Chapter 198 Order your mother and wife to be thrown into the river, and see who you save!
Shui Xian was carried by Emperor Zhaoheng in the emperor's bright yellow sedan chair, and they traveled all the way from Cining Palace back to Lihe Palace.
She leaned drowsily on Emperor Zhaoheng's shoulder, waking up intermittently and then closing her eyes again in a daze.
Feng Shunxiang no longer stopped her. He already knew how important Shui Xian was to Emperor Zhaoheng, and that Emperor Zhaoheng's health couldn't be ruined by holding her once or twice.
So Feng Shunxiang quickly followed behind Emperor Zhaoheng, but he never again tried to persuade him to let the servants carry the Imperial Noble Consort.
When Lihe Palace saw that her mistress was being carried back with a pale face, Yinzhu and the others quickly lifted the curtain and boiled water to prepare for the follow-up service.
Emperor Zhaoheng personally carried Shuixian into the inner room, gently placed her on the couch, and then stayed by her side without leaving her side for a moment.
Time passed slowly, and the palace maids, led by Tinglu and Yinzhu, wisely did not disturb the emperor in the inner chamber. They simply prepared the tea and snacks and then quietly stood guard outside the door.
After an unknown amount of time, the person on the bed finally trembled slightly with their eyelashes and then slowly opened their eyes.
"Xian'er? You're awake?"
Emperor Zhaoheng was overjoyed, but before his joy could fully dissipate, he saw a tear from Narcissus slide down her cheek and fall onto the brocade pillow beside her, staining it a dark color as if a flower had bloomed on the pillow.
Emperor Zhaoheng pursed his thin lips slightly, feeling a pang of pain in his heart, but still asked gently, "Is there anything that's bothering you?"
Narcissus seemed not to hear his question, but was immersed in her own sorrow, murmuring to herself, her slightly hoarse voice filled with self-reproach.
"It is my fault... I can't even do such a small thing as praying for the Empress Dowager properly. Not only can I not share the Empress Dowager's burdens, but I also make things difficult for the Emperor... I am truly useless..."
Shui Xian cried more and more as she spoke. Even though Emperor Zhaoheng gently comforted her, she was still very sad. She turned her face away from the bed and tears rolled down her cheeks like broken beads, making her look very pitiful.
Emperor Zhaoheng moved from the embroidered stool beside the couch to the bed, and despite Shuixian's resistance, he picked her up from the bed.
He pressed himself against her, hand in hand, and used his own warmth to comfort the chilly narcissus.
"It was my mother...it was the Empress Dowager who deliberately made things difficult for you. You had just given birth and she made you kneel in the Buddhist hall. If she weren't my mother, I would really want to rebuke her for being unworthy of being the mother of the nation and unworthy of being a mother!"
Today, as the Empress Dowager tormented the narcissus, Emperor Zhaoheng's heart turned completely cold.
He didn't understand that his mother had always favored Prince Duan, and everything about Prince Duan was personally chosen by his mother.
As for him... his mother never showed favoritism.
It is said that love extends to everything connected to the beloved, but the way the mother treated Narcissus, who was still recovering from childbirth, was enough to show how heartless her feelings for him were!
At this moment, Pei Jichuan arrived at the main hall of Lihe Palace, lifted the curtain again, and entered, interrupting the emperor and empress's communication.
Pei Jichuan looked surprised and wanted to turn around and leave, but Emperor Zhaoheng summoned him to take Shui Xian's pulse.
Nothing is more important than Narcissus's health right now!
After taking his pulse again, Pei Jichuan gave the same explanation.
"This is a sign of severe depression. It is said that worry injures the spleen and fear injures the kidneys. Your Majesty's emotions are extremely unstable right now, and you must not be subjected to any further stimulation..."
Looking at Shui Xian, who was silently weeping and looked haggard in his arms, and recalling the time she fainted in the Buddhist hall of Cining Palace, Emperor Zhaoheng was overwhelmed by a mix of heartache and pity.
