Chapter 661 Xie Shang's Love Affairs

In fact, Aoxue and Lianye had been standing outside since they came out of the small kitchen. She looked very serious. Today, she had gone to find Consort Lan and discovered that she had been taken to a villa by a group of men in black. After Aoxue investigated, she learned that the villa belonged to the Shang family.

She waited until the afternoon and was shocked to see Commander Shang go to the villa. She speculated about the relationship between Commander Shang and Consort Lan, and that the person helping them was the Empress. It seemed that Granny Wang also knew about this.

The Empress once secretly asked her about whether there was an antidote for the amnesia drug. She couldn't tell the Empress the truth—the Emperor had taken the antidote—so she could only say there wasn't one.

Why would the Empress voluntarily allow Consort Lan to leave the palace?

Seeing her acting mysteriously, Jiang Fenghua asked, "What happened?"

Ao Xue said softly, "This subordinate saw Commander Shang and Consort Lan. She seems to be pregnant."

Jiang Fenghua's eyes flickered slightly, but she quickly calmed down. Ao Xue must have seen her let He Lan Yanran out of the car when she came to see her alone. She said, "You met with her."

“No, I didn’t show myself.” Ao Xue said again, “Why would Your Majesty help her? If the Emperor finds out about her affair with Commander Shang, it will be a big problem.”

"Too many tragedies have already occurred in the palace. If she stays in the palace, she will only face death. I do not want to see anyone else die in the palace because of Jiang Fenghua. She cannot bear any more lives on her shoulders."

Ao Xue was stunned. "Their deaths have nothing to do with Your Highness. Your Highness has never harmed them. How could Your Highness think like this?"

Jiang Fenghua said, "When I saw the way Zhang Jingjing and Pan Nianru died, I knew that Helan Yanran was pregnant. At that moment, I seemed to see Helan Yanran's tragic death. The only way to keep her alive was to let her leave the palace."

“Your Majesty should know that if she were an ordinary woman, she wouldn’t survive doing such a thing. She is a woman from the capital. How could she dare to have an affair with a man?” Aoxue continued, “She dares to cheat on her husband, so she has to bear the consequences. Your Majesty is just too kind-hearted. I’m worried that if the matter is exposed, it will bring trouble upon Your Majesty.”

Jiang Fenghua knew what Ao Xue was thinking. She said, "There is a reason for this. I can only live if I can make people think that she is dead. If it is really exposed, then it is her fate."

Aoxue felt very guilty and remorseful. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have asked my master for the amnesia medicine, which caused Your Majesty to forget everything. If Your Majesty had stayed in the palace, the concubines in the harem wouldn't have caused trouble, and they wouldn't have died."

Jiang Fenghua didn't think too much about it and asked, "Is there an antidote for the amnesia drug? Last time I asked you, you were evasive. I hope you will tell me the truth."

After a moment of contemplation, Aoxue said, "We all think it's better for Your Majesty not to remember the past. At least Your Majesty is living as you please now, without so many rules and regulations to restrict you. As long as Your Majesty is happy, that's all that matters."

Jiang Fenghua could only smile bitterly. "Is it because there are no rules of etiquette to restrain me? This is the palace, I am the empress, and every word and action of mine is under everyone's watchful eyes. I still have to abide by the rules. How can I live so easily as to do whatever I want?"

“With the Emperor protecting Her Majesty, who would dare to disobey him?” Aoxue continued, “Actually, the Emperor really loves Her Majesty. Her Majesty shouldn’t blame the Emperor for Bai Yuhan’s matter. I don’t believe that she didn’t have feelings for the Emperor when she entered the palace. She knew that the Emperor didn’t like her and didn’t fall for the Empress Dowager’s scheme, so she wanted to leave.”

There's also Consort Su. The Emperor was deceived by her. Although he was a prince with an enviable status and a high-ranking prince, he had no friends from childhood to adulthood, and even lacked paternal and maternal love. I heard that he went to the military camp when he was very young, but was later kicked out and ostracized. He even went to the late Emperor for help, but the late Emperor never stood up for him. It was Lin Feng and Ye Ying who helped him, but they were ultimately just guards and servants.

When the Emperor met Su Tingwan, he was also fooled by her pretense. She didn't love the Emperor; she only loved his status. Consort Su was always giving advice to her niece, perhaps knowing that the Emperor would eventually become the emperor. In fact, the Emperor was also deceived by them...

Jiang Fenghua sighed deeply after hearing this. Granny Wang had also said that those who enter the palace and do not love power but only men will not live long.

She listened quietly as Ao Xue recounted Xie Shang's past. She hadn't expected him to have such a difficult childhood. After all, he was a prince, and weren't princes supposed to be high and mighty? His father treated him so badly, yet he still managed to make him emperor.

Aoxue chatted with her for a while and then left. She didn't say whether there was an antidote or not. Everyone just hoped she would be happy.

So she's lucky; so many people care about her and protect her. Why should she be unhappy about things that have nothing to do with her?

She wondered: Was Xie Shang really that pitiful when he was a child? No wonder Granny Wang said that the Empress Dowager was sometimes like a madwoman. It was truly a miracle that Xie Shang wasn't ruined in her care.

Aside from being a terrible womanizer, Xie Shang was quite concerned about national affairs.

Granny Wang said that there are few good men, and men above the imperial power are even worse. If you want to be a woman above the imperial power, you have to treat men as objects. The key is whether they are useful or not. Who would be willing to throw away something useful? If it is easy to use, it is acceptable.

How many men are as loyal to their wives as Jiang Taifu? A person's life is very long. Those who spend their days studying love and romance are destined to be narrow-minded.

Thinking of these words, Jiang Fenghua couldn't help but smile. Granny Wang was indeed a wise woman; how did she come to understand these truths about life?

It was still early and she couldn't sleep, so she found a book on the bookshelf and leaned against the soft couch to read. She didn't know when she fell asleep.

Just then, Jiang Fenghua, half asleep, heard someone talking outside the door. She suddenly woke up and heard Xie Shang talking to the eunuch on duty. She then closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep again.

Xie Shang pushed open the door and came in. He saw that the lamp wick on the table was only the size of a bean, and Jiang Fenghua was leaning against the soft couch as if she was asleep.

He tiptoed toward her and saw that she was sleeping soundly with her eyes closed. Not wanting to disturb her, he found a blanket to cover her and took the book from her hands.

He glanced at the book title. Why was Ruan Ruan suddenly reading this kind of book? Had she forgotten everything, so she had to relearn etiquette?

Xie Shang sat down beside her again and began to flip through the pages: the Six Arts of a Gentleman—rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, mathematics…

The lamp wick went out, but he didn't turn it up too bright, afraid of waking her. He simply moved closer to the lamp and continued reading.

Jiang Fenghua saw that he came in but did nothing, except cover her with a blanket and secretly read her book. She lay on her side in the same position, and she was too embarrassed to turn over until he left, so as not to disturb him.

Who would have thought he would return tonight!

Just then, the oil lamp on the table suddenly went out, plunging the room into darkness. Jiang Fenghua saw that there was no light at all, and thought that the oil must have burned out. She took this opportunity to turn over, otherwise half of her body was unresponsive and numb.

Just as she turned over, Xie Shang also got up to relight the oil lamp, but as soon as he got up, Jiang Fenghua pressed down on his brocade robe.