The Wife is First - 38 Chapter 38 Kneeling as punishment

The main hall of Fengyi Palace is paved with bluestone slabs, empty without any vegetation. The white marble stone steps are majestic, but in this quiet afternoon, walking on them gives people a deep sense of depression.

Mu Hanzhang followed the leading eunuch to the front of the main hall. Perhaps because of the hot weather, the queen was not in the hall. Instead, she placed a phoenix couch under the corridor. Two palace maids held long-handled peacock fans and fanned slowly behind the couch. wind. Afterwards, he was dressed in a gorgeous dress with golden phoenix, sitting on the phoenix couch, looking straight at Mu Hanzhang stepping up the jade steps step by step.

“I have seen my mother. She is a thousand years old!” Mu Hanzhang calmly walked to the corridor and knelt down to salute.

The queen picked up the cup, took a sip, and elegantly nodded the corner of her mouth with her handkerchief, then said calmly: “Get up and sit down quickly. This is the king’s treasure. If you kneel down, you will break this book.” The palace can’t afford to pay.”

Mu Hanzhang narrowed his eyes, as if he couldn’t hear the irony in the queen’s words. He thanked her politely and sat down on the square stool brought by the palace maid.

Seeing that Princess Cheng was not as frightened as expected, she gave her a seat. Her behavior and etiquette made it impossible to fault her, but the queen, who had taken a breath and was about to reprimand, swallowed it back.

Jing Shao entered the south study room. The underage princes had finished their nap, but did not start their afternoon homework. They were just quietly reviewing their homework in the room and waiting for the master’s arrival. Because the weather was getting hotter, Emperor Hongzheng exempted the princes from their afternoon martial arts classes and replaced them with literary classes.

Standing outside the study, looking at these children under ten years old holding the books in their hands with serious expressions, Jing Shao remembered the scene in the south study when he was a child. The queen mother was still there at that time, and fresh fruits and melons would be delivered to him and his brother at this time every day, not only to him and his brother, but also to the eldest brother and Jing Yu. Jing Yu always feels that what others have is better than what he has, so he often trades with his brother because of his young age. His brother will trade with him without arguing with him, but he doesn’t like it and will punch him if he makes too much noise. he.

Later, when he came to power, there was no more fruit to eat in the afternoon. From then on, no new prince was born in the palace for a long time. The eldest prince left the palace to build a mansion, and only the three of them were left in the study. Jing Yu would be specially brought snacks and fruits every day, but they were all unique…

“Brother Three Emperors!” A sweet voice called Jing Shao back from his thoughts. He looked down and saw a fat man who only reached the base of his legs tugging at the hem of his clothes. It was none other than the Seventh Prince Jing Yi.

Jing Shao reached out and touched his head and called out “Jing Yi”. The little fat man immediately laughed so hard that his teeth went out of his eyes: “Brother Sanhuang, you still recognize me!”

“It’s not like we haven’t seen each other for several years, so how can we not recognize him?” Jing Shao picked him up in a dumbfounded voice, “Have you gained weight again?” Because Jing Yi was still a fat man when he grew up, Jing Shao remembered it. To be extra clear, the other younger brothers are not common, so if someone pulls him, they can only calculate the ranking based on their age.

“Brother Three Emperors…” Several people in the room turned around when they heard the movement and stood up.

“I just stopped by to take a look. You guys can study.” Jing Shao waved his hand for them to sit back.

“Brother Three Emperors, I heard that you defeated one hundred thousand Huns. When I met you during the Chinese New Year, I wanted to hear you talk about how to fight. But you are sitting at the front and I can’t get through.” Jing Yi became bolder because he was hugged by the emperor. He got up and didn’t return to his seat after being put down. He dragged Jing Shao and didn’t let go, asking him to tell him about his deeds on the battlefield. Not to mention the other princes, their eyes were full of expectations.

“Brother Three Emperors, are all the Huns full of beards?”

“Brother Three Emperors, are there wolves in the desert?”

“Brother Three Emperors…”

When Emperor Hongzheng came in, he saw Jing Shao surrounded by several of his younger brothers. He seemed a little overwhelmed and could not help but soften his expression.

“After returning to my mother, it was the prince’s intention not to accept his concubine, and I didn’t know it.” Mu Hanzhang lowered his head politely, and only responded gently to the queen’s harsher words without saying a word.

“You are older than the prince, wouldn’t you give me some advice? We are about to go on an expedition, and we don’t have a son and a half. If anything happens, wouldn’t such a high prince have no successors? ? After all, he has been elected, why are you so ignorant?” Then he slowly fiddled with the tea powder in the cup with the lid of the cup, and said that he only likes men. Could it be that all the concubines in the palace were just decorations? Today in the imperial study room, the emperor just asked Jing Shao to accept her niece as his concubine, and he said that he didn’t like women, which was a slap in her face!

What does it mean to have a contingency? What does it mean to have no successor? Don’t say these things before going on an expedition! Mu Hanzhang, who had been patiently responding, heard this and slowly clenched his fists hidden in his sleeves: “The prince is not hereditary. Even if he is a concubine, he can only inherit the title of general of the country… “

Then she slammed the cup on the small table: “What do you mean by this? Are you blaming me and the emperor?” After hearing this, the surrounding maids knelt down one after another.

“I don’t dare.” Mu Hanzhang stood up quickly and knelt on the ground.

