nucmednet Chapter 245 Extra 21
Chapter 245 Extra 21
The Emperor was taken aback, then his face darkened with anger: "What? She's so close to Lady Cheng? What is she trying to do?"
The retired emperor glared at his son, annoyed: "She wants to use women to control Prince Duan, so that he can become her ally and help her son seize the throne of the crown prince!"
The Emperor was greatly surprised: "What? This is impossible!"
The Empress Dowager rolled her eyes at her son: "What do you mean it's impossible? I told you long ago that Cheng Shi is no good, but you just wouldn't listen!"
Throughout the past year, Lady Cheng has been the most beautiful woman in the harem, unmatched by anyone. Even the Empress had to show her deference, and the Empress Dowager had long been fed up with it. She had spoken to her son about it several times, but the Emperor was so infatuated with Lady Cheng that he wouldn't listen to her.
The Emperor Emeritus, exasperated, spoke sternly: "I am your father, and this is your mother. Would we harm you? We are of course thinking of you, considering your needs, and putting you first. If that Cheng woman were truly a good person, why would we speak ill of her to you? Actually, there's no reason to doubt her. You just need to investigate, and you'll find out whether she wants to seize the throne, whether she wants to control the court, and whether she wants to bring chaos to the country!"
The Emperor was skeptical upon hearing this, but he was determined to investigate thoroughly: "Very well, Your Majesty understands. I will immediately send people to investigate. If that Cheng woman is indeed harboring ill intentions, Your Majesty will punish her severely and never speak to her again. I will also take action against the entire Cheng family!"
The Emperor Emeritus nodded with satisfaction: "Very good. He truly deserves to be my son, and he is indeed a wise and decisive emperor in the hearts of the people!"
The emperor blushed. If Lady Cheng was indeed a bad person, then he was not a wise and good emperor.
The Empress Dowager then said, "In that case, let's release Prince Duan first! We should also bring Consort Qin and Princess Duan into the palace and properly appease them!"
The Emperor's face flushed slightly, a look of shame on his face: "Very well, Your Majesty, I understand. I will have someone release Prince Duan immediately and invite Consort Qin and Princess Duan into the palace!"
Immediately, he dispatched his personal eunuch to release Prince Duan. He also appointed the Empress to go to the palace gates and bring Consort Qin and Princess Duan into the palace to appease them.
The Empress, upon receiving the order, arrived at the palace gates as quickly as possible.
At this moment, Consort Qin was on the verge of fainting, and Zisu's complexion was also not good. Fortunately, she was skilled in martial arts and paid attention to her training; otherwise, she would have fainted as well.
The Empress was shocked and hurriedly said to the palace maids and nannies who had come with her, "Quickly help Consort Qin into the sedan chair!" She then said to Zisu, "Zisu, you have been wronged. The Emperor has already sent someone to release the Prince. Come with me to the palace quickly, have a good rest, and drink some hot tea."
Her eyes were filled with heartache and guilt.
Zisu said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Aside from saying thank you, she had no way to repay the favor. She understood that the Empress was undoubtedly instrumental in Prince Duan's release and her and Consort Qin's return to the palace. Now, with the Empress in a precarious situation, her act of helping her could easily anger the Emperor.
However, despite this, the Empress did not stand idly by. Zisu was deeply grateful. In that instant, she lowered her guard a little more towards the Empress. And she resolved to do even more diligently in the future to help the Empress maintain her beauty and health.
She believed that as long as the Empress lived well and for a long time, the people of the Duan Prince's Mansion would surely be well and have a good life. She planned to visit the palace every few days to bring the Empress drinks she made with water from the stream in her space, so that the Empress could appear younger and live longer.
The Empress Dowager waited at the entrance of Kunning Palace. Upon seeing Zisu, she went out to greet her from afar: "Oh dear, Zisu, you've suffered so much today! It's all the Emperor's fault, he's the one who's wrong. I've already reprimanded him! From now on, he will never again give women to Prince Duan, so you can rest assured!"
Consort Qin fainted while still in the sedan chair and was taken directly to a side hall of Kunning Palace to rest.
Zisu immediately knelt down and performed a deep bow: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Yulin is ashamed that Your Majesty has troubled us."
The Empress Dowager quickly helped her up herself: "Oh dear, I told you long ago that you don't need to kneel down to greet me. Just treat me like an ordinary elder and give me a curtsy. You're being too formal!"
In front of Zisu, she always referred to herself as "I" and never as "this humble woman".
Zisu would be lying if she said she wasn't moved. Just think, this was the Empress Dowager, the most noble woman in the entire Western Liang Kingdom. Yet, the Empress Dowager treated her with such kindness and gentleness.
