Chapter 564 564 The Great Righteousness! (First Update)
Eunuch Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Princess Ning'an, frozen in place, was not so pleased. Her gaze turned cold: "Eunuch Wei."
"Your servant is here!" Eunuch Wei composed himself and immediately transformed into a sycophantic follower. "What are your orders, Princess?"
Princess Ning'an calmly instructed, "Go and find the Empress Dowager."
"Yes." Eunuch Wei replied, and together with the Imperial Guards, they searched Renshou Palace three times inside and out. All the other palace staff were there, except for Empress Dowager Zhuang and Eunuch Qin.
“Go ask those palace servants,” Princess Ning’an said.
“I asked, but no one knows anything about it,” said Eunuch Wei.
Princess Ning'an looked at him coldly.
Eunuch Wei blocked the imperial guards' view and whispered a reminder: "Princess, we can't use torture in Renshou Palace. It's too conspicuous. Besides, reorganizing the harem is the Empress's job. Overstepping our bounds will only give others a handle against us."
Princess Ning'an took a deep breath and slowly suppressed her anger: "Go and call Commander Fu here."
"yes."
After Commander Fu arrived, Princess Ning'an asked him, "Why are you guarding Renshou Palace? Didn't you notice that my mother suddenly disappeared? I wonder if something happened to my mother, or if she was kidnapped by some thieves?"
"This..." Commander Fu was at a loss. To be honest, he really didn't know. He clearly saw Empress Dowager Zhuang taking a walk in the courtyard in the afternoon. How could she have disappeared in the time it takes to have dinner?
"When was the last time you saw my mother?" Princess Ning'an asked.
Commander Fu replied truthfully, "It was in the afternoon, around 5 PM. The Empress Dowager was taking a walk in the courtyard, and then she returned to her bedchamber. I was only responsible for guarding her and not disturbing her."
The implication was that their Imperial Guards could only surround Renshou Palace, but could not keep a close watch on Empress Dowager Zhuang.
But then again, if they were guarding it so tightly, how did the Empress Dowager disappear without a trace?
The night was dark and the wind was high.
A figure leaped onto the rooftop where the cold wind howled, nimbly scaling walls and eaves in the darkness.
Before long, the figure darted into Bishui Hutong and landed in Gu Jiao and Xiao Heng's home.
It was getting late, and Madam Yao and the children had all gone to bed. Only Gu Jiao, Xiao Heng, and the old priest were still sitting in the main room.
Hearing the commotion in the courtyard, Gu Jiao got up, and Xiao Heng went over and opened the door before her.
Gu Chengfeng carried someone in, looking exhausted and panting heavily. "I'm so tired! It's been such a long way from the palace!"
Xiao Heng glanced in the direction of the courtyard and closed the door behind Gu Chengfeng.
Gu Chengfeng carefully placed Empress Dowager Zhuang on the chair.
"Be careful." The old chief priest reached out and steadied her. "You've caught a chill, haven't you?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang ignored him.
He looked closely and his expression changed.
Gu Chengfeng turned around, pulling at his collar as he looked at the unconscious Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Uh... Is the Empress Dowager asleep? Or has she been jolted unconscious by him?
Okay, he was indeed moving a bit too fast just now.
"Zhuang Jinse, Zhuang Jinse, Zhuang Jinse!" The old chief priest called out several times, his heart clenching. "Could something have happened?"
Gu Jiao bent down and leaned closer to her aunt, saying, "Aunt, we're one short for mahjong."
Empress Dowager Zhuang instantly snapped to attention, opening her eyes and sitting up abruptly. "Where are we?"
And then she actually went to play cards...
As everyone watched her imposing figure, sleeves rolled up, poised for a fierce battle, their lips twitched in unison.
Gu Chengfeng: "...Has she been looking forward to going out to play cards for a while now?"
Princess Ning'an took Eunuch Wei to Kunning Palace to report the imperial edict and the matter of Renshou Palace.
Empress Xiao put down the account book she was reading and said to Princess Ning'an indifferently, "You'd better inform me first if something like this happens again."
Princess Ning'an bowed slightly: "Yes, sister-in-law."
Eunuch Wei was sweating bullets for Empress Xiao.
Empress Xiao summoned Eunuch Su: "Go and tell Commander Fu that no matter whether the Empress Dowager left on her own or was abducted, you must find her. Search the palace and search outside the palace."
"Yes," Eunuch Su replied.
Empress Xiao glanced at the two of them indifferently and said, "Princess Ning'an, please go back first. Eunuch Wei, please stay."
