The Fourth Prince remained calm and listened to the Empress plead guilty.
He thought to himself, "The Empress must know what Hongshi and the Duke of Yingguo did. What she's doing now is simply to get him exonerated."
However, seeing the Empress blaming herself, the Fourth Prince couldn't say anything more to reproach her, especially since there was no evidence to prove that the Empress was involved in the matter.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince remained silent, the Empress knew that she had made the right move by pleading guilty in advance. So she knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to depose me from my position as Empress!"
The Fourth Prince was shocked. He hadn't expected the Empress to ask him to depose her. Although he didn't like the Empress, deposing her was a huge matter, and it could even shake the foundation of the country.
The Fourth Prince spoke up: "Does the Empress know that deposing the Empress is no small matter?"
The Empress, with tears streaming down her face, said, "You are the Emperor, and also my husband. Since I married you, I have not helped you in any way. On the contrary, my younger brother has used my status to collude with the princes and commit such a heinous crime. I feel ashamed to face you, Your Majesty."
The Empress paused, observed the Fourth Prince's expression, and seeing that he was somewhat moved, continued, "The most important thing for a wife is to bear children for her husband. However, I only gave birth to Your Majesty's eldest son, Honghui, and I did not take good care of him, which led to Honghui's unfortunate death at such a young age. It was so pitiful that Your Majesty took pity on me and allowed me to raise Hongshi. However, I did not even raise Hongshi well. He has become like this now, all of which is my fault. I have failed Your Majesty's trust. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
After saying this, the Empress lay on the ground and sobbed. Before, she had tried to make the Fourth Prince remember their past relationship, but now that her unfortunate child had been mentioned, she was truly heartbroken.
When the Fourth Prince heard the Empress say this, he thought of Honghui, who died young. As his first child, he had high hopes for him even before he was born. After he was born, he wanted to give him all the good things in the world. Unfortunately, the child was gone. The Empress Dowager said that it was because he loved him too much and that the child was not blessed enough to bear it, so he left.
Since then, in order not to hurt his children again, he deliberately distanced himself from them and became a strict father. However, not everyone would understand him. Hongshi is the best example of this.
Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but feel a little pity for the Empress.
Over the years, she was afraid to see her because it would remind her of Honghui and cause her sadness, so she rarely came to Jingren Palace. She had no more children, which is why the Fourth Prince entrusted Hongshi to her. But after all, he was not her biological child, so she must have been very bitter. Back when they first got married, they treated each other with respect. Who would have thought that things would turn out like this?
The Fourth Prince reached out to help the Empress up, but the Empress, seeing that the Fourth Prince had indeed taken pity on her, quickly seized the opportunity and kowtowed to him, saying, "Your Majesty, please do not pity me any longer. I have failed your expectations and deserve to be punished."
Hearing her say this, the Fourth Prince hesitated. He comforted the Empress for a few moments, saying, "Since this matter has nothing to do with you, I will not make things difficult for you. Moreover, this matter was done by the Duke of Yingguo and Hongshi, and it has nothing to do with you. Don't overthink it, just rest well." After saying this, the Fourth Prince helped the Empress up and left Jingren Palace.
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