Sadly,

Zhao Chun's illness became more and more serious. In addition to accompanying the prince to listen to imperial lectures every day, Yan Qing stayed by his bedside.

Probably because he understood what his illness was, Zhao Chun not only relied more on the cabinet, but also paid more attention to the prince's lectures.

Because Shenzhen was demoted in the first place and another bachelor was implicated, two positions were left vacant. Now there are only five people in the cabinet, and among these five, the most useful one is of course Jiang Weiren.

Therefore, soon after, Zhao Chun promoted Jiang Weiren to the position of chief assistant, and also gave him the title of "Prince Taibao". This was indeed a very popular minister.

When no one was around in private, Zhao Chun also said to Yan Qing: "Jiang Weiren was once your father's disciple. In a hundred years from now, you orphans and widowers will trust him."

"Your Majesty, don't say that," Yan Qinghong She closed her eyes and held his hand, "Your Majesty is the True Dragon Emperor and will be blessed by God."

"Silly girl," Zhao Chun smiled weakly and raised his hand to stroke her cheek, as if touching something easy. As carefully as broken porcelain, Yan Qing said, "Qing'er, I have suffered so much for you. When I insisted on marrying you, I might have harmed you."

Yan Qing endured it and raised her head to look at him. There was extreme reluctance in her eyes, but she didn't dare. After revealing it, she just put her cheek against the back of his hand and said softly: "How could it be? It was Your Majesty who spared me from loneliness and protected me in the first place. It was my good fortune to meet Your Majesty."

She and Zhao Chun can be considered as children since childhood. We know each other. He was neither his eldest son nor his direct descendant. He had no chance of becoming the crown prince and was granted the title of King of England. His fiefdom was originally in Donghai County, but because of his illness and weakness, he was left in the capital by the late emperor.

At that time, all the ministers relied on the prince. Although he was a prince, he was despised because he was not on good terms with the prince. Yan Yongnian was his teacher, and the Yan family was not like other families who stayed away from him for fear of offending the prince.

He had a gentle temperament and never acted like a prince. In front of Yan Qing, he was just like an elder brother. Later, the facts were unpredictable. The Yan family fell into decline and Yan Qing was left alone. Zhao Chun said he was willing to marry her, even though he was his stepmother. But she is also a serious princess.

At that time, Zhao Chun said to her: "Qing'er, you know that I am not in good health. I didn't dare to think about it before. I was afraid that if you married me, it would harm you. But now you don't even have anyone to rely on." , I can't bear it, so the decision is yours. If you want to marry me, I will cherish it. If you don't want to, I will never mention it again."

In the past twenty years of Yan Qing's life, She had always only regarded Zhao Chun as a brother, but at that time there would not be another person who cared about her as much as he did. She agreed to be his princess that day, not to enjoy the honor. She just thought that if Zhao Chun was ill for a long time, she would stay by his side and take care of him for the rest of her life.

But later on, I didn't know that fate was so unpredictable. When the late emperor was dying, the prince died suddenly from taking red pills. Before his death, the late emperor had no choice but to pass the throne to King Zhao Chun of England, and Yan Qing became the empress of the world overnight.

She is not greedy for the honorable position in the palace, but she is always grateful to Zhao Chun.

——Jiang

Weiren, as the chief minister of the cabinet, has a lot of things to do every day, but he personally presides over the prince's lectures every day, sometimes giving lectures in person, and sometimes listening to other lecturers in the hall.

But all the lecture notes used for the prince's lectures were written by him himself, and Yan Qing naturally read those lecture notes. He was indeed a thoughtful person.

The prince is still young now, and those ancient texts are too difficult for him to understand, but most of the handouts are short stories, and each page of the booklet is accompanied by simple pictures. The text is all written by Jiang Weiren himself, and the pictures are from the painting academy. Painted by an artist.

Not to mention the little prince, even Yan Qing sometimes flipped through those handouts with great interest.

It can be said that Zhao Yuan respected and feared the chief assistant. If he just said that it was the chief assistant who said it, he would not dare to disobey.

In the lecture hall, the Chief Assistant asked him a question. If he couldn't answer it, Jiang Weiren didn't say anything, and he himself would be unhappy all day long. If Jiang Weiren said a few words to him, his little face would remain tense and he would no longer be able to smile.

Yan Qing sometimes thought it was funny, so she deliberately teased him, "Our Ayuan has become really sensible recently and works so hard."

At such a young age, she actually heard Zhao Yuan sigh softly, like a young adult. , almost turning her over with laughter.

Yan Qing was a loving mother, so she was easy to be soft-hearted, and sometimes talked to the emperor about the prince's studies. She couldn't bear to say: "Are we being too strict with A Yuan now? Children from the ordinary family know everything at this age and are still playful."

Zhao Chun said: "It's a pity that he is not from the ordinary family. My child, you dote on him too much."

Yan Qing also knew that she was soft-hearted and a loving mother often failed, but she always felt that she didn't have enough love for A Yuan's round little face, and she couldn't bear to keep a straight face. .

She would sit behind the bead curtain every day during lectures, but never interrupt the lecturers.

Only that day, Jiang Weiren happened to be giving the lecture. His back was still the same, and his voice was neither high nor low when he lectured, but it carried a natural dignity. On weekdays, when he lectured in person, that was the most nervous moment for Zhao Yuan.

