Biography of Concubine Shujia

Chapter 31

"Your Majesty, the Third Prince is outside the palace alone, and wants to see you." Si Jin knelt beside the woman's bed and said in a low voice.Leaning on the big pillow on the bed, the woman in a light-colored dress patted the baby's hand heavily. The baby beside her cried out because of the pain. The voice was loud, but it drew the woman's dazed attention back.

The woman looked down at the baby's little face which was flushed from crying hard, the grievance on that little face was real.With a sigh, she stretched out her arms to pick up the baby, and shook it lightly. The baby cried less in her embrace. The woman leaned over to put him down, and tapped the baby's little nose with one hand. She couldn't help laughing, "Little bastard, this temper I don’t know who it looks like? With such a small size, I know how to cry and act like a baby.”

After finishing speaking, he lowered his head and kissed the toothless child on the forehead.The beaded tassels on her bun swayed slightly with her body, swaying to the baby's small face, these slight tickles seemed to make the baby unhappy, dancing and protesting.The woman couldn't help but grinned, raised her hand and pulled out the pearl hairpin on her head, holding the tip with her hand, and scratched the child's face and neck with the tassels hanging from the hairpin, the child raised her hand anxiously to grab it, the mother and child were in shock. Feeling at ease.

Si Jin raised her head and carefully watched her master interact with the little prince, and couldn't help but think of the third prince who was still waiting outside the palace to see her mother.They are all sons too, so the younger son is a treasure, but the older son is worthless?Seeing the big court lady who was used to her own mother's saying the same thing, she knelt on the ground and said nothing, but she felt wronged for His Highness the Third Prince in her heart.

But she didn't finish reading silently because of the uneasiness in her heart, when she heard the woman's indifferent voice, "Tell Baoxia to prepare Yao'er's favorite food, draw a screen and put a screen in the room, and you can welcome him in yourself." A series of commands came out, The woman was still teasing the baby leisurely, but Si Jin inexplicably felt that there was a sense of coercion in the hall, and even the little prince's babbling voice was obediently muted under that coercion.

Her heart trembled, and she tried her best to maintain her promise, nodded calmly to the pale-faced little maids standing on the left and right in the hall, got up, and went outside the hall to invite the third prince inside.After Si Jin came out of the hall, the little maid in the inner hall hurriedly followed Si Jin out of the hall and took orders to go.

After a while, Huaping, a big court lady, led several young maids into the inner hall, and a group of people swiftly placed a screen of distant mountains reflecting lotuses beside the bed.

There are tables, chairs and refreshments in front of the screen. Looking carefully at the refreshments on the table, there are not many refreshments, only plum blossom chestnut cake and Bazhen cake. Next to the cakes is a cup of goat milk in a transparent glass cup.Huaping looked at the tea and there was nothing wrong with it, he entered the screen and whispered to the woman.

"Let him come in, and send another person to the prince's office to follow and inform Huaping." The woman raised her hand and pressed the center of her eyebrows, ordering Huaping.

"This servant will go and talk to Aunt Huahua in person. Don't worry, Madam, I promise not to worry Auntie." Huaping replied.

Entering the painting is very important in the hearts of the empress and the third prince, and Huaping is also happy to get close to this aunt who has good cooking skills and wins the heart of the master.Everyone in the palace knew that the aunt who entered the painting followed the concubine Shu into the palace. She followed her around when she was still the young master, and moved to the prince's residence with the third prince until the third prince grew up and wanted to live in a separate palace.

The aunt has been in the palace for more than ten years, and the master's trust in her is not comparable to that of ordinary court ladies.Let's just say that the four of them, that is, the four major palace people around Concubine Shu, deal with all the concubines on weekdays, and they must be praised by all the concubines, but they know that they are not as good as the painting aunts. The weight in the heart of the master.They were all trained by Aunt Ruhua, a gentle but capable aunt who really deserves their admiration.

Huaping led the little maid out of the inner hall, and saluted the third prince who was waiting at the side. The third prince, who was not yet ten years old, already had the inadvertent majesty of his mother, Concubine Shu, with a small face, He raised his hand to signal her, "I'm sorry, sister, can my prince come in?"

Si Jin who was waiting on the side heard the words, and hurried forward and said, "Please, Your Highness, the empress has ordered the slaves to invite you to meet in the inner hall." The third prince looked at Si Jin lightly, straightened his clothes, and strode into the inner hall.

