Just as he was thinking bitterly, Emperor Xingchang heard intermittent crying and commotion outside.
It turned out that Zhao Ruyue was getting impatient because the head eunuch had not returned to report for a long time. She thought he was using some trick to deliberately delay the time, and she started to throw a tantrum again.
"What kind of behavior is this!"
Emperor Xingchang was somewhat annoyed, secretly cursing that the stupid woman was utterly disgracing the royal family!
"Let the Imperial Noble Consort in."
After drinking several cups of tea, Emperor Xingchang managed to suppress his anger. He thought that Zhao Ruyue was, after all, the birth mother of the young crown prince, and he shouldn't be too harsh on her. So he quickly composed himself and tried his best to appear calm.
Upon hearing that the Emperor was willing to see her, Zhao Ruyue was overjoyed. Her expression changed instantly, faster than turning the pages of a book.
Picking up the hairpin in her hand, Zhao Ruyue solemnly tidied her hair and clothes. Although it didn't have much effect, she felt good about herself, as if she had returned to the noble and beautiful imperial concubine she always was.
Her appearance was truly hilarious to the guards. Several of them were holding back their laughter, their faces turning bright red and their bodies trembling slightly. Fortunately, it was nighttime, and no one could see their expressions. Otherwise, given Zhao Ruyue's temperament, she would have fainted on the spot from anger.
Before leaving, Zhao Ruyue glared fiercely at the guards who had just tried to carry her away, and began to plan how she would deal with them in the future. However, she couldn't care less about that now; she just wanted to quickly find the Emperor to file a complaint.
"puff……"
No sooner had Zhao Ruyue left than the guards couldn't help but chuckle. To be honest, their Imperial Noble Consort might not be good at anything else, but she was a real actress, even managing to fool the head eunuch.
Those guards had been on duty for so many years, and they had seen all kinds of people. Zhao Ruyue's trivial tricks were just a laughable farce in their eyes, but they just didn't want to expose them.
"The Imperial Noble Consort's neck is all scraped; if she doesn't see the Emperor soon, it'll probably scab over by then!"
"Haha, stop talking, or the chief will hear you and you'll be punished again."
...
Zhao Ruyue walked happily toward the palace, pondering how to make herself sound more aggrieved so that the Emperor would feel more pity for her and then she could properly impeach Feng Beichuan and Li Chang'an.
Upon entering, Zhao Ruyue, who had just been calm, suddenly put on a bitter face as if she had suffered a great injustice. She rushed to Emperor Xingchang's feet and knelt down with a thud.
Emperor Xingchang was drinking ginseng soup to refresh himself when she suddenly made a move that startled him, causing him to spill the soup all over Zhao Ruyue's head.
"How dare you! You madwoman, are you trying to scare me to death?!"
Perhaps feeling embarrassed, Emperor Xingchang was about to kick away the lump beside his leg, but after taking a closer look, he stopped himself.
Zhao Ruyue was now soaked to the bone by the bowl of ginseng soup, and had forgotten most of the words she had prepared. She just stared blankly at the emperor she had been longing for, as if she were in a daze, with both hands still tightly gripping the trouser leg of Emperor Xingchang.
Fortunately, the ginseng soup had been cooled down, otherwise Zhao Ruyue's face would probably have been disfigured.
"Get up! How can an Imperial Noble Consort behave like this!"
Emperor Xingchang pulled his leg away from her embrace with some disgust, his expression turning sour. He even wondered how he could have ever fallen for such a lowly woman.
Zhao Ruyue didn't care about her current state; she neither got up nor let go, and immediately started crying and making a fuss again.
"Your Majesty, you must do justice for me! The young crown prince has been kidnapped by Li Chang'an and I don't know what kind of abuse he's suffered. I, the Regent, have been imprisoned for so long and I can't eat or sleep properly every day. I'm suffering so much..."
Actually, if you look closely, Zhao Ruyue is all thunder and no rain. It's just that her hair is covered in her face and you can't see it unless you look closely. In addition, her wailing is so pitiful that even Emperor Xingchang couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Get up first, and tell me what happened. Then I will make a decision for you."
As he spoke, Emperor Xingchang symbolically patted Zhao Ruyue's shoulder and pulled her hand, gesturing for her to get up.
Zhao Ruyue obediently got up and sat down next to the Emperor. Then, she embellished her story and tearfully recounted her experiences of the past few days to the Emperor. However, this time she did not wail like before, but cried with tears streaming down her face, looking pitiful.
When she had no tears left, Zhao Ruyue would secretly pinch her thigh hard, forcing out a few tears.
Hearing these tearful complaints, Emperor Xingchang felt even more furious and secretly confirmed his suspicions.
Having long heard rumors that Princess Yong'an had been entangled with the Regent for a long time, and that Feng Beichuan had personally asked him to grant him and the princess a marriage, Emperor Xingchang was convinced that the two of them must have secretly conspired to oppose him.
Otherwise, how could Feng Beichuan possibly have taken a liking to a woman who was a widow and was out in the military camp?
Upon thinking of this, Emperor Xingchang was shocked. How could he use such a vicious description to describe his own daughter, who was, after all, the eldest princess of the reigning dynasty?
Emperor Xingchang quickly shook his head, comforting himself that he must have been blinded by anger, and then regained his composure.
However, what's giving him a headache right now is that Feng Beichuan holds military power and control of the court, and he can't touch him for the time being. So, he has to put aside his idea of completely eliminating the Regent's faction for now.
"Your beloved consort has suffered these past few days. I hereby order your confinement to be lifted. That regent is far too insensible. I will certainly seek justice for you later..."
This was clearly not the result Zhao Ruyue wanted. When she heard that all her efforts had only resulted in this answer, she was naturally dissatisfied, but she dared not vent her anger on the Emperor. So she resorted to her old trick and began to wail loudly.
"Your Majesty, even if you don't think about me, you must think about our little Crown Prince. If anything happens to the child, I won't live either. You must do justice for us, mother and child!"
Seeing Zhao Ruyue's unreasonable behavior, Emperor Xingchang felt a splitting headache and his temples were throbbing. He was extremely irritable, with a mountain of affairs to attend to in the court and the harem in turmoil as well.
This Imperial Noble Consort has no consideration for herself at all!
He grew angrier with each passing moment, and Zhao Ruyue's crying only fueled his anger. He slammed his hand on the case and shouted angrily, "Are you ever going to stop?!"
The teacups on the table trembled in shock. Zhao Ruyue hadn't expected the emperor to be so angry, and she quickly shut her mouth in fright.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com