Chapter 356 Crown Princess 20
When Shi Wenbing heard the voice, he subconsciously looked up and saw his second daughter rushing in hurriedly. Her eyes were wide open, and the next moment, she grabbed his sleeve.
Shi Jingwan couldn't believe it: "Father, you said that Li Jiashi is dead?!"
Shi Jingwan didn't quite dare to believe it. After all, in her previous life, when she was in Yuqing Palace, her biggest enemy could be said to be Li Jia. Li Jia was the wife of a prince, and in order to show her virtue, she had to endure many things.
Unexpectedly, Li Jia became more and more excessive, and later, she couldn't control her anymore. Now, she is dead?
In her opinion, Li Jia was difficult to deal with. After all, she had a lot of seniority. Not only was she always sarcastic to her, but the worst thing was that because she had not gotten pregnant, Li Jia would often come to block her with Prince Hongxi in her arms.
Later, yes, later she finally gave birth to a daughter in August of the thirty-sixth year. But because it was only a daughter, not long after, the Emperor bestowed two particularly troublesome concubines on the Eastern Palace - Cheng Jia and Xiao Li Jia.
In the Eastern Palace, the youngest prince has always been the only son of the crown prince, and Li Jia has always been difficult to shake.
Thinking back to that time now, Shi Jingwan felt suffocated, but now she knew that the prince would fall in the future, and she was glad that she did not give birth to a son. After all, in her previous life, Li Jia, who had a son, died, but she was alive.
"Jingwan, keep your voice down!"
Shi Wenbing felt that his daughter was in a bad mood, so he patted her on the shoulder and lowered his voice: "Although Li Jia was demoted to a princess by the emperor before her death, she was still a member of the Eastern Palace. You must not mention her outside, and don't let anyone catch her and cause trouble for your sister."
Shi Jingwan was stunned, her finger bones turned white, and her throat was very dry: "I was actually... demoted to a princess?"
The person who had been suffocating her was not only demoted but also collapsed less than two months after her sister entered the palace.
Shi Wenbing stroked his beard and said, "Your sister is pregnant now, so even if I take up the post, I will feel more at ease. If she can give birth to a legitimate son, I won't have to worry about it anymore."
The Crown Princess gave birth to a legitimate son, so what does Prince Hongxi mean to him? What's more, he has a criminal mother.
Shi Jingwan's brain was buzzing, and she muttered to herself: "Yes, my sister is very powerful..."
“She has always been amazing.”
Not only did she get pregnant more than a year earlier than her, she also dealt with Li Jia.
Shi Jingwan was thinking, if in her previous life, she had not been blinded by greed and entered the Eastern Palace, would the Guaerjia family have ended up like that?
Everything in my previous life was my fault. I was the one who blocked my family's way.
By the way, before getting married, she told her sister about her past life, saying that the prince would be deposed, and the reasons why the emperor issued the imperial decree to depose the prince. According to the time, next year, the prince will leave a knot in the emperor's heart that will last for more than ten years, and this will be the beginning of the dethronement of the prince.
What will my sister do? Can she turn the tide?
If my sister gave birth to a legitimate son, it would be impossible for the Guaerjia clan to stay out of it.
Shi Wenbing smiled and said, "If your sister is doing well, then father must do well, too. From now on, we will all be the backers of the Crown Princess and the young prince, and we must not let anyone bully them."
"As the saying goes, when one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer. This is the truth. Your sister is well, so are we. When we are well, we can give back to your sister."
"Jingwan, the Emperor will pay more attention to your future marriage. You will soon become an aunt, and you will be a grown-up girl!"
Shi Jingwan was stunned, and her brain seemed to be hit by something at this moment. She found that she seemed to be wrong, extremely wrong.
And her aunt? She instantly thought of her daughter who died young in her previous life. She looked at her father who was full of energy in front of her, her mind was in a mess, and the failure of the prince in her previous life was still in front of her. But if her father didn't die and her sister had a legitimate son, would everything be different?
She was confused: "Father, what do you think of... the Fourth Prince?"
"Fourth Prince?" Shi Wenbing was at a loss. He really had no impression of him. He only said officially, "He is a royal noble, so he is naturally different."
"Father, the prince will really ascend to the throne in the future..."
"Jingwan!"
Shi Jingwan was brought back to her senses by the yelling. Thinking about what she almost said just now, she broke out in a cold sweat on her back.
"What do you want to see me about?" Shi Wenbing changed the subject but did not dwell on what she had said before.
Shi Jingwan calmed down and said, "Father, I'm very interested in some rare seeds recently and want to buy some, but it's hard for me to buy them, so I came here to tell you."
"Yes, Father knows. I'll send it to you when I find it." Shi Wenbing paused: "Jingwan, you are the Crown Princess's sister, you must be careful about what you say."
"My daughter knows."
Shi Jingwan bowed and left.
But suddenly, an urgent thought came to her mind: if her sister gave birth to a legitimate son, why should she go so far away?
It is obvious which one is more important: the Crown Princess's biological sister, the future Queen's biological sister, or the new Emperor's benefactor.
Why not, a fierce look flashed across her eyes, why not take advantage of the future new emperor's illness to add fuel to the fire and nip the danger in the bud? She touched the bracelet, she now has the confidence to do so.
