Huaibi

"Ji Kangzi asked: 'How about making the people respectful and loyal?' The master said..."

In the sweltering heat of summer, the hissing and chirping of cicadas can be heard endlessly in the courtyard.

In Wencui Hall, the prince Taifu was walking around the hall with a volume of "The Analects of Confucius" in his hand.The sun was shining outside, and the stagnant air made Ping Huaizhen drowsy. He held a book in an attempt to hide his drowsiness, but his lowered head accidentally exposed everything.

The prince and Taifu stopped in their tracks, and nodded at him sideways: "Prince."

He Jinyi, who was sitting at the next table, frowned nervously, and poked him quietly.Ping Huaizhen opened his eyes, and shifted his gaze to the master in a daze.

"Prince, what is it like?"

Ping Huaizhen's head was still not clear, who knows what the son said again, so she turned her head to look at He Jinyi, trying hard to see clearly the words he pointed on the book.

"Facing it with Zhuang..." He Jinyi reminded in a low voice, this opening made the prince and Taifu completely pay attention to his side.

"He Jinyi, you answer."

He Jinyi braced himself and stood up, with a delicate voice: "The Master said...'If you approach someone with respect, you should respect them; if you are filial and kind, you should be loyal; if you do good deeds but cannot teach them, you should persuade them.'"

"En." The crown prince and Taifu nodded in satisfaction, allowed him to sit down, and then asked the prince, "Prince, what does this mean?"

I really grabbed him and refused to let go.

Ping Huaizhen sighed, recalling the words He Jinyi had memorized just now, stood up and explained: "Returning to master, what Confucius said is... the ruler is solemn and courteous, and the subjects respect it; If you are like a son, your subjects will be loyal...to promote the virtuous and teach those who are not virtuous, and the subjects should look at each other and persuade them, and the world will be good."

The prince Taifu saw him racking his brains and thinking while answering seriously, shook his head and laughed twice, and let it go.Ping Huaizhen sat down triumphantly, and He Jinyi also breathed a sigh of relief, for fear that the news of the crown prince dozing off in the hall would reach the ears of the emperor and he should be punished again.

The crown prince Taifu held the scroll and continued, Ping Huaizhen woke up, snickered at He Jinyi, and listened to him carefully.

Outside the Wencui Hall, the cry of a young son came from the Qiuhua Hall on the other side of the imperial garden.

Concubine Yi gave birth to the six princes for Emperor Hongxuan. Emperor Hongxuan was very happy and rewarded the harem with many awards.

It didn't take long for the good news to spread outside the palace. In the palace of Prince Chengyuan in the middle of the capital, the princess held a cup of tea for a long time and said "good" for a long time, turning away the servants who came to pass the message.The personal maid stepped forward and closed the door, and returned to the side of the princess, seeing that she put down the teacup absent-mindedly, and was scalded by the overflowing tea.

The maid hurriedly held her palm, wiped off the water stains with a handkerchief, and looked carefully for any burns.

"No problem," Princess Chengyuan shook her head, "Tangli, I will go to the palace to visit Empress Yi in the morning, you go and prepare two boxes of Ganoderma lucidum, and enter the palace with me."

"Yes, princess."

Tangli Fu retreated, feeling troubled, not knowing what kind of gloomy expression the prince should put on when he heard that the princess was about to enter the palace.

In the early morning of the next day, Princess Chengyuan brought Tang Li alone into the palace, and rushed to the front of Fengyi Hall before the hour.The queen had finished her breakfast, and because she came, the kitchen was ordered to boil bird's nest syrup again.

Princess Chengyuan got up from her seat and saluted: "Empress Lao is so troublesome, this concubine really feels uneasy."

"It's okay, you often come to the palace to talk to me, and I'm really happy to see you, so I don't have to worry about it." The queen smiled slightly, but suddenly changed the subject, "But the princess came earlier, the prince Morning and evening will not be as timely as you."

Princess Chengyuan's heart skipped a beat, hearing that faint tone seemed to have different meanings, so she had to keep silent.However, the strangeness passed in a flash, and the empress laughed again: "I am just joking, my concubine, please don't take it seriously, just sit down."

"Thank you madam."

Princess Chengyuan sat down as she said, and in order to avoid embarrassment, she winked at Tangli behind her and asked her to present the box of the best ganoderma lucidum to the queen.Tang Li comprehended, put the ganoderma lucidum in both hands and bowed, knelt down in front of the main seat, and said: "My empress, my concubine got two top-quality ganoderma lucidum the day before yesterday, and I came here to present them to my empress."

