Chapter 161 The Angry Princess and the Rough General 16
Chu Mengwan refused to expose Song Heng in front of everyone.
She loved Song Heng deeply, so naturally she had to protect his reputation.
The emperor's anger and disappointment became even greater: "Ah'an, I have been too tolerant of you."
Chu Mengwan was stunned for a moment.
She couldn't help but look up at the emperor. His face showed anger, disappointment, blame, and almost invisible sadness.
He seemed to be looking at her, but also seemed to be looking at another person through her.
Ah-an.
Chu Mengwan remembered that this was her mother's nickname.
Who is the Emperor's anger directed at?
Everyone else present thought that the emperor was so angry that he made a mistake in his words and called "Awan" by mistake.
Only Cha Jiu and the Queen noticed the difference in the title.
The queen lowered her eyes, hiding the deep meaning in them.
The eunuch who was sent out to investigate the drugging came back. Since the only Nanny Zou who had contact with Cha Jiu disappeared, Qingdai did her job very cleanly, and the eunuch only found out about Chen, the wet nurse beside Chu Mengwan.
How could Chen dare to tell the plan to frame Cha Jiu?
In order to protect Chu Mengwan, she took all the blame on herself and only said that she drugged him so that she would have more fun having an affair with her lover in the palace. However, she did not expect to harm her own princess and the second son of the Song family.
After saying that, she banged her head against the wall and died, thus fulfilling her loyalty and love for Chu Mengwan for the rest of her life.
After finding out this, the emperor's last bit of patience was exhausted.
He ordered the matter to be kept secret and all those involved to be executed. Song Li was poisoned to death and transported out of the palace for burial under the pretext of sudden death.
Finally, he dismissed everyone except Chu Mengwan.
"Now that there's no one around, you can tell me who the man you've been having an affair with is."
The emperor also knew that he had behaved a little inappropriately in front of everyone just now.
At this moment, he gathered his emotions back within the high wall and regained his dignity and calm.
Chu Mengwan was still hesitating, but in fact she had no choice.
The fact that she was pregnant had already been exposed, and at this point she could only ask the Emperor to grant her a marriage so that the child in her belly could be born legitimately.
"It's... Song Heng's." Chu Mengwan was afraid that the emperor would treat Song Heng the same way he treated Song Li, so she quickly pleaded for him, "Sir Song and I have a life-and-death relationship, please don't punish him!"
Otherwise she will follow him!
Chu Mengwan didn't finish the rest of her words, but the emperor already understood.
The emperor thought about it a lot, but he didn't expect it to be Song Heng.
I have to say that Song Heng’s portrayal of a deeply affectionate person was so successful.
"It turned out to be him." The emperor's eyes flashed with disdain for this person, "Awan, if it was anyone else, I might be able to arrange a marriage for you, but not for Song Heng."
Chu Mengwan suddenly raised her head, tears in her eyes, "Why not?"
In fact, she had always known that the emperor intended to marry her to Li Yuanzong, the son of Minister Li.
But Li Yuanzong was mediocre in both appearance and talent.
Even though he was the legitimate son, he was not favored by Minister Li and was always suppressed by his other illegitimate brothers, feeling very depressed.
How could she be willing to marry such a man?
"I have already offered to award Song Heng a chastity arch. He will never be able to marry or take concubines in this life," said the emperor.
Chu Mengwan was not present at the time.
Now when she heard the news, her heart was shattered as if by thunder: "How could a man ..."
The more the emperor looked at Chu Mengwan, the more he thought of that person from the past. His heart was filled with love and hate, and his tone became cold and harsh.
"If you insist on marrying Song Heng, you can only sit in silence and be sent to the Song Mansion in a sedan chair. From now on, you will no longer have the honor of a princess, nor the title of Mrs. Song. All the glory and wealth will have nothing to do with you."
"But if you repent and give up the baby in your belly, I will let Li Yuanzong marry you willingly and live with you forever. I will promote him and increase your fiefdom."
"Ah'an, useless affection or a lifetime of wealth, which one do you choose?"
When the emperor asked the last question, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope hidden in his cold expression.
