Chapter 17: Rumors

Before this, in the entire Zhou Dynasty, no one had ever caught these things at the prince’s first birthday banquet.

Not to mention princes and princesses, even members of the royal family and even the common people rarely see it.

The so-called one-year-old celebration is basically just a formality. What does a child who has just turned one year old know? It is just the result of careful arrangements by the parents.

It’s okay to do it behind closed doors at home, but if you want to do it for your friends and family, some families have even started preparing one or two months in advance.

The probability of an accident happening is extremely small.

But it just so happened that Emperor Jingwen encountered such a ridiculous scene. Look at what his youngest son was holding in his hands?

An abacus the size of a palm and a golden ingot.

These two things are fine, but as for his love of money, it is barely reasonable for him to work in the Ministry of Revenue in the future.

But rouge and belly band… are clearly things for women!

The ancients were quite superstitious about activities like the “Zhou-Zhua” ceremony, and they believed that a child’s personality was already formed during childhood. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the saying “You can tell a child’s future by looking at him at the age of three, and his old age by looking at him at the age of seven.”

But if that’s the case, then what does his youngest son say now?

Not only is there a piece of rouge, but there is also a belly band. Could it be a sign that her son will become a sex maniac when he grows up?

Even the aristocratic families value elegance and restraint, and the royal family is even more so.

If the royal family wants to convince the gentry of the world, they should set an example. The word “lustful” is a very disgraceful thing even for the royal family.

After seeing this scene, after being stunned for a while, some concubines below couldn’t help but laughed softly.

The little prince is so useless. Let’s see how the imperial concubine can be so proud in the future!

If they gave birth to such a son, wouldn’t they be so ashamed that they would never be able to leave the palace again?

“My Lady, please don’t be upset. The little prince is of noble status, so it won’t be a problem even if there are more women around him in the future.”

There was an air of teasing and mockery in these words, and the usual fear was completely gone.

They are usually closer to the Queen and have long disliked the Imperial Concubine. They have finally waited for such an opportunity and have been holding it back for so long, so they must indulge themselves, right?

What’s more, with the emperor around, how could the imperial concubine, who had just lost face, still be so rampant?

After the words fell, the Queen, who was sitting at the top, paused and thought to herself, “Idiot.”

At this time, you dare to say such words.

In the eyes of several concubines, after this incident, the little prince, who was already treated coldly, would inevitably be completely disliked by the emperor. Even if she was an imperial concubine, what could she do?

But after they said this, the face of Emperor Jingwen at the table became darker and uglier.

These ladies are probably in trouble.

But this is none of her business, they just wanted to make fun of themselves.

Before Ye Shuo could show any sympathy, the next moment, he saw Emperor Jingwen glaring at them with a sullen face: “Lu Zhaoyi, Yang Jieyu, Wu Jieyu… your words and deeds are inappropriate, and you will be punished to reflect on your mistakes for three months.”

[T/L = Lady of Bright Deportment (昭儀; zhāoyí

)

Lady of Handsome Fairness (婕妤; jiéyú)]

“Emperor, Emperor…” Several people were obviously panicked. They couldn’t understand when the emperor should have disliked the little prince, he punished them instead?

Seeing this, Ye Shuo couldn’t help but sigh. There was nothing he could do. Who told him to be so young? How narrow-minded did the emperor have to be to argue with a one-year-old child?

What’s the difference between what these people just did and saying that your child is bad in front of the child’s parents?

Wouldn’t my cheap dad be angry?

Emperor Jingwen wanted to say something, but he held it back when his eyes met the baby’s tender face.

But Ye Shuo seemed not to understand. He kept shaking his two little hands and the abacus in his hands made a clattering sound. The noise gave Emperor Jingwen a headache.

At that time, the red mandarin duck belly band swayed up and down with the little prince from time to time, and it made Emperor Jingwen’s temples throb.

It’s simply… outrageous!!

“What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and take the things from the little prince’s hands!” Aren’t you embarrassed enough?