But for some reason today, even Yan Qing behind the bead curtain saw his small body sitting behind the desk with his head dangling.

After a closer look, he was asleep. He tried to open his eyelids several times, but to no avail. His little head almost hit the desk.

He has to get up at about 10 o'clock every day, which is too early. It's summer recently and the weather is hot, so it's easy for him to take a nap.

"Your Highness..." Jiang Weiren spoke in a low voice at this time.

Seeing that the prince was still squinting, he raised his voice again, "Your Highness."

Zhao Yuan opened his eyes with difficulty, clenched his fists and was about to rub his eyes when he heard Jiang Weiren slap the paperweight on the case, making a clear sound.

He didn't use much force, but the sound was still clear.

"Your Highness is awake?" he asked quietly.

It wasn't a reprimand, but Zhao Yuan probably felt guilty himself. He looked up and saw that the chief minister had a serious face. He had just woken up from his sleep, and the next moment he bit his lips and cried.

He was scared in his heart, afraid that Mr. Jiang would scold him again, and he also thought of Yan Qing's words that if anything happened, he would send Xiao Huangmen to secretly message her behind the curtain. But at this time, he couldn't wait to send Xiaohuangmen any more. He just looked at the curtain and called out with sobs: "Empress..."

Yan Qing's heart ached when he heard his voice. Seeing him calling her, why? Unable to hold back, he stood up suddenly, and without waiting for the palace people beside him to react, he opened the bead curtain and walked out.

She walked to Zhao Yuan, and Zhao Yuan stretched out his arms and threw himself into her arms. This child usually dressed solemnly and politely, but in fact he was still a child at heart.

Yan Qing took out the silk, pulled out his little head, and wiped his tears bit by bit.

All the ministers were startled at first, and now they were all kneeling on the ground. Yan Qing looked around and said with a look of shame: "My lords, please stand up. I am being rude."

After that, she said again

He said to the prince: "A Yuan, it's your fault today. I heard that Mr. Jiang took great pains to prepare this lecture for you. He also put a lot of thought into it every time he lectures for you. You are betraying his painstaking efforts." Sobbing, the lecturers on the side also lowered their heads and did not dare to speak. Only Mr. Chief Assistant, who was standing behind Yan Qing, involuntarily raised his head and looked at her when he heard her saying that he was very worried.

She is wearing a dress today, a silk-colored single jacket, and a twelve-piece pleated skirt. Her waist is made of medicinal jade. Her clothes are decent but simple. It is said that the Queen empress is strict in frugality, and indeed she is based on her body. However, just because she is slender, the loose clothes appear to be full on her body.

At this moment, the thin morning light of early summer filtered in from outside, and the hazy light enveloped her side, as clear and tranquil as the mist in the mountains in late spring.

He has been known as a "child prodigy" since he was a child because of his photographic memory, which is why he still clearly remembers the figure eleven years ago.

In the inner courtyard of Prince Cheng's Mansion, he was beaten to the ground by the guards of the Prince's Mansion. A cry of surprise made him look up.

The beautiful girl wearing a jade-colored skirt under the eaves is also of such a plump figure. She had a pair of eyes as bright as crystal, and those eyes were looking at him with great pity, as if they were compassionate.

"Master Jiang," Yan Qing spoke softly, interrupting his thoughts, "I have lost my decency, please continue teaching."

She nodded slightly towards him, but looked at him with a very calm look.

Jiang Weiren could only nod. When he raised his head again, she had turned around. The palace attendant opened the bead curtain. She turned behind the curtain and the bead strings were put down again. The jade stones collided lightly, causing a soft and crisp sound. .

Jiang Weiren didn't speak. He seemed to be distracted by the noise. It wasn't until the sound of the bead curtain completely silenced that he slowly opened the lecture notes and started teaching again.

From that day on, Yan Qing did not appear in the Wenhua Hall again.

The prince was naturally pleading. He certainly hoped that Yan Qing could be there to comfort him when he was scared like that day.

Yan Qing said: "A Yuan, you were wrong that day, and so was your Majesty. Your Majesty interrupted your lecture. If you make a mistake again in class in the future, the adults attending the lectures will be blamed for your actions that day." If I don't dare to scold you anymore, I will harm you."

Zhao Yuanxun was about to cry, but Yan Qing could only harden his heart.

The next day, when the lecturers from the Hanlin Academy went to the Wenhua Hall again, they saw that the bead curtain they had seen in the past had been removed by the officials of the Zhidian Supervisor, and the red sandalwood chair behind the curtain was no longer there. Then, everyone understood that the queen would no longer sit behind the bead curtain and accompany the prince to listen to lectures by the lecturers.

The person giving the lecture on this day was no longer the Chief Assistant. Jiang Weiren was just sitting in the hall, and the lecturer was reading the ancient prose that the prince had learned today. He did not check whether the prince was distracted as he did in the past.

The prince quietly looked at him, but he saw the eyes of Mr. Jiang, the first assistant, falling behind the lecturer who was giving a lecture. Mr. Jiang, who was usually strict, clearly lost his mind this time.

Behind the minister, the place where the bead curtain usually hung was now empty. The bead curtain was not there, and the people were not there either. The prince thought about it, but still couldn't figure out what Mr. Jiang was looking at.