Normally, it was very uncommon for the Queen to return, when she was asked to move out. So De Fu did not have to take over the task of reporting everything about her, but during the recent period, De Fu could tell that the King did not hate the Queen. Instead, he was thinking about her all the time.
When the Queen recovered, she was definitely coming back to the court. Since that was the case, De Fu had to pay attention to that. Therefore, he asked his subordinate to fetch the portrait whilst he reported the situation to the King.
The King's heart skipped a beat as he heard the news about the Queen. He was most worried about the Queen at the moment.
She was alone in the town, and despite the excellent environment, it was still not the well-facilitated court. They needed to make full preparations, but the King believed that she was coming home soon. Yet even to this moment, she was still suffering.
"What happened?" The King looked serious. If the situation was bad, he had to pay a visit. He needed to bring her home, otherwise something terrible might happen.
De Fu looked at the King. He realized that he had made the right bet. The King cared very much about The Queen.
He said with a small voice. "The messenger said that the Queen is getting worse. She must have caught a cold on the way under such snowy weather. The road there wasn't that smooth, so she coughed blood the moment she arrived. Everyone in the town got frightened, and doctors were asked to come, but she is not recovering, so the message was sent here."
De Fu found the whole thing strange.
When the Queen left the court, she had not been in a good status. And she wasn't doing well on the way there either.
That was what people in the town usually did - they only reported major events and concealed the small ones. So when the message arrived in the court, it basically meant that it was a serious matter.
It was difficult to make a decision whether she should be brought back here or not, but he was still a servant, so he had to let the King make the decision.
The King's expression sank. Hearing the news, he not only felt uncomfortable, but also furious.
When the Queen left, it had already been snowing really heavily. She could have waited for a couple of more days before leaving, but it had been the Empress Dowager who insisted that she should leave. Now something terrible happened.
The King suddenly felt a touch of grudge.
He understood that the Queen was from the Jiang Family and Honored Princess Jing was from the Yao Family, so that the Empress Dowager preferred Honored Princess Jing, but the Queen was after all, his Queen, and he had already dropped his grudge. And the Empress Dowager should consider his feelings. The Empress Dowager did not have to drive the Queen into a desperate corner, seeing that he still had feelings for her.
The King was about to say something, when an eunuch came in.
He was holding the portrait.
The King had to stop himself from saying anything more and looked at the Prince of the North Qi. He was still present and should be dealt with directly first.
"Show the portrait to the Prince." The King stressed and said, "This is the portrait put in the special palace, where the imperial children's portraits are kept. The painter updates a portrait of each of them every year, and this is a portrait painted on Xunyang's birthday. She has not changed much, please take a look at it."
Xuan Lin unrolled the portrait and was startled.
"Satisfied?" the King asked.