Chapter 306 Troubled Times

Myeonghye Palace.

The old locust tree has more leaves this year than last year.

Although it cannot be said to be lush, you can see the greenness at a glance.

The leaves trembled slightly in the air, as if the tree trunk had grown many small green wings.

Pei Shu held Chujiu in her arms and took a nap in the rocking chair.

Dongyue sat beside him, scratching Chujiu's head and saying:

"Everyone in the Eastern Palace privately says that the Crown Prince's temper is getting worse every year. When he gets angry in the palace, he's more frightening than anyone else. He's always ready to beat or kill palace servants..."

"The imperial physician has been there many times, but the prince is still unconscious, and the people in Ganyang Palace don't seem to have woken up either."

Pei Shu put Chujiu down and said, "Let's go to Fushou Palace."

In the Fushou Palace, the Queen Mother knelt before the Buddha, closed her eyes and chanted scriptures.

She wore a thin autumn jacket and looked fatter than in summer.

As people get older, they become a little afraid of the cold.

Ever since Ning An went to marry, the capital seemed to have entered autumn.

Autumn is an eventful time.

The Queen Mother didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the previous dynasty, but these series of events made her restless.

Every time something happened in the palace, the Queen Mother always felt complicated.

Half happy, half worried.

What she was worried about was that at a time of internal and external troubles, the emperor and the crown prince had both fallen. What would happen if something else happened?

On the other hand, she recalled how the late emperor had allowed Empress Yuan to persecute the harem, and she felt that this was retribution from heaven for the Murong family. She felt a secret pleasure in watching the Murong family's turmoil and the demise of their descendants.

The Empress Dowager couldn't calm down and kept reciting Buddhist scriptures.

Nanny Gui said, "Empress Dowager, Concubine Hui is here."

The Queen Mother still remained kneeling before the Buddha:

"She's here again?"

Pei Shu has been coming to Fushou Palace frequently these days, almost every day.

Nanny Gui: "Maybe he panicked when he saw the emperor was ill."

The Queen Mother could also roughly understand Pei Shu's thoughts, after all, she had also been a concubine in the harem.

Pei Shu had previously been favored by the emperor, but now that the emperor has fallen and the prince is in a coma, she naturally wants to find another backer in the palace.

The Queen Mother twisted her Buddhist beads, her expression unchanged: "Bring her to the temple."

Soon, Pei Shu entered the Buddhist hall.

Her eyes were a little swollen, as if she had cried last night.

The Queen Mother knew the answer but still asked, "Why did Concubine Hui come to my place?"

Pei Shu knelt on the futon behind the Empress Dowager and said, "Empress Dowager, the Emperor is ill and I am worried, so I came here to chant sutras and calm my mind."

The Queen Mother said: "The Emperor is ill, and there are imperial physicians to treat him. The affairs of the previous dynasty are also handled by the court officials. There is no point in you worrying."

Pei Shu lowered her head and said, "What the Queen Mother said is true, but I am really worried. When the Emperor went to visit the Crown Prince two days ago, he met me on the palace road and took me to the East Palace."

"The Emperor went to the Eastern Palace, and upon his return, he fell ill from coughing up blood due to worry about the Crown Prince. Seeing this, I was terrified and had nightmares for several days, unable to sleep. I sat in the Buddhist temple here, the Empress Dowager, and chanted some sutras, which helped me find some peace of mind."

The Queen Mother paused for a moment while twisting her Buddhist beads.

"You just said that you were haunted by nightmares after accompanying the Emperor to visit the Crown Prince?"

Pei Shu nodded.

The Queen Mother turned around and saw Pei Shu's haggard face and slightly swollen eyes. She didn't seem to be lying, and it looked like she hadn't gotten a good night's rest.

After the prince fainted, the queen mother also went to the East Palace to see him once.

At that time, the Queen Mother only heard the Prince mumbling "headache".

The prince's headache had lasted for more than a day or two, and the empress dowager knew why, but the emperor had previously refused to allow monks to enter the palace to perform rituals, so the empress dowager didn't care.

Now, hearing Pei Shu say that she was haunted by nightmares, and thinking about the Emperor and Tutor Zhang falling ill, as well as the Crown Prince beating and killing palace maids, the Empress Dowager frowned.

Could it be that the evil spirits in the Eastern Palace have become so serious?

The Queen Mother looked at Pei Shu's peaceful expression as she knelt in front of the Buddha, and felt that it was because she chanted sutras in the Buddhist temple every day that she was not invaded by the resentful and evil spirit of the Eastern Palace.

Pei Shu devoutly recited Buddhist scriptures for an hour in the Buddhist temple of Fushou Palace, then said goodbye to the empress dowager with a calm expression and left.

That calm expression was completely different from the anxious look he had when he first arrived.

The Queen Mother pondered for a while in the Buddhist temple:

"Let's go to Ganyang Palace. I'm going to see the emperor."

The Queen Mother took Nanny Gui to Ganyang Palace.

There were constant coughing sounds in Ganyang Palace.

Murong Yu, who was coughing violently, also thought of what he had said before about the resentful and evil aura in the East Palace.

When he went to the East Palace, he saw that the prince's face was pale and he didn't look like a living person.

Anything happening to the crown prince would shake the foundation of the country.

Nothing must happen to the prince at this time.

Murong Yu was a little surprised when he heard that the queen mother had come.

Although he was raised by the Queen Mother, the relationship between mother and son was not close. When he was sick, the Queen Mother would at most send someone to ask about him, which was just a formality.

After the Queen Mother entered the Ganyang Palace, she said nothing but to Murong Yu:

"Your Majesty, I have visited the Crown Prince at the Eastern Palace. Even after all this, Your Majesty still refuses to summon anyone to the palace to perform the ritual?"

This sentence hit Murong Yu's mind. Murong Yu did not object, but only said:

"I am considering this matter."

The Queen Mother said helplessly: "The Emperor can consider it, but the Crown Prince may not be able to wait. The Emperor was concerned about the royal family's reputation and did not want anyone to know about the grand ritual in the palace."

"There's war in the north now. The Emperor can just announce it's to pray for the souls of the fallen soldiers."

Murong Yu nodded.

This reason is acceptable, and it also shows that the king cares about his soldiers.

When the Queen Mother saw Murong Yu's reaction, she knew that Murong Yu had been persuaded.

After all, she had raised Murong Yu for more than ten years and knew some of his temper.

I clearly want to do something, but I always need other excuses to cover up my real thoughts.

Moreover, Murong Yu was not smart and not generous enough since he was a child.

The Queen Mother once thought that it was better for the child to be a little stupid, at least he listened to her.

But later, after Murong Yu ascended the throne, he became self-willed and gradually stopped taking her seriously. He was even stupid enough to get rid of the Pei family.

The Queen Mother then thought of He Tingfang's recent case.

He Tingfang has been working with Murong Yu for more than 20 years. How could Murong Yu only know about the things he did now?

The Queen Mother could only sigh once more that she had no choice in the past, unable to give birth to her own child, and could only raise a stupid one. At the same time, she sneered once more, thinking that the previous emperor had sinned, and most of the descendants left by the Murong family were confused.

The Queen Mother stayed in Ganyang Palace for a short time before leaving.

That evening, an imperial decree was issued from the palace:

The monks of Ciguang Temple are well versed in Buddhist teachings, and their philosophy is to save the world with compassion and liberate all living beings. Three thousand monks were specially summoned to the palace to set up an altar and chant sutras to comfort the souls of the soldiers in heaven!