sjar Chapter 358 Playing dumb is more useful than being brave
Chapter 358 Playing dumb is more useful than being brave
As the hour of You was approaching, Zhou Ziqian left the table on the pretext of chest tightness.
As soon as he turned around the rockery, he was stopped by the nanny beside Wang Fu.
"Seventh Prince, the King's wife has given me some ginseng soup."
The ginseng soup in the gilded bowl exudes a bitter smell.
Zhou Ziqian's heart was filled with alarm. This was clearly a potent drug that would exacerbate his asthma. If he drank it, he would be bedridden for at least half a month. If he didn't drink it, he would be disobeying his father.
"Thank my father for me." He took it with both hands, but suddenly his foot slipped and the ginseng soup spilled all over the nanny's skirt. "Ah! I... I'll go make it again..."
The nanny's face turned pale but she was helpless.
Zhou Ziqian retreated in a hurry like a frightened rabbit, and didn't straighten his back until he turned the corridor - his father was right, sometimes pretending to be stupid is more useful than being brave.
The abandoned well is located on the back wall of the cold palace, and the edge of the well is covered with moss.
As Zhou Ziqian approached, he heard the Third Prince's exasperated voice from the bottom of the well: "...That batch of goods must be shipped out tonight!"
"Your Highness, please think twice." The Minister of the Imperial Household's voice was filled with fear. "The Censorate has already..."
"What are you afraid of? Even that sickly old man, the Seventh Brother, could see it. Do you think the Queen Mother doesn't know?" Zhou Jingyan sneered, "She's just looking for a scapegoat."
A shadow suddenly fell over the wellhead.
Zhou Ziqian looked up and saw Gu Qingyan hanging upside down on the eaves of the well, winking at him, with a brown paper bag dangling from his hand - it was the account book of the Third Prince's private salt trade.
"The gift that the Seventh Prince wants." Gu Qingyan mouthed and pointed in the direction of the palace wall.
There, Su Yue and Liang Junze were "accidentally" accompanying the empress's most trusted Lanting Censor to appreciate chrysanthemums.
Zhou Ziqian's heart was beating like a drum.
He suddenly understood why Su Yue brought Liang Junze here - this talented man who was proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting was exactly the younger generation that Lan Tai Yushi admired the most.
At three quarters past ten, the birthday banquet reached its climax amid fireworks.
No one noticed that a moment after the empress left the table, the Minister of the Imperial Household was taken away by the imperial guards with a pale face.
The third prince's forced smile looked particularly funny under the illumination of the fireworks.
"Qian'er." The Emperor suddenly called Zhou Ziqian forward and placed a jade ruyi in his hand in front of everyone. "You will be responsible for counting these birthday gifts from me."
The whole hall was in an uproar.
This is equivalent to handing over part of the supervision of the inner treasury to a prince!
The wine glass in the empress's hand trembled slightly, but she quickly put on a motherly smile: "Qian'er is weak, how can the queen..."
"It's because I'm weak that I need to move more." The retired emperor looked at the empress meaningfully. "Or does the emperor think I'm getting old and confused?"
When Zhou Ziqian knelt down to express his gratitude, he caught a glimpse of Su Yue raising her glass to him.
Liang Junze's piano music sounded at the right time. It was the song "He Chongxiao" - the song that the fourth princess had played just now, but under his fingers, it had a bit more of the spirit of war and iron horses.
When the fireworks ended, Zhou Ziqian stood on the palace wall and looked into the distance.
The lights of thousands of homes in the imperial city were like stars falling to the earth, and what he held in his hand was no longer just the medicine bottle - there was also the cool touch of the jade ruyi, and the account book that recorded the evidence of the third prince's crimes.
The palace lanterns stretched his shadow very long, casting it on the vermilion palace wall, like a blue phoenix finally spreading its wings.
When the midnight drum sounded, Zhou Chufan stood alone on the palace wall.
Shedding the smooth-talking demeanor he had shown at the banquet, a hint of fatigue finally appeared in his eyes.
The lanterns of the Su Mansion in the distance were as warm as beans in the night.
He touched the oil-paper package in his sleeve - it was the almond cake that Liang Junze had quietly slipped to him when he left the table.
