Chapter 946 They are all the same kind of people
Gao Qingtong's face turned pale with fright. She had never seen the emperor with such a cold look in his eyes. Did the emperor suspect that she was deliberately trying to harm the second prince?
She explained, "Your Majesty, I absolutely did not intend to harm the Second Prince. I was very worried about the Second Prince's disappearance. I had people search the entire harem. How could such a young child have gotten out in such heavy rain? I really don't know."
"You know he's such a young child, yet you let him run around unattended. No one in the entire Yongle Palace saw the Second Prince leave the palace. He ran out in this heavy rain. Do you know what the consequences will be?" Xie Shang said coldly.
Gao Qingtong trembled with fear, her eyes red, and she stubbornly held back her tears. "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong." It was indeed her negligence that almost cost the Second Prince his life. She was naturally aloof, and now she felt utterly speechless, and the more she tried to explain, the worse it would get.
Jiang Fenghua asked, "Your Majesty, who pulled the Second Prince out of the water? The Second Prince suddenly disappeared, and Consort Gao was very anxious. We searched the entire harem but never expected him to be here with Your Majesty. After all, it takes quite a while for Your Majesty to travel from Yongle Palace to the Imperial Study by carriage. How did the Second Prince, who is so young, get here?" She kept some things to herself, wanting to test the Emperor's thoughts.
Xie Shang paused, wanting to say that Bai Zhiyan had brought him here, and that everyone was already in the Imperial Study. Wasn't the Empress just asking a question she already knew the answer to? He just wanted Gao Qingtong to take good care of Xie Hongrui, since the child was still young and needed a reasonable and sensible person to take care of him.
Jiang Fenghua then raised another question, "Has Your Majesty ever considered how such a young child managed to leave Yongle Palace? I think the Second Prince probably doesn't know the way from Yongle Palace to the Imperial Study!"
Xie Shang said, "I have already asked Rui'er. He said that the Noble Consort does not like him. He wanted to find his mother. He ran away from Yongle Palace to find his mother and accidentally fell into the water. He was rescued by Miss Bai, who brought him to the Imperial Study. This matter is the Noble Consort's fault. It is a pity that such a young child ran away from the palace without anyone noticing. It is because the people of Yongle Palace did not take good care of him. Since Rui'er is also unharmed, everyone in Yongle Palace should receive thirty strokes of the cane and have their salary deducted for half a year."
Jiang Fenghua didn't expect that Xie Shang had already planned how to deal with Gao Qingtong and the people of Yongle Palace. Now that Xiao Shang has become a partner with them, he no longer needs to use the Bai family to lure Xiao Shang out, and there is no need to keep Bai Zhiyan in the palace any longer. He must be feeling guilty to do this!
He used to say he wouldn't be fooled by Qin Yunyan, so what does he mean now?
The Emperor didn't need to go through Bai Zhiyan, his adopted daughter, to get the Bai family's money to solve the Great Zhou's crisis, because Xie Shang and Bai Yuhan, the legitimate daughter of the Bai family, already had a deal, and he could have negotiated with Bai Yuhan himself.
Bai Zhiyan is completely useless. The only thing she might still be somewhat presentable is her face. What if her face is disfigured?
Jiang Fenghua remained expressionless as she walked up to Bai Zhiyan and the Second Prince.
Bai Zhiyan quickly bowed, "This commoner greets Your Majesty the Empress."
Jiang Fenghua asked, "Miss Bai's residence is not close to Yongle Palace, is it? What is Miss Bai doing at Yongle Palace? It's such a coincidence that she just happened to save the Second Prince from the water. This is indeed too much of a coincidence."
Bai Zhiyan frowned slightly. What did the Empress mean? She was indeed lucky. She happened to see a child running towards the corridor. It was raining heavily at the time, and there was no one in the corridor. She saw that the child was dressed in extraordinary clothes. The only person who could come and go in the harem was a prince.
She knew that the most favored person in the palace was the Empress, and she thought that the child was the Empress's child. But after thinking about it, she realized that it was impossible. The Empress's child would definitely have a large number of servants around him. When she was in the palace, she tried to get close to Kunning Palace, but she failed every time. The Empress's child had someone protecting him closely.
It couldn't be the Empress's child, but the child of Consort Song, who had just fallen out of favor. Rumors about Consort Song's loss of favor had already spread throughout the palace, so she came up with a plan. The Second Prince was so frightened by the sound that he ran around in all directions, not caring whether it was raining or not, and ran into the rain.
Immediately afterwards, with a "plop," the second prince slipped and fell into the pond...
The second prince fell into the water, which she hadn't expected. She was so scared that her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her throat. Fortunately, she was quick-witted and knew how to swim. If she saved the prince, the emperor would definitely look at her with new eyes. If she could make good use of this opportunity to meet the emperor and successfully get close to him, she would have a way to become the emperor's concubine.
Bai Zhiyan said softly, "I was bored in the palace, so I thought I'd go out for a walk. I suddenly saw a little boy accidentally fall into the water. At the time, I didn't know he was the Second Prince and was almost scared to death. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and knew how to swim, so I jumped into the water and saved the Second Prince. I asked him about it, and he said he was going to find his mother and that's when he found out he was a prince. I've already told His Majesty all of this."
After she finished speaking, she slowly raised her head and glanced in the direction of the emperor. A hint of fear flashed in her eyes, and her cautious appearance made her seem pitiful.
Jiang Fenghua stared at her lightly bitten red lips; they were truly exquisite! Men all like delicate women, and Qin Yunyan's charming appearance must have aroused a man's protective instincts!
Xie Shang said, "Ruan Ruan, it's fortunate that Rui'er met Miss Bai today. If no one had seen it, Rui'er might be dead. We owe everything to Miss Bai today."
Xie Shang has always loved children, and moreover, as the emperor, it is his responsibility to produce offspring for the royal family. Jiang Fenghua should understand the importance of expanding the royal family line; only with a thriving lineage can the Xie clan grow stronger.
Jiang Fenghua paused. She and Qin Yunyan were on completely different paths. She found it funny to think about it. In short, they were all the same kind of people. In fact, all the women who entered the palace were the same kind of people. They were not competing for the emperor's true affection, but for who could stand higher.
She herself had no sincerity, so what reason did she have to criticize an emperor's sincerity? Thinking about it carefully, it was actually unfair to Xie Shang. Shouldn't she arrange for the emperor to select concubines? After all, there were already rumors in the court that the imperial heirs were dwindling, which was detrimental to the country and the nation.
Jiang Fenghua didn't press further and said to Xie Shang, "Since the Second Prince is unharmed, I'll take him back first! Consort Gao was indeed negligent. I'll instruct her to take good care of the Second Prince after I return to the palace."
Xie Shang said, "Your Majesty has gone to great lengths."
In front of outsiders, the couple still appear very loving.
Xie Shang also knew that Jiang Fenghua was dignified and generous, and that her character was worthy of the title of Empress. The late emperor had not misjudged her.
Unexpectedly, just as Jiang Fenghua was about to pull Xie Hongrui up, Xie Hongrui avoided her hand and instead took Qin Yunyan's hand, saying, "Rui Rui wants to go with Sister Bai to find Mother Consort."
Jiang Fenghua said, "Wouldn't it be better if your mother took you to find her?" She deliberately used the term "mother" to indicate her status. According to the rules, the children born to the concubines in the harem should call her "mother" in front of her, the principal wife.
“No good.” Xie Hongrui shook his head, as if he had never heard the word before, only knowing that she was the Empress and that he only had one mother.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
