Chapter 420 The Emperor's Condition Worsens
Jiang Fenghua listened silently. She knew this Empress Dowager and also knew that she had not returned after the Emperor's death.
However, the emperor's mausoleum in the previous life was indeed built in Hengyang, and few of the concubines in the harem had ever seen this nearly eighty-year-old empress dowager.
Xie Shang ate some noodles with the Emperor, who then became drowsy again. Chief Eunuch Cao and Xie Shang helped him back to bed.
Jiang Fenghua said, "Let's ask Physician Mei to take a look!"
Manager Cao said, "His Majesty must be tired. If His Majesty takes a nap, Imperial Physician Mei will arrive. The Crown Princess has been with His Majesty all morning, so she should also go back and rest!"
"Steward Cao, please look after the Emperor. I will escort the Crown Princess back to the palace first, and then I will come over."
"I am not tired. You may go back by yourself. Your Highness, please stay and keep Father company."
Xie Shang added, "You need to rest as well, since you're not feeling well."
Xie Shang held her hand, lost in thought.
Jiang Fenghua asked him, "Is Your Highness thinking of the Empress Dowager? I have never paid my respects to her since I married Your Highness."
"It's because Father Emperor doesn't allow it. Father Emperor, Grandmother, and Uncle Kang have long since severed ties." Xie Shang had secretly gone to Hengyang and met with the Empress Dowager. He also knew that the Empress Dowager's unwillingness to return might be because Father Emperor had demoted Prince Kang to the Northwest.
Jiang Fenghua was stunned. "What kind of hatred could cause a biological mother to sever ties with her son?"
He said softly, "It was Father who severed ties with them, not the other way around. It seems that it was because Grandmother favored Uncle Kang. After Father became Emperor, he directly exiled Uncle Kang to the harsh northwest. Grandmother then moved to Hengyang Palace. There are also rumors..."
As Xie Shang slowly explained, Jiang Fenghua finally understood the reason. The Empress Dowager believed that the Emperor was not suitable to be the emperor and wanted the late Emperor to depose the Crown Prince and establish Prince Kang as the Crown Prince. In other words, she wanted Prince Kang to inherit the throne. The Crown Prince had a great deal of objection to this, thinking that since they were both his own sons, why should she be biased? At that time, the Crown Prince may have used certain means and actions that made the Empress Dowager disapprove.
There are even rumors that the late emperor did not want to pass the throne to the current emperor and did indeed have the idea of deposing the crown prince. The crown prince allegedly murdered the late emperor to seize the throne. Only the crown prince and the late emperor at the time knew the truth.
However, the Crown Prince was already the heir apparent at that time. With the late emperor's death, no one dared to object to the Crown Prince's succession. There were also many people in the court who supported the Crown Prince, so it was a natural progression.
In any case, the throne eventually fell into the hands of the crown prince. After becoming emperor, he used some extreme measures to secure his position. Decades have passed, and no one cares about how Emperor Huijing actually ascended the throne.
It seems that he has indeed preserved the Xie family's empire, and his decades in power have not betrayed the Xie family ancestors.
"Your Majesty still wants to repair the brotherly relationship with Prince Kang, and even the mother-son relationship with the Empress Dowager. No matter how much they opposed or did not support him back then, Your Majesty has been firmly in this position for decades. After all these decades, can the Empress Dowager still say that Your Majesty is not suitable to be emperor? Different people have different opinions, and everyone is just trying to justify their own views."
Xie Shang smiled and said, "Father always treats Ruan Ruan differently, which is why Ruan Ruan speaks up for Father."
Jiang Fenghua said, "No, even if Father Emperor was not a good emperor, whether he formed cliques for personal gain or won over court officials, in today's view it is just a matter of the winner taking all and the loser being the villain. From his perspective at the time, does his fighting and seizing mean he was wrong?"
Even if the Yang and Su families weren't good people—they were henchmen supported by the Emperor and used to his advantage—and they committed countless evil deeds, does that mean the Emperor was as wicked as they were? In fact, the Emperor wasn't incompetent and tyrannical; he even punished them.” She said these flattering words without batting an eye.