Seeing the frantic movements of the maid and the palace servants, Emperor Jingwen took a deep breath, looked around, and said word by word: “No one is allowed to tell anyone about what happened today, understand?”

Upon hearing this, the Queen took the lead in agreeing, “Yes.”

Really unable to stay any longer, Emperor Jingwen came with a cold face and a tentative mind, but finally left in anger.

A mischievous look flashed across Ye Shuo’s eyes.

Not long after walking out of the gate of Qiuwu Palace, Eunuch Wang Ziquan trotted up to catch up.

Emperor Jingwen then realized that the imperial concubine had actually rehearsed the performance in advance.

“Then why did this happen?”

Upon hearing this, Wang Ziquan opened his mouth but did not dare to answer.

Everything was fine before, but everything changed after the emperor took out the jade seal.

Children are ignorant to begin with, and once the routine is disrupted, it may trigger a chain reaction.

Although Wang Ziquan did not say it, Emperor Jingwen soon thought of this, and his face turned even darker.

So is this considered shooting oneself in the foot?

He wanted to test the Duke of Zhen, but he forgot that child knew nothing and ended up making things worse.

Emperor Jingwen learned his lesson immediately and secretly warned himself that he would never do that again next time, because children are really uncontrollable!

Emperor Jingwen returned to the Qinzheng Hall not long after.

When the crown prince saw him, he was shocked.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Didn’t they say that Father went to attend the little prince’s one-year-old celebration? How come he came back so soon?

[T/L = Referring to the servants.]

The most important thing is that his complexion has become so bad.

The prince couldn’t help but asked with concern: “Father, what happened in the middle?”

In the past, if the prince had asked this question, Emperor Jingwen would have answered in a gentle tone, but this time, he really couldn’t say it, and even said with a hint of shame: “Do your job well, be careful with your words and actions, and don’t ask about things that are not your business.”

The prince became nervous instantly after being scolded for no apparent reason.

Did he, did he say something wrong…

The prince looked calm on the surface, but he was actually extremely panicked, so he really didn’t dare to continue asking.

When he returned to his palace and inquired, he found out that it was the little prince who was causing the trouble.

His mind suddenly relaxed, and after understanding the whole cause and effect, the prince was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

The other side.

After the emperor left, other concubines also left one after another, and the happy one-year-old banquet suddenly turned into a mess.

Zhao Chongrong looked at the little prince who was still sitting on the ground and looked pitiful with a little worry.

These were all caused by adults, but they blamed a child.

Ever since the day the imperial concubine gave birth in her palace and the little prince took the initiative to ask for her daughter’s silver bracelet, Zhao Chongrong had already been somewhat concerned about the little prince.

When Zhao Chongrong found the pill, she became even more conflicted.

Now that something like this has happened again, it is really heartbreaking.

In particular, Zhao Chongrong discovered that the pair of silver bracelets were still on the little prince’s wrists!

At this time, Zhao Chongrong didn’t know that the poor little thing in her eyes was actually the culprit of the whole incident.

Ye Shuo actually had a pretty good impression of this Zhao Chongrong. Noticing that she looked strange, he couldn’t help but grin and waved at her.

Zhao Chongrong felt even more uncomfortable now.

Resisting the urge to look back, Zhao Chongrong tightly grasped the handkerchief and left silently.

I just hope that the Imperial Concubine won’t blame him too harshly…

A stick of incense later, the moment the door of Qiuwu Palace closed, Concubine Rong took a deep breath and looked at her son with gritted teeth.

This little thing, how could it fail at the critical moment!

Concubine Rong, who was unaware of the inside story, must have been angry at the moment, especially because the little one had behaved so well in the previous month that even she was fooled. Finally, at the one-year-old banquet, such a thing suddenly happened to her. Concubine Rong was so angry that she was about to die.

Especially when she thought of the emperor’s expression, Concubine Rong became even more anxious.

What if he is really disliked by the emperor because of this incident?

