Chapter 163 Surge
Liang Qisheng walked very quietly, but as soon as he entered the bedchamber, Emperor Jian'an quickly opened his eyes and looked at him with a sharp gaze: "What is it?"
His headache flared up again, and Physician Xiao had already given him acupuncture, but he could only lie in bed without moving. Any movement would cause him sharp pain. Moreover, because of the headache, his hearing became extremely acute. Even the slightest sound in the bedroom would cause his head to throb with pain, and his temper became extremely irritable as a result.
Liang Qisheng quickly bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress has arrived."
Emperor Jian'an closed his eyes briefly, waiting for the throbbing pain in his head to subside a little before coldly saying, "Let her in."
Liang Qisheng responded and quietly withdrew. A moment later, the sound of another person's footsteps could be heard outside the bedchamber, along with the Empress's low voice instructing, "His Majesty requires quiet. You may all wait for me outside the door."
Emperor Jian'an's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little. The Empress was so thoughtful; after all these years, she was the only one who truly understood him.
The Empress herself brought in a bowl of nourishing soup: "Your Majesty, I have ordered some ginseng soup to be prepared. Please have some."
She sat down by the bed and reached out to help Emperor Jian'an up, but he quickly said, "No need, don't move me, it will give me a headache."
The Empress dared not touch him again, so she placed the ginseng soup on the tea table beside her and said, "His Majesty has invited Physician Xiao to perform acupuncture, but the headache is still not getting better."
Emperor Jian'an half-closed his eyes: "I need to rest quietly for a few days. I can't move or think... I'm old. I've suffered such a serious injury. It's already a miracle that I survived. I'm left with this headache, so I'll just have to live one day at a time. How can I expect it to get better immediately?"
After hearing this, a hint of sadness flashed in the Empress's eyes, but remembering the purpose of her visit today, she still had to speak up: "Your Majesty, this afternoon, the Dowager Madam and Madam Lu from the Lu family came to the palace. They begged to take Lu Ke back to her residence to recuperate, but the imperial physician said that Lu Ke's injuries are not yet stable and it is not advisable to move her. She is still in great danger and should be observed for a few days until she is out of danger before she can be moved. The Dowager Madam and Madam Lu fainted several times from crying. I don't know how to comfort them."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jian'an felt his head begin to throb again: "Women just can't handle things; they always like to cry and whine."
The Empress sighed, "Lu Ke left home this morning in perfect condition, but by noon, this terrible news had arrived. He was the pillar of the Lu family and their hope. He collapsed without warning. How could the women of the Lu family not weep? And to make matters worse, he didn't fall on the battlefield where he could have made a name for himself, but was caught up in a power struggle among the guards who had lowered their status. He couldn't even get the court's compensation. After being carried back, he was barely clinging to life. A once prosperous family of a third-rank military officer collapsed in an instant. If I were the old lady of the Lu family, I would also be crying and having them carried back."
Emperor Jian'an grew increasingly irritated as he listened, and finally couldn't help but interrupt the Empress sharply: "What exactly are you trying to say? Did you come to me just to tell me about Lu Ke's tragic situation?"
The Empress looked at him: "Was Lu Ke's intervention in the guards' competition on His Majesty's orders? Was this competition targeting Li Xiaoxiao also His Majesty's idea?"
Emperor Jian'an's face turned ashen, and he did not reply.
A pang of sorrow flashed in the Empress's eyes: "Your Majesty, I was right. This was not your intention. As an emperor, you cannot lack such magnanimity to insist on taking Li Xiaoxiao's life. So, it was Chengyao who used your name to bring Lu Ke to justice, right? You only found out later, but you did not object. Am I right?"
Emperor Jian'an said coldly, "What's the point of bringing this up now? The Crown Prince must be feeling smug, right? The fierce general he found is truly formidable. He crippled my Imperial Guard Commander with a single kick. If the Crown Prince ever takes a dislike to me, let him do the same to me. I'm not as lucky as Lu Ke, who has managed to hold out until now."
The Empress looked at him sadly, tears welling in her eyes. She straightened her clothes, knelt directly in front of Emperor Jian'an, and bowed her head in worship.
Emperor Jian'an was taken aback: "What are you doing? Why are you performing such a grand ceremony?"
The Empress said in a trembling voice, "Please, Your Majesty, grant Chengming a death sentence."
Emperor Jian'an's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "What nonsense are you spouting? Have you gone mad?" He wanted him to execute the Crown Prince? Why would he order the death of his own son? Had the Empress lost her mind?
