"Stop crying, all you do is cry! You're such a big person, and you still manage to trip and fall while trying to catch a butterfly! How can you not be stupid enough to die!"
The eldest princess ridiculed her child, and when she saw his predicament, she became furious.
"How can you achieve anything great in the future if you're so frivolous? Haven't I taught you that you can be arrogant in public, but you can't embarrass yourself? Have you even listened to me?"
"Waaah..." Hearing her scolding, the child cried even louder.
"Fang Xun, I'll say it again, you're not allowed to cry!" The princess roared, almost standing up to slap him again.
Fang Xun looked timidly at her mother's angry expression, trying hard to suppress her sobs.
"Are you a good-for-nothing? You've made a fool of yourself in front of these servants. This kind of thing will follow you for the rest of your life. It will spread like wildfire. Everyone will know that you're so old and you can still trip and fall. Don't you think that's shameful?"
The princess's chest heaved up and down.
She's only been in the palace for such a short time, and she's already so angry. Nothing seems to go her way!
She was completely dumbfounded when she saw Granny Sun carrying Fang Xun back with his face covered in injuries.
Just as she was about to ask who had hurt a child so badly and was about to seek revenge, Granny Sun said that Xun'er had fallen on her own.
There were several eunuchs and palace maids in the Imperial Garden. Everyone saw it. It was so embarrassing!
Fang Xun sobbed twice, then pouted and retorted, "I didn't fall by myself."
"Could it be some palace maid who pushed you and made you fall?"
"It's that Consort Chen..." Fang Xun's words suddenly stopped.
He recalled Consort Chen's sinister gaze and the words that Granny Sun had said to him.
If he tells his mother the truth, he will certainly be punished even more severely.
As long as he doesn't say anything and insists that he fell on his own, the matter will be over.
Fear prevented him from speaking again.
However, the princess, who always had sharp ears, immediately heard him say the words "Consort Chen".
"What does this have to do with Consort Chen?"
Upon hearing her question, Fang Xun immediately shuddered.
"It's...it's okay."
The eldest princess didn't understand anyone else, but she understood her son.
I absolutely dare not look her in the eye when I'm lying.
"Speak, what is your relationship with Consort Chen!" she asked sternly, and Fang Xun's sobs, which she had finally managed to stop, instantly resumed.
"Don't cry! Did Consort Chen hurt you?! How dare she attack you in broad daylight, in front of so many palace servants?!"
The princess was so angry she wanted to grind her teeth, but Fang Xun seemed to be stunned into silence, unable to utter a single word, only able to cry.
Enraged, she slapped Fang Xun on the bottom. "If you cry again, I'll have your father spank you with a stick again! Tell me, was it Consort Chen who did it!"
Fang Xun answered while sobbing, "She pushed me. She said if she ever heard me mention being emperor again, she'd break my jaw and feed it to the maggots, waaaaah..."
The princess's raised hand froze in mid-air.
His face turned completely white in an instant.
"You... told Consort Chen that you wanted to be the emperor?"
She looked at her son in disbelief.
She couldn't believe her son would say such things to outsiders.
Fang Xun was crying and sobbing, and was also frightened by the look on her mother's face.
He dared not hide anything and told the whole story of what happened in the Imperial Garden.
The princess listened intently, her initial anger replaced by panic and tension.
"Are you an idiot?" she asked, stunned, after hearing her son's words.
"I... I was just angry that she said only the emperor could punish her, so I said I would become emperor someday..."
Fang Xun was also scared, because he had never seen such an expression on his mother's face before.
He held his mother's hand and sobbed, "Mother, she went too far. No one has ever dared to treat me like that. I just wanted to teach her a lesson. Please don't be angry. I will never do it again."
The princess's eyes suddenly turned fierce.
She grasped Fang Xun's hand in return, and said earnestly, "Son, words spoken are like water spilled; they can never be taken back. Since they can't be taken back, then let them be. You'll be emperor sooner or later anyway, so it doesn't matter if it happens sooner."
Fang Xun's eyes widened, his face filled with undisguised excitement. "Really? Can I really become emperor sooner? Can I be like my uncle, making people kneel and die at will?"
The princess grasped his hand with a bit more force, and said in a low, reassuring voice, "Yes, you can, you definitely can."
A sudden gust of cold wind swept through a side hall of Cixi Palace.
The princess looked at the withered leaves being blown by the wind outside the window, and the smile on her lips became a little crazy.
My brother's body is like a withered tree in autumn, beyond saving. What harm is there in dying sooner?
Gu Jiangli has already met with her elder brother, the Emperor, and must have told him everything about the Imperial Garden.
If her elder brother knows her thoughts, he might take action before she does and eliminate this potential threat.
That won't do.
Rather than sitting idly by in fear and waiting for death, it's better to strike first and seize the initiative.
The princess's eyes grew increasingly fierce, her nails digging deep into her flesh.
"Brother, don't blame your sister for being heartless. Being born into an imperial family, it's only natural for me to be heartless."
————
After Gu Jiangli returned to Delan Palace, he first heard about Lan Huier's setback at Cixi Palace, and then he heard about the young prince crying all night at Cixi Palace.
She felt nothing when she heard this, because it was pretty much what she had expected; Lotus, on the other hand, was very happy.
"Your Highness, shouldn't the young prince and Consort Lan behave themselves this time?"
Gu Jiangli stretched and yawned. "That child might be more well-behaved, but Lan Zhaoyi is another story. She's not a good person and won't give up so easily. I just hope she makes a mistake soon so that she'll never have another chance to make one again."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I think Consort Lan is nothing to fear. You can make her lose her mind with just a few words. Such a person is not even worthy to be your opponent. However, the Princess has the Empress Dowager backing her up, so she will be much more difficult to deal with."
Gu Jiangli's eyes darkened; the mere mention of the Eldest Princess reminded her of the Emperor.
It is not yet clear how the eldest princess will deal with the emperor, but she has a feeling that the eldest princess will not be able to resist.
"Lotus, arrange for a trusted and reliable person to keep watch over Cixi Palace at all times and report any movements to me immediately. Don't use the palace servants who were so obsequious to the Princess the other day; none of them are suitable."
Lotus bowed slightly, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this servant understands."
Gu Jiangli nodded. Hehua was quite steady in doing these things, so she didn't need to worry about her.
The change came faster than Gu Jiangli had imagined.
Two days later, Lotus brought news: "Your Majesty, the Princess has summoned Consort Lan."
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