Zhao Xi was warned by the Empress Dowager not to play on the swing again, this he could do, but what he really wanted to know was: were all the swings in the harem tampered with?

  So on his first day out of Ciming Palace, he went to see the swings in other places.

  Unfortunately, after searching through the entire harem, I couldn't find a single swing.

  The way Lao Die handled it made Zhao Xi very helpless. From then on, there were no more swings in the entire imperial palace.

  The Supreme Secretariat of the Great Song Dynasty.

  Fu Xiang: The calamity of the swing in autumn will come to nothing.

  As vice envoys of the Privy Council, Han Qi and Fu Bi got along well. In their spare time from official duties, they would sometimes visit each other like this.

  "In vain?"

  "After several days of investigation by the Imperial City Guards, the imperial family merely dismantled all the swings in the rear palace."

  It's clear that the officials can't find anyone to blame, so they're just competing with inanimate objects.

  Fu Bi shook his head, really didn't know what to say.

  Such a kind official is a blessing for the Great Song Dynasty and also a blessing for us officials, but somehow it feels like something is missing.

  "Could it be..."

  "It's hard to say. However, Empress Zhang has become pregnant."

  The two of them tacitly understood each other and stopped talking.

  Things haven't reached the point where outsiders need to intervene, so they can only be a topic of casual conversation.

  Zhao Xi can only play with those uninteresting toys now.

  He was really unenthusiastic, but Tuo's mother was having the time of her life, especially when she saw Zhao Xi build a palace with small wooden blocks, and she became even more clingy to Zhao Xi asking for building blocks.

  Safety is safe, but Zhao Xi feels very bored. Zhao Xi even taught some educational games for future generations, but... it's really not on the same level.

  The palace maidens who are now accompanying them no longer dare to join in the fun, and are standing properly on one side, even if their eyes can't help but wander, they don't dare to neglect their duties again.

  Moreover, there is no need for the empress to send someone to summon them. When it's almost time, the palace maid accompanying them will ask them to return to Ciming Palace.

  Whether it's Zhao Xi or Gao Tuantuan, there are very few times when they find themselves in a difficult situation.

  Ciming Palace was bustling because Empress Zhang sent over a pot of flowers, saying it was Jiazi Peach. The origin of this name is that the flower only bears fruit once in 60 years, and Empress Zhang thought the meaning of the flower was very good, so she sent it to the empress, which also counted as a blessing for Her Majesty.

  I hadn't heard of this name Zhao Xi before, and with a rumbling stomach, I followed Tuo Niang over to take a look.

  Isn't this... isn't this Oleander? So it's called Jiazi Tao? Zhao Xi thought more carefully... That feeling should be called extreme fear.

  What a wonderful game!

  "Daughter, remember not to touch that pot of flowers, nor play with its leaves, and especially don't pick the fruit to eat."

  Zhao Xi can't control others, but she can warn her sister-in-law.

  As for the queen, she can't even decide what to eat by herself, it's impossible for her to rashly taste the fruit of the Daphne.

  The Daphne bholua sent by Empress Zhang has already borne fruit. This thing is said to be harmful, but only to infants and young children...

  "Xī gēr, wèi shén me?" = "Brother Xi, why is that?"

  "That fruit is poisonous and will kill you if you eat it."

  It's impossible to make Xiao Yatou think that the person who sent the flowers is a monster. Zhao Xi found it difficult to make everyone understand the meaning of the flower, so there was no way for people to know the intention of the person who sent the flowers.

  It's just that this Zhang fellow is going to be disappointed.

  Zhao Zhen also heard about the Jiazi peach blossoms in Ciming Palace after he finished his morning court session. Jiazi, which might not mean much to others, held profound implications for Zhao Zhen.

  Looking up several generations, there isn't a single person in his family who lived past 60 years old.

  So he came down in the morning to see the excitement and also to take a look at his increasingly robust son.

  It's indeed a great variety of flower. The light red petals are like a funnel, emitting a faint fragrance, the leaves are slender and long, and the stem is as strong as bamboo.

  "The saint, this Peach of Jiazi although implies a preference, is somewhat vulgar. Since it's an imported product, why not change its name?"