The Empress did not raise her head: "Your Majesty, I am not crazy. I cannot bear to see Chengming struggling in pain, being suspected, doubted, and targeted no matter what he does. Your Majesty, why not grant him death? From now on, he can have his way."
Emperor Jian'an was furious: "What nonsense are you spouting? How could I possibly treat Chengming like this? He is the Crown Prince, the future emperor!"
The Empress abruptly looked up, staring directly at Emperor Jian'an: "Your Majesty also knows that Chengming is the future Crown Prince? Then why have you allowed these two brothers to fight like this? Chengyao is so young, raised in the deep palace since childhood, yet at twelve years old he already knows how to use poison stones to harm Chengming's child. He almost succeeded; in a few years, the entire Eastern Palace will be reduced to ashes. It is only thanks to Heaven's eyes and the blessings of our ancestors that he met Li Xiaoxiao and has survived to this day. If Your Majesty wishes to support Chengyao as Crown Prince, then speak frankly to the court officials, issue an edict to depose Chengming, imprison him, or exile him, never to return to the capital. Then I will not see him, and I will not have to worry about these brothers killing each other every day, not knowing when it will end..."
Emperor Jian'an's neck veins bulged as he gritted his teeth and said, "I never intended to make Cheng Yao the crown prince! Never!"
The Empress refused to back down: "Then why doesn't the Emperor grant him a fiefdom? Why keep him by his side and use all sorts of schemes to harm Chengming? Today he sacrificed Lu Ke, who will he sacrifice tomorrow? If you don't want to make him the Crown Prince, why give him such unrealistic fantasies, keep him in the capital, give him the most prestigious status, and even a residence that violates regulations?"
Emperor Jian'an remained silent, his face ashen.
The Empress, tears streaming down her face, said, "When Chengming exposed Chengyao in the Eastern Palace that day, I was afraid Chengming would kill him, so in a moment of panic I chose to stand on Chengyao's side, only wanting to save his life. But we made a mistake later. We should have sent Chengyao away long ago, far away, so that he would never have the chance to come to the capital in his life. There are three lives between the two children. How could Chengming forgive Chengyao? Chengyao had already thought of this, so he has been using your suspicion to find a way out for himself. But they are both my flesh and blood, Your Majesty. These are our own sons. How can you bear to watch them kill each other while you hide behind and watch the show?"
The Empress was on the verge of tears as she knelt before Emperor Jian'an. She grabbed his hand and pleaded, "Your Majesty, there is still one chance. Cheng Yao is about to get married. Please issue an edict to grant him a piece of land far from the capital, so that he can leave with his princess and never return to the capital. Perhaps Cheng Ming will forget the enmity between them after he stops seeing them. You can't let them fight like this any longer."
Emperor Jian'an remained silent for a long time, letting the Empress's tears soak his hands.
Finally, he spoke: "Liang Qisheng."
Liang Qisheng, who had been standing at the door, hurriedly came in: "Your Majesty."
Emperor Jian'an said, "Send out the order: the Empress is ill and needs to recuperate in Jinghe Palace for a period of time. She is not to see anyone. Do you understand?"
The queen looked at him in disbelief.
Emperor Jian'an closed his eyes.
Liang Qisheng was secretly alarmed, but had no choice but to step forward and help the Empress up: "Your Majesty, this servant will escort you back to the palace."
The Empress asked in a trembling voice, "Why? Your Majesty, are you going to continue down this wrong path?"
Liang Qisheng grew increasingly panicked, fearing she might say something inappropriate, and unconsciously tightened his grip: "Your Majesty, this servant will escort you back to the palace now."
The Empress sobbed, still hoping that Emperor Jian'an would open his eyes and look at her as she was being dragged out, but he did not. Emperor Jian'an did not open his eyes until Liang Qisheng led her out of the palace.
Early the next morning, Li Xiaoxiao made a special trip to the palace to tell the Crown Prince about Meng Guanqi's suggestion. The Crown Prince pondered for a moment and then said, "I understand. I will consider this matter carefully. Tell him to rest assured."
Rong Si hurried in and, seeing Li Xiaoxiao in the room, did not try to hide it from her. Instead, he directly reported to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, someone from Jinghe Palace secretly came to deliver a message that yesterday the Empress had a dispute with His Majesty, and His Majesty placed the Empress under house arrest, claiming to the outside world that the Empress was unwell and would not see any outsiders."
