Chapter 21
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Previously, when Ling Rui visited Consort Mei’s palace with his sixth brother, she had promised to fulfill one of his wishes in exchange for him agreeing to do something for her.
He had asked to go out and play with his fifth sister and sixth brother.
Later, he indeed went out to play.
“Little Seven, do you still keep your word?” Consort Mei asked.
Ling Rui nodded and obediently said, “Yes, I keep my word.”
He always kept his word; if he said he wouldn’t sleep when talking to Noble Consort Yi before bed, he wouldn’t sleep.
Not even when Noble Consort Yi spanked him did it change his mind.
“Good, it’s important to keep your word.”
In front of everyone, Consort Mei rose from her chair, knelt before Emperor Ling, and humbly requested, “Your Majesty, since entering the palace, I have not had the fortune of becoming a mother. Seeing Little Seven brings me great joy. I earnestly ask Your Majesty to allow me to raise Little Seven.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Rui, sitting in Noble Consort Yi’s lap, was stunned.
He instinctively looked at Consort Mei and said, “Little Seven has a Niang Niang.”
He meant that he was already being raised by Noble Consort Yi.
Consort Mei remained silent, keeping her head bowed, waiting for the Emperor’s response.
The previously lively Fenghua Palace fell into an instant silence. Neither the Empress nor the other consorts said a word, pretending to sip their tea.
Noble Consort Yi, caught off guard by this unexpected request, took a few seconds to react.
When she did, her delicate face turned icy cold. “Little Seven is still sitting in my lap, and Consort Mei wants to take him away already?”
If the Emperor had not been present, Noble Consort Yi might have already slapped her.
She restrained herself just enough to avoid physical action and said coldly, “When Little Seven had no one to care for him, Consort Mei, I didn’t see you kindly taking him in. Now that I’ve finally managed to put some meat on his bones, you come to take him away.”
“What, does Consort Mei think I am so accommodating that you can just take whatever you want?”
Noble Consort Yi was genuinely angry.
Her expression and tone were both frosty.
Emperor Ling, sitting at the head of the room, looked down at Consort Mei with his deep, inscrutable eyes. He did not look at Noble Consort Yi but kept his gaze on Consort Mei.
After a moment, he turned his face and asked Ling Rui, “Little Seven, do you want Consort Mei to be your royal mother?”
Ling Rui tightly held the hand of Noble Consort Yi, about to speak, when he saw the glance from Consort Mei, reminding him to keep his word.
“I, I—”
Ling Rui’s face turned red with urgency. Last time, when he promised Consort Mei, Sixth Brother clearly said that Consort Mei wouldn’t make things difficult for people.
At this moment, Ling Rui felt like he wasn’t being pressured; he was being deliberately challenged!
“I want Niang Niang.”
His little face flushed, tears shimmering in his bright black eyes. He pressed tightly against Noble Consort Yi, clearly afraid of being taken away from her.
“Your Majesty.”
As there was still no decision about Little Seven’s placement, Noble Consort Yi also understood the Emperor’s intentions. Holding the child in her arms, she rose from her seat. The next moment, in front of everyone, she knelt down.
The Noble Consort Yi, who always carried herself with pride, now lowered her head, her tone showing weakness, “Consort Mei has no child, and I also have no child. Before entering the palace, I told you that I wanted a child in the future.”
As she spoke, the Emperor’s eyes finally moved slightly.
It seemed like he remembered that when he first met Noble Consort Yi, it was outside the palace.
The carefree and free-spirited Murong Yi, entered the deep palace for him.
“Your Majesty, I beg you, let Little Seven stay with me in my palace.”
After Noble Consort Yi’s words fell, she leaned forward and bowed to the Emperor.
Such a grand gesture, such a plea, the Emperor had never seen before.
His thin lips moved, and his gaze remained fixed on the person on the ground.
“Yi Er.”
Noble Consort Yi had done all this, and the Emperor couldn’t remain indifferent. Her words reminded the Emperor of the past, and for a moment, a brief sense of guilt flashed through his heart.
“Get up.” He said.
