bayedsolid Chapter 385 Jealousy
Chapter 385 Jealousy
Zhuang Xiaomeng saw that Long Mohan had softened his heart, so he quickly took advantage of the situation and said, "Your Majesty, for our thirst for knowledge, please forgive us this time."
Long Mohan stared at him and said thoughtfully, "Why do these words seem so unbelievable when they come out of your mouth..."
"Your Majesty, let's go back to the lecture hall now and never sneak out again." Chang Sun Mingri hurriedly raised his hand to promise. His attitude was much more sincere than Zhuang Xiaomeng's.
In fact, the three of them often sneaked out to play during self-study time, and they even climbed through the window to visit Ji Anni once before. Wenhua Courtyard was always sparsely populated, so there was no need to worry about bumping into anyone. But they didn't expect that the truth would be revealed today, and the person they bumped into was actually the emperor.
Long Mohan took into consideration that they were young and inevitably a little playful, so he did not pursue the matter any further. After giving them a few lectures, he let them go.
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The three people who were lucky enough to be released hurriedly expressed their gratitude, and then fled as fast as they could, fearing that Long Mohan would go back on his word.
When they were almost at the beginner's lecture hall, Zhuang Xiaomeng noticed that Prince Ming looked heavy-faced, and asked worriedly, "Prince, what's wrong?"
Prince Ming shook his head, "Nothing... The concubine just now seemed to be a good friend of mother..."
"Probably." Zhuang Xiaomeng thought for a moment, "If I remember correctly, she seems to be... a concubine."
"I know she is a concubine, and she is a very good friend of my mother." Prince Ming kept emphasizing this point, "So my mother must know that she is with my father."
Zhuang Xiaomeng was amused by his serious demeanor, "Haha, don't be silly, the emperor has so many concubines, he can be with whoever he wants, there's no need to let your mother know."
Prince Ming found this very irritating and shouted, "Yes, my mother must know."
"Okay, okay, now you know. It has nothing to do with me anyway." Zhuang Xiaomeng was most afraid of people yelling in his ears, so he quickly raised his hands in surrender to Prince Ming.
But Prince Ming did not forgive him easily, and muttered angrily: "Since it has nothing to do with you, don't say anything."
This was the first time that Prince Ming had an argument with Zhuang Xiaomeng, so much so that they didn't speak to each other after returning to the lecture hall.
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After class, Prince Ming returned to Wenhua Courtyard in a depressed mood, staring at the empty room in a daze.
Where on earth did my mother go? Prince Ming was lying on the table in boredom. He wanted to sleep but couldn't. His mind was in a mess, filled with images of Long Mohan and Yizhen standing intimately together.
Although he knew that the emperor should have many wives and concubines, Prince Ming always believed that Long Mohan must be special. Long Mohan's cold attitude towards Concubine An made Prince Ming, who had lived in the East Palace, believe that there was no one else in Long Mohan's heart except Zhao Ji. But today, the scene that appeared in front of him made him feel for the first time that Long Mohan was not unattractive to women, and he could also be snatched away by other women.
Prince Ming was thinking in a mess in his little head when he suddenly heard Ji Annie's familiar footsteps coming from outside the door.
"Mother..." Prince Ming pouted and asked unhappily, "Where have you been?"
"I was bored, so I walked around." Ji Anni replied casually. After noticing that Prince Ming's tone was a little strange, she continued to ask, "What's wrong, Ming'er? You seem unhappy..."
"Mother, how long has it been since you and father last met?" Prince Ming's tone was as mature as an old woman who was worried that her daughter would not be able to get married.
Ji Anni almost choked, stared in astonishment and asked, "Ming'er, what happened to you today?"
"Nothing, I just feel that mother and father...are not as loving as before."
Ji Anni had always thought of Prince Ming as a little fool, but today she realized for the first time that he had such a sharp mind.
"How do you know that we are no longer in love?" Ji Anni suspected who whispered something in Prince Ming's ear.
"I can see it." Prince Ming said firmly, looking like he was observant.
"Little fool, whether we love each other or not is in my heart and your father's heart. How can you see it in your eyes?" Ji Anni poked Prince Ming's forehead, trying to smooth it over with a perfunctory attitude.
"I can tell." Prince Ming was not convinced. "What about the gifts that father gave to mother? How come they are gone? Mother clearly treasured those things the most..."
"Oh?" Ji Anni didn't know what Long Mohan had given Zhao Ji, "What did your father give me before?"
"There are a lot of them. There's the zither that's been fumigated with jasmine flowers, the fairy queen puppet that mother likes, and the cloth pillow that father specially sewed for you because mother said her neck hurts from the pillow..." Prince Ming counted the items one by one on his fingers for Ji Anni to hear.
As she listened, Ji Anni gradually began to admire Long Mohan. She had never thought that he was a man who not only loved his wife but was also clever and skillful. If that was true, she should not have returned from Qi. It would have been so nice for the family of three to live together in harmony...
