Concubine Chen's smile showed no relief in her eyebrows, only tranquility.
Li Can sighed inwardly.
"You kid, why are you looking at your aunt like this?" Concubine Chen saw something was wrong in her eyes.
"Nothing." Li Can shook his head gently.
"But what did Ze Yu say to you?" Concubine Chen glanced at Zhao Gong.
Zhao Zhen had no expression on his face and never denied it.
Li Can didn't know what to say. It seemed a little bad to talk about those things.
"Don't think so wildly. That's all in the past. After so many years, I only hope that your uncle and aunt live well and that there is nothing else." Concubine Chen looked at Zhao Zhen, and there seemed to be emotion in her tone:
"You two also need to understand that at your age, if you find someone you like, don't miss it, and don't do something you will regret for the rest of your life."
Li Can also looked at Zhao Hao.
Zhao Zhen stretched out his hand towards her: "Let's go, I'll take you back."
Li Can obediently put her hand on his palm and looked back at Concubine Chen: "Aunt, I'm going back first."
"Go." Concubine Chen looked at them with a smile: "If Zhao Luan does anything else, ask someone to send a message in, and I will take care of her for you."
"Okay." Li Can bent his eyes and nodded.
Concubine Chen watched Zhao Hao lead Li Can away and sat at the table for a long time.
"Empress..." Nafu looked at her worriedly.
"I'm fine." Concubine Chen waved her hand.
"Empress." Nafu took a step forward and whispered: "When General Li comes back, Your Majesty will definitely come to our Ninghe Palace.
You must not look down on His Majesty, otherwise..."
When Nafu said this, he stopped talking.
Both the master and the servant knew that when Li Yan returned and Emperor Qianyuan came to Ninghe Palace, he was undoubtedly testing Concubine Chen's feelings to see if she still had Li Yan in her heart.
It would be bad if Concubine Chen had a bad temper. Emperor Qianyuan would think that she missed Li Yan and blame him for doing such a thing in the first place.
It would be bad if Concubine Chen smiled to please him. Emperor Qianyuan would also think that she was trying to cover up her longing for Li Yan and felt guilty. Otherwise, how could she please him?
The sense of proportion in this is not easy to grasp.
But the result is very clear, if Concubine Chen makes Emperor Qianyuan misunderstand even a little bit, Li Yan will not have a good life.
"I know, don't worry, I won't cause him any trouble." Concubine Chen raised her hand and rubbed her forehead: "You go down, I want to be alone for a while."
"Why don't you go inside and lie down for a while?" Nafu suggested carefully.
"That's fine." Concubine Chen sighed.
"Serving the queen." Nafu hurriedly helped her.
The master and servant entered the inner room. Nafu helped Concubine Chen get into bed, while he stood guard at the door of the inner room.
How could Concubine Chen sleep? She just turned sideways, facing the inside of the bed, opening her eyes and looking at the hanging curtains of the bed in trance.
"His Majesty."
Outside, there was the sound of receiving blessings and greetings.
Concubine Chen frowned and closed her eyes.
"My queen has gone to bed," Nafu explained in a low voice.
"Have you had lunch?" Emperor Qianyuan asked.
"No." Nafu replied: "My wife, Zheng Zhaoyi, was very angry today. After the seventh girl left, my wife said she was tired and wanted to rest for a while."
"I'll go in and see her."
Concubine Chen listened to the footsteps getting closer and closer, and finally stopped beside the bed. She closed her eyes and remained motionless.
The next moment, Emperor Qianyuan's hand fell on her face. His palm was warm and he caressed her face gently.
Concubine Chen resisted the urge to push him away and continued to close her eyes and pretend to sleep.
Fortunately, after only a moment, Emperor Qianyuan retracted his hand, and a moment later, the footsteps went out again.
When he arrived at the inner door, the footsteps stopped, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Na Fu, after all these years, do you still blame me in your heart?"
"Your Majesty is the Emperor, and I have always had great admiration for Your Majesty." Nafu replied with a flawless response.
Emperor Qianyuan laughed: "You are the old man who has served her for many years. She has always treated you guys as sisters, so naturally you kept it secret for her.
Even if she blamed me for what happened back then, I wouldn't blame her. After all, I forced it."
