During the Hungry Ghost Festival in previous years, the emperor would take members of the royal family to the Ancestral Temple to worship. On this year's Hungry Ghost Festival, due to the emperor's health, Leng Yu and the Minister of Rites discussed and decided to just worship directly at the Royal Ancestral Hall and the Sage Pavilion. .
The worship ceremony was not too complicated, and there were only a few people in the royal family. Apart from Leng Yu's family and Leng Ming, there were also Yu Qiaoqiao and Xiaobao, who were some of the concubines in the palace.
After the worship, everyone retreated. The emperor ordered Leng Yu and Leng Ming to stay. He sat in front of them, looked at his two sons standing with hands hanging down, and breathed a long sigh of relief.
"When I used to go to the Ancestral Temple to worship my ancestors, there were many people with foreign surnames. I felt that the royal family was prosperous. But this time when I was worshiping my ancestors in the Shengxian Pavilion, I looked at these children and suddenly felt worried. If this continues, the royal bloodline may be destroyed. Broken, so I give an order to you two brothers. Leng Yu, marry a few more concubines, and you must give birth to more children for the royal family. And Leng Ming, tomorrow I will ask the Ministry of Rites to find a door for you. For the marriage, we will find a few concubines and marry the main concubine and the concubine together. Our Leng family must be prosperous."
In response to the emperor's sudden words, Leng Yu's eyebrows instantly twisted into a knot.
He clasped his hands into his fists and replied simply:
"Father, my son, Prince Yu, already has three children..."
"Three children are not enough. Besides, only two of the three children are yours, or they were born in the same child. Go back and ask Luo Lan if you are willing to have another child? If you are willing, you can postpone marrying the concubine. If you are not willing, you can postpone the marriage of the concubine. , then I will ask the Ministry of Rites to find a suitable candidate, and if it doesn’t work, you can take Luo Lan’s identical sister Liu Luoxue as your concubine!”
These words not only shocked Leng Yu, but also made Leng Ming's face darken instantly.
Leng Yu saw the sudden change in Leng Ming's expression and hurriedly explained.
"Father, Liu Luoxue is Lan'er's biological sister, and I also regard her as my biological sister. You must not mess with the relationship..."
"Then let Liu Luolan have more children, otherwise I'm afraid the palace will be very deserted in the future..."
Leng Yu held his forehead helplessly, and Leng Ming snorted softly,
"My father is in good health, why don't you let your concubines have more children?"
His words made the emperor's face darken instantly. He stared at Leng Ming, pointed at him and asked angrily:
"Are you talking to your father? It's really lawless. You are the one who disappoints me the most now. Your mother and concubine have character problems. She didn't discipline you well since you were a child, making you a useless person. Man, I tried to grant you a marriage several times, but you refused. What do you want? Do you want to become a eunuch like Liu Xi?"
The emperor's words were so harsh that Leng Ming was so angry that the veins on his face popped out. His father not only said something wrong with his mother and concubine, but also called him a useless person in front of Leng Yu. He also said that he wanted to be a eunuch. What did he call him? Can you not be angry?
The fists in his sleeves were clenched tightly, and he was about to get angry and defend himself. Leng Yu knew very well what Leng Ming was thinking about Luo Xue, and was busy trying to smooth things over.
"Father, don't be anxious about Ming'er's marriage. Maybe he already has a sweetheart in his heart, but it's just not convenient to say it now. You will be satisfied by then."
"Sweetheart? Huh, a woman from a wrong family background cannot marry into the royal family. Who can fancy him among all the ladies? Besides, how can a royal person have any reason to choose his sweetheart? He has no ability but a lot of ideas. I think he is just an Adou who cannot be helped up. He is idle all day long and has nothing to do. You really let me down."
When the emperor saw Leng Ming, he thought of his mother, Concubine Chang, the woman he hated so much, so he vented his anger on Concubine Chang on Leng Ming for no reason.
"Haha! Father is disappointed in me? Where do these words come from? When did father have hope for me? Since I was a child, you have never looked at me seriously. Everything I do is wrong. Ever since I left the palace Later, you summoned me a handful of times. You said that my mother-in-law did not teach me well. At least she accompanied me in my childhood. Even if she made ten thousand mistakes, she was still my mother-in-law and the one who gave birth to and raised me. My person is the woman who shared the same bed with you. Now she has been mercilessly locked up in the cold palace by you. You don’t let me see her. I don’t know whether she is alive or dead. Are you still slandering her? You are the same it disappointed me……"
"You are presumptuous..."
While the emperor was furious, he patted the armrest of the chair heavily. Because of his anger, his chest kept heaving. Seeing this, Liu Xi hurriedly stepped forward and patted his back, comforting him.
"Your Majesty, calm down. You haven't recovered yet, so you can't be angry."
The emperor took a few deep breaths, pointed his finger at Leng Ming, and scolded fiercely:
"Get out... get out of the palace, don't let me see you again."
Leng Ming glanced at him, narrowed his eyes slightly, twitched the corners of his mouth, sneered disdainfully, then rolled up his sleeves and turned around to leave.
What his father said today really made him very angry.
When he walked out of the gate of Sage Pavilion, he suddenly sneered at himself.
He had been frustrated by Leng Yu, and now he was insulted by his father. It seemed that he had a reputation of being idle and doing nothing. It would be difficult to take it off.
He glanced at the sky and raised his hand to block the dazzling sunlight. He suddenly missed his mother and concubine and didn't know how she was doing.
Next time I enter the palace and I don’t know what year or month it is, why not take this opportunity to visit my mother-in-law and at least know how well she is doing.
Thinking of this, he clenched his fists, took long steps, and walked forward.
The Cold Palace is located in the most remote part of the palace. All the concubines who have made mistakes live here. The final fate of those who come here is to die in depression.
Leng Ming had already inquired about the place where his mother and concubine were being held, but he had never dared to come and see it.
When he came here with heavy steps and looked at the locked door, he felt a little more melancholy.
At this time, a shout came from inside. He frowned and listened carefully. It was the voice of his mother and concubine.
"I don't want to eat anymore. The buns are sour, the soup has changed, and the vegetables are not even oily. How can I eat them? I have eaten enough of these pig food all day long. Take these things. Go feed the dog.”
"You really don't want to eat? Then I'm really feeding the dog. I told you long ago that you are no longer Concubine Chang. You are an abandoned concubine who was thrown into the cold palace. The emperor has forgotten you a long time ago. I am the unlucky one. Arranged here to guard you, a living dead, huh! If you hadn't given birth to a son for the emperor, you would have been killed long ago. How can you still be alive? You still haven't eaten, haven't you, haven't you? "
As she spoke, the girl stepped forward and grabbed Concubine Chang's chin tightly, stuffed a piece of steamed bun into her mouth, and laughed bitterly while stuffing it:
"If you don't want to eat, I will serve you..."
"Hahaha……"
"Uh huh..."
The sound from the yard made Leng Ming's heart twist into a knot. He banged the door hard and yelled loudly,
“Open the door, concubine, concubine…”
