Xia Zhengqi's thoughts were instantly pulled back, and he looked down at the Fifth Prince lovingly: "Don't worry, Father knows the truth now, and he will definitely not let your mother live in a place like this anymore."
"Confer the title of Concubine Zhou on Zhou Baolin, and hand the fifth prince over to his biological mother, Concubine Zhou, for upbringing, and move..." Xia Zhengqi pondered.
The Queen said gently, "Sister Zhou is very weak now and needs someone to take care of her. Why not let Concubine Zhou live in Fuyang Palace first, so that she can be taken care of by Concubine Shu."
[Mom is really thoughtful!] Xia Miaoyuan grinned happily.
Xia Zhengqi also smiled approvingly at the Queen: "The Queen's suggestion is good, let's do it."
He looked at Concubine Zhou and said, "When you recover, I will move you and your son to a separate palace."
Concubine Zhou burst into tears of joy: "I thank Your Majesty and Your Majesty. No matter where I live, as long as I can live with my son, I will be very satisfied."
As soon as Xia Zhengqi's order came down, the eunuchs and palace maids helped Concubine Zhou move overnight.
Although it was called a move, there was almost nothing in the cold palace that needed to be taken away. Only Concubine Zhou was leaving, so it was easy to move.
However, the incident involving Concubine Zhou caused a huge uproar among the concubines in the harem.
On New Year's Eve, the day of family reunion, the prince and princess discovered the injustice of the concubine in the cold palace, and cleared her of the grievances and promoted her status.
This incident would have been quite explosive no matter which dynasty or era it happened in.
By the early morning of New Year's Day, the news had spread throughout the palace.
"Have you heard? Last night, the emperor actually went to the cold palace in person and released a concubine!" a palace maid gossiped.
"You are wrong. It was the fifth prince and the little princess who broke into the cold palace and called the emperor over, and only then was Zhou released from the cold palace." A young eunuch corrected.
The concubines were also gossiping crazily in private.
"The fifth prince is not Jiang's son!"
"I was saying, how can someone maintain such a good figure after giving birth? Turns out it was a fake pregnancy and birth."
Fuyang Palace.
Ever since Concubine Zhou moved in last night, the Fifth Prince has been staying by her side to talk. Only after Concubine Shu urged him repeatedly did the Fifth Prince reluctantly go to his own bedroom.
Early in the morning on New Year's Day, the Fifth Prince didn't care about anything else. He took a bowl of lotus seed and lily porridge from the kitchen and went to Concubine Zhou's room first.
Concubine Zhou had already stood up, and two young palace maids had just helped her wash up.
"Mother, are you hungry?" The fifth prince brought the porridge to Concubine Zhou.
For a moment, Concubine Zhou felt a little dazed. She was suffering in the cold palace yesterday, but today she was being called "Empress" and her own son even brought her warm porridge.
A tear rolled down Concubine Zhou's cheek. She sniffed the bowl of porridge and said with a smile, "It smells so good. Mother is really hungry."
"I'll feed mother!" said the fifth prince, scooping up a spoonful of porridge and feeding it to Concubine Zhou.
Concubine Zhou ate spoonful after spoonful of the porridge her son fed her, and gently stroked the back of the fifth prince's head with satisfaction.
The fifth prince was a little dazed for a moment. He had finally found his biological mother, whom he had been thinking about for half a year.
I have to thank my sister for this!
If it weren't for his younger sister, he would still be treating the enemy as his mother and foolishly acting like the arrogant and domineering Fifth Prince.
He may never meet his biological mother in this life.
The biological mother was tortured in the cold palace and might have been tortured to death within a few years.
Thinking of this, the fifth prince felt a wave of fear.
My younger sister is my little fairy, the true light of Daxia. For the rest of my life, I will protect her with my life.
After making this decision in his heart, the Fifth Prince unconsciously pursed his lips and then smiled.
…
Shoukang Palace.
After the Empress Dowager learned about Concubine Zhou's affairs, she became somewhat uneasy, fearing that Xia Zhengqi would investigate the incident thoroughly and, as an accomplice, she would be skinned alive even if she didn't die.
In fact, the Empress Dowager's worries were somewhat unnecessary, at least for the time being.
Just last night, the emperor and the empress had already discussed a countermeasure.
Xia Zhengqi and the Queen both knew that the kidnapping of the Fifth Prince could not have been done by Jiang Qiqiu alone. Even if the Empress Dowager was not the mastermind, she was an accomplice.
Xia Zhengqi hesitated about how to deal with the Empress Dowager in this matter.
The Queen suggested, "I think we should not touch the Queen Mother this time."
"Why?" Xia Zhengqi was very puzzled.
The Queen said slowly, "In the palace, things like taking away children are not uncommon."
"If a concubine were to seize the child, she would surely be doomed once the truth was revealed."
"But she's not a concubine. She's the Emperor's legitimate mother, the one who raised him. Even if she can be proven to be the mastermind, what should the Emperor do?"
The Queen gave Xia Zhengqi a meaningful look and asked, "Could Your Majesty still sentence her to death?"
"Even if you could issue a decree of death, Daxia values filial piety above all else. What would those censors and countless ordinary people say about you?"
When Xia Zhengqi heard this, he took a breath.
Yes, even if the Empress Dowager's guilt was proven, it would not be easy to sentence her to death directly. At most, she would be given some mild punishment, which would not achieve the goal of completely getting rid of the Empress Dowager.
Thinking of this, Xia Zhengqi held the queen's hand: "Ruoyu, what you said makes sense."
The Queen returned Xia Zhengqi's handshake and continued, "Why don't we just play dumb and not touch her for now?"
"Isn't her illegitimate daughter about to enter the palace to get close to her? I guess this illegitimate daughter's approach to her is not just a simple recognition of her relationship."
"Why don't we take this opportunity to keep a close eye on the illegitimate daughter, see what she's up to, and then take advantage of her."
"Maybe we can find out about Liang Chaozong's situation through this clue."
Xia Zhengqi slapped his thigh happily: "Ruoyu is so smart, why didn't I think of it?! Let's do it!"
As the Empress Dowager was pacing restlessly in Shoukang Palace, a young eunuch suddenly announced, "Madam Liang and her daughter have arrived."
On New Year's Eve, the Empress Dowager invited Yao Jinse to bring her daughter to stay in the palace for a while. Today, the eunuchs of Shoukang Palace went to pick up Yao Jinse and her daughter.
Yao Jinse had already prepared clothes and other supplies, and also specially prepared some gifts. As soon as the eunuch came to pick them up, the mother and daughter quickly took their things and got on the car.
"I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager!" Yao Jinse said warmly.
As soon as the Empress Dowager saw Yao Jinse and the bubbly Liang Zhirou, her originally uneasy mood immediately improved a lot.
"Hey, get up!"
The Empress Dowager actually went to support him personally, and this action really scared the palace servants in Shoukang Palace.
"The rooms have been prepared for you, just stay here and be content. If you need anything, just tell Aunt Ji."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
