The Adventures of the Crying Princess

East Palace

The prince was drinking alone in the East Palace. He suddenly looked up at the door and said, "Go and call Brother Dou to come and drink with me."

Lord Xu, the official from the Prince's Mansion, came in with an official document. He wanted to discuss the matters of the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony with the Prince.

As soon as I entered the room, I was forced to drink two glasses of wine by the drunken Prince Dou Ge, "I don't like to call you Dou Ge'er, Ling Guan'er sounds better.

It’s not that I won’t save you, don’t get me wrong, it’s that my father is keeping a close eye on you. Don’t worry, I’ll save you when I find a chance.”

A burp came up, spraying Master Xu's face with a smell of alcohol. Master Xu did not dare to hide, holding his breath, and complained with a grin, "Your Highness, you have drunk too much, your humble servant..."

Before he could even announce his identity, he was dragged down by the prince. I don't know where a drunk person gets the strength from. Lord Xu couldn't break free, and the prince held him down tightly.

The prince, who had mistaken someone for someone else, was about to use force, "Why are you acting like this today? You're so shy, as if I'm forcing you."

After saying this, he was about to pull off Lord Xu's clothes. Lord Xu turned pale with fear. Although he was not a high-ranking official, he was a serious man. Three generations of his ancestors were all scholars, and none of them had this habit.

Emperor Chengde passed by the East Palace and couldn't help but sigh, "Little Chen, do you still remember the prince when he was a child?"

"How could I forget? The prince has been extremely intelligent since he was young. I remember that when he was five years old, he beat Your Majesty in chess. Of course, Your Majesty let His Royal Highness the prince.

But for a five-year-old child to be able to do that is already very precious. I still remember that the prince's handwriting is very good, and it was taught by your majesty himself."

"Yes, the prince was very smart since he was young, and he was quick-witted and studious. But how did he become like this now? He killed his brothers and sisters, disrupted the government, and kept male favorites.

At first, I hoped that he could become a great monarch who expanded the territory. Later, he became infirm, and I hoped that he could just preserve the legacy of his ancestors.

How can he be worthy of the country in his current state? How can I hand over the world to him? With his current character, once he ascends the throne, how can there be a good outcome for the third brother and his wife, as well as the third brother's five children?"

"Your Majesty, be careful with your words. The Crown Prince is the foundation of the country. You must not have such thoughts. The Crown Prince is not even thirty this year. As the ancients said, a man should be established at the age of thirty.

In a few years, the prince will grow up naturally, and then everything will be fine. Please don't say such things again, and scare me."

Seeing Eunuch Chen kneeling and kowtowing, Emperor Mingde helped him up and said, "I am just complaining to you, what are you afraid of?

The third brother and his wife are always together, wishing to escape from the martial arts world. All the words that Longyin Guards pass on to me are about their flirting, but I am too lazy to listen.

I guess if I hadn't held the child hostage, the two would have run away long ago. If I deposed the crown prince, the third child wouldn't be able to be relied upon at all."

At this point, Emperor Mingde could not help but sigh and mutter to himself, "In fact, the third child is a good candidate. It's a pity that he is in the wrong order and does not conform to the clan law."

"Your Majesty, shall we go in?"

As they were talking, the master and servant had unknowingly arrived at the gate of the East Palace. Eunuch Chen nodded inside.

Emperor Chengde crushed a piece of dirt with his boots and deliberately answered the question irrelevantly, "Recently, many people have impeached the crown prince, but it sounds fake."

"Do you suspect someone is targeting the prince?" Eunuch Chen's words were clearly meant to test the emperor's mind. Prince Qi was dead, so who else could be targeting the prince except Prince Yi?

Zhenbei Hou had been kind to Eunuch Chen in the past, so Eunuch Chen naturally liked Bai Yimeng more. In addition, Bai Yimeng was a likable person, so Eunuch Chen naturally favored her a little more.

Emperor Chengde naturally understood what Eunuch Chen meant. "You like little monkeys, and so do I. I love the whole family, so it's inevitable that I pay more attention to the third child. This is normal, and I understand."

Eunuch Chen knelt down and kowtowed, "I dare not. I am your Majesty's servant, and I only favor your Majesty."

"Don't use these to evade me. I don't care who you favor. As long as it doesn't interfere with the government, it's fine." Emperor Mingde's eyes fell on the direction of the East Palace again. "Do you think it was the Third Brother's people who impeached the Crown Prince?"

"I don't know. I am just a slave..."

Seeing that Eunuch Chen was frightened, Emperor Chengde helped him up and said, "Old friend, I am not a tyrant, what are you afraid of? There are no outsiders here, I want to hear your thoughts, I forgive you."

Emperor Chengde was playing with a walnut in his hand and looking into the distance casually.

"I, your servant, really don't understand state affairs. I just think that Prince Yi is not a fool. How could he impeach the Crown Prince at this critical moment?

The King of Qi is gone, and among your Majesty's sons, only the Crown Prince and the King of Yi are left. If the King of Yi impeaches the Crown Prince at this moment, wouldn't it be like telling the whole world that he has a rebellious heart?

No one with any sense would do that.”

"What if the King of Qi is still alive?" Emperor Chengde closed his eyes, his expression slightly stiff, "The news just came back from Yumen Villa that Yuwen Xi was found in Yueqi State, and now he is the King of Pingnan in Yueqi.

"Rebellious son, why didn't I see that he was faking his death?"