After Zisu drank a cup of tea and ate a pastry, the Empress said again, "Don't worry, Prince Duan is probably already on his way back to the Prince's residence. It was the Emperor's personal eunuch who went to the prison to pick up the Prince and take him home."
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zisu quickly stood up again and bowed.
When the people from the General's Mansion and the Yu Mansion heard that Prince Duan had been arrested by the Emperor, they were all shocked and terrified.
Madam Yu couldn't help but stomp her feet: "How could Prince Duan defy the imperial decree! Defying the imperial decree is a serious crime! No matter what, he should agree first, and then he can decide what to do next."
Shangguan Mufeng's mood was also very heavy.
If Prince Duan is punished, who knows if his family will be raided and he will be exiled? No, he has to go to the Prince's residence to check. So he said to Madam Yu, "I'm going to the Prince's residence. You stay at home and don't go anywhere!"
Consort Qin slept for an hour before waking up. By then, the sky was ablaze with the colors of sunset. Zisu was anxious to return home. She longed to be back at the Prince's residence as soon as possible to see if the Prince had returned safely, and was very worried that Consort Qin might not wake up until dark.
Upon hearing that Consort Qin had awakened, she was overjoyed and quickly bid farewell to the Empress and Empress Dowager: "Your Majesty, thank you for your hospitality. It's getting dark, so I'll take my leave now. I will come with the Prince another day to express my sincere gratitude for your help!"
The Empress and Empress Dowager tried to persuade the guests to stay, but Zisu was determined to go home. So they prepared a lot of gifts for her and had the commander of the Imperial Guards personally escort the two of them home.
Back at the Prince's Mansion, Zisu rushed into Rongrui Hall.
Prince Duan was sitting in a rocking chair, talking to his youngest son, Lang'er.
Zisu quickly stepped forward, pulled him up from the chair, lifted his clothes, and carefully checked him: "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Prince Duan was both amused and exasperated. Fortunately, only Lang'er was in Rongrui Hall at the moment. It would have been inappropriate if Jin'er and the others had been there as well.
He hugged Zisu tightly: "I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine. No one has tortured me. Don't worry, I am Prince Duan. Without the Emperor's order, who would dare to lay a finger on me?"
Zisu couldn't help but cry, pounding her fists on his chest: "You scared me to death! No matter what happens next time, you can't disobey the imperial decree again! It's just three women, you can just accept them and leave them in a remote corner, and not touch them!" Disobeying the imperial decree, how stupid would that be?
Prince Duan said, "I don't want you to be sad, I don't want other women to bother you, and I don't want to bring trouble to the palace." He loved Zisu and couldn't bear to see her suffer any grievances. He wanted to give her the greatest happiness and joy.
"Ziqian, thank you! Knowing you and marrying you is the greatest happiness of my life!" Zisu nestled in his warm embrace, smiling through her tears.
Prince Duan hugged her tightly, his eyes welling up with tears: "No, I should be thanking you. Thank you for coming here, for allowing me to have you, to have eternal happiness and joy! Thank you for giving me five intelligent and lovely children, thank you!"
The two embraced and wept.
Lang'er's eyes darted around, and he suddenly said, "Father, Mother, what are you doing? I want a hug too! I want Mother to hug me!"
Upon hearing this, Zisu and Prince Duan were taken aback.
The two of them had gotten so carried away that they had completely forgotten about the little one. Luckily, the little one was still young, otherwise, they would have been utterly humiliated.
Zisu released Duanwang, bent down and picked up her precious son, saying with boundless love, "My little darling, your father and mother were just too excited and forgot about Lang'er for a moment. Mother will hold you now, and you can hold me for as long as you want!"
Lang'er grinned and said, "I know, Mother was just too happy because Father came back from prison, so Mother was so happy that she forgot about little Lang'er, right?"
Zisu couldn't help but smile, reached out and tapped his nose, and said cheerfully, "Yes, Xiao Lang'er is right! My little darling is so smart!"
When Prince Duan was arrested and imprisoned, no one in the family hid anything from Lang'er. Zisu and Prince Duan generally didn't conceal anything that happened in the family from their children, except for a few major, confidential matters. This way, the children could experience hardship from a young age and wouldn't develop overly naive personalities.
In this world, especially for members of the royal family, calamity can strike at any time, and such things are unpredictable. Whether the Duan Prince's family has a good life depends entirely on the Emperor's mood. If he is displeased, they may face confiscation of their property and exile. Therefore, from the age of three, the children are exposed to and prepared to deal with the ups and downs of life.