good season

Zhao Shiqing, of course, had no idea that Xiao Zhen had jumped into the lake.

If she knew, she might find a shaman to perform a ritual for Xiao Zhen.

The young girl seemed to enjoy seeing Xiao Zhen's helpless expression.

Because Feng Jiahe had tested the Third Prince with the promise of offspring, the Third Prince couldn't hold back and went to the palace to see Consort Qiao the next day.

The outside world now believes that the Third Prince's frequent visits to the palace indicate that he has regained the Emperor Yongjia's favor, but they are unaware that the truth is not so.

With the influence of Consort Qiao's pillow talk, the deliberate overtures of Consort Li, and the contrast with the Fifth Prince, Emperor Yongjia's attitude towards the Third Prince softened somewhat. However, compared to the Third Prince's case of disregarding human life, the Fifth Prince's disrespect towards his sister-in-law regardless of the occasion was a trivial matter!
Even if Yanxia manages to uncover the mastermind behind the case, the Third Prince will not be able to clear his name completely. He has been dragged down not by water, but by mud. Even if he struggles to get ashore with great difficulty, he will still be covered in mud and unable to wash it off.

Emperor Yongjia knew this perfectly well, but the Third Prince did not think so.

When he was a child, no matter what he did, Consort Qiao would always protect him.
After he grew up, no matter what he did, the Feng family would always be there to support him.

All of this led the Third Prince to mistakenly believe that as long as Consort Qiao and Feng Ke were around, and as long as the troublesome Crown Prince, the annoying Fifth Prince, and the useless Fourth Prince were eliminated, it was only a matter of time before the crown was placed on his head.

In fact, Emperor Yongjia believed that he was in his prime and it was too early for him to pass on the throne. The dynasty needed a crown prince to maintain stability, so he appointed a crown prince early on. If one crown prince was deposed, another could be appointed. He only appointed a crown prince, not an emperor.

Therefore, in my opinion, whoever becomes the crown prince will only be the crown prince, not the future emperor.

This crown prince was established for civil and military officials, for the common people, for the soldiers on the frontier, and even for those enemy states and rebels who attempted to seize the throne of the Great Yong Dynasty, but he was not established for me after my death.

Therefore, this crown prince cannot have any obvious flaws. At the very least, he must be so flawless that the court and the public cannot find any fault with him. Only in this way can I have peace of mind and energy to consolidate my imperial throne. By observing the situation, I can determine whether he is the one being groomed as a true successor.

This successor could be the crown prince, or it could be one of his other sons.

With this in mind, Emperor Yongjia took the incident involving the Third Prince very seriously.

However, the Third Prince was unaware that he was now able to enter the palace, and from the words of Consort Qiao and Feng Ke, he could sense that his father's attitude was softening.

Life is inherently a mix of hope and despair. Some disappointments are irreversible. However, the occasional dazzling sunlight shining on the snow-capped mountains and ice peaks, refracting countless golden rays, can temporarily blind people, making them believe that hope and good fortune have descended upon them.

Upon learning that the Third Prince had entered the palace again, Emperor Yongjia pretended not to know and said, "Let him be. I'm just waiting for news from Yanxia now."

When the Third Prince met Consort Qiao, he told her about Feng Jiahe's probing. Consort Qiao sighed and lowered her voice, "Actually, I think that having a child with her would be a help to you."

Although Emperor Yongjia already had a grandson, he was not particularly close to him. However, the Third Prince was different. If he had a son, Consort Qiao could bring the child into the palace and use Emperor Yongjia's visit as an opportunity to get the grandson closer to Emperor Yongjia.

Sometimes, the effect of a lovable grandchild far outweighs a thousand schemes.

The Third Prince's face turned ashen: "No, I don't want my son to be born from Lady Feng's womb. She doesn't deserve it!"

The Third Prince will never forget the days when he humbly sought advice and humbled himself before Feng Ke.

He did not have a powerful maternal family, so from the time he could remember, Consort Qiao had been scheming to find outside help for him.

In order to make him stand out from the other princes and gain Feng Ke's favor, Consort Qiao used almost every trick in the book. He even said against his will to that willful, capricious, and self-righteous girl, "I promise you a lifetime of love, and I will give you the empire as my dowry."

Whenever he recalled the things he had said to Feng Jiahe, the Third Prince wanted to strangle her.

This vile woman, does she even deserve to be compared to the empire?
In the future, when my empire is secure, she will be like fertilizer for my empire, and I will still feel that she is not fertile enough.

Want to give me a son? Dream on!
Seeing the fleeting ferocity in his eyes, Consort Qiao guessed what he was thinking.

She had seen that same expression in the eyes of the young Emperor Yongjia.

At that time, Emperor Yongjia was still the second prince. He was not yet a master of the art. At least, he could still reveal his desire for the throne and his murderous intent towards his brothers in front of his wife.

