Cypress Boat Floating

When Lu Zhixing received Lu Ci Qiu's letter, he was celebrating Concubine Shu's birthday in Concubine Shu's palace.

In the past, the emperor would reward Concubine Shu with a big meal, some jewelry, silver, and a play on her birthday. But this year, the south city was hit by a flood, so Concubine Shu took the initiative to ask the emperor to keep everything simple. She said she only needed to have a simple meal with the emperor and his son. This move undoubtedly increased Concubine Shu's favorability in the emperor's heart, and the emperor was very moved.

As for the two sons of Concubine Shu, one was far away in Nancheng doing disaster relief, and the other was busy dealing with the flood in Nancheng, contacting various departments and actively trying to communicate with the King of Nanlin. Indirectly, they were also remembered by the emperor, who was very pleased.

So during this period, the emperor's satisfaction with Lu Zhixing was reflected in various actions, and everyone could see it.

The emperor even praised Lu Zhixing highly in the court. If there was an important matter, he would summon him to discuss it, and ignored the prince.

You know, being able to discuss government affairs with the emperor alone in Chengming Hall is an honor that even the crown prince has never had, and Lu Zhixing is the first prince to receive this honor. How can the crown prince not be jealous?

The prince was not only jealous, but also jealous to the point of going crazy. He summoned all his staff overnight, hoping to find something to hold against Lu Zhixing, so that Lu Zhixing would lose this honor and let the emperor pay attention to him again. Unfortunately, Lu Zhixing did things in a thorough manner and left no traces, so they searched for several days but could not find any evidence.

So, someone came up with an idea for the prince, but this idea was also a matter of later discussion. Whether it was feasible or not was another matter. However, the prince did not want to use this idea for the time being.

Let’s go back to Concubine Shu’s birthday banquet.

Before the luncheon began, Lu Zhixing brought Lu Ciqiu's letter into the palace and showed it to Concubine Shu: "Mother, my eighth brother has sent a letter."

Since Lu Ciqiu left, Concubine Shu has not received any letters from him. She only occasionally heard a few good news about him from Lu Zhixing, but this was far from enough to comfort Concubine Shu's worried heart as a mother. So when she learned that Lu Zhixing had brought Lu Ciqiu's letter to the palace, she was extremely excited and hurried forward to carefully take the letter from his hand. She even smoothed the wrinkles on the envelope with her hands and then gently opened it.

While the emperor had not arrived yet, the two of them sat together like an ordinary mother and son. Each of them held one side of the letter and silently read the letter sent by Lu Ci Qiu in their hearts.

Concubine Shu wiped her tears while reading. Lu Zhixing saw her crying and quickly took a handkerchief to wipe her tears: "Mother, today is your birthday, please don't cry. It will be bad if the emperor comes and sees it."

"Hey, your brother is a good child. He has always treated me like his own mother. He always remembers my hobbies and my birthday. You see, he still remembers my birthday even in Nancheng and sends me his blessings." The voice of Concubine Shu was soft but powerful when she spoke, giving people a very powerful feeling.

"Yes, my eighth brother has always remembered you." Lu Zhixing comforted her: "So, you should not cry. It would be bad if my eighth brother knew about it."

"But mother misses him!" Concubine Shu sighed.

Lu Zhixing had no choice, as the person was sent away by his father, and it was unknown how long it would take for him to come back.

"Mother, my eighth brother went to Nancheng to control the flood because he has a heart that cares about the people and wants to do practical things to help them. This is a good thing. It shows that he has grown up, and you should be happy for him. We miss him, and he must miss us too." Lu Zhixing only gave his gentleness to three people in his life: his mother who gave birth to him and raised him, Lu Ci Qiu who was like her own brother, and his own princess.

When Concubine Shu thought about Lu Zhixing's words, she felt even more upset. Her child had grown up and started to leave her. It was time for him to learn to fly on his own, but as a mother, she always felt uneasy.

The two were talking in the room, and the emperor was standing outside and heard everything clearly. Concubine Shu was his favorite concubine. She was obedient, gentle, kind, and not so scheming. These were her excellent qualities. In front of such a person, the emperor had no pressure and no burden. Every time he came to Concubine Shu, he was the most relaxed.

Although he knew that Lu Zhixing was competing with the prince for the throne, he did not think it was a bad thing. On the contrary, it proved that Lu Zhixing had this ambition, and it also proved that he had the ability and the brains to do so, which was the most important thing in the emperor's view.

For the emperor, it doesn’t matter who the crown prince is, but this person must be capable, responsible, and considerate of the people of the world.

So he tacitly agreed to let Lu Zhixing compete with the prince for the throne, but he treated Shufei's other son Lu Ci Qiu indifferently. Even if he had won the first place in the academic examinations every year recently, so what? He had many outstanding sons and did not need him.

Moreover, his biological mother was just a powerless martial artist, and was not even famous at all. If he had not been adopted by Concubine Shu, the emperor would not even have thought that he had such a son.

But now, he began to notice Lu Ci Qiu, and he stood here listening to them discussing Lu Ci Qiu's letters and praising Lu Ci Qiu. Concubine Shu was talking about Lu Zhixing and Lu Ci Qiu's childhood. These were things he had never experienced or come into contact with. He seemed unable to fit into the world of the three of them, even if one of them was not there.

But he is the emperor!

The emperor stood outside, looking inside through the window. His gaze gradually became deeper and his expression became heavy. No one knew what he was thinking.

He knew that as an emperor he shouldn't eavesdrop here, but God was his witness, his original idea was just to give Concubine Shu a surprise, so he asked the palace maid not to inform her. As a result, when he came in, he found that Lu Zhixing had arrived earlier than him and had heard their conversation.

Lu Zhixing, who was talking to Concubine Shu inside, had already noticed the emperor. He glanced out the window inadvertently. Although the emperor hid well, he had been discovered when he just arrived, so he said so many good things about Lu Ci Qiu later.

After a while, perhaps because he felt it was inappropriate to continue eavesdropping, the emperor walked out on his own initiative. Lu Zhixing pretended to be surprised, while Shufei really had just discovered the emperor.

"What's wrong? You're wiping tears on a good day. You look ugly because of all the tears." The emperor walked up to Concubine Shu with a smile, teasing her while reaching out to wipe away her tears.

"Oh, Your Majesty, you keep teasing me. I just received a letter from the Eighth Prince. I'm so happy." Concubine Shu happily took Lu Ci Qiu's letter to the emperor so that he could see it.

The emperor took a look and nodded in appreciation. Both the font and the content made people feel comfortable and very good.

With the Emperor's arrival, the lunch naturally began. The three of them took their seats, and when all the dishes were served, the Emperor wished Concubine Shu a happy birthday first, followed by Lu Zhixing. Concubine Shu looked at the two most important people on her left and right, and was extremely happy. After saying a few words of thanks, the three of them happily took their dishes and ate.