In the end, it all turned into resentment towards the Empress Dowager.
"I understand."
Emperor Zhaoheng made no attempt to hide Pei Jichuan standing by the door. He embraced Shuixian even tighter and whispered in her ear as if making a vow, "From now on, I will never allow anyone or anything to disturb your peace or cause you the slightest grievance!"
Narcissus knew she had enough negative emotions; what she wanted was the emperor's pity, not his disdain.
Anyone would get annoyed if someone sighed all day long.
She slowly wiped away her tears, but glistening tears still lingered in the corners of her eyes. She nodded gently, looking at Emperor Zhaoheng with trust, her heart and eyes filled with him. "Your Majesty, I believe in you..."
"Your Majesty, I am trying my best to improve myself, to be with the children... and to be with Your Majesty as well."
Emperor Zhaoheng was relieved to see that she was getting better.
He tightened his arms around her, holding her close. "Xian'er, let's both be alright."
——
The following day, another imperial edict was issued from the Lihe Palace.
The imperial edict, citing the Imperial Noble Consort's postpartum weakness, strictly ordered all concubines and palace servants in the six palaces: without the emperor's personal edict, no one was allowed to go to the Lihe Palace to disturb the Imperial Noble Consort's recuperation for any reason; those who violated this order would be severely punished.
It's strange, really.
This identical imperial decree was clearly issued as early as when Shui Xian was promoted to Imperial Noble Consort.
Even if the emperor is momentarily confused, the eunuch Feng who drafts the decrees beside him, and even the junior eunuchs who serve him with pen and ink, will not all be confused.
Combined with the rumors that the Empress Dowager summoned Consort Jin to Cining Palace for less than an hour before leaving, many people in the harem understood what was going on.
At first, everyone was just speculating, since there was no evidence.
It wasn't until Emperor Zhaoheng secretly sent people to spread rumors in the palace that Consort Jin's health, which had finally recovered, suddenly deteriorated, all because of that mistress of Cining Palace.
Now that Emperor Zhaoheng cares about Shui Xian, he naturally wouldn't allow her to suffer any more injustice.
Shui Xian had only been kneeling in the Buddhist hall for a short half-day, which caused her to faint, but what did fainting mean in this cannibalistic harem?
But Emperor Zhaoheng wouldn't let go of this matter, and even made a big fuss about it.
He not only secretly restricted the Empress Dowager's power in the harem, but also used this incident to silence the old ministers of the previous dynasty.
During the morning assembly of the previous dynasty, when some pedantic officials tried to bring up old matters again, implying that the Imperial Noble Consort was favored by the emperor, or even that rumors circulated that she had ordered the Empress and Empress Dowager to be defeated, Emperor Zhaoheng directly interrupted them with a cold face.
"The Imperial Noble Consort has endured life and death several times to ensure the continuation of my lineage, and her efforts are immense! Now she is suffering from depression, and the imperial physicians have concluded that it is due to the exhaustion she experienced while praying for the Empress Dowager after leaving the palace, coupled with the worry caused by the Empress Dowager's recent illness!"
"You, as court officials, do not consider showing compassion for meritorious officials, but instead make unwarranted criticisms. What are your true intentions?!"
"Do you really intend to force my Imperial Noble Consort to her death, leave my son motherless, and make me an ungrateful person, condemned by the world, before you are satisfied?"
When the emperor becomes unreasonable, even the most eloquent officials in the court are left speechless.
How could Narcissus's illness be attributed to worrying about the Empress Dowager? How could their remonstrance against Consort Jin for being unworthy of her position be interpreted as threatening the Emperor with disloyalty, filial impiety, and injustice?
Some stubborn officials wanted to submit further remonstrances, but were directly threatened by Emperor Zhaoheng.
"If you try to slander Consort Jin and the Empress Dowager again, causing turmoil in the harem, I will order your mother and wife to be thrown into the river. Let's see who you can save in time!"
Now, the court was truly silent.
