The Virtuous Concubine

When he arrived at Malu's palace, he paid his respects politely. Malu raised his hand to support him and asked with concern, "Hurry up, you knelt for so long yesterday, your knees can't bear it, why are you still performing formalities?"

The Fourth Prince then stood up, bowed his head and stood still, answering Malu's questions one by one.

After the greetings were over and the atmosphere became more harmonious, the Fourth Prince complained unintentionally, "Your Highness is too slow. My son's residence is outside the palace, so he went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity early in the morning. Your Highness lives in the palace, so he has the advantage of location. But for some reason, he arrived so late after my son had talked to the Emperor for a long time."

Malu's heart skipped a beat. It was over. She was afraid that Kangxi would be dissatisfied with the prince again.

She smiled and said to the Fourth Prince, "You are filial, which is a good thing. The Emperor must have seen it. But you must not say this to the Emperor or others. It will only make you look like a gossiper."

When the Fourth Prince heard this, his mouth curled slightly, and he secretly complained in his heart: What do you mean by seeing it? It's useless. No matter how filial he was, when the prince came, the emperor sent him away with a few words, and he couldn't even stay for a moment longer.

The Fourth Prince nodded slightly and replied, "Mother is right. I will take note of it."

He said this today with the intention of testing his mother's attitude towards the matter. Now it seems that his mother is obviously protecting the prince silently and asking him not to tell anyone about the matter.

The mother and son chatted for a while, and then Malu asked the Fourth Prince to go back and accompany his wife, saying that she still had to embroider some more prayer flags to pray for Kangxi.

The Fourth Prince did not stay long. As soon as he left the palace, he jumped on his horse and rode straight back to his own prince's residence at full speed.

The Fourth Prince sat in his study, dismissed his attendants, and opened the sachet he had secretly taken from the Crown Prince.

Inside was a piece of emerald green jacquard satin with a few golden lotus flowers embroidered on it, but they did not have lotus leaves and thicker branches like ordinary lotus flowers.

The gold thread sparkles, the petals stretch out layer by layer, the needlework is delicate and exquisite, and it is so lifelike that you seem to be able to smell the rich floral fragrance, lingering around the tip of your nose, touching your heart.

The Fourth Prince was still a little hesitant at first, but the moment he saw the embroidery pattern clearly, his expression suddenly changed and became so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out of it.

There is no need to look closely at this.

The emperor's father particularly loved this golden lotus, because this flower is very delicate and difficult to cultivate. Only the prince's Yuqing Palace can grow a few pots of it with careful care. The prayer flags that my mother gave to the emperor's father for his fiftieth birthday, which took several months of hard work to embroider, were also embroidered with this golden lotus!

A piece of cloth embroidered by his mother actually appeared in the sachet around the prince's waist.

In an instant, all those trivial details that had puzzled him in the past came flooding back to his mind, connecting them one by one. The intimacy, tacit understanding, ambiguity, pretended alienation, and cooperation between the two people, everything, was explained.

With great shock, anger and disbelief, the Fourth Prince's body swayed, as if struck by a bolt from the blue, and he almost lost his balance. He tightly grasped the sachet with both hands, his knuckles turned white, veins popped out on his forehead, and he shouted angrily, "How could this happen!"

How could this happen! The Fourth Prince really didn't understand, that was the Emperor's father! That was the Crown Prince!

Mother, why, why?!

The servants and maids on duty outside were horrified when they heard the sudden noise and wanted to go in to check the situation. As soon as they reached the door and before they could ask, they were angrily shouted back by the Fourth Prince: "Get out, all of you, get out!"

He shouted loudly, full of rage and the word "I" came out of his mouth, which was extremely treasonous.

The people around were trembling with fear, and no one dared to listen any longer. They crawled away, fearing that they would offend this gentleman and bring about a fatal disaster.

After everyone left, the Fourth Prince felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Unable to control himself, he pushed over and over everything in front of him, and then sat alone in the messy study.

The room returned to dead silence, with only the heavy breathing of the Fourth Prince. He slowly collapsed on the chair as if he had lost his soul, his eyes empty as he stared at the wrinkled piece of cloth in his hand.

Until night fell and the house was pitch black, he did not let anyone in to light a candle. He just hid in the darkness, his thoughts in a tangled mess.

"Prince, what virtue has he gained? The Emperor dotes on him and gives him whatever he wants. How dare you..."

He raised his hands to cover his eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were about to burst out, but the hot tears still slid uncontrollably through his fingers and dripped onto the cloth, leaving a small stain.

When the Fourth Prince was immersed in endless grief, the door was gently pushed open and a slender figure walked in quietly.

The Fourth Prince, with tears streaming down his face, could no longer hold on and fell backwards into the arms of Guaerjia, who had quietly entered.

She had heard some strange noises coming from the study room a long time ago, and had been quietly guarding outside the door until there was no sound from inside the room, and then she came in cautiously.

The Fourth Prince's body stiffened and he subconsciously tried to break free.

"Get out! Get out! All of you, get out!"

But Guaerjia was of strong character. She did not take the Fourth Prince's reprimands to heart and instead hugged him.

He grasped the corner of his wife's clothes tightly with both hands and buried his head deeply in her neck. Hot tears flowed freely and dripped into her collar.

It was the first time that Guaerjia saw him so vulnerable. Her eyes were red. She patted the Fourth Prince's back gently again and again, whispering softly, "Master, don't cry, don't cry. I'm here. No matter what bad things happen to you, I'll be with you."

The Fourth Prince trembled in his wife's arms. It took him a long time to calm down. He raised his tear-stained face, his eyes still filled with pain and confusion. He said in a hoarse voice, "You shouldn't have come. This muddy water... is too dirty. I was afraid that it would implicate you."

Guaerjia raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears on his cheek, and said softly: "What nonsense are you talking about, my lord? Since I have married you, we are your spouse who will share the joys and sorrows together. How can I back down at the critical moment? If you are unhappy, just tell me. Even if I can't help much, it's good to vent your grievances."

Listen? How could Guarjia listen?

I heard that her husband in her previous life and her mother in this life were secretly having an affair, and that the two of them were so deeply in love that they would always carry the things given by each other with them, treating them as treasures, despite the world's disapproval. They would even express their feelings for each other in public with gifts on the emperor's birthday?

Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince's stomach churned and he almost vomited.

Even though Guaerjia could listen to it, Yinzhen couldn't say anything!

Looking at Guaerjia in front of him, this was the wife he had just married and also the woman of the prince in his previous life.

There was a hint of madness in the Fourth Prince's eyes. He tore off Guaerjia's Longhua and pressed her on the table.