New Return of the Pearl: The Group's Pet Swallow Flies

Yongqi was startled when he heard the voice, and hurriedly hid the book he was reading with great interest behind his back. His heartbeat accelerated rapidly, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. He kept looking around, fearing that his mother or the emperor would find out that he was secretly reading a book that he shouldn't read.

In a panic, Yongqi began to frantically look for a place to hide the book. He looked through drawers and under the bed, but no place seemed safe. Time passed, and the knocks on the door became more and more urgent, like a death warrant, making Yongqi more and more anxious.

At this moment, he suddenly had an idea, and his eyes locked on the bookshelf not far away. He rushed over in two steps, nervously listening to the noise outside the door, while quickly pulling out a book from the bookshelf. Then, in a lightning speed, he stuffed the small and exquisite banned book in his hand into the book he had just pulled out, and carefully put them back to their original places.

After doing all this, Yongqi took a few steps back, stared wide-eyed and carefully checked the bookshelf in front of him. When he confirmed that the little book was completely hidden and would not be easily discovered, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his heart finally settled down.

However, before he could completely relax, there was another louder knock on the door, accompanied by the anxious cry of the little palace maid: "Brother, did you hear that?" Yongqi came back to his senses as if he had just woken up from a dream, and hurriedly reached out to smooth down his slightly messy clothes, cleared his throat, and responded loudly: "I know, I'll go right away."

After hearing Yongqi's reply, the maid at the door responded respectfully and turned away. After all, she was only responsible for delivering the message. Since the task had been completed, there was no need to wait here. At this time, Yongqi hurriedly tidied up the desk, especially the "Analects of Confucius" that had just been casually placed aside, and then walked quickly to the door, ready to face the unknown things that were about to come.

…………

As the midday sun shone on the magnificent glazed tiles of the Forbidden City, a faint sound of footsteps was heard in the distance. It turned out that the emperor was riding in a sedan chair and heading straight for the Jingren Palace.

As the distance got closer, the empress was seen wearing a gorgeous phoenix robe, standing dignifiedly in front of the Jingren Palace, surrounded by a group of palace maids and eunuchs. Next to her was a small figure - it was the emperor's son, Yongqi, whom he had not seen for some time.

Yongqi was wearing an exquisite suit of royal attire today, looking energetic, but his eyes revealed a hint of restraint. At this moment, he followed closely behind the queen, fiddling with the corners of his clothes with his hands unconsciously.

When the emperor's sedan chair finally stopped at the gate of Jingren Palace, everyone's eyes immediately focused on the emperor. The queen took the lead and stepped forward, bowed to the emperor lightly, with a gentle and kind smile on her face, and said softly: "Your Majesty, I respectfully welcome you. I wish you good health and great fortune."

Immediately afterwards, Yongqi also took a deep breath, straightened his chest slightly, then bent down a little nervously, saluted the emperor with his hands, and shouted respectfully: "Your son pays homage to the emperor, and wishes you good luck and happiness!"

At the same time, the palace maids and eunuchs around knelt on the ground and shouted in unison: "Blessings to the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The sound resounded throughout the Jingren Palace, as if it would penetrate the sky.

"Stand up. Queen, Yongji, the sun is so hot, why did you come out to greet me?" The emperor was shocked to see the Queen and Yongji welcoming him at the gate of Jingren Palace under the scorching sun. He quickly quickened his pace and waved his hand to signal everyone to stand up. Then, he reached out his hand to support the Queen's slightly frail arm and slowly walked into Jingren Palace.

The Queen raised her head slightly, a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, her eyes full of tenderness, and she said softly: "The Emperor has not set foot in my Jingren Palace for many days. I am really worried about you. In a moment of desperation, I did not care about many things and led Yongqi to the palace gate to welcome your arrival." After that, she lowered her eyes slightly, as if she was a little shy.

Yongqi followed his father and mother quietly, watching them supporting each other as they walked away with his bright eyes. Seeing how close and supportive they were, Yongqi thought to himself: Although father and mother were always polite to each other, it seems that the couple's respect for each other is a kind of happiness and harmony.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the dining hall. The emperor took the first seat as a matter of course, and the empress walked to the seat next to him and sat down gracefully, while Yongqi obediently found an empty seat opposite the empress and sat down.

Following the emperor's order, many palace maids and eunuchs filed in and began to serve the emperor, empress and princes in an orderly manner. In a blink of an eye, the originally empty table was filled with all kinds of delicious delicacies, with a rough count of no less than dozens of them.

The emperor picked up a piece of the exquisite dish with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. After chewing it carefully, he praised it highly. Then he turned his head to look at the queen beside him and started chatting with her with a smile. For a while, there was constant laughter and joy in the dining hall, and the atmosphere was extremely harmonious.

"I estimate that Xiaoyanzi and the others should be back soon. A few days ago, not only did I receive letters from the children, but I also received news from the secret guards saying that those children all have their loved ones. As soon as these children return to the palace, I'm afraid we will have to start preparing for their marriage." As the emperor spoke, a relieved yet slightly complicated expression appeared on his face.

“When the time comes, I will have to trouble the Queen to take more care and arrange the marriages for these children. For Yongqi, marriage is just to find a wife for him to enter the palace. But Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei and Qing'er are different. Once they get married, they will have to leave the palace. I feel... Alas!” At this point, the emperor could not help but sigh softly, with a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

The queen, who was having a meal, stopped moving her chopsticks abruptly when she heard the emperor mention this.

Are Xiaoyanzi and the others coming back?

