After reading my mind, Daddy, why don't you smile?

Chapter 216 The Lustful Monk Who Loves Tea

Hall of Light.

Concubine Rong came early in the morning and apologized to Zhao Ying on behalf of Prince Liang and his wife.

In fact, it should have been Zhao Ying who went to Changle Palace to sit for a while, after all, Concubine Rong is now the head of the harem.

However, Prince Xian and his wife and Prince Liang and their wife were not allowed to attend the palace-wide banquet on New Year's Eve, which shows how angry Emperor Jianxi was.

In the past, although Emperor Jianxi liked Zhao Ying and Zhao Cong more in his heart, he at least treated his other sons equally.

If the prince makes a mistake, he should be beaten.

The princess would also be reprimanded if she gambled.

It's just that the bottom line is different.

For King Xian and King Liang, it was the authority of the emperor and father, and if the crime was serious, they would be beheaded.

But for Zhao Cong and Zhao Ying, they just made a mistake and were scolded and punished by their own father, but it was not a big deal and they would not die.

In the past, Zhao Ying didn’t understand, but now, he understands a little.

Just like the incident of accidentally killing his mother, she and Zhao Cong are still alive. One can only sigh that fatherly love is as high as a mountain.

My father did so in the past because he was afraid that he would favor them too much and become a target of public criticism.

What she had to do now was to cooperate with her father and not reveal his thoughts.

Just like now, Imperial Concubine Rong came to beg for mercy. If she refused, the Emperor's father would be very angry and would not agree even more. It was New Year's Day, and Imperial Concubine Rong could not see her own son. It was inevitable that she would have some thoughts and think that the Emperor was partial to her.

Having too many ideas is not good.

Just like Zhao Yao and Concubine Shu.

If you can't hit someone with one blow, don't make her your enemy in advance.

Zhao Ying exchanged a few words with Concubine Rong and promised her that she would plead with Emperor Jianxi. Concubine Rong went back satisfied.

In her eyes, Zhao Ying is still the innocent Zhao Ying.

As expected, she was born from the same mother as Zhao Cong.

After seeing off Concubine Rong, Princess Side came again.

Emperor Jianxi had many sisters, but none of them married a foreign prince. The Great Chu had a tough approach toward foreign countries and had produced many powerful generals, so the whole court regarded marriage as a shame. How could the safety of a great country be entrusted to a woman?

Even the civil officials who always advocated peace did not advocate it, because maybe it was a coincidence that the civil officials all had unmarried daughters of marriageable age...

The princess who was married off to the Chu State was exiled.

Although it was not a mistake, it was definitely something that the emperor did not like.

Among Emperor Jianxi's sisters, Princess Side has the highest presence. After all, she is the empress dowager's biological daughter and a legitimate princess.

Princess Side was of the same opinion as the Queen Mother. She disliked the lineage of Queen Xiaomin and believed that the enemy of my enemy was my friend. So even though she didn't know that Zhao Yao was her niece, she still liked her and was on good terms with her.

Zhao Yao fell from power and is now a wanted criminal.

Princess Side was angry and regretful for losing such a close friend, but now she had to hold back her anger and go to Zhao Ying because she wanted to plead for the virtuous king.

It’s not that she is good friends with the virtuous king, but she is good friends with the virtuous king’s wife who eats vegetarian food and chants Buddhist scriptures all day long.

After the eunuch finished reporting, Zhao Ying was waiting for Princess Side in the reception room when Shangguan Qingyue arrived.

She was wearing a bright red skirt and two round buns on her head. Today, the maids had made a few tassels out of flower ropes and tied them to the buns, and she had also painted a crabapple flower on her forehead.

The little girl's appearance has the best features of Shangguan Shu and Zhao Ying, with long eyelashes, big eyes, fair and clear skin. Besides being beautiful and delicate, she also has a bit of cunning and cuteness. Dressed like this, she is so cute and adorable that anyone who sees her can melt their heart.

Fuchun has become a follower of Shangguan Qingyue, following him wherever he goes, worried about if he gets bumped into anything.

"Young lady, please slow down..."

Shangguan Qingyue ran over, looking left and right with his eyes wide open, "Mother, where is my great-aunt Side?"

Zhao Ying waved to Shangguan Qingyue and asked her to sit over. "What do you want to see her for?"

