Chapter 6

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

In his haste to go to the palace, Yan shi could not be bothered to handle the case, so he sent Jiang Qingyue ahead to handle it while he and Hua Ling went to the palace to face the sage.

    He and Hua Ling went to the palace in a sedan chair, and because he was in such a hurry, he could not ask Hua Ling about the poisoning last night, so he could only sit in the sedan chair and think about it.

    He had no idea what was waiting for him in the palace. He had to serve tea not only to the emperor, but also to his stepmother. His stepmother, Yang, had two sons, one of whom was the second in line, namely King Zhaoge Yan Jing. He was a year younger than Yan Shi and was the first royal son to be crowned Prince. He was a handsome man with excellent literary and martial skills, and was very much loved by Emperor Chongzheng. His second son died young, the one who was killed by Queen Yuan fifteen years ago.

    Soon after the death of Empress Yuan, Emperor Chong Zhuan put Yang on the throne, and so many years passed.

    In the end, there was a feud between the Empress and Yan shi.

    As he was thinking,

He arrived at the palace.

    Yan Shi stepped out of the palanquin and looked at the palace gate, waiting for Hua Ling. After waiting for a while, he did not see Hua Ling coming. Is he asleep?

    As he was thinking this, he came to Hua Ling's palanquin and gently clicked the palanquin board with his hand, "Your Highness?"

    Hua Ling's voice soon came from inside: "Brother, I'm peeing." There was a toilet inside the palanquin, for use in case of internal emergency.

    Yan Shi coughed awkwardly, "I'll wait for you in front."

    In no time, Hua Ling came out with his head bowed and his small steps, and walked up to Yan Shi and called out "Brother" softly. It was a small and weak voice, so Yan Shi only thought that he was shy, and did not care, so he walked with him into the palace gate.

    After walking for a short while, he felt someone tugging on his sleeve and looked down to see that it was Hua Ling.

  "Brother," unlike the smiling Hua Ling he had seen last night, there was a clear look of fear on his face at this moment, "I'm scared."

    "Scared of what?"

    "Afraid of the Emperor."

    Yan Shi smiled, "Why would you be afraid of the emperor?"

    Hua Ling added, "My mother said that the emperor has a bad temper and will chop off people's heads at every turn." He even touched his neck with his hand after saying this.

    Yan Shi could only reassure him, "Don't be afraid, you are his daughter-in-law, he won't chop your head off."

    "But I'm still scared," Hua Ling said with a tremble in his voice, "I was so scared just now when I thought I was about to meet the Emperor that I peed."

    "Don't say anything later, just follow me," Yan Shi added after a moment's thought, "And call him Father, not Your Majesty. You must call yourself  'this son' , not 'me'again."

    Hua Ling was just about to speak again when he saw a fat white eunuch walking in front of him, none other than Eunuch Lian Gui, the personal eunuch of Emperor Chongzheng.

    Eunuch Lian Gui didn't even salute when he saw Yan shi, he only said with a smile on his face, "This servant sends his regards to Your Highness. After saying that, he looked at Hua Ling and gave him a few glances, "This is the royal concubine, right?

    Hua Ling was about to say something when Yan Shi grabbed his hand from a place where even Eunuch Gui could not see him.

    "May I ask your Excellency, where is my father now?" There was even a smile on his face, old eunuch, you will be dealt with one day.

    "His Majesty has just left the morning court and is now waiting for His Highness," said Eunuch Lian Gui, "My servant is the one sent by His Majesty to fetch His Majesty."

    It was not that Yan Shi didn't want to, but Hua Ling's hand was tugging so hard that cold sweat was forming on it.

    When they arrived at the Hall of Flying Frost, Eunuch Lian Gui went to report to the court first.

    The moment they entered the Hall of Flying Frost, a hint of hatred appeared on Yan Shi's face.

    After saluting, the Emperor ordered them to stand up. Yan Shi stood up from the ground, but Hua Ling did not. His forehead was on the ground and his arms were pressed against the ground, shivering.

    Afterwards, he coughed lightly, "Stand up."

    Hua Ling was still trembling badly and Emperor Chong was surprised when he glanced at him, "Yan Shi, what's wrong with your Highness? Is he not feeling well?"

    After Emperor Chong Zhonghua finished speaking, Hua Ling shivered more and more, but he still replied, "this ... son ... son ... son is not sick. Just ... is ... just scared."

    The Empress Dowager and Yan Shi's eyes both flashed a flash of disgust, but the Emperor was surprised: "Oh? Why are you afraid? Tell me."

    "This son ... This son ... This son is afraid of having his head chopped off." The body of Hua Ling trembled more and more when he said this, even his teeth chattered, and his voice spoke with a sobbing tone, and it could be seen that he was trying desperately to suppress himself, afraid that he would cry out.

    Emperor Chong Zhuan was even more curious: "Who wants to chop off your head?"

    "You-" Hua Ling said in a very fictional way.

