Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 25

Hearing what Liu Qingtang said, the little emperor blushed, and said embarrassingly: "My son is still young, these things are not urgent."

"A 13-year-old can be considered an adult in our Southern Dynasty. The queen can wait until the emperor is sixteen, but there must be a lot of people around him. Let's hold a small election next year and choose a group to enter the palace. It's cold in the harem." It's deserted, just think of it as finding some companions for your mother." Liu Qingtang said in an old-fashioned tone, only thinking of herself as a dozens-year-old empress.

After all, the little emperor is still young and thin-skinned, so it's not easy to refute, so he nodded with a blushing face: "My minister... all my ministers listen to the queen mother, and it is good for the queen mother to decide these matters."

"As an emperor, it is also a responsibility to multiply the royal family." Liu Qingtang stroked the folds of her knees, looked at the little emperor, and taught with a very gentle expression, as if she was pleased with his growth.In fact, what Liu Qingtang thought was that if the emperor gave birth to a prince earlier, then she would have an extra way out.

If her emperor's nephew still disappoints her this time, she can only give up on him and turn her attention to his child.After all, it is easier for a child taught from scratch to make him what he wants, at least the possibility of eccentricity with her is reduced.Since she can help the current emperor secure the throne, she can continue to support a younger child.

It's just a pity that the royal heirs in the Southern Dynasty have not been abundant.Not to mention the princess, if only the prince is counted, only the late emperor and Xiao Nanhe survived the time of the first emperor, and only the little emperor and Xiao Huaihe survived the princes born by the first emperor.In the previous life until her death, the emperor had only one prince, and he was the child of Wang Shoufu's concubine who was the most favored in the harem.

In fact, quite a few were conceived, but the method was so powerful that those children were not even born.This time, she had to intervene.

"At that time, Emperor Xiandi and your generation had too few children. When you come here, you have to work hard." Liu Qingtang said again.

"My son knows." The little emperor said calmly with his chest still blushing.

In this way, a person who looks like a child will be an adult in a year.Time is like water in your hands, it will be lost if you don't pay attention.When Liu Qingtang saw the little emperor's appearance, he was funny at first, and then all kinds of complicated emotions filled his heart.

In her previous life, she had spent a lot of effort for this child, and almost raised him as her own.He is often in a hurry because of the affairs in the court, and he has to spare time to raise the child.She doesn't have a mother herself, and she doesn't know how to be a mother. She has no experience at all, so she is often at a loss.

She was obviously afraid that he would fall and suffer hardships, but for his own good, she could only teach him cruelly and severely. Everyone said that she was a loving mother and a strict father, but she could only be a strict mother to this nephew.

Entering the palace at the age of 16, the child was only seven years old, and had just lost her mother, so she timidly called her aunt with tears in her eyes.At that time, she thought that she should take good care of him for her sister.It's not that she doesn't have any grievances with her sister, but she can't ignore this nephew, so this management has been in charge for more than ten years.

If she hadn't cared so much about this child back then, how could she have been blinded, if she hadn't loved him as her own child, how could she not want to kill him in this life when he gave her death in the previous life.

Liu Qingtang suddenly felt tired, and looked away from that still young face.

Shen Shizheng, the annual banquet for all officials is over.The ministers left the palace one after another, while Liu Qingtang, the little emperor, Xiao Huaiyu, Concubine Lian, and the three married princesses went to the longevity pavilion for a family banquet.

Among the three princesses, the eldest princess and the second princess are twins of the same mother. They are both 19 years old, only one or two years younger than Liu Qingtang, and they got married a few years earlier.The third princess is 17 years old and got married last year.The three of them are all calm and not very talkative. It is also possible that they have not been protected by their mother and concubine since they were young, so they are used to being silent like this.Liu Qingtang didn't get along with them very much, except for seeing them on a few important festivals, the rest of the time they didn't interact.

At this kind of family banquet, at most they just talk about clothes and jewelry, and then they are relatively silent.Fortunately, they were not as afraid of her as the wives of the minister's family, and it was not that difficult to get along with them. Liu Qingtang felt pretty good about these three princesses.

As for the Wansui Pavilion where they are located, this is the tallest loft in the entire palace, with nine floors in total.This New Year's Eve family banquet was on the top floor, with windows on all sides wide open, and one could see the ridges of the palaces in the palace, as well as the bustling market outside the high palace walls of the palace.

It's just that they are far away and can be seen vaguely. Those streets have become a line, dividing the whole Yujing into large and small blocks.

It was the time when the twilight was coming together. Standing at the window and looking around, you could see the lights starting to light up in various palaces in the palace.

