allonlinenovel Chapter 444 Princess Yongle's Test
Chapter 444 Princess Yongle's Test
"Sister, please get up quickly." The Queen quickly bent down and helped Concubine Shun up.
Then he looked at the Fifth Prince and said with concern, "Child, you have just recovered from a serious illness. There is no need to be so polite. Get up quickly and lie back on the couch to recuperate."
She had a bright smile on her face and looked at the Fifth Prince with concern and enthusiasm, as if she really cared about the Fifth Prince's health.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shun Guipin said softly, her voice still choked with sobs.
"Your son thanks the Queen for her concern." The fifth prince stood up and said.
The Queen met Shun Guipin's gaze and noticed that her eyes were red. She couldn't help but ask with concern, "Sister, what's wrong? Isn't it a happy thing that the Fifth Prince has recovered? Why are you crying?"
Shun Guipin subconsciously covered her red and swollen eyes with a handkerchief and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Majesty."
The Fifth Prince met the Empress's gaze and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Mother, upon hearing that I have recovered, was overjoyed and burst into tears."
"Oh, really?" The Queen looked at Shun Guipin.
Shun Guipin couldn't ruin her own son's plan, so she could only go along with what the Fifth Prince said.
She smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I am indeed too excited..."
You can't tell the Queen that she just found out that her son almost died.
No matter how naive Shun Guipin was, she had noticed something over the years.
The queen seemed to pay too much attention to her and her son.
Shun Guipin had also heard some of the rumors in the palace. It was nothing more than that the queen had no children, and in order to prevent the emperor from passing away and power falling into the hands of others, she wanted to adopt her fifth prince as her child.
At first, Shun Guipin was frightened and worried when she heard these rumors.
She was afraid that the queen would really take her fifth prince away.
She had been timid and incompetent all her life, and dared not compete with others. It took her more than ten years to be with the emperor before she had a son, the fifth prince, so she was reluctant to give him up.
But if she refused, she would not be afraid of anything else, but she would be afraid that the Fifth Prince would resent her as his biological mother in the future.
After all, the future of a prince born to a minor concubine in the cold palace is self-evident compared to the legitimate son of the empress.
When the fifth prince was young, about four or five years old, Concubine Zhou was still rampant in the palace. Concubine Shun was afraid that she could not protect the fifth prince, so she secretly ran to Fengyi Palace and proposed to adopt the fifth prince to the queen.
At that time, Shun Guipin was fully convinced that the Queen would agree.
After all, the queen was no longer able to give birth at that time. She was injured when giving birth to Princess Yongle and would never have children again. That period was also the time when rumors that the queen wanted to raise the fifth prince were most intense.
But the queen looked at her with complicated eyes for a while and then refused.
This was beyond Shun Guipin's expectations.
She was a timid person by nature, and it took a lot of courage for her to dare to mention this matter, but she was rejected by the queen.
She didn't know why the queen suddenly changed her mind and rejected her, but she didn't dare to mention it a second time.
At that time, the Queen and Concubine Zhou were fighting each other, and these unfavored concubines were already living in the cracks, fearing that they would be implicated if they were not careful.
If she kept bringing it up and was rejected by the Queen, she would probably anger the Queen and her life would be difficult in the future.
From then on, no matter how strong the rumors were in the palace that the Queen wanted to raise the Fifth Prince as her own, Shun Guipin no longer dared to believe them.
Because she knew that the queen did not have such an idea.
But in the years that followed, the queen did take good care of her and the fifth prince.
This made Shun Guipin very uneasy. She didn't know what the queen's purpose was.
If she wanted to use the Fifth Prince to pressure Concubine Zhou, now that Concubine Zhou is dead, the Queen is still very concerned about the Fifth Prince.
Just like now, the Queen listened to Shun Guipin's words, her eyes twinkled, and she said sympathetically, "Children are the apple of their mother's eye. The Fifth Prince has suffered a great hardship this time, and it's understandable that you are worried about him. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"What's more, you did something wrong before and were confined by the Emperor. The Fifth Prince is seriously ill and bedridden, but you can't come to take care of him. You can only worry alone. It's understandable that Pu Yi was a little emotional when he met him."
The Queen then looked at the Fifth Prince, her eyes filled with love, and warned him, "Although you have recovered now, you have faced a life-or-death situation. Even if your health improves, it will never be the same as before. You must take good care of yourself and not be careless."