"Princess, you are polite." The queen nodded, and the maid behind her stepped forward to take the gift box.

Seeing that she likes it, Princess Chengyuan took the opportunity to continue the conversation: "This Ganoderma lucidum comes from Haiqiong Island, it is extremely rare, it is a waste to stay here with the concubine, the empress has a noble phoenix body, and should enjoy it."

"The princess is so caring, it makes me feel embarrassed."

Princess Chengyuan pursed her lips and smiled slightly, and was about to say some more polite words to her, when she suddenly heard light footsteps outside the corridor, a child was running towards her.Her heart moved suddenly, and she looked out of the hall with joy in her eyes.

The little Ping Huai followed her gaze and ran into the room. When he got close, he restrained his steps and saluted in a dignified manner: "I come to pay my respects to the queen mother."

Princess Chengyuan felt sad secretly.

"Come to Empress Mother's side soon," the queen coaxed Ping Huaizhen to approach her, brushing his disheveled hair, and joked, "Today's Zhen'er is still on time, not as procrastinating as in the past."

"Hey." Ping Huaizhen talked to her coquettishly, "Mother, Zhen'er is always on time." After speaking, she found a woman sitting quietly at the side, keeping her gaze softly on his face, turning her eyes to see It was Princess Chengyuan, and he blinked in surprise, "Hey, the princess is here!"

"Prince." Princess Chengyuan stood up and blessed her.

Although Ping Huaizhen didn't see her often, but every time he met, he felt that the princess was very kind to him, so he liked her in his heart, and he didn't care about the etiquette, so he would slink up to him to warm up.

"Wangfei hasn't been here for a long time, this time when you enter the palace, did you bring me sweets?"

Princess Chengyuan's brows were full of joy, and she took out the peach blossom candy that she had prepared for him, and while opening the paper bag for him, she said with a smile: "What good are folk candies? What does the prince want in the palace?" No, I don’t despise this.”

"This is delicious!" Ping Huaizhen grabbed two and stuffed them into his mouth, and the rest was not polite, he rewrapped it and put it in his lapel, "I want to keep it and give it to Jinyi to eat, and the princess will give it all as a gift." Just give it to me."

"It's all for you." Princess Chengyuan nodded again and again, looking at him with pity for a long time, she couldn't bear to ask for a while, "How is the prince's homework recently?"

Behind her, Tangli was slightly startled. Seeing the empress' increasingly displeased expression, she hurriedly reminded her in a low voice, "Princess..."

Princess Chengyuan wakes up like a dream, embarrassment surfaced on her face, but she couldn't take back her question.Ping Huaizhen didn't think too much about it, only knew that the queen loved him, and the princess loved him too, so he boldly shook off what happened in class yesterday: "The homework is very good, but I always fall asleep, and I was beaten by the master yesterday afternoon I was caught right, and I was asked a question... But I am smart, and I still answered it, haha!"

Princess Chengyuan couldn't help laughing, she covered her mouth with slender fingers and laughed out loud, but it was hard to say anything else, she waited quietly for the queen to speak.The empress looked pale, and pretended to criticize: "Zhen'er, don't be arrogant, you need to study hard, don't let your father be disappointed."

Ping Huaizhen turned to the queen, smiling obediently: "Xin'er knows, mother queen don't tell father."

The queen shook her head helplessly, and then the two fell silent, and both Princess Chengyuan and Princess Chengyuan were speechless.

Ping Huaizhen didn't realize that the atmosphere was weird, she was still a child at heart, and had a quarrel happily alone for a while, counting the time and remembering that He Jinyi was about to enter the palace, so she bowed and left happily.

Princess Chengyuan didn't stay any longer, she got the Queen's consent, and went to Concubine Yi in Qiuhua Palace by car.

The curtain on the sedan chair blocked a little breeze, and even in the early morning in midsummer, it was hot and stuffy. Princess Chengyuan felt suffocated and her chest was swollen and painful.

"Tangli."

"The servant is here."

She smiled bitterly, and lowered her voice extremely softly: "I also want to... hear him call 'mother'..."

Tangli bowed her head in response, fearing that the concubine's feelings would be uncontrollable and she would say more absurd things, after thinking about it, she softly hummed a soothing folk song to comfort her.

The singing is shallow like a stream, it can't go around the palace wall, but only around the side of the shoulder.

Princess Chengyuan closed her eyes, and retracted the mist back into the depths of her eyes.