Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

After the second lecture, Prince Qing went straight back to his palace. There were still two hours before the third lecture, which was enough time for him to rest and have dinner.

When he returned to the mansion, he was greeted by Baili Qing's gentle smile and the young master's repeated "Daddy". Seeing that everything was in order at home, Prince Qing suddenly wanted to give up Prince Yun's proposal. But when he thought of the trusting eyes of the common people when he explained to them, Prince Qing felt that he had only wronged Qing'er temporarily. If he succeeded, he would have plenty of time to compensate her, and even better compensation.

After coaxing Baili Qing and his son to take a nap, Prince Qing got up and strolled in the yard. He happened to see Mu Man taking a nap with her head leaned under a tree, so he went forward to wake her up.

"Kapok?"

Mu Man herself was not sleeping soundly either, and she woke up immediately after King Qing called out once.

"Ah, my Lord, I did not fall asleep on purpose."

When Mu Man saw that it was the prince, he quickly stood up and lowered his head.

King Qing smiled.

"It's okay. I don't have anything to do right now. It's normal to feel sleepy in the afternoon. I just think you might catch a cold if you take a nap under this tree. Go back to your room and rest~"

"But if I leave here, the princess won't be able to find me when she wakes up. I'll just rest under this tree for a while, so the princess can call me at any time."

When Prince Qing heard what Mu Mian said, he nodded. Baili Qing had said before that Mu Mian was a good maid.

"Qing'er has fallen asleep. I will just stay here to watch over her. You can go and rest first~"

After hearing what King Qing said, Mu Mian said nothing more and just bowed.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will leave first."

After Mu Mian left, King Qing returned to the house and looked at his wife and children who were still sleeping, with a happy smile on his face. Just as he was about to lie down and rest, the housekeeper walked into the yard.

"Your Majesty? Are you here?"

The butler did not stand at the door, but stood a little further away, and his voice was not loud.

Upon hearing the voice, Prince Qing stood up and walked outside again.

The steward of the Qing Palace was an old man in his fifties. He stood there, slightly hunched.

"what's up?"

"Someone from the palace has sent a message that the virtuous concubine wants you to enter the palace."

"Mother? It was Mother who took the initiative to see me!?"

Prince Qing was very surprised. Since Concubine Xian had worshiped Buddha, she had not seen anyone. Prince Qing could only see his mother on New Year's Eve every year. Even on his birthday, his mother would not see him.

"Yes, that's what Eunuch Mushiro came to tell me."

"Okay, okay! Then go and help me prepare the car!"

Prince Qing turned his head and glanced towards the house. Qing'er and the others should still be asleep. They were all in the palace anyway, so nothing would happen.

Thinking of this, Prince Qing entered the palace with peace of mind.

Inside the palace's Buddhist temple——

At this time, a slightly older woman was kneeling on the mat. Concubine Xian was Emperor Mingren's first wife, and was only two years younger than Emperor Mingren, so she was older than Empress Baiyu and Concubine Yun. In addition, she didn't dress herself up, so she looked much older.

The virtuous concubine closed her eyes lightly, clasped her hands together, and bowed devoutly towards the Buddha statue.

"Mother concubine!"

The King of Qing has arrived, and from his tone one can tell how anxious he is along the way.

"Why did mother think of calling me here today?"

Prince Qing was standing behind Concubine Xian, looking forward to what his mother wanted to say to him.

But Concubine Xian did not turn around. She just listened to his breath and shook her head.

"You are already twenty-seven this year."

"Ok?"

Prince Qing was stunned for a moment, wondering why his mother suddenly mentioned his age.

"When your father was your age, he had already ascended the throne."

This made Prince Qing even more confused. Why did his mother suddenly mention that his father would succeed to the throne?

"The son is not as good as the father."

"Ha~"

Concubine Xian suddenly sneered, then stood up and turned to Prince Qing.

"Why do you think you are inferior to him? You are my son, how can you be inferior to him!"

"Mother concubine..."

"Have you been helping the Sixth Prince recently?"

Hearing that his mother was asking about this, Prince Qing did not hide anything and told her what his sixth brother had said to him, and also told his mother what he had done recently. Afraid that his mother would not believe him, he emphasized several times that his sixth brother was not interested in this, but just did not want to give the queen an advantage.