Chu Mengwan protected her lower abdomen with both hands and said without hesitation: "I want to enter the Song Mansion!"
How can she measure her love for Song Heng by money or status?
She believed that even without a formal relationship, Song Heng would still love her as before.
“…”
The light outside the palace gradually dimmed, and the emperor put away his last bit of tenderness, allowing himself to remain silent in the dim light.
"You really are exactly like your mother." His eyes gradually became filled with disgust, "You both have a base and affectionate nature."
…
Leaving the depressing side hall, the Queen and Cha Jiu distanced themselves from the palace maids, and the mother and daughter talked in whispers.
Cha Jiu told everything that happened today.
When the queen heard Chu Mengwan's vicious plan, she felt angry and disgusted.
But when she heard Shen Beizhan's carefulness and courage, she nodded in admiration.
In the past, the queen felt that Shen Beizhan was not worthy of her precious daughter at all.
But after hearing about his words, deeds and character from the Crown Prince and Cha Jiu during this period of time, she felt that this man was quite good.
It would be even better if I could have children with Ayuan.
The queen finally felt a little regretful.
"Mother, who is the A'an that father mentioned?" Cha Jiu suddenly asked.
"You heard it." Although the queen was surprised, she felt it was expected.
Both her children look like her, both in appearance and in attentive character.
It is not surprising to find the emperor's words and deeds strange.
The Queen held Cha Jiu's hand, paced forward, and spoke slowly.
"The Ah-an your father mentioned was the princess consort of Prince Gong, Lin. She, Prince Gong, and the emperor, who was the crown prince at the time, had a close friendship from childhood to adulthood."
"The emperor had a very difficult time as the crown prince. The previous emperor died young and did not value him. His other brothers used their powerful in-laws to suppress him in everything. Fortunately, he had his brother, Prince Gong, who helped him to win over the court officials, resist the open and secret attacks, and assist him to ascend the throne."
"Although Lin is not beautiful, she has a delicate heart and is good at martial arts and archery. She is the confidant of the emperor and Prince Gong. The late emperor originally intended to marry Lin to the emperor as the crown princess, but Lin and Prince Gong had already had a mutual understanding and secretly decided to spend their lives together. She was secretly pregnant."
Cha Jiu was surprised: "Isn't that exactly the same as Chu Mengwan's situation today?"
The Queen smiled bitterly: "That's right, maybe it's because of the past that your father is so angry."
The emperor loved Lin so much that he even regarded her as his only salvation during those dark days.
Prince Gong was his good brother with whom he could talk about anything.
But the two people who were most important to him hid the fact that they were in love with each other.
To the emperor, this was tantamount to betrayal.
Regarding what happened in the side palace today, perhaps only one-tenth of the emperor's anger was due to Chu Mengwan's lack of self-respect, but more of it was still due to the resentment he still had about Lin's choice of Prince Gong.
Cha Jiu was curious: "What happened next?"
"Afterwards, Prince Gong and the Emperor had a big quarrel, and Prince Gong insisted on asking the late Emperor to marry Lin. The late Emperor agreed in order to alienate the two brothers. Unfortunately, Lin became the Prince Gong's wife for less than a month, and the baby in her belly was killed by the concubine."
Cha Jiu felt that there was something fishy going on: "This concubine..."
The Queen shook her head: "Now it is the Emperor's world, we should not speculate on many things."
Cha Jiu knew all about the subsequent events, including the death of Prince Gong while guarding his carriage, and Lin's death of her two children.
But no matter how Cha Jiu tried to persuade her, the Queen remained tight-lipped about the details and the truth.
Some dirty things should be left to rot in the past rather than pollute the ears of the next generation.
The breeze blows gently and petals fly all over the sky.
Shen Beizhan's back appeared not far away, with broad shoulders and silent waiting.
He did not stay at the flower-viewing banquet, but waited for Cha Jiu not far away in the side hall.
It’s just because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get there in time when Cha Jiu needed him.
The queen stopped walking.
Cha Jiu took a few more steps and then turned back to look at her: "Mother"
The queen stopped moving forward and just looked at her with a smile, her eyes moist with relief: "Go, someone is waiting for you."
As a mother, you also need to learn to stop.
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