The painting screen swept over Si Jin, who was watching the third prince enter with a strange look.What's the matter with this girl, Huaping wondered in his heart, but he didn't say anything, he just said, "I'll go to the prince's house, and send a message to Aunt Ruhua, Baoxia and Qishu are preparing dinner in the small kitchen, you have to take care of it alone Some. I’ll come as soon as I go.” Si Jin came back to her senses, and nodded solemnly at the painting screen.

The third prince strode into the inner room, but his heart was not as excited as his steps. With a trace of apprehension, the third prince saluted the woman behind the screen. ?”

"Sit down." The woman leaning on the bed said coldly, "Speaking of which, I haven't seen Your Highness for a while, how is Your Highness?" The voice was cold, as if she was not talking to her own son, but a stranger .

Hearing the words, the third prince froze unnaturally, and said with a wry smile, "Mother and concubine, why bother, I'm a useless person, can I still compete with my brothers?" The prince's highness, with a low voice and trembling voice, raised his head Looking directly at the woman behind the screen, she said firmly, "You are my mother, and Xiao Liu is my younger brother, my own younger brother. I will never let anyone hurt you, including myself."

After finishing speaking, she stood up and said softly to the screen, "Mother Concubine, rest, I'm going back."

"Stop." The woman behind the screen put away all her coercion, and said to her son who was about to resign, "Yao'er, how long has it been since you talked to Ben Gong?" The prince, the circles of his eyes turned red all of a sudden, he lowered his head in a disguised manner, his voice was barely audible,

"I thought mother wouldn't want a weak but still ambitious son. What you need is a healthy son who can help you fight against concubine De and the second emperor brother."

"Confused!" The woman was furious when she heard the words, "Ambition? Fighting? It turns out that I have taught you for nothing all these years, and your aunt who loves painting has also loved you for nothing. You are such a fool because of your pampering!" Subconsciously, she patted her hand on the bed, suddenly He yelled, but the loud yelling still scared the baby who was entertaining himself while holding the tassel, the little prince burst into tears again with a wow.

"Mother Concubine, Xiao Liu is crying." The third prince heard his younger brother crying, but his heart was filled with bitterness. The concubine will no longer pamper herself, and her eyes are more on the younger sister. Since when did the mother and son occasionally quarrel to the point of incompatibility?
Hearing her son's sarcastic words, the woman saw her elder son motionless and looking in the direction of her younger son through the screen, she could have guessed that she was envious of that appearance, but she was powerless to stop it.This son who was taught by himself since he was a child is too smart, too precocious, and too hard-working.

This deep palace taught him to be ruthless prematurely, and also deprived him of the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of power prematurely.Since his accident, the mother and son have gradually become separated and disagreed.But no matter what, he is the flesh and blood that fell from his body after all, the blood is as thick as water.

Seeing that no one paid attention to him, the little prince cried even louder.His mother and concubine did not hold him in her arms and coax him softly as usual, nor did she tease him to make him smile.He didn't understand why when the person outside the screen came, the concubine mother ignored him and was fierce, and he didn't understand who was the person outside the screen with envious and friendly eyes, so he had to cry to express all his emotions.The prince is not happy, you are all bad people, ignore you.

Hearing the crying of the youngest son, the woman knew she wanted to coax him, but in front of the eldest son, she subconsciously didn't want him to see the picture of herself hugging and coddling the youngest son.

"Concubine Mother, my brother is crying, don't you want to coax him?" The third prince's words were ambiguous, and Shi Niang didn't blame him, she put away her excited emotions for a moment, and said to the eldest son outside the screen, "Come in, coax your brother, cry and cry, he is as annoying as a debt collector."

This time, the excitement turned into the third prince, "Mother Concubine, what did you say?" There was disbelief and shock in the words.Because his mother and concubine were in confinement, it was against the rules for the third prince to ask to see him. Now, the mother and concubine actually asked herself to go behind the screen to coax the child.

The ten-year-old third prince stared at the screen in front of him. The sixth prince, whom his mother and concubine had longed for, was actually treated as a debt collector by her. Who would believe it?

"Come in, don't you listen to what I have to say?" The woman raised her voice slightly, and while patting the baby of her younger son, she was called to her elder son.

As soon as the third prince gritted his teeth, after entering the screen, he saw his mother and concubine looking at her with a half-smile. Those beautiful eyes like apricot pits made him lose his mind. When he recovered, his hands were stuffed. A milk doll who stares at her with big eyes.This is how the first official meeting of the brothers happened.

When entering the painting and entering the inner hall, he saw the two princes, big and small, surrounded by the master and son's bed, and he couldn't help but smile in relief. How could this mother and son have an overnight feud?

