Harem Daily Life

The Queen Mother selected two study companions for the eldest and second princes respectively, and now the four children have entered the palace. When Tao Yanyan arrived, the Queen Mother introduced her to them.

"This is the son of Liu Shilang, the Minister of Revenue; this is Zhou Shilang, the Minister of Rites; this is Wang Bianxiu, the Imperial Academy's son; this is Zhao Shilang, the Minister of Works' son. The four of them are both excellent in character and learning, and I specially selected them to accompany the two princes to study. Queen, please take a look and decide which two to give to Jin'an."

The Queen Mother thought all four were good, and Tao Yanyan thought they were all OK, so she said, "I think anyone the Queen Mother approves of is OK. The eldest prince will choose first, and the rest will be given to Jin'an."

After saying this, he looked at the eldest prince who did not go to elementary school today.

He Ye looked a little unhappy, and said weakly: "Everything is up to the Imperial Grandmother."

The Queen Mother looked at his face, then looked at Minister Liu and Minister Zhou's son: "Then you two will do it."

Zhao Yizhou, the son of Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Works who was not selected, stepped forward and knelt down: "Your Majesty, I don't want to be the second prince's companion. I want to be the eldest prince's companion."

The Queen Mother was displeased, but she did not lose her temper on the spot. She only asked, "Tell me, why do you not want to be the Second Prince's companion?"

Zhao Yizhou looked at Tao Yanyan and said carefully, "Because the second prince was adopted from the common people, he is not a legitimate prince. Since you are going to accompany the prince to study, then... a legitimate prince has a better future."

Tao Yanyan raised her eyebrows. She looked up and down at the child in front of her. He looked only two years older than Jin'an. She didn't expect him to be so sophisticated in thinking about things. In the future, he would be just an elementary school student. How could he think of these things?

When the Queen Mother heard the child's words, which hinted at her disdain for Jin'an, her face turned cold.

"In that case, forget it." After saying that, he looked at another child and said, "What about you? If I asked you to be a study partner for the Second Prince, would you be willing?"

The son of Wang Bianxiu of the Hanlin Academy frowned and knelt down carefully: "Being a companion to the prince, if the prince makes a mistake, I have to take the punishment for him. My father said that being a companion to the prince is a blessing, but I don't want this blessing. I don't want to be punished for anyone, let alone... the identity of the second prince... Please, Queen Mother, have mercy on me and don't let me be a companion!"

Seeing that two children were unwilling to follow Jin'an, Tao Yanyan felt uncomfortable.

The Queen Mother instantly felt embarrassed, and she coughed lightly, looking at the other two children: "What about you? If you have any ideas, why not speak them out today, so as to avoid any dissatisfaction in the future."

The two children knelt down and expressed their willingness to be the eldest prince's study companions.

When the eldest prince saw the situation, a hint of pride appeared on his face, but his complexion was really bad. He didn't show this pride for long before he leaned back on the stool, holding his stomach.

The Queen Mother looked at Tao Yanyan, a little embarrassed, and said hurriedly: "Look, before, I was only concerned with selecting a few smart children, but I didn't actually understand their ideas. Fortunately, Jin'an is still young and self-disciplined. If I can't choose a suitable child for the time being, I will continue to select."

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "I also think that we should not force others to do things against their will, otherwise they will inevitably complain after living together day and night in the future. It is important to find two like-minded companions for Jin'an to study with. As for their father's official position, there is no need to be so strict."

The empress dowager understood what she meant. Queen Tao didn't care about family background at all. She only considered character and interests when choosing someone for Jin'an.

In this way, the scope could be expanded. The empress dowager took note and prepared to take another look at the descendants of all officials in the capital.

"Okay, now that the selection has been made, send the two who were not selected home first. As for the two who were selected, you will accompany the eldest prince to the side hall and sit and chat. Starting tomorrow, you will be in the same class in the Imperial Academy." The empress dowager sent a few people away.

Tao Yanyan looked at the eldest prince and asked in confusion, "Is the eldest prince feeling unwell? He doesn't look well."

The Queen Mother shook her head and sighed, "Imperial Doctor Xu came to see her and said she had an upset stomach. The weather is getting hotter, and it's probably because she wanted to stay cool and ate cold food. She should be fine after a few days of rest."

Tao Yanyan nodded: "I'm sorry to have caused the Queen Mother to worry. You would have gone to the temporary palace to escape the summer heat at this time, but now you have to take care of the eldest prince, so you've been delayed."

The Queen Mother pursed her lips: "That's right, I haven't taken good care of a child for many years. But there is nothing I can do, his mother is gone, there is no suitable candidate in the palace, and you are so busy, I can't give you another one?"

Tao Yanyan smiled politely and thought to himself that even if you want to give it to me, I won’t accept it.

I can't afford to offend this violent and erratic kid.

As the Queen Mother spoke, she began to talk a lot: "I don't know how Ye'er has been raised by her mother in the past few years. I always feel that he is not as cute as he was when he was a child. Sometimes I have to be very careful when talking to him... In short, he is a worry for me."

Thinking of her other grandchildren, the Queen Mother showed a happy expression on her face: "Jin'an and the others are very well taken care of by you. Every time they come to visit me, they are so sweet and know how to make me happy."

After saying this, she looked at Tao Yanyan lovingly and said, "You are now the Empress, and you gave birth to two twins. You have helped the Emperor raise three lovely children, and you have made an invaluable contribution."

Tao Yanyan immediately said modestly: "The children are very well behaved, studious, and have pure character. It is my blessing to be able to raise them. Besides, your majesty always sets an example. The children have learned a lot from your majesty, so there is no need for me to discipline them all the time."

The empress dowager was very pleased with Tao Yanyan's nature of not seeking credit. She was also clever in praising the emperor in both implicit and explicit ways. It would have been strange if the empress dowager was not happy.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting happily when they saw the young eunuch beside the eldest prince hurried in: "Your Highness, the eldest prince vomited blood for some reason!"

The Queen Mother was very worried and immediately sent someone to summon the Imperial Physician Xu. Tao Yanyan also couldn't leave at this time, so they waited in Changchun Palace for the Imperial Physician to come and diagnose.

Doctor Xu arrived quite quickly. Noticing that the eldest prince's face was darkening and he was spitting out blood, he said something was not good and stepped forward to check his pulse. The longer the time went, the heavier Doctor Xu's expression became.

"Doctor Xu, what happened to the eldest prince?" Tao Yanyan asked while supporting the empress dowager.

Doctor Xu gave the eldest prince two injections, which temporarily stopped his vomiting blood. He then said, "I checked the eldest prince's pulse before and found nothing abnormal. I just thought he had an upset stomach and would be fine after two days of treatment. But today I came to see that the situation was not good. I made a careful diagnosis and found... found that the eldest prince was poisoned."

"What? Poisoned?" The Queen Mother frowned. "Under my nose, someone actually poisoned the eldest prince?"