Just like Xie Shang became the crown prince, the Zhu family, the Tang family, and even General Peng all became Xie Shang's favorites. If they were to do evil deeds, would that prove that Xie Shang was unsuitable to be emperor? She hoped that Xie Shang could also set things right in the future.
Some things cannot be compared on the same level. The Empress Dowager may have seen one aspect and thus negated the Emperor's other aspect, directly negating him without guiding him in the right direction. No wonder the Emperor severed kinship ties, yet in his later years he only remembered the kinship ties that he had personally severed.
Since the Emperor and Prince Kang were at odds, why did he only remember the scene of eating longevity noodles with Prince Kang when he was slowly losing his memory?
The emperor must be very lonely.
"Now I finally understand why my father loves you," Xie Shang said.
"Your Highness also likes me very much." Jiang Fenghua winked at him, deliberately acting cute, and unintentionally told her some things, suspecting that Xie Shang still had someone else in his heart.
Xie Shang hugged her, "Yes, yes, I also like Ruan Ruan very much."
The palaces also received news that the Emperor had suddenly fainted. In fact, the Emperor had noticed dizziness more and more frequently over the past year.
The Second Prince, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, the Sixth Prince, the Eighth Prince, the Tenth Prince, and others all entered the palace to request an audience with the Emperor, all wanting to know the Emperor's condition.
Xie Shang looked at the crowd of people below. He knew that they were not really concerned about the Emperor's condition, but rather about what decrees the Emperor had left behind before he fell ill.
Xie Shang heard that everyone had gone to the palace, so he came to the Qing Palace to deal with everyone.
Xie Shang said in a deep voice, "With Physician Mei treating Father Emperor, his condition fluctuates. Father Emperor's memory is also becoming hazy and confused. Sometimes he can't even remember who is who, so everyone, please don't rush."
Everyone muttered to themselves: "Even when the Emperor is in good health, he doesn't seem to remember who's who. Everyone is afraid of him, so no one dares to pretend to be a father or son in front of him. There is no father-son relationship or kinship in the royal family. They just hope that the Emperor can bestow some good things upon them before he passes away."
Or perhaps bestow some real estate, land, or fiefdoms, but the emperor fell ill before any of these arrangements were made.
So, before the emperor passed away, the princes all moved into the palace, ostensibly to serve the emperor during his illness.
Although Xie Shang is the Crown Prince, he is also a son, and the princes are also sons, so Xie Shang has no reason to expel them. Let them stay outside the Qianqing Palace if they want!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Jiang Fenghua's Chenxi Palace was also packed with people.
The Second Princess, the Third Princess, the Fourth Princess, and the Sixth Princess, among others, all arrived at Chenxi Palace. They wanted to inquire about the situation, but fearing that too many people would crowd into Qianqing Palace and disturb the Emperor's rest, they used the excuse of visiting the Crown Princess to go to the East Palace.
The Third Princess Consort said, "I heard that recently Father Emperor has often asked the Crown Princess to play chess with him. How is Father Emperor's spirit when he plays chess? Fenghua also knows that we all live outside the palace and it is not as convenient as for you, so she has not fulfilled her responsibilities as a daughter-in-law."
The Fourth Princess Consort also said solicitously, "Last time, the nanny by my side was unruly and offended the Crown Princess's mother. I have already expelled her from the palace. The Crown Prince is right. The people who stay to serve the young princes must be of excellent character. I also rarely leave the palace, unlike the Crown Princess who is so learned."
The Sixth Princess Consort, being the most honest, smiled shyly, "My health has always been poor, so I rarely come to the palace..."
The Second Princess Consort Zhao Yunhui was at a loss for words, sitting to the side with a hesitant expression. She and Xie Yu had come to the palace only to ask the Emperor to reinstate Xie Yu's official position out of consideration for his status as their son, and to ask the Crown Princess to put in a good word for him. She had repeated these words countless times in her mind, but she just didn't know how to bring them up.
Jiang Fenghua listened to them talk, her expression indifferent, making it impossible to discern her emotions.
She said, "Princess consorts, please don't worry. Father Emperor has just fainted. Imperial Physician Mei is still treating him. This fainting is probably nothing serious. Father Emperor is blessed with good fortune and good people are always protected by heaven."
After listening, no one got the useful information they wanted, so the princesses also stayed in the palace.
They stayed there for a month.
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