Chapter 23: Acting
When the late emperor was alive, he indulged in pleasure, and therefore had a very bad reputation among the people.
Although he could not be called a tyrant, the extent of his being a tyrant was very limited.
But even so, the late emperor seldom allowed people to serve him like this. On the contrary, although his youngest son is only a little older this year, he has already surpassed his father, the late emperor.
With just one glance, Emperor Jingwen’s face turned pale, and then the following scene happened –
“The Emperor has ordered that the little prince be confined to his house for six months from today onwards. After he recovers, he is not allowed to enter the East Palace for a year. In addition, Imperial Concubine Rong has failed to educate her son properly, so she will be punished to serve for one month. I decree this!”
Ye Shuo knelt on the ground with his head lowered. When he heard that his adoptive father would not allow him to leave Qiuwu Palace within half a year, he could not help but raise his middle finger in his heart.
You can’t enjoy it yourself, and you don’t let him enjoy it either. Couldn’t his cheap dad afford to have fun?
When he was still in the Eastern Palace, Emperor Jingwen severely reprimanded him, saying that he was so arrogant and licentious at such a young age and was simply lawless.
God knows, how could he be so arrogant and extravagant, so ignorant of the sufferings of the world?
Even if he wasn’t there, the ice would have to be released. But with him around, the ice could be put to good use.And there is a team of musicians. They have been kept in the palace since the time of the previous emperor. Are you just keeping them and not using them, leaving them to collect empty salaries?
When he asked people to invite the musicians, those musicians were so idle that they had nothing to do. Because Emperor Jingwen was diligent, the entire harem did not dare to indulge in entertainment. Those musicians were not doing their jobs all day long. Wasn’t he just a disguised way of asking these people who were paid for nothing to tighten their strings?
As for grapes and the like, there’s no need to mention them. They were picked from the farms outside the capital and would soon rot before their turn to be eaten by his brother, the Crown Prince. Rare items like lychees were still lining up in front. A few bunches of grapes were nothing. How could they be called a luxury!
There were also people fanning, reading, and massaging… These were even more normal in the palace.
How did they combine to become an unforgivable crime in the eyes of my cheap father? I really don’t understand.
Also, what does it mean that he is not allowed to enter the Eastern Palace within a year? Why is he guarding against him like he is guarding against a thief?
He was only a little over a year old, how could he have led the crown prince, who was already sixteen years old and half an adult, astray? Is it possible? Is it possible?
Ye Shuo was quite angry.
Ye Shuo felt even more indignant when he thought that his wonderful life had been interrupted just two days ago.
I finally caught such an easy-to-talk-to prince, but the result… Alas!
While Ye Shuo was gritting his teeth and sighing, he didn’t know that Concubine Rong and the maids beside him were almost terrified. After hearing the content of the oral instruction, Concubine Rong’s eyes went dark, and she almost fainted.
House arrest order for a little kid who is just over one year old!
There seemed to have never been such a precedent in the Great Zhou Dynasty before, and her son was the only one.
What must he has done to make the emperor so angry!
“Your Highness, please accept the order and express your gratitude?” Eunuch Wang Ziquan had been watching the whole process from beginning to end, and his eyes were filled with amazement as he looked at the little prince.
This time, he really broadened his horizons.
For some reason, Eunuch Wang thought of his master, who had to get up before dawn every day to attend court. Not only did he have to deal with government affairs every day, but he also had to find time to appease the harem. Whenever something broke out outside, it was common for the emperor to not be able to sleep for two or three days.
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The same goes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who also has to get busy.
The two most powerful men in the world are not as free as a little kid… Realizing that he had seriously overstepped the boundaries, Eunuch Wang begged for forgiveness in his heart and quickly pulled his thoughts back.
Concubine Rong thanked him in a daze, but when she learned that her son was reluctant to come back because he didn’t like the room she had prepared for him, which led to such a disaster, she burst into tears.
