Chapter 322 Mother and Son's Breakup
After the others came out, they found a place to hide. They could have left directly, but the man was still unconscious. He was someone Lu Xuefei knew, and she was determined to save him.
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "Xuefei, you and the Eighth Prince take him away and hide him. We'll go separately." One of them is the Crown Princess, and the other is the Princess Consort of Prince Yu. They don't need to hide like this.
However, Michelle Reis could avoid the situation for a while and see how the other party would act.
Luo Ziqiong suddenly said, "I know Xie Yu is having an affair with the Zhao family's daughter right now! Consort Yan must be trying to do two things at once, framing me on one hand and having her son seduce the Zhao family's daughter on the other. They just need to wait for her to divorce me so they can marry the Zhao family's daughter. Now she's doing this not only to divorce me, but to kill me."
Luo Ziqiong was also heartbroken. "My parents came to the palace today to pay their respects to the Emperor. They said they would give up their titles and insist that I divorce Xie Yu." She also knew many of Xie Yu's secrets. Since they were so heartless, they shouldn't blame her for being ruthless.
Jiang Fenghua immediately had an idea. "Even if we have to divorce, we can't let Consort Yan and Prince Yu get away with it." She figured that Miss Zhao, who insisted on becoming Prince Yu's consort, wasn't a good person either. So what if she ruined her reputation?
The Zhao family is the residence of the Minister of Revenue, who controls the economic lifeline of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty and is extremely wealthy. Xie Shang has not yet investigated the Zhao family, so he must have his own plans.
He couldn't just make a haphazard decision, otherwise it would be detrimental to the development of the Great Zhou. The Zhao family could only enjoy their current glory for a short time; whether they could maintain that glory in the future was uncertain.
Her elder brother was serving as the Vice Minister of Revenue, working under Minister Zhao. Under these circumstances, she could not intervene, much less show her face.
Besides, she is still the Crown Princess, so she can't interfere in royal affairs behind Xie Shang's back.
Jiang Fenghua said to Luo Ziqiong, "Ziqiong, I can't help you with this, but I have a way to help you... No matter what happens next, you'll have to rely on yourself. Even if you take it to the Emperor, you can only argue your case on your own."
"I am already very grateful that the Crown Princess saved me today. Thank you, Feng Hua." Luo Ziqiong turned and left after saying this, not wanting to implicate the Crown Princess because of her.
When Jiang Fenghua returned to the banquet, Empress Cheng was not there. The Emperor and Consort Ya were drinking intimately together, seemingly admiring the moon, looking quite content.
The place was still filled with singing and dancing, and she looked towards Consort Yan and Consort Zhao.
They smiled, seemingly confident of their victory.
Jiang Fenghua couldn't understand how Consort Yan, who also shared the surname Luo, could treat Luo Ziqiong like this, completely disregarding kinship. Did she have some deep-seated hatred for the Luo family?
Even if you have a grudge against the Luo family, it has nothing to do with Luo Ziqiong!
Jiang Fenghua only knew that once she entered the palace, she knew that the struggles there were brutal, a matter of life and death, and that no one would stop at nothing. She never imagined that even family members could be so ruthless and heartless.
However, it is indeed touching that Michelle Reis's father was willing to give up his title and seek a divorce for his daughter.
Consort Yan did it for her son, and Count Robert did it for his daughter.
At this moment, a palace maid came over and said, "Her Majesty the Empress requests the Crown Princess's presence. Her Majesty is waiting for the Crown Princess in the Imperial Garden."
Jiang Fenghua knew she would eventually face Empress Cheng's wrath, so what did it have to do with her that Zhu Zhenzhen had ruined her child? Before going, she had sent someone to inform His Highness the Crown Prince, and she had been delayed by some matters.
Cheng Langjin, you crazy woman, today I'm going to make you and Xie Shang completely fall out.
Empress Cheng arrived at the pavilion in the Imperial Garden. This was considered the inner palace, while the banquet hall was in the outer palace, so it was much quieter here. The outer palace was also a place specially used to hold various banquets.
Granny Xi stood at a distance, and Jiang Fenghua also had Lianye stand next to Granny Xi before going to the pavilion alone.
Empress Cheng had already cleared the area, and she was quite relaxed and casually strolled into the Imperial Garden to enjoy the moon and drink wine.