The third prince hugged his younger brother who was soft in his hands, and listened to his mother and concubine scolding him like before, "How many times have I said, 'A gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall', you are better off, just come by your side when you say it." If you don’t bring it, I still don’t know how to find you in the painting.”

The third prince blinked, then looked up at his mother and concubine, shook his little brother, and said softly, "Mother, can we stop arguing from now on?"

The woman nodded, and hugged the two sons on the bed into her arms, "Well, stop arguing." The atmosphere in the inner hall was slightly warm.

Ru Hua stood there for a long time before he softly interrupted the warm atmosphere between mother and son, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, Baoxia and Qishu have already prepared dinner, and Huaping asked your servant to come and ask you, when is the meal?"

"Yao'er, let's go first, let your aunt into the painting help me change my clothes, and we mother and son will have dinner together later." The woman patted the elder son on the shoulder,

This child has grown up when she can't see it, but the attachment to his mother in his bones has never changed.

The third prince put his younger brother on the bed, "Little Six, be good, brother will come back to play with you later." Squeezing the sixth prince's little face, the little hand of the milk doll slapped the third prince's hand, and the third prince withdrew his hand indifferently , saw the toothless brother put his little hand in his mouth and smiled at him.Smiling at his younger brother, the third prince bowed to Ten Niang and then took his leave first and went to the outer hall.

The woman watched the third prince leave the inner hall, and then turned her head to stare at the painting.

Entering the painting, he had been smiling and watching the interaction between the mother and the child just now, and now he saw the woman staring at her, so he didn't panic.

Kneeling on the ground, meeting the woman's gaze, she said in a low voice, "Miss, don't worry, I have secretly sent someone to follow the Third Highness. It's just that His Highness is young, so he almost fell into the way of Concubine De. Her people intend to guide, His Highness agreed, but he was also afraid of being alarmed. In order to paralyze those people in the dark, he ate the pastry that was originally given to you. Because of your instructions, I have been persuading him to remove the person next to him these days. She Those who are still in the dark for the time being, Your Highness has me, don't worry."

Ruhua reported to Concubine Shu exactly what happened a few days ago.

Mrs. De Zhuang originally wanted to take advantage of the time when the third prince was delivering snacks to Concubine Shu, and arrange for her to get involved with the people next to the third prince.Unexpectedly, the poison was poisoned, but the third prince ate the cake by himself.In vain, she exposed her identity and was controlled by Ruhua.

Before she could figure out how to deal with it, Concubine Shu took the initiative and reported Mrs. Dezhuang in front of the emperor.Emperor Rui was furious, and took away his wife's status on the charge of meddling with the emperor's heir, and demoted him to concubine.

Concubine Shu has worked so hard and moved her fetus, and she will be raised for several months before she can recover.So Ruhua dared not bother her with these things.Given the opportunity today, I have to say something for His Highness the Third Highness.

"You know that I will definitely inspect everything that enters your mouth before I can rest assured. I have already changed it secretly. It's just that the time is urgent, and the third prince has no time to find out. I want this servant to say that he is sincere to you and the little prince. If you treat him coldly like this, he probably thinks you are annoying him. He and the little prince will also have a heart-to-heart relationship because of this matter. If you still plan to cold him, let him have less contact with the little prince. "

"Ruhua, get up. Speaking of which, I'm sorry for Yao'er. I'm afraid he won't have a chance in this life. I just hope that he is safe and sound, and I don't want him to do anything else. Giving him attention will only hurt him again. Only It's for his own good to keep him cold. I'm afraid he doesn't understand my painstaking efforts. But he just ran here, and now the palace probably knows about our mother and son's movements."

The woman, that is, the master of the painting, is the tenth mother who entered the palace 13 years ago. In more than ten years, she has grown from a small selection of servants to a concubine Shu who is the first of the second rank and four concubines. Not all happiness.Ru Hua couldn't bear to look directly at this tightly wrinkled brow, and lowered his head.For a long while, neither the master nor the servant spoke.

"Miss, don't be like this." Ruhua broke the silence, she held the woman's hand, and praised softly, "I have always thought that you are more beautiful than you were more than ten years ago. When you hugged the sixth prince just now, The maidservant seemed to see you hugging the third prince ten years ago, the beauty is shocking. The third prince will be safe, and the sixth prince will grow up healthy." Ru Hua firmly said to Shi Niang.

"Silly girl, 'Flowers bloom like they were ten years ago, but people don't look like they were ten years ago'. Forget it, what's the use of thinking so much? Change your clothes, Yao'er is probably in a hurry."

(End of this chapter)