The Palace.
After the morning court session, the emperor sat on the dragon throne, reviewing memorials. Suddenly, he asked, "Ping Hai, what do you think the Fourth Prince is doing now?"
Ping Hai answered smoothly, "According to the little princess's routine, His Highness should have finished breakfast and be having his morning reading."
The empress had stopped the emperor from seeing the Fourth Prince, fearing it would affect his recovery. So the emperor had to hold back.
But the emperor missed the Fourth Prince so much that he sent someone to the princess mansion to ask Princess Jingning for the Fourth Prince's schedule.
Almost as soon as he opened his eyes, the Fourth Prince would go to find Shen Baozhu. First, he would have meals with her, then do morning reading and practice calligraphy... until evening. Only after having dinner with Shen Baozhu would he go to bed.
Listening to Ping Hai's account, the emperor's heart softened. It was as if he could see the Fourth Prince sitting obediently on the chair, practicing calligraphy. He sighed with emotion, "It's still Sister Lan Yue who is good at education. Not only is He Qing studious himself, but he also leads his younger siblings to study."
"Baozhu is only five years old, yet she already knows the importance of reading and learning. Look at the Third Prince. He skipped class in the Imperial Study Room yesterday and went to play with crickets. What a disgrace!"
Previously, the emperor had a soft spot for the Third Prince. Thinking that he was the younger brother of the eldest princess and the only son of himself and the empress, he always doted on him a bit more.
Now that the truth was out, when the emperor looked at the Third Prince again, without those two layers of favoritism, and just regarded him as a prince born to a concubine in the harem, he couldn't stand some of his bad habits.
"What a disgrace?" The empress dowager was supported into the Qianqing Palace by Su Lian and asked coldly.
The appearance of the empress dowager startled the emperor.
Since Princess Ning'an's death, the empress dowager rarely left the Ci'an Palace. Her sudden appearance today was quite puzzling.
The emperor's eyes swept over the palace servants waiting at the door. Just as he was about to punish them, he was stopped by the empress dowager, "Your Majesty scolding those servants. Do you think I'm not worthy to enter this Qianqing Palace? Not worthy to be your mother?"
The empress dowager was the late emperor's first wife and the emperor's nominal stepmother. When the emperor first ascended the throne, due to filial piety, he had to respect and follow her.
Now, more than a decade had passed. The emperor had long secured his throne and was no longer afraid of the empress dowager using filial piety to pressure him.
But the emperor thought it was better to avoid trouble. He just followed the empress dowager's words and sent her away.
The emperor stepped forward a few steps, supported the empress dowager to sit on the chair, and changed the topic, "Mother, why did you come here?"
Thinking of her purpose for this visit, the empress dowager didn't dwell on the previous matter. She smiled and said, "I dreamed that Bao'er came back and gestured four to me. I thought that in the palace, the one related to four was the Fourth Prince born to Concubine Cui."
"I heard that Concubine Cui committed a great crime and the Fourth Prince has no one to take care of him. This child is fated with me. Your Majesty might as well hand the Fourth Prince over to me to take care of."
The emperor didn't expect the empress dowager to come for the Fourth Prince. He couldn't figure out her intention for a moment and didn't give a direct response, "Children like to make noise. I'm afraid the Fourth Prince will disturb you, Mother."
But the empress dowager said, "I've always thought the Ci'an Palace was too quiet. This is a good opportunity to liven it up."
No matter what the emperor said, the empress dowager could find a reason and firmly stated that she wanted to take the Fourth Prince back to the Ci'an Palace.
Helplessly, the emperor told her that Concubine Cui had swapped the children. In fact, the Fourth Prince was born to the empress. The truth had just come to light and the mother and son hadn't reunited yet. So the Fourth Prince couldn't be sent away.
Even though she already knew the truth, the empress dowager still showed shock when she heard it again, "Concubine Cui actually did such a thing."
Then, the empress dowager asked the question that the emperor had been avoiding, "Since it was Concubine Cui who swapped the children, now that the truth is out, why not announce their identities to the world?"
