Chapter 293: Chapter 294 - Deceive Each Other

When Empress Su got the message that the crown prince asked to visit Emperor Xianjia in the Palace of Xuanming, she was twisting a towel out of the basin in person and planning to wipe the emperor’s face. Hearing that, she suddenly stopped and her lips trembled for a moment. Then she asked in a hoarse voice, “Wasn’t the crown prince poisoned and laid up for a few days? Can he get up now?”

Fangyu lowered her head and replied, “I don’t know, but the crown princess came with him. I am afraid that he hasn’t fully recovered.”

“Where are they?” The empress stared at the towel in her hands for quite a while and then asked.

“At the gate of the palace…”

“What have you done? You know that the crown prince hasn’t fully recovered, but you told him to stay in the wind at the gate?” Empress Su rebuked in a hoarse voice and closed her eyes with a sigh. “Tell them to come in. His Majesty…is in such a condition…”

Before the empress finished her words, she shook her head. “The crown prince has been brought up by His Majesty, and I think that he wants to stay with his father alone at this hour. I won’t stay here later. You take good care of him.”

She wasn’t in the mood to stay and watch the father and son show the deep love between each other.

All the servants in the hall didn’t know what the empress was thinking about, and they said yes.

The empress washed Emperor Xianjia’s face and then walked out of the bedroom with Fangyu. She happened to see Jian Xubai walk to her. “Your Majesty!”

“Xubai, did you come to visit His Majesty?” The empress nodded at him and added in a peaceful tone, “The crown prince and his wife will come later. Wait a moment first.”

Jian Xubai asked in surprise, “Can His Highness get up?”

The empress didn’t know if this nephew knew the truth, but Jian Xubai was the crown prince’s follower, so she wasn’t in the mood to say more to him. She just stated, “Perhaps he can. After all, he is young…I don’t know the specifics. Fortunately, the crown princess came with him. Just ask them later.”

Jian Xubai looked at the empress’s haggard face and stated with concern, “Your Majesty, you rise early and retire late these days. Please take care of yourself.”

The empress smiled faintly and responded, “Thanks for your concern, Xubai.”

After saying that, she left. When they were in a secluded place, Fangyu couldn’t help but say, “The people in the Eastern Palace said that the crown prince was poisoned seriously two days ago and it was a problem if he could go through it, yet he can get up now. This lie is told to bully others.”

“With the backup of His Majesty, the people in the Eastern Palace can bully others as they like.” Empress Su’s tone was gloomy. “Not to mention the crown prince, do you know why His Majesty’s illness changed yesterday? He got out of danger at this time, not earlier or later but could hardly wake up.”

Before Fangyu answered, the empress sneered. “It is because I agreed with Daiguo to fabricate a charge against Beautiful Lady Nuan of having an affair with Xubai yesterday, yet His Majesty’s condition changed, so we thought that we had a chance to take actions against the crown prince directly, and how would we need to waste effort on a duke? Then aren’t both Xubai and Beautiful Lady Nuan safe now?”

Empress Su was clear about Emperor Xianjia’s protection of Jian Xubai and Beautiful Lady Nuan, and Jian Xubai knew something about it, but Beautiful Lady Nuan didn’t know.

So even though Beautiful Lady Nuan was told to go back to her Palace of Lanqiu this morning, she was still restless. “It’s said that His Majesty has become a vegetable, so I think that the new emperor will take the throne soon. Even if he doesn’t take the throne officially, he will act as regent. What should I do?”

“Under the situation, you still don’t make a decision. Are you going to resign yourself to your fate, Beautiful Lady?” Qinye was more anxious than her and almost stomped. “The new emperor will be the crown prince, Prince of Wei or Prince of Zhao, while you have seen the crown prince’s biological mother Consort Cui by appointment, and you didn’t make the decision to tell the empress earlier about what Consort Cui told you that night. You did so, and it appears that you help neither of them, while in fact, you have offended both of them.”

