After careful consideration, Lanqin and the Thirteenth Prince left Changchun Palace. Upon seeing the old ministers outside, Lanqin hurriedly went forward to inquire, "Ministers, what are you doing? Meditating on my Changchun Palace grounds! If the Emperor finds out, he'll think I ordered you to meditate here!"
An old minister who had always disliked Lanqin spoke up, "Your Majesty is also afraid of the Emperor finding out? No wonder, they say if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Of course Your Majesty is afraid of the Emperor finding out if you have done something wrong!"
Lanqin remained calm and composed. "My lord, what do you mean by that?"
The old minister smiled contemptuously, "We have come to seek justice from Her Majesty! What are you planning by imprisoning the Empress without authorization?" As he spoke, the other ministers also joined in the discussion.
"My lord, I don't know where you got this information from! But Her Majesty the Empress is definitely not with me. Perhaps your informant is mistaken!" Lanqin said in an unhappy tone.
The old minister's expression immediately changed. "Your Majesty, since the Empress is not under house arrest, why don't you bring her out to see us!"
"Yes! Bring the Empress out to see us!" The people around also began to chime in.
"My lords, please calm down. It's not that I didn't want to bring Her Majesty the Empress to see you, but she's been unwell lately and is currently recuperating at Jingren Palace!" Lanqin recognized the person who had stepped forward; if she remembered correctly, he was one of Longkodo's men. He was the one who had been making things difficult for her all along; it seemed she had to deal with this person first.
The man continued, "In that case, we should see Her Majesty the Empress even more! As her subjects, and with the Emperor absent, we need to know more about Her Majesty the Empress's health!"
Lanqin frowned, her tone becoming stern. "How dare you! The Empress is the mistress of the harem; how can you just see her as you please?" She thought that saying this would make them give up their desire to see the Empress, but to her surprise, they didn't take her words to heart at all and kept clamoring to see the Empress.
The Thirteenth Prince, who was standing to the side, could not stand it any longer. "You are all important officials in the court. If word gets out that you are gathering here to meditate, wouldn't it damage the prestige of the country and make you a laughingstock?"
Several high-ranking officials hesitated. Although they had received news this morning that they had come to Changchun Palace to coerce Consort Xi, they had not expected the impact of this matter in the capital. Moreover, if it really reached the Emperor's ears, given the Empress's current status, who knows who the Emperor would side with!
Lanqin saw a minister whisper a few words in the leader's ear, and the minister's expression immediately changed.
"Thirteenth Prince, it's not that we've damaged the nation's prestige and failed to see the Empress; it's that we can't explain this to our ancestors!"
How can they explain this to their ancestors? Have they truly forgotten who is in charge of the current court?
"My lords, I must kindly remind you that the Emperor is currently away on military campaigns. If he returns and finds out that you were threatening Consort Xi while he was away... Although Consort Xi and I will not say anything, there are bound to be people you have offended who might gossip about you to the Emperor!" The Thirteenth Prince had no choice but to say this.
Lanqin glanced at Thirteen; this sentence was crucial.
The high-ranking officials stirred, and several of them stood up and said to Lanqin, "Consort Xi, since you have said that Her Majesty the Empress is not with you, we will take our leave now. We still have many matters to attend to, so we will take our leave!"
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