Chapter 1240: Temporary Imperial Residence (2)

Neither Noble Consort Duan-Xian nor Little Madam Xia was stupid. They only dared to interact so intimately because they knew that the Empress did not mind.

The two of them walked around their respective courtyards hand in hand before going to Qu River Pavilion. By then, it was already filled with dolled-up imperial concubines.

The Empress and Mu Yangling had yet to appear.

As Noble Consort Duan-Xian stood at the side and watched, she smiled at Little Madam Xia and said, “I’m afraid His Majesty won’t bring us concubines out of the palace again after this.”

Little Madam Xia comforted her dryly, “No, His Majesty has to have someone to serve him when he leaves the palace.”

“Having too many such people will only bring trouble. Besides, His Majesty only likes to bring the Empress when he leaves the palace. He knows the benefits of having fewer people around.”

Little Madam Xia didn’t know how to comfort her.

Having seen the Emperor numerous times, she had a rough understanding of his temper. She knew that he did not enjoy crowds and had a loving relationship with the Empress. Also, he wasn’t a fan of having too many imperial concubines because it would be noisy.

Seeing Little Madam Xia’s troubled manner, Noble Consort Duan-Xian smiled and patted her hand. “It’s not like I want to serve His Majesty. I just feel that it’s a pity since I’d have fewer chances to leave the palace.”

Little Madam Xia immediately smiled and said, “Aren’t you eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures? Why are you always thinking of leaving the palace?”

“After seeing too many precious flowers and trees in the palace, I can’t help but miss the lush mountains and rivers outside.”

As the two of them spoke, they sat down on the stone bench beside them.

Noble Consort Duan-Xian was right. The Emperor had indeed made up his mind not to bring so many imperial concubines with him the next time he came to the temporary imperial residence.

He shouldn’t have thought that brought so many people here in the spirit of wanting everyone to share in the joy. Just on his way to attend the banquet at Qu River Pavilion alone, he encountered two groups of concubines admiring the flowers and a group of concubines playing the zither in a pavilion. Fortunately, no one was blind enough to pester him. Otherwise, even if he maintained his composure, he would have left in a huff.

Seeing the Empress cover her mouth and laugh, the Emperor’s expression turned even colder.

When he arrived at Qu River Pavilion and saw that Qi Haoran and his wife had yet to arrive, he thought of their personalities and immediately waved his hand to call for Wen Cui, the Empress’s personal attendant. He instructed, “Go tell King Rong and his wife that there’s no need for them to attend the banquet. They can do whatever they want.”

Wen Cui looked at the Empress in surprise. Then, she immediately lowered her head and slowly retreated.

The Qu River Pavilion instantly fell silent. Pulling a long face, Qi Xiuyuan said to everyone, “Alright, everyone, dig in. After the banquet, quickly go back and rest. The summer heat tends to make one feel drowsy. Make sure to cool yourselves down and don’t fall sick.”

Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling were holding the boy-girl twins’ hands and were already halfway there when they heard Wen Cui’s message. They immediately turned around and went back. If they had been told earlier, they wouldn’t have had to come all the way here. The weather in June and July was scorching hot!

As soon as Qi Haoran entered the house, he took off his outerwear and walked in with his wooden clogs. He loudly called out to Spring, “Hurry up and bring in some cold drinks. We’ll eat lunch by ourselves today.”

When the boy-girl twins heard that there would be cold drinks, they immediately looked at their father with sparkling eyes. Qi Haoran hurriedly waved his hand and said, “You can’t have that. Otherwise, your mother will punch me.”

The boy-girl twins immediately hugged his arm and shouted as they hung in midair, “We ate ice last time too and nothing happened.”

Little Leopard looked at his sister anxiously and immediately hugged Qi Haoran in a wheedling manner. “Daddy, daddy, we won’t eat too much. We’ll just eat half a bowl. Look, it’s so hot climbing up the mountain just now.”

“No, no.” Qi Haoran shook his head like a rattle drum. “If you upset your stomachs, your mother will beat me up.”

Just then, Mu Yangling brought in a big watermelon from outside. When Little Leopard and Baozhu saw it, they immediately threw their father aside and rushed towards their mother.

Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “I got someone to put this watermelon in an ice basin to chill it. I’ll allow each of you to eat two slices.”

The two children cheered, calling their mother their favorite person!

Standing at the side, Qi Haoran couldn’t help but feel jealous. He shouted, “I’m bringing your second and third brothers out to fish this afternoon. Who’s coming along?”

The two children ignored him. Mu Yangling held the little faces of the two children and smiled. “Mother is going to the lake with your royal aunt and second aunt in the afternoon. Would you like to come along?”

The two children immediately hugged their mother’s legs in support.

Qi Haoran gritted his teeth and looked at his two children sadly.

Mu Yangling pushed him and smiled. “You can take Tiger Head, Little Lion, and the others to play.”

Qi Haoran pursed his lips and said, “I’m not doing that.”

In spite of his words, he went to look for the children after lunch break. However, Tiger Head and the others didn’t appreciate his kindness and told their father, “We’re going to catch fish at the waterfall with our cousins. We don’t want to go fishing.”

Little Lion said in disdain, “Fishing is for adults.”

Qi Xiuyuan was entangled by his concubines and couldn’t get away. Fan Zijin, on the other hand, was focused on training heisbody. Taking his bow and arrows with him, he headed to the nearby mountain to hunt.

All of a sudden, Qi Haoran was left alone.

He could only pick up the fishing hook and go fishing by himself. As he sat alone by the shore, he couldn’t help but feel extremely lonely.

When Mu Yangling came with the bucket, she saw a lonely figure. She couldn’t help but lighten her footsteps and tiptoe as she approached him. Suddenly, Qi Haoran collapsed to the ground, his face red and his eyes closed. He even twitched slightly twice before stopping.

Mu Yangling was stunned for a moment before her expression changed drastically. She threw down the bucket and knelt beside him, then shouted anxiously, “Qi Haoran, what’s wrong? Qi Haoran!”

Mu Yangling didn’t dare to touch him and could only shout anxiously, “Hurry up and call the imperial doctor over. Hurry!”

The guards and secret guards hiding in the dark immediately moved. Half of them protected the King Rong and Queen Consort Rong in the middle, while the other half quickly spread out and searched the surroundings…

Logically speaking, King Rong had always been in their line of sight. How could something have happened to him?

Moreover, King Rong’s martial arts were unparalleled. Everyone quickly eliminated the possibility that someone had come to assassinate him, so it was possible that the poison had been planted in advance.

The guard captain stepped forward and said in a deep voice, “Your Highness, we have to move King Rong away immediately. There are venomous creatures here!”

Right away, Mu Yangling carefully moved to carry Qi Haoran…

Qi Haoran panicked all of a sudden at the realization that he seemed to have blown things up. When Mu Yangling lifted him, he could only lower his internal energy and secretly open his eyes…

Mu Yangling bent down to carry him. Halfway through, she saw him open his eyes and immediately close them again. Stunned to see this, she carefully looked at his overly red face and listened to his heartbeat. Immediately, she carried him up expressionlessly and said to the guard captain, “Go tell the guards that there’s no need to invite the imperial doctor. All of you can leave.”

The guard captain was anxious. “Your Highness?” Why did Queen Consort Rong give such an instruction when King Rong was poisoned!

Seeing Mu Yangling look at him quietly, the guard captain gradually calmed down and could only wave his hand to dismiss everyone. However, he didn’t go far and barely stepped out of Queen Consort Rong’s line of sight. Now that the thing that harmed King Rong hadn’t been found, what if something happened to Queen Consort Rong too?

Mu Yangling didn’t care that they were complying on the surface but disobeying on the inside. When she saw that there was no one in sight, she looked down at her husband in her arms. With a snort, she let go without warning, causing Qi Haoran to fall to the ground with a thud…

Qi Haoran screamed and clutched his waist. “Ouch! It hurts so much! It really hurts so much!”

Fuming, Mu Yangling pressed down on him and shook his head. “Who asked you to scare me? Who asked you to scare me…”

She didn’t stop until he fainted.