Previously, the emperor had been worried about the Third Prince and hesitated. Now that he had made a decision, he ordered someone to move the Third Prince's belongings to the Ci'an Palace the next day.
When the palace servants were packing up the things, the Third Prince had just got the crickets he bought at a high price. He held the ceramic pot and happily entered the room, only to find someone moving his things.
He stood at the door and asked, "What are you slaves doing?"
Zhuyue was directing the palace servants to move things. Seeing the Third Prince coming, she said coldly, "His Majesty said that the Third Prince is to move to the Ci'an Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager and show filial piety."
The Third Prince widened his eyes and said reluctantly, "What? Make me accompany the Empress Dowager? Why? She's not my real grandmother. Mother must not know. She won't bear to let me go to the Ci'an Palace. Stop first. I'm going to find Mother now."
Normally, when the emperor's birth mother passed away early and there was only one empress dowager in the palace, the seven - year - old Third Prince shouldn't have known that the empress dowager was not the emperor's birth mother. But Cui was stupid enough to tell the Third Prince about it.
Since Princess Ning'an left, the Empress Dowager had shut herself in and spent most of her time in the Buddhist hall. One could only see her during festivals each year.
The Empress Dowager had no interest in power and didn't try to seek private benefits for the Yan family. She was very cold to the emperor and everyone in the palace, maintaining a state of non - interference.
However, during the Chinese New Year, concubines and noble ladies had to go to the Ci'an Palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. This was a rule left by the ancestors of the Great Yong Dynasty. No matter how reluctant the Empress Dowager was, she had to endure it.
To have some peace, the pastries in the Ci'an Palace were bland, the tea was constantly refilled, and the incense in the room was pungent... Every detail was designed to drive people away.
Facing the rarely - seen noble ladies and young children, the Empress Dowager reluctantly put on a gentle look and showed a bit of kindness. But when it came to the concubines in the palace, she would drive them away with a cold face.
Most concubines were not angry when they received the Empress Dowager's cold treatment. After all, the Empress Dowager treated them equally. Whether it was the queen or a junior concubine, their treatment was the same in front of the Empress Dowager.
But Cui was an exception. That year when the children were swapped, the queen held the swaddled Third Prince to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. For the sake of the child, the Empress Dowager showed kindness for a rare time.
In Cui's eyes, this kindness meant that the Empress Dowager looked down on the lower - ranked and flattered the higher - ranked. The higher - ranked was the queen, and the lower - ranked was her. When she returned to her palace, she was indignant.
She completely forgot that the queen had gone to pay respects with a child in her arms, while she, noticing that the Fourth Prince resembled the Yin family a bit, opened the window when the palace maid was not paying attention, letting the Fourth Prince catch a cold all night and fall seriously ill.
Without a child with her, she naturally didn't receive the Empress Dowager's kindness.
Cui always held a grudge. After getting close to the Third Prince, she complained a lot about the Empress Dowager in his ear.
After hearing these words so many times, the Third Prince disliked the Empress Dowager. Now, hearing that he had to move to the Ci'an Palace to live with the Empress Dowager, he was extremely angry.
He hugged the white porcelain pot and found the queen. He said angrily, "Mother, Father wants me to move to the Ci'an Palace. The Empress Dowager is not my real grandmother..."
The emperor not only asked the Third Prince to move out but also asked the queen to read some ancient books and give the Fourth Prince a good name.
The Third Prince's move and the Fourth Prince's name - change gave the queen a sense of security. She also guessed that it was the Empress Dowager who had helped her. Just as she was full of gratitude, she heard the Third Prince's disrespectful words.
The queen put down the book in her hand and scolded the Third Prince, "The Empress Dowager was the first wife of the late emperor and the legitimate mother of His Majesty. She is also your legitimate grandmother. Who allowed you to discuss your elders!"
These days of indulgence had made the Third Prince over - confident. For a moment, he forgot the queen's strictness. He thought she was like Cui and would accompany him to discuss others.
The Third Prince didn't know about Cui's death yet. He hugged the white porcelain pot tightly in front of him and said aggrievedly and puzzledly, "Mother, can you not be so fierce?"
