Chapter 99

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“Imperial Grandmother, what are you staring at? Is there dirt on my face?” Li Huairou asked curiously. The original owner of the body had been favored since childhood. When her grandmother and uncle had still been alive, everything went smoothly, and there were no troubles, and her character was pampered and naive. She didn’t understand many things.

“Your grandma is thinking of your mother. In a few days, it will be your mother’s birthday,” the empress dowager said slowly.

“I know, I have already arranged to go to Fahua Temple for a few days and do a ritual for my mother, grandfather, and grandmother,” Li Huairou said.

“Just let Feng-momo keep an eye on it. You can just go to burn incense and come back. It’s the thought that counts; your mother and the others won’t blame you. Forget about staying for a few days. Grandma is not at ease,” the empress dowager said with a smile.

“Then Grandma should accompany me! It’s not fun in the palace—I want to go out for a stroll!” Li Huairou said coquettishly.

The empress dowager thought about it and said, “No. This way, when your mother’s birthday is over, Grandma will take you to Cuiwei Palace to escape the summer heat. Don’t you like playing with water the best?”

The master of Fahua Temple had once said that Minghua had a Buddha affinity, and if she could take refuge in Buddha, she would be safe for life. But how could the empress dowager and the emperor be willing? Their thinking was that they were the supreme beings of the world—couldn’t they keep their Minghua safe? Therefore, the empress dowager and the emperor never let Minghua and Fahua Temple get too close, so as not to change her opinion.

“Really? That’s fine!” Li Huairou said with a smile, “Are you taking Uncle and Dad with you?”

“I’m not. It’s just the two of us. If they come, a large group of people will definitely follow. Then there will be no peace,” the empress dowager said without thinking. As long as her granddaughter was happy, her son was nothing.

“Hehe, Grandma is right.” Li Huairou smiled.

When it was time for dinner, Emperor Zhengwu really did come to Ningshou Palace, and the mother and son sat together, gossiping.

When the empress dowager talked about taking Li Huairou to Cuiwei Palace to escape the summer, Emperor Zhengwu felt a little sad. “Empress Mother also feels distressed for this son, so please bring this son with.”

“Forget it! If you want to go to escape the summer heat, go to Qinghua Palace to escape the summer heat; don’t bother me and Minghua. Minghua likes to play in the water, and we can’t have too many people in Cuiwei Palace,” the empress dowager said.

Li Huairou smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Minghua, Uncle will build a big pond for you in Qinghua Palace. It’s clean and comfortable. Would you like to go to Qinghua Palace with this uncle?” Emperor Zhengwu couldn’t bear to part with his niece, compelling her in a low voice.

“Uncle, it’s better not to do it. People will say that you are wasting money, and it will affect your reputation. Uncle, don’t worry. When I’ve had enough fun, I’ll come back and pay respects to Uncle,” Li Huairou said with a smile.

“Oh, if Uncle can’t see Minghua for a day, he won’t be able to eat, and he won’t be able to sleep at night!” Emperor Zhengwu sighed.

“Uncle!” Li Huairou took Emperor Zhengwu’s arm and acted coquettishly.

“Alright, let’s go and have fun. Just one more thing—you have to write more letters to this Uncle, or Uncle will get angry.” Emperor Zhengwu immediately surrendered.

“Got it, Uncle! Uncle, when Minghua is not with you, you have to eat on time and sleep well. I’ll check when I come back! Eunuch Qin, please help me keep an eye on it,” Li Huairou said, clenching Emperor Zhengwu’s hand and turning her head.

“Okay, your Uncle will remember,” Emperor Zhengwu said with a good temper.

When Qin Duofu saw Princess Minghua note his name, he immediately nodded. “Yes, this servant must listen to the princess’s words.”

After coming out of Ningshou Palace, the smile on Emperor Zhengwu’s face immediately faded.

“Your Majesty, the noble consort sent a message. Please come to Yi Palace to discuss the second prince’s acceptance of a concubine,” Qin Duofu said hesitantly.

“No, go to the empress.” Emperor Zhengwu was a little impatient. Recently, the noble consort and second prince had been fighting a bit outrageously, but concubine selection was just like a draft. Fortunately, Minghua had made a mistake and messed up this flower-viewing banquet! Otherwise, if it spread out, who knew what the officials would say! What a joke!

“Yes! To Fengyi Palace,” Qin Duofu said immediately.

At Fengyi Palace, the empress had already removed her makeup and was going to rest after reading some books. Hearing that the emperor was coming, the palace servants were overjoyed, but the empress’s face was pale, even a little impatient.

Since the death of her eldest prince, the empress had held no interest in anything. Whether it was the emperor, the phoenix throne, power in the palace, or family glory, what did it have to do with her? In fact, the emperor treated her very well. After the death of the eldest prince, the emperor had once thought of having another child with the empress, but the empress was unwilling. Even if there were ten more, they would not be her Yuanbao.

“I have come at a bad time and disturbed Zitong’s time,” Emperor Zhengwu said with a smile after he came in.

The empress lazily stood up and saluted, and she was supported by Emperor Zhengwu. “You and I don’t need to be so polite.”

The empress did not take Emperor Zhengwu’s words seriously. Since ancient times, of the few people who had taken the emperor’s words seriously, not many had ended up well.

“Why is the emperor here today?” The empress brought a cup of tea and placed it in front of Emperor Zhengwu.

“I just had dinner with my mother, and she said that she would take Minghua to Cuiwei Palace to escape the summer heat. I was thinking that, my empress, you feel unwell every summer. Do you want to go to Qinghua Palace to escape the heat?” Emperor Zhengwu said.

Since the eldest prince passed away, the empress had stayed in her palace under the pretext of being unwell, and now it was the noble consort and Consort Shu who were in charge.

