At the same time, in the Jokhang Palace, the daughter of He Guifei's sister, Xu Yan, who had just passed away, was also ushered in.

When Xiao Cong returned from studying at Mrs. Lu, He Guifei was taking Xu Yan on the way to meet Queen Bo, almost before and after, and Xiao Cong had just finished saluting his mother when he heard He Guifei's contrived voice: "Your Royal Highness, the concubine has come to greet you." ”

Before the words fell, someone had already entered, followed by a little girl of five or six years old.

Although Xiao Cong felt a little disgusted, he still behaved, folded his hands, tucked them into his sleeves, and stood aside.

I saw that she took the little girl and bowed to Queen Bo, and said, "Concubine please Queen Niang'an." ”

Queen Bo helped her and said, "Flatten." ”

After He Guifei got up, Xiao Cong arched his hand at her and said, "Concubine Guifei is fine." She hurriedly returned the salute and said, "Alas, the East Palace is also there." ”

At this time, Bo Hou looked at the little girl and asked, "This is Grandma, right?" ”

"Exactly." He Guifei said, turned to Xu Yan and said, "Ah Yan, quickly greet Her Royal Highness the Queen and Her Royal Highness the Crown Prince." ”

When the little girl heard this, she remembered her aunt's teachings before, and bowed again: "Courtier, Xu Yan, please be safe with Her Royal Highness the Queen and Her Royal Highness the Prince, and may the two Highnesses be extremely happy." ”

When Queen Bo heard this, she smiled slightly and said, "Good boy, get up quickly." Saying that, he glanced at the female official beside him, and the female official came over to help Xu Yan up and led her to her, and Queen Bo took her hand and said softly: "Your mother's matter, your aunt told this palace before, good boy, don't be afraid, in the future, this palace will be your home, this palace is your mother, if you need anything, what grievances you have suffered, just come and tell this palace." Seeing that her eyes were suddenly full of tears, she diverted the topic from He Guifei again: "I see, this girl is very knowledgeable." ”

He Guifei hurriedly smiled and said: "Niangniang is raised, my sister taught her to read a few books indiscriminately, but she couldn't get on the stage. ”

Queen Bo smiled again, turned her head to Xiao Cong and said, "Chengze, come here." ”

Xiao Cong was originally in the fugue, but when he heard his mother calling him, he had to step forward and bow down and say, "Mother." ”

Queen Bo said: "In the future, this sister, my mother will entrust you to take care of it." ”

Xiao Cong was stunned when he heard this, but he had to say for a long time: "Son, take the order." But in my heart, I thought, don't look at this girl's young age, I'm afraid that she is a person who is like her aunt and full of scheming.

There are many children in the palace, except for the prince and the emperor, the rest of the people are either from the clan or the minister, which one is very proud, and which one has a bad temper, Xu Yan first entered the palace, even if it is He Guifei standing behind her, it is inevitable that someone will come to find her shortcomings, and bully her openly and secretly, Xiao Cong is worried about Queen Bo's words, so she always protects her, and from time to time uses the identity of the East Palace to suppress them, but Xu Yan always tells him in no one's place: "Your Royal Highness is the prince of the country, you should be reserved, don't worry about them in general, Lost identity. After that, she was still sincere and gentle as water, which made Xiao Cong have a lot of changes in her opinion, and she was secretly surprised in her heart, they all came from the same family, why is He Guifei such a person, but she is so different.

After a long time, those children were moved by her consistent gentleness and sincerity, and gradually stopped bothering her, but offered her as a goddess, after all, a beautiful and gentle woman like her is really rare in the palace, and if you take it seriously, it seems that there is only Queen Bo.

