Lu Dacheng brought Zheng Duobao into the palace.
First, Zhao Yunwan pretended to be unwell and asked Lu Dacheng to come and treat her.
Lu Dacheng stayed in Zhao Yunwan's palace for an hour.
When Lu Dacheng arrived at Kunning Palace, Yuan Qibao sent a message to the Crown Prince by carrier pigeon.
The Crown Prince instructed Qianmian to immediately inform Consort Chen.
A grand show is about to begin.
Consort Chen suddenly said that she dreamed of the late Emperor last night, and felt nostalgic and upset, and wanted to see the Emperor.
Zheng Duoyu had no choice but to follow the emperor.
Upon arriving at Consort Chen's palace, Consort Chen remarked that perhaps the dream was due to not having visited the imperial mausoleum to offer incense during the New Year period. Thus, she conceived the idea of visiting the imperial mausoleum to offer incense and invited Emperor Hui to accompany her.
Emperor Hui had no choice but to agree, and Zheng Duoyu, being his personal eunuch, should also go along.
Empress Dowager Chen decreed that since the Empress is not feeling well, she should rest in the palace.
Xiao Ding, Xiao Sheng, and Xiao Yuyan also went together; it was the duty of the Crown Prince, princes, and princesses to offer incense to the late Emperor.
After this departure, Wan Nian took over the administration of the court, with the other ministers assisting him.
However, some secret memorials were sent to Kunning Palace before being delivered to Wannian.
Wan Nian had been handling state affairs for some time now, and he found it strange that he had never seen some of the memorials from certain departments and places before, which was very unusual.
After making some preparations, Consort Chen and the Emperor's entourage left the palace in a grand procession.
This trip will take three days round trip.
Zheng Duoyu was so anxious that he stomped his feet, and he didn't manage to send a message to the Empress even after leaving the palace.
Because Consort Chen had been asking Zheng Duoyu to help prepare things, saying that he was the emperor's trusted eunuch and knew best what the emperor needed, she had Zheng Duoyu write down a list, and then Consort Chen instructed the palace servants to go to the Qianqing Palace to retrieve it.
They didn't let Zheng Duoyu leave the emperor's side for even a moment.
The emperor was only thinking about not seeing the beauties in the harem for a few days and didn't pay attention to what Consort Chen was arranging.
Zheng Duoyu had no choice but to obediently accompany the emperor.
Because the trip was decided in a hurry, I traveled with minimal luggage.
After the emperor left the palace, Lu Dacheng had no choice but to leave the palace with Zheng Duobao.
They were thinking of waiting for the emperor to return before looking for an opportunity.
The Empress suggested that since the Emperor had been unwell recently, it would be best to bring along a few imperial physicians.
Consort Chen had already arranged for Imperial Physician Wang to accompany her, and thoughtfully added that since the Empress was also unwell, and Imperial Physician Lu was the Empress's preferred physician, she would keep him at her beck and call.
In the end, Lu Dacheng had no choice but to leave the palace with Zheng Duobao.
While offering incense at the imperial mausoleum, Xiao Yuyan constantly harassed Xiao Sheng, but Xiao Sheng didn't retaliate and just laughed it off.
Consort Chen was increasingly pleased with what she saw.
Emperor Hui treated it as a mere formality and was not paying attention.
Consort Chen naturally noticed the emperor's state and shook her head repeatedly.
The late emperor was a self-disciplined man. Apart from the empress, there were two concubines in the entire harem. He eventually married her to bring good luck, but he never favored her.
The late emperor planned to give Consort Chen a new identity and let her live a new life after his death.
However, Consort Chen admired the late emperor and chose to observe mourning for him after his death. Moved by her sincerity, the emperor kept her in the palace.
Consort Chen's current position is equivalent to that of the Empress Dowager. The late Emperor's will included the future treatment of Consort Chen. As long as she does not want to leave the palace, the royal family will have to support her until her death.
In addition, Consort Chen had the authority to handle the Emperor's personal matters.
Xiao Ding remained silent this time, observing Xiao Sheng.
He suddenly realized that Xiao Sheng was now calm and composed, no longer vying for favor, and his speech and behavior were very different from before.
Xiao Sheng was naturally strong, having grown up free-range in Kunning Palace, possessing the physique to climb trees to raid bird nests and wade into ponds to catch fish.
Xiao Ding grew increasingly frightened.
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to reach that high position.
Xiao Yuyan didn't restrain her nature, only pretending to be obedient in front of Consort Chen.
But she had the ability to find every opportunity to cause trouble for Xiao Sheng.
The first time, she somehow got hold of a few mice, put them in a cloth bag, and threw them on Xiao Sheng's bed.
Before Xiao Sheng got into bed, he had Qianmian check the bag for him. When Qianmian saw the bag, he picked it up and put it back on Xiao Yuyan's bed.
The second time, when offering incense, she stood behind Xiao Sheng and deliberately leaned forward, trying to knock him down, so that she would have a reason to say to Emperor Hui that Xiao Sheng had behaved improperly at the imperial mausoleum.
As a result, it seemed as if Xiao Sheng had eyes in the back of his head; just as Xiao Yuyan was about to bump into him, he took several steps forward.
Everyone saw the princess fall flat on her face.
I wanted to laugh, but I had to hold it in.
The third time, on the way back, she asked to ride in the same carriage as Xiao Sheng.
She had a needle in her hand, which she had asked a palace maid for.
Thinking of the bumpy ride in the carriage, he desperately tried to stab Xiao Sheng.
As a result, he didn't prick himself once along the way, but he pricked himself several times because of the bumpy ride of the carriage.
Xiao Sheng didn't point it out, but secretly felt a chill run down his spine.
Now he has thoroughly studied the history of the Xiao royal family. The Xiao family has established the Nanchen Kingdom for more than four hundred years, and there is no record in the history books of anyone in the family with such a bad character.
There have been instances of the second son of the legitimate wife vying for the throne, but these were always done openly, without any underhanded tactics.
If you lose, accept the defeat and go to your fiefdom, never to return to the capital.
The princesses accepted their fate and married into powerful families and court officials to consolidate the Xiao family's power.
One princess eventually married the person she loved.
Several princesses volunteered to marry into other small countries and made contributions to the Nan Chen Kingdom.
Xiao Sheng remembered that Li Xingran and Fan Zuan had both mentioned genes, so this princess's genes were clearly incompatible with the Xiao family's genes!
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