Having said that, Queen Wen and Concubine Gu both said goodbye and left.
In the blink of an eye, only the Empress Dowager and Lu Bingzhen were left in the huge Shoukang Palace.
Lu Bingzhen held the empress dowager's hand and asked her to sit down on the rosewood seven-screen Arhat bed, while he sat at the empress dowager's elbow.
"Royal Grandmother, it's hot today, is your appetite okay?" Lu Bingzhen smiled and cared about the Queen Mother's health. "The Ai family is old. We don't need you young men and young ladies. Your appetite is no longer good. The Ai family is old."
"Royal Grandma, you just lost your appetite due to the bitter summer in recent days. Your hair is black, how old are you?" The Queen Mother heard the words and said with a smile, "The Crown Princess will make the Ai family happy." The grandmother beside her also joked, "My slave, Your Highness the Crown Princess is telling the truth. Your hair is still the same as it was twenty years ago, black and black."
Suddenly, the entire Shoukang Palace burst into laughter.
But another little eunuch who was in a hurry and looked sad came in. He saw the Queen Mother and the Crown Princess smiling happily, and he hesitated, not knowing whether he should step forward to report the matter.
After lingering for half a cup of tea, the little eunuch finally gritted his teeth and stepped forward to report back.
"The Empress Dowager, Your Highness the Crown Princess, the eldest princess Ruyang said that the Rongde County Lord who entered the palace together today has disappeared for some reason. Now he wants to search the palaces. Please give permission to the Empress Dowager."
As soon as he said this, Lu Bingzhen subconsciously looked at the Queen Mother. As expected, the Queen Mother had frowned deeply. "Princess Ruyang means to search the Shoukang Palace of the Ai family?"
The little eunuch also heard the unpleasantness in the Queen Mother's words, but he could only continue speaking. Lu Bingzhen noticed that the little eunuch's eyes were coming towards him vaguely, and heard the little eunuch say in a trembling tone, "Her Royal Highness the Princess said that she saw Lord Rongde County heading towards the East Palace and wanted to invite the crown prince." Your Highness the Concubine is accommodating and asks someone to go to the East Palace to look for it."
The Queen Mother was already fed up with Princess Ruyang. When he was in power, no one looked down on him if he was flamboyant and domineering. Even his own mother-in-law even contradicted him. Now that His Majesty ignored her, she began to cry and complained that she was pitiful. It was as if everyone in the world owed her glory and glory, and everyone should support her when she was down.
No one in this royal family is ups and downs. Even Concubine Gu, who is as dull as Concubine Gu, knows how to be patient when His Majesty dotes on other concubines. Why does she always feel that as long as she cries, everyone should help her.
What's more, the empress dowager has already decided to side with the prince, and the eldest princess Ruyang is obviously making this fuss because of the prince. Naturally, the Empress Dowager will not pay attention to Princess Ruyang.
Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager also said, "The eldest princess must be dazzled. She has been listening to the opera in Changyin Pavilion, and how did she see Lord Rongde County. The East Palace is not an ordinary harem, it is where the prince is, and there are many It’s an official of the East Palace, so the Lord of Rongde County must have sense and won’t go that way.”
However, the Empress Dowager could scold this little eunuch, but she could not block His Majesty's wishes. After the little eunuch left obediently, the big eunuch next to His Majesty came.
"The Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, the Empress, Concubine Gu, and Princess Ruyang have all gone to the East Palace. Your Majesty said that the East Palace is the residence of His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Crown Princess. I asked this old slave to invite His Highness the Crown Princess to come over."
Acting in such a hurry, Lu Bingzhen had a bad feeling in his heart. The Queen Mother had no choice but to ask Lu Bingzhen to follow him to the East Palace.
Unexpectedly, the eunuch sent by His Majesty was ready to take the chariot. After Lu Bingzhen sat on it, he felt that the layers of gauze were quite blocking his sight. The four people who are with Lu Bingzhen today are Cai Bing, Rong Xue, Zhu Shi and Xue Cha. Therefore, although Lu Bingzhen was worried, he didn't think that the other party could cause any big trouble.
But the road got weirder and weirder. Before Lu Bingzhen noticed something was wrong, Zhu Shi, who was very familiar with the terrain of the palace, shouted, "Stop, this road is not going to the East Palace. You are pretending to convey His Majesty's will and want to bring His Highness the Crown Princess." Where to take it?"
The little eunuch who was carrying the chariot refused to stop, and when he heard this, the wind started to rise at his feet. Zhu Shi and Xue Chakong were both skilled in martial arts, but they could only restrain their hands and feet as they were worried that Her Highness the Crown Princess was still on the chariot. However, Lu Bingzhen sat firmly on the chariot and motioned to the four of them to calm down, and then calmed them down.
Seeing the carriage carrying the Crown Princess into Concubine Gu's Changchun Palace, the four of them were on guard.
Concubine Gu greeted her with a cheerful face, "Oh, why is Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess here? What a coincidence. I was just about to send someone to invite Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess to come over."
"I dare not accept your Majesty's invitation, but the eunuch beside Your Majesty said that several elders are in the East Palace. I hurried back to the East Palace to serve the elders, so I will not stay here any longer." After that, Lu Bingzhen turned around. He was about to leave, but was stopped by Concubine Gu.
