The mistress is not a cannon fodder, the cold prince falls in love with her every night

When Li Gan fell ill, the empress dowager could not help but feel anxious.

When she arrived at Li Gan's bedroom, she saw only palace maids and eunuchs serving inside and outside, and not a single concubine.

"Where are the ladies from the palaces? The emperor is ill, why don't any of them come to serve him?"

The Queen Mother looked around, her heart filled with rage.

Little Dengzi shrank back and dared not speak. However, the nanny beside the Queen Mother went out to inquire around and came back with great embarrassment:

"Empress Dowager, I heard that the ladies from all the palaces drank in the Plum Garden until late last night, and now they are all... all..."

"What?"

The Queen Mother's voice suddenly rose several degrees.

Mammy shuddered and could only tell the truth:

"They're all still asleep!"

"That's unreasonable!"

The Queen Mother was furious.

She has taken in so many concubines for the emperor, and none of them are capable of keeping the emperor and expanding the royal family. But now that the emperor is sick, she is still sleeping in the palace?

"Tell them all to come and serve."

The Queen Mother said unhappily.

Before the nanny could respond, Li Gan coughed a few times and came out with his clothes draped over him.

After returning from the Plum Garden last night, he sat alone until dawn. In the morning, he felt dizzy and light-headed when he had breakfast. He called the imperial physician for a checkup and found out that he had caught a cold.

"Mother, it's just a cold, nothing serious. My son will be fine after taking the medicine and having a good sleep."

"If you let them come, it will only make things worse for your son. If he gets upset, his illness might even get worse."

Li Gan said mercilessly.

How could he not know what the Queen Mother was planning?

"Your Majesty, if you don't like them, your mother will arrange for you to get some new ones..."

"Mother!"

Before the Queen Mother could finish her words, Li Gan interrupted her.

He looked sick and his lips were a little pale.

"Mother, you know that I will never touch them in my lifetime, so why do you want to harm more people?"

When Li Gan said this, the nanny Xiao Dengzi was so scared that she stepped back repeatedly. She closed the door of the bedroom and told all the palace maids and eunuchs serving outside to leave.

"Gan'er! What if?"

The Queen Mother was filled with grief, but she was still unwilling to give up even the slightest chance.

"Gan'er, you are the emperor. You have the country on your shoulders. You can't act so willfully! Even if your mother begs you, just give it a try. What if it works?"

"Nothing unexpected."

Li Gan refused outright.

"Mother, please don't forget what you promised me. You promised to give me a year and set me free at the end of it."

A year ago, when Sun Zhonghuai left, Li Gan had made a one-year agreement with the Queen Mother, agreeing to train Li Ji to take over within a year and then let him go.

Now the one-year period is up.

Li Gan brought it up. But the Queen Mother sneered:

"I did promise you. But you saw how sick Ji'er was a few days ago. In his heart, the Pei family will always be closer than the Li family."

"Gan'er, Pei Heng is already powerful. If you pass the throne to Ji'er, it will be unclear whether the Li family will be ruled by the Li or Pei family in the future."

"Mother?!"

Li Gan looked at the Queen Mother in disbelief.

"When I was still idle on the streets, it was Duke Dingguo who trusted me and helped me get back into my father's sight. When my fourth and fifth brothers were fighting, I had no place to stand in the court. It was Duke Dingguo who stayed with me and helped me gain a firm foothold."

"During the Northern Expedition to Beimang, Duke Dingguo risked his entire family being beheaded by my father and accompanied me in disguise. We faced life and death together on the battlefield countless times. If it weren't for Duke Dingguo, I would never have been able to pacify the northern border, let alone force Beimang to surrender."

"Mother, now that I have firmly established myself on the throne, how can you be so suspicious of Duke Dingguo?"

The Queen Mother calmed herself down and looked at Li Gan and said:

"I don't want to be suspicious of him. But I sit in this position, and the emperor wants to pass the throne to Ji'er. Now Ji'er is in this situation, I have to think about it."

"Your Majesty, although Ji'er is smart and capable, he is still only twelve years old. If the Pei family's relatives become powerful and threaten the Li family's imperial power in the future, then both you and I will be sinners of the Li family!"

Li Ji and the Pei family have been far apart in the past two years, but the Queen Mother is not worried at all.

Although Li Ji had a relationship with the Pei family about raising him, Li Ji's surname was Li, and he was emotionally close to the empress dowager and the emperor. Even if Li Ji came to power, he would not be influenced by the Pei family.

But now?

The Queen Mother couldn't help but think more when she thought of Li Ji holding Su Li's hand and calling "Mom" and "I want to go home!"

Pei Heng held immense power, the military recognized only him as its sole commander. Within the court, Duke Yong, Duke Xie, Marquis Yong'an, the Sun and Lin families, even Prince Heng and the Princess, all clung to Pei Heng. If he harbored any ulterior motives, it would be easy for him to manipulate the other vassals by holding the emperor hostage.

"Mother, Duke Dingguo is a loyal and courageous man. He would never do such a thing!"

Li Gan knew Pei Heng; he was not that kind of person.

"Your Majesty, sitting in this position, I dare not gamble! I can't afford to gamble!"

The Queen Mother was helpless.

She lived in the harem all her life and experienced all the power struggles during the late emperor's time.

The late queen, the eldest prince, Prince Jing, Prince Kang, Concubine Wen, Duke Qing, etc., she still remembers clearly what happened to them!

Power is a good thing. It allows her and her son to no longer be bullied.

But at the same time, power can also change people beyond recognition.

If the mother and son do not tread carefully and be cautious at every step, they will not know how they will die in the future.

The mother and son were arguing endlessly when little Dengzi outside the door cautiously shouted:

"Your Majesty and the Queen Mother, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin and the Duke of Dingguo and his family have come to the palace to pay their respects to the Emperor and the Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother then calmed down and put on a kind expression.

"Please!"

After saying that, he glanced at Li Gan and said softly:

"Your Majesty, I know Duke Dingguo is loyal to you and patriotic. What I just said was just speculation. I hope this day will never come."

Li Gan said coldly:

"Mother, you are more suitable for the throne than me."

"you!"

The Queen Mother was furious.

But the person in front of her was her own son, and she had to swallow her anger in the face of his ridicule.

Outside the door, Su Li and Pei Heng walked in with the children.

The bedroom suddenly became lively.

"Your Highness and Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Pei Heng took his beloved wife to pay respects to the emperor and the empress dowager.

Huan Ge'er also brought Xi Jie'er and Pei Le to pay their respects.

"Your Highness, I have met the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. I wish you a healthy and prosperous new year."

The Queen Mother was so delighted that she smiled from ear to ear and quickly asked someone to help him up.

"I was just talking to the Emperor about coming to pay my respects, so why hasn't he arrived yet?"

The empress dowager, who had just been so timid and fierce when she was behind closed doors with the emperor, now had a kind and benevolent look on her face.

Su Li smiled and said:

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have so many children at home, so it's inevitable that I'll take some time to go out. Whenever I go out, it's always one thing or another. It gives me a headache!"