"The officials are here!"
Han Palace, Kunning Hall. A loud singing broke the winter tranquility of the palace. Immediately afterwards, Emperor Liu's figure appeared in the corridor under the palace verandah. His yellow and black winter clothes were equally eye-catching.
It is already late winter, and the weather is obviously a bit harsher. However, today, it is rare to see a burst of warm sunshine. The sunshine shines on the palace, adding a bit of brightness. If the biting cold wind can stop, it will definitely be a trip. Good times.
In the Kunning Hall, it was the ladies gathered together, and they started talking around Empress Fu. However, Emperor Liu arrived and naturally attracted all the attention.
"Welcome to the official family!" The woman stood up and bowed down, showing off her beautiful face and beautiful figure, giving her a sense of beauty.
"Everyone is free of charge!" Emperor Liu seemed to have a heart as solid as stone, and he had seen through the world of mortals. He was not confused by these red and pink skulls at all. He was very calm and raised his hand to signal.
He glanced around at the ladies and found that there were indeed quite a few of them. Concubine Xian, Concubine Hui, Concubine Yi and Concubine Wei were all present, as well as several other princesses. What surprised Emperor Liu was the two concubines of the crown prince. Also there.
The little prince Liu Yan hung obediently next to Concubine Fu Hui, holding his mother's calf with both hands, looking at Emperor Liu curiously with bright eyes.
Concubine Hui leaned over and whispered something in Liu Han's ear. A little timidity and hesitation flashed across Liu Han's face. Under her mother's encouraging eyes, she still mustered up her courage, opened her hands, and stepped forward with her short legs. He rushed towards Emperor Liu, shouting "Daddy".
Liu Yan was not yet three years old, and was Emperor Liu's youngest son. Emperor Liu was not immune to customs towards his younger son, and was always less strict and more loving than his elder brothers.
Facing Liu Yan who was running towards him, Emperor Liu picked him up, held him in his arms, kissed his chubby face, left some saliva on his face in a bad way, and laughed and said: "Long time no see, my little one" Fifteen is a little heavier again, do you miss your dad?"
Although it was a little uncomfortable to be pricked by Emperor Liu's beard, Liu Yan still couldn't help but giggle and responded sweetly: "I think!"
The smile and laughter of a young son are always contagious, and that innocence and purity always make people feel happy and cherished. Emperor Liu's cold shell couldn't help but come into contact with him temporarily. A warm smile broke out on his face. With a kind look, he touched Liu Yan's head and said: "In the coming year, dad will take you out to play!"
"Thank you, dad!" Fu Huifei saw her from the side, her beautiful eyes almost curved into crescent moons, and a smile as bright as spring bloomed in her jade face.
"Thank you, daddy!" Liu Yan was obviously very obedient.
Without letting go of Liu Yan, he just held him in his arms, sat down at the main seat, asked everyone to sit down, looked around, looked at the Queen of Fu, and asked with a smile: "I heard the laughter and laughter in the palace outside the palace, you sent someone Come to invite me, but I didn’t delay at all, so I came over, what’s the happy event?”
Hearing this, Empress Fu also showed a clear smile. Emperor Liu rarely saw her smiling like this. Fu pointed at the crown prince's side concubine Zhao, who was sitting nearby, and said somewhat cheerfully: "I just found out that Concubine Zhao is pregnant!"
"Huh?" Emperor Liu was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what he was doing and shifted his gaze to Zhao.
Emperor Liu's eyes were so oppressive that Zhao didn't dare to look at him at all, and subconsciously lowered his head. Although he was a little shy, there was clearly a smile of joy on the corners of his lips.
Next to Concubine Zhao is the Crown Princess Murong. She maintains a dignified sitting posture, looking dignified and generous. There is also a slight smile on her face, but it is a bit forced to smile. The slight bow of her head is so... A hint of loneliness and sadness.
Emperor Liu's attention was of course on Concubine Zhao. Seeing her reaction, he understood. His face showed a rare expression of emotion and asked, "How long has it been?"
