Chapter 180 Deadlock
Zhao Xuanyi went to the temporary palace and brought two hundred elite soldiers from the Eastern Palace.
To this day, he is extremely careful.
Cui Yanzhi followed him into the palace, and the others stayed outside.
The sound of porcelain breaking was heard in the hall.
"My Song family serves the country and the people. My father's loyalty is evident. How could he plot treason?"
Queen Song's voice was hoarse and she was furious. "Zhao Ju, you have such a vicious heart."
When Zhao Xuanyi stepped into the inner hall, he saw his mother's hysterical look.
After not seeing her for more than a month, Queen Song seemed to have aged ten years.
The emperor sat on the couch by the window, letting her make noise like a madman, his expression unchanged.
"Ayi," Queen Song turned around, tears rolling down her cheeks, "How is your grandfather?"
When the news of the fire in the Song family reached the palace, Queen Song vomited blood and fainted on the spot.
After waking up, he heard that his father was imprisoned for treason.
She wanted to return to the capital immediately, but the emperor fed her medicine and advised her, "The capital is in turmoil and there may be danger," and kept her in the palace.
Zhao Xuanyi supported his shaky mother and said, "My aunt insisted on killing him."
Queen Song turned back to look at the absent-minded emperor with red eyes and cried out shrilly, "Your Majesty!"
The emperor seemed to be frightened back to his senses.
"You're just going to watch my family being slaughtered?"
The emperor sighed and put down the teacup in his hand.
The cup contained not the usual tea, but a decoction for calming the nerves.
"Before I left the palace, I advised your father to resign and return home." The emperor's voice was helpless.
"Not only did he refuse to listen, he even claimed to have a clear conscience. As a result, he secretly raised secret guards and killed court officials."
The emperor sighed, "I can't blame my sister entirely for ending up like this."
Queen Song was going crazy. "This is clearly a trap set up by Zhao Ju. Can't Your Majesty see it?"
The emperor shook his head. "The secret guards were raised by him, not by the imperial sister. How could it be a frame-up?"
Then his eyes wandered to the window.
"I've been thinking about this for the past few days, and there's something I want to tell you."
"I'd better abdicate. This kingdom originally belonged to my sister, so I'll just give it back to her."
Zhao Xuanyi looked shocked.
Queen Song was struck by lightning and could not even stand.
"My sister is kind-hearted," the emperor actually smiled, as if he was saying something comforting. "After I abdicate, she will take good care of us, and our family of three can still be together."
"Your Majesty," Queen Song finally found her voice, but it broke in shock. "If you want to abdicate, you should give it to the Crown Prince."
Zhao Xuanyi suddenly came back to his senses. He immediately knelt down and said, "I beg Your Majesty to abdicate the throne to me."
He raised his head, his eyes filled with desperate determination. "The court is controlled by the Princess. She, along with the Minister Xiao, is forcing me to go to Yuezhou in the name of disaster relief. The journey is long and arduous, and I'm afraid I won't be able to return."
Queen Song only then learned of this matter and her heart was in a knot.
The wild land of Yuezhou is full of dense mountains and old forests, and miasma is rampant.
"How dare she!"
Queen Song trembled. "Your Majesty, listen to this! Does Zhao Ju have any intention of treating the Crown Prince well? She clearly wants to drive him to his death."
"Going to Yuezhou isn't that serious," the emperor patiently recounted the eldest princess's past. "Back then, at the age of fifteen, my sister dared to go to Yunnan to quell a rebellion."
Zhao Xuanyi was so blocked that he couldn't say a word.
"How can they be the same?" Empress Song was so anxious that she jumped up and down. "When she went to Yunnan, she brought so many people with her. General Hou was also with her. She was just pretending."
The emperor agreed with her and said, "Ayi, if you go to Yuezhou, you can take more people with you. There will be no danger. It is not a bad thing to go there and gain some experience."
Zhao Xuanyi felt like he was falling into an icy cave.
He had known that his father was a coward, but he never expected him to be so foolish.
The eldest princess clearly wanted to exile him to the border to eliminate future troubles, but the emperor really regarded it as a training.
Queen Song suddenly became quiet.
A terrible thought flashed in his eyes.
The pale lips slowly curled up into a smile that was uglier than crying.
"Very well," she said, taking two steps back, her phoenix robe draping on the ground. "Since Your Majesty is willing to hand over the country to someone else, I have nothing to say."
She turned and walked towards the palace door, her back straight, but she swayed suddenly at the threshold.
Zhao Xuanyi rushed forward to support her, only to find that his mother was trembling all over.
"Ayi, your father is crazy." Queen Song held her son's wrist with her backhand, and she leaned close to his ear and spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
At this moment, Han Gonggong, who served beside the emperor, came in and reported, "The princess is here."
The emperor turned a blind eye to the Queen and her son's misbehavior and said happily, "Let Yuanrong come in."
"Your Majesty, I feel unwell and will take my leave first," Queen Song said resentfully, "Prince, please help me return."
The mother and son left together.
When Zhao Yuanrong came in, the emperor was the only one in the hall.
She made the emperor happy with just a few words.
"Yuanrong, Aling is getting married, right?" asked the emperor.
"Yes, the wedding is in about ten days."
"I promised her that I would attend her wedding." The emperor said happily.
Zhao Yuanrong then asked, "Is my uncle going back to the palace?"
"It's boring to stay in the palace for too long."
The emperor and Zhao Yuanrong took off their shoes and sat cross-legged on the couch.
When Zhao Yuanrong was a child, the emperor often carried her to his palace, sat there, told her stories, and fed her snacks.
"A Ling has found her ideal husband, but where is our Yuan Rong?" The emperor handed him a piece of cake.
Zhao Yuanrong took it but didn't eat it. "I won't get married. I want to be like my mother."
"Nonsense," the emperor said with a deliberately stern face, "your mother really made the Empress Dowager very angry back then."
Zhao Yuanrong didn't want to say bad things about the empress dowager in front of the emperor.
He kept his head down and remained silent, playing with the pastries with his fingers.
The emperor lowered his eyes and looked at her, "Yuanrong, what do you think of the crown prince as your husband?"
Zhao Yuanrong looked up with astonishment in his eyes, "Uncle, please don't mess around with other people."
"You and the prince are childhood sweethearts," said the emperor.
"Song Yuzhen and Song Yujin were childhood sweethearts with him, as were Hou Xu, Pei Jingming, and I."
Zhao Yuanrong asked bluntly, "What did the prince say to you just now?"
"He asked me to abdicate to him."
The emperor was frank and winked, "I didn't agree."
Zhao Yuanrong grinned, "Fortunately you didn't agree."
"You should go and rest first," the emperor said, "or stay in Leqing Palace."
As long as Zhao Xuanyi doesn't leave, Zhao Yuanrong won't leave either.
She stood up and said, "I'm in the temporary palace. I'll go back to the palace with my uncle when the time comes."
The emperor looked at her back and sighed deeply.
The deadlock can only be resolved if the prince marries Yuan Rong.
The emperor ordered Eunuch Han, "Let Hou Xu come to see me."
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