Chapter 757 Gathering - Meeting
"Hahaha, congratulations to the Empress on the birth of another son."
The emperor laughed heartily, but what he said was not what the empress wanted to hear.
Having said everything that needed to be said, the emperor invited the empress to stay for a meal, after which the empress returned to her own palace.
A note was placed silently on Consort Sun's desk. Consort Sun only glanced at it before her expression changed.
"Your Majesty?"
Upon seeing Consort Sun's expression, the trusted palace maid knew that there must be something wrong with the note.
Consort Sun snapped out of her daze and hurriedly burned the note with the candle flame.
That evening, Consort Sun disguised herself and entered the Empress's bedchamber. At this time, apart from two trusted confidants who served the Empress closely, everyone else had been sent away to rest.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty—"
Consort Sun did not finish her sentence, but the Empress already understood her meaning.
"His Majesty does suspect that you poisoned him, but there is no evidence yet."
Now that the Empress has sided with Consort Sun, she naturally cannot hide such important news.
Consort Sun slumped down upon hearing this, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "Could it be that someone deliberately framed me? Yuan Bin clearly said when he gave me the medicine that no one would be able to tell the difference."
Consort Sun chose her son over the imperial physician without hesitation.
As someone in the know, the Empress had previously inquired with the imperial physicians about the Emperor's recent health condition.
Judging from their answers at the time, it was indeed found that the emperor had been drugged.
"Perhaps this was done by Consort Liu's side?"
Unlike Consort Sun, who could see the emperor every few days, Consort Liu was the one the emperor respected the most in the palace, second only to the empress. So much so that the emperor would visit Consort Liu once a month.
After hearing the Empress's words, Consort Sun immediately felt that this was very likely, and it was possible that it really was Consort Liu.
"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will have someone dispose of the remaining medicine after we return."
Regardless of whether the poison was planted by Consort Liu to frame them, the unused medicine would only cause harm if left behind.
Seeing that Consort Sun understood her meaning, the Empress nodded immediately. "There is one more thing that I think you and Yuan Bin need to know in advance."
As the Empress spoke, she leaned close to Consort Sun and whispered a few words in her ear, causing Consort Sun's face to immediately turn ugly.
"Does Your Majesty mean that His Majesty intends to pass the throne to that person's child?"
Consort Sun also heard some rumors from the Fifth Prince that the Emperor was looking for someone, and unexpectedly, he actually found him.
The Empress did not answer Consort Sun's question, but only nodded almost imperceptibly.
Before today, the Empress really didn't know what the Emperor was thinking. If the Emperor hadn't intentionally registered the child under his name, the Empress wouldn't have known that she had found the child.
"His Majesty's health is not as good as before, and he might bring that child back one day. If that happens, once the imperial edict is issued, everything will be truly difficult to reverse."
The Empress's reminder was like a bucket of cold water being poured over Consort Sun's head. Although they had considered it before, they did not expect this day to come so soon.
Since the emperor was determined not to let his son become emperor, she couldn't be blamed for disregarding their years of marriage.
Consort Sun had already made up her mind, and hurriedly bowed gratefully to the Empress, saying, "Thank you for informing me of today's events, Your Majesty. I will remember Your Majesty's great kindness."
"You're too kind, Your Highness. It's getting late, you should go back and rest!"
Having said all that needed to be said, the Empress immediately ordered her trusted maid to escort Consort Sun out.
The news that the emperor had found the second prince reached Lu Yuanbin the very next day.
Lu Yuanbin had already planned to go all out and poison the emperor to seize power himself. Now that he has learned of this news, Lu Yuanbin is even more eager for the emperor to die right now.
"Let's go to the Crown Princess's place."
As Lu Yuanbin stepped into the residence of the Fifth Prince's wife, he saw her writing something from afar.
"What is this, my lady?"
When Lu Yuanbin's voice rang out, Luo Yuying's hand trembled almost imperceptibly in fright.
"Your Highness, what brings you here today?"
As Luo Yuying spoke, she put down her pen and looked at Lu Yuanbin, but in reality, she gently placed a nearly finished painting on the letter she had just finished writing.
Lu Yuanbin didn't notice Luo Yuying's movements. He simply walked up to her, glanced at the painting, and then slowly sat down.
"I presume the Princess Consort already knows about Father Emperor's vomiting blood and fainting. Now that Father Emperor is conducting a thorough search for the poisoner, the previous medicine is obviously no longer effective. I wonder if the Princess Consort could procure some other fast-acting medicine for me?"
The medicine that the Fifth Prince gave to the Emperor was obtained by Luo Yuying from the Duke of Anguo.
Now the Fifth Prince plans to speed things up and kill the Emperor before the so-called Second Prince returns, which will inevitably require Luo Yuying's help again.
"But what happened?"
Although Luo Yuying didn't seem to care much about court affairs, that didn't mean she wasn't thoughtful. Coupled with the Fifth Prince's anxious appearance, she only needed one glance to see the key point.
"As expected, nothing can be hidden from the Princess Consort. Something has indeed happened." The Fifth Prince said, waving his hand to dismiss everyone.
Once only the couple remained, the Fifth Prince recounted to Luo Yuying everything that Consort Sun had relayed.
To this day, Luo Yuying had never heard of an emperor having a prince who had fallen into obscurity, so when she heard the Fifth Prince's story, Luo Yuying instinctively disbelieved it.
But as it turned out, she had to believe it was all true.
"Your Highness, please rest assured, I will return to the Duke of Anguo's residence tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Luo Yuying also felt that the Second Prince, who had never appeared before, was a potential threat, so she agreed to the Fifth Prince's suggestion to get the medicine without hesitation.
Of course, the Fifth Prince couldn't just ask Luo Yuying and do everything as instructed, so he went to Sun Ruoyun to discuss killing the emperor.
Upon hearing the Fifth Prince's words, Sun Ruojun immediately expressed her opposition.
"The imperial physicians have already said that His Majesty's poison is incurable. Administering more medicine at this point will only give others more ammunition. Besides, even if the Second Prince returns, how can someone who knows nothing govern the country well? Even if Your Highness doesn't take action, the people in the Censorate will dissuade His Majesty."
"If Your Highness is still not at ease, you may take this opportunity to have the ministers submit a memorial to Your Majesty requesting that a crown prince be established as soon as possible. Your Majesty's health is not good right now. If these old ministers get angry every day, they may pass away before the second prince returns."
Sun Ruoyun spoke earnestly, clearly considering the Fifth Prince's best interests.
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