However, she hadn't seen that ferocious look in Emperor Yongjia's eyes for a very, very long time.

A sense of loss welled up in Consort Qiao's heart. She wondered when Emperor Yongjia had started to be wary of her as well.

She always thought she was ruthless enough, but a woman's ruthlessness is nothing compared to a man's.

Just like Consort Li, who schemed her whole life, she waited until her son became emperor, but she still couldn't sit on the throne of empress dowager while she was alive.

Just like herself, everyone knows that the emperor favored her and she accompanied the emperor the longest, but the position of empress was passed around and never came to her. Instead, she became the target of everyone's hatred, and everyone in the harem hated her and was wary of her.

"No, don't be willful in this matter. It's fine if you have a child with her. With this child in your hands, the Feng family will support you to the greatest extent. When you ascend the throne in the future, with this child, the Feng family will continue to serve you wholeheartedly. Son, you will have many women and many, many children in the future. Look at Prince Jing. If it weren't for the woman your father once cherished, how could he have been established as the Crown Prince so early? But now, who still cares about Prince Jing? Who can still remember Prince Jing's birth mother?"

The third prince remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I have someone I admire, and I wish to bring her into the manor."

Before he could finish speaking, Consort Qiao interrupted him coldly: "No, before Feng Jiahe gives birth to your eldest son, no woman can be brought into the mansion unless she is chosen by the Feng family."

The Third Prince remembered Lang Yuyu, the person chosen by the Feng family. In order to prevent Lang Yuyu from entering the family, he went to great lengths to make Feng Jiahe dislike Lang Yuyu. Without him having to personally intervene, Feng Jiahe persuaded Feng Ke to give up the idea.

But even after dealing with Lang Yuyu, there were still Wang Yuyu and Sun Yuyu. The Third Prince felt like he couldn't see the end of the Feng family. The Feng family was like a mountain, pressing down on him and making it hard for him to breathe.

The greater the pressure the Feng family put on him, the more he hated Feng Jiahe.

Who would have thought that the stunningly beautiful Feng Jiahe was already repulsive in the Third Prince's eyes, like a demon?

No one knows a child better than their mother, Consort Qiao sighed again.

"Which family's daughter have you taken a fancy to? Mother will send her to the palace to be a lady-in-waiting by my side."

The third prince's eyes lit up. Serving as a lady-in-waiting by his mother's side would not only provide her with protection but also allow him to see her frequently!
"Mother, your son is in love with the girl from the Fan family."

The scandal involving Prince Jing and Princess Huiming implicated many people. In addition to those in Yujing Palace, the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, and those around Princess Huiming, a group of people from other palaces were also released.

Among these people, some were of legal age, while others were implicated by others, such as being from the same hometown as a palace maid in Yujing Palace, or having a relationship with a eunuch in the Crown Prince's palace. In short, after that incident, the palace either carried out or released people, and there were vacancies in almost every palace.

Unlike palace maids, female officials not only came from respectable backgrounds, but their families also held official positions. Although Fan Qiuyun's father was a merchant, the Fan family had produced a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). She was beautiful, well-educated, and courteous, perfectly meeting the selection criteria for female officials.

Consort Qiao had given prior notice, and Fan Qiuyun entered the palace smoothly. After her initial instruction, she was assigned to Consort Qiao's palace. Although she started as a seventh-rank female official, it was the easiest and most promising job.

Her only responsibility was to read to Consort Qiao.

In the inner palace, there are always things that Emperor Yongjia cannot see. For example, Fan Qiuyun's entry into the palace was something that Emperor Yongjia did not pay attention to.

The lowest-ranking female official could not even reach the Yongjia Emperor's ears, but the news that Consort Qiao had someone read to her reached the Emperor's ears. For this, he praised her a few times and sent a batch of storybooks to Consort Qiao.

What? Stories about talented scholars and beautiful women are not considered refined enough for high society?

I don't watch it, and neither do my sons, but what harm is there in letting Consort Qiao watch it? Letting her indulge in this kind of unseen and untouchable love between men and women is much better than letting her indulge in helping her son seize the throne.

Emperor Yongjia wished that all the women in the harem, except for the empress, would be obsessed with this, so that he could have some peace and quiet.

As for the Empress, of course not, otherwise how could she have the mind to manage the harem for me?
Feng Jiahe felt a little regretful when she heard that Fan Qiuyun had been selected as a female official.

Once a woman becomes a female official, she must be at least twenty-five years old before she can leave the palace, and during this period she cannot get married.

Most women in their mid-twenties already have a large family, and while female officials can marry into wealthy and powerful families after leaving the palace, some are even betrothed by their masters and granted official titles, what well-off man is still unmarried at his age? The so-called "good marriages" of these female officials mostly mean becoming second wives.