The Sixth Prince on the side looked at this one, then looked at that one, and also felt at a loss. However, out of habit, he still helped to plead, “Concubine Rong, my brother is still young, please don’t…”

“It’s none of your business. Just stay aside.” Concubine Rong gritted her teeth and walked straight towards her son.

The Sixth Prince was about to step in front when he was stopped by Nanny Jing. He was extremely anxious for a moment.

Nanny Jing, however, was not worried at all. As a mother, how could she really bear to be angry with her child?

The maids like Su Xin, Su Yue, Su Qiu, who were not married yet, had no idea. They bit their lower lips and knelt down with a plop. “My queen, the little prince is young and doesn’t understand anything. It’s our fault and our carelessness that caused this to happen. If you want to punish him, punish us!”

[T/L = Concubines are also referred to as queen by their servants only – to satisfy their vanity you know? – as the Empress is the only legitimate wife of the emperor as well as the mother of the nation.]

“I didn’t realize that he had bribed you too.” Looking at the little thing that was surrounded, Concubine Rong almost laughed out of anger.

There is no way. The little prince is so lovable on weekdays, especially when he reaches out for a hug, it makes people’s hearts melt and makes people want to defend on him unconsciously.

Even Concubine Rong is like this, let alone these maids.

Ye Shuo obviously knew that his mother was angry, so when she came over, he quickly offered her the rouge in his hand, and took advantage of his young age to softly call out, “Mom.”

There was a thin mist in Ruifeng’s slightly raised eyes, which made her look pitiful.

[T/L = Ruifeng’s eyes are slender eyes with pupils close to the corners of the eyes showing a little smile itself.]

Concubine Rong couldn’t bear it anymore.

No one knew where the little thing learned this, but when there were no outsiders around, he never called herself mother. He always called her mother when she is angry, which was so annoying that Concubine Rong couldn’t get angry even if she wanted to.

If just one word “mom” is not enough, then add a kiss.

The ancients were reserved by nature, and Concubine Rong had never seen such a scene before. She was soon embraced by the child, and then kissed on both cheeks, which made Concubine Rong lose her temper immediately.

“You can’t even speak clearly on weekdays, why are you suddenly calling me mom now, huh?”

Faced with Concubine Rong’s questioning, Ye Shuo chose to play dumb, leaning into his mother’s arms, pretending not to understand what she said.

“Your Majesty, the little prince is also thinking about you. Look at this rouge.” Nanny Jing spoke at the right time.

Concubine Rong looked down and saw that he seemed to be holding something in his hand.

The crisis was resolved in an instant.

Everybody is helping him.

Ye Shuole grinned and winked at the Sixth Prince at an angle where his mother couldn’t see.

The Sixth Prince couldn’t hold it back and burst out laughing.

The entire Qiuwu Palace quickly returned to its former ease.

Two days passed in a flash, after all, there is no wall that is impenetrable in this world.

Although Emperor Jingwen had issued an order not to spread the news outside, the rumor could not be stopped from spreading, and people who wanted to watch the fun gradually emerged.

That afternoon, when Emperor Jingwen woke up from his lunch break, before he could summon all the ministers to the Qinzheng Hall for an audience, he heard Wang Ziquan’s message that Prince Jin had arrived, and with him was Prince Su, who was always low-key.

Prince of Jin is the younger brother of Emperor Jingwen. Because of his elder brother, he has been somewhat lawless since childhood.

As for Prince Su, he had been assisting Emperor Jingwen when he was still the crown prince, so he now has a very good relationship with Emperor Jingwen.

What are these two people doing here?

Emperor Jingwen was puzzled for a moment, but still told Wang Ziquan to summon them in.

However, Emperor Jingwen soon regretted his decision.

He shouldn’t have believed that his brother came to him for any serious business.

As expected, as soon as the Prince of Jin came in, he opened his mouth and said, “Royal brother, I heard that your son caught a belly band and rouge when he was one year old. Is this true?”

Well, the shame was indeed brought to the royal family.

With a “swish”, Emperor Jingwen’s face turned dark in an instant.