Actually, she just didn't want to see the Emperor and Consort Ya being so affectionate. She didn't realize how old she was; Consort Ya could be her daughter now, and she still thought she was young.
Empress Cheng grew increasingly angry as she watched, and simply left. She then ordered wine and dishes to be prepared, and drank alone, forbidding anyone to disturb her. It was only later that she learned of the incident involving Zhu Zhenzhen on stage.
Upon seeing Empress Cheng, Jiang Fenghua respectfully bowed and said, "Your daughter-in-law greets Your Majesty. What brings Your Majesty to see me?"
Empress Cheng stepped forward and slapped Jiang Fenghua across the face without asking a single question.
A crisp "snap" sounded in the air.
Jiang Fenghua was caught off guard by her sudden attack. She heard Empress Cheng say, "What is it? How dare you ask me what it is? Why didn't you know that Consort Zhu was pregnant? Why did you still let her dance on stage? Now the child is gone. Is this what you call taking care of the ladies in every detail?"
Xie Shang saw from afar that his mother's finger was almost poking Jiang Fenghua's nose. Jiang Fenghua looked like a wronged little wife waiting for him to scold her. He even saw his mother slap her.
Xie Shang was filled with rage. He couldn't understand why his mother was such a vicious person. What had Jiang Fenghua done wrong? Was it because of Zhu Zhenzhen's miscarriage that she was scolding Jiang Fenghua?
Xie Shang took three steps in one, almost running, and arrived in front of Jiang Fenghua. He shoved Empress Cheng aside, his eyes filled with icy coldness. "Mother, are you crazy? What did Ruan Ruan do wrong that you have to hit her?"
Empress Cheng was pushed and nearly fell. She stared at Xie Shang in disbelief. "I am your mother. You pushed your mother for an outsider. Why are you treating me like this? Your father treated me this way, and even my only son treats me this way. I've been doing all this for your own good, to help you secure your position..."
"You are not my mother." Xie Shang said coldly in a low voice. He really suspected that she was not his biological mother. Otherwise, why would she not care about him at all, but only about the imperial heir? Was the imperial heir more important than him, her own son? So she must not be his biological mother.
In fact, Xie Shang had always had doubts in his heart, but he never got the right answer.
Empress Cheng's face turned pale. She grabbed his hand and said, "What did you say? How could I not be your mother? I carried you for ten months before giving birth to you..."
"My biological mother was a palace maid who served the Empress Dowager! She was also Rongxiu, the Empress Dowager's dowry maid." Xie Shang directly revealed the secret he knew. For more than twenty years, he had kept it hidden in his heart, and finally asked it out.
Empress Cheng had long forgotten the palace maid's appearance. When the old story was brought up, she stared at Xie Shang, almost speechless. "What do you know? How could I not be your mother? You were born of me, you are my child. Where did you hear this nonsense?"
Xie Shang's eyes were cold as he said in a deep voice, "When you were little, every time you and Father Emperor argued behind closed doors, these kinds of things would happen. Mother Emperor was with another man just to have a royal heir, but Father Emperor found out. And what did you do after that... Do you really treat me as your own son, or do you treat me as a tool for you to gain power?"
Empress Cheng turned pale with fright. "Shang'er, keep your voice down. It's not like that."
"Don't worry, I had people guarding outside before I came to see the Empress Dowager. Our conversation won't be heard." Xie Shang didn't intend to avoid Jiang Fenghua. She was his wife, and if Empress Cheng caused trouble for Jiang Fenghua again, Jiang Fenghua would have this leverage over Empress Cheng and wouldn't dare to cause any more trouble.
"Shang'er, you've misunderstood. It's not like that. Rongxiu's child died at birth. You really are my son, and your father knows that too..."
"Your father is aware of your affair with that man from Madam Cheng's family, which is why he despises you." Xie Shang's words, spoken in a voice only the two of them could hear, deeply wounded Empress Cheng.
"No." Her voice trembled. How did Shang'er know? She didn't...
Xie Shang didn't want to remind her anymore, so he pulled Jiang Fenghua away. From today onwards, Empress Cheng should no longer dare to act like a mother-in-law to her! Even if Xie Shang ascended the throne, he would not give Empress Cheng any real power.
It turns out she was right; Empress Cheng had slept with men other than the Emperor. Tsk tsk, no wonder the Emperor hasn't touched her all these years.
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