She gasped and continued, “If you don’t choose to follow one prince now, no matter whether the crown prince or Prince of Zhao will take the throne in the future, it will be unfavorable to you. If the new emperor is neither of them but Prince of Wei, it will be bad news for you. Don’t forget that when you just entered the imperial palace, the two grand princesses had tried their best to object. Grand Princess Daiguo especially doesn’t like you.”

Qinye advised in earnest words and with good intentions, “Why not seize the chance when you can do something now? After you miss this chance, you will be unable to do anything. A country can’t exist without a ruler. With His Majesty’s current situation, do you think that the civil and military officials at the imperial court will let the fight for the title of heir to the throne last long?”

“However, neither of Consort Cui and the empress is a good choice.” Beautiful Lady Nuan was indecisive at ordinary times, and she was bullied these days, so she was more hesitant, yet after all, she was once a princess of a country, and she had insight. After hearing that, she pondered for a moment but then shook her head. “There is deep hostility between me and Consort Cui because if I didn’t expose Cui Jianlian who was cruel to kill her baby, Minister Qiu might not have a chance to directly suggest selecting another heir to the throne. Because of this, not to mention Consort Cui, perhaps even the crown prince bears a grudge against me.

“So if I seek refuge with Consort Cui, it will be difficult for me to avoid the destiny of being abandoned after they make use of me.”

She added calmly, “After all, I don’t have the evidence to make Consort Cui keep her promise after I help her. If I work for her, I can only hope that she won’t break her promise, but with the personal enmity because of Cui Jianlian, what chance do you think is there of Consort Cui fulfilling the commitment?”

As for Empress Su, “What can I do for the empress? Consort Cui needs me because she can’t get involved in anything in the Palace of Xuanming, while the person who is in charge of that palace is the empress.”

Qinye asked anxiously, “Do you mean that we have nowhere to go?”

“No!” Perhaps because Beautiful Lady Nuan knew that it was a critical situation, she had a plan. She explained in a deep voice, “Didn’t you say that the new emperor would be the crown prince, Prince of Wei or Prince of Zhao? There is another one, Prince of Wei except the crown prince and Prince of Zhao.”

She waved her hand and stopped Qinye who was going to question her, continuing, “I have no contact with Prince of Wei. If he takes the throne, the only thing unfavorable to me is that Grand Princess Daiguo once objected to letting me enter the imperial palace, yet it is no big deal. She objected then because she was influenced by the Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Jinguo as two beautiful women Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan in the imperial palace had enchanted the late emperor in the past depending on their beauty, which made the Empress Dowager, His Majesty and the two grand princesses suffer a lot.”

It meant that Grand Princess Daiguo didn’t disagree to let Beautiful Lady Nuan enter the imperial palace, but she was afraid that the tragedy in the past would happen again.

“However, I have stayed in the imperial palace for almost two years and perhaps His Majesty doesn’t need anybody to serve him anymore. I am still just a beautiful lady living in a side hall, and I have to be cautious when I go out. I have been bullied by Concubine Fu, while His Majesty has never protected me.” Beautiful Lady Nuan sneered. “Do you think that Grand Princess Daiguo needs to worry that I may enchant His Majesty?”

Qinye thought it over and stopped frowning, while she still asked worriedly, “But…the empress suddenly told you to come back today. Even if we want to work for Grand Princess Daiguo now, what can we do? Moreover, this grand princess is famous for being bad-tempered. Will she keep her promise in the future?”

Beautiful Lady Nuan’s lips curled up, and she expressed, “Even though the empress is in charge of the Palace of Xuanming now, Grand Princess Daiguo can come and go freely. We just need to try to express to her that we will be loyal to her, and I think that she will figure out a way to let us stay in the Palace of Xuanming. As for whether this grand princess will keep her promise…We have no more choices. What can we do?”

Beautiful Lady Nuan and her maid didn’t know that in the side hall of the Palace of Xuanming, Grand Princess Daiguo who arrived after the crown prince and his wife was complaining about the empress. “Why did you suddenly tell Beautiful Lady Nuan to go back? Look. As soon as she left, the crown prince came.”

