Chapter 479 Could it be that they've joined forces?

Prince Rui and Prince An left the Imperial Study. They walked in silence for a while before Prince Rui stopped, turned to Prince An, and said with a hint of gratitude, "Just now..."

"Hmph!" Before Prince Rui could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Prince An's cold snort. Then he strode away, his back view filled with resentment. Prince Rui smiled slightly, then walked towards the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace.

Inside the Cining Palace, the Empress and her officials' families had all left. Inside the sleeping quarters, the incense burner emitted a delicate fragrance of sandalwood, but it couldn't mask the pervasive smell of medicine.

The Empress Dowager leaned against the soft pillows at the head of the bed, her face pale and her weary eyes looking towards the palace entrance. She asked the old woman standing in front of the bed, "How long has it been?"

The old woman thought for a moment and said, "His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness Prince Rui have been gone for about a quarter of an hour."

The Empress Dowager withdrew her gaze, gave a faint "hmm," and closed her eyes again. The old woman bent down to tuck the blanket around her and whispered, "Shall I go and see?"

"No need," the Empress Dowager sighed. "The Emperor is in a bad mood right now. If you go there now, he'll think I'm protecting Yan'er, and he might take his anger out on Yan'er even more."

The old woman smiled and gently comforted him, "His Highness Prince Rui was raised by the Emperor himself, and the Emperor dotes on him. Nothing will happen."

“Normally nothing will happen,” the Empress Dowager glanced at the door again and said, “But he is the emperor, and the country is more important than anything else. If he gets stuck on a fuss and thinks that Yan Ge’er and Jiang Yu are endangering the country, he might take drastic measures.”

The old woman paused for a moment upon hearing this and said, "Since your imperial decree has already been written, why not present it now? The Emperor is filial and would not go against your wishes."

The Empress Dowager touched the sandalwood box beside her, which contained the imperial edict she had written to bestow the marriage upon him. She sighed again and said, "The Emperor is also my son. In the conflict between him and Yan Ge'er, if I side with Yan Ge'er, even if the Emperor listens to me, he will still dislike Yan Ge'er in his heart."

But if this imperial edict were to appear after I have passed away, even if the Emperor resented my favoritism towards Yan'er, he wouldn't hate him; at most, he would be saddened. However…”

The Empress Dowager tightened her grip on the box, her twilight-tinged eyes hardening as she said, "If it has to be done, this imperial edict must be issued as soon as possible."

The old woman sighed inwardly, but said aloud, "You're overthinking it. That won't happen."

"I hope so." The Empress Dowager closed her eyes. Just then, the old woman's voice rang out again, "His Highness has returned."

The Empress Dowager immediately opened her eyes again and saw Prince Rui smiling as he walked towards her. The nanny tiptoed out, and Prince Rui came over and sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing the Empress Dowager's worried eyes, he took her hand and said:

"When I went to the Imperial Study, I knelt down before my brother. He scolded me and was so angry that he smashed a cup. But the cup was far away from me, and not a drop of water splashed on me."

The Empress Dowager couldn't help but laugh at the playful tone of the words. But she asked, "Did he make you kneel the whole time?"

"No," Prince Rui immediately replied, "I knelt for a while and said my knees hurt. My elder brother scolded me a few times, but still told me to get up."

The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes and then said, "He does seem like a proper elder brother."

Prince Rui smiled and said, "Your subject knew that Your Majesty loved your subject the most."

The Empress Dowager chuckled, "Don't let your brother hear that. Don't let his age fool you; he can be quite petty at times."

“My imperial brother also loves his son,” Prince Rui said earnestly.

The Empress Dowager patted his hand and placed the sandalwood box in it. "This is the imperial decree I wrote for your marriage to Jiang Yu. Keep it safe. As for when to take it out, that's up to you."

Prince Rui looked down at the sandalwood box carved with lotus patterns, his eyes welling up with tears. He put the box back and said softly, "Mother, you don't need to worry about me. Yu'er and I have a solution."

The Empress Dowager placed the box into his hands again, then held his hand tightly and said firmly, "I know your concerns, but this is the last thing I can do for you as your mother. Please accept it."

Prince Rui felt a lump in his throat. He leaned down and gently rested his head on the Empress Dowager's body, his voice choked with emotion, and said, "The greatest fortune of my life is having you as my mother and my elder brother as my elder brother."

The Empress Dowager gently stroked his hair and said, "It is fate that we can be mother and son in this life. My son Yan is handsome, kind and intelligent. It is my good fortune to have a son like you."

...

The mother and son were talking, unaware that the emperor had been standing at the entrance of his bedchamber for a long time. In the end, he didn't go in but quietly left.

.........

In the Empress's Kunning Palace, all the eunuchs and maids in the palace tried to breathe as quietly as possible, so as not to upset their mistress who was in a bad mood.

Inside the small flower hall, the Empress sat on a soft couch, her face ashen, only her most trusted nanny keeping her company. The nanny poured tea for the Empress and said softly:

"Your Highness, the most important thing now is to quickly inform the Marquis and have him explain to the Duke of Chu and Prince Rui that the Yan family mother and daughter were able to enter the palace today at the suggestion of Consort De, and it has nothing to do with you."

The Empress took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "In the end, it was my mistake, and Consort Shu is also implicated in this matter."

“Yes,” the old woman said thoughtfully, “If it weren’t for the Second Miss Xiang sending a purse to His Highness Prince Rui, the Eldest Miss Yan wouldn’t have had the chance to say those words.”

"Hmph!" The Empress snorted heavily, got up and walked towards the study, saying, "In my opinion, Xiang Er was also being used. Didn't you see that when she said she was going to give Prince Rui a purse, Consort Shu wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into?"

As they entered the study, the nanny quickly prepared pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, then handed the pen to the Empress. The Empress took it, her face tense, and wrote down in detail the day's events before handing the letter to the nanny. The nanny immediately hurried out, handing the letter to a young eunuch and instructing him to deliver it quickly.

When they returned, the Empress's complexion had improved considerably. The old nanny also breathed a sigh of relief and stood beside the Empress. The Empress then said, "I just don't understand why Consort De would step forward at this time? The Emperor wants to punish the Prince of Lingnan and the Prime Minister; shouldn't the Crown Prince and Consort Su be the ones worried?"

"Could it be that they've joined forces?" the old woman pondered for a moment before asking.

The Empress shook her head with a furrowed brow. "No matter what, Consort De has tried to outsmart me. I will make her understand that if she wants to use me, she will have to pay the price."

"What do you want to do?" the old woman asked in a low voice.

The Empress gave a cold laugh, beckoned, and the nanny leaned in to whisper something in her ear...