On the bed, Concubine Chen's face was still facing the side of the bed, not moving at all. Only two lines of clear tears slid down the corners of her eyes and disappeared silently into the pillow.
"Your Majesty, you are overthinking it." Nafu said cautiously: "My queen is a little impatient, but she has a good heart.
For so many years, the only thing I have been looking forward to is that Your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince will be happy, and there is nothing else."
"I know she has a good heart." Emperor Qianyuan laughed: "If it weren't for her good heart, she would have married her husband long ago, and nothing would have happened to me."
In the beginning, when he was the prince, he had fierce fights with several brothers.
Once, he was injured in a plot and fled to a small alley, where he collapsed and no longer had the strength to stand up.
That time, he fell to the ground like a dead dog, bleeding a lot. Even if there were no pursuers, he would have bled to death.
He thought he was going to die.
At that time, Concubine Chen was still a pretty girl in her late twenties. She liked to run around in the Imperial City.
She had a house in that alley, and the clothes worn by ladies were too complicated, so every time she came out, she would go there to change her clothes.
Fortunately, he was saved that time.
At that time, when she leaned over and asked him, "Are you still alive?", her young and delicate face was like a beam of light, shining straight into his heart.
He guessed that Concubine Chen must have regretted her kindness that time, right?
How could Nafu dare to accept his words? He could only bow his head and remain silent.
Emperor Qianyuan stood still for a moment, and then spoke again: "She's awake, tell her that Li Yan will be back tomorrow.
When Li Yan comes to the palace to report on his work, let her accompany me to receive him."
"Yes." Nafu responded.
Emperor Qianyuan said that and walked away.
Nafu watched him go out of the outer door and then said softly: "Empress? Your Majesty has left."
"I know." Concubine Chen wiped her tears: "Go down and close the door."
"Yes." Nafu didn't have much to say, so he could only do it.
Closing the door, she sighed.
She originally thought that His Majesty would come to the Empress to test her, but unexpectedly, His Majesty asked her to listen to General Li's report on her duties. Her Majesty has a strong temper. Wouldn't it be easier for Your Majesty to have conflicts with her by doing this?
I wonder what your Majesty is thinking in his heart?
＊
Zhao Ye led Li Can out of Ninghe Palace.
When he walked to a deserted place, he stopped and put the furry hat on his cloak over her, then took the small heater from Wu Zai's hand and held her in his arms: "Is it cold?"
"It's not cold." Li Can shook his head.
Zhao Ye held her hand again.
Li Can followed him all the way out of the palace.
She looked at him sideways and said with a smile: "Brother Zeyu, where did you get these clothes?
This color looks great on me!”
She rarely sees Zhao Xie wearing colors other than dark colors.
Zhao Ye lowered his head and looked at the light cloud white brocade robe with dark patterns on his body. He couldn't help but twitching the corners of his lips slightly, and whispered: "Wu Lao."
Most of his clothes are cyan or black, but this one today is really rare.
Wu Zao walked two steps and said, "Go back to my lady, your highness's clothes were sent to the East Palace before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Girl, have you forgotten?"
Li Can blinked his dark eyes in confusion: "Did I buy it?"
Zhao Jie looked at her.
Li Can thought for a moment and then suddenly realized: "I remembered, I went to a clothing store before the Mid-Autumn Festival."
She didn't have any rules when it came to buying clothes for Zhao Gao. When she went to a clothing store and saw her eyes closed, she thought of buying some clothes for Zhao Gao, so she would buy a bunch of them and have them sent to the East Palace.
As for whether Zhao Xie was wearing it or not, she almost never noticed.
Zhao Zhen said nothing and led her slowly outside.
Li Can glanced at him again: "Brother Zeyu, you really look good in this color."
"Yeah." Zhao Zhen responded without much reaction.
"Eh?" Li Can never took it seriously: "Brother Zeyu, look at how much better I am now.
I didn’t feel tired even after walking such a long distance.”
"If you take good care of yourself and exercise, you will be better." Zhao Xie glanced at her.
"Yeah." Li Can responded obediently.
Zhao Ye helped her get into the carriage, and he sat down in the main seat.
Li Can stood in the middle of the carriage and looked around.