After a while, he opened his eyes and said, "Yumen Villa has a close relationship with Monkey. How could Monkey not know about this? If Monkey knows, it means that the Third Brother knows. Now guess again, will the Third Brother impeach the Crown Prince?"

Suddenly, the gate of the East Palace opened and a man was thrown out. He was disheveled, with his official hat thrown on the ground. He was half naked from the waist up, staggered a few steps, and fell down.

"Your Majesty, it's Lord Xu from the Prince's Mansion." Eunuch Chen had sharp eyes and recognized the man's identity at a glance.

Emperor Chengde turned his head and said, "Tell Long Yi to take the person to the secret room and don't let anyone see him."

"Yes." Eunuch Chen paused, "Should we send someone to monitor Prince Yi's mansion?"

The emperor paused, turned his head and looked at him in confusion, "Why?"

"Your Majesty, if Yumen Villa knew about it, it would be tantamount to..."

"I was just chatting with you, why did you take it so seriously? Really." Emperor Chengde turned away, leaving Eunuch Chen alone and disheveled in the wind.

When the emperor arrived at the study, he saw Bai Yimeng waiting there, reading a book quietly.

Emperor Chengde did not want to disturb her, so he forbade anyone to make any noise. He also tiptoed back to his seat to review the memorials.

Just as he picked up the main pen, Bai Yimeng stood up and came forward to greet him, "Your daughter-in-law greets your father."

Emperor Chengde's smile was a little forced. He was worried that if Bai Yimeng learned that King Qi was still alive, he would go crazy and ask him to conquer the Yueqi Kingdom.

He was so nervous that he forgot to let her stand up. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Bai Yimeng didn't care about this, she simply knelt down and moved, smiling at Emperor Mingde, "My daughter-in-law wants to ask you something."

Emperor Chengde secretly said that it was not good. What he thought was really coming true. He frowned and his tone was inevitably a little stiff, "What are you going to do now?"

"It's nothing, just fulfilling a promise. You promised your daughter-in-law that you would let her go out and play after the baby is born."

"Go out and play?" Emperor Chengde suddenly understood and let out a long breath. Then he thought something was wrong, it was not that simple, "Where do you want to go?"

"My daughter-in-law wants to go back to Wild Wolf Valley. I don't know how Brother Hua and the others are doing now. I also want to go see some old friends. I've been pregnant for too long. I'm so depressed."

"Wait until the child is a hundred days old, and I will reward you then."

"My father has given me many rewards. I was given the title of a prince or princess when I was born. It is enough for me to receive such a generous reward at such a young age."

Bai Yimeng had heard that someone had recently impeached the crown prince, and wanted to take Yuwen Ji away from this place of trouble. He also wanted to retreat in order to advance, and expose the crown prince's true colors.

"Hmph, I see you know that the King of Qi is alive." Emperor Chengde looked at Bai Yimeng, "Kneel down and answer the question honestly. If you dare to lie, I will beat you like I did when you were a child."

"Wait, father, please let your daughter-in-law sort it out." Bai Yimeng was confused and knelt down properly. "My daughter-in-law admits that she knew the news that the King of Qi was dead. The whole capital knew it. It was your father who sentenced him to death. It's rare that he didn't die?" Bai Yimeng looked like a spectator. "Father, please tell me, what happened?"

Bai Yimeng looked excited, like a gossipy street gossip girl. She approached Emperor Mingde, took out some melon seeds, and started eating them.

"Kneel down before me. I am the one interrogating you, not you interrogating me. If you don't answer properly, be careful of getting beaten." Emperor Mingde raised the ruler and clapped his hands.

"That's all I know. If you have any new news, please share it with me. I promise not to spread it to anyone else."

Emperor Chengde couldn't tell whether Bai Yimeng was lying or really didn't know, so he grabbed her hand, raised the ruler in a threatening manner, and asked with glaring eyes, "I'll ask you one last question, do you really not know or are you lying?"

Bai Yimeng then realized that Emperor Mingde was serious. She looked at Zhen Chi, pursed her lips, and looked aggrieved. "My daughter-in-law knows. How can I know whether the King of Qi is dead or not? My daughter-in-law is not familiar with him. Even if he is not dead, it cannot be my help."

Bai Yimeng felt more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and burst into tears, "What does his life or death have to do with me? I didn't kill him with the medicine, and I certainly didn't save him with the medicine, so why are you so angry with me?

Anyway, you have the little monkey to play with, and I, a big one, am not pleasing to the eye, so you can hit me if you want." Bai Yimeng closed his eyes aggrievedly.

Seeing that what she said was irrelevant, Emperor De finally believed her words, threw away the ruler, and let go of her hand, "Okay, stop crying, it's really ugly when you cry.

Didn’t I not hit you? Why are you crying? You should learn to be peaceful and happy. Two-year-old children don’t like to cry.”

Bai Yimeng cried even louder, "You only like the younger ones, not the older ones. I won't come to the palace to talk to you anymore. I came to the palace to see you out of kindness, but you scolded me and even beat me up. I don't want to play with you anymore."

Emperor Chengde squatted down and handed her a waist badge. "I promised you before that you will be exempted from the gold badge. I thought about it, since you are called this name, I will exempt you from three beatings. How about it? If you annoy me in the future, you can use this. It is very cost-effective."

Bai Yimeng wiped away her tears, put the gold medal in her pocket with a smile, knelt down, kowtowed, and left.

"You little bastard, you haven't thanked me yet." Looking at Bai Yimeng's back, Emperor Chengde muttered softly.