"Ning'an takes her leave." Princess Ning'an bowed, took a few steps back, and turned to brush past Eunuch Wei.
Eunuch Wei maintained his curtsy posture without looking to the side, and Princess Ning'an showed no sign of anything amiss as they left Kunning Palace.
Empress Xiao glanced at the imperial edict in her hand, then looked sternly at Eunuch Wei: "I ask you, did His Majesty really wake up just now?"
Eunuch Wei replied, "Yes."
Empress Xiao asked suspiciously, "Were you present the entire time His Majesty was issuing the imperial edict?"
Eunuch Wei nodded: "Yes, it was this servant who brought the pen and ink. After finishing the imperial edict, His Majesty exhausted his energy and fell into a deep sleep again."
Empress Xiao frowned.
She could doubt anyone, but she could always trust Eunuch Wei.
Empress Xiao sighed: "I understand. Take good care of His Majesty and make sure he is well taken care of. When His Majesty wakes up again, remember to send someone to inform me first."
"This servant has noted it down."
After leaving Kunning Palace, Eunuch Wei headed towards Huaqing Palace. After walking a few steps, he saw a beautiful figure under a big tree.
He was startled: "Princess?"
Princess Ning'an turned around with a half-smile.
Eunuch Wei blinked and bowed, saying, "Princess, the Empress just asked..."
"No need to tell me, I doubt you'd dare betray me in front of the Empress."
"Yes, yes," Eunuch Wei chuckled awkwardly, "Then the princess is waiting for this servant here..."
"This," Princess Ning'an tossed him a porcelain bottle, "is for tomorrow. Give it to His Majesty at dinner time."
Eunuch Wei's eyes flashed: "Ah, yes, this servant will certainly do as instructed."
Princess Ning'an chuckled and said, "If you haven't done it..."
Eunuch Wei shook his head like a rattle-drum: "No, no! This servant's life is in the princess's hands. If the princess tells this servant to go east, this servant dares not go west."
Princess Ning'an coldly curled her lips: "Good that you know. Alright, you'd better go and serve your brother. This medicine isn't foolproof either; what if he really wakes up..."
Eunuch Wei hurriedly said, "This servant will not let anyone know that His Majesty has woken up. This servant will inform the princess in time."
"Good to know."
After speaking, Princess Ning'an returned to Bixia Palace in a calm tone.
Once he was sure the man was far away, Eunuch Wei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly returned to Huaqing Palace.
So much time has passed, I wonder how His Majesty's swim bladder is doing? Has it been treated with medicine? Has it been swallowed?
Eunuch Wei arrived at the dragon bed, dismissed the palace servants, and then pried open the emperor's mouth and slowly removed the fish bladder.
The medicine inside is still there.
Eunuch Wei felt a sense of relief.
"We need to deal with it quickly..." Eunuch Wei took the fish bladder and went out. He vaguely felt that he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember it for the time being.
The Emperor, unable to move: My underwear! There's something in my underwear!
No secrets stay hidden forever. The news of Empress Dowager Zhuang's collusion with Minister Xing to murder the emperor quickly spread throughout the capital. The civil and military officials and the people of the capital never expected that the mastermind behind it all would be Empress Dowager Zhuang.
However, if one carefully recalls Empress Dowager Zhuang's control of the court over the years and her suppression and obstruction of the emperor, it seems not difficult to accept the fact that she was the culprit.
Calls to condemn Empress Dowager Zhuang arose among the people, but the Zhuang family remained silent at such a critical juncture.
Grand Tutor Zhuang also claimed illness and did not attend court.
This further worsened Empress Dowager Zhuang's reputation and situation.
"grandfather!"
Prince An stormed into Grand Tutor Zhuang's courtyard, and the guards at the gate couldn't hold him back.
Grand Tutor Zhuang was practicing calligraphy in his study. Hearing his grandson's voice, he didn't even lift his eyelids. He dipped his brush in ink and said, "Shouldn't you be on duty in the Grand Secretariat at this hour?"
Prince An went to the cabinet, but after hearing some things, he immediately returned.
Thanks to his status, no one in the cabinet dared to stop him.
He came to the desk and saw that Grand Tutor Zhuang was engrossed in practicing calligraphy. He then realized that he was not really sick these days, but was just deliberately not going to court.
"Has Grandfather heard anything about Auntie?" he asked.
Grand Tutor Zhuang did not look at him, but wrote the character "mountain" with his brush: "This is not something you should worry about."