"Sixth Prince doesn't want to, but does your father agree? If he had to choose between you and the third prince, who do you think your father would choose?"

"this..."

Prince Qing was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to answer. It seemed that after excluding the sixth prince, none of his other princes could live up to his father's expectations. Oh, and there was also the seventh prince.

"Then I'm afraid Father will choose the Seventh Prince."

After hearing Prince Qing's answer, Concubine Xian smiled slightly.

"No, your father will not choose the third prince, let alone the seventh prince."

"why?"

King Qing was confused? Was it because the seventh child was still young?

"One day you will know. Of course, that day may never come."

Prince Qing was completely stunned. He didn't seem to understand what his mother was saying.

"Do you remember how you spent the first year Bai Qingning entered the mansion?"

When Prince Qing heard his mother mention the past, he couldn't help but clench his hands. That was a year he would never forget.

When Bai Qingning first entered the palace, he was favored by his father and took charge of the household affairs. He also changed batches of servants and deducted the monthly allowance of his mother, forcing her to sell her jewelry to barely support herself and the maids in the courtyard. At that time, his father needed the Bai family's army, so he turned a blind eye to the affairs in the palace.

In less than half a year, my mother sold all her jewelry and had no choice but to bow to Bai Qingning. In order to humiliate my mother, Bai Qingning asked her to wash clothes for the servants in his courtyard in exchange for some small change. It was winter at that time, and my mother's hands would have new wounds every day. And I had to be very careful when walking in the palace, otherwise I would be beaten and scolded by Bai Qingning's servants.

That year, his life changed dramatically.

Later, his father ascended the throne. He thought that after ascending the throne, his father would have power and would compensate them. Even if he did not punish Bai Qingning, he would not let them live a hard life. But in the end, Bai Qingning was canonized as the queen, and his mother was just an ordinary concubine, not even a noble concubine. Later, his mother had no choice but to sever her marital relationship with the emperor, but the emperor was afraid of being criticized by the people, so he kept her in the harem to worship Buddha, and canonized Xiao Zuoqing as the King of Qing.

"Of course I remember it, and I will never forget it!"

"Then mother wants you to remember one thing now!"

Concubine Xian stared at Prince Qing, the expression on her face seemed to say "You must remember"!

"Mother, please tell me!"

"After Concubine Yun gave birth to the Sixth Prince, she locked herself up in Yun Garden. Bai Qingning couldn't reach Concubine Yun, so she reached out to the Sixth Prince. But whenever the Sixth Prince was in danger, she was able to save him."

"Sixth brother was able to grow up safely without the blessing of Concubine Yun. He is also lucky."

"No! Bai Qingning could even plot against Concubine Yun who was good at martial arts. How could the Sixth Prince, who was still a child, escape every time? All this is because someone is secretly helping him!"

"Is it the father?"

My father loves my sixth brother, so he will naturally send someone to keep a close eye on him.

"No, I don't know who it was, but I can be sure that it was not the forces within the palace."

"Not in the palace?"

Prince Qing was somewhat surprised. Could it be the power of Concubine Yun? Concubine Yun's background was still unknown. In the past, some ministers had impeached Concubine Yun as a spy of the foreign enemy, but later those ministers seemed to stop mentioning it, and no one knew why.

"So what Prince Yun said is right. Although the Third Prince is not a bad person, if he really succeeds to the throne, none of us will survive! And if the Sixth Prince doesn't want this position, you can keep it. But if the Sixth Prince is interested, you must not compete with him for anything. Remember?"

Although Prince Qing himself had no intention of arguing about anything, he was still somewhat curious when his mother suddenly came to him to talk about this matter.

"Because of the power behind Concubine Yun?"

"Not only that, King Yun also saved my life once."

"What!? When did it happen?"

King Qing was shocked, he had never heard of this matter before.

"It's nothing, it all happened last year."

"But...!"

"Okay, I'm just giving you a warning, you can go back now."

After the virtuous concubine finished speaking, she concentrated on worshiping Buddha again.

Prince Qing wanted to ask something else, but his mother's action showed that she didn't want to talk anymore.

"Can I come to the palace to pay my respects every day?"

Since my mother has allowed me to come today, I will ask again.

"No, just focus on doing your own thing."

King Qing pursed his lips.

"I'll take my leave then."

After the King of Qing finished speaking, he slowly retreated.