Chapter 29 Chapter 29 [VIP]

The relationship between the emperor and his subjects is greater than that between father and son. The princess is of the same generation as the parents of her husband's wife. Although the imperial concubine is the daughter of the Duke of Yan, the emperor is willing to say this in front of his subjects, which is considered to be a demotion of his status.

Seeing this, Chen Rongshou hurriedly said, "The Duke and his wife are extremely affectionate. Even the Empress Dowager has heard of this. How could she not know that even tongues and teeth can clash? The Imperial Concubine is indeed young and impetuous, and occasionally reckless, but she knows when to correct her mistakes and is deeply self-reflective. How could Your Majesty be so concerned with a woman in the inner court? Why do you have to do this?"

Duke Yan paused, lowering his voice. "Your Excellency's words are polite," he said. "The Imperial Concubine often acts whimsically, often angering Your Majesty. Everyone in the household is filled with fear. I personally believe...she may not be blessed to serve the Emperor. Your Majesty, if you consider Wei's many years of service, please grant my personal request."

The smile lines on Chen Rongshou's face were about to break, and he thought to himself that this was not good. Did the Duke of Yan take any medicine today? Why did he keep fainting? Forget about the imperial concubine being out of favor. If His Majesty doesn't let her go back to the Wei family, who would dare to say this?

"The Imperial Concubine was jealous in the past, so she stayed in the temporary palace for a while, but I remember that no one from the Wei family came to visit her once."

Emperor Yuan Shuo glanced at the important official indifferently, a hint of dissatisfaction rising in his eyes. He slowly said, "Shi Heng, if you overdo the show, it will be difficult to end. You should stop when you've had enough."

Not everyone can retreat in order to advance in front of the emperor. The emperor will not waste his energy on these pretentious, greedy ministers who want to build a monument for themselves.

When Azhen became a concubine, Wei received numerous rewards for her kindness, but after she fell out of favor, the Duke of Yan's Mansion never deliberately made things difficult for her.

What's more, Wei Jingzhong was a devoted minister, but he was not very competent as a father and husband.

When his wife was seriously ill, he knew to stay at home, but he was willing to let such a frail girl go to the countryside to relax with some maids and servants. Those servants knew that their master didn't care about the young lady in the mansion, so they naturally treated her with contempt.

How could a child who grew up in a wealthy family know how to adapt to the situation? She only knew that no one cared about her anymore and she could act like a crazy girl. How could she know the dangers outside?

Even if she was found and returned home in the future, she had already suffered all the hardships. Even if she became a concubine and suffered the love of men that was almost humiliating, she would only call him "Aye" to ask for his love, and hoped that the man who had physical contact with her would give her tenderness.

She was hoping that her father could return the long-lost love, and since she couldn't find it, she placed her hope on a man who had sexual desires for her, completely disregarding the age difference between them.

But the Wei family, who gave her noble blood, almost ignored this child who grew up in the wind and rain. No one would think it was wrong that the wife of Duke Yan could not enter the palace frequently relying on her status as a lady of honor, but he allowed Wei Jingzhong to enter and leave the palace at will. However, out of awe for the emperor's favor, he was very restrained and only went to Zhaoyang Palace once.

When the imperial concubine was still in favor, Wei's actions were naturally enough to win praise from her colleagues, but when the imperial concubine fell out of favor, Wei's self-preservation became almost cold-blooded.

"How come I've never heard you say these words in the past six months?"

Emperor Yuan Shuo smiled and said softly, "Today you are acting like a loving father and a loyal minister."

In these little matters, the emperor did not care about others' insight into his likes and dislikes.

For someone over thirty to meet a beauty he falls in love with at first sight is certainly a romantic story, but if it happened to their future daughter, he would never allow her to have such thoughts.

How could she be so bold as to disregard the lives of her entire family just to have a chance encounter with a man she had never met?

Duke Yan took a deep breath. The emperor's tone was gentle, but his majesty was growing. He had served him for many years and could not fail to hear the sarcasm in his words.

But he had slept well for the past year. Although he hated his nominal daughter for dragging the Wei family into trouble, he finally decided to go before the emperor for some unknown reason.

"Your Majesty, I have been with you for thirty years. I have no intention of offering you my daughter for glory."

The Duke of Yan said calmly, "I would rather support her for life than see her deceive the emperor and damage his reputation."

Seeing that things were not going well, Chen Rongshou quickly ordered the servants to leave and returned to his original position trembling with fear, not daring to speak easily to cover up for Duke Yan.

...This father-in-law has probably lived enough today.

Although many people speculated that the imperial concubine entered the palace with the help of the Wei family, the emperor knew clearly that it must have been the imperial concubine's own idea. Even though the Duke of Yan had experienced many wars, he was still so frightened by his daughter that day that he fainted, and only recovered when he thanked her.

Until now, the relationship between the Wei clan and the imperial concubine cannot be said to be good.

But how can I say this in front of the emperor?

As expected, Emperor Yuanshuo smiled and said, "Shiheng believes that my enthroning of the Imperial Concubine and my favor towards her have dishonored the reputation of the Wei family."

The Duke of Yan bowed his head to the ground and said, "I dare not even have such thoughts."

"You dare not say,

Emperor Yuan Shuo glanced at his straight spine and said, "With your pedantry, do you think you can..."

Everyone has their own biases. Even if they are hit hard, they will not take their personal feelings to heart.

But today, when I think of his calmness and composure back then, I can't help but miss a pair of very charming eyes that loved to shed tears.

A tear fell,

She was born delicate and beautiful, but was repeatedly abandoned by people: her father, her adoptive parents, her deceased husband... and even the king she serves now.