Thinking that Fan Qiuyun would have to become someone's stepmother in the future, Feng Jiahe couldn't say whether she felt sorry for her or secretly pleased.

She looked at the Third Prince: "Miss Fan will be twenty-five when she leaves the palace. I'm afraid she will have a hard time finding a good husband then."

The Third Prince chuckled and leaned closer, saying, "That's none of our business. Just remember, your husband is the one who is right for you."

Feng Jiahe smiled, her eyes crinkling, and nestled into his gentle embrace.
The Third Prince thought that the truth of the matter was known only to him, Fan Qiuyun, and Consort Qiao. Little did he know that there was someone he didn't know who was paying close attention to the progress of this matter every day, to the point of neglecting to eat and sleep.

For example, it's already lunchtime, but Xiao Guai hasn't come back yet, and Zhao Shiqing is so anxious that she can't eat or drink.

For a competitive eater like her who only eats in certain phases, it's quite remarkable that she doesn't eat when it's mealtime.

So much so that not only Lingbo, but even Zhen Wuduo thought his beloved granddaughter was sick.

"Go out and see if they still sell candied hawthorns. Let's go buy some!"

This is so appetizing!
Zhen Wuduo wasn't some old patriarch from a wealthy family who wouldn't eat anything from roadside stalls. He wasn't picky about such things. He grew up by the sea and even ate raw fish. When his precious granddaughter couldn't eat, his first choice was, of course, candied hawthorn, which was both delicious and appetizing.

With money, nothing is impossible. The candied hawthorn vendor had already closed up shop when Mudfish came to his house. He slapped the silver on the table, and the whole family got busy. Some boiled sugar, some strung fruit together. In short, Mudfish carried back a whole shelf full of candied hawthorns!
Now that it's cold, it won't melt; you can eat it even if you leave it overnight.

So everyone ate candied hawthorns while waiting for Xiaoguai to come back.

After waiting and waiting, Xiao Guai finally returned. Seeing his bulging belly, Zhao Shiqing teased him.

"You heartless little brat, don't you know you have an old mother who's been waiting for you forever?"

Little Darling:
What the "mother and son" said was unknown to the others, but Zhao Shiqing was satisfied yet gossipy, eager to share the news Xiao Guai had brought back with her good grandfather.

Zhen Wuduo:
Before they knew it, the year was drawing to a close, and the people from the Liang Prince's Mansion arrived in the capital.

This time, the visitors were old acquaintances. Besides Lord Weng, a civil official from the Liang Prince's Mansion, there was also Meng Hu.

They had two tasks: first, to escort Zhao Tingxuan back to Liang after the New Year; and second, to deliver gifts.

Sending gifts to the emperor and to members of the imperial family in the capital was, to put it simply, equivalent to exchanging gifts among relatives, a practice permitted by emperors throughout history.

Not only did the Liang Prince's Mansion send gifts, but the other seven princes did as well, and even the silent Prince Jing sent people to the capital.

Besides these vassal kings, several other small, subjugated states also sent envoys to deliver New Year's gifts.

Therefore, this time of year is the busiest time for the Ministry of Rites, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Court of State Ceremonies.

In the past, the Crown Prince was responsible for receiving these envoys, but now there is no Crown Prince, and the Fourth Prince is currently observing state affairs at the Ministry of Rites. Therefore, this task has fallen to him.

No one believed it was purely a coincidence, including the Third Prince; everyone knew the truth.

The Empress had been thinking about this day since she had arranged a position for him in the Ministry of Rites.

If we were to name the most self-satisfied person in the capital right now, it would undoubtedly be the Fourth Prince.

Feeling frustrated, the Third Prince decided to go to the palace to pay his respects to Consort Qiao.

Feng Jiahe hurriedly said, "It's been a while since I've gone to the palace to pay my respects to my mother. I'll go with you."

The Third Prince hurriedly said, "Go back to your mother's home and see what your father-in-law thinks. I'm going to the palace to see if I can see the Emperor."

Knowing that he was troubled by the matter of the Fourth Prince, Feng Jiahe said understandingly, "Alright, then I will go back to my parents' home. Don't think too much about it, my lord, your health is important."

The third prince kissed her on the cheek and said with a smile, "Of course my health is important, I want more."

The third prince stepped out of the courtyard, and a dark shadow flashed before his eyes. He looked up and saw the eagle circling overhead.

He was overjoyed, and the resentment that had been weighing on his chest dissipated.

As long as the eagle is there, the throne is there!
He excitedly boarded the carriage, only to hear a young eunuch outside say, "Hey, isn't that Young Master Zhen's carriage? Is Young Master Zhen here to visit Third Master?"

The Third Prince leaned out of the carriage window and saw Zhen Gui, the eldest son of the Zhen family, getting off the carriage.

The Third Prince was overjoyed. With the Fifth Prince crippled, Zhen Gui, this moneybag, would now be his! (End of Chapter)