Chapter 343 Father and Son (Eighth Update)
The emperor was furious!
He hated that vicious woman to the core, yet one by one, everyone around him was bought off by her. He wouldn't even mention the Little Divine Doctor and Xiao Liulang, since they knew her first.
But why didn't she even spare his son?
Kids are easy to fool, especially this chubby little glutton. Give him a sweet treat and he'll run away.
The emperor didn't find it difficult to bribe him at all, nor did he believe that he had truly discovered Empress Dowager Zhuang's good qualities; he simply thought that Empress Dowager Zhuang was using her methods to snatch people away from him again.
Qin Chuyu trembled in Consort Jing's arms.
Consort Jing gently stroked his face and said, "Don't be afraid, go to Grandmother Jing's place."
"Mmm!" Qin Chuyu clung tightly to Consort Jing's embrace and refused to come out.
The emperor couldn't actually drag Qin Chuyu out of Consort Jing's arms to punish him, so he suppressed his anger: "Get out of the sedan chair and return to the palace!"
The group returned to Huaqing Palace. Qin Chuyu, worried that his father would spank him, rushed into Consort Jing's room.
The emperor looked at his son, who was running faster than a rabbit, and his lips twitched violently.
Consort Jing said with a wry smile, "Xiao Qi is still young, don't be too strict with him, it will make him sad."
The emperor sneered, "It's better to make him sad than to lose his life!"
Consort Jing sighed and shook her head: "Your Majesty, don't you have too much of a misunderstanding about the Empress Dowager? Renshou Palace is not a place of tigers and wolves. The Empress Dowager is Xiaoqi's grandmother. How could she possibly harm Xiaoqi?"
The Emperor stood under the eaves, gazing at the silent courtyard, his eyes icy: "Mother Consort seems to have forgotten what happened to Xiao Heng back then. How innocent was four-year-old Xiao Heng? Yet he still suffered at her hands!"
Consort Jing said, "Perhaps it's a misunderstanding."
The Emperor looked at Consort Jing and said dismissively, "Where did all these misunderstandings come from? My mother is just too kind-hearted and always repays evil with good. But some people will not be grateful for this; instead, they will take advantage of it even more."
Consort Jing said, "Then you can't blame Xiao Qi. He's so young and doesn't understand anything."
The emperor frowned and said, "He is a prince, born into such a vortex. How can he save his life if he doesn't understand?"
Consort Jing said earnestly, "These things must be done slowly. You can't be impatient. When you were Xiao Qi's age, weren't you just as innocent as Xiao Qi?"
Thinking of the past, a trace of guilt appeared in the emperor's eyes: "It was because I matured too late and failed to properly protect my mother and Ning'an that you suffered so much in the palace."
Consort Jing shook her head: "Please don't say that. We didn't suffer much. The Empress Dowager used to... give us, mother and children, a lot of protection."
The emperor felt disgusted and angry when Empress Dowager Zhuang was mentioned: "What she did was not protection, but at best a scheming plot."
Consort Jing waved her hand: "Alright, alright, let's not argue about this anymore. You go ahead and do your work. Xiao Qi can be taught slowly, there's no need to rush."
Having said all that, the emperor could no longer press Qin Chuyu: "I entrust Xiao Qi to Mother Consort."
Consort Jing smiled gently: "I know. I'll send someone to take him back to the Empress in a little while."
The Imperial Study was overflowing with memorials, so the Emperor went to review them, while Consort Jing returned to her room.
Qin Chuyu hid behind the multi-treasure pavilion, peeking out his round head cautiously to observe.
The Dowager Consort Jing chuckled and walked over, sitting down in a chair. She said to him, "Come here, your father is gone, don't be afraid."
Qin Chuyu asked with some doubt, "Is Father really gone?"
Consort Jing smiled and said, "Let's go. Grandmother Jing is a nun, I'm not lying to you."
"Oh." Qin Chuyu remembered that Xiao Jingkong had said that monks do not lie, which meant that monks do not tell lies. Qin Chuyu felt relieved and sat down on the chair next to Consort Jing.
He breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, that scared me to death."
Consort Jing took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying, "Your father won't eat you."
Qin Chuyu pouted: "But he'll beat me up!"
Consort Jing paused in her act of wiping his sweat: "Does your father often beat you?"
"Hmm..." Qin Chuyu thought about it carefully, "I've beaten him up a few times, but not too often."
After wiping his forehead, Consort Jing wiped his cheeks and said, "Your father is strict with you because he values you. You are his legitimate son, unlike the other princes."
"I know." Qin Chuyu knew from a young age that he and his elder brother, the Crown Prince, were born to the Empress, making them of higher birth than other princes. Otherwise, how could he have been so domineering in the palace?
As the saying goes, "At seven, eight, or nine, even dogs hate you," and Qin Chuyu was at that age where even dogs would dislike him. He was rebellious and unreasonable, and recently even the Crown Prince didn't want to see him anymore.
