Chapter 50: The Emperor Was Imprisoned in Childhood
For a moment, Yang Manyan felt both embarrassed and annoyed, her face was burning with anger. The man next to her squeezed her hand calmly, as if to reassure her.
Xiao Yan said slowly, "I have been accompanying Yang Shangyi here for a long time, and I don't know what Aunt Fuling is talking about. Please be careful with your words."
Fuling was stunned. She really didn't expect that there would be a man in the world who could remain so calm after witnessing such a thing with his own eyes.
"The Empress Dowager said..." She started to speak but was interrupted again.
"The Queen Mother specially ordered me and Yang Shangyi to come here to copy Buddhist scriptures today. However, Yang Shangyi suddenly felt unwell, so I accompanied her to rest for a while in the east hall."
After a brief pause, he said, "I heard that my father was discussing New Year's Day matters with the Empress Dowager in the main hall. Yang Shangyi and I will not go to disturb him. We will take our leave first."
After saying that, Xiao Yan took Yang Manyan by the hand and boarded the sedan chair that had been prepared in advance, and set off back to the East Palace.
Watching the sedan chair going further and further away surrounded by attendants, Fuling looked embarrassed. She was only following the Queen Mother's orders.
Privately, Fuling even felt a little pity for Yang Shangyi who had suffered such an unexpected disaster. Just now, the Queen Mother had ordered people to secretly spread what happened today.
In order to save the royal family's reputation, Yang Shangyi must be sacrificed.
Inside the main hall of the Cining Palace, the emperor sat on a rosewood couch with a majestic sword, holding the teacup in one hand and drinking it all in one gulp in great pride.
There was a sinister and murderous aura around him, and the eunuch standing by didn't dare to breathe. Seeing that the teacup was empty, he hurriedly refilled his tea.
When Queen Mother Jiang finished dressing and walked out, this was the scene she saw.
She was slightly stunned, unable to connect the current majestic emperor with the skinny third prince who had been under house arrest for many years.
Empress Dowager Jiang was neither the empress nor the favorite concubine of Emperor Wen. She was of humble origins as the daughter of a minor official. Her two sons were raised by Empress Chen and Imperial Noble Consort Tang respectively.
Empress Chen had been childless for many years and still cared about the then Crown Prince Xiao Wei. However, Concubine Tang was different. She had given birth to the emperor's second son.
However, the emperor's second son died at birth, and Concubine Tang was unwilling to accept this. Even though she adopted the third prince, Xiao Ke, she was still thinking about having another heir.
Concubine Tang was Emperor Wen's favorite concubine and cousin, and he created the title of "Imperial Noble Concubine" for her, which was unprecedented in history and was equal to that of the empress.
Princess Tang did not like her adopted son, and she hated his brother from the same mother for occupying the position of crown prince. In order to please her, her subordinates naturally neglected the third prince.
Although Emperor Wen knew about it, he didn't take it to heart. Compared with his beloved cousin, the gloomy and weird third son Xiao Ke was nothing.
As Princess Tang suffered miscarriages again and again, her already frail body could no longer sustain the disease and she was bedridden for several years.
At this time, people from the Imperial Observatory reported that the Third Prince and Concubine Tang were incompatible, so Emperor Wen did not hesitate to confine the young Xiao Ke to the Xuanguang Pavilion deep in the Imperial Garden.
During this period, only his brother, Crown Prince Xiao Wei, who was five years older than Xiao Ke and had the same mother as him, often visited him and repeatedly pleaded for his younger brother.
However, Emperor Wen completely ignored the advice of his eldest son and all the civil and military officials, and even sentenced the death of the third prince Xiao Ke, who was incompatible with him, in order to pray for Concubine Tang.
However, before Xiao Ke was sentenced to death, Concubine Tang died of illness first. Emperor Wen was heartbroken and died a few days later.
The eighteen-year-old Crown Prince Xiao Wei succeeded to the throne, and the third prince Xiao Ke, who had been under house arrest in Xuanguang Pavilion for many years, was released and named King of Jin.
When Xiao Ke was young, he suffered a lot because of Emperor Wen's favoritism for Concubine Tang. Naturally, he hated love between men and women. When he encountered his brother's extremely cowardly death, he avoided women even more.
Queen Mother Jiang was immersed in her own thoughts. The emperor's eyes gradually showed impatience and he tapped the table with his fingers.
"Since the Empress Dowager has nothing to say, I will return to the Qianqing Palace to handle government affairs." He said in a deep voice.
Queen Mother Jiang finally came back to her senses and chuckled, "I said I would help the emperor. How about that? Did the emperor get what he wanted today?"
The emperor glanced at her calmly, "The Queen Mother's wishful thinking is likely to fail. The Crown Prince has no intention of changing his principal wife."
Queen Mother Jiang was stunned when she heard this, "Didn't the Crown Prince just see you and Yang Shangyi..."
Just now, Fuling reported back that their emperor and Yang had made a noise and must have done something shameful.
The emperor stood up from the couch, his eyes frosty, "I saw it, he doesn't care, and even said he would fight back against me."
"The Jiang family has long been in decline. Queen Mother, don't think that if you get rid of Yang Shangyi, the Jiang family will be able to make a comeback."
Queen Mother Jiang was unwilling to accept this, "It's not impossible to be the concubine of the Eastern Palace..."
The emperor frowned, this was too dirty.
"Give up, Queen Mother. I will not allow the Crown Prince to take a concubine."
Queen Mother Jiang was humiliated and angry after being insulted. "Are you so afraid that the Crown Prince will win over other forces? No wonder you chose Yang, who is of low birth, for him."
The emperor was too impatient to explain to her and allowed her to misunderstand him, then he just walked away with a wave of his sleeves.
Queen Mother Jiang was furious, her chest heaving violently. She picked up a teacup and threw it to the ground. There were several cracking sounds, and broken porcelain and tea splashed everywhere.
The palace maids in the hall were shaking like sieves, and they all fell to their knees on the ground with a few plops.
Empress Dowager Jiang's eyes were cold, "Fuling! Has the news that Yang Shangyi deliberately seduced the emperor in the Cining Palace spread out?"
Fuling had a complicated expression, lowered her eyebrows and replied: "When His Majesty came to the main hall, he ordered people to spread it out from the imperial kitchen and other places."
Queen Mother Jiang nodded with satisfaction, supporting her chin with her hand and half lying on the couch.
The East Palace is located at the easternmost end of the Imperial Palace.
The sedan chair did not stop outside Huiyin Gate as usual, but went unimpeded until it arrived in front of the main hall of the Eastern Palace and stopped.
Yang Manyan felt sore all over, especially her legs, which made her unable to stand steadily. She could only let the prince carry her horizontally down from the sedan chair.
There was always hot water in the bathroom, and Xiao Yan walked straight in with Yang Manyan in his arms.
Seeing that he seemed to want to help her wash herself, Yang Manyan's heart skipped a beat and she said shyly, "Your Highness, let Xingyun Suyue do it."
Xiao Yan's eyes turned red, and he lowered his head to kiss her, "Be good, I will wash away all the marks on your body myself."
"I know it's not your fault. It's my father...he bullied you."
He undressed her very gently, as if he was afraid of hurting Yang Manyan.
Yang Manyan felt guilty, so she stood on tiptoe, hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
She asked cautiously, "Can you ask someone to bring me a bowl of contraceptive medicine? I'm worried..."
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