"Mother, have you forgotten everything?" Prince Ming saw Ji Anni's confused look, as if she had never seen those things before.
Ji Anni hurriedly shook her head and said, "No, no, how could mother forget such an important thing..."
This statement is not entirely false. Maybe... one or two points of it are true.
Because of the things that Prince Ming mentioned, Ji Anni really seemed to have seen them somewhere.
After carefully recalling for a while, Ji Anni finally remembered something. She still remembered that when she was first named the imperial concubine, she did see things like the zither, puppets, and cloth pillows in the bedroom of the right courtyard. But she thought they were just ordinary palace supplies and didn't pay much attention to them. Now thinking back, she suddenly realized that those things were Zhao Ji's old things.
Ji Anni really regretted not cleaning up the items in the Pianyou courtyard when she moved. Until now, the zither, puppets, and cloth pillows must still be in the Pianyou courtyard and have not been taken out.
"Mother...where is your wooden bead necklace? Why is it gone?" Prince Ming's brows were tightly knitted together.
"Wooden bead necklace..." What is this? Ji Annie scratched her head, unable to remember. From the solemn expression of Prince Ming, it can be seen that the wooden bead necklace is definitely more important than the Yaoqin, puppet, and cloth pillow just now.
"Mom, you are so weird..." Prince Ming pouted in dissatisfaction. However, in his mind, he had not thought of doubting that Ji Anni was not Zhao Ji. At most, he only suspected that Ji Anni did not love her father anymore.
"Ming'er, tell me in detail what that wooden bead necklace is. Mother has been busy with trivial matters lately and often forgets things." Ji Anni tried hard to find excuses for herself, hoping that this would dispel Prince Ming's suspicion of her.
Fortunately, Prince Ming did not think too much about it. He pouted and said, "My mother told me the origin of the wooden bead necklace herself..."
The implication is that Ji Anni is being blamed for not remembering anything.
Ji Anni laughed awkwardly twice, hoping that she could get away with it.
Prince Ming continued, "Before being betrothed to my father, my mother was just a maid in the Qi Palace. Our parents had very different social statuses, so they loved each other but could not express their feelings openly. When my father missed my mother, he would sit by the window and carve puppets, trying to calm himself down. But the more he carved, the more confused he became. Finally, when he came to his senses, he had carved a piece of wood into a small bead. This happened many times, and my father accumulated a lot of small beads. It was not until the Emperor of Qi betrothed my mother to my father that he told her about this. My mother strung the wooden beads into a necklace and kept it as a treasure..."
Hearing this, Ji Anni was thoughtful. No wonder Zhao Ji treasured the wooden bead necklace, and no wonder Prince Ming was dissatisfied with himself for forgetting the necklace. It turned out that it was all because of Long Mohan's longing for Zhao Ji.
"Mother, where did you hide the necklace?" Prince Ming chased after her, straightening his body and looking at Ji Anni.
Ji Anni didn't know how to answer, and hesitantly said, "This is... This is my mother's secret, I can't tell you casually."
"Mother is so stingy..." Although Prince Ming was unhappy, he did not ask any more questions.
Ji Anni, who had passed the test smoothly, felt more and more uneasy. Prince Ming's words just now reminded her of something that had long been forgotten.
I still remember when we first moved into the right courtyard, it was Yizhen's birthday, and Ji Anni casually took a necklace from the room and gave it to Yizhen as a gift. And that necklace...if she remembered correctly, it should be made of wooden beads...
"Could it be at Yizhen's place?" Ji Anni murmured, her brows furrowed.
If it is really such an important thing, should I ask Yizhen to return it?
"Anyway, mother no longer loves father..." Prince Ming muttered softly and fell on the bed angrily.
Zhuang Xiaomeng's words kept echoing in his ears: Don't be silly, the emperor has many concubines, you can be with whoever you want, your mother doesn't need to know...
"Okay, stop thinking about it. You don't need to worry about dad and mom's affairs." Ji Anni sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Woo..." Prince Ming buried his face in the quilt and said nothing, letting out a low, sad sob.
Hey, what happened to this little thing today? He keeps saying weird things.
Ji Annie thought as she gently stroked the back of Prince Ming's head.
"Mother, why do I feel that...you and father are different from before?"
This is a question that the Ming prince will never understand.
"You will understand later..." Ji Anni couldn't explain it to him. Perhaps only when Zhao Ji returned, the doubts in Prince Ming's heart would be resolved.
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At the same time, Yizhen, who had returned to Concubine's Palace, was tidying up her room. She carefully arranged her clothes and jewelry, and suddenly her eyes fell on a unique necklace. The necklace was made of more than 20 small wooden beads. Although the style was simple, the color was very beautiful, and the workmanship was exquisite. It was indeed a good piece of jewelry.
Yizhen still remembers that this was the gift Ji Anni gave her on her birthday.
Although she had never worn it before, when she saw it today, she suddenly wanted to wear it.