She didn't even notice that woman's actions. She really underestimated her.
Actually, ever since Shi Muyuan came to this world, she had been extremely kind to the three little kids.
She would coax Ji Ling and Ji Huang to play together. She would also teach them well and take meticulous care of them. Sometimes, she would even learn to make pastries herself and bring them for the kids to taste. Her smiling face was extremely kind.
Ji Heng had not been by her side since he ascended the throne. But before that, Shi Muyuan had unhesitatingly helped him ascend to the throne and solved the conspiracy of the family of Prince Lian for him.
She had accompanied them tenderly. Although she had been a bit fierce before, she had never harmed them. He thought perhaps it was just because they were not familiar with each other at that time.
Which woman in the world could suddenly accept having three more children to raise?
Ji Heng said that he could understand and was grateful for everything Shi Muyuan had done, especially seeing the happy look of the third princess now.
Moreover, he was not completely ignorant of the affairs in the harem. He actually thought that Shi Muyuan had done a good job. There were many harmonious scenes in the harem. What was wrong with that? Why did Concubine Rui say such things?
It must be for the sake of interests.
It had been almost a year since Ji Heng became the emperor. In this year, he had learned a lot.
Concubine Rui knew that she couldn't count on Ji Heng anymore. The emperor had grown up and had his own opinions. He was not as easy to deceive as he was when he was a child.
But there were still two imperial heirs in the palace.
Concubine Rui directly ruled out Ji Ling and set her target on Ji Huang.
This time, she had to be more cautious and play the long - game.
She even sent people to inquire about Ji Huang's preferences. To avoid looking suspicious, she also checked on Ji Ling. After all, these two were almost always together on weekdays. If she only tried to please one of the princes, wouldn't it be like telling others her intentions?
Moreover, if she could coax them well, maybe her good days would come.
Concubine Rui thus sank into endless fantasies about her future.
Shi Muyuan was having a great time.
The knowledge she learned when she was a child was really useful. What was that saying? "In spring, the ice and snow melt, and all things come back to life." Shi Muyuan didn't have much feeling about it before, until she saw the scenery in the imperial garden.
It was truly a riot of colors.
The flowers and trees were blooming in full glory, and the whole garden was full of spring vitality and soothing colors.
Shi Muyuan felt comfortable just looking at it. She even told Ze Ze to have a new swing hung on a big tree. So, swinging on the swing became an additional daily activity for Shi Muyuan.
One day, after Shi Muyuan woke up, ate and drank her fill, seeing that the weather was nice, with a gentle breeze blowing, which was indescribably comfortable on the body, she immediately led her people out of the Shoukang Palace and walked towards the imperial garden.
Although the weather was good today, it had rained all day yesterday. The paths in the imperial garden had become a bit muddy.
Shi Muyuan was a bit worried about whether her swing was okay. When she walked over, fortunately, the carpenter in the palace had painted waterproof resin on it when making it. Xiao Xiao wiped the water off it with a handkerchief, and Shi Muyuan plopped down on it.
Suddenly, there was a "splash" sound. Shi Muyuan and Xiao Xiao were both surprised and looked back. Not far from them, Ze Ze had somehow become a dripping wet rat, and the food he was holding in his hand was also soaked by the water.
The people waiting on the side began to hold back their laughter. Only Xiao Xiao opened her mouth and laughed directly. Only Yao Kun remained relatively calm, but her brightened eyes betrayed her good mood.
Shi Muyuan also covered her mouth and laughed for a while before curiously checking why Ze Ze had been drenched in water for no reason.
Ze Ze looked up at the big tree above his head. Water droplets were still dripping down from it. Shi Muyuan also walked over and looked up along his line of sight. Then she looked at her beautiful swing and immediately understood where this "misfortune from the sky" came from.
It turned out that because of the heavy rain yesterday, a large number of leaves on the tree had caught a lot of rainwater. Just now, Shi Muyuan's movement of sitting on the swing was a bit too big, which caused the leaves on the tree to shake. Naturally, the water inside would splash down. It was just unexpected that Ze Ze happened to be standing in a suitable position and got a large splash of water right on his head.
It was just a pity that all the delicious food in Ze Ze's hand was wasted.
Ze Ze's eyes were a bit resentful. Shi Muyuan didn't dare to laugh at him anymore. She quickly told him to go down and clean himself up, and then told Zi Huan to go and bring her some more food.
Because of this little episode with Ze Ze, Shi Muyuan didn't dare to move around while sitting on the swing, but she still didn't want to get off it.
Before Ze Ze came back, Shi Muyuan saw another snow - white figure. Although she couldn't see clearly yet, her intuition told her that it was Huo Qizhou. After all, he was the only one in the palace who would dress so white.
Sure enough, Huo Qizhou's face gradually became clear in her vision.
The national teacher was still dressed in a moon - white robe. It seemed that he dressed like this even in winter. Didn't he feel cold? Shi Muyuan belatedly remembered.
His black hair was half - tied behind his head with a jade hairpin.
He also seemed to have noticed Shi Muyuan. He had been passing by the imperial garden after talking to the emperor today. Suddenly, he remembered that the small white flowers in the imperial garden were about to bloom during this period, so he subconsciously walked in. When he saw that the small white flowers were still in buds, he realized what he had done. The national teacher moved his feet uneasily and walked along the path. Then he saw Shi Muyuan sitting on the swing under the big tree.
The woman was wearing a light - colored dress. Every time he saw her recently, she had a jade ribbon in her hair and no makeup on, looking clean. At this moment, sitting on the swing across the flower bushes and smiling at him, she was like a flower fairy as people described, extremely captivating.
Huo Qizhou quickly averted his eyes and bowed to her across the blooming flower bushes.
Shi Muyuan was sitting on the swing looking at the place where Ze Ze had been drenched in water just now. The puddle of water had seeped into the ground. It wasn't far from where Huo Qizhou was standing.
Remembering Huo Qizhou's bad attitude towards her before, although they were considered allies now, she knew that if she kept this anger in her heart, it would cause problems sooner or later. Shi Muyuan told herself this, and then hooked her lips wickedly.
Shi Muyuan slowly opened her mouth: "National Teacher." Her voice was a bit soft. At Huo Qizhou's distance, it was a bit difficult to hear what she was saying. A normal person would take a step forward to listen to what she said.
Coincidentally, Huo Qizhou was not a normal person. He still stood there motionless.
Shi Muyuan endured her impatience and called him again: "National Teacher, come a bit closer." This time her voice was louder.
Huo Qizhou looked at the water droplets constantly dripping down in front of him and the obvious puddle on the ground. He raised his eyebrows with a smile.