Chapter 191 Harem Storm Harem Storm
"Lord Su, have some tea." Prince Cheng poured a cup of tea himself and pushed it in front of Su Fengzhang with a smile.
He seemed to be in a very good mood. After this incident, the Crown Prince had lost all his face and dignity, and the Fourth Prince and the Emperor must have had a rift in their hearts. Naturally, he was happy to reap the benefits.
Su Fengzhang raised his teacup and took a sip before jokingly saying, "It seems like your Highnesses all enjoy inviting people for tea."
Prince Cheng laughed heartily and said, "If Lord Su doesn't like it, I'll treat you to a drink next time."
It must be said that the tea provided by Prince Cheng is a rare treasure. Just smelling it is a pleasure. "Then let's drink tea. Otherwise, getting drunk will inevitably lead to disrespect."
Upon hearing this, Prince Cheng smiled and said, "Oh, then I'd like to give it a try. I've known Lord Su for several years, but I've never seen him lose his composure. I'm very curious."
Su Fengzhang laughed heartily and asked, "Being in such a mess on Yunshan Mountain, isn't that considered a loss of composure?"
Prince Cheng said, "That's different. At that time, Lord Su looked embarrassed, but his heart was in turmoil."
Su Fengzhang coughed, not wanting to continue the conversation. "Your Highness, you didn't ask me here just for tea, did you? If that's the case, I'll continue drinking."
"Drink it, and take some back later. This is good tea produced in Qingzhou. I'm sure Madam Su will like it too." Prince Cheng followed with a smile.
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows. Prince Cheng shrugged helplessly and said with a smile, "I specially asked you to come here today because I wanted you to meet someone. We will be colleagues in the future, so it's natural for us to get to know each other."
After hearing this, Su Fengzhang became curious. After all, among the people in Prince Cheng's camp, he only knew He Jun before. Prince Cheng had a bad reputation among the civil officials, or it could be said that it was very bad, and he did not provide much help.
Before that person appeared, Su Fengzhang couldn't help but start to wonder who it was that was worthy of Prince Cheng introducing them with such fanfare, but he couldn't be sure no matter how much he thought about it.
When he saw the man slowly walking towards him, even Su Fengzhang couldn't help but be surprised.
It was just because he had met the person who came over once before.
The person who came had a seemingly weak body, a pale face, and occasionally coughed but had an unusually sharp look in his eyes. It was none other than Yun Qian, the Minister of Dali Temple, the younger brother of the empress dowager in the palace!
The Fourth Prince made such a big fuss about this that not only did the Crown Prince lose all his face and reputation, but the Emperor almost lost all of his as well.
Although the emperor had to open the inner treasury and fill the hole himself in the end, ending the farce at the palace gate, he became more and more annoyed after the incident.
After the palace gate finally quieted down, the emperor hurriedly summoned the fourth prince into the palace.
Who would have thought that the Fourth Prince would come, and Concubine Xu would also come with him.
Concubine Xu was wearing a white dress at this time, with only a light amount of makeup on her face. Although she was nearly forty years old, she was still beautiful and charming. A red belt made her slender waist look even more attractive.
As soon as the Fourth Prince entered the room, he knelt down, kowtowed three times, and shouted, "Father, I know I was wrong."
The Fourth Prince took the initiative, and the Emperor could no longer get angry. He just said in a cold voice, "You know you are wrong. You know you are wrong now. Why did you insist on doing this before, causing such a farce that made the whole world laugh at you?"
The Fourth Prince's eyes were filled with tears as he cried, "Father, I only wanted to complete the task you assigned me, and I was wholeheartedly thinking about the Great Zhou. Who knew that the Crown Prince would be so unsympathetic? I was forced into this situation and had no other choice but to do this."
"As a last resort, I led a group of widows and children to cry and make a scene at the palace gate. How would the world view me?" The prince was furious at the mention of this matter. "If you can't do it, don't you know how to come to me secretly?"
The Fourth Prince kowtowed again, wondering how he would lose the Crown Prince's support if he came to you. He shouted, "Father, I dare not. Since returning from Yunzhou City, I have been ridiculed."
"If it weren't for the matter of the compensation, I would have wanted to hide in my room every day and not see anyone. Your Majesty has finally given me such an important task. If I can't complete it, how can I have the face to enter the palace to see you?"
At this moment, Concubine Xu threw herself on the Fourth Prince crying, shouting, "My poor Heng'er, if it weren't for the treacherous people who harmed you, how could you have ended up like this?"
"Not only were you humiliated and tortured by the Xianbei people, but you also lost an ear. Now, who among the civil and military officials in the court will respect you? My poor son, you are a prince, but how are you going to live in the future?"
Concubine Xu cried bitterly, her tears falling like pearls, so touching. Her speech was rare and clear, and every word she spoke was like tears of blood.
When she cried, the emperor's head hurt even more. He shouted, "Alright, alright. Heng'er is a prince. Who dares to look down on him?"
Concubine Xu, however, continued to cry and complain, "If it weren't for this, how could those poor people have the audacity to disrespect Heng'er when he was working for His Majesty and refuse to pay back the money, ultimately leading to such an unmanageable situation?"