“If you don’t like it, then don’t like it. Just tell your mother directly. At worst, you can ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to tear it down and rebuild it…”
Concubine Rong didn’t think this was a big deal at all.
Perhaps she was a little sad that the little thing didn’t like the side hall she decorated with her own hands, but what made Concubine Rong most sad was that he was punished now.
She can’t care about anything else.
Ye Shuo never expected that he would end up losing himself just by using the luxury.
“I’m sorry, mother…”
Without noticing that her son could speak fluently all of a sudden, Concubine Rong took him into her arms, and the mother and son hugged each other and cried bitterly.
It’s just that Concubine Rong was crying about her son’s future, while Ye Shuo was crying about the house arrest order, and it would take him half a year to find a way to get back at his wits’ end.
The time span is too long, and he feels really unhappy.
But no matter what, we can’t just let this matter go!
It’s just half a year, he can wait.
Then the oral order spread like wildfire throughout the palace.
The little prince was under house arrest. As his biological mother, how could Concubine Rong be any better?
The honor and favor that was finally restored is likely to be lost again. What sin did the imperial concubine commit in her previous life? Could this child be here to collect the debt?
Moreover, once the word “arrogant, extravagant and debauched” was uttered, the child was most likely doomed. If they were imperial concubines, they would have been considering whether to give birth to another prince while they were still young and strong.
Instead of worrying about a child who is disliked by the emperor, it is better to raise a good one.
The consorts, the concubines, and the ladies, including the Queen, were all laughing behind her back.
“With a son like this, it will be difficult for the imperial concubine’s lineage to achieve success.” Gently brushing away the layer of foam on the teacup, several people thought so at the same time.
But they are not imperial concubines after all.
Concubine Rong did not feel burdened at all. Instead, she was worried about the child’s sensitive mind. What if he could not accept the scolding from his father for a while?
Haven’t you seen many princes who became devastated, depressed and even died because of this?
However, Concubine Rong soon realized that her worries were unnecessary.
Ye Shuo hasn’t had much reaction since he was confined to his room. He still eats and drinks as usual every day, and still runs and plays like before. Except for not being able to leave Qiuwu Palace, nothing else has changed.
The Crown Prince shared the same concerns as Concubine Rong, and since he was the one who led his father over, he felt even more guilty.
The crown prince had not expected that his father would be so angry, so after the house arrest order, he hesitated for a while, but finally sent the letter.
Then Mo Shu told him about the scene he saw of the little prince playing the ball-throwing game with the palace maids and eunuchs.
The crown prince discovered that his younger brother seemed to be no ordinary person.
The crown prince was silent for a moment, then asked, “…Anything else?”
“Uh… the young prince asked me to ask if the Crown Prince could give him the lychees that were newly tribute this year if he really has no appetite. The young prince said that the basket of lychees will go bad if they are not eaten…” Mo Shu gritted his teeth and repeated Ye Shu’s words, then lowered his head, not daring to look at his master’s expression.
The Crown Prince: “…”
After a long while, the prince finally spoke again: “Since he has spoken, give it to him.”
“Yes……”
The Sixth Prince felt mixed emotions after hearing that his younger brother was forcibly brought back by his father’s guards.
I didn’t expect that my little brother could cause so much trouble just by going for a free meal.
The most important thing is that he actually lived in the Prince’s Palace for so many days.
After the incident, the crown prince specially sent someone to deliver a basket of lychees.
If the Sixth Prince remembered correctly, the south sent a total of six baskets of lychees as tribute this year. Emperor Jingwen kept two baskets for himself, gave two baskets to the empress, two baskets to the crown prince, and the rest did not even belong to the imperial concubine.
Therefore, after Concubine Shu received the reward, the Fifth Prince was very proud in class. He kept fiddling with the five lychees over and over again without getting tired of it. Finally, the Fourth Prince couldn’t stand it anymore and said a few words to him, and the Fifth Prince finally restrained himself.