No one dared to remonstrate about Consort Jin's matter anymore. After all, they had no grounds for complaint. They could have used ancestral rules and the mistakes of the late emperor to warn her, but now that Emperor Zhaoheng had threatened them, they all tacitly shut their mouths.
After all, nobody wants to go into the river to fish out their elderly mother and wife!
——
As the outside world gradually calmed down, the gates of Lihe Palace remained tightly closed, isolating it from all external disturbances.
Shuixian leaned against the soft couch, covered with a brocade quilt, taking a nourishing medicine while Tinglu quietly reported to her on the trends of public opinion inside and outside the palace.
"...Now everyone in the palace is saying that the Empress Dowager is too harsh, and Your Majesty has really suffered a great injustice. As for the court, after the Emperor spoke out, no one dares to openly criticize you anymore."
Hearing Lu's tone, he felt a sense of relief and satisfaction.
Narcissus listened quietly, a barely perceptible, cold smile curving her lips.
She moved back to Lihe Palace, using the Empress Dowager to solidify her postpartum depression, thus gaining the Emperor's deeper pity and protection...
This first step of the plan has already been successful.
Recalling the scene of her fainting in the Buddhist hall, Shui Xian felt little lingering fear.
She hadn't actually fainted; it was all just an act according to what she had agreed upon with Pei Jichuan.
What she was betting on was Emperor Zhaoheng's distrust of the Empress Dowager and his unwarranted favoritism towards her.
She bet that Emperor Zhaoheng would never allow the Empress Dowager's imperial physician to touch her, but would instead summon Pei Jichuan immediately.
Moreover, she was in an unassailable position from the very beginning of this gamble.
Even if the worst-case scenario occurred, and the Empress Dowager's imperial physicians actually examined her pulse and realized that she was not unconscious, at most they would only accuse her of being arrogant and faking a fainting spell to gain favor.
For her, who is currently enjoying the Emperor's favor, has just given birth to a prince, and is in poor health, such a charge is insignificant.
On the contrary, the Empress Dowager set up such a simple and easily cracked scheme that made Shui Xian feel a little sorry for her while she was scheming.
The Empress Dowager was a woman who fought her way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and only by carefully planning her way up step by step did she reach the top of the harem.
But there are only two reasons why she is making such a series of blunders these days.
Firstly, Emperor Zhaoheng's son was exceptionally outstanding.
The struggle for the throne back then was less about the Empress Dowager paving the way for her son, and more about Emperor Zhaoheng carving out a bloody path with his own abilities and courage, ultimately pushing his mother to the position of Empress Dowager.
One can see from his spoiled younger brother, Prince Duan, that the Empress Dowager's ability to have a son like Emperor Zhaoheng was an unexpected blessing, rather than a result of her excellent upbringing.
Secondly, she had been too comfortable as Empress Dowager for the past three years.
At the pinnacle of power, not only did no one in the harem dare to disobey her, but even Emperor Zhaoheng had to respect and obey her before he broke off relations with her.
Filial piety is paramount to her; she has become accustomed to everyone groveling at her feet and to the fact that her will is beyond question.
Having lived such a comfortable life for so long, it's easy to become careless and get used to using one's status and seniority to intimidate others, forgetting that her son is no longer a prince who needs her protection, but an emperor who holds the power of life and death.
After using up the last bit of her nourishing medicine, Shui Xian felt no great pride.
Defeating the Empress Dowager was not her ultimate goal; the only one she truly needed to guard against was the Empress...
She whispered to Tinglu, "Go tell Physician Pei that my 'depression' should gradually improve... Tell him to be careful not to let it seem like rest is working, but not to get better too quickly and arouse suspicion."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Tinglu agreed and took the white porcelain bowl from Shuixian's hand.
Narcissus turned her gaze to the window, looking at the increasingly vibrant autumn colors, her eyes growing darker with each passing moment.
"Also, have our people keep a close eye on what's happening at Kunning Palace. The Empress... will never be content to remain under house arrest indefinitely."
The real counterattack has only just begun...
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