On several palace roads, teams of court ladies and eunuchs walked by with lanterns in their hands. Because it was New Year's Eve, orange lights were overflowing everywhere in the palace. Lanterns were hung on both sides of the palace road. You can see many long light bands.

The palace is so big, not every place is full of people, so some palaces look dark, with light scattered in one place.But all the way beyond the palace wall, seeing the streets surrounding the palace wall, the lights suddenly became denser.

Numerous light spots clustered together, making the streets look bright and warm. People on the street held lanterns and merged into flowing light bands from a distance.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of silk and bamboo coming from an unknown place, faintly like a fairy sound from outside the sky.

Liu Qingtang looked at the scenery outside the window in a daze, and suddenly remembered the scene of sneaking out to look at the lights when she was a child.At that time, I was really naive and didn't know my worries. Everything I saw was novel and interesting. It was time to close the Liu Mansion and I still refused to go back.The elder brother who sneaked out with her was so frightened that he called her little ancestor, grabbed her by the hand and dragged her towards home. She squatted on the ground and refused to leave, demanding that her elder brother carry her.

Liu Qingtang was lost in thought, the emperor didn't hear her calling her a few times, but the eldest princess sitting next to her touched her hand and called her mother, Liu Qingtang finally woke up.

She smiled and nodded to the eldest princess to express her friendliness, and then looked at the little emperor, "I was so fascinated by the scenery, I didn't hear what the emperor said."

"The scenery here is really beautiful. I remember that my mother liked it very much and often came here to sit." The little emperor first sighed, and then said: "I have nothing to do when I call my mother. Looking tired, thinking about the mother, why don't you go and have a rest first, don't tire yourself out."

"It's not that serious. It's just that I didn't sleep well last night, so I was a little lackluster. I didn't expect to be noticed by the emperor. It's rare for a family to get together. Why is Ai Jia absent?"

"The queen mother also said that they are all one family, so there is no need to abide by the many rules. Before the banquet is ready, the queen mother should go and have a rest first."

If he hadn't known what he would do in the future, Liu Qingtang would have been moved by the filial piety of the emperor's nephew.That's right, in his previous life, he was not a good nephew and son for her for many years.Liu Qingtang was in a complicated mood, but with a smile on his face, "Since the emperor is full of filial piety, the Ai family will go to the meeting first, and you brothers and sisters can talk for a while together."

Liu Qingtang stood up, and Tao Ye, who had been the background for a long time behind her, hurriedly came to help her, and Qin Shu also followed behind with his hands down.

The Longevity Pavilion has nine floors, the banquet is on the top floor, and Liu Qingtang rests in a room on the eighth floor.This place was also cleaned up early in advance. The room was lit, and as soon as I walked in, I could still smell a kind of incense that she often used. The incense burner was also placed in the corner, making the whole room warm.

"Zuiyi, you and Taoye also go down to have a rest, and it's fine for Qin Shu to stay here and take care of you." Liu Qingtang walked to the window and sat on the couch covered with a thick blanket.

"The servants are going to be lazy at the master's order..." Taoye saw what her sister was going to say, and hurriedly pulled her to speak first.

Zhuiyi glanced at her, amused and annoyed, and could only follow her words: "The slaves will go down first, and come back to wake the master up after the banquet."

The two backed out, and as soon as the door was closed, Suiyi poked Taoye's forehead, "I just want to ask the master if he wants to order something to eat, why are you so nervous, is my sister so blind in your eyes?" ?”

"Hehe...Of course not, sister, I thought time was tight so Master could rest for a while...Tossing is called eating, so how can I have time to rest after eating..." Tao Ye coquettishly coquettishly.

Zhui Yibai glanced at her, and pulled her to sit on the small couch outside, "Oh, and also, Qin Shu didn't eat anything..."

"Hey..." Taoye waved her hands indifferently and smiled, "Don't worry about this, the master will let him eat and rest, so let's not get involved..."

"Really? But doesn't the master still want him to serve?" Zhui Yi looked at his confident younger sister suspiciously.

"Serving is not necessarily what serving is." Tao Ye muttered in a low voice.

"Huh?" Zhui Yi didn't hear clearly, and was about to ask again, Tao Ye shook her hand and said, "I'm sure you're right! Well, my sister, you just love to worry about , let’s rest first, we still have to endure later.”

After finishing speaking, she pushed her elder sister Xiuyi to rest on the small couch, and pushed herself to the other side, and closed her eyes as soon as she lay down.No matter how curious Zhuiyi was, she could only feel helpless for her younger sister who could fall asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. She took the blanket beside her and closed her eyes to rest.

(End of this chapter)