesty, why don't you take it to Yunnan and Guizhou to promote it."

The emperor was surprised to find that Yi Xin knew a lot of things. If someone else came, even if they were a newly-appointed Jinshi, they would probably only think that the difference between the south and the north was only the difference between heavy snow and light snow in winter. But Yi Xin, a girl, could actually know a lot of information about the terrain and rain in other places. It must be that either Fu Cha had the conditions to send someone out, or Yi Xin herself extracted the information from the travel notes.

No matter which one it is, it shows that Yi Xin is not an ordinary lady raised in seclusion.

The emperor was prejudiced against women, but that could not be said to be contempt for women. After all, he had a complicated life experience since childhood, and the previous emperor's harem had never been peaceful, so he was accustomed to the cruel things women could do to win favor, and therefore he never underestimated women's minds.

However, because of this, there is an innate prejudice against women who only know how to hang around in the backyard or the inner chamber, and are often not presentable in public.

Of course, more importantly, he had never witnessed how Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang guided the late emperor in running the government. Even though he had heard a lot about Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's deeds, he still couldn't help but focus more on the romantic scandal between Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and Prince Heshuo Rui.

Fortunately, Yi Xin had almost never taken the initiative to interfere in government affairs before, otherwise the emperor would have thought that she had the intention of interfering in government affairs, thus ruining her and Hong Sheng's future.

So after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the team returning to the palace included Concubine Duan's adopted son, the Fourth Prince Hongli, as well as Concubine Yu and the Fifth Prince Hongzhou, mother and son, who were brought back from Rehe by the Emperor.

Yi Xin thought that she only said a few words for Yupin and her son, which facilitated their return to the palace, so it was natural for her to accept the thank-you gift from Yupin. However, she said nothing about the matter of the Fourth Prince, and it was all thanks to Concubine Duan's own face that the matter was accomplished. However, Concubine Duan still sent a valuable gift.

Moreover, Concubine Duan gave an expensive gift generously, and many people along the way saw it. Yi Xin had no choice but to add some extra gifts to the gift for the Fourth Prince, which she felt was unnecessary.

But Concubine Duan was like a fool and would bring the Fourth Prince to Chengqian Palace from time to time, saying that the Fourth Prince was the older brother and she just happened to be playing with her younger brother Hongsheng. In fact, Yi Xin was really unsure of her intentions.

But Yi Xin was not someone who could be coerced by Concubine Duan's tactics, so when the concubines came to pay their respects, Yi Xin said in public that the Fourth Prince was lacking in schoolwork and that he should focus more on his studies for now so that he could share the emperor's worries in the future.

When Concubine Duan saw this, she knew that Yi Xin would never accept the Fourth Prince's allegiance to her, so she became obedient afterwards.