Chapter 143 Prince Duan, this rebellious son!
Bai Ruowei jumped into the carriage and sternly ordered the driver, "Return to the palace immediately, the sooner the better!"
The driver whipped up his horsewhip and immediately drove towards Prince Duan's mansion.
Unexpectedly, the more anxious he was, the more mistakes he made. After just walking two streets, the carriage suddenly stopped. With the sharp sound of the wooden axle breaking, the carriage was completely stuck in the middle of the road.
Bai Ruowei said sternly: "What's going on!"
The driver was so anxious that he was sweating profusely: "Concubine, this carriage is broken. I'm afraid it can't be repaired in a short time."
Bai Ruowei was furious and simply lifted the carriage curtain and jumped out, holding up her skirt and running towards Prince Duan's mansion without any regard for her decency.
When she finally rushed into the palace exhausted, the housekeeper came up to her with a bitter face: "Concubine, you are back. The imperial physician left not long ago."
Bai Ruowei felt her legs go weak and she nearly fell onto the bluestone slab. She held onto the porch pillar for a while and asked in a trembling voice, "What did the imperial physician say? How is the prince?"
The housekeeper hesitated, "The imperial physician said... that the prince's health is too poor, and from now on... from now on..."
"What about the future?!" Bai Ruowei grabbed his arm, her nails almost digging into his flesh.
The housekeeper's face turned pale. "The imperial physician said that the prince will probably have no children in the future!"
With a loud "bang", Bai Ruowei felt dizzy and her eyes went dark. She couldn't recover for a long time.
Qiu Xin hurriedly stepped forward to support her and whispered to comfort her: "Concubine, don't be too anxious. The prince is still young. He will get better if he takes good care of himself in the future..."
Bai Ruowei seemed not to hear and stared at the rockery in the courtyard in a daze.
No... this is not right!
In the original novel, the person who died young due to illness was clearly Xie Yan, so why is it that Prince Duan is now bedridden?
If the Emperor knew the cause of Prince Duan's illness, he would surely be furious at his hypocritical behavior during his confinement. Furthermore, if he knew that he was having trouble having children...
I'm afraid that Prince Duan will never have a chance to be the crown prince!
She held Qiu Xin's hand tightly, her fingertips were cold.
If Prince Duan loses his power, what good will happen to her as a concubine?
But in the original novel, she is clearly the heroine and is supposed to be the queen!
Qiu Xin quickly leaned close to her ear and said in a low voice, "Concubine, we still have Meng Niang!"
"Yes! You're right!" Bai Ruowei's eyes lit up again, as if she had grasped the last straw. "With Meng Niang here, she will definitely turn the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion upside down! As long as Ruan Yunsheng dies, Xie Yan will not be able to survive!"
She tightly grasped Qiu Xin's hand, but couldn't help wondering, "But...but why didn't Ruan Yunce kill Ruan Yunsheng when he saw her?"
"Please be patient, Concubine," Qiu Xin soothed. "There are many people at the city gate today. Even if General Zhaowu truly believes that Meng Niang is the real princess, he won't kill her in public. Let's wait a little longer, and we will definitely hear good news from Meng Niang."
Bai Ruowei took a deep breath, nodded, and ordered sternly, "Go, get the best doctors in Shengjing City! Make sure to cure the prince!"
Although she is not really in love with Prince Duan to the point of being unable to extricate herself, if she still wants to be the queen, she must support Prince Duan to ascend the throne!
Unexpectedly, Qiu Xin came back in a hurry not long after she went out, followed by an old woman with gray hair, who was the one who had been with Meng Niang before.
Bai Ruowei frowned and said in a bad tone, "Didn't I ask you to stay by Meng Niang's side? Why did you come here without permission? What if someone finds you?"
The old woman's face was filled with embarrassment as she stammered, "Concubine, General Ruan has completely trusted Meng Niang, and she has successfully entered the Marquis's Mansion. But...but Meng Niang is about to become a princess, and she has become greedy. She says that the reward I gave her before was not enough and refuses to proceed according to our plan..."
"This bitch!" Bai Ruowei gnashed her teeth in anger. "If I hadn't accidentally met her and thought she looked a bit like Ruan Yunsheng, and hadn't taken her in as my own, she would still be a slave now! How dare she negotiate with me!"
"Concubine, calm down." Qiu Xin hurriedly advised, "The most important thing right now is to calm Meng Niang down. We must not let her ruin the whole thing."
Bai Ruowei suppressed her anger and asked coldly, "How much does she want?"
The old woman became increasingly embarrassed and lowered her head as she said, "She said...she wanted to talk to the concubine in person."
*
Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.
The emperor is reviewing memorials.
A eunuch walked in quietly and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Grand Court Minister requests an audience. He said he made some discoveries about an old matter during the interrogation of the Yin State spies."
The emperor raised his eyes and said, "Let him in."
A moment later, the Dali Temple Minister walked in, holding the file and bowed, "Your humble servant pays respect to the Emperor."
"What did you find out?" The emperor put down his red brush and said in a flat tone.
The Grand Court Minister bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, when I was interrogating the warrior Wu Li Meng from the State of Yin, I unexpectedly learned that it was not His Royal Highness Prince Duan who killed the enemy warrior in the arena, but His Royal Highness Prince Xuan."
The emperor frowned, "Is this really true?"
The Dali Temple Minister continued, "In addition, I have also found out that the person who penetrated the Demon Cult's lair and captured its leader alive was not Prince Duan, but His Royal Highness Prince Xuan."
A trace of disbelief crossed the emperor's face. "Xie Yan was still the adopted son of the Zhenguo Marquisate at that time. Why would he do these things for Prince Duan?"
"As for the specific details, I dare not speculate. I am afraid I can only ask the two princes." The Dali Temple Minister said cautiously.
After the Dali Temple Minister left, the imperial study fell into silence.
The emperor looked out the window at the sycamore leaves and sighed slowly, "I always thought that Prince Duan was a man of both civil and military talents. I never expected that the major events he was so proud of over the years were actually accomplished by Xie Yan behind the scenes."
He couldn't explain how he felt.
Over the years, he always hoped that Prince Duan could regain his former glory. Even though he often criticized him, he still had some expectations.
I didn’t expect... Prince Duan actually dared to deceive the emperor!
"Xie Yan is the same," the emperor sighed again, "he has done so many things, but he hasn't said a word about it in all these years."
Eunuch Yang beside him asked cautiously, "Does the Emperor wish to summon the two princes to inquire about the reason?"
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Forget it. It's been so many years. There's no point in bringing up the past again."
There was obvious disappointment in his tone. "I originally thought that Prince Duan was just slacking off, but I didn't expect...it to be like this."
As he spoke, he casually picked up a memorial on the desk and started flipping through it. After reading just two pages, his face suddenly darkened and he slammed the memorial to the ground!
"Prince Duan is such a rebellious son! He's more of a hindrance than a help! He actually allowed his subordinates to commit corruption and abuse the power, and now the evidence of their crimes is before me!"
Eunuch Yang quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The emperor's health is the most important thing!"
The emperor's chest heaved with anger: "How did he become like this?"
Eunuch Yang brought over the teacup and said, "Your Majesty, calm down. I will discipline him properly later. Your Highness will understand your painstaking efforts."
The emperor took the ginseng tea, drank it reluctantly, and his anger subsided a little.
At this moment, another eunuch came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Chen requests to see you. He said he has something important to report."
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