Prince An looked intently at Grand Tutor Zhuang: "This is not something I should worry about. Then what about Grandfather? Doesn't Grandfather care either? The Empress Dowager has encountered such a serious incident. Shouldn't Grandfather step forward to protect the Empress Dowager's reputation and actively seek evidence of the Empress Dowager's slander with the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice?"
Grand Tutor Zhuang paused, glancing at him: "You already know it's slander?"
Prince An said solemnly, "The Empress Dowager would not do such a thing. If she wanted His Majesty's life, she wouldn't have waited until now. My grandfather understands the Empress Dowager's methods better than I do."
Grand Tutor Zhuang: "So what?"
Prince An gave Grand Tutor Zhuang a deep look: "Grandfather... are you planning to stand idly by?"
Grand Tutor Zhuang neither admitted nor denied it: "I did this for the sake of the Zhuang family."
Prince An sneered: "For the sake of the Zhuang family? For what of the Zhuang family? Without the Empress Dowager's protection, can the Zhuang family still be the same Zhuang family it once was?"
Grand Tutor Zhuang slammed his brush on the table: "Do you think the Empress Dowager is still the same Empress Dowager? She has long since severed ties with the Zhuang family!"
Prince An clenched his fists, heartbroken, and said, "So Grandfather just stood by and watched her die? She was your sister! After her own father sold her to that cannibalistic palace for personal gain, after she lost her only child, after she licked her wounds and devoted herself to the Zhuang family for so many years, Grandfather just abandoned her like that! Grandfather only remembers the year she severed ties with the Zhuang family, but he doesn't remember the decades the Zhuang family devoured her flesh and blood!"
Grand Tutor Zhuang roared, "Enough!"
Prince An was not intimidated by Grand Tutor Zhuang's anger. He looked at Grand Tutor Zhuang, whom he had respected for so many years, with disappointment: "Grandfather, when I was eight years old, you sent me to the State of Chen as a hostage. The Empress Dowager tried her best to stop it. She said that the Zhuang family was enough with her and that no more people should be sacrificed. What did you tell me, Grandfather? You said that the Empress Dowager was too tired to support the Zhuang family alone and that she couldn't bear everything alone... So I went! I suffered all kinds of humiliation in the State of Chen, but I never regretted it! But now, I regret it. Grandfather, you didn't do it for the Empress Dowager or for the Zhuang family. You only did it for yourself."
These words were undeniably hurtful, but Grand Tutor Zhuang was past the age of arguing with the younger generation. He suppressed his anger, picked up his brush again, and wrote a few more words, saying, "Heng'er, you are my most outstanding grandson and the future heir of the Zhuang family. I hope you can recognize your place."
"Ha, status."
Prince An smiled self-deprecatingly and said nothing more to Grand Tutor Zhuang, because he already understood his grandfather's meaning, and further words would be pointless, so he might as well save his energy.
Grand Tutor Zhuang called out to him, "Where are you going?"
Prince An turned around and said coldly, "If my grandfather doesn't care about the Empress Dowager, then I'll have to go and save her myself. I'll go and overturn her case!"
Grand Tutor Zhuang threatened, "If you dare to step out of the Zhuang family's residence, don't ever come back to see me."
Prince An cracked his knuckles and stepped across the threshold.
Grand Tutor Zhuang said in a deep voice, "I mean what I say. Zhuang Yuheng, I gave you your status, and I also gave you your power and position. Without me, without the status of the eldest grandson of the Zhuang family, you, Zhuang Yuheng, are nothing in the capital. Think it through. It's not difficult for you to leave the mansion today, but it won't be so easy for you to come back in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Prince An indeed withdrew the foot that had been stepped out.
Grand Tutor Zhuang raised an eyebrow in satisfaction: "You shouldn't go to the cabinet these next few days. Just stay home and behave yourself..."
Before the words "rest and recuperation" could be uttered, Prince An lifted his robe and knelt down on the ground with a thud.
He placed his hands on the ground and kowtowed heavily, his forehead turning red in the process: "I thank my grandfather for his kindness in raising me."
Grand Tutor Zhuang was taken aback.
With tears welling in his eyes, Prince An kowtowed a second time, saying, "I thank my grandfather for his kindness in helping me."
Blood trickled down his forehead, and his eyes glistened with tears.
Grand Tutor Zhuang's expression changed, and he shouted sternly, "Zhuang Yuheng!"
Prince An did not stop, and kowtowed a third time with heavy force, hot tears falling onto the cold floor with a thud: "Thank you thrice for your great kindness, Grandfather! Yuheng is unfilial!"
After saying this, he stood up with his forehead covered in blood, choked back tears, turned around, and ran into the night without looking back.
(End of this chapter)
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