    "Unbridled!" The succeeding emperess slapped the table, "How dare you speak to the emperor like that!"

    "Zitong, do not be angry." On the contrary, Emperor Chongzheng's face was not angry, his voice was softer, "Why should I cut off your head?"

    After hearing what the Empress said, Hua Ling almost fell to the ground, but the words that followed put his mind at ease.

    "I ... I ... what my mother said."

    "How dare you!" The Queen Mother slapped the table again, who was the mother Hua Ling was talking about, naturally it was the Queen Mother's own sister Yang, "Your Majesty, this royal concubine of yours is so unruly, how dare he smear his mother in front of His Majesty, is this the rule in Ruiying's palace?"

    "You have spoken too highly of me, Mother," Yan Shi replied, "Your Highness and I just got married yesterday, so we came to pay our respects to Father and Mother this morning, and we have not yet had the chance to teach him the rules of the house. Your Highness has grown up in the House of the Duke of Hongle since he was young, so the rules he learned before were naturally taught by the people in the House of the Duke of Hongle."

    In a few words, Yan Shi said that the matter of Hua Ling's lack of discipline was entirely the responsibility of the Duke of Kang Le's residence.

    "You ..."

    "Alright, alright," the empress said something else, but the words were already interrupted by Emperor Chong Zhuan, "You all say less, no one is allowed to speak without my order."

    The Empress Dowager grunted coldly as Yan Shi looked at her and smiled smugly.

    The Emperor resumed the conversation with Hua Ling, "How could I chop off someone's head for no reason? You are my son-in-law, how much less would I chop off your head?"

    "Really?" Hua Ling slowly lifted his head from the ground and looked seriously at Emperor Chong Zhonghua, his eyes still glistening with tears.

    "There is no drama in a gentleman's words." Only then did Emperor Chong Zhuan see Hua Ling's face, the child was not bad looking, but with a simple face, Emperor Chong's heart softened a bit.

    "Then, I'll be relieved." Hua Ling climbed up from the ground with a bolt, patting the non-existent dust on his body.

    A eunuch brought up two cups of tea, and Hua Ling walked up to Emperor Chongzheng and toasted him first and then the Empress.

    "Why do you keep smiling?" Ever since Hua Ling had finished toasting him, he had been smiling and laughing, and the tear marks from earlier were still on his face, making his look funny.

    Hua Ling curved the corners of his eyes, "This son is happy."

    "Why are you happy?" Emperor Chongzheng shook his head, the child's face was really like this June day, changing at the drop of a hat.

    "From today onwards, I have two parents," Hua Ling counted on his fingers, and then suddenly frowned, "No, not two mothers, I had two mothers before, now I have three."

    "You're a child." The emperor smiled, and with it, the empress smiled too, although this child was too timid, he was quite pleasant to talk to. He seemed to be right to betroth him to Yan Shi, and he would be a good trump card to use to win him over or against him in the future.

    When the Emperor was pleased, he wanted to give him a reward, so he rolled his tongue and said, "I can grant you a reward, just tell me what you want.

    "This son wants to pee." The first time he said that, Hua Ling also folded his legs and covered his stomach with his hands, his face was also very anxious, "I was scared to pee just now, when I was scared, I wanted to pee."

    "Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" Emperor Chongzhuan couldn't control his laughter and was busy asking the young eunuch to take him to go.

    The succeeding emperess darkened his face: "Your Highness, you should teach your concubine more about the rules when you return."

    "This son has heard''.

    After Yan Shi finished his words, the whole hall was silent for a while.

    It was not long before Hua Ling returned, and Emperor Chong Zhuan put down his cup and looked at him, "Have you thought of any rewards for your journey?"

    "I've already finished asking for it," Hua Ling explained, looking at the Emperor's puzzled gaze, "I wanted to pee just now."

    "Hahahaha!" The Emperor laughed again, "You, you, you want such a reward. I can't let you suffer too much, so I'll tell you this, from now on you can go out to the palace whenever you want."

    "Thank you, Father." Hua Ling knelt on the ground and kowtowed respectfully.

    The Empress gritted her teeth, this foolish person, so easily able to ask for a reward, had to ask for something so unspeakable. It's not like it's going to kill anyone, so why can't you just put up with it? The next thought was that it would be good, because this kind of foolish  person is the easiest to control.

    The emperor ordered him to stand up again: "You are already eighteen and have not yet taken the examination. You must take the examination as soon as possible so that you can share your worries with your father."

    "My mother said that people from families like ours should not compete with those from poor families for the scholarship. They are all so poor that they are counting on being officials to live a good life."

    The Empress was about to say something when she saw the Emperor rush ahead of her and say, "Oh? How do you know you'll get in? The imperial examinations are not easy."

    Hua Ling said confidently, "My mother said that if I were to take the examination, my literary skills would be successful. If you don't believe me, I will write a poem for you, so you will know that I am not lying."