"If you need anything, please send someone to Fengyi Palace to tell my mother, and she will have it delivered to you. Don't let yourself be wronged."
"Yes, thank you, mother." The fifth prince smiled and nodded, looking respectful.
Princess Yongle, standing by, also spoke up. "Fifth brother, if you need anything, you can tell me. Mother and I both care deeply about you. It's just that my father previously ordered no one to visit, so he hasn't come yet."
"Haven't you always wanted to go out of the palace to play? After you've recovered for a while, I'll ask my father to take you out of the palace with me so you can have fun for two days."
Princess Yongle's attitude was the same as usual, and she was quite concerned about her younger brother, the Fifth Prince.
It’s no wonder that Concubine Shun is uneasy.
For many years in the palace, the Queen and her daughter treated everyone with aloofness except for their feud with Concubine Zhou, except for them and her son.
Especially Princess Yongle, who was raised by the Empress Dowager and became arrogant and domineering. She was the kind of person who would whip people at any time. Even to the Emperor's favorite Prince Rui, she was only respectful to him.
But he could only smile at the Fifth Prince.
No matter who it is, I'm afraid no one would feel at ease.
The fifth prince was respectful to the queen, and the smile on his face became more genuine when he faced Princess Yongle.
He smiled and said, "Then I would like to thank you, Big Sister. I will recover as soon as possible and go out of the palace with you as soon as possible."
The queen looked at the smile on the fifth prince's face, and a hint of anxiety appeared at the corner of her mouth. But she didn't know what she thought of, and the curve disappeared in an instant.
His eyes were smiling, but there was a deep coldness in them.
She slowly opened her mouth and said, "Speaking of which, today is truly an auspicious day. It can be called a double celebration. Not only have you recovered, but Prince Rui's marriage has also been finalized. I'm sure the Prince Rui's Mansion will soon welcome its mistress."
When the Queen said this, the Fifth Prince and Concubine Shun were both stunned.
The fifth prince had been bedridden recuperating. Even after Xie Nanyuan returned to Beijing and asked for the emperor's grace, he visited the fifth prince from time to time, but he never told him about this.
Not to mention Concubine Shun. After she was released from house arrest, she knew that the fifth prince almost died, so she just cried.
Therefore, both mother and son were very surprised at this moment.
The Fifth Prince took a long while to find his voice and asked, "Third brother is getting married? When did it happen? How come I haven't heard about it?"
Princess Yongle smiled and said, "Fifth brother, you are bedridden and out of touch with the news, so you don't know. Even mother and I just heard about it. Steward Li just finished reading the imperial edict at the Shen family and is on his way back to the palace."
Shen family?
"Which Shen family?" asked the fifth prince with his big eyes clearly distinguishing black and white.
Princess Yongle covered her mouth and chuckled, "Who else could it be from the Shen family? It's the Princess Jialin, who donated money for disaster relief and sent food to the border. I heard that it was my third brother who asked for an imperial decree from our father himself!"
Princess Yongle spoke, her eyes fixed on the Fifth Prince's face.
The Fifth Prince's brows were furrowed, and his wide-open almond-shaped eyes showed five parts of astonishment, three parts of disbelief, and two parts of certainty.
I see……
Sure enough!
He said that his third brother was interested in Miss Shen, otherwise why was he so nervous at the time? He even asked him to stay around the banquet held by the eldest princess, for fear that she would do something wrong and be punished by the eldest princess.
After that, they got entangled several times.
He asked his third brother, but he still refused to admit it.
As a result, he even received the imperial decree granting the marriage out of the blue.
Humph! What a hypocrite!
The fifth prince pursed his lips, feeling inexplicably unhappy.
The third brother was getting married, and he actually heard about it from the eldest princess!
But in front of the Empress, the Fifth Prince could only smile and say, "That's great. Father has long wanted Third Brother to get married. Now, one of Father's biggest concerns has finally been resolved."
Seeing that his happiness didn't seem fake, Princess Yongle tightened her grip on the handkerchief and said with a smile, "Indeed, I heard that the Shen family is very wealthy. They gave out three million taels of disaster relief silver so easily. I guess they have quite a lot of money."
"I've heard before that my Third Brother is sympathetic to the soldiers and often provides them with financial support, which is why the Rui Palace is so frugal. If he marries the Princess Jialin, he won't have to worry about money anymore, and..."