In fact, when Xu Yan first saw Queen Bo, she was also thinking, "Huainan Lingyi is pretty, Mrs. Wei in Shuzhong", the rumors are really good, she originally felt that her aunt was already considered a national beauty, but until she saw Queen Bo Lingyi, she understood what it means to be a country and a city, and Lingyi has a gentle and peaceful temperament, and has always had the grace and generosity of the queen's respect, which makes people feel so beautiful that they dare not look at it directly. And Xiao Cong, from appearance to temperament, not only inherited all the advantages of his mother, but also integrated the emperor's heroism and calm introverted, when Xu Yan entered the palace, he was only nine years old, and he could already see the dragon and phoenix.

After getting along, compared with his own aunt He Guifei, Xu Yan was closer to Bo Hou's mother and son, and Xiao Cong listened to Mrs. Lu every day, and she must first take her to Bo Hou's place to faint, and then go back to the East Palace to sleep.

But said that on this day, Xiao Cong didn't know what to displease the emperor, and after being reprimanded, he went back to the East Palace first, and was sulking in the study, but he heard Xu Yan outside: "Hello Gonggong Gao, has Your Highness had dinner?" ”

"Not yet," Gao Qinian pointed to the closed door and replied in a low voice, "Aren't you still locking yourself inside?" ”

When Xu Yan heard this, she smiled slightly, raised her hand and knocked on the door, "Your Highness, can Ah Yan come in?" ”

Xiao Cong had no choice but to say, "Come in." "For her, few people can bear to refuse.

Xu Yan went in to see that he was sitting in front of the bookcase with his head down, his hands were full of ink, the pen was thrown on the ground, and there were waste paper balls around him, so he chuckled and put the vermilion lacquer food box in his hand aside, and drew some water, moistened the silk towel, and wiped his hands carefully with him, before saying, "Is Your Highness hungry?" The courtiers have cooked some porridge, would Your Highness be willing to eat some? ”

Xiao Cong sat by himself for a while, and listened to her soft words, and most of the resentment in his heart dissipated, so he nodded and said, "You don't say that I don't think I feel it, but I'm really hungry at this time." ”

Xu Yan smiled, opened the food box on the side, took out a bowl of hot porridge and two plates of side dishes from it, and gently blew the porridge cold before handing it to Xiao Cong.

Xiao Cong's hunger was soothed by the hot porridge, and the whole person settled down, Xu Yan saw that he had eaten, and returned to his former peace, so he put his mind at ease, cleaned up the dishes, and said: "It's not early, Your Highness is going to calm Her Royal Highness the Queen?" ”

Xiao Cong smiled and nodded, the two of them went to the middle palace hand in hand, and after seeing Bo Hou, they saluted, and the three of them gossiped for a while, Xu Yan said goodbye first, and Bo Hou let Xiao Cong sit beside her, took his hand and said, "Your father has just come." ”

When Xiao Cong heard this, he remembered the reprimand he had received during the day, his face turned red, he bowed his head and said silently, and then he said: "Father reprimanded you because he has high expectations for you, so don't be resentful." ”

"No, the mother, the son did not resent the father, the son was angry with himself, felt that he was too unscrupulous, such a simple thing, and made mistakes again and again."

Bo Hou smiled, gently stroked the broken hair of his sideburns and said, "Silly boy, then someone is born to know everything, who doesn't grow up little by little?" Besides, your mother is very satisfied that you are an eleven or twelve-year-old child like this, as long as you remember the lesson this time and not make the same mistake next time. ”

Xiao Cong originally thought that he would have to be criticized by his mother, but he didn't want her to say such a thing, so he felt that his heart was swollen with something, and his eyes were red, and he didn't care what a man said about a man or not, he only leaned his head on his thin hind legs, called "mother", and stopped talking.

Bo Hou was still smiling, gently stroking his back with her hand, and after a long time, she sighed and said, "Chengze, I'll tell you something... Your father just came to say that your little aunt... Dystocia... It's gone..."

When Xiao Cong heard this, he sat up straight in shock, and looked at Bo for a long time, and tears really fell.

