Chapter 297 As long as she loves him, he can give her the whole world.

Empress Cheng tried calling him, "Shang'er..."

Xie Shang's heart was as cold as ice. "Mother, please go back first. I will return to pay my respects to you when I have time." This was the filial duty he should fulfill as a son, nothing more.

He wouldn't say these words to hurt his mother's feelings; he could only bury them deep in his heart.

The eunuchs and palace maids outside the door knelt on the ground, none of them daring to look up into the room.

Empress Cheng's face darkened. "Shang'er, please rest well. Your mother will return to the palace now." She dared not anger him any further.

She only knew that she could never warm her son's heart, but she never thought that Xie Shang had mistakenly regarded someone else as his biological mother throughout his childhood, which led to his cold and hard personality.

Even though Xie Shang knew from Jiang Fenghua's intentional or unintentional analysis that she was his mother and they were mother and son, he still never received a single bit of genuine warmth from Empress Cheng.

He had people planted around him by the Empress's side, and he was always taken care of by others because of his status.

Ha! It's because of his status again.

Seeing Empress Cheng leave, Xie Shang finally released Jiang Fenghua, who was crying uncontrollably.

Xie Shang was already extremely annoyed, and he didn't even want to talk to Jiang Fenghua anymore. He just wanted to be alone.

Seeing Jiang Fenghua crying like this, he said, "That's just how Mother is. How can I comfort you so that you won't feel wronged?"

Jiang Fenghua suddenly cried even harder, without saying a word, and hugged him tighter and tighter.

Xie Shang was stunned and momentarily lost. Seeing her crying like this, he forgot all about Su Tingwan and hugged her tightly, holding her waist and letting her vent her grievances. That's just how his mother was; she never considered others.

Jiang Fenghua was the wife his mother arranged for him to marry. What did she do wrong? If she liked his power, she married him for the position of Crown Princess. He wasn't even the Crown Prince when she married him. In the end, his mother only treated Jiang Fenghua as a pawn when she married her.

After all, it was an imperial decree from her father that led her to marry him. Should he question Su Tingwan about whether she also had ulterior motives because of her words?

Besides the vague little girl in his heart, the only people in this world who truly care about him are Jiang Fenghua, who is now by his side. As long as she loves him, he can give her the whole world.

"I stink, are you sure you want to keep holding me like this?" Xie Shang said deliberately. "If you don't say anything, I'm going back to Chengguang Palace."

Jiang Fenghua got up from his arms. Her eyes were swollen from crying, as if she had vented her anger. "I don't feel wronged. With Your Highness protecting me, I don't feel wronged. No matter how the Empress Dowager punishes me, I know I have Your Highness and our child. That's enough."

All her attempts to coax him were in vain; Empress Cheng's outburst only helped her.

In her previous life, Empress Cheng had said even more hurtful things, and she could only suffer in silence, but it was all for nothing. Now, she was using Empress Cheng's temper against her.

Xie Shang didn't ask her if she was like Su Tingwan; he was content just to feel her presence by his side.

"Let me take you horseback riding!" he whispered close to her ear. "Go out and relax, and you'll forget all your unhappiness."

"Hmm." She nodded. "However, I may need to take a bath first, otherwise I won't be able to go out dressed like this."

“I was just thinking the same thing, I’ll go with you to take a bath.” His voice was low and ambiguous. “It seems like it’s been half a month since we last saw each other, I’ve missed you so much.”

"Your Highness, I also miss you..."

The palace maids and eunuchs outside the door knelt on the ground, all feeling sorry for the Crown Princess.

The room was a mess, and Hongxiu couldn't hold back her tears. In the end, she had someone quietly clean up the floor before she asked someone to fetch water.

Xie Shang dismissed everyone before carrying Jiang Fenghua into the bathroom.

Lin Feng didn't actually go to invite Imperial Physician Mei; he just hid outside with Lianye to avoid suffering any undeserved calamity from the Empress.