But it is only the 34th year of Kangxi's reign. It is still early and there is no rush. Let's first see what her sister does and see if the prince can always be the prince. If the prince is still deposed, their family still has a way out.
The collapse of her family in her previous life has always been a hidden pain in Shi Jingwan's heart.
-
The Imperial Palace, Yuqing Palace, where Prince Hongxi lived.
Nanny Cui held the little prince in her arms and fed him milk, but the little prince, who used to drink milk guzzlingly, had been very weak since he was strangled by Princess Li last night. Although he had seen the imperial physician, he always felt as if he would not live long.
"The young prince didn't drink much?" Nanny Zhao came over with an unpleasant look on her face.
Aunt Cui nodded with a worried look on her face: "Yes, and the little prince's crying was very weak, I think he has a sore throat."
As she spoke, Madam Cui could not help but complain in panic: "Madam Zhao, my eyelids have been twitching. I have a bad feeling. What do you think Li Gege is thinking? She is about to die, but she wants to drag the little prince to die with her. If something happens to the little prince, what will we, his personal servants, do?"
Nanny Zhao was silent.
Aunt Cui sighed: "You were not here yesterday, so I didn't know what happened. I am still scared."
"Why not..." Nanny Zhao finally spoke: "Let's go and ask the Crown Princess for help."
"The Crown Princess is pregnant now, and the palace attaches great importance to her. She is also sick, so how can she take care of the little prince? Moreover, the Crown Princess and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have said before that they will not raise the little prince. The Crown Princess doesn't even give His Royal Highness the face, so how can she give it to us? Now the little prince is obviously a hot potato, who would take it?"
The two of them fell silent as they talked. This didn't work, that didn't work. So what should they do?
-
Splendid Residence.
In the afternoon, the prince came over after court session.
"Is the Crown Princess okay? Are you feeling unwell?"
Sheng Huan shook her head: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I took the medicine and everything is fine."
"You are pregnant now, so you need to take good care of yourself. If you need anything, just tell me."
"I understand. Thank you, Your Highness."
The prince looked at Sheng Huan, and he discovered that although the Crown Princess treated him the same as before, he always felt that she seemed to have become a little cold.
Is it his imagination?
Facts have proved that it was not the prince's illusion. In the next three days, Sheng Huan did what she was supposed to do. She did not bother to look for him at all, and she did not pay any attention to Prince Hongxi at all. Anyway, it was none of her business since he had been sent away.
No one can kidnap her, not even the prince.
The prince didn't know what was wrong with him. The more Sheng Huan ignored him, the more excited he became. In the past few days, he went to Jinxiu Residence frequently, which puzzled the other women who were watching in the backyard.
On this day, the prince was on leave and arrived at Jinxiu Residence at noon.
As soon as he came in, he didn't say anything and didn't ask anyone to inform him. Then, he saw the woman in the orange palace dress bending over the desk, painting with an extremely serious look on her face.
The elegance of his brushstrokes shines with confidence.
Serious people are always the most beautiful at any time. When the prince first came in and saw this scene, he had to admit that he was indeed amazed at that moment.
He walked towards her slowly, and the woman seemed to notice something and looked up.
The carelessness revealed in her gentleness made the prince think he had seen it wrong.
"What is the Crown Princess painting?"
Sheng Huan quickly retracted her gaze: "I had nothing to do, so I saw that the immortelle outside the window was blooming beautifully, so I painted it."
The prince had already seen the picture of immortelle on the table, and at the first glance, his heart seemed to tremble.
This painting is full of elegance and style, and it is the style of a great artist.
The blooming immortelle is lifelike, with vigorous vitality. At first glance, all the emotions are revealed, showing the painter's pattern and breadth of mind. It is obvious that this painting was made by an extremely free and easy-going person.
The prince pinched the painting handle, his eyes full of amazement.
"This painting of the Crown Princess is elegant yet proud, and proud yet free and unrestrained. It is a very good painting."
The Crown Princess could actually paint? And she painted so well. He seemed to have discovered a treasure. Paintings can reveal one's heart. This painting clearly showed a very different temperament from that of the Crown Princess.
He looked at Sheng Huan in amazement. Could there be something else about the Crown Princess's true character?
Sheng Huan looked at the prince in surprise, as if he didn't expect that he understood. He turned the brush in his hand in a circle and finally treated him better:
"Your Highness has good eyesight."
"The Crown Princess likes literati paintings?"
The prince was admiring the painting, but his eyes unconsciously turned back to look at Sheng Huan.
No one knew that the crown prince, who was high and mighty and would not easily express his preferences, actually liked literati paintings very much.
Literati paintings emphasize the expression of the painter's personal emotions and inner world. Although Yinreng was the crown prince, he was lonely at the top and he often felt pressured. But sometimes, there were some things he could not say even to the emperor father who loved him the most, because the emperor father was not only his emperor father. What's more, after his brothers grew up and became successful, he, the crown prince, could only be more perfect and could not make any mistakes.
Because everyone was staring at him, even his royal father.
Therefore, he likes to use literati paintings to express his emotions and pressure, and seek inner peace and tranquility.