Duke Yan endured the emperor's wrath, but his face remained calm. He sighed softly, "I was tempted to hide my family's shame, but it only brought disaster upon me. Even if Your Majesty were to hand me over to the Supreme Court for questioning today, I would have deserved it."

Emperor Yuan Shuo was still angry, but seeing that he was determined to do what he wanted, he still shouted, "Get up!"

This time, the Duke of Yan stood up without much effort, but there was no eunuch who was good at reading people's expressions and currying favor with them to bring him a seat.

The emperor's meaning was very clear. He had offended the emperor many times today, so it would be best if he could tell some shameful family scandals, otherwise it would be difficult to resolve the matter.

"Your Majesty, what you said is exactly what I thought. I am not worthy of being called a father by your Majesty."

The Duke of Yan spoke slowly, "The Imperial Concubine is not my daughter. My wife took a liking to her and adopted her as her godparents. In a moment of greed, I saw that the Imperial Concubine had nowhere to live, and I thought her company would help my wife's illness. So I asked the Empress to use that child's name. Unexpectedly... she actually deceived Your Majesty."

He knew this was unconvincing, so he said softly, "How can parents not grieve when their son dies? My son, Sanlang, was born in a carriage, weak and frail, so I called him Sanniang. But the child died in his nurse's arms that night, and had to be hastily buried by the roadside."

This child had been tormented to the point of being emaciated while in his mother's womb, and he had never had much affection for this son: "My wife is naturally overthinking, and I couldn't let it go for the time being. I was at a loss, so after I took office I bought a newborn baby girl and adopted her as my own, to help her feel better."

Emperor Yuan Shuo rarely asked about the private family affairs of his ministers. He had heard that the wife of Duke Yan had gone crazy due to a great shock, and outsiders said it was because of the lost daughter.

The Duke of Yan recalled his wife's doting on the girl and sighed softly, "It's a pity that my daughter, infected by her wet nurse, died young. Later, when I couldn't hide it any longer, I had no choice but to say she was sent back home. Your Majesty is wise and wise, but my wife is sometimes unusual... There are so many rumors out there, it's hard for me to defend myself."

Compared to the lie that the child was sent to her hometown, people are always more willing to believe more outrageous rumors. The child was born to be unlucky for her parents, which made her father unhappy. He secretly sent the child to the countryside without telling his wife. The servants were afraid of the rebels and were unwilling to sacrifice themselves to protect the child. However, they claimed to the outside world that the girl was lost because of improper care.

At that time, the emperor was away, and members of the royal family were plotting a rebellion. The capital was not peaceful, and it was common for a few people to go missing, even though the child was born in the Duke of Yan's mansion.

Emperor Yuan Shuo frowned. This statement was so outrageous that it didn't seem like a fabrication.

If he wanted to deceive someone, he didn't have to change the child's gender.

If anyone wants to investigate, they only need to interrogate the midwife and servant who delivered the wife of the Duke of Yan to find out the gender of the baby.

After a moment, Emperor Yuan Shuo gently asked, "Why did you suddenly think of talking about this today?"

He lowered his head and said, "The Imperial Concubine and my wife get along very well. I originally thought that after she had waited for three years, I would choose a decent family for her and promise her a generous dowry, or perhaps even provide for her for life. Who would have thought... she has the honor of serving Your Majesty, but she doesn't know how to appreciate it. I'm afraid she has caused some trouble in the inner court a few days ago. As the head of the Wei family, I tremble in fear every day, fearing that she will cause another disaster in the future and implicate the entire Wei family. I really dare not remain silent, and I hope Your Majesty will punish me!"

In fact, he shouldn't have thought of recognizing this daughter from the beginning.

——She had just become the concubine of Duke Yan, and then the Eastern Palace came to visit her and presented her with many valuable gifts. The eunuch was trying to harm her in both overt and covert ways.

The former Madam Xiao had already caught the prince's eye.

Madam Xiao is weak and her mind is not very good. The prince hopes that he can take good care of her. Once the emperor arrives at the Duke of Yan's Mansion, the Eastern Palace will have its own way to teach the widow of Marquis Lingyang to become the first person under the Crown Princess.

At that time, he just thought that the imperial concubine and the prince had a secret relationship, so he had to pretend to be deaf and dumb to such matters.

No one could have imagined that the cup of wine that was supposed to be handed to the prince by a maid with ulterior motives was presented to the emperor by the imperial concubine.

A peony that is born noble falls to the dust and is then carefully picked up. This makes people love and pity it, and sigh for its rough fate. But a sparrow disguised as a fallen phoenix, repeatedly using it to gain people's sympathy, is committing a heinous crime and is unforgivable.

——What’s more, the imperial concubine deliberately deceived the current emperor.

Chen Rongshou carefully stole a glance at Emperor Yuan Shuo's expression, thinking about the fate of the imperial concubine and Wei, and his heart was almost chilled.

A woman must obey her husband after marriage. Concubine Wei's current glory does not come from the Wei family's illustrious military achievements, but Your Majesty does not like others to deceive her.

Although the imperial concubine seldom talked about the past, the emperor's indulgence showed his sympathy for her difficult situation.

If she had behaved herself and been a favorite concubine, Duke Yan would not have chosen to expose the matter in front of the emperor. However, this time the imperial concubine was almost sent back home. In Wei's view, the next time she would truly fall out of favor would be the next time.

Not only Chen Rongshou, but Duke Yan himself was also prepared to face the wrath of the king.

However, the water in the clock dripped down, until the tea on the imperial desk slowly turned cold. Emperor Yuan Shuo said calmly: "Does anyone else know about these things?"