The Crown Prince frowned: "What did they argue about? Why did Father Emperor put Mother under house arrest?"
Rong Si shook his head: "This servant has inquired. At that time, only the Empress and His Majesty were in the inner room. They were guarding the door and could not hear what was being said inside." It is also possible that the palace servants of Jinghe Palace are very tight-lipped and pretended not to hear even if they did.
The crown prince's face darkened.
After Lu Ke's incident, the Empress was placed under house arrest. What is the connection between these two events?
Seeing that Li Xiaoxiao was still inside, he couldn't help but ask, "What do you think?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it a little, then remembered that she was not Meng Guanqi. If Meng Guanqi were here, she might be able to help him analyze the reasons, but Li Xiaoxiao did not seem to like these kinds of scheming and intrigue. Sometimes when she encountered them, she would pretend not to hear them.
Unexpectedly, Li Xiaoxiao actually spoke up, but she asked Rong Si, "If we can't find out what the Emperor and Empress said, did the Sixth Prince plead for the Empress? Surely we can find out that?"
Seeing that the Crown Prince and Rong Si were looking at her with some doubt, Li smiled and said, "Her Majesty the Empress does not only have one son. People from Jinghe Palace will pass messages to the Crown Prince, and they will definitely pass messages to the Sixth Prince as well. These things happened yesterday, and the Eastern Palace only received the news today. But what about the Sixth Prince?"
Although Rong Si was Wan Quan's godson, he was not as thoughtful as Wan Quan in doing things. Upon hearing this, his face flushed: "The eunuch who informed me has not left yet. I will go and ask him right away."
Rong Si hurried away, and the Crown Prince looked at Li Xiaoxiao and asked, "You mean, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor had a dispute because of the Sixth Prince?"
Li Xiaoxiao said, "I don't know either, but I have a feeling that this matter is related to the Sixth Prince. Your Highness can find out by listening to what Rong Si has to say after he returns."
Rong Si returned quickly. He glanced at Li Xiaoxiao and said to the Crown Prince, "The people from Jinghe Palace said that Her Majesty the Empress was invited back to Jinghe Palace yesterday evening. They sent someone to inform the Sixth Prince yesterday, but there has been no response from the Sixth Prince."
The Crown Prince said, "Father placed Mother under house arrest, and the people in Mother's palace went to find Li Chengyao immediately, but they didn't tell me..." He looked at Li Xiaoxiao and said, "You guessed right. Mother's house arrest must be related to Li Chengyao, which is why the people in Jinghe Palace went to find him immediately. Since the matter started because of him, if he had gone to plead with Father, Father might have lifted the ban, but he didn't."
He couldn't help but sneer repeatedly. The Empress disregarded the lives of three people in the Eastern Palace to save Li Chengyao's life, and now she's under house arrest, yet Li Chengyao won't even show his face? What a fine son she's raised.
He sneered and stood up: "Now that I know that the Empress Dowager is under house arrest, I can't pretend not to know like him. I'll go to Father Emperor to plead for the Empress Dowager's life."
The Crown Prince was very busy, and Li Xiaoxiao had no intention of staying in the Eastern Palace for long. Today was her day off, and she had promised Aze and Rui Rui that she would take them out to play.
The best way to expend the children's energy is to climb mountains, the higher the better. However, Aze is accompanied by a dozen or twenty guards, as well as Wan Quan, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace. They might clear the area beforehand if they want to go anywhere, affecting the travel of the people. It wouldn't be fun for them to play. So, Li Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and asked Wan Quan, "Does the Crown Prince have an imperial estate in the south of the city? Do they grow fruits and vegetables there? Do they have fish ponds?"
"Of course," Wan Quan immediately sent someone to the imperial estate to inform them that His Highness was going to visit.
Li Xiaoxiao went to the palace to find His Highness the Crown Prince, while Wan Quan waited at the palace gate with Aze and Rui Rui. The two children were playing and frolicking in the carriage, and their lively noise startled Li Huai, who was passing by. He poked his head out of the carriage.
When Li Xiaoxiao finished speaking with the Crown Prince and came out of the palace, there were already about ten carriages parked outside her own. A group of little kids were gathered together, chattering incessantly. When they saw her come out, Li Huai shouted, "Me too! We want to go to the Imperial Estate to play too!"
The other little brats nodded vigorously. Wan Quan looked utterly hopeless. These were all the prince's classmates, his closest relatives, and the young imperial grandson. None of them were to be trifled with.