The empress shook her head and said, “This concubine is too lazy to move, so she won’t go. The emperor can go.”

“I don’t plan to go either. The preparations for going and coming back are very annoying,” Emperor Zhengwu said.

The empress smiled and said nothing.

The emperor didn’t know what to say to her for a while, but the empress had always been like this, and he couldn’t accuse her of anything.

The two sat facing each other for a while, and then Emperor Zhengwu said, “It’s getting late, rest!”

On the day of Princess Fu’s life sacrifice, Li Huairou, accompanied by the palace guards, went to Fahua Temple. Prince Fu and his princess consort arrived early and prepared everything.

After the ritual was over, Li Huairou was about to leave, but Prince Fu kept in mind his mother’s advice: not to let Huairou get too close to Fahua Temple, so as not to be bewitched by the old monks. If she had the intention of becoming a monk, his empress mother could rip off his skin! “Minghua, there’s nothing to do in Fahua Temple. Go back to the palace. Your grandmother is waiting for you.”

Then he managed to persuade Li Huairou to get into the carriage. Watching the carriage go away, Prince Fu wiped the sweat on his face. “This prince will go to Biezhuang to stay for a few days to escape the summer heat, and the mansion will be handed over to the princess.”

He took off without waiting for Princess Consort Yang.

Madam Yang stood there, complaining about him for a while, and then she left.

Li Huairou was a little bored. She lifted the curtain and looked around, but she saw two familiar figures in the distance. “Bing’er, come and see. Is that Xiao Baozhu? Who is that man?”

Bing’er came over. “This slave thinks that he looks a bit like the eighth prince.”

Li Huairou became interested. “Stop the carriage. I’m going to have a look.”

The carriage stopped. Li Huairou jumped out of the carriage and walked straight towards the two of them.

When Xiao Baozhu and the eighth prince, Li Deqing, found out, they had no choice but to stand there awkwardly.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Huairou-meimei, what a coincidence.”

“It is a coincidence. Today is the anniversary of my mother’s life sacrifice. I came to Fahua Temple to do something for my mother. Eighth brother, what are you doing here?” Li Huairou asked.

Li Deqing looked embarrassed, as did Xiao Baozhu. After returning from the flower-viewing banquet that day, Xiao Baozhu had felt that Princess Minghua was so favored that it was not as simple as it seemed on the surface; there must be something hidden inside. She’d asked the eighth prince to come out just to ask him if he knew anything.

The two of them had just been talking about this. Unexpectedly, Li Huairou was here.

“We’re just walking around, just walking around,” Li Deqing said embarrassedly.

Li Huairou smiled. “I don’t see it. Eighth brother, you’re usually quiet, but I didn’t expect you to keep your own counsel. You have a good eye—with the twin beauty of the capital, do you have any secrets?” Now, the folk customs were very open, and remarriage and divorce were common occurrences. It was nothing for unmarried men and women to travel together.

Li Deqing was even more embarrassed. “Meimei, don’t talk nonsense. Miss Xiao and I don’t have the kind of relationship you think we do—we, we’re…”

“The eighth prince and I are affectionate and polite, but it’s just before the right time. I don’t want to make it public for the time being, and I must ask the princess to keep it a secret,” Xiao Baozhu said first.

Li Deqing glanced at Xiao Baozhu. He saw that her ears were slightly red and knew that she was not as calm as she seemed on the surface, and his heart was slightly sweet. He and Xiao Baozhu were of the same mind, and he immediately understood her intentions. Huairou was the most beloved by his imperial grandmother and father emperor, and if Xiao Baozhu had her support, it would be beneficial to their plans.

It was just that his imperial grandmother always tightly protected Huairou, and Huairou could get whatever she wanted. His brothers wanted to pull Huairou to their sides, but there was no way to start.

Today’s event, although unexpected, was also a good opportunity.

“I see. But it’s impossible to keep confidentiality. There are so many people behind me,” Li Huairou said with a smile.

Li Deqing’s and Xiao Baozhu’s expressions changed slightly when they saw the people from the palace guard not far away.

“But it’s nothing. You have feelings for each other. It’s better to make it clear to Uncle earlier, so that Uncle does not mess with the mandarin ducks,” Li Huairou said with a smile. She had thought about it—in this life, she was optimistic about Li Zhongting, and she would not offend the male and female protagonists. As for who would be the crown prince, it was none of her business. However, if Li Deqing was really the son of destiny, if she let her kindness out at the right time, they could have a good relationship.

[Luan dian yuan yang (乱点鸳鸯) is an idiom that means to arbitrarily pair up couples]

In fact, in the last life, the empress dowager and Emperor Zhengwu had arranged for the original owner very well. Before Emperor Zhengwu died, he’d asked Li Deqing to take care of the original owner in front of the civil and military officials.

It was only because Li Zhongting had offended Li Deqing and Xiao Baozhu too ruthlessly, and because Marquis Weiyuan’s family was too bold and confused, that he would poison Xiao Baozhu under Li Deqing’s seemingly non-existent hints.

Speaking of Marquis Weiyuan’s family, Li Huairou once again firmed up the idea of not marrying and not giving birth. A declining family that was relying on the original owner to stand up, and, in the end, it was really daring! Ha ha!

Li Deqing saw that the guards were not far away, and the leader was one of his royal father’s personal guards. He couldn’t help lowering his head. Father Emperor was truly fond of Huairou.

Xiao Baozhu heard this, but her heart was moved. Messing with the mandarin ducks? So the emperor intended to choose concubines for the princes?

“I’ll go first. You guys can stroll around slowly!” Li Huairou said with a smile.

“Princess, take care.” Although Xiao Baozhu didn’t understand why Li Huairou did this, she still accepted this favor.

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This translation is presented by Nocturne Translations.

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