Chapter 434

"Quickly clean up the eastern quarters. The Emperor's procession will arrive this afternoon. Why is the garden in the courtyard still not tidied up?"

"The ceremonial utensils should be fetched from the storeroom. What are you all standing around for? Hurry up!"

Manager Luo, a woman with a plump and cheerful figure, was startled when she saw Fen Yun and the Fifth Prince, whose head was covered in blood. "Heavens! What happened here? Why is there so much blood? Go back inside, I’ll fetch a physician right away."

Fen Yun wiped her tears and coldly brushed off Manager Luo's hand, retreating to her room without a word.

She was the chief maid who had served the late Empress, and now she was in charge of the Fifth Prince. No one in the imperial mausoleum could order her around.

This made the laborers in the mausoleum jealous, and they often banded together to bully her and the Fifth Prince.

"Manager Luo, you’re so kind to her, yet she doesn’t appreciate it! If I were you, I wouldn’t care about her at all."

"She’s clinging to a prince who’s been exiled and cast out by the royal family. Does she really think she’s holding onto something precious? Who even cares about them?"

"When the late Empress was alive, she acted all high and mighty, and people flattered her. But now that she’s been banished to this desolate place, what does she have to be proud of?"

"Now, now, let’s not speak like that," Manager Luo waved her hand dismissively. "She was a palace official who fell from grace due to unforeseen circumstances. We should help her when we can. And you lot, stop letting your children bully the Fifth Prince. After all, he’s still a prince! What if he’s restored to favor one day? You’ll regret it then."

"Afraid of a little brat who’s barely grown any hair? Ha!"

"Ha! If he’s ever restored, it’ll be the same day the Empress falls out of favor and the Crown Prince is disgraced. Only then might he have a chance!"

"Everyone knows his mother used underhanded means to climb into the Emperor’s bed. The Emperor probably wishes he could strangle him. Sending him to the imperial mausoleum was just to get him out of sight. If he ever returns to the palace, I’ll eat my hat."

"Ew, that’s disgusting! Hahaha…"

The mocking voices outside were piercing. The Fifth Prince obediently closed his eyes as Fen Yun gently wiped the blood from his face.

He seemed accustomed to such minor injuries, as if he couldn’t feel the pain. Suddenly, he asked, "Aunt Fen Yun, is Father Emperor coming to see me?"

He had heard the adults talking earlier. They said the Emperor was coming.

Aunt Fen Yun had told him that the Emperor was his father.

Tears fell without warning as Fen Yun wrapped a cloth around his wounded forehead and wiped his cheeks. "Your Highness, your imperial grandfather and great-grandfather are buried here. Your father is coming to pay his respects to them."

"But won’t he come to see me?" The Fifth Prince opened his innocent eyes wide. "Doesn’t he love me? I heard that parents love their children. If Father Emperor loves me, he’ll come to see me, right? Did I do something wrong to make him unhappy? I can change…"

"I’ve never even seen Father Emperor."

His calm tone broke Fen Yun’s heart. She hugged his small body tightly. "No… you’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve seen the Emperor before, when you were very little. He even held you in his arms. Don’t you remember?"

The Fifth Prince shook his head in her embrace. "Aunt Fen Yun, I miss my mother."

His mother was the kindest person in the world to him.

Though he couldn’t remember her face, he remembered her warm hands and the loving gaze she always gave him. That look, filled with boundless affection, was something he would never forget.

His words made Fen Yun’s tears flow again. "It will be alright. Everything will be alright, Your Highness… You still have me. I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life. I’ll never leave you."

The Fifth Prince finally smiled through his tears. "I have Aunt Fen Yun. I love Aunt Fen Yun."

"Aunt Fen Yun will go to the kitchen to heat up some porridge for you. Stay in the room and don’t wander off, understand?"

The Fifth Prince nodded. "I’ll wait for Aunt Fen Yun. I’ll have porridge."

Not long after Fen Yun left, two shadowy figures appeared outside the room. The Fifth Prince, frightened, wrapped himself tightly in his blanket. "I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid… Aunt Fen Yun said there are no ghosts in this world."

"It’s really pitiful, the Fifth Prince. So young, yet the Empress has driven him to the imperial mausoleum."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Indeed. The imperial mausoleum is a place for guarding the dead. Being exiled here means he’ll never see the Emperor again."

"Not just the Emperor. Look at Fen Yun. She used to be so prestigious in the palace, the chief maid of the late Empress. So many people flattered her. And now? Anyone can bully her."

"The Empress is truly ruthless. The Fifth Prince is so young, yet she forced him to guard the mausoleum. It’s all because she’s afraid he’ll seek revenge after learning she was responsible for the late Empress’s death."

"The late Empress died so tragically, burned alive in a fire. The Empress was there too, but she came out unscathed. How is that possible? There must be something fishy about it."

"The Fifth Prince is the most pitiful. So young…"

"The Empress did it for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is only two years old, and the Fifth Prince is his strongest rival. If the Fifth Prince were allowed to grow up in the palace, he’d be a formidable threat to the Crown Prince."

"The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‍Emperor is so biased. He only favors the Crown Prince and ignores the Fifth Prince. If I were the Fifth Prince, I’d find a way to kill the Crown Prince when I return to the palace. Only then could he and Fen Yun live a good life."

The Empress?

The Crown Prince?

Who were these people?

He had never heard of them before.

But he understood one thing: he was being bullied because of these people called the Empress and the Crown Prince. They were the reason he had been driven out of the palace.

They were the reason Aunt Fen Yun was being mistreated.

The little boy, still too young to fully grasp right from wrong, clenched his tiny fists in anger at the conversation he overheard.

Fen Yun had insisted on keeping the Fifth Prince far from the capital, raising him in the desolate imperial mausoleum, to prevent anyone from sowing discord between him and Jiang Xinyue.

But she didn’t realize that trouble would find them no matter where they went.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xinyue, blissfully enjoying her postpartum rest in Kunning Palace, was completely unaware of the danger brewing. She was in the midst of a lively game of mahjong with Consort Shu, Consort Liang, and Noble Consort Ye.

"Single tile, five of circles!"

"Ah… I win, I win, I win!"

"Pay up, pay up…"

Jiang Xinyue’s long black hair was tied up, and she wore a loose gown with one foot propped on a chair. Together with the other consorts, she sat in a carefree manner, far from the image of a refined noblewoman.

Without any men around, the sisters had let loose, shedding all pretense of decorum.