  "What does the official think this flower should be called?"

  "The stem of the flower has the elegance of bamboo, but is not as..."

  "Rhododendron."

  Zhao Xi was originally not planning to be a troublemaker, but after hearing his father and mother bickering, he suddenly chimed in with a sentence.

  He was stunned after hearing what he said!

  "Good! Azalea, this name is fitting. It seems that the saint had already thought of it and needed to borrow Xier's mouth."

  Zhao Zhen would never have thought that this name was spoken by Zhao Xi herself.

  She thought it was just a little romance between husband and wife, setting up a foreshadowing, playing hide-and-seek, and having a heart-to-heart connection. Unfortunately, she was exposed by her son.

  Putting aside the mess in the imperial court, this little joke actually made Zhao Zhen feel relieved.

  "Your Honor, this...this wasn't something I had planned beforehand, it was Xier herself..."

  Empress Cao didn't know how to express herself. When she heard Zhao Xi mention Daphne, her face was filled with genuine shock.

  "Is this really... a saint?"

  At this time, Zhao Zhen also saw that the Empress's expression was abnormal.

  "Guān jiā, wú yì zhī wèi tí guò. Xī ér zì bìng yuǎn yǐ lái, qí biàn zhī duō, wú yě wú fǎng xì shǔ. Jiē shì xiàng hǎo, wú yù zé jī xì shù."

  Translation:

  "Officially, I have never mentioned it before. Since Xi Er recovered from her illness, there have been many changes, and I am unable to count them all. They are all for the better, and I want to choose a good time to describe them in detail."

  Zhao Zhen only then remembered that since Xi'er recovered from her illness, due to trivial matters in the imperial court, he had neglected to get close to Xi'er.

  "Xī ér, why is it named so?"

  "Dad, I didn't know, it just slipped out of my mouth."

  Zhao Xi got fooled again. Alas! Every time he blurts out something, he has to think of a way to cover it up. When will this end?

  "Does Xi'er like this flower?"

  "Daddy, I don't like it, I'm scared."

  Zhao Xi was worried about how to get through this flower. Perhaps by borrowing the kind of innate feeling that little girls have, he could count on it. Zhao Xi's words left Zhao Zhen stunned for a moment.

  I thought Xier named this flower because she liked it, but unexpectedly Xier said she didn't like it and was afraid of it.

  He looked at the queen, and the queen was also taken aback... This wasn't entanglement, that's good, it was just childish naivety.

  Zhao Zhen was also afraid of entanglements. The imperial court had just stabilized a bit, and with some temporary leisure time, he wanted to extend his own leisure days for a while longer.

  "Auntie, Brother Xi doesn't let Tuan's daughter touch this flower, it's poisonous."

  I'm going! Zhao Xi forgot about this, originally wanted to warn that little girl, didn't expect old dad came over, still it was herself who spoke out of turn and got involved in this matter.

  Alas, did dressing up as a doll also make one's IQ regress?

  When Tuo Niang said this, not only Zhao Zhen was stunned, but even Empress Cao was also shocked.

  Fear is a feeling that can be attributed to the incomplete five senses of children. But if you can directly say something is poisonous, then it's not just an age issue, nor is it simply a matter of children's cognition.

  "Saint..."

  Zhao Zhen couldn't help but think about the entanglement again. Although the Empress was virtuous, she couldn't avoid some subtle dissatisfaction with her own partiality and behavior. As time passed, idle words made Xier's heart harbor resentment, which wasn't impossible.

  If so, Zhao Zhen would have to make other arrangements, especially with regard to Xi'er's upbringing...

  So Zhao Zhen's tone seemed to have cooled down a bit.

  "I don't know, your honor."

  Can Empress Cao not be clear? Thinking back and forth, as for Xi Er speaking out like this, what would her timid and suspicious husband think?

  The more you say, the more redundant it is; explanation is just an excuse. Empress Cao was very straightforward and simply said she didn't know.

  Zhaoren also thought it was impossible. The empress, as the head of the six palaces, is a model and never interferes with trivial matters. It has been so for many years, and it will not be chaotic now.