“What else don’t you dare to do? As a royal princess, you exclude concubines, you are jealous and dote on her, and now you don’t allow the prince to have an heir. You are really bold!” The queen’s words were aggressive and heart-wrenching. Mu Hanzhang just remained silent and said nothing. In this situation, the queen was obviously angry and said too much and made many mistakes.

Then he took the handkerchief handed over by the palace maid and wiped his hands stained with tea. He glanced at Mu Hanzhang who was kneeling on the ground, sighed softly and said: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but since I married into the royal family, You have to think about the royal family. Let’s go and kneel on the jade steps. When you figure it out, get up again.”

When Mu Hanzhang heard this, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself. Do you want to understand? The Queen didn’t even say anything for him to reflect on, so why would he want to explain it clearly?

The jade steps are the flat land above the jade steps in front of the palace. The white jade has been exposed to the scorching sun for several hours and has long since dried like charcoal. Mu Hanzhang lifted his hem gracefully and knelt down on a stone slab in the middle. The midsummer afternoon is when the sun is at its strongest, burning your exposed skin and you will soon feel pain.

The queen asked everyone in the palace to stand up, took a cup of freshly brewed tea, and drank it slowly, leaving the princess alone to kneel and receive the punishment. She wanted to see how “love is stronger than gold” between King Cheng and Princess Cheng.

Miao Xi stood behind a row of palace maids, secretly worried, but had no chance to leave.

Sweat slid down his handsome face, his graceful chin, and dripped on the hem of his purple court dress. Mu Hanzhang lowered his eyes and retracted his hands into his sleeves without leaving a trace. The sun was in the south, and only his back was exposed to the sun, so his skin was not sunburned. However, the court uniform had more than one layer, and it quickly became soaked with sweat. The hot stone slabs let the heat seep into his body bit by bit.

Mu Hanzhang thought about the purpose of the Queen’s singing today, in order to divert his attention and reduce the body’s perception of pain. Today, Jing Shao directly refuted the matter of the harem, and the emperor did not force it. The queen felt embarrassed, so she wanted to use this method to let everyone know that she had the final say on matters in the harem. She was also trying to knock Jing Shao not to talk nonsense. .

When the queen drank the second cup of tea, she couldn’t help but get up to go to the toilet.

Sweat hung on her long eyelashes, and the scene in front of her eyes was instantly dyed with a colorful halo. Mu Hanzhang thought in amusement that maybe the queen just wanted to vent her anger, and she didn’t know how it would end. It’s a pity that he is a man, not one of those concubines with weak blood and shortness of breath. It is estimated that he will not be able to do anything good after the sun goes down. Should I pretend to be unconscious so that I can find a step for her?

Miao Xi took the opportunity to follow the palace maid who went to the water room to change tea, and then quickly stepped aside after turning around the corridor. When no one was paying attention, she quickly ran out. She had walked the roads in the palace every day since she was a child and was already familiar with them, but today’s road to the south study seemed to be particularly long. Miao Xi was so anxious that she was sweating profusely, but she didn’t dare to run too fast for fear of being suspected by the guards. Such a gentle and gentle gentleman, the prince is usually reluctant to even say harsh words, but he has to kneel on the stone slab under the scorching sun. The prince knows that he is heartbroken to death!

“My son wants to bring peace to the world for his father. As for the children and grandchildren, there are two royal brothers here. What’s more, the fourth brother will get married next month.” Jing Shao saw that his father was in a good mood today, so he remembered While Jun Qing was still in Fengyi Palace, he put on a loyal and honest face and said, “My son and the princess have been married for less than four months. Now I really like her very much. I really don’t want to marry anyone else.”

“Hahaha…” The third son, who only wanted to lead troops to fight, now actually understands the feeling of love. Emperor Hongzheng couldn’t help laughing when he heard this.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” Miao Xi stumbled in and was stopped by the guards in front of the study door.

When Jing Shao and Emperor Hongzheng heard this, they both turned to look.

“Wonderful!” Jing Shao saw the visitor’s expression clearly and knew something was wrong with Jun Qing, and his expression suddenly changed.

“What’s going on?” Emperor Hongzheng frowned and motioned to the guards to let her in.

“My slave, please bow to the Emperor!” Miao Xi saw Emperor Hongzheng here, and knelt on the ground with a plop, kowtowed her head, and then started crying, “Please the Emperor, please save the princess! The princess was kneeling down in front of Fengyi Palace, and she was already kneeling under the scorching sun. It’s time!”

“Your Majesty, the maid from Prince Cheng’s Mansion is missing,” Duolu looked around and whispered in his ear, “I just heard that Prince Cheng has also entered the palace and is in the south study room.”

Jihou snorted coldly: “With her going, I want to see how capable he is as a king!”

Mu Hanzhang knelt not far away, so he could clearly hear what he said clearly, and couldn’t help but feel anxious secretly. If Jing Shao barged into Fengyi Palace without caring, he would be guilty of a serious crime!

“I have seen the emperor, long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!” The guards and maids under the jade steps suddenly knelt down and shouted three times: long live the emperor.

After hearing this, his hand shook, and the sapphire tea cup immediately fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

“Jun Qing!” Jing Shao confessed to his father and rushed up the jade steps in a few steps.

When Mu Hanzhang heard the sound, a sneer appeared on his face that had always been downcast. Since the emperor was here, he would not stop doing anything and would simply make the matter bigger. So, he weakly raised his head, glanced at the approaching Jing Shao, and called out softly in a hoarse voice: “Your Majesty…” Then he closed his eyes and fell back softly!