Noble Consort Yi maintained her kneeling posture, refusing to rise or lift her head. She only repeated her plea, “I beg Your Majesty to grant my request.”
Just now, Ling Rui, who had been held by Noble Consort Yi, was now placed on the ground, and saw Noble Consort Yi kneel down. His little face was confused, and he knelt down too.
He didn’t quite understand what was going on, but that didn’t stop him from kneeling with Noble Consort Yi.
One big and one small body knelt together, both in the same pleading posture.
The Emperor, who had postponed the matter of upbringing until now, glanced at the empress, Consort De, and Consort Shu.
When they felt his gaze, they all lowered their heads.
Before Noble Consort Yi knelt down, perhaps they could have made a move like Consort Mei to compete with Noble Consort Yi for Little Seven.
In their palaces, they all had princes and princesses, so raising one more would not have been difficult.
But Noble Consort Yi had knelt down.
Having spent many years in the harem, they knew Noble Consort Yi’s temperament very well.
Although Noble Consort Yi was arrogant, if she were just offended in a normal way, it would only lead to a scene. But if she were truly angered, even the empress wouldn’t be able to stop her.
They wanted to please the Emperor, but the prerequisite for pleasing the Emperor was that they could protect themselves!
“Niang Niang, it hurts.”
Ling Rui didn’t understand the disputes between the adults, he only knew that it would hurt if Noble Consort’s forehead hit the ground.
He reached out his little hand, wanting Noble Consort to move her forehead away.
Seeing this scene, the Emperor closed his eyes and finally made a decision on the matter.
“Little Seven, you choose for yourself. Whoever you want as your mother, I will allow it.”
Now he knew things couldn’t be changed, so he decided to adopt a Fatherly approach.
Given the chance to choose, Ling Rui hardly hesitated.
He stuck to Noble Consort Yi and said, “I want Niang Niang.”
“Alright.”
The Emperor agreed, “From now on, Noble Consort Yi will be your royal mother. You can rest assured living in the Fenghua Palace.”
Ling Rui nodded.
After nodding, he continued to reach out his small hand to pull Noble Consort Yi.
“Let’s all disperse now. Little Seven isn’t feeling well and needs to rest.”
The Emperor rose as he spoke, motioning for everyone to leave.
Consort Mei, who had been kneeling for half a day, was also helped up by Consort Shu and walked out together.
The people soon left the room.
The Emperor walked up to Noble Consort Yi, personally helping her up from the ground and making her lift her head.
“Yi Er, get up.”
“Niang Niang, get up!”
The Emperor’s tender words were interrupted by Ling Rui’s duet beside him.
He turned his face slightly, glanced at the little guy, and then had him taken away by someone.
Ling Rui: “…”
When Ling Rui was carried away by Ji Yan, he kicked his little short legs in protest.
He also wanted to stay and talk to the Noble Consort.
“Seventh Prince, be good. Let this servant take you to bed.”
Ji Yan saw that the Emperor wanted to spend time alone with their Niang Niang, so she quickly carried Ling Rui away.
When Ling Rui was carried away, the Emperor cleared his throat and directly lifted Noble Consort Yi from the ground.
“Yi Er, I originally intended to have someone else raise Little Seven, so that it wouldn’t affect anything when you have children in the future.”
“I just want Little Seven.”
“Alright, alright, it’s my oversight.” The Emperor changed his tone, holding Noble Consort Yi’s shoulder and soothing her in a gentle tone, “If you want Little Seven, then let him be with you.”
“I’ll be with you too.”
The Emperor had a charming appearance, and his sweet words were even more enticing.
As he embraced Noble Consort Yi, they talked about the past, and in no time, Noble Consort Yi was laughing.
“Yi Er, don’t kneel to me like that again next time.”
The Emperor kissed her forehead and whispered, “When you kneel like that, I lose all my reason.”
Noble Consort Yi nestled in his arms, listening to him, couldn’t help but raise her face and ask him, “Your Majesty, am I important in your heart?”
“What do you think?”
The Emperor held her tightly in his arms, as gentle as ever: “Yi Er, I’ve said it before, when I first saw you, I felt that you were different from all other women.”
