"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am fine now and there is no need for further examination."
After Zhu Hua finished speaking, she raised her hand to her dowry maid and said, "Why aren't you going to prepare some food?"
The maidservant quickly bowed and said, "Yes."
The Empress came to verify whether the rumors were true, so how could she let her off so easily?
"I still have to take a look at my sister, otherwise I will feel guilty. My sister has only been in the palace for a few days and she has already fallen ill. If word gets out, wouldn't it be said that I have failed to take good care of her?"
Zhu Hua waved her hands repeatedly: "Your Majesty is the most benevolent and righteous, and no one dares to gossip about her. Zhu Hua is really feeling much better now."
Seeing Zhu Hua's flustered appearance, the Empress knew that what the palace maid said was true.
He gave the imperial physician standing to the side a wink, and the physician immediately stepped forward.
Zhu Hua retreated repeatedly, saying, "I've already said it, so I won't trouble Your Majesty any further. If Your Majesty has nothing else to say, I need to go to the Emperor to discuss something with him, so I won't keep you any longer."
Xiao Qiu looked furious: "How dare you! The Empress came to visit you out of kindness, and you actually drove her away."
What? Are you so afraid of being examined by the imperial physician? Perhaps you have contracted some shameful disease?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Hua was so frightened that he immediately knelt down before the Empress.
"Your Majesty, please understand. I only felt that I am a mere woman, and I am already cured. The imperial physician Zhu Hua whom Your Majesty brought was truly..."
Xiao Qiu snorted coldly, "Do you mean the Empress wants to harm you? You're such a lowlife, always crying and whining as if the Empress has done something to you."
The Empress glanced at Xiao Qiu reproachfully from the side: "Alright, stop talking nonsense. Quickly help Princess Zhu Hua up."
Xiao Qiu reluctantly helped Zhu Hua sit on the soft couch, and the imperial physician rushed forward upon seeing this.
Suddenly, Zhu Hua roared, "Don't touch me! I've already said I'm cured and don't need any more treatment. Can't you, the imperial physician, understand human speech?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiu went up and slapped him, while the Empress frowned.
Zhu Hua was ostensibly speaking to the imperial physicians, but in reality, she was mocking them for not understanding human language and meddling in other people's business.
Zhu Hua covered the half of her face that had been hit, looking at the Empress with disbelief.
"Zhu Hua had always heard that Her Majesty the Empress, as the head of the six palaces, was never jealous, but now it seems that this is not true!"
Immediately afterwards, Zhu Hua gave a look to the maid who was accompanying her in her dowry, and the maid hurriedly ran out the door.
Xiao Qiu originally wanted to stop her, but the Empress stopped her.
This matter should naturally be overseen by the emperor himself, so as to save himself the trouble of reporting it later.
In his study, the emperor heard from his eunuch that the empress had gone to Zhu Hua Palace and had even beaten Princess Zhu Hua.
Upon hearing this, he hurriedly went to Zhu Hua Palace. "No matter what, she is a little princess who is favored by the whole country. Now that she has been sent here for a marriage alliance, if we don't treat her with proper courtesy, we will only become the subject of gossip."
The Empress is usually so well-educated and reasonable, why is she being so overly radical this time?
The eunuch De, standing to the side, dared not speak up. He thought to himself, "You know the Empress is always well-educated and reasonable. Why don't you ask what the situation is before you think the Empress is too radical?"
Could it be that he's fallen for this foreign princess? But the princess is indeed extremely beautiful.
When the emperor hurriedly arrived at Zhu Hua Palace, he saw the empress sitting in the head seat.
Zhu Hua knelt on the ground, sobbing.
The Emperor quickly helped Zhu Hua up from the ground. "Empress, what happened? Zhu Hua and I have not yet been betrothed, and she is currently only living in the Eastern Palace as a princess."
If I have made any minor mistakes, I hope the Empress will forgive me.
The Empress's heart had already turned cold when she heard the Emperor so protective of this little wretch.
Zhu Hua collapsed onto the emperor like a boneless person.
"Your Majesty, you must do me justice! I had a minor illness a few days ago and I'm completely better now, but the Empress insists on holding onto this matter and even wants the imperial physician to humiliate me, sob sob."
Before the emperor could say anything, the empress said, "Today, the young princess will pay her respects to me and the empress dowager."
The emperor's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard the first sentence. Could it be that Zhu Hua had actually bullied the little princess?
If she were truly bullied, it would be fitting for her to be punished by the Empress. After all, the young princess is the Grand Tutor of a nation, and it would be unreasonable for her to be bullied by a foreign princess.
The Empress glanced at Zhu Hua and continued, "On her way there, the young princess overheard the palace maids talking about Zhu Hua."
The young princess was too young to understand much, so she asked her mother about what she had heard. Upon hearing this, her mother immediately ordered her to investigate the matter thoroughly.
The emperor was still completely bewildered: "What did this palace maid say?"
"I don't believe that Princess Zhu Hua has contracted a shameful disease. After all, Zhu Hua is a princess from a foreign country; she couldn't possibly be messing around with wild men outside."
I originally thought it must be these palace maids gossiping and spreading rumors.
Indeed, Princess Zhu Hua's symptoms were exactly the same as those shameful illnesses, so I invited the best imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to examine her. Who knew that I would let the imperial physicians examine her?
She gave me the cold shoulder and spoke sarcastically. How could Xiao Qiu tolerate a princess from a small country daring to speak disrespectfully to the empress of a great dynasty!
The emperor was furious upon hearing this. If what the empress said was true, then this princess had already been having an affair with another man before she even married into the family.
He looked at the imperial physician who was still standing to the side and said, "Go and give Princess Zhu Hua a good look."
The imperial physician nodded and then stepped forward.
Zhu Hua refused, saying, "Your Majesty, I am, after all, a woman, and you have brought a female physician with you. Why not let the female physician examine me?"
He then instructed his maid to fetch the female physician.
Upon hearing this, the Empress flew into a rage: "I don't know what the princess means. In the harem, whether it is me, the Empress Dowager, or the other concubines, we are all treated by the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital. How come it's not your turn?"
Seeing that even the usually gentle Empress was now furious, the Emperor naturally couldn't let Princess Zhu Hua have her way.
"Xiao Dezi, go and hold her down for me. I want to see carefully whether the Empress has wronged you or if it is true. If she has wronged you, I will naturally compensate you."
If this is indeed the case, then you can't blame me.
Zhu Hua slumped onto the soft couch and let the imperial physician diagnose him.
Soon after, the imperial physician suddenly knelt before the emperor.
"Princess Zhu Hua did indeed contract an unclean disease, and because it was not treated in time, it had become quite serious."
Upon hearing this, the Empress fell silent and looked at the Emperor, saying, "Now that I have confirmed it, how to proceed is entirely up to Your Majesty. I will take my leave now."
He then withdrew. The emperor wanted to persuade him to stay, but found himself at a loss for words. It seemed that their relationship had gradually drifted apart.
After the Empress left, she angrily rebuked, "Since you're already a scoundrel, what face do you have to dare to be a princess sent for a political marriage?"
"Aren't you afraid that if you're discovered and anger me, I'll destroy your country?"
Zhu Hua suddenly looked up and roared like a madwoman: "This princess is in the prime of her life, who would want to marry a decrepit old man like you?"
It's all because you took a liking to my beauty and suggested a marriage alliance, so that my father and mother presented me with their portraits.
"I knew it; Father and Mother would treat you like an object and give you away."
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