Outside the Jinxiu Palace, the Fifth Prince, Xiao Chengshun, sat dejectedly on the stone steps, his arms folded around his knees, his head bowed. Two carriages loaded with wooden boxes stopped on the palace road.
"Fifth Prince, it's getting dark, please get on the carriage quickly." Concubine Shu squatted down and comforted him softly.
The fifth prince had no reaction.
The imperial decree has been issued, Jiang Qiqiu has been imprisoned, and the fifth prince has been handed over to the care of Concubine Shu. This is a foregone conclusion.
The fifth prince, who was only 9 years old, found it difficult to bear such a severe blow for a while.
My mother was once so powerful, but now she has been banished to the cold palace.
What’s even more terrifying is that my younger sister claimed that she was not my mother’s biological daughter.
Is this true? Who should I ask?
"Your mother's affairs have nothing to do with you. Do your own job well and study hard. You are still the emperor's good son." Concubine Shu gently stroked his narrow back.
"Yes, don't think too much about it for now. Come and live in Fuyang Palace, and my mother and I will treat you well." The third prince Xiao Chengsui comforted.
The fifth prince slowly raised his head, and two strings of tears fell.
Just after dinner time, Xia Zhengqi changed into an indigo robe and excitedly got on the sedan chair to go to Kunning Palace.
He remembered that Xiao Ruoyu, who was still a princess at the time, said that she liked him wearing indigo robes.
Today is an important day, and I must try my best to make her happy.
The sedan chair stopped in front of the Kunning Palace. Xia Zhengqi got off the sedan chair and immediately took a tray from the eunuch. He carried it himself and walked quickly towards the inner hall.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" The Queen bowed and saluted with a smile on her face.
"Ruoyu, please don't be so polite." Xia Zhengqi freed up a hand to support her.
"Look what I brought you?" he said as he held the tray in front of the queen.
The Queen took a closer look and said with delight, "Your Majesty, you actually delivered the golden seal and account books personally."
Inside the tray, there is a small gold seal and a stack of account books with brocade covers. Although these two things seem insignificant, they represent the power to control the six palaces.
"Ruoyu, I am ultimately the one who has let you down. These should have been yours long ago."
"The only way I can ease the guilt in my heart is to deliver it to you in person today." Xia Zhengqi lowered his head in embarrassment.
[Oh my god, the Emperor is so sincere.]
Xia Miaoyuan lay on the couch, eating melon and complaining.
The queen's eyes were red. She stretched out her hands, solemnly took the tray, carefully placed it on the table, and gently pulled Xia Zhengqi to sit down.
Yingxue gave a wink to the palace maids and nannies in the room, and they all understood instantly and quietly left the room.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to blame yourself. I have no complaints in my heart." The queen smiled.
"No, no, Ruoyu, don't do this." Xia Zhengqi grabbed the queen's hand.
"In the past, I trusted the Empress Dowager's words too much, which caused you to suffer a lot of grievances. Recently, I asked someone to investigate secretly and found out that the Empress Dowager and Concubine Jiang had used many tricks on you behind your back." Xia Zhengqi paused.
"When you organize something, they deliberately do something bad. When you give a gift, they accuse you of tampering with it and having bad intentions."
"He even plotted several times to kill you..." Xia Zhengqi could hardly continue.
"Ruoyu, I really didn't know about this before. I trusted the Queen Mother too much. She raised me since I was a child, and I really trusted her too much."
"If I had known this earlier, I would never have let you suffer for so long." Xia Zhengqi said this with a hint of tears in his voice.
The Queen's lips trembled slightly. After holding back her tears for a few times, she finally burst into tears: "Your Majesty..."
Xia Zhengqi put his arm around the queen's shoulders and wiped her tears.
[Alas, my emperor father, how could he be so confused? But fortunately, it's not too late to wake up now.]
Xia Miaoyuan lay on the couch opposite, watching Xia Zhengqi and the Queen express their true feelings leisurely.
"Your Majesty, I will be satisfied if you can understand the grievances Ruoyu has suffered and know Ruoyu's heart." The queen cried, tears still falling.
"Ever since I married you, I have been determined to be the mistress of the palace. After Your Majesty ascended the throne, I have been determined to be a queen who is the mother of the country, managing the harem for Your Majesty and relieving your worries."
"I never thought that after entering the palace, the Empress Dowager would be so critical of me. At first, I thought it was because I wasn't doing well enough, so I tried my best to correct it."
"Later I discovered that the Queen Mother hated me as a person. No matter how hard I tried, she would not accept me."
"She will only be happy if her niece becomes the queen." The queen sighed.
"Hmph, I'm afraid the Queen Mother not only wants a woman from the Jiang family to be the Queen, but also wants the entire Xia family to change their surname to Jiang!" Xia Zhengqi thought of Grand Tutor Jiang's ambition and spoke word by word.
"Alas, Emperor, you finally understand the situation! Grand Tutor Jiang is ambitious and wicked, and Empress Dowager Jiang is extremely ignorant. She only cares about the interests of the Jiang family. She holds the position of Empress Dowager of a country, but she has no regard for the interests of the Great Xia State."
[I remember in the book, the Jiang family murdered my mother and successfully pushed Jiang Qiqiu to the throne. Afterwards, Grand Tutor Jiang devised a vicious scheme, falsely accusing the Crown Prince of forcing the emperor to abdicate and treason, and had the imperial guards shoot Guo Guo, turning him into a hedgehog.]
[At that time, Dad had been given a chronic poison by Jiang Qiqiu and was bedridden, unable to handle government affairs.]
[Alas, Erguoguo was arrested and thrown into the imperial prison, where he was severely tortured until he died.]
[Six months later, my father died of poison. The fifth prince was pushed onto the throne. How could a child in his teens rule the country? Grand Tutor Jiang still had the final say.]
Grand Tutor Jiang appointed himself the Regent of Great Xia and even had people call him "Nine Thousand Years Old," truly achieving the status of "one-handedly covering the heavens."
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