Concubine Gu's eyes shone with pity and malice, and there was obvious gloating in her tone. "Why do you need to be anxious, Crown Princess? The sisters in the East Palace will naturally share with you the matters of serving the elders. I invite the Crown Princess to come here just for the sake of the East Palace.
Alas, there is nothing we can do about this. The elders always want to show off to the younger ones, and this is especially true for princes like the Crown Prince. Tell me, His Highness the Crown Prince is also in love with Mr. Rongde County. If you want to marry Mr. Rongde County, you should have said so early. Your Majesty is his father, and Princess Ruyang and Lord Rongde County don't mind being concubines, so they will naturally fulfill his wishes.
Princess, I am also a visitor here, so you should be more open-minded. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a royal nobleman and naturally has three wives and four concubines, as well as a group of palace attendants. You must not be too aggressive in matters like this, otherwise, you will still suffer the loss. "
At the end of the sentence, the sour water of jealousy came out. Why is the Crown Princess so lucky, with a good family background, good looks, and marrying a high-ranking nobleman like His Highness the Crown Prince to actually promise her to devote her whole life to her in public? Thinking again that in recent days, His Majesty has been fascinated by those little goblins and never comes to Changchun Palace again. Concubine Gu was so angry that she gritted her teeth.
Now that she heard that His Highness the Crown Prince was also cheating on others, Concubine Gu immediately felt disgusted with the Crown Princess even if she knew that His Majesty was just using her as a pawn.
Concubine Gu spoke these words urgently and quickly. Lu Bingzhen didn't react at all, and waited for her to pour out the matter like beans from a bamboo tube. Lu Bingzhen calmly brushed away Gu Guifei's hand that was tightly grasping her wrist. Gu Guifei only felt that she was pushed away by an irresistible force.
Then, Concubine Gu saw the Crown Princess salute with a calm expression and calm words, and said goodbye in a neither humble nor arrogant tone, "I will leave first."
She didn't even bother to think of a reason, so she was ready to turn around and leave. Concubine Gu wanted to stop her, but she didn't expect that the Crown Princess didn't even need the help of the maids around her. She easily pushed aside the eunuchs and guards guarding the door and left the Changchun Palace.
Only then did Concubine Gu remember that His Majesty did not even give her a decree to keep His Royal Highness the Crown Princess. He only vaguely asked her to keep His Highness the Crown Princess, and also deliberately assigned Concubine Gu dozens of capable bodyguards.
In other words, she is not even qualified to forcibly detain the Crown Princess and prevent Her Royal Highness from leaving Changchun Palace. Moreover, it was Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess who took action, not the maid beside her. She could not even punish the maid for disrespecting the imperial concubine.
Everyone in the Changchun Palace could only watch dumbfoundedly as the Crown Princess separated from the eunuchs and left the Changchun Palace calmly, as if Concubine Gu had really just invited her to be a guest.
But Lu Bingzhen's expression changed suddenly when she walked out of Changchun Palace. She already knew from Concubine Gu's sour words what exactly His Majesty and Princess Ruyang wanted to do together. Thanks to Concubine Gu's eagerness to show off, she had already explained everything in her words.
"Cai Bing, Rong Xue, you two go to the Queen's Palace quickly. I'm afraid the Queen is still kept in the dark at this moment. Zhu Shi, Xue Cha, you two come with me to the East Palace, I'm afraid Your Majesty, Princess Ruyang Both Rongde County Lord and Rongde County Lord are in the East Palace at the moment."
Lu Bingzhen's steps were hurried and her face was cold. She couldn't explain why she was so anxious at the moment. She kept comforting herself that Qingyan would not be interested in the Lord of Rongde County, and he would not marry the Lord of Rongde County. Even if Qingyan wanted to have Liangdi as his concubine, he would definitely marry the daughter of the Wen family first, and he would not marry the Princess of Rongde County. Now is the time to marry the Lord of Rongde County.
Unexpectedly, before they reached the East Palace, the three of them bumped into the prince and his group.
"A Rui, I heard that you were detained in Changchun Palace, are you injured?" Facing Xiao Min's anxious eyes, Lu Bingzhen couldn't help but rush over and hugged Xiao Min, "Qingyan, I'm fine, but you, Did they frame you?"
Xiao Min didn't expect Lu Bingzhen to behave like this. They hadn't seen each other for many days, and their thoughts were growing day by day. Xiao Min hugged Lu Bingzhen back hard and comforted her with a gentle voice. He just felt that he had to spend the night in the study these days and it was really hard for him to think about it.
At the moment, Xiao Min is even more worried about whether Lu Bingzhen's behavior is because he was wronged in Changchun Palace, "It's okay, it's okay, A Rui, Gu is okay. Are you wronged? Did Concubine Gu do something?" Gu Guifei, a trace of anger flashed in Xiao Min's eyes.
He is just a tool for His Majesty to measure power, but he actually dares to show off his power in front of his mother and A Rui. It seemed that he had to free up his hands to take care of the Gu family first.
Concubine Gu, who didn't know that her one act of jealousy would ruin the future of the Gu family, was anxiously worried about how to explain the matter to His Majesty.
At this moment, in Xiao Min's arms, Lu Bingzhen only felt peaceful, as if all the storms had been calmed down. A smile appeared on her face. Just as Lu Bingzhen was about to say something, she suddenly touched something hard and small on Xiao Min's sleeve.
It seemed to be...a small beaded flower belonging to a woman.
