Qi Yi felt very frustrated.
Initially, I was misled by Prince An's words, "Why not inherit the glory of the Qi family, lead the frontier soldiers to fight on the battlefield, reclaim wasteland, and spread the Qi family's reputation?" In a moment of impulsiveness, I boarded his pirate ship.
Looking back now, I regret trading his life in Beijing and a loving niece for that desolate, godforsaken place in southern Xinjiang.
"Xin Xin, why don't you come with me to Southern Xinjiang?"
Qi Yi sipped the cordyceps and ginseng chicken soup that Chu Xinxin had brought him, and sighed inwardly that his niece really knew how to enjoy life.
Chu Xinxin then brought him a plate of delicate pastries: "Uncle, you can go in peace. I will take care of the Qi residence for you."
Qi Yi was being served very comfortably, and casually remarked, "Aren't you going to marry into the Prince An's mansion next spring?"
"Uncle, you know I'm going to marry into the Prince An's mansion?" Chu Xinxin smiled and looked at Qi Yi with her arms crossed.
Qi Yi suffered a heart attack, and after a while, he said with a worried expression, "But that Prince An, he can't even touch a woman, you're just keeping a vigil..."
"Your Highness, Prince An has arrived."
Qi Yi's servant came in to report.
Today, Zhou Huaichuan was wearing a dark blue robe with gold brocade and a qilin pattern, a jade crown on his head, and a smile on his lips. He was incredibly elegant and refined.
Qi Yi almost didn't recognize him at first glance.
Chu Xin happily stepped forward and took his hand. If you didn't look at their appearances and only looked at their figures, the two of them were definitely a perfect match.
"Lord Qi, I'll take Xin Xin with me now." Zhou Huaichuan nodded slightly to Qi Yi, then took Chu Xin Xin's hand that was linked with his.
Before turning around, he looked up at Qi Yi and said, "Lord Qi, don't worry, Xin Xin won't live a life of widowhood."
Qi Yi stared wide-eyed at the two clasped hands, then at Zhou Huaichuan's perfectly normal face, and began to question his own existence.
He didn't realize what was happening until the two people left.
"In broad daylight, am I seeing a ghost?"
......
Chu Xinxin and Zhou Huaichuan left the Qi residence and then entered the former Huainan Prince's residence.
The Prince of Huainan's palace was completely empty; its contents had long been moved out and deposited into the national treasury.
"Emperor Zhou is too stingy; he didn't even leave you a single chair."
Chu Xinxin looked around, but there wasn't even a fire poker left, let alone a stool.
"In the end, you still have to rely on me." Chu Xinxin took out the key from the private treasury of the Prince of Huainan from her collar. "Zhou Huaichuan, I'll be taking care of you from now on, so you'd better be a good girl."
Zhou Huaichuan followed behind her, and seeing her smug look, he couldn't help but peck her lips.
The King of Huainan's private treasury was built beneath an underground palace on a rockery, with its entrance and exit extremely secret. The treasures inside were exactly the same as those before Chu Xinxin left last time.
The Prince of Huainan's residence was much smaller than the Prince of An's residence, so Zhou Huaichuan wouldn't be staying there. He then ordered his guards to empty the private treasury.
But once everything was emptied, a hidden door was revealed.
"A secret passage?" Chu Xinxin asked.
“No.” Zhou Huaichuan went inside and investigated. “It’s a prison cell.”
Chu Xinxin frowned in thought: "Block the prison cell entrance with mountains of treasures..."
That is, those who are imprisoned will starve to death.
[Inside were forty-eight skeletons, several of whom wore jade pendants bearing the character "Xu".]
"Which family has the surname Xu...?"
[They are not in the court, but they are in the harem.]
"Empress Xu...!"
Chu Xinxin grabbed Zhou Huaichuan's arm: "Before this mansion was bestowed upon the Prince of Huainan, which family lived there?"
Zhou Huaichuan looked at Yun Zheng, who replied, "Your Highness, it is the residence of Grand Tutor Xu."
......
The next day.
In Taiji Palace, after Emperor Zhou had finished his evening meal, a eunuch came to report that the Empress had suffered a heart attack and fainted.
"You eunuch are talking nonsense. Her Majesty the Empress has always been in good health. When did she develop a heart ailment?"
Emperor Zhou remained silent, but Consort Rong, who was standing nearby, began to reprimand him.
The implication was that the Empress was faking illness to trick Emperor Zhou into coming.
When Emperor Zhou recalled the last time he saw the Empress, her once-fitting empress's robes were now loose and empty, and the hands beneath the wide robes even looked gaunt. He immediately reprimanded Consort Rong for disrespecting the Empress, and then proceeded to Weiyang Palace.
Almost half of the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy came.
"How is the Empress?"
The head physician of the Imperial Medical Academy, Kong, said, "Your Majesty, please do not worry. Her Majesty the Empress has taken the heart-saving pill and will wake up soon."
He only said that the patient would wake up soon, without mentioning the illness. Only then did Emperor Zhou realize the seriousness of the situation.
"I'll go in and take a look first."
In the imperial bedchamber, the empress lay on the bed with her eyes closed, her face extremely pale and ashen, looking like she was about to die.
Roujia knelt to the side, tears streaming down her face.
"Why did the Empress suddenly faint?"
The Empress's lady-in-waiting, Qing Shuang, choked up as she said, "Your Majesty, today is... today is the anniversary of Grand Tutor Xu's death. The Empress suddenly saw a letter that Grand Tutor Xu wrote to Her Majesty in an old book. Overwhelmed with grief, she fainted."
Emperor Zhou paused as he reached for the Empress's hand, then casually asked, "What letter...?"
A palace maid handed over the letter. Emperor Zhou glanced at it and saw that it contained some blessings written by Grand Tutor Xu to the Empress when she came of age.
"After Grand Tutor Xu left, Her Majesty has been looking for this letter." Qing Shuang bowed and took the letter back. "Your Majesty, Her Majesty is about to wake up. This servant dares to say that Her Majesty's current condition is such that she cannot afford to get angry again."
These words were directed at Emperor Zhou. In recent years, every time the emperor and empress met, it ended on bad terms.
Emperor Zhou was embarrassed by Qing Shuang and was about to lash out when Rou Jia suddenly exclaimed, "Mother, Mother, you're awake?"
Princesses, palace maids, and imperial physicians swarmed forward, pushing Emperor Zhou aside.
"Wen Yuan..." the Empress's weak voice rang out.
Wen Yuan was the courtesy name of Emperor Zhou.
He strode forward, and the Empress threw herself into Emperor Zhou's arms, weeping: "Wen Yuan, I will never see my father again."
Emperor Zhou had not heard this title for a long time. He held the Empress in his arms, recalling their past.
In the past, the Empress had nothing but him in her heart. When he went to the Grand Tutor's mansion for classes, the Empress would stand in the pavilion to wait for him and call him Wen Yuan.
When she was being punished by Grand Tutor Xu, she would open her red, bruised palms and say to him, "Wen Yuan, it hurts so much."
They were a young couple and were certainly very loving.
But later... it was indeed him who neglected her.
"Don't cry, I...I'm here."
......
Emperor Zhou spent five days with the Empress and never went to any other palace.
The news of the Emperor and Empress's reconciliation spread throughout the palace and also reached the ears of the eldest prince.
"It must be the Empress's doing, otherwise why would Mother Consort be confined to her quarters!"
Zhou Rui is now neither favored by the Zhou Emperor, nor is his greatest support under house arrest, and his marriage prospects are the worst.
Although Zhou Huaichuan married an ugly woman, she was still the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's family.
There's also Qi Yi, his uncle.
As Zhou Rui watched the emperor's throne slip further and further away from him, his resentment grew stronger.
His subordinates saw through his thoughts and suggested, "Sir, since you don't like Miss Zhang, you can just find someone else."
Zhou Rui angrily smashed his wine glass: "What right do you have to laugh at me! The imperial edict says Zhang Wen's name, who can change that? You? Get out!"
"Sir, please calm down." The advisor pulled a small bottle from his sleeve. "Sir, we have a plan. This is aphrodisiac powder. Just one drop will turn even the most virtuous woman into a wolf. Whichever girl you fancy, just..."
After hearing this, Zhou Rui revealed a sinister smile: "Then let's try it on my cousin An Yi."
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