Consort Jing said gently, "Your father is doing this for your own good."
Qin Chuyu snorted, "Hmph, if he cares about me, he wouldn't lie to me!"
The Empress Dowager seemed amused by his adorable appearance: "What lie did your father tell?"
Qin Chuyu said angrily, "He said that the Empress Dowager is not a good person!"
In all honesty, the emperor never said such a thing to him personally. He only forbade Qin Chuyu from going to Renshou Palace. The conclusion that Empress Dowager Zhuang was not a good person was drawn by Qin Chuyu through observation.
Don't underestimate children's innocence; they can be exceptionally sensitive about certain things.
For example, he could sense that the emperor always looked at Empress Dowager Zhuang as if she were a bad person, and the emperor's prohibition against him getting close to the empress dowager also confirmed this in some ways.
In addition, Empress Xiao and those around her all kept their conversations with Empress Dowager Zhuang a secret.
It's not surprising that he would summarize it this way.
Consort Jing patted his head: "What do you think, Xiao Qi? Is Grandmother a good person?"
“Hmm…” Qin Chuyu pondered for a moment seriously and said carefully, “Anyway, she’s not bad! Today, I was eating in the Empress Dowager’s palace, and I spilled a whole bowl of soup on her. She didn’t punish me or scold me.”
Consort Jing looked at him gently and kindly and said, "Xiao Qi is a prince, no one will scold Xiao Qi."
Qin Chuyu snorted: "She even insulted Father Emperor! I heard it!"
"Is that so?" Consort Jing smiled, lowered her eyes, and put down her handkerchief.
...
The emperor went to the imperial study to review memorials, and after reviewing half of them, he casually placed the memorials on the table.
Eunuch Wei asked with concern, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Is it too stuffy in the room?"
"No." The emperor rubbed his slightly sore brow.
Eunuch Wei said, "You're tired. Let's read these memorials tomorrow. There will be no morning court tomorrow."
The Zhao Kingdom did not hold court every morning; there were also several days off each month.
The emperor took a sip of tea and said calmly, "I am not sleepy."
"What is troubling Your Majesty?" Eunuch Wei asked.
The emperor did not answer, but said, "Where is Eunuch He? Go and summon him here."
"yes."
Under the cover of night, Eunuch Wei brought Eunuch He to the Imperial Study.
Eunuch He bowed to the emperor and said, "This servant greets Your Majesty."
"How's the investigation going?" the emperor asked in a deep voice.
He was referring to the attack on Consort Jing in the Imperial Garden.
Eunuch He said, "We don't have any major clues yet. We've only found out that the assassin must have sneaked into the palace from near the Cold Palace, where the defenses are relatively weak. In addition, I suspect that the assassin had accomplices working with him from the inside. His accomplices distracted the Dragon Shadow Guards so he could then launch a sneak attack on Consort Jing."
Unfortunately, the Dragon Shadow Guards were assassins; they only obeyed orders and never communicated with others, so it was impossible to get any information out of them.
Therefore, Eunuch He didn't bother to question the Dragon Shadow Guard.
The emperor was aware of the special nature of the Dragon Shadow Guards and did not blame Eunuch He for his incompetence.
He was just curious how the Dragon Shadow Guards had been lured away.
Unlike ordinary guards, the Dragon Shadow Guards will not abandon their masters at the slightest disturbance.
Unless it was Consort Jing who gave them the order to pursue them, but Consort Jing did not.
The emperor couldn't understand who had the ability to lure the Dragon Shadow Guard away.
Moreover, Eunuch He searched the entire palace but found no corpses or even a trace of blood. In other words, after the Dragon Shadow Guards were lured away, they either didn't see the person or they saw them but didn't fight them.
It's impossible that they didn't see them; if the Dragon Shadow Guards wanted to chase someone, they wouldn't fail to catch them.
But why didn't they fight?
The Dragon Shadow Guards would not easily attack those who were defenseless; this was probably an order issued by the late emperor to prevent them from accidentally killing civilians.
Could it be that the person doesn't know martial arts?
But if they don't know martial arts, how can they lure the Dragon Shadow Guards away?
The emperor was racking his brains.
Just as the emperor was agonizing over this matter, a young eunuch from Kunning Palace rushed in with a frantic report: "Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! The Seventh Prince is in trouble!"
The emperor hurriedly set aside his official duties and went to Empress Xiao's Kunning Palace.
While Empress Xiao sent a message to the Emperor, she also sent someone to summon the Imperial Physician. The Imperial Physician and the Emperor arrived at Kunning Palace at the same time. The Imperial Physician did not have time to pay his respects to the Emperor and quickly entered Qin Chuyu's bedroom with his medicine box.
On the large, soft bed, Qin Chuyu clutched his chubby belly, writhing in pain: "Mother—it hurts—it hurts so much—"
Empress Xiao was heartbroken and sat by the bed, trying to hold her youngest son in her arms.