Prince Ning, who was a powerful figure in the court, suddenly wanted to climb over the wall and snatch the sugar man from Yaoyao's hand.
"Your Highness," the guard whispered from the shadows, "The Third Prince's men have gone to the residence of the Minister of the Imperial Household."
Zhou Chufan's eyes suddenly became sharp.
He took one last look in the direction of the Su Mansion, and when he turned around, he had turned back into the Prince Ning who frightened the court officials.
"According to the plan." The dark cloak fluttered in the night wind. "Remember, I want Zhou Ziyan to write a confession in his own hand."
The palace lanterns stretched his shadow very long, casting it on the vermilion palace wall, half immersed in darkness and half bathed in moonlight.
Just like his life, it always switches between the decisive and murderous prince and the greedy and spoiled Xiaofan.
And at this moment, he chose to be Prince Ning, who could keep his enemies awake at night.
Incense curled up from the Purple Palace. The empress tapped the table with her fingertips. The six large red characters on the memorial spread out in front of her, "The Seventh Prince is over the age of marriage and has not yet married," made Zhou Ziqian's eyes hurt.
"Qian'er, these are all the noble ladies from aristocratic families carefully selected by the Queen Mother."
The Empress' voice was gentle but unquestionable. "The Grand Tutor's granddaughter is only eighteen years old and already manages the household. The only daughter of the Zhenbei Marquis has just made military achievements and has a quiet backyard. The most precious thing is the third daughter of the Zuo Xiang family. I am willing to dismiss all the concubines for you..."
Zhou Ziqian stared at his own reflection on the gold bricks, vaguely seeing himself feeding Yaoyao peach cakes in the peach forest of the Su Mansion.
His nails dug deep into his palms, but the pain was not even one ten-thousandth as great as the one in his heart.
"Your son...I leave it entirely to the Queen Mother." He heard himself answering mechanically, and a familiar fishy-sweet feeling rose in his throat - it turned out that extreme heartache would really make him vomit blood.
The wise king suddenly stood up, sweeping the teacup away with his wide sleeves: "Your Majesty! Qian'er's asthma..."
"That's why we should get married soon," the empress interrupted him, her eyes full of meaning. "The latest pulse diagnosis from the Imperial Hospital shows that Qian'er's condition has improved significantly." She suddenly leaned forward, her golden armor lifting Zhou Ziqian's chin. "Or... does my son already have someone in mind?"
Zhou Ziqian's long eyelashes trembled violently.
If Su Yue's name was mentioned at this moment, it would be tantamount to putting her in the spotlight.
How can a sixth-rank editor withstand the attacks from the aristocratic families?
"I dare not."
Green smoke rose from the gilded incense burner in the hall, and the kneeling figure of the wise king looked particularly thin in the smoke.
He suddenly kowtowed heavily, and his forehead hit the floor tiles with a dull sound.
"Your Majesty, understand!" The wise emperor said in a choked but firm voice, "I, your humble servant, have dared to order the director of the Imperial Hospital to examine Qian'er's pulse. The prescription prescribed by Doctor Lin at Lord Su's residence has kept Qian'er's asthma at bay for the past two months..."
The empress paused, and the teacup stopped in mid-air.
She, the most favored husband of the emperor, has always been cautious and prudent. How dare she contact foreign officials privately today?
Zhou Ziqian suddenly looked up and looked at his father in disbelief.
My father and concubine knew all about my time in the Su Mansion? And they even secretly sent the imperial physician to investigate?
"Nonsense!" The empress threw the teacup, and the broken porcelain splashed on the back of the wise emperor's hand, leaving a bloody mark. "How could I not know that you and your son had such close contacts with the court officials?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Zhou Ziqian took two steps on his knees. "It is your son..."
"It's my husband's fault," the wise king said first, blood dripping from his fingertips onto the gilded floor tiles like a blooming red plum. "When my husband saw Qian'er return from the Su Mansion, his eyes lit up..." He suddenly looked up, his tearful eyes filled with a desperate determination. "Your Majesty, Qian'er will not live past the age of twenty-three!"
These words pierced the stagnant air in the palace like a sharp sword. The empress's pupils shrank slightly, and she recalled the imperial physician's prediction twenty years ago.