Chapter 278: Demoted Again and Again
Something in Rong Fei's brain snapped. She wanted to struggle, but she had already heard the Empress Dowager's next words: "From today on, you will be demoted to Jieyu, and your title of Rong will be stripped away. Only your surname will be used instead."
Concubine Rong suddenly became Concubine Zhou, which was a demotion of three levels, which was shocking enough.
At this moment, Concubine Zhou was completely panicked: "Her Majesty the Queen Mother, please allow me to report..."
"I won't tolerate it. Since you dared to meet Prince Duan in private and interfere with my grandson's marriage, you should be mentally prepared for this. The Queen is kind and tolerant. She has indulged your growing appetite over the years. I will not tolerate any injustice!"
Concubine Zhou quickly looked at the Queen: "Your Majesty, I didn't mean it..."
The Empress sneered, "Concubine Zhou, you said it wasn't intentional. Could it be that someone manipulated you into meeting Prince Duan, and then made you say those words? Who was that person? Was it Marquis Jing'an, or your niece herself, who was helping your family like this? I want to hear who in your Zhou family has such extraordinary abilities."
Zhou Jieyu knew that the Queen Mother would not get the upper hand, so she could only look at Princess Duan who had not spoken a word and had not even glanced at her.
"Princess, please believe me, I have no ill intentions..."
"I don't believe it."
The princess solved the problem directly without any nonsense.
Concubine Zhou's face turned pale. She didn't expect the princess to be so decisive and not give her any chance to explain.
She was still too anxious. In her attempt to help her son get rid of the Zhou family marriage, she actually hit a real wall.
She had truly forgotten the influence that Gu Ruanci had on Lu Enyan now. She thought that for the daughter of the Marquis of Jing'an, becoming a concubine to a sickly man was sincerity enough.
She wanted to fight for it again, but the princess had already turned around and no longer looked at her. Her cold back seemed to tell her that everything was over.
The Empress looked at Concubine Zhou's miserable appearance, feeling neither sad nor happy.
This brainless woman had no way to influence her status in the palace, so she was too lazy to deal with her.
As a result, she gave up her peaceful life and insisted on provoking Princess Duan.
"Jieyu Zhou, please go down. Take care of yourself from now on." The Queen waved her hand, signaling Jieyu Zhou to leave.
Concubine Zhou staggered back a few steps and turned to leave.
She hesitated, wondering whether she should stop and try again, but in the end she convinced herself that it was useless.
"Qianxiang, don't worry, this is just the beginning..."
The Queen Mother has other instructions for the Princess, and more.
"I hereby grant the marriage of Zhou Qinzhu, the daughter of the Zhou family, to the Third Prince, Lu Enrui, as his concubine."
After the decree was issued, the person that Concubine Zhou wanted to avoid the most could no longer be avoided, and was destined to be entangled with her son.
For Zhou Qinzhu, this is the worst outcome.
The reason why she dared to consider the third prince as a backup candidate over the years was because she knew that the third prince was the one farthest away from the throne.
Now, not only is she not destined to be with other princes, she has even become a concubine, a concubine!
When Concubine Zhou learned of this decree, she became even more devastated.
Her position meant that she could no longer do many things and could not provide much support to her son.
She could only watch her son being pushed into this endless abyss, but she was powerless to do anything.
She hated herself for taking this step and for involving her son.
Now, not only has she embarrassed herself, but she has also put her son in deeper trouble.
Concubine Zhou fell to the ground, her eyes blurred with tears. The palace maids didn't know how to persuade her, and she herself didn't know what to do in the future.
At this moment, she had nothing but regret.
After Prince Duan entered the palace, he was frightened to see the emperor, who was unusually angry at him, and he involuntarily knelt outside the emperor's study as the emperor instructed.
The palace servants coming and going made him feel humiliated, but he didn't dare to get up.
He probably thought that it was because the princess came to the palace to file a complaint.
When the news came that Concubine Rong was demoted to Jieyushi, he became even more certain.
He wanted to get up and go in to explain things to the emperor, but he didn't dare to do so without the emperor's order.
After more than half an hour, Prince Duan's knees were about to lose feeling, and the emperor finally let him get up.
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
The emperor asked very seriously. When he spoke to Prince Duan before, he was more helpless, but today was completely different.
Prince Duan could only answer obediently, "I know. I shouldn't have met Concubine Rong in private. No, Concubine Zhou, and I shouldn't have agreed to Concubine Zhou's proposal for marriage without my mother's consent or informing the princess..."
After hearing this, the emperor frowned and stared at Prince Duan with a sharp gaze.
"Brother, Queen Mother..."
Prince Duan knew that the princess must be with the Empress Dowager.
"How dare you ask my mother? My mother loves Yan'er the most. Don't you know the grudge between Gu Ruanci and the Zhou family? By accepting the Zhou family's marriage, do you want Yan'er to die? Can't you tolerate Yan'er?"
Upon hearing this, Prince Duan's face turned pale instantly. He knelt on the ground, his body trembling slightly.
He lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly: "Your Highness... Your Highness didn't mean that. Your Highness just..."
The emperor interrupted him, "Enough! Every time you make a mistake, you always find excuses. This time, you didn't even put Yan'er first. No wonder my sister-in-law has ignored you all these years. What conditions did Concubine Zhou give you to hurt Yan'er so recklessly?"
Prince Duan's heart tightened. He knew that what the emperor said was true, but he was still unwilling to accept it: "But my royal brother, Yan'er... he is my own son after all, how could I possibly harm him? I just wanted to help Concubine Zhou. She said that if Zhou Qinzhu entered the mansion as a concubine, given the temperament of Princess Chaoyang, she would definitely suppress her, and then she would agree to marry Yan'er--"
"Shut up!" the emperor roared, "You still don't repent! Yan'er is your son, my nephew, and my mother's grandson! My mother and I will never allow anyone to harm him! Go back and reflect on your actions. Without my order, you are not allowed to step out of the palace again!"
Prince Duan trembled and could only respond, "Yes, I obey your order."
After saying that, he slowly stood up and left the study with heavy steps.
The emperor looked at his departing back, a complicated light flashing in his eyes.
He knew that Prince Duan did not really want to hurt Lu Enyan, but this mistake was too big, so he had to punish him.
However, for Concubine Zhou, the punishment was too light.
Taking advantage of Prince Duan's desire to compensate Lu Enyan and playing power games is simply a disaster.
Afterwards, the emperor issued another imperial decree, demoting Concubine Zhou to a talented person and immediately moving her out of the palace, where she was not allowed to come near him without being summoned.
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