Zhihua and the eldest princess got into a carriage and went to the palace under the anxious eyes of Mrs. Jiang.

Along the way, although the two did not talk too much, the eldest princess always held her hand tightly and silently conveyed her support, although she was full of heart, Zhihua still noticed this small detail and smiled at her gratefully. In this tense and warm atmosphere, it was soon outside the palace gate.

As a courtier, it was originally inconvenient for Zhihua to ask to see the emperor directly, but the situation was urgent, and she was accompanied by the eldest princess, so she put aside her worries and handed a sign to the palace people to ask to see the saint.

The decree of their audience was soon sent, and the eldest princess walked in the palace, with a special soft sedan chair for the walk. The soft sedan chair was very spacious, the princess insisted that she ride with her, and Zhihua also knew that her body was not suitable for recklessness, so she did not refuse, and followed her on the sedan chair. All the way silently prepared the words after the face of the saint, and swayed to the outside of the imperial study.

"The emperor has a decree to announce the visit of the princess of the country." The chief eunuch Gao Gonggong had been waiting outside for a long time, and after announcing his will, he bowed down and stopped the eldest princess who was about to accompany Zhihua in. "Your Highness, please go to the side hall with the old slave to rest for a while, Your Majesty has only announced the princess and concubine."

The eldest princess glanced at Zhihua worriedly, saw her bow slightly, couldn't help but admonish a few words, and obediently followed Gonggong Gao.

It wasn't until her back disappeared out of sight that Zhihua took a deep breath and slowly stepped into the imperial study.

Stepping over the high threshold, a strong fragrance of the dragon's birthday came to the nose. In the blue and white seawater pattern incense burner in the imperial study, cigarettes are slowly smoking, perhaps perennially soaked in incense, and the entire imperial study is filled with this unique fragrance of the emperor.

Zhihua couldn't help but start to get nervous, lowered her head and quickened her pace, the gold bricks under her feet were polished, and she could vaguely look out of the room from the floor without looking up. The furnishings in the imperial study are very simple, the emperor's bookcase is located in the northeast corner, and when Zhihua raised his head slightly to reply, he found that the documents on it were stacked into a hill; On the left is rows of densely packed bookshelves, and further to the left is a huge peony screen, which is probably connected to the inner room; In addition, a set of hospitality tables and chairs in the middle of the study is divided into two columns, except for the curtains and curtains around are bright yellow for the emperor, the whole study looks no different from ordinary families.

When Zhihua came in, the emperor was sitting behind the bookcase and reading the folds. Listening to her salute and say goodbye, the emperor just said lightly, "flat", and there was no follow-up.

Zhihua hung her head and stood solemnly, not daring to disturb, so she waited quietly for a cup of tea, and the emperor finally closed his hand and beckoned: "Sit down." ”

After thanking His Majesty for giving him a seat, Zhihua half-sat on the chair in a regular manner, and subconsciously folded her hands on her lower abdomen, suddenly breeding a wave of courage and dispelling the tension in her heart.

"The princess wants to see me today, why is it?" The emperor asked knowingly.

"Back to His Majesty, it's because of the recent rumors. The concubine lived in the back house, and when she learned about this rumor just now, she was terrified and did not dare to delay, so she immediately came to see His Majesty. ”

"Oh? What does the princess have to say? ”

"People often say that loyalty and righteousness cannot be both since ancient times, and the concubine enters the palace today to ask to see His Majesty, just to assure you for the prince who is far away on the frontier that when loyalty and righteousness cannot be both, he will only choose to sacrifice righteousness and be loyal."

"Heh, the princess is very confident in her husband." The Emperor chuckled, noncommittal.

"Your Majesty shouldn't have forgotten jì, how did Lord Fei fall off the horse in the first place, right? Since the prince did not shield his ancestor because of his personal feelings in the first place, it is even more impossible for him to betray the country for glory now. ”

"Shen Ze actually told you about this?" The Emperor raised his tone in some surprise, but since she was already aware of the incident, he simply opened the skylight and spoke brightly, expressing his concerns. "When Shen Ze thoroughly investigated the Fei Ning case, I gave him a secret decree, and I knew that he had contributed to this case. But now it's different, Fei Ning appeared on the battlefield in such a grand manner, if Shen Ze dared to point the blade at his maternal grandfather, wouldn't he be worried about falling into infamy? ”

Killing relatives in righteousness is really not so easy to do. In the case of Shen Ze, even if he is indeed an enemy of his grandfather for the sake of the country, the stain of unfilial piety and disobedience will still follow him for the rest of his life, and for many ancients who cherish their reputation, they would rather kill themselves than make such a difficult choice.

Zhihua raised her head slightly in front of the emperor for the first time, and met the scrutinizing gaze with a determined face: "The concubine is very confident in the loyalty of the prince. ”

She did, but the emperor didn't. As a monarch, he was already suspicious, even Shen Ze had proved it once with his actions that he couldn't rest assured, how could he now abandon his doubts because of a woman's words?

Seeing the emperor's still distrustful expression, Zhihua calmed down and continued: "Even if you put aside the general interests of the country and only talk about personal feelings, it is impossible for the prince to be soft on Fei Ning. Don't hide it from Your Majesty, the concubine is two months pregnant, and she has written to inform the prince a few days ago. On the one hand, his maternal grandfather who defected to the enemy country, and on the other hand, the old and young of his dear family, how he would choose, presumably His Majesty already knew in his heart. ”

Zhihua did not mention the old grudges between Shen Ze and the Fei family, first, this is the Shen family, and the ugliness of the family cannot be talked about; Second, there is no evidence that reveals the true face of Xiao Fei's family, and it is suddenly put forward like this, but it is even more impossible for the emperor to believe it.

"Is the princess really pregnant?" The emperor's eyes flashed, if she was a little contemptuous of her, the only hostage left by the Shen family in the capital, now because of the arrival of this little life, she has also become full of weight in the emperor's eyes.

"Yes, I was diagnosed by the imperial doctor in the Eldest Princess's Mansion a month ago. The concubine had planned to announce the good news after three months, according to custom......"

She was reasonable, and the emperor was not surprised. For the sake of prudence, he still summoned the imperial doctor and treated him on the spot. After confirming that it was a happy pulse, the worries about Shen Ze in his heart went to nine points.

When Zhihua returned to the Weiguo Mansion with a bunch of rewards from the emperor, it was only half a day's work, and the noble courtiers in Beijing noticed the change in the direction of the wind. There was an endless stream of people who came to congratulate them, and the congratulatory gifts received were piled up in the storeroom. Zhihua did not meet these people in person on the grounds that she wanted to raise the baby with peace of mind, but she did not refuse the kindness of others, and gave a return gift after accepting the gift. It is worth mentioning that the eldest lady of the Lu family came to visit and failed to see Zhihua, and some people with a heart faintly saw the attitude of the princess towards her mother's family, and tentatively suppressed Lu Zhenyuan several times. Lu Yan was unwilling to plead with his sister for him, and Lu Zhenyuan, who regretted it, could only give up his old face and personally come to the door for help. Although he didn't get to see his "unwell" daughter, he brought back a generous return gift from the Weiguo Mansion. Seeing this, the political enemies who were about to move finally stopped, and Lu Zhenyuan didn't dare to have any other thoughts from then on, and made up his mind to firmly hold on to the big tree of the Weiguo Mansion. (To be continued.) )