Pei Yuance, however, began to mutter to himself.
“I am engaged to the General of the Escort Flag. If I surrender to the Empress, even the Fourth Prince might not be able to challenge me.”
Pei Yuance exclaimed, "Sister, you are so clever!"
Pei Zhi suddenly said, "Brother, don't forget, there are quite a few princes in the palace who don't have their own mothers."
Pei Yuance disagreed, saying, "Those princes are all too young; the Empress certainly won't choose them."
"Yes, they are still young, which is a good opportunity to cultivate the bond between mother and child, isn't it?"
"I can swear that if I ascend the throne in the future, I will definitely be filial to my mother and will never mistreat her because of her."
Pei Zhi said with a hint of resentment, "Although I know that you will fail, I still hope that you will get what you want."
Pei Zhi smiled and said, "After all, only when you, brother, are well can I, your sister, be well, right?"
Pei Yuance understood the meaning behind his sister's words.
He ran up to the Empress and swore that he would treat her as his own mother and be filial to her from now on.
He could say something like that; even the Empress would probably laugh.
If swearing would work, people wouldn't die so often in the harem.
But what if he were like those princes in the harem who had no mothers?
If he then goes to surrender, will the Empress agree to cooperate with him?
Pei Yuance shook his head abruptly. His mother had always planned and strategized for him. How could he have such thoughts?
After returning to the palace, Consort Lin grabbed Pei Yuanze and Pei Zhi, bombarding them with questions.
It's simply a matter of what happened, how the Third Prince was suddenly granted the title of Prince.
Pei Yuance explained the matter in a few words, and Consort Lin applauded as she listened.
"What's there for Mother to be happy about? With the third son out of the game, the scales of victory have fallen on the fourth son, haven't they?"
Consort Lin, however, said with certainty, "Her Majesty the Empress will not so easily allow Consort Gao's child to ascend to a high position."
"From now on, you should pay your respects to the Empress more often, so that she can help you out."
Pei Yuance responded softly, then excused himself, saying he was a little tired from hunting, and left.
Consort Lin was too happy to notice that Pei Yuanze's expression was a little off.
After returning to the palace, the Empress fell ill for a few days and instructed the concubines not to come and pay their respects.
A few days later, the Empress seemed to have come back to life, just like before.
When Pei Yuance listened to his mother's words, he went to pay his respects to the Empress, but she remained indifferent to him.
On several occasions, Pei Yuanze saw the nanny leading the eleventh and thirteenth princes to pay their respects to the Empress.
Both princes were motherless and were cared for by wet nurses and nannies.
Pei Yuanze understood that the Empress probably intended to choose one of the two princes to be adopted into her family.
He comes to pay his respects every day; the Empress is surely aware of his intentions.
But the Empress always treated him coldly and didn't respond.
Pei Yuanze ate lunch with Consort Lin and Pei Zhi.
Consort Lin served Pei Yuance some food, saying, "The Fourth Prince's marriage is about to be settled."
"Once his wedding date is set, I will go to see His Majesty and ask the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to select the date for your wedding."
Pei Yuance suddenly said, "My mother makes soup for my father from time to time. It's already difficult to see him once in ten times."
Consort Lin had indeed fallen out of favor long ago, but she still felt somewhat embarrassed when her own son said it to her face.
Consort Lin couldn't vent her anger on Pei Yuance, so she looked at Pei Zhi, who was quietly eating, and without thinking, picked up the soup bowl and smashed it over her head.
Pei Zhi reacted quickly and slightly turned to the side, so she was only hit on the shoulder.
Pei Zhi glanced at her wet shoulder, then turned to look at Consort Lin with a calm gaze.
Consort Lin retorted angrily, "What are you looking at? If it weren't for you, would I have fallen out of favor?"
Pei Zhi took a handkerchief and wiped the soup stains off her shoulder.
Forget it, Consort Lin won't live much longer anyway, why should she bother arguing with someone who's about to die?
"I am not feeling well, Mother and Brother, please enjoy your meal." Pei Zhi rose, bowed, and took her leave.
Seeing that Pei Zhi had finished bowing and was about to leave, Consort Lin immediately got up to stop him.
Pei Yuance said, "Mother, please enjoy your meal."
Lin Fei could easily see that Pei Yuan Ce was helping Pei Zhi.
Lin Fei said sarcastically, "You two siblings have become quite close now."
"Father summoned my sister a few days ago. If you continue as before, what will happen if Father questions you?"
Consort Lin sneered, "In your father's eyes, your sister is just a painter."
Pei Yuance was unwilling to talk much with his mother and felt inexplicably discouraged.
If he were the empress's son, the throne would be within his grasp.
Does he really want to lose this readily available opportunity because of his mother?
Pei Yuance lost his appetite. "I'll go check on my sister. Mother, please enjoy your meal."
Consort Lin threw down her spoon and said angrily, "These two have really grown up and become arrogant."
Pei Zhi was about to change her clothes when she heard a palace servant report that Pei Yuan Ce had arrived.
Pei Zhi had the palace servants serve hot tea, and Pei Yuance saw that Pei Zhi was still wearing the same dirty clothes.
"Go change your clothes first, I'll wait for you."
Pei Zhi did not refuse, and let Pei Yuance drink tea in the hall while she returned to her bedroom to change her clothes.
When Pei Zhi returned after changing her clothes, she saw that Pei Yuance seemed to be lost in thought.
"What is Your Majesty thinking about? Why are you so engrossed?"
Pei Yuance shook his head. "Are you alright?"
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
