Children of Loulan

Chapter 398 Inadvertent mistake

At this moment, the butler's face was as pale as paper, his hands tightly grasped the corners of his clothes, and his palms were already soaked with sweat. He fell to his knees with a plop, his body trembling constantly, and said in a trembling voice: "When I bought this flower, I specially asked you to personally look at it! I swear to heaven, I really didn't know that this flower would have such a harmful effect. Please spare my life, Your Majesty, and have mercy!"

King Cheng's face was as gloomy as water, and he stared fiercely at the housekeeper kneeling on the ground. After staring at him for a long while, he opened his mouth again and asked coldly: "Besides the courtyard where this king and the princess live, is there any other place with this flower?"

The butler shook his head desperately, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, and hurriedly replied: "Your Highness, it's really gone! I only bought it that time, and since then, I have never seen this kind of flower again. Afterwards, I also specially asked the shopkeeper who sold flowers. He told me that this kind of flower is not produced in large quantities in the Tang Dynasty, and the cost of transporting it from the place of production to here is too high, so no merchant is willing to do business with this kind of flower anymore!"

King Cheng listened to the butler's earnest explanation and actually believed it to a point. After all, this butler had been following him for many years and was loyal to him. Moreover, he had the indentures of his entire family in his hands, so he would not dare to deceive him. Although this incident was an unintentional mistake, it was the culprit that caused the Cheng Palace to have no offspring for several years. So after thinking for a while, King Cheng finally decided to order the butler to be punished with 20 strokes of the cane as a warning to others.

When the butler heard that he could save his life by being punished with only twenty strokes of the cane, he felt relieved and immediately knelt down and kowtowed to King Cheng, muttering to himself: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy! Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing me! In the future, I will do my best to serve You, even if it means sacrificing my life..." After expressing his gratitude, the butler slowly stood up, his face full of relief for surviving the calamity.

At this time, King Cheng had already sent his men to the courtyard where Princess Cheng lived to take away the potted plants that had caused the trouble. Soon, several servants arrived at the princess' courtyard and carefully lifted the potted plants and walked out.

At this time, Princess Cheng was playing with the princess in the yard, quietly observing all this. Seeing this, she understood in her heart that the prince had found out that these flowers were the culprit of this incident. However, Princess Cheng seemed to be unaware of this. Seeing someone moving the potted plants away, she couldn't help but look puzzled and said to one of the servants who came to move them: "Oh, what's going on? Why are you suddenly moving these potted plants away? I like them very much, especially when they bloom, the scenery is so beautiful!"

The servant hurriedly stopped and bowed respectfully to Princess Cheng, then bowed his head and replied: "My princess, this is what the prince ordered us to do. Please don't blame me." After that, he continued to carry the potted plants out of the yard with the other servants.

Princess Cheng nodded slightly to show that she knew about this, and said softly: "Oh, since it is the prince's order, then let's move out." Although she said this, there was a subtle flash of vigilance in her eyes!

Although she handled the matter perfectly without leaving even the slightest trace, she was still filled with worry and uneasiness in her heart. She knew very well that the prince was very clever, and if he really noticed anything, the consequences would be disastrous. So, she forced herself to calm down and tried to act as if nothing had happened, as if nothing had ever happened.

She smiled and continued to play with the child. However, only she knew that her heart was like a turmoil, and she kept thinking about how to deal with it. She thought to herself: "It seems that I must find a suitable time as soon as possible to tell my brother about this."

At the same time, although King Cheng had not yet found out that the incident was directly related to the princess, he did not give up. He was suspicious and felt that there must be something fishy, ​​so he called the servants who were responsible for carrying the potted plants to ask one by one. When asked if the princess had said anything at the time, the servant replied tremblingly: "Your Majesty, the princess just asked a simple question at the time, and there was no other words." After hearing this, King Cheng nodded to show that he understood!

Afterwards, he immediately sent someone to invite the experienced and skilled doctor in the mansion. After carefully checking his pulse, the doctor carefully prescribed several exquisite prescriptions for conditioning his body, and explained in detail the dosage and method of taking various medicinal materials.

When the night slowly covered the palace like a huge black carpet, the whole palace was shrouded in a quiet darkness. He walked lightly under the moonlight towards the courtyard where Princess Cheng lived. When he opened the door, a faint floral fragrance filled his nose, making him feel relaxed and happy.

When he entered the house, he saw Princess Cheng and her lovely daughter sitting at the table preparing to eat. When they saw him come in, the mother and daughter immediately smiled with joy. The family sat together and enjoyed a rich and delicious dinner in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

After dinner, he did not leave in a hurry, but played with his lively and lovely daughter. Looking at his daughter's innocent smile and cheerful running figure, his heart was filled with fatherly love and warmth. After a long time, his daughter was finally tired of playing, so he gently carried her to the bed and hummed a lullaby gently, and soon he successfully coaxed his daughter into a sweet dream.

After his daughter fell asleep, he tiptoed to Princess Cheng and sat down. Then he leaned over to her and said in a voice as soft as a feather: "I haven't been here to accompany you for quite a while. Will you blame me for this?"

In fact, as early as when he just stepped into the courtyard, the clever King Cheng had already seen through his real purpose of coming here - he just wanted to test whether he had any relationship with those flowers. However, she remained calm, just smiled slightly, and replied softly: "What are you talking about, Your Majesty? Nowadays, there are many complicated affairs in the court, and you are busy all day long for state affairs. In addition, there are several other sisters in our palace who also need your care and attention. As a princess, how can I be jealous of others because of such a trivial matter?" After speaking, she raised her head and looked at the man in front of her affectionately, her eyes full of understanding and tolerance.

King Cheng nodded slightly, then slowly lowered his head, gently held her delicate hand, and said softly, "Princess, you are the one who can understand me the most." After that, he raised his head again, his eyes were deep and ardent, as if they contained endless tenderness and affection, and his affectionate look moved people. "I haven't had a good chat with the princess for a long time. Today, I have the rare time, so I want to have a good chat with the princess!"

Princess Cheng stared quietly at the man in front of her, watching him pretend to be affectionate, but without showing any abnormality on his face.