Seeing that Li Xiaoxiao didn't say anything, Li Huai and Li Shen panicked. What if she wouldn't let them go? They couldn't help but look to Aze for help.
Aze hurriedly said, "Sister Xiaoxiao, they know that their little brother is going back to Biyang County, so they want to see him off and have a good day with him."
Li Huai and Li Shen nodded quickly, and the other young princes nodded vigorously as well: "We also want to see our little brother off."
"I want to play with my little brother too!"
"Me too."
Okay, in the blink of an eye, Rui Rui became everyone's little brother.
Li Xiaoxiao rubbed her forehead. Well, bringing two or a whole group is the same. Anyway, we're already at the imperial estate, so the place should be bigger. She reminded them, "We'll get our clothes dirty playing in the fields. Did you bring any spare clothes?"
The princes immediately looked at their servants/wet nurses. Except for Li Jin, who was only five years old and whose clothes often got dirty while eating, his wet nurse had prepared two sets of clothes for him in the carriage. None of the other princes over six years old had the habit of bringing extra clothes.
Li Jin was very proud, standing straight with a smug look on her face.
Upon hearing that they might not be able to go without extra clothes, several of the young princes immediately teared up and were on the verge of tears. Li Xiaoxiao sighed, "I'll give you half an hour to go back and get two sets of clothes. We'll wait for you at the city gate. If you haven't arrived by then, we won't wait any longer, as the sun is already high in the sky."
Aze immediately realized that this would delay his and Rui Rui's trip to the royal estate, so he shouted, "Slow down our carriage! You two hurry up and find a way to go home and get a couple more sets of clothes. If you can't make it in time, then don't go. Just stay home and play!"
One of the young princes burst into tears, crying, "My home is so far away, I can't get back in half an hour!"
Aze sighed, "Idiot! Why don't you just borrow from a relative who lives nearby? Why do you have to rush home to get it?"
They are all descendants of dragons and phoenixes, with relatives everywhere. They have countless cousins of the same age as them. Can't they just borrow a couple of sets of clothes from someone nearby?
Aze said proudly, "Sister Xiaoxiao promised to take Ruirui and me to the pond to catch fish to eat today. If you waste time and she won't let us go out to sunbathe when the sun gets too hot, I will never take you to play again next time."
The young princes became even more anxious upon hearing this and immediately swarmed off to find a way to get the clothes.
Aze ignored it and let Asheng drive the car slowly towards the city gate. Li smiled and said, "Did you arrange this in advance? Why didn't you mention it yesterday?"
Aze said, "No, Li Huai was just passing by when he heard me talking to Rui Rui. He came up and asked a question, and then that blabbermouth went back and brought a bunch of people over..."
Li Xiaoxiao sighed. She had only met one person, yet Li Huai brought a whole group of people with him. This Li Huai was such a big mouth.
But she immediately realized: "You're all on holiday today, so why is he at the palace gate so early?"
Aze said, "He specially brought his father to work. He does this every time he has a day off. His father is touched and will reward him with more silver, so he will have money to spend."
Li Xiaoxiao glared: "You really know how to make money! You're so young, yet you already know how to make money this way."
Ah Sheng's carriage drove very slowly. When they arrived at the city gate, they waited for less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before the young princes' carriages rushed up to them. Li Xiaoxiao got off to count the number of people and found that not only were there no fewer people, but there were also several more carriages.
She was completely stunned: "What's going on?"
Li Huai hurriedly said, "These extra few are our cousins. They heard we were going to the Imperial Estate, so they came along..."
They were all six or seven-year-old children, and none of them disliked playing. As soon as they heard that they were going to the Crown Prince's estate and that there were adults watching over them, they immediately started throwing tantrums and insisted on coming along.
These men were also sons and grandsons of emperors; two were grandsons of princesses, and two were grandsons of princes. They were all about the same age as Li Jin. When they saw Li Xiaoxiao looking over, they nervously grabbed the hands of the people next to them and looked at her with pitiful eyes, as if they were afraid that she would send them back.
They had already been warned by Li Huai and the others before they came that everyone had to follow Li Xiaoxiao's orders, or they would not be taken along.
So in their first impression, this older sister was terrifying, as she made all the decisions.
Li Xiaoxiao rubbed her temples. Whether she was herding one sheep or a flock, it was all the same. Since she was already here, she might as well leave.
Ah Sheng cracked his whip and rode ahead, followed by a line of eleven carriages, all heading towards the imperial estate in the south of the city.
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