After the Fifth Prince left the capital, the palace descended into silence once more.
Yuwen Di was currently in the Inner Palace as he read through the imperial reports. He was probably a little tired, so he would occasionally raise his head to stretch his neck.
Seeing that, the Eunuch Ming immediately brought a plate of Litchi to him. He smiled and said to Yuwen Di: "I have been tired for the whole morning, your majesty should quickly eat some fruits to rest."
"Eat three hundred litchi a day. Do not hesitate to become a Lingnan." Seeing that the one Eunuch Ming presented was Litchi, Yuwen Di couldn't help but reveal a happy expression. He started to recite Su Dong Po's "Huizhou First Absolute Litchi" to Eunuch Ming.
"This is a new Litchi from the tribute this year. It tastes sweet and delicious. Your majesty, hurry up and try it." The Eunuch Ming peeled the skin for the emperor and passed it to him.
The emperor nodded. As he ate, he seemed to recall something and raised his head to ask Eunuch Ming, "Have you ever sent lychee fruits to the different palaces for tasting?"
Hearing the emperor's question, Eunuch Ming hurriedly shook his head and replied to the emperor. The Emperor did not know that Lingnan had been flooded this year. Litchi production was extremely low, and lychee that was so delicious was even rarer. So we only sent them here to the Emperor, and the various palaces did not issue any orders. "
The emperor muttered to himself and nodded, then signaled the Eunuch Ming to stretch his head over. He said to the Eunuch Ming in a low voice, "Go get some Litchi and bring it to the Red Luan Courtyard. There's nothing delicious in the winter, Little Thirteen will definitely be hungry for it in the next few days."
The Eunuch Ming smiled and nodded. He cupped his hands towards the Emperor and said, "This is the first time the Emperor has doted on the Thirteenth Princess. No one can compare to him."
Eunuch Ming said as he retreated to prepare.
Just as he was about to leave, Yuwen Di called out to him from behind.
"Does the emperor have any other orders?" Eunuch Ming turned around to look at Yuwen Di, bent down, and asked the emperor.
Yuwen Di hesitated for a moment, thinking back to what the Fifth Prince had told him when he left the capital. He could not help but feel guilty, hence he waved at the Eunuch Ming and said, "Forget it, let's send some over to the Empress Palace first."
Hearing that the emperor had changed his mind, Yuwen Di could only nod towards him.
Just as Eunuch Ming took Litchi and was about to leave, Yuwen Di waved his hand at Eunuch Ming and sighed. "Forget it, let us go together. When the Fifth Prince left the capital, we promised him that we would take good care of the Empress. "Now that I think about it, it's indeed been a long time since I've been to the empress dowager's palace."
As the emperor spoke, he got down from the dragon throne, shrugged his shoulders, and prepared to walk outside.
"Your majesty, it's freezing outside. You should put on your cloak first, what if you catch a cold?" Seeing that, the Eunuch Ming also hurriedly put on the cloak for the Emperor, then carefully followed the Emperor towards the Queen's chambers.
The empress was sleeping, and his personal maid, Qiu Shui, hurriedly ran into the house when he saw Yuwen Di walking over, ready to tell the empress the news of the emperor's arrival.
"Wait." Before she could walk in, Yuwen Di said to her in a low voice, "Empress's sleep has always been bad. It's rare for her to fall asleep like this. Since the empress is still asleep today, you shouldn't go in and disturb her. I just came to take a look, I'll be leaving in a bit. "
Hearing Yuwen Di's words, Qiu Shui could only kneel down and bow towards the emperor as he watched the emperor walk towards the empress's inner palace.
Just as Yuwen Di had said, the Queen's sleep had always been poor, and she would wake up if there was even the slightest sound. Therefore, the Empress opened her eyes before Yuwen Di could walk in front of her.
"Your majesty, these servants are really becoming more and more insensible. Why don't you come in and report to your concubine, causing your concubine to be disrespectful." While complaining about the servants in the palace, the Queen walked down to pay her respects to Yuwen Di.
However, before the Empress could kneel down, Yuwen Di extended his hand to help her up. He smiled at her and said, "We saw that you were sleeping deeply and did not want to disturb you. That's why we did not let them come to report to you.
Hearing Yuwen Di's words, the empress slowly stood up, smiled at the emperor, and sat down together with the emperor. Your consort has been disrespectful, please forgive me, your majesty. "
"You've always been in bad health, and it's common for you to not be able to sleep well." As the emperor spoke to the empress, he couldn't help frowning. He patted her arm and said, "Even the Fifth Prince has left the capital by now. There's no one by the empress's side to chat with, so she should take good care of herself."
She pulled at the emperor and said, "Your majesty, your son is not young anymore, so your majesty should give him a lot of experience. Only like this will he be able to help his majesty manage the affairs of the imperial court in the future."
As the Emperor's body was currently healthy, the Empress was in a hurry to seek the position of Crown Prince for the Fifth Prince. Yuwen Di listened to the empress at the side and his expression could not help but become a lot uglier.
He turned his head and gave the empress a meaningful look.
It was a pity that the empress couldn't understand what the emperor meant. She continued to speak endlessly to the emperor, saying, "My royal son is wise and wise, diligent and frugal. Even my master in the imperial study had a taste of praising my son. "So please do not worry, Your Majesty. He will be able to settle this matter properly if we go now."
"Of course, the matter of the salt transportation is of great importance. If we did not trust in his abilities, we would not have handed the matter over to him." The emperor's smile faded as he spoke to the empress expressionlessly.
"Your Majesty …" The empress nodded with a smile, wanting to continue speaking to the emperor.
"Empress." Without waiting for the Queen to finish speaking, Yuwen Di opened his mouth and interrupted her.
He didn't want to hear the Queen mention anything related to the Fifth Prince in front of him, so he could only turn around and wave to Eunuch Ming, indicating for him to bring the lychee.
"Esteemed empress, this is the Litchi that Ling Nan paid tribute to this year. Due to its sparse weight, the palace's empress didn't send you any. The emperor was worried about you, so he sent his servant over first." Eunuch Ming immediately understood what the Emperor meant and quickly presented Litchi to the Queen with a smile.
Eunuch Ming placed the lychee on the empress's table. The empress quickly squatted down and thanked the emperor, saying, "Thank you, your majesty, for your love. Your consort will be extremely grateful."
"The empress is too polite. Hurry up and get up." The emperor quickly helped the empress to her feet and took her hand to sit down.