The Virtuous Concubine

At this moment, all the signs were connected together, and the Fourth Prince, as a man and a son, subconsciously felt that something was wrong.

This feeling of something being wrong made him uneasy.

In the previous life, my mother was partial to me and Fourteenth, but since we were a family with the same roots and blood, it was not considered an unusual thing.

But if those exquisite items on the prince were really given by his mother, the nature of the matter would change completely!

She couldn't even have her own son, but the prince, who was not related to her in any way, was all of them, and all of them were carefully crafted. How could he not be suspicious?

He knew that his mother's embroidery skills were outstanding and she was well-known in the palace. In the past, most of her embroidery works were only presented to the emperor or for her own use. Her brothers and sisters, such as Yinzuo, Yinzhen, and even Wenxian, rarely got to see her embroidery works.

In recent years, the Emperor has gradually favored younger concubines more, and even the embroidery he has received has become less and less.

He could understand it, thinking that his mother had limited energy. With so many children to take care of one by one, wouldn't the imperial concubine become an embroiderer?

Anyway, it's fine as long as I'm not partial to anyone. But when I thought about the possibility that the Crown Prince might have it, and there were so many of them, the Fourth Prince felt like he was being pricked by needles, with an indescribable weirdness and bitterness.

Originally, Malu sent someone to deliver food today, and also prepared a portion for the prince. He secretly comforted himself, thinking that his mother was thoughtful and worried that the prince would be treated coldly and feel lonely, and finally make the emperor unhappy, so she treated everyone equally and did not give people a reason to criticize. . .

But if these things were really made by my mother, then wouldn’t I be the one who got hurt by the way?

The Fourth Prince was getting anxious and wanted Su Peisheng to turn the things out immediately.

After receiving the order, Su Peisheng rushed into the warehouse and rummaged through the boxes and cabinets for a long time. He actually found many items used by the young Fourth Prince.

But when they were presented to the Fourth Prince, he was greatly disappointed. These items were either made by Jingyi and other palace maids, with different stitches and mixed styles, and no unique delicate charm could be seen; or they were just some close-fitting clothes, with only the most basic and simplest stitches and techniques, and compared with the exquisite items on the prince, it was really hard to tell.

Not to mention that the Fourth Prince and Su Peisheng, a total of 1.5 men, knew nothing about needlework.

Therefore, it would be useless to find them out. It would be inconvenient for the Fourth Prince to take the clothes and ask Lady Guaerjia to compare them with the Crown Prince's clothes - that would be really exhausting.

The more he thought about it, the Crown Prince's help to Fourteenth, and the last time the Crown Prince came to Yonghe Palace in person, that glance back... There was a kind of certainty and intimacy between his eyebrows, as if he had some tacit understanding with the person he was looking back at that could not be revealed to outsiders.

Did my mother reach some secret agreement with the prince that she herself didn't know about?

But there is no need to give such a gift. It is too...too inconsistent with the status distance between the imperial concubine and the prince.

The Fourth Prince's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, his temples throbbed non-stop, and a terrible thought popped up uncontrollably. He didn't dare to think about it any further, for fear of confirming the worst guess in his heart.

Just by speculating like this, he couldn't help but despise himself, feeling that his mind was extremely dirty!

How could he have such dirty thoughts about the relationship between his mother and the prince based on just a few signs? But the suspicion and uneasiness in the Fourth Prince's heart were like a maggot on his heel, and he couldn't get rid of it.

The next morning, as soon as the sky turned pale, the Fourth Prince got up early and went to the palace to plead guilty.

Kangxi scolded him a few times, just to warn him to be careful in his future actions and not to act rashly and cause trouble. But everyone could see that Kangxi had no intention of blaming him at all. The fourth prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief and honestly volunteered to stay and serve Kangxi with medicine.

As he paused, his eyes caught sight of the "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" that Malu had carefully embroidered in his early years to celebrate Emperor Kangxi's birthday.

The embroidery of this picture is extremely exquisite, and the world is hidden between the needles and threads. The mountains are undulating, the rivers are winding and rushing, the flowers, birds, fish and insects are lifelike, showing the magnificent scenery of mountains and rivers, which makes people shocked when they see it.

Kangxi loved it very much and had placed it in the most prominent position in the Qianqing Palace over the years, treating it as a treasure.

Seeing that the Fourth Prince was staring at the embroidery, Kangxi followed his gaze, his expression showing a bit of pride and nostalgia, and asked, "Back then, your mother spent a lot of effort to embroider such a masterpiece. Every time I look at it, I find it pleasing to the eye."

The Fourth Prince's body stiffened, and he quickly came to his senses, and said with a smile: "The Emperor and Mother are indeed husband and wife..." He seemed to realize that it was inappropriate to say this, so he stopped talking.

Kangxi did not take it as an offense. He drank the medicine with Liang Jiugong's help. After putting down the bowl, he turned around and looked at the picture again: "Well, I naturally know your mother's feelings for me. Over the years, she has also been doing her best in many matters in the harem. She is a virtuous person."

The Fourth Prince felt mixed emotions, but he still maintained a respectful look on his face and replied, "Yes, mother is good at managing the household, and I have seen it."

What a good housekeeper! After hearing this, Kangxi's face, which was originally smiling gently, became even more relaxed. He was about to say something else cheerfully when the eunuch on duty outside hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has arrived."

Kangxi frowned, a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes. In the end, he waved his hand and said to the Fourth Prince, "Forget it, go back to your house and rest. You are still a newlywed, so you should spend more time with your new wife, so that you can live in harmony with your husband and wife, and have a child soon, so that you can have more children. This is the real thing."

The Fourth Prince nodded quickly, bowed neatly, and said respectfully: "Thank you, Father, for your consideration. I will pay my respects to Mother and then leave the palace."

After saying this, he bowed slightly again, and only after confirming that Kangxi had no other instructions did he obediently retreat.

When the Fourth Prince came out, he happened to meet the Crown Prince walking towards him with brisk steps. The two had gone through hardships together in Fengxian Hall, but the strange thing was that they just didn't get along with each other inexplicably, like two magnets that repelled each other, and they couldn't get close no matter what.

So when the Crown Prince saw the Fourth Prince, he didn't even say a word of greeting, nor did he even change lanes. He just walked straight towards him.

The moment their eyes met, the Fourth Prince was slightly startled, then he looked away imperceptibly, bowed, and whispered, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

The prince walked forward at a brisk pace, seemingly not having heard anything. Seeing this, the Fourth Prince pulled a faint wry smile at the corner of his mouth, stepped aside, and waited until the prince passed by before he stood up and looked at the prince's receding back with a deep gaze.

The Fourth Prince walked to a corner in the distance, opened his palm and saw that it was a sachet from the Crown Prince.