But Qin Chuyu was in too much pain and couldn't stay in Empress Xiao's arms.
The imperial physician hurried over, put down his medicine box, and knelt by the bed to take Qin Chuyu's pulse.
Eunuch Su and another strong and capable nanny held him down to prevent him from moving around.
Empress Xiao's eyes reddened with anxiety: "Imperial Physician! What's wrong with the Seventh Prince!"
The imperial physician bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I need to complete the examination before I can inform you."
"Then investigate quickly!" Empress Xiao said.
Although the imperial physician was already examining the matter, he still respectfully replied, "Yes! Yes!"
The emperor walked in with a grave expression: "What happened to Xiao Qi?"
"Your Majesty!" Empress Xiao threw herself into his arms with tears streaming down her face, her hot tears falling onto the back of his hand.
Empress Xiao, who always maintained her dignity as empress and never behaved improperly in front of the emperor, wept bitterly.
It was at this moment that the emperor realized that his empress was also an ordinary woman, an ordinary mother.
The emperor's heart softened, and he gently patted her shoulder to comfort her, "Don't cry, tell me what's wrong?"
Empress Xiao choked up and said, "I don't know what happened. When Xiao Qi first came back, he was fine, but suddenly he clutched his stomach and said it hurts..."
The emperor asked, "What did he have for dinner tonight?"
"He...he ate at Renshou Palace..." Empress Xiao wiped away her tears with her handkerchief and said solemnly, "Xiao Dezi!"
Xiao Dezi dragged his injured body into the house.
Clearly, Eunuch Su had already punished him.
He knelt down and kowtowed to the Emperor and Empress Xiao: "This servant greets Your Majesty and the Empress."
Empress Xiao said coldly, "I'm asking you, did the Seventh Prince eat anything strange while at Renshou Palace?"
"Strange things?" Xiao Dezi scratched his head. "They all seem quite strange. Those flatbreads and buns are things I've never seen before. They look like pigs, like fish..."
The emperor understood; those were the special snacks that Xiao Jingkong usually ate in Bishui Hutong: "Besides these, is there anything else?"
"And then there are some dishes," Xiao Dezi said, listing the dishes on the table.
There's no problem; these are the same dishes that the Emperor and Empress Xiao usually eat.
Empress Xiao asked, "Then...did they give the Seventh Prince anything special to eat?"
It's no wonder Empress Xiao was so suspicious; Xiao Heng's tragedy was still fresh in her mind, and she didn't want her son to become the second person to suffer such a terrible fate at the hands of the Empress Dowager!
"No," Xiao Dezi shook his head.
Empress Xiao frowned and said, "Could it be that he was fed separately but you didn't see it? Were you always watching over the Seventh Prince? Never leaving his side?"
"This..." Xiao Dezi lowered his head guiltily and said fearfully, "This servant...this servant went to the outhouse."
"You!" Empress Xiao was so angry she almost slapped him!
On the other side, the imperial physician finished his diagnosis and said to the emperor and Empress Xiao, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince has overeaten and has an upset stomach, accompanied by bloating and abdominal cramps. I will give the Seventh Prince some digestive pills in a little while. The Seventh Prince must not eat like this again, as it is very harmful to his health."
Empress Xiao said angrily, "Your Majesty, listen! Renshou Palace is indeed up to no good!"
The emperor already knew that Qin Chuyu had been taken to Renshou Palace by Xiao Jingkong, and Gu Jiao was also there.
The emperor did not believe that Gu Jiao would allow Qin Chuyu to eat without restraint.
The imperial physician gave Qin Chuyu some digestive pills, and after Qin Chuyu let out a few loud, smelly farts, he finally felt less pain.
He had heard the whole argument. His father and mother both believed that his grandmother had fed him to this state.
Actually, no.
But if he tells the truth, he will be punished.
He was torn between his inner thoughts and his own conscience.
The Qin Chuyu of the past would never have confessed. He was most afraid of being punished by his father. In order to avoid punishment, he could lie and act like a child against his conscience!
But this time, he chose to be honest.
He gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and said, "I didn't eat too much at Renshou Palace... I ate some more after leaving Renshou Palace... Gu Jiao told me not to eat any more at Renshou Palace... I... I couldn't resist..."
"What did you eat?" the emperor asked.
Qin Chuyu dared not look his father in the eye, keeping his head lowered: "I ate a few pieces of osmanthus cake... and drank a bowl of chilled plum juice..."
Empress Xiao's eyes flashed sharply: "Who gave this food to the Seventh Prince? I warned you all before, forbidding you from secretly feeding the Seventh Prince! I want to see who dares to disobey my orders!"
Eunuch Su whispered, "Your Majesty, Kunning Palace did not make chilled plum juice today."
Eunuch Wei cleared his throat and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, we will proceed with the Huaqing Palace."
(End of this chapter)
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