Seeing this, Bo Hou also had red eyes, hugged him into his arms, and continued: "Since the death of your uncle in the first battle of Changping, your aunt has been grief-stricken, if it weren't for the Lingxi and the flesh and blood in the abdomen, I don't know how many times she died, probably because she was always depressed, and finally she would have a difficult birth, one corpse and two lives, she was relieved, but she was pitiful Lingxi, less than five years old, she lost her slumber, your father's meaning, wait for your aunt's first seven, and take her to the palace for easy care." In the future, when she is older, she will be given a county again, and then she will go to the fiefdom at that time, and it will be okay. ”

Xiao Cong listened to Bo Hou's words, clenched his fists tightly, and gritted his teeth: "Uncle's revenge, sooner or later, I will find the Oriya revenge, and I will also get back those northern barbarians who owe us." ”

Song Lingxi first entered the court, and her experience was similar to Xu Yan, but she didn't have a good temper like Xu Yan, she belonged to the type where you were more horizontal than you, others were slightly offended, she didn't say much, and started directly, those children had never seen such a thing, plus there was the maintenance of the East Palace, so naturally they didn't dare to provoke her.

As a rule, the East Palace naturally has to go to the Lan Room of the Chongxun Hall every day to be taught by Mrs. Lu himself, and the rest of the children also need to go to the side hall to listen to Mr. Lecture.

However, after dispersing school that day, Xiao Ling didn't know which tendon was wrong, and was instigated by Yuling to provoke again. At that time, Lingxi was making up the manuscript that her husband had instructed her to hand in, and Xiao Ling deliberately passed by her desk with a box full of ink, and pretended to stumble again, and the box of ink stained the manuscript paper she was writing. Lingxi was stunned for a moment, and didn't talk nonsense, picked up the small inkstone on the table and smashed it towards Xiao Ling, the Xiao Ling was smashed by her on the spot and her head was bleeding, covering her head and crying wolf howl, Yu Ling saw it on the side, and exclaimed: "It's against you Song Lingxi, you dare to smash the three princes like this." ”

Lingxi sneered: "If people don't offend me, I won't offend people, this is what he asked for." ”

Xiao Jue heard this and said angrily: "What's wrong with you? What are you. ”

"And what are you? A concubine is born, and he really thinks of himself as a character? ”

"You... You..."

"What's wrong with me? At least I'm not as shameless as you, if someone else takes a word called Chengze, you have to follow and call Chengxi, do you really think that this way can be compared with Donggong? Do you want me to remind you again? The only true lords in this palace are His Majesty and the two Highnesses. ”

Xiao Xuan was extremely angry, and he stepped forward to beat her, but don't look at Lingxi's young age, but he never lost a fight, so he also scuffled with him, Xu Yan was persuading hard from the beginning, but it didn't work, and now seeing that they were fighting together, they hurriedly came forward to pull the fight, and a few more daring children saw it, so they also came forward to work together to separate the two, that Xiao Xuan saw that Lingxi was still scolding and scolding in his mouth, and he was about to kick her when he raised his foot, Xu Yan was busy using her body to protect her, but he was also kicked by him firmly, and Lingxi didn't do it anymore, and pushed Xu Yan aside, Come and continue the scuffle with him.

Someone had already gone to the Lan Room to report Xiao Cong, who was reading a book alone, and when he arrived at this time, he saw this scene, his face was blue with anger, he came over and tore the two apart, raised his foot and gave Xiao Xuan twice, and said angrily: "Xiao Chengxi, you really have grown up, and you can fight with two little girls." With that, he turned around and checked on Lingxi and Xu Yan.

Xiao Ling heard the word "Chengxi", remembered the ridicule of Lingxi Fangcai, and couldn't help but be angry from his heart, evil to the side of the guts, and pounced on Xiao Cong with his teeth and claws, Xiao Cong was defenseless, and he fell to the ground, and the two of them also scuffled together, but he was older after all, and he pressed Xiao Ling to the ground in three or two strokes and couldn't move, and at this time, he listened to the outside and inner servants preaching: "Your Majesty has arrived."