After all, the emperor had doted on the Third Prince for seven years. In his eyes, the one who made mistakes was Concubine Cui, not the Third Prince. If it weren't for Concubine Cui's ill intentions and secret instigation, the Third Prince wouldn't have become like this.
The emperor sighed softly, "Mother, Xu Yang has been spoiled since childhood. I'm afraid he won't be able to accept the truth all at once."
Hearing this, the empress dowager cursed the emperor hundreds of times in her heart. Well, the Third Prince was also his child. They were all his children. It didn't matter which one he favored!
On the surface, the empress dowager remained calm, "Since Your Majesty is worried about the Third Prince, then hand the Fourth Prince over to me to raise."
"Mother, I just said that the Fourth Prince is the empress's heart and soul." The emperor was already a bit impatient. He felt that the empress dowager came to the Qianqing Palace this time just to make him unhappy.
The empress dowager refused to give in, "The Fourth Prince is the empress's heart and soul. Then Your Majesty should announce to the world as soon as possible that the Fourth Prince is the legitimate son of the middle palace. Then I can take the Third Prince to the Ci'an Palace."
The emperor patiently explained again, "I'm afraid Xu Yang won't be able to accept the truth all at once. This matter still needs to be discussed."
The conversation went around in circles and returned to the starting point.
The empress dowager sneered, "I want to raise the Fourth Prince, and you say he is the son of the empress, the legitimate son of the middle palace, so you won't let me raise him."
"Fine! Then I'll raise the Third Prince, and still you won't allow it, afraid that the Third Prince will be sad when he learns his true identity."
"Your Majesty doesn't care about the Third Prince. You just can't stand me. You think I've lived too long and annoyed you."
This was a harsh thing to say. The emperor quickly denied it.
The empress dowager came to the Qianqing Palace today not to quarrel with the emperor, but to help the empress get rid of the Third Prince.
Whether it was because she hadn't disciplined him well before or it was just his nature, after the empress had let the Third Prince play around for just a few days, he became even more excessive, and the news spread far and wide.
The palace servants outside the Fengyi Palace all knew that the Third Prince loved to play and had even spent a lot of money to buy crickets for fun.
Everyone had their own desires. Many people had done things like buying crickets, which was a waste of time and energy. But it was rare for someone like the Third Prince to be so ostentatious.
If they didn't get the Third Prince out of the Fengyi Palace now, when the truth came out in the future, there would surely be villains maliciously speculating that the empress had deliberately spoiled the Third Prince so that her own son, the Fourth Prince, would have one less competitor.
The empress dowager loved the empress by association and protected her.
Seeing that the time was right, the empress dowager asked the emperor for a definite answer. Whether he would let her raise the Fourth Prince or the Third Prince.
The emperor already had an answer in his heart. The Fourth Prince was the future crown prince and must never be sent to the Ci'an Palace. As for the Third Prince, he had offended the gods and had no hope of ascending the throne.
After much thought, the emperor asked the empress dowager to take the Third Prince to the Ci'an Palace to raise. As for when to announce their identities, he would discuss it with the empress.
Having achieved her goal, the empress dowager didn't leave immediately. She pretended not to know much and asked, "What's the Third Prince's name?"
Forced to make a choice, the emperor was annoyed and his tone was a bit impatient, "Xu Yang. Xu as in the sun."
The empress dowager let out a soft "oh" and then asked, "What about the Fourth Prince's name?"
The emperor froze imperceptibly. He really didn't seem to know the Fourth Prince's name. Before, the Fourth Prince was a fool, and he regarded it as a disgrace and rarely bothered to know. Later, when he learned the truth, the Fourth Prince had gone to the princess mansion and they hadn't met yet.
"Your Highness, please have some tea. The Fourth Prince's name is just Fan. It was given by Concubine Li... Concubine Cui. She said she hoped the Fourth Prince would have an ordinary life."
Concubine Cui had sent her own child to be the crown prince, poisoned and made another child stupid, and still hoped that the other child would have an ordinary life.
The emperor realized Concubine Cui's malice, held back his anger, and said sharply, "Change it. This name must be changed!"