In the end, it was only after signing unequal terms with the Empress Dowager that she relented.
During that period, he attended court every day and was also harassed by the Xiao family's faction. He was extremely busy and overwhelmed, but he never gave in under such pressure.
Even the death of her son was allegedly orchestrated by Consort Xiao, but no evidence was found.
He knew he shouldn't touch Consort Xiao, but he still beat her and imprisoned her for half a year. Although these actions couldn't bring her son back, he was doing his best to protect her.
She understood that although there were still many unsatisfactory things in this palace, she was just a woman, and she had won the heart of such a devoted man, who was also the emperor. What did she have to complain about?
She was content with her life, and when she learned that her son was alive, she had no regrets.
The Emperor knew what she wanted to say, so he reached out and pulled the Empress into his arms, gently patting her back to comfort her:
"Stop crying, you won't look pretty if you keep crying!"
"Your Majesty, you're still teasing me at a time like this!"
The empress looked up and glared at him, her previous emotions vanished, and she stopped crying.
"Alright, we two need to conserve our energy. I just don't know when that brat Ah Chen will be back. If he doesn't come back soon, I'm doomed!"
The Emperor calmed the Empress down, but didn't forget to give Li Xiaochen a piece of his mind.
"Yes! If I had returned any later, I wouldn't have been able to see such a wonderful show!"
At this moment, a tall figure stood by the bookshelf, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and watched the Emperor and Empress embracing, making a joking remark.
"ah!"
The Empress blushed and quickly stood up, almost losing her dignity as Empress.
"You brat, you came back without even saying a word!"
When the Emperor saw that this brat had returned without saying a word, he picked up the jade pillow from the bed and threw it at Li Xiaochen.
After throwing it, the emperor was panting heavily. Seeing this, the empress disregarded her impoliteness in front of her junior and quickly stepped forward to pat the emperor's back to make him feel more comfortable.
Li Xiaochen easily took the jade pillow, muttering to himself as he did so:
"If you're not in good health, don't try to fight like young people. See, you're exhausted now!"
"Shut up! What? You've gotten even more talkative since you went out?"
After the emperor recovered, he stopped throwing things. It wasn't worth tiring himself out. He rolled his eyes at Li Xiaochen and said sarcastically.
"Of course, I have to thank you for finding me such a good wife. My wife is invincible, so I must learn a little bit from her."
Li Xiaochen's proud expression made the Emperor unable to bear to look at him.
The Empress, however, smirked to herself; she too liked Yuxin.
"You're really shameless. Lin Yuxin isn't even married to you yet, and you're already calling her 'wife.' How can you be so embarrassed?"
The emperor, seeing his nonchalant expression, wanted to hit him.
"I was supposed to get married as soon as I got back, but who knew you would be so useless, letting your own son trick you. This has delayed my wedding!"
Li Xiaochen didn't care about the Emperor's scolding; on the contrary, he even looked down on the Emperor.
"Get out, get out of here! I hate the sight of you."
The Emperor was furious. This brat used to be quite respectful to him, but now he's learned that from that girl Lin Yuxin. He's come back just to annoy him. What? Are the two of them trying to annoy him together?
"That won't do. I can't rest easy until your matter is resolved. Tell me, what are your plans?"
Seeing that the Emperor was so angry yet still had the energy to curse, Li Xiaochen knew that he was alright for the time being, so he decided to stop while he was ahead and then began to talk about serious business with a serious expression.
The Qiankun Palace and the Imperial Study are connected by a secret passage that leads directly to Li Xiaochen's Prince's Mansion.
The Empress Dowager was too strict back then, and the Emperor was so overwhelmed by the pressure that he had this secret passage dug.
Whenever he was in a bad mood, he would go out through the secret passage to drink and talk with Li Xiaochen's father.
However, after Li Xiaochen's father passed away, this secret passage was rarely used.
Li Xiaochen entered the palace through this secret passage.
After a moment, the Emperor calmed his anger, glared at the brat Li Xiaochen, and then spoke:
"I've been waiting for you to come back. All my men have been sent out. They won't return without my orders. Take this. This team was trained using Lin Yuxin's methods. It will be handed over to Xiao Hao later. Now, take it and wipe out the Xiao family for me."
"This will force them to take a desperate gamble, and I intend to push them to that final step!"
"How will we explain this to the Empress Dowager? The Xiao family is her maternal family. If we wipe them out, won't they come back and cause you trouble?"
Li Xiaochen frowned; the Empress Dowager was no pushover.
"The Empress Dowager is already on her way back. I want her to see with her own eyes how her good brother takes advantage of her and how he doesn't respect her at all."
The Emperor didn't take it seriously. For so many years, he had been suppressed by the Empress Dowager and always helped the Xiao family. But she didn't know that the Xiao family was just using her.
"Alright, I understand. Let's wait for news!"
Li Xiaochen clasped his hands in a respectful greeting, then turned and left.
...
Lin Yuxin wasn't idle either. Before leaving the manor, she thought for a moment and turned back to bring Xiao Hao along as well.
The two, along with Xueying who was hiding in the shadows, made a total of three people. Under the cover of night, they went directly to the residence of Xiao Guojiu.
"Xiao Hao, the Xiao family is so arrogant, daring to seize the throne. Today, I'll teach you another trick: undermine their foundation! Come on, I'll take you to find the treasure!"
Lin Yuxin looked at the door and the glittering golden signboard, and she got excited. It had been so long since she had found gold!
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