When Xiao Cong heard this, he let go of his hand and stood up, but unexpectedly, Xiao Ling covered his head and grabbed in front of the emperor who had just come in, and cried with a handful of snot and tears: "Father, father wants to be the master of the son, they join forces to bully the son." ”

When the emperor saw that his head was bleeding and tearful, he was a little distressed, and said in a deep voice: "What's the matter? ”

In fact, someone had already reported to him before, but he didn't expect Xiao Jue to be so seriously injured, and what he didn't expect was that his favorite prince was also involved, so he was very angry. At this time, I heard two voices outside: "Her Royal Highness the Queen has arrived" and "The concubine has arrived". Before the words fell, He Guifei had already rushed in, and Bo Lingyi followed closely.

As soon as Xiao Ling saw He Guifei, she came over and threw herself into her arms, pointed at Xiao Cong and continued to cry: "Mother, my brother beat me. As soon as Concubine He Guifei saw Xiao Jue's appearance, she hugged him and cried in front of the emperor: "Your Majesty, you have to be the master of Xuan'er, Your Majesty." ”

The emperor was annoyed, and he was annoyed by her crying, so he came over and kicked Xiao Cong to the ground with his foot, and said angrily: "Bastard, you have grown up, haven't you?" ”

When Ling Yi saw it, he hurriedly helped him up, knelt beside him and said, "Your Majesty is angry." ”

Xiao Cong saw that his father was really angry, and he also implicated his mother, so he didn't dare to defend for a while, so he had to kneel on the ground, clenching his fists and saying nothing.

Seeing this, Lingxi hurriedly hugged the emperor's thigh and cried: "Uncle, it's not like this, it's none of my brother's business. Then he told the whole story, then He Guifei listened, her face was red and white for a while, but she didn't let go, pulled the emperor's sleeve and cried: "Listen to what she said, she is simply lying, reversing black and white, they just joined forces to bully our mother and son, Your Majesty wants to call the shots for us." ”

Lingxi listened, pulled Xu Yan over and said, "The concubine said that I am in a group with the East Palace, and Ah Yan is your niece, so it is not ours, right?" He said to Ah Yan: "Ah Yan, you say, whether I lied or not." ”

Xu Yan looked at her and then at the concubine, sighed, knelt on the ground, and said with difficulty: "Your Majesty, the truth is indeed as Lingxi said." ”

When the emperor heard this, he sneered, and as soon as he flicked his sleeves, He Guifei was taken to the ground, only to see him come over and help Ling Yi up first, and then said to Xiao Cong: "You have been wronged today, get up." Xiao Cong hurriedly stood up, bowed down and said, "The minister doesn't dare." ”

At this time, He Guifei suddenly sat up straight, slapped Xiao Ling with her backhand, and said hatefully: "It's against you, you dare to do something to the East Palace." No, I don't have a good job. ”

Everyone was stunned, and said in their hearts that this He Guifei was too exquisite, and turning her face was faster than turning a book.

When the emperor saw it, he sneered and said, "It's really unscrupulous, you can still be beaten like this with a little girl." As he spoke, he took Ling Yi and brushed his sleeves away, and said as he walked: "Send a medical officer to show him, those who have done it today, except for the East Palace, will go to Mrs. Lu tomorrow to get a precept ruler first." ”

After they left, He Guifei led Xiao Ling out, and when she passed by Xu Yan's side, she stopped and snorted coldly and said through gritted teeth: "Don't leave yet?" Do you really think you are a person from the East Palace? Xu Yan glanced at Xiao Cong helplessly and followed He Guifei away.

After this incident, everyone said that Song Lingxi was really Heng, and no one dared to bully her anymore, and then she had another autumn attack, she actually hunted a roe deer alone at a young age, and they all stayed away from her.