"It's been almost two months!" Queen Fu said.
"Haha!" Emperor Liu's laughter was a little loud, echoing in the palace, with a touch of excitement in his tone: "It is indeed a happy event! A good thing!"
Those present here, even if they are just some palace ladies, cannot fully understand, they understand what it means that Concubine Zhao is pregnant. This means that the last shortcoming of Prince Liu Yang may be made up, and the last loophole that makes people feel uneasy can be made up for.
The prince's lack of heirs has always been an extremely serious problem. A few years ago, it wasn't so prominent, but after being married for more than five years and still having nothing to do, it has to be worrying.
Liu Yang has been the crown prince for more than ten years. After all these years, both Emperor Liu and the ministers who work with him are very satisfied with his abilities, his quality, and his accomplishments. They also give more praise.
His mother is the queen and his mother's family is the Fu family. Under normal circumstances, Liu Yang's position is absolutely unbreakable. This has always been the case. No one can challenge or shake him.
However, as time went by, the problem of having no heirs gradually became a problem for everyone, including Queen Fu, the prince, and the entire power group behind him.
Especially after several other brothers gave birth to sons and grandsons one after another, you must know that even Zhao Wang Liu Fang and the newly married Qi Duke Liu Yun were pregnant at home.
With these as a comparison, the prince's family affairs were magnified even more, attracting extraordinary attention from both the government and the public. The same is true for Emperor Liu. As for the prince Liu Yang who was involved, the pressure was naturally greater. Even in order to maintain Liu Yang's majesty and face, Emperor Liu strictly prohibited nonsense inside and outside the court, and used extremely harsh methods to deal with some talkative people. But Liu Yang himself felt depressed from time to time.
It’s not like she hasn’t been treated for so many years, and she doesn’t even dote on Crown Princess Murong, but all the beauties from the East Palace who have been lucky enough to see her have not done anything. It seemed that the problem still seemed to lie with the prince.
For this reason, Empress Fu was worried and worried, and Emperor Liu himself felt a little unhappy. Of course, this situation did not shake Liu Yang's position in his heart. In fact, in order to make up for this loophole, he had already made preparations to choose one of his grandchildren to adopt him if the prince eventually had no children.
However, this idea is not practical at all. This is only a last resort, and it is full of hidden dangers, and it is very likely to stir up a succession crisis.
In recent years, every time the royal family is about to have a baby, it brings joy, but it also means rubbing salt on Liu Yang's wounds. The bitterness is probably only understood by Liu Yang himself.
Now, when he suddenly learned that Concubine Zhao was pregnant, Emperor Liu felt unusually excited. He felt as refreshed as if he had eaten a fruit. Looking at Concubine Zhao, he showed his most amiable expression.
He waved his hands vigorously: "Very good, I made the right choice for you as my wife! Next, I will give you a task, which is to recuperate and try to give birth to Lin'er!"
"Yes!" Concubine Zhao subconsciously touched her abdomen and said in awe and earnestly.
Emperor Liu's interest did not diminish, he looked at Dafu again and said: "You should also show more care and attention!"
"This is natural!" Da Fu rolled his eyes at Emperor Liu and said with a smile: "How can I not care about my grandson?"
Emperor Liu chuckled, came to his senses, and turned to ask Yantuo: "Where is the prince? Where is he? Such a big thing happened in the palace, and he is not here!"
Upon hearing this, Yantuo reminded some carefully: "Guanjia, His Highness left the palace the day before yesterday to inspect the construction of the river defense. I'm afraid he is on the embankment now!"
"Oh, that's what happened. I'm confused!" Emperor Liu couldn't help stroking his forehead, and immediately instructed: "If you haven't sent someone to inform him yet, leave the river defense matters to his staff and ask him to return to the capital as soon as possible!"
"Yes!" Yantuo also looked happy, looking even happier than Emperor Liu, and went to make arrangements without hesitation.
In Kunning Hall, all the topics turned to Concubine Zhao again, and everyone was enjoying themselves. The only person who was embarrassed was probably the Crown Princess.