“However, the crown prince came with his wife.” After hearing Su Shaoge’s suggestion, Empress Su was considering taking this sister-in-law as a scapegoat, so she wouldn’t tell Grand Princess Daiguo that she had intentionally told Beautiful Lady Nuan to return to the Palace of Lanqiu.

After all, she kept Beautiful Lady Nuan here in order to fabricate a charge against Jian Xubai or the crown prince of seducing an imperial concubine when the emperor was seriously ill, yet she didn’t plan to do something like this now. If she told such a beauty to stay here, she would feel annoyed. Once Grand Princess Daiguo planned something unpleasant to hear, it would be the empress’s fault as she couldn’t manage the imperial harem system well.

So she just looked baffled after hearing that and stalled her off. “The couple entered the palace together. Even if the crown prince is brainless, he won’t do something to his father’s concubine when the crown princess is around him. After all, he didn’t have a bad reputation of being randy in the past.”

“Otherwise, why did I advise you to choose Beautiful Lady Nuan even though there are so many imperial concubines in the palace?” Grand Princess Daiguo was disappointed. “She is a peerless beauty, and even His Majesty couldn’t control himself but made her a concubine although he is strong-willed. The crown prince is a green hand and did everything without a hitch. He has never experienced the disaster caused by Shentu, so he will lose his mind after seeing Beautiful Lady Nuan. Will it be surprising if he does something against the heavenly law of morality?”

She added, “It’s no big deal if the couple came together. As his mother in name, is it difficult for you to find a reason to separate them? Here is the simplest. You want to know the crown prince’s health but you are afraid that he hasn’t fully recovered and will be tired after talking too much, so you ask the crown princess alone. Can the crown prince say in public that he will be worried when you stay with his wife alone?”

Empress Su snorted in secret yet stated, “I will summon Beautiful Lady Nuan later, but the crown prince and his wife have visited His Majesty for a while. Perhaps they will leave before she comes. It may be too late today.”

When Grand Princess Daiguo was about to speak, Fangyu walked in and lowered her head, reporting, “Your Majesty, Your Highness, the crown prince and the crown princess have visited His Majesty, and he said that he wanted to stay in the Palace of Xuanming and serve His Majesty.”

“Have you heard it?” Grand Princess Daiguo was stunned after hearing that and soon laughed involuntarily. “He asks for it.”

Then she made a decision before Empress Su replied. “Since he wants to do that, just let him stay. Anyway, the warm chamber in the east has been cleaned up for the princes and Xubai to live. We will only need to clean one more room.”

She dared to ignore Empress Su’s power, while Fangyu didn’t but waited till the empress ordered, “Just do it.” Then Fangyu bowed and responded respectfully, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

She went out to make arrangements.

Grand Princess Daiguo didn’t mind. She just asked Empress Su, “Did you bungle it with such a good chance?”

“Don’t worry.” Empress Su was in a fret yet still looked calm. “But it didn’t go smoothly as you suggested asking Elder Lady Duanmu to send a doctor in the Jinxiu Hall to the imperial palace.”

Grand Princess Daiguo asked with a frown, “How come?”

“Elder Lady Duanmu said that she didn’t feel well these days, yet the imperial doctors gathered in the Palace of Xuanming or the Eastern Palace, and none of them went to treat her as a sinful official’s family, so she had to tell the doctors in the Jinxiu Hall to treat her.” Empress Su sighed while speaking. “I guess that she thought I wanted her people to…”

She raised her chin in the direction of the bedroom. “She was afraid that she would be implicated, so she didn’t agree.”

“Why is this old woman so suspicious?” Grand Princess Daiguo frowned with displeasure. “She is so old, and she suffers from many diseases. She won’t live for long, and none of her descendants is her biological offspring. Not to mention that you don’t plan to harm her, even if you do, at this age, what is she afraid of? Will she care about the thing that she asked you to do?”

Empress Su kept her countenance. “Of course, she is afraid of and cares about nothing, but Daiguo, don’t forget that she is a descendant of the Jinxiu Hall. Although the Jinxiu Hall has no male descendant now, as the first young lady, