Chapter 200 The Emperor and Empress Reconciled
The Emperor looked at Jiang Fenghua with an expression of utter disgust, "Do you think I'm willing to be a coward?"
Jiang Fenghua knew the Emperor had misunderstood, and her expression panicked. She couldn't even kneel down, so she quickly explained, "What I mean is, the bandits have already reached our borders. Your Highness, as a prince, is young and full of vigor. He is fearless and energetic. Although he disobeyed military orders and refused to be disciplined, and even broke into the enemy camp, Father Emperor, considering that he was young and ignorant, and that nothing serious happened afterward, please forgive Your Highness, considering that his merits and demerits cancel each other out!"
Towards the end, Jiang Fenghua began to whine like a daughter, as if a child who had done something wrong wanted her father's affection, "The prince has worked very hard since he was a child. He has always wanted your approval. He actually respects his father. He's quite pitiful..."
Seeing her anxious expression, the emperor suddenly laughed.
Jiang Fenghua was stunned, and tentatively called out, "Why is Father Emperor smiling? You're not angry anymore!"
"How do you know everything about him from childhood to adulthood?" the Emperor suddenly asked her.
“The prince told me!” Jiang Fenghua’s eyes were clear. “Actually, parents are the most tolerant of their children. Everyone makes mistakes, and in the end, it is the parents who forgive us without holding grudges. I think the emperor also loves the prince. When he made a mistake, you only scolded him a few times and never really punished him.”
"You are very protective of him. The fact that he can tell you these things shows that he trusts you a lot." The Emperor sighed. "How I wish for a loving father and a filial son, but being born into the imperial family, the emperor's shoulders are much heavier than those of ordinary people. Shang'er is very fortunate to have an understanding wife."
Jiang Fenghua didn't respond. Did the Emperor mean that the Empress didn't understand him?
Although the Emperor outwardly disliked Xie Shang, he was actually quite grateful to have this son. There were many voices in the court urging the Emperor to establish a Crown Prince as soon as possible, and there were also quite a few people who supported Xie Shang, as well as those who supported the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince.
It is said that the emperor's favorite eldest prince died young. Jiang Fenghua once inquired about this eldest prince from Jiang Huai. He was intelligent and learned. If he were still alive, he would be the only choice for crown prince.
When the emperor was still the crown prince, the eldest prince was born to the emperor's concubine. Later, when the emperor ascended the throne, he made his first wife empress, and Wenyi became a noble consort.
The late Empress was in poor health and suffered from a serious illness. She passed away after only two years as Empress. Consort Wenyi thought she could finally sit on the throne as Empress, but in the end, the Emperor still married General Cheng's daughter as his successor.
The Empress's rapid death may be related to Wenyi, but the Emperor has no evidence.
Jiang Fenghua continued, "Father, do you know that Mother is ill? She hasn't left Kunning Palace since New Year's Eve, and her illness hasn't improved. She's just been sick like this... The imperial physician said that Mother caught a cold."
Then she added, "I don't know what happened between the Emperor and the Empress. Actually, Father loves Mother, so why is he so stubborn and cold towards her? In fact, what couple doesn't quarrel? If each of them gives in a little, wouldn't the way be clear?"
The Emperor hadn't inquired about the Empress these past few days, and the people in the Qianqing Palace seemed used to the Emperor and Empress's way of getting along, so they didn't say anything. Therefore, the Emperor really didn't know that the Empress was ill.
The Emperor clenched his fingers, recalling the day she was soaked to the bone in the freezing weather, and how long she had knelt in the snow. He had thought that since he promised to make her son the crown prince, she would stop bothering him. It turned out she was seriously ill.
The Emperor summoned Cao De and left without paying any attention to Jiang Fenghua still in the Imperial Study.
Jiang Fenghua didn't linger and followed closely behind. Suddenly, the Emperor said, "Go back now. Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. Go out of the palace to be with your parents!"
Jiang Fenghua paused for a moment, then said, "Yes."
-
Kunning Palace.
Empress Cheng was dressed in a white dress. She looked sickly and her complexion was poor. Her face was pale and bloodless. She didn't want to wear makeup, but she didn't look old.
She is well-maintained and still retains her charm in her forties, with a slender waist, looking like she is around thirty years old.
Empress Cheng sat in front of the mirror, secretly heartbroken. She had once been so proud of her beautiful face. She entered the palace at fourteen, had a child at eighteen, and then wasted half her life in the palace. Why did she have to live such a life?
Before entering the palace, everyone wanted to go and become an empress. But once they entered the palace, they could only live such lonely and desolate lives, without any joy. Day after day, year after year, they were like canaries in a cage, with no one to appreciate them.
No wonder Consort Yan went mad. When she was with the Emperor, he was still the Crown Prince. Although she had given birth to a prince, she was not favored. There were countless women like Consort Yan in the palace, and they all shared the same plight.
And those who committed suicide out of depression, how many of them did the Emperor care about? Now she's going to follow in their footsteps and go mad like Consort Yan.
Like Consort Wang, go and have fun...
When Empress Cheng was young, she never thought of doing anything that violated the virtues of womanhood, and she wouldn't do it now either. She just suddenly felt too lonely.
Thinking back to the days of love and affection with the Emperor, she thought they had finally put aside their past grievances. But she was too naive. The Emperor would never forget those things, and no matter how she explained, it would be useless.
Now that the Emperor has promised to make Shang'er the Crown Prince, and he will be the Emperor in the future, she has fulfilled her long-held wish. It turns out that being without desires and wants is so easy and carefree.
She plans to request to be deposed as empress and leave the palace to visit the Cheng family. The only people she feels she has wronged are the Cheng clan.
At this moment, Empress Cheng clutched her chest and coughed softly. She called out, "Granny Xi..."
But no one answered after she called for a long time. She dragged her sickly face up from her seat, intending to pour herself a glass of water.
Just then, the Emperor suddenly stood in front of her, "Lang Jin."
Empress Cheng was taken aback at first, then suddenly remembered that she was not wearing any makeup and had even forgotten her etiquette. She hurriedly ran behind the screen, coughed again, and then said, "Why has the Emperor come? Why didn't you let anyone announce your arrival?"
The emperor took a few steps forward, but she stopped him, saying, "Don't come any closer."
The emperor stopped in his tracks. "You're so ill, why didn't anyone inform me?"
"I am not wearing makeup," Empress Cheng suddenly said.
The Emperor suddenly laughed. His hair had turned white, and he was an old man over fifty. He had seen Cheng Langjin before she entered the palace; she was a beautiful young girl, like a fairy. He took the initiative to say, "I have been arguing with you for twenty years, and you have been arguing with me for twenty years. Looking back, we were both too foolish, wasting twenty years over trivial matters. Now that you have married me, you are my wife. I should have come to talk to you sooner."
Empress Cheng suddenly burst into tears, “When I was bullied by Su Qingqing, Your Majesty never helped me. I thought Your Majesty only liked Su Qingqing and hated me.”
The Emperor had already walked up to Empress Cheng without anyone noticing. "When did I ever say I only liked her? I married you first, and she came after. Let's not talk about the past! I've always known that you wanted to leave the palace and go back to the Cheng family."
Empress Cheng disregarded her makeup and asked, "Really? May I return to the Cheng family?"
"Of course, tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. I can go out of the palace incognito and accompany you to visit the Cheng family."
Empress Cheng happily embraced the Emperor. The Emperor's willingness to go to the Cheng family meant that he had let go of that matter. In fact, she did not know that Old Madam Cheng had passed away on the night of the New Year. She could only feel regret when she returned now.
The Emperor didn't tell her that he needed the Su family, which was why Su Qingqing was the Imperial Concubine and why she could only give birth to a princess. The Cheng family had voluntarily withdrawn, which was equivalent to relinquishing power, allowing Empress Cheng to maintain her position as Empress and even Xie Shang to become the Crown Prince—all things that an emperor considers first and foremost.
Love is the greatest luxury for an emperor. As long as the Cheng family has no ambition, he likes Cheng Langjin.
He pulled Cheng Langjin into his arms, and just like that, the two who were still angry inexplicably made up again.
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