Chapter 352: Dealings

The Empress’s elation from the first half of the sentence rapidly decreased with the second half.

She looked up in shock. “What? Your Majesty wants to go see Zhen Zhen?”

Emperor Jiawen straightened his beard as he sighed. “Yes, I left her hanging since she was so spoiled and wilful before. I want her to reflect and change. It’s been a while since then, and I believe she should’ve realized her mistakes. Besides, I do miss her, so I wanted to ask you to go see her with me.”

Emperor Jiawen had his set of considerations. Rong Jin did make a big mistake, but he had received the punishment he deserved for it. At the end of it all, that mistake was on him; the Empress and the others were just implicated by him.

Emperor Jiawen just wanted to instill a little more fear in them; he had no intention of crushing Rong Jin. As for Rong Zhen, she used to be one of his favorite daughters, so he still felt bad for her. That was why he decided to go see Rong Zhen with the Empress after all this time.

The Empress replied hesitantly, “Your Majesty, Rong Zhen has been in a bad mood recently. She has locked herself in her room and refuses to come out. I worry that she might do something to offend you if you go. How about we go after she has calmed down after a while?”

Emperor Jiawen frowned. “Locked herself up? What now? Who offended her?”

The Empress smiled guiltily. “This… You know, because of Lieutenant Mu… She had been hoping to get him to heal her broken pearl of essence, but… You know what happened after. She was really upset.”

Emperor Jiawen’s expression relaxed a little. “No wonder.”

He had wanted to put in a good word for Rong Zhen, but Mu Qinghe was a tough nut to crack. Besides, Rong Zhen had offended him, so there was no hope of it.

Rong Zhen could only blame her bad luck for this.

“I heard that Chu Liuyue got Lieutenant Mu to bring a heavenly doctor from the Tianling Dynasty on behalf of Princess Yong Ping to examine Princess Consort Ping Jiang…” The Empress looked down sadly. “I’m really envious, but it’s a pity that Zhen Zhen had some conflict with Chu Liuyue. Otherwise, I would ask her to help, and maybe Zhen Zhen could…”

As she spoke, she used her handkerchief to wipe her tears as if she were sad and regretful. However, she was glancing at Emperor Jiawen from the corner of her eye.

But to her disappointment, Emperor Jiawen did not seem upset at all.

She was a little depressed. Rong Zhen is the princess, but the treatment she receives is worse than that of Chu Liuyue and Mu Hongyu! Why isn’t His Majesty upset!?

The Empress didn’t know that Emperor Jiawen had been to Tianling Dynasty and that he knew what kind of strong existence it was.

Emperor Jiawen clearly knew that he and Country Yao Chen were nothing in the eyes of Mu Qinghe.

Mu Qinghe could do whatever he wanted and help whoever he wanted; there was no room for negotiation.

Emperor Jiawen pondered for a moment before he spoke. “It’s not your fault. Everything is destined, but it’s not good for her to continue like this… Oh well, I’ll go check on her myself!”

The Empress was stunned, and she didn’t even bother to wipe her tears. “Your Majesty! I think… it’s better to let Zhen Zhen calm down alone. You know her personality. The more we push her, the more defiant she is…”

Emperor Jiawen frowned and stared at the Empress. “Empress, you seem very unwilling for me to go see Zhen Zhen?”

This is strange. The Empress would usually think of all sorts of ways to invite me over. Emperor Jiawen knew that the Empress was trying to show off his affection for Rong Zhen, but he turned a blind eye to it for the most part. But today… was really strange.

“No! I just… just…” The Empress rebutted without thinking, but she didn’t know how to continue.

Emperor Jiawen became even more suspicious, and his expression became more solemn. “Since you’re unwilling, I’ll go myself!”

With that, he headed for outside!

The Empress was panicked. If I don’t stop him, the consequences will be disastrous!

She followed him without thinking, but she was coming up with countless excuses in her mind.

However, Emperor Jiawen seemed dead set on going over!

Just as she panicked, a person hurried right in. “Your Majesty, urgent news!”

Emperor Jiawen finally stopped and asked with a frown, “What urgent news? What’s so urgent?”

Another person brought up a wooden box. “Your Majesty will know after you read it!”

Emperor Jiawen looked at the wooden box and narrowed his eyes. This is the box I use for secret communications with Country Xing Luo, so it has to contain a secret letter from the other side. Why would they send news now?

The Empress took a glance, and she was elated when she recognized what it was! It is indeed urgent news, so His Majesty will definitely deal with it first! No matter how urgent Rong Zhen’s matter is, it won’t be more urgent than national matters!

As expected, Emperor Jiawen turned to look at the Empress with the wooden box in his hand. “We’ll stop here for today. I’ll go see Rong Zhen after I’m done with all this.”

The Empress couldn’t ask for anything better. “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I’ll go check on Zhen Zhen and counsel her later.”

Emperor Jiawen felt that something was wrong, but he couldn’t be bothered. “Back to the Imperial Study!”

Eunuch Min turned. “To the Imperial Study…”

The procession left grandly.

The Empress only breathed a sigh of relief when they disappeared, but she knew she had to find Rong Zhen—fast.

His Majesty is suspicious now, and he will definitely follow up. If he finds out that Rong Zhen is missing… The Empress dared not imagine it!

She stood in place for a while but decided to follow through with her act. “To the Fourth Princess’s residence!

…

On the other side, Emperor Jiawen returned to the Imperial Study and only opened the wooden box when he was sure that it was secure.

There was a piece of paper within it, but there was no writing on it.

However, Emperor Jiawen wasn’t surprised. Instead, he spread it out and picked up the brush next to him. He then dipped the brush in ink and pressed it down on the paper.

He did it again and again until the paper was covered in ink.

At first glance, it seemed like it was a puddle of ink, but white characters soon appeared beneath the ink.

The contents only fully appeared after about 15 minutes.

Emperor Jiawen looked at it, and a stunned expression flashed across his face. He looked a little unsure, but he closed in and read the letter word for word again.

He stared at the paper until the words disappeared. “Summon the Crown Prince!”