Chapter 298 How come I never noticed you were like this before?
"You little dumpling, have you been corrupted by your fifth brother? You're just causing trouble."
While blaming her, he picked up the little dumpling and said, "Alright, alright, go, go. I'll assign you a few people to take good care of you along the way, so your mother and I won't have to worry."
"Wow, thank you, Father! Don't worry, Father, I will definitely stay close to the Crown Prince and not run around. I will be good and not make everyone worry!"
"Okay." Xie Yuxiao smiled helplessly.
Xie Yun's eyes lit up, somewhat surprised.
Xie Yuxiao turned to look at Xie Yun, who was kneeling, and sighed: "I agree to your going to Jin. But let's talk about the other matter after you return from Jin."
He wasn't unaware of Xie Yunyang's temperament, but this matter was different, and he needed to think it through carefully.
If this trip to Jin allows him to experience things and understand his own heart more clearly, then this trip will not have been in vain.
If he still doesn't change his mind after Xie Yun-yang returns, then he will agree to Xie Yun-yang's request.
Xie Yuxiao seemed unwilling to say anything more, and decisively said, "It's settled then."
"Thank you, Father Emperor!"
Xie Yun was overjoyed, at least it meant that Xie Yuxiao agreed with his approach.
However, although a remedy using the Rejuvenating Herb has been found, punishment for Empress Zheng is unavoidable.
Empress Zheng committed a grave error and even publicly contradicted Xie Yuxiao. Logically and morally, no matter how kind and compassionate Xie Yuxiao is, he would not allow Empress Zheng to continue like this.
He didn't know if today's events were related to the Zheng family, but if Xie Yuxiao severely punished Empress Zheng, the Zheng family would inevitably be implicated.
He could not plead for Empress Zheng, but he could plead for the Zheng family.
If Xie Yuxiao still had even a shred of consideration for the Zheng family, he would naturally leave room for Empress Zheng.
Xie Yun frowned; he simply couldn't bring himself to ignore his mother.
"Father, my maternal grandmother has devoted herself to the Zheng family all these years, but she is getting old and can no longer keep up. Although my mother was wrong, the Zheng family has already been punished for what happened last time. I beg you, Father, to show leniency to the Zheng family for my maternal grandmother's sake!"
Xie Yuxiao put Shengsheng down and said to him, "I will make my own decision on this matter. Alright, I see that Shengsheng is hungry. It's almost dinner time. You should take him to eat quickly."
Sheng Sheng: "Huh?"
Is she hungry?
Sheng Sheng looked up at Xie Yuxiao with a somewhat blank expression, thought for two seconds, and then thought to herself: Oh, we need to clear the area.
Oh, okay, she's hungry.
So Sheng Sheng, with great tact, turned around and pulled Xie Yunyang up from the ground: "Brother Crown Prince, Sheng Sheng is hungry."
Xie Yun-yang could easily understand that Xie Yu-xiao had something to say to Empress Zheng privately, or perhaps he felt that saying certain things in front of the children would be too disrespectful to Empress Zheng, so he sent him away.
Xie Yunshang suppressed the turmoil in her heart and curtsied, "Yes."
After the children left, Empress Zheng was eager to say something, but Xie Yuxiao looked at her impatiently: "What else does the Empress want to say? I haven't settled the score with you for the Rejuvenating Grass yet. Now the children are going to travel thousands of miles to find that Rejuvenating Grass, and the Crown Prince is becoming estranged from you. Is this the result you wanted to see when you destroyed the Rejuvenating Grass?"
Empress Zheng was speechless, and after a long while, she said dryly, "Your Majesty, I have not become estranged from the Crown Prince, Your Majesty clearly—"
"You still want to say you're doing this for the Crown Prince's good? How long are you going to keep deceiving yourself? How come I never noticed you were like this before?" With the younger generation not present, Xie Yuxiao disregarded her feelings and bluntly said, "No wonder the Crown Prince can't stand you. If I had known you were like this, I wouldn't have been able to stand you either!"
Empress Zheng's chest heaved, and a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes.
...
Xie Yunchuan was not in the palace today. When he returned to the palace in the evening, he heard about what had happened in the Imperial Study during the day.
Xie Yunchuan frowned repeatedly as he listened, especially when he heard that Xie Yuxiao had agreed to let Shengsheng and Xie Yunchuan go to Jin State to find the divine physician Shen. His brows furrowed into the shape of the character "川" (chuan).
"Nonsense, you made such a big decision without even consulting me?"
Sheng Sheng tugged at Xie Yunchuan and said coquettishly, "Brother, Sheng Sheng is fine. We still have the Crown Prince here."
Xie Yunchuan's worries were no less than anyone else's. Ever since Shengsheng returned to the palace, she had been with him almost every day. He personally oversaw most of the matters concerning Shengsheng. Sometimes, Xie Yunchuan would even have the illusion that he had become a father ahead of time.
Therefore, upon hearing that Sheng Sheng was going to the State of Jin, Xie Yunchuan's first reaction was to go to Xie Yuxiao and ask him to rescind his order.
Xie Yunchuan pulled back the curtain, completely unaffected by her coquettishness, and said seriously, "Stop being coquettish. This is not a trivial matter that you can get away with by being coquettish."
She let out an "Oh," and said pitifully, "Then what should I do? Can you call me, brother?"
As she spoke, she stretched out her palm and raised it in front of Xie Yunchuan.
Xie Yunchuan pinched the bridge of his nose, unable to hide his worry, and gently placed the little dumpling's hand down: "It will take at least three months to travel from the capital to the capital of Jin. A round trip will take at least half a year."
He paused, his tone even more helpless, "Besides, I know you well enough. You'll definitely stop along the way to play and travel at the same time, right?"
"Hmm?" Sheng Sheng pretended to be stupid, glancing up and down, but not looking at Xie Yunchuan. "What is it? Sheng Sheng doesn't know what brother is talking about."
"Play dumb." Xie Yunchuan sighed. "Alright, since Father has already agreed, I naturally cannot disobey the imperial decree. But you should think about how to appease Mother."
"Oh? Really!"
Sheng Sheng was overjoyed that Xie Yunchuan agreed so quickly.
"Um."
After calming down and thinking it over, Xie Yunchuan realized that Sheng Sheng had always been sensible and would not have made such a decision on a whim.
Another reason why Sheng Sheng did this was probably because of Xie Yun.
"Hehe, don't worry, brother. Shengsheng will definitely explain everything to Mother so that she won't worry."
After making her promises, she told him about what happened after they left the Imperial Study. "However, this time Father Emperor seems really angry. He not only banished Consort Liang to the Cold Palace, but I heard he almost banished the Empress to the Cold Palace as well."
They were sent away at the time and did not know exactly what had happened. In any case, the news eventually came that Consort Liang was banished to the Cold Palace for the crimes of being rebellious and disrespectful to female virtues.
Empress Zheng was still required to remain confined to Kunning Palace, but this time the confinement period was for her entire life instead of five years.
Furthermore, all the palace servants in Kunning Palace were removed, leaving only a lowly nanny and Biguo, her personal maid.
Ostensibly, it was meant to allow Empress Zheng to focus on her mistakes and reflect on them, but in reality, it meant that Empress Zheng would live out her days alone in Kunning Palace.
Although she retained the title of Empress, in reality she was no different from a deposed Empress.
This move is bound to cause quite a stir, and I can't even imagine what kind of discussion it will provoke among the court officials tomorrow.
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