Speaking of which, in fact, this is the case, not long after she hit Xiao Ling, the long-prepared autumn season began, how could she not make up for this kind of excitement, so she followed Xiao Cong all day long, riding a horse through the forest, that day was also a coincidence, she herself ran away for a while because of chasing a hare, and when she saw the opportunity to shoot with a bow, she saw a shadow flashing in the bushes on the side, it was clearly a roe deer, so the arrow ran off a bit, only hit the rabbit's leg, but she didn't care about the rabbit at this time, and pulled out a few feather arrows one after another, shooting indiscriminately in the direction of the roe deerWhen Xiao Cong found her, she was proudly carrying a hare, sitting quietly next to the roe deer that couldn't move, waiting for him. Xiao Cong stepped forward to check it out, and said with a smile: "It's really a blind cat that hit a dead mouse, such a roe deer that is so old that he can't run, was actually met by you." ”

Lingxi snorted and said angrily, "Brother, this is naked jealousy. ”

Xiao Cong laughed twice and said: "Yes, yes, I am jealous of you, you can play chess at the age of seven, and you can hunt roe deer at the age of seven, which is really amazing." After laughing, he said, "But this roe deer is indeed too old, it must not be delicious, take it back and give it to them, we will roast the rabbit in your hand in a while." ”

Lingxi listened and shouted: "That's not good, I'm going to give this rabbit to Ah Yan." When he returned to the camp and saw Xu Yan, he excitedly handed her the hare in his hand and said, "Come on, come on, I'll add you food tonight." ”

Xu Yan took the rabbit and said, "Oh, what a poor rabbit." Saying that, he hugged it and looked at it: "This rabbit is so cute, why do you want to eat it, besides, I have been a vegetarian since the beginning of the year, it is better to heal the rabbit's wound and let it go." ”

Lingxi was dumbfounded when she heard this, but seeing that she was serious, she had to nod and say, "Whatever you want, I'll give it to you anyway." ”

Xiao Cong listened to it on the side, and her heart moved, thinking that Empress Bo had been sick since the end of the year, and she had taken a lot of decoctions and medicines intermittently, but she did not get better, and she suddenly said that she was a vegetarian, presumably for her mother. In her heart, she was both worried and moved, so she took her hand and said, "Grandma, thank you." It's been hard for you to help me take care of my mother these days. ”

Xu Yan said shyly: "Your Highness is serious, it is a blessing for a courtier to be able to serve Her Royal Highness the Queen." As he spoke, he was about to withdraw his hand, but Xiao Cong didn't let go, and pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, Xu Yan listened to his pounding heartbeat, and his palms were also sweaty, and he fell on his chest and murmured: "Your Highness..."

But said that on this day, Xu Yan performed the ceremony, and Ling Yi called her to the bed, took off the golden finger in her hand, put it in her palm and said: "Ah Yan, over the years, I have looked at you and Cheng Ze, and I am very happy in my heart, but unfortunately, I am leaving... Will you take care of him for me in the future? ”

Xu Yan lowered her head, blushed, held the finger with both hands, and instinctively refused: "Don't be discouraged, your body will get better soon, as for this, the courtiers dare not bear it." ”

Seeing this, Ling Yi closed her hand and said with a smile: "Ah Yan, you also know that since Cheng Ze was born, everyone has placed high hopes on him, although he never mentions it to us, but the pressure in his heart can actually be imagined... But this is also something that can't be helped, who let him be born in the emperor's family. I only hope that after I leave, he will still have someone by his side who knows hot and cold to accompany him for the rest of his life and comfort his heartache. Grandma, can you promise me? ”

When Xu Yan heard this, she raised her head to meet Shang Lingyi's gaze, but saw that there was endless tenderness and endless sadness in it, and she didn't know what to say for a while, so she had to fold her hands, hold the finger tightly, stick it to her heart, and nod solemnly.