She raised her head, a flash of joy flashed across her eyes, but she soon regained her composure. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will make sure that the children's marriages are properly arranged." The Queen replied softly, although she also felt a little reluctant about the children's upcoming marriages.

Yongji, who was eating silently at the side, also had a look of joy on his face. Are his brothers and sisters really coming back? Perhaps he was too happy, so he couldn't help but eat faster. The sound of the jade chopsticks hitting the dishes attracted the emperor's attention.

His deep and distant gaze slowly turned to the son in front of him whom he had not seen for some time. His originally round and cute face now looked a little thin, but even so, he was only nine years old and had already shown his handsome appearance, like a young willow that had just sprouted in spring, fresh and moving.

In recent years, the child has been very serious and hardworking in his studies, and he is often praised by Mr. Xiaolan. When the emperor heard these praises, he secretly admired him.

"Yongji..." The emperor's expression was extremely gentle, and he was about to say some caring words.

However, before the emperor could finish his words, Yongqi mistakenly thought that his father was going to punish him for making too much noise while eating. Instantly, fear surged into his heart like a tide, and he couldn't help but tremble all over. He didn't even have time to chew the food in his mouth. He suddenly raised his head, his face full of tension, and stammered, "Father, what...what's wrong?"

The emperor raised his eyebrows when he saw this, and thought to himself: Why is this child so nervous? Is I so terrible in his mind?

"Don't be nervous. The Emperor won't eat you alive. I just want to ask you, how are your studies going these days? Have you encountered any problems that you need my help to solve?" The Emperor tried to slow down his tone, trying to calm Yongji's uneasy heart.

Hearing the emperor's words, Yongqi still couldn't hide his nervousness. He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and then answered carefully: "It's... not bad."

At this time, the empress, who had been watching this scene silently, saw that her son Yongji was as scared as a mouse seeing a cat when he saw the emperor, and her face could not help but reveal a trace of helplessness and heartache. She really couldn't bear to see her son continue to be so trembling, so she hurriedly spoke to Yongji and said: "Your Majesty, look at this child, maybe he hasn't seen you for a long time, and he is so excited that he doesn't know what to say. But I know that Yongji has never slacked off in his studies during this period of time. Recently, he has been reading the Analects of Confucius."

As soon as these words came out, it was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves. The emperor's originally calm eyes instantly flashed with curiosity and interest. He sat up slightly, his eyes fell directly on Yongqi, and said with a bit of scrutiny and expectation: "Oh? In this case, I want to test what you have learned in the past few days."

When Yongqi heard this, his heart suddenly tightened, and a chill rushed from his spine to his forehead. He secretly complained, and a layer of fine beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead. Oh my God! These days, he was just pretending to read the Analects. In fact, except for the two big words "Analects", he never took a serious look at the rest of the text!

Just when he was so nervous that he was at a loss and sweating profusely, a clear and loud voice of greeting suddenly came from outside the door: "Your servant greets the Fifth Prince, Princess Huanzhu, Princess Mingzhu, the First Master Fu, the Second Master Fu, and Painter Ban." This sudden voice was like a life-saving straw, and Yongqi's heart, which had been hanging in the air, settled down a little.

The three people in the dining hall were startled when they heard the noise outside, and then stood up at the same time. Their faces were filled with joyful smiles, as bright and dazzling as flowers blooming in spring. The emperor, in particular, was even more delighted, and couldn't wait to put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands and walked towards the door with big strides.

However, after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped as if he realized something. After all, as the king of a country, he could not lose his manners and sense of propriety in front of everyone. So, he pretended to be calm and turned his head to look at the queen who was still a little dazed, and said in a slightly anxious voice: "Queen, Xiaoyanzi and the others are back, let's go and take a look." After that, he stood quietly where he was, waiting for the queen to go out together.

After a brief moment of unconsciousness, the queen finally came back to her senses, and a trace of joy that was difficult to conceal flashed across her beautiful face. She nodded slightly, indicating that she had returned to normal, and then gently tidied up her slightly messy clothes with her hands. After doing these actions, the queen assuredly put her arm on the hand that Rong Mama stretched out to her, and Rong Mama carefully supported her and slowly walked towards the direction of the emperor.

The two walked side by side, with a perfect distance between them, neither too intimate nor too distant. Their steps were light and graceful, as if each step carried a special rhythm and rhythm. Yongqi, who was walking behind, followed the footsteps of the two people with joy and gratitude. He thought to himself: "This time, it's all thanks to my brothers and sisters who came so timely and cleverly!"

Just as the three of them walked to the door, suddenly, a light sound of footsteps came into their ears. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a group of energetic young men and charming girls walking towards them in a hurry. Each of them was dressed in colorful folk costumes. Although they looked a little dusty, everyone's face was filled with excitement and anticipation.

At the front of the crowd, there was a particularly eye-catching figure. It was a girl wearing a red and blue long dress with a white belt tied around her slender waist, which further highlighted her graceful figure. The girl had two small and exquisite buns on her head, like two smart little rabbits, and under the buns, there were two bright red hairbands, which fluttered gently in the breeze, like dancing butterflies. The two red hairbands not only added a bit of liveliness and playfulness to her whole person, but also made her originally fair and delicate face even more lovely and charming.

Needless to say, this playful and lovely girl is Xiaoyanzi, who has been away from the palace for three years. At this moment, the elegant young man standing on the left of Xiaoyanzi is the fifth prince Yongqi, who has become more handsome and mature after three years of tempering. Yongqi was wearing a simple and elegant white and blue robe. His once white jade-like face looked a little darker due to running around in the past three years, but this did not reduce his handsome temperament at all, but seemed to add more mature and stable charm to him.