Lianye heard the Empress's insults and tears streamed down her face. "Why? It's clearly not the Crown Princess's fault."

“The Crown Prince knows, didn’t you hear? The Crown Prince will protect your young lady. Rushing in will only harm yourself. Once you enter the palace, you can’t be impulsive. That’s the only way to save your life.” Lin Feng knew Lianye’s temperament.

Lianye said, "I know, I'm not stupid. Every day feels like walking on a knife's edge, I have to be careful and cautious, afraid that I might lose my life in a moment."

Lin Feng stared at her face. This was the first time he had seen her so closely, and he moved closer and closer.

Lianye realized what was happening and asked, "What are you doing?"

Lin Feng blushed instantly and quickly dodged, saying, "There's a spider in your hair, let me remove it for you." He had the desire but not the courage.

Lianye said, "Thank you for earlier, otherwise I was really afraid I would have caused trouble for the Crown Princess."

"It's alright, that's just the Empress's temper. I've been used to it since I was a child. Just don't get close to her when she's scolding people." Lin Feng then told her how to deal with the Empress. "The Empress usually makes a lot of noise but does little. In the end, she's the one who backs down first. She can't do anything about the Crown Prince. He can listen to her if he wants to, or he can ignore her if he doesn't."

-

On the other side, Empress Cheng came out of Chenxi Palace. She was naturally furious with the Crown Prince. "Why didn't you servants help me up just now?"

Granny Xi didn't go in to break up the fight earlier. She knew that if she did, the Crown Princess might suffer even more. So far, the Crown Prince had only favored one concubine and hadn't touched anyone else, especially Consort Tang, whom the Empress favored. The Empress had paved the way for him, but the Crown Prince hadn't made a move. The Empress assumed it was all the Crown Princess's fault and just hoped that the Empress would calm down and stop scolding her.

Everyone bowed their heads, looking cautious. Empress Cheng continued, "Jiang Fenghua deserves to be scolded by me. As the mistress of the Eastern Palace, she should have taken the initiative to let the ladies serve her in bed one by one. If she had handled this matter properly, who would have fought over it? All of this was caused by her domineering attitude towards the emperor."

"I only just found out that Shang'er has always resented me for not letting him marry Su Tingwan as his principal wife. If I had done so, would Shang'er and I be in a different relationship now? It's too late to say anything now." Empress Cheng sighed to herself.

"Did Granny Wang say how Su Tingwan angered Shang'er that led to her being sent to the Cold Palace?" Empress Cheng asked again.

Granny Xi said, "Granny Wang told me that Consort Su and Concubine Ye conspired to spread rumors, which was discovered by the Crown Prince. Consort Su even said she didn't like the Crown Prince anymore and said many hurtful things, which made the Crown Prince faint from anger." It had nothing to do with the Crown Princess, but the Empress scolded her.

Upon hearing this, Empress Cheng asked, "Did Su Tingwan upset Shang'er?" Even so, it was also due to Jiang Fenghua's poor supervision of the Eastern Palace.

"How did Ye Susu get involved? Are she and Su Tingwan on good terms?"

"According to Granny Wang, Ye Susu and Consort Su were close when they were in the Crown Prince's residence. Naturally, they were unhappy that the Crown Princess was favored. This time, it's probably because they saw Consort Song being favored that Consort Ye stirred up these things. In the end, it was Miss Lu who stood up and said that she and His Highness the Crown Prince were innocent." This means that the two of them conspired to deal with the Crown Princess. Granny Xi didn't dare to speak up for Jiang Fenghua either. Granny Wang was originally an empress's spy planted in the Eastern Palace.

The Empress was increasingly puzzled. If the Crown Prince didn't like Lu Xuefei, why did he send her to Chengguang Palace as a maid in the first place? Did Shang'er like Su Tingwan or not?

Ye Susu is pregnant, how could he not like her? Now he's even banished Ye Susu to the cold palace.

Unable to understand, Empress Cheng decided to personally visit the Cold Palace.

Su Qingqing is still locked up in the Cold Palace.