As she spoke, Concubine Xu rushed over and hugged the emperor's thighs, crying, "Your Majesty, you must not be partial. The prince is your son, but isn't Heng'er also your son?"
"Heng'er has been filial since childhood. When he was three years old, he would remember to save a snack for his father whenever he had one. Many years have passed, and now he is still focused on making His Majesty happy and satisfied."
"Your Majesty, Heng'er is young and inevitably acts impulsively, but there's nothing we can do about it. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, if you blame Heng'er, then punish me."
"It's all my fault that I was born into a lowly family, not as noble as my sister, the Empress Yuan. That's why I didn't teach the child well and caused him to lose the Empress's heart."
Not only did Concubine Xu cry her eyes out, but she also belittled herself with every word she spoke. She had been able to sit firmly on the throne of the emperor's favorite concubine for more than ten years, so she naturally understood the emperor's thoughts. After her tears, the emperor's heart softened.
The emperor, who was originally dissatisfied with the fourth prince because of the incident at the palace gate, now sighed and began to think about how difficult it was for his son. After all, he was his own son whom he had doted on for more than ten years, so there was always some affection.
Especially when he saw the fourth prince's fake ear, and thought that he would never be able to ascend to the throne, and his relationship with the crown prince was not good, and his future fate might be worse than that of the fifth prince, the emperor's anger dissipated for the most part.
After all, it was the prince who wronged him. He had protected the prince before, but he was not completely ruthless to his son.
The emperor sighed and helped Concubine Xu up himself. "My dear, why do you have to belittle yourself? You are a concubine in the harem, of noble status. Who dares to look down on you?"
Concubine Xu looked at the emperor tenderly, but she couldn't stop crying: "Your Majesty, I am not afraid of being looked down upon by others, I am only afraid that Your Majesty has misunderstood us. Your Majesty, Heng'er just wants to please his father."
The word "Daddy" successfully awakened the emperor's fatherly love. He vaguely saw the fourth prince when he was still young, and then thought of how he had stayed indoors since returning from Yunzhou, and he couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
Finally, the emperor sighed and began to smooth things over as usual: "Forget it, forget it, let's forget about what happened before. I won't blame you, but Heng'er, you must remember your status as a prince. You must not resort to such womanly tactics."
"Father, I understand. I was wrong before, but now, after listening to your teachings, I know that father and son shouldn't hesitate so much. From now on, if I encounter difficulties, I will come to the palace and ask for your help."
The Fourth Prince said this, looking up at the Emperor with eyes full of tenderness.
The emperor was moved to a softer heart by his words, and he reached out to help his son up. Concubine Xu smiled and leaned against the emperor, whispering witty remarks, and in a moment the tension was resolved.
After some family happiness, Concubine Xu wanted to invite the emperor to visit her palace, but this time the emperor shook his head and refused.
When they left the palace, Concubine Xu, who had been smiling brightly, turned cold with a sinister look in her eyes: "Your Majesty, now seems to have completely given up on you."
The Fourth Prince's face was also gloomy. Nothing could have been more devastating to them than the Emperor's attitude. "Even if Father wants to protect the Crown Prince, it depends on whether he can support this fool."
"Everyone knows about the Crown Prince's past. He has lost the support of the people. Even Grand Tutor Zhang no longer protects him."
Concubine Xu was not so optimistic. She frowned and said, "The people's hearts may seem important, but when will they influence Your Majesty? If Your Majesty insists on passing the throne to him, will the civil and military officials resist?"
Speaking of this, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but touch his ear. If he hadn't lost one ear, it wouldn't be difficult to depose the Crown Prince in his current situation. But now that he had a flaw in his appearance, all the civil and military officials kept silent about deposing the Crown Prince.
Concubine Xu was distressed when she saw this, but she felt that even if her son lost his ears, it would not affect his ability to be emperor. She sneered and said, "If His Majesty can't make up his mind, then we will help him."
The Fourth Prince's eyes moved, and Concubine Xu sneered, "Don't interfere in the affairs of the harem. When you go back, stay indoors and concentrate on copying the Book of Filial Piety. Mother will help you pave the way."
"Mother..." The Fourth Prince probably guessed what she was going to do and reminded her, "What about the Empress Dowager?"
Concubine Xu smiled nonchalantly and said, "You know, the Empress has no children of her own and has always been a living Buddha. She would rather stay away from such things and would never embarrass me."
"As for Concubine Yu...she is lucky enough to give birth to the Ninth Prince safely." Concubine Xu sneered. If the Emperor had not protected her closely, the Ninth Prince would have died long ago.
The Fourth Prince didn't care about the Ninth Prince. Instead, he advised, "Mother can just go out with Jade Concubine. The Ninth Prince is still in his infancy and not worth mentioning."
Concubine Xu obviously thought so too, and said calmly, "Of course. Back then, the Fang family and the Crown Prince were separated by several lives. I can see that Concubine Yu is also full of hatred in her heart."
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince smiled and said, "If that's the case, wouldn't it be much more convenient for Mother to do anything? I'm sure Concubine Yu will be happy to see it happen."
Concubine Xu laughed and said, "Don't worry about what my mother is doing."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