Shangguan Qingyue chuckled and said cunningly: "I won't tell mother..."

"Oh, the child has grown up and has a little secret now!"

Zhao Ying pretended to be very sad to tease the little guy. The little guy couldn't bear to see his mother sad. Seeing this, he quickly said, "Don't worry, mother. You will know in a moment."

"OK then."

Princess Side came in, Zhao Ying stood up and greeted her eagerly, "Aunt, why do you have time to come and sit with me?"

Princess Side had a bitter face, as if someone owed her money. Even though the person came to ask for help, she had no awareness of this and acted condescending.

Zhao Ying also got used to it.

Both are legitimate daughters of the royal family.

Her father died, and no one cared about her anymore, so she had to be more arrogant and unbridled so that people wouldn't dare to bully her. But she was different. Her father was in good health and in power. If anyone dared to make things difficult for her, she would be met with a heavy blow from her father immediately...

Princess Side sat down, and the maid served tea. Zhao Ying smiled and said, "This is the pre-rain Longjing tea that my father just gave me. I think it tastes pretty good. Auntie, would you like to try it?"

Princess Side glanced at it and said disdainfully, "Dragon Well before the Rain... My Royal Brother has given me some. I've had enough, so I'll give it all to the servants."

It’s just last year’s Longjing tea before the rain. No matter how new it is, it has been stored for a year.

What are you showing off to her? It's like she doesn't have anything!

Zhao Ying seemed not to have noticed Princess Side's sarcasm. She took a sip and said, "What a pity! This is the early-ripening tea leaves newly offered by Jiangnan this year. Only three taels of tea were roasted. Father kept one tael for himself, gave one tael to the Queen Mother, and my niece was lucky enough to get one tael."

"I thought my aunt liked tea, so I brought out such precious tea, but I didn't expect that she had had enough. What a pity..."

Zhao Ying said, picking up a cup and feeding it to Shangguan Qingyue, "Yue'er, try it..."

Princess Side: ...

Didn’t you say it was the latest one?

Princess Side had special hobbies. She didn't like playing chess, calligraphy or painting, but preferred to go to old temples in the mountains. Everyone thought she was worshipping Buddha, but in fact she had taken a fancy to the bald monks there. She used intimidation and bribery, and there were always a few handsome monks who fell under her skirt.

But she just didn't grow up. After going to one temple for too long, she got bored and moved to another one.

If you ask whether she has had true love over the years, she has. More than ten years ago, a monk almost pushed Princess Side's husband off the position of husband. If it weren't for the court officials' revelations and obstruction from both inside and outside, this would have happened!

The Empress Dowager's family was already walking on thin ice. The Empress Dowager was extremely angry when Side committed such a scandal. She immediately ordered the execution of the lecherous monk. After the monk's death, Princess Side gradually calmed down.

However, since then, Princess Side fell in love with drinking tea, and it was rumored that the lecherous monk liked it.

Everyone in the court knew that Princess Side liked to drink tea.

How could Shangguan Qingyue, a little kid, know whether tea tastes good or not? It was just the tea her mother fed her, so even poison tasted good.

The little fellow gulped down the drink, and after finishing it, he did not forget to give Zhao Ying feedback, grinning sweetly and speaking in a baby voice, "Mom, it tastes so good..."

“But Yueer feels that it is not perfect!”

"What does Yue'er mean?"

"Mom, I think tea would taste better if it were mixed with some sweet milk!"

Zhao Ying caressed Shangguan Qingyue's head lovingly, "Yes, milk tea is good. The milk tea your royal grandmother made was the best back then."

Shangguan Qingyue's eyes lit up.

[Then when the Empress Dowager comes back, she can make milk tea for Yue'er? ]

Zhao Ying thought that she knew what to do even without her mother coming back.

Zhao Ying looked at Fuchun, "Fuchun, go get some tea from the imperial kitchen and ask them to mix it with some fresh milk and honey. Then ask them to make some taro paste, honeyed red beans and potato starch dumplings..."

Fuchun took the order and left.

[Wow, this sounds delicious...]

Shangguan Qingyue smiled and sat next to Zhao Ying, looking forward to the fresh hot milk tea.

On the opposite side, Princess Side smelled the fragrance of the tea, which became more and more fragrant. However, she had already said what she had just said. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if she wanted to drink it again?

Isn’t it Longjing before the rain?

cut……