“My feelings for you have never changed.”
The two adults were deeply engrossed in each other, while the little child laid in bed, being forcibly coaxed to sleep by Ji Yan.
“Yan Yan, I don’t want to sleep.”
Ling Rui’s small hand grabbed the blanket, looking at Ji Yan with pleading eyes.
Ji Yan gently but firmly replied, “No, you want to sleep.”
At this time, with the Emperor and the Noble Consort being intimate, it wouldn’t be good if the little prince didn’t sleep.
Under Ji Yan’s gaze, eventually Ling Rui was made sleepy by her insistence.
For two consecutive days.
The Emperor had been visiting the Fenghua Palace frequently. Initially, Ling Rui enjoyed sticking to his Royal Father, but gradually, he didn’t seem as happy to see the Emperor.
With the Emperor around, the Noble Consort couldn’t accompany him properly.
However, thanks to the Emperor’s recent favor towards Noble Consort Yi, it became easier for Murong Xu to enter the palace.
Murong Xu’s reason for entering the palace was to find the Eldest Prince, but he didn’t have much of a relationship with the Eldest Prince beforehand.
As the Eldest Prince was born of the empress, and the empress had some conflicts with Noble Consort Yi in the past, Murong Xu’s relationship with the Eldest Prince was also distant.
This time, when Murong Xu came to find Ling Chen, his attitude was noticeably warmer than before: “Your Highness, good morning.”
Seeing Murong Xu smiling, Ling Chen, feeling uncomfortable, fell silent.
Murong Xu came closer and tried to be friendly with him, “I heard you’re resting today. Do you want to go out with me? Of course, I heard that Ling Chen is very caring and loving towards his younger brother. If you bring your brother along, I don’t mind.”
Ling Chen: “….”
Ling Chen finally understood his meaning.
The two looked at each other, and finally, Ling Chen twitched his mouth and said, “Alright, I’ll bring Ling Yi along.”
Ling Yi was the Third Prince, and also Ling Chen’s biological younger brother.
Ling Yi was gentle and smiling, but his health had always been fragile, requiring medication year-round.
Seeing him about to go and bring Ling Yi, Murong Xu grabbed his arm and compromised, “Your Highness, please, bring Little Seven along.”
He missed Little Seven, and there was also a little fierce beast at home who missed Little Seven.
At Murong Xu’s request, Ling Chen finally brought Ling Rui out.
When he brought Ling Rui out, the Emperor was still in the Fenghua Palace.
The Emperor frowned slightly, “You’re going to tour Guang County today. Isn’t it troublesome to bring Little Seven along?”
As the eldest prince, apart from studying with the imperial tutor, Ling Chen also needed to inspect the local conditions outside the palace regularly.
Guang County was not far from the capital, and Ling Chen replied to the Emperor, “Little Seven is well-behaved, it won’t be troublesome to bring him along. Besides, I’ve heard that the scenery in Guang County is very good. Let Little Seven go and have a look. It will be good for his mood and perhaps his health too.”
Ling Chen’s response was logical and reasonable, so the Emperor agreed.
Soon.
Ling Rui was happily carried out of the palace by his eldest brother.
Sitting in the sedan chair, he held Ling Chen’s hand, his beautiful little face filled with anticipation: “Is little Uncle also coming?”
“Yes, your Uncle is waiting for us up ahead.”
With his uncle coming, Ah Wu would definitely come too.
Holding Ling Chen’s hand, Ling Rui happily swung his little feet.
Ling Chen looked at the joyous little child and pinched his cheek, asking, “Little Seven, why are you so easily pleased?”
Ling Rui squinted his eyes and replied, “Because everything is good now, Little Seven is happy.”
He had the best Niang Niang, a Father who loved Niang Niang, an elder brother taking him out to play, and a little uncle…
Although his little uncle’s future didn’t look good, and he hadn’t had the chance to see his Noble Consort’s future yet, with his Father loving his Noble Consort so much, his little uncle’s future would definitely change!
A joyous little child, holding his big brother’s hand, suddenly had the urge to show him something.
He closed his eyes, not to see the future, but suddenly sensed danger approaching.
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