And now, he has lychees of his own.
After the little prince got the lychees, he first gave most to the imperial concubine, and then it was his turn.
A full basket weighs at least ten pounds, and he will get at least one or two pounds. One or two pounds can contain five lychees. If he takes it to the upper study tomorrow, it will definitely embarrass the Fifth Prince.
But in the end, the Sixth Prince did nothing.
He didn’t even eat the lychees. He waited until the lychees went bad without peeling even one.
Half a year is neither long nor short. In Ye Shuo’s opinion, it goes by very fast. It just flies by as he eats, drinks, plays and plays every day.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Shuo is already over two years old.
It was early summer on the day the ban was lifted. Ye Shuo changed into a thin shirt, and the moment the palace gate opened, he rushed out with a “whoosh”.
It’s been so long that he’s really getting frustrated.
No matter how big Qiuwu Palace is, it is only about one and a half acres of land. Now, the clay figures made by Ye Shuo can almost fill up the entire decorative shelf.
Su Yue and the others hurriedly followed behind him, fearing that something unexpected might happen.
But this time Ye Shuo did not do as they wished. Instead, he asked them to stay away.
Could it be that the little prince has begun to get tired of them?
Su Yue couldn’t help feeling a little sad.
But in fact, Ye Shuo had other intentions when he asked them to stay away, which was that he just couldn’t tell them for the time being.
“Let’s build a swing here.” The two-year-old child could already speak clearly, and Ye Shuo’s articulation also became fluent.
Although the young eunuchs were puzzled, since their master had already said so, they naturally had to do so.
Although the little prince had never had such an intention before, children always change very quickly. Maybe he heard about or saw a swing somewhere and wanted one too?
In this way, Ye Shuo wandered around for many days, and finally waited for the person he wanted to see most.
Emperor Jingwen habitually wore casual clothes. While relaxing in the imperial garden, he accidentally saw someone swinging on a swing.
He thought it was another trick thought up by one of the concubines in the harem, but when he got closer, he found out it was his own son.
Emperor Jingwen vaguely recalled that half a year had passed. If he remembered correctly, his youngest son had just celebrated his second birthday two months ago.
After such a long time, Emperor Jingwen was no longer angry.
It is inevitable for children to be greedy for enjoyment. I believe that after this six-month confinement, he should have corrected his behavior and will not commit the same mistake again.
But the child was sitting there alone, without even anyone to serve him, and this place was so secluded, weren’t they afraid of any accidents?
Yes, naturally no one would care about a prince who is disliked by the emperor.
The imperial concubine was probably taking her anger out on him because she was being ignored.
Having seen the ups and downs of the palace, Emperor Jingwen naturally knew that such things happened frequently, and useless people would be discarded like abandoned chess pieces.
But Emperor Jingwen could not have imagined that the imperial concubine would be like this.
…These dogs and slaves who presumptuously speculate on the emperor’s will!
When did he ever say in person that he wanted to give up his son!
Looking at the child who was almost unable to be born smoothly because of his own mistakes, and who finally survived but became like this now, no longer as lively as before, Emperor Jingwen felt a sudden pain in his heart and a surge of guilt. He wondered if he had spoken too harshly when he asked him to be confined to his home, which led to misunderstanding by others.
But there was not a single word about anything else in the oral instruction!
The words “arrogant, extravagant, and debauched” were also said behind people’s backs.
And in the past six months, he has never asked about it.
Emperor Jingwen walked quickly through the peach forest, waved away the branches in front of him, and just as he was about to say something, he saw the child looking up. He was first startled by the sudden appearance of someone, and then his face was full of confusion: “Who are you, and why are you here?”
Who are you…
who is he…
who…
After not seeing him for half a year, his youngest son, who is not even old enough to remember, can no longer recognize him!
It was not until this moment that Emperor Jingwen suddenly realized that six months was such a long time for a child.
Emperor Jingwen was shocked and then stood there in a daze.