Seeing that the Third Prince was going to feign ignorance, the queen felt a sense of helplessness. Before, not knowing the truth, when she said she was disappointed in the Third Prince, she actually wanted to save him and correct his bad habits.
But every time the topic of his problems came up, the Third Prince would feign ignorance and muddle through the matter.
Now seeing the Third Prince like this, besides helplessness, the queen also felt a bit of relief. She was glad that the Third Prince was not her own child.
Seeing that the queen didn't say a word, the Third Prince thought he had got away with it. He thought that Concubine Li was better. She not only loved him but also taught him such a useful method.
The Third Prince stepped forward to get close to the queen but was pushed away.
"Since you know that the Empress Dowager is not His Majesty's birth mother, you should understand what a birth mother is," the queen said coldly, ready to tell the Third Prince the truth.
The Third Prince not only understood but also knew it very well. He talked eloquently, "I know! The birth mother is the one who gives birth to the child and gives the child flesh and blood. In this world, only the birth mother is the closest. The adoptive mother and the legitimate mother are just robbers of other people's children..."
The queen immediately realized that these words were told to the Third Prince by Cui. She laughed softly. She was really stupid. Cui was so blatant that it was almost written on her face that she was the Third Prince's birth mother, yet she thought Cui was just transferring her affection.
The Third Prince kept talking. Seeing that the queen ignored him, he got angry again, "Mother, why don't you listen to me!"
The queen picked up the ancient book on the table again. Her fair finger slid across the paper, as if she didn't care. But the words she said made the Third Prince stand still on the spot, "I'm just your adoptive mother. If you want someone to listen to you, go find your birth mother."
"By the way, your birth mother is Concubine Li, the one you always mention."
...
At the Princess Mansion.
When the queen completely clarified things with the Third Prince, Shen Baozhu was accompanying the Fourth Prince to practice calligraphy.
Qiuqiu lay on the table listlessly, "Baozhu, how much longer? I want to go out and play."
Everyone in the mansion was quite busy. Princess Jingning was as busy as ever. Xu Yutang was taking care of Xiaotao. Chen Ruxia was catching thieves in the shop. Yan Mingli went to catch up on sleep. Chen Miaochun hadn't returned from the Su family... After a rough count, only Shen Haiyan and the Prince of Rui were idle.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was still wearing the clothes he wore when he was a child, Shen Haiyan thought there were many girls in the mansion. So he took Qingdai to buy some clothes and jewelry. He also planned to pick out a few sets of ready - made clothes for Chen Miaochun so that she wouldn't always wear the same few outfits.
Afraid that Yan Mingli would go with them, Shen Haiyan didn't even dare to take Shen Baozhu. He just went out with Qingdai directly.
The only one left was the Prince of Rui. He was willing to take the three children out. But Yan Mingli didn't feel at ease and only allowed him to take the three children to the pharmacy.
Shen Baozhu was staring at the Fourth Prince practicing calligraphy. Hearing Qiuqiu's complaint, she also sighed, "If Brother Mingli didn't have such a bad taste in picking jewelry, we could have gone out with Brother Haiyan."
Yan Mingli only considered the price when buying jewelry. Whether it was good - looking or suitable didn't matter to him. He once bought gold jewelry for Chen Miaochun, which made people afraid to look at her for fear of getting their eyes dazzled.
He also bought a very expensive wooden hairpin for Chen Miaochun, but the style was only liked by older women.
Even when buying clothes, he added gold and silver threads to Chen Miaochun's clothes.
It was also difficult to stop Yan Mingli from going. So Shen Haiyan went out with Qingdai early in the morning, leaving no chance for Yan Mingli.
Qiuqiu was bored and could only choose the place she least wanted to go, "If there's really no other way, let's go to the pharmacy."
Mentioning the pharmacy, Shen Baozhu suddenly remembered the medicinal herbs from last time. She wanted to send two more plants to Brother Lin Yu.
After Shen Baozhu and Qiuqiu made the decision, there was no need to ask the Fourth Prince and the Prince of Rui. They were both willing.