Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 401 See you

At noon, the news of the Empress Dowager's assassination and Cheng Qian's death finally reached the ears of the major nobles and officials in the capital.

Especially, it was the families of Duncheng and Kejin who benefited later on, and for no reason they got the positions of Minister of the Imperial Guard and Chief of the Guard Battalion, which was really surprising.

After noon, members of the royal family came to the Taiji Palace to deliver invitations, hoping to see the Emperor and the Empress Dowager to greet them and talk.

As soon as the post entered the Taiji Palace, it was sent to Emperor Zhaoming.

Emperor Zhaoming picked them out one by one, until the last one, he held one and sneered: "Here, this one, I'll see you!"

Tao Xingjian took it and saw that it was a letter from Prince Zhongshun: "...Are you and your whole family coming?"

Emperor Zhaoming snorted, "You didn't see clearly! He himself is coming to Taiji Palace to pay respects to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

"His son and daughter-in-law are going to Daming Palace, one wants to see me, and the other wants to see the queen!

"He's using his own family to fight against my family! What a huge honor!"

Tao Xingjian calculated in his mind and said, "Your Majesty, do you want him and his whole family to come to Taiji Palace?"

Emperor Zhaoming waved his hands impatiently: "Yes! That's what I mean! You go and make the arrangements! I don't want to put him off any more!"

Tao Xingjian bowed and agreed, then turned around and came out, ordering someone to deliver a message to Prince Zhongshun's mansion: "Your Majesty has ordered: Prince Zhongshun and his family must meet with Your Majesty at the Taiji Palace!"

Prince Zhongshun was a little confused: "Your Majesty and the Queen are also in Taiji Palace?"

The eunuch who delivered the imperial eunuch's order said: "Your Majesty did not leave last night. Today, the side halls of Ganlu Palace and Yanjia Palace have been cleaned up.

"I guess that's what the prince said."

Prince Zhongshun ordered the prince to send the eunuch out, then turned to look at Xue Baochai and simply told her, "I will prepare gifts for the Queen Mother and the Empress, and you can just bring them over when the time comes."

Xue Baochai bowed her head and agreed meekly.

Prince Zhongshun looked Xue Baochai's clothes up and down and nodded with satisfaction: "It's okay to wear more fancy clothes when you are at home on weekdays.

"This time the Queen Mother's aunt who had been with her for many years has passed away, so it is very good for you to dress so simply and elegantly."

He looked at the gold necklace around her neck and hesitated for a moment, but did not mention it.

The combination is a bit weird.

Forget it, it’s not appropriate to say too much in front of my daughter-in-law.

Prince Zhongshun waved his hand to let Xue Baochai leave, and went to talk to his aides to make a plan.

Before noon, King Zhongshun and his entire family knocked on the palace gate.

The guards at the gate of Taiji Palace were replaced. Situ Sheng hid in the duty room far away and warmed himself by the fire, but whispered to the guards:

"What's so great about Prince Zhongshun? Even if Prince Yu or the Crown Prince came, they would still investigate! Who cares if he's the king of heaven?!

"There's something wrong with this door. I'm the same as you. My whole family has to be careful of their lives!"

Everyone looked at the young man who was holding a hand warmer, squatting in front of the charcoal basin and shivering, while speaking in the smallest voice, but his words were as hard as dried bacon that had been frozen overnight.

With this strange feeling, the guard at the gate politely called three sedan chairs for Prince Zhongshun and his family:

"The Supreme Lord loves all of you clan members and has ordered that you all be given sedan chairs when you enter the palace in the first month of the year."

Someone else came up and respectfully helped take the gift boxes from the prince and Xue Baochai.

The sedan is very small.

It is so small that if someone as fat as Feng the governor of Yongzhou sat in it, he would feel squeezed.

It is not possible to put the gift box in such a sedan chair, so people can only take it and carry it outside.

However, on the way to the palace, once they sat in the sedan chair, they were not allowed to lift the curtain to look outside at will.

This is the rule.

Prince Zhongshun glanced at the guards and said, "You guys don't look familiar. When were you transferred to the palace gate guards of the Guards Camp?"

"In reply to your Highness, we have always been guards at the palace gates. We just rotate our duties in different places, so we have never had the honor of meeting your Highness."

A guard answered respectfully, but without giving Prince Zhongshun a chance to talk too much, he stretched out his hand and said, "Your Majesty has heard that the prince is coming and has urged you several times. Please come in, Prince."

Always? How is that possible?!

Prince Zhongshun knew that the boy was full of lies, and he couldn't expose him, so he could only smile and get on the sedan chair.

Xue Baochai watched Prince Zhongshun and the Crown Prince lift the curtain of the sedan chair before she got on, and she felt relieved.

The two boxes were filled with jewel ornaments, and they were very heavy. She had thought that she would have to carry them herself as she walked to the Yanjia Palace, and she almost cried out in despair.

Fortunately, we have this sedan chair.

However, where she couldn't see, the guard holding the box for her opened several gift boxes and examined them carefully.

Oh, they are all decorations.

Coral, ruby, sapphire, and a pearl tower.

That’s okay.

Situ Sheng stood in the distance, his hands in his sleeves. He took a quick glance and knew that there was nothing hidden in these things, so he nodded.

The guards closed the box and followed the sedan chair into the palace without stopping.

When they arrived at the gate of Ganlu Hall, the three people got off the sedan chair and went into the hall to pay their respects to the Supreme.

Unexpectedly, he was stopped by a young and stuttering eunuch: "It's afternoon nap."

Nap?

Taking a nap before the middle of the day?

Didn’t you know that your whole family would come over to pay their respects?

Prince Zhongshun frowned and said, "It is the habit of the Supreme Lord to take a two-minute nap and get up at noon. You slept so late today, are you not feeling well?"

Normally he would ask this question, but if it were Dai Quan, he might just chat with him and reveal the true situation of Tai Shang.

But when the young eunuch heard this, his face immediately turned red, and he lowered his voice and said anxiously: "I'm not lying! The Lord is just taking a nap!

"As for the health of the Lord, is that something that King Zhongshun should ask about? Are you being arrogant or are you trying to kill me?"

After saying that, he threw down his sleeves and left angrily.

You can ask about the health of the Blessed Sacrament when you greet Him in person, but you cannot ask about it in private. This is like spying on the Blessed Sacrament, which is a taboo.

However, Prince Zhongshun has been very respectable in front of the Supreme Lord and Emperor Zhaoming over the years, and very few people have warned him about this.

King Zhongshun was startled.

The faces of the Crown Prince and Xue Baochai also turned pale.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to Zuo Jin, the Crown Prince whispered to King Chungsun: "Father, let's go to Yeonga Palace first. We can come back when we come back, it's the same..."

Xue Baochai glanced at the prince and sneered in her heart: How can they be the same?

According to the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict, the empress is now in Yanjia Palace.

If they came to pay their respects to the Supreme Lord first, the Supreme Lord would surely keep Prince Zhongshun to talk directly and order the Crown Prince and themselves to visit him in Yeongja Palace.

By then, he and the prince will be the younger generation, so they should kneel as they should, kowtow as they should, and talk as they should.

What should we do if King Zhongshun is gone?

It's fine for him to kowtow to the Queen Mother, but is he going to kowtow to the Queen? Would he be willing to do that?!

This prince is really stupid.

Did he really not know anything about his father's past with the Queen? !