With palace servants present, Hongzhou couldn't say much, so he dismissed them before speaking:
“Empress Mother, you have misunderstood my brother. He has his own reasons.”
The fifth prince was adept at sweet-talking and flattering people, and the Empress Dowager secretly warned herself not to fall for his tricks again.
"Stop defending him. Last time you said he was acting for the sake of the court, not for the Su family. And what happened? His favoritism towards the Su family has only increased. Are you trying to fool me again?"
Hongzhou, caught off guard, gave an awkward smile. "Your Majesty, you are wronged! I am telling the truth. How could I dare to lie to you? You are far away outside the palace and do not know that recently there have been rumors circulating among the people that my brother has been mistreating you."
The Empress Dowager sneered, "He should have thought of the consequences if he dared to do such a thing!"
With a click of his tongue, Hongzhou lowered his voice and said, "If it were just ordinary people talking, that would be one thing, but this time the rumors are being fueled by someone behind the scenes, deliberately slandering the emperor in an attempt to seize the throne!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately became nervous. "The Emperor has been on the throne for three years, and the court is stable. Who is so rampant as to dare to harbor rebellious intentions?"
"Naturally, it is the son of that self-important former crown prince."
It was actually Hongxi? The Empress Dowager was incredulous and angrily berated him:
"The former crown prince was of bad character. The late emperor disregarded past grievances and treated his offspring well, bestowing upon him the title of Prince Hongxi. Yet he showed no gratitude and instead harbored rebellious intentions?"
"That's right!" Hongzhou truly didn't understand the point of Hongxi's fuss.
"From the moment Father Emperor ascended the throne, the throne had nothing to do with his family. More than a decade later, Hongxi still hasn't given up. Such an act of repaying kindness with enmity is simply outrageous!"
Upon careful consideration, the Empress Dowager felt something was amiss. "If that's the case," she said, "the Emperor should bring me back to the palace as soon as possible to quell these rumors."
Hongzhou feigned distress and lamented:
"Your Majesty wishes to take you back, but he has sensed that Hongxi has ulterior motives, yet he has been unable to find any evidence against him. Therefore, Your Majesty intends to let him continue to cause trouble. In this way, his true colors will be revealed more thoroughly, and then Your Majesty can wipe him and his accomplices out in one fell swoop!"
After hearing the fifth prince's words, the Empress Dowager seemed to understand but not quite, and tentatively asked, "Do you mean that the emperor doesn't really want to drive me out of the palace, but is just putting on an act for others to see?"
“That’s right!” Hongzhou nodded in agreement. “You are the Emperor’s biological mother. How could he really send you away? He just went along with it because you were angry with him.”
The Empress Dowager was skeptical. "Then why didn't he explain it to me clearly? Are you trying to fool me again?"
His dark eyes shifted slightly, and Hong Zhou half-jokingly recounted the story:
“Originally, my brother planned to resolve this quickly and bring you back as soon as possible to explain to you in person. However, Hongxi is very cautious. He is waiting for a better opportunity and wants to see if my brother will bring you back to the palace on your birthday. My brother can only continue to play along. In order to prevent you from overthinking and feeling depressed, my brother specially sent me to explain things to you, Mother.”
The Empress Dowager, whose words had been spoken, coughed lightly and said defiantly, "The scenery here is very beautiful. I am quite well here and have not felt depressed at all."
“Yes, yes, yes,” Hongzhou said with a smile, “Your Majesty has a very good attitude. You don’t take your brother seriously at all.”
With Hongzhou mediating, the Empress Dowager no longer held a grudge against her son, and even offered to play along with him.
Hongzhou claimed he was there to fetch the Empress Dowager back to the palace, but she deliberately made a scene, refusing to go back and insisting that the Emperor come to fetch her personally.
Emperor Hongli said he was too busy with state affairs to go there, so the Empress Dowager stayed at Changchun Garden in a huff.
As a result, the rumors spread even further, and everyone was talking about how the emperor was not filial to the empress dowager. Some even said that he was not worthy of being the emperor!
At the same time, Hongxi believed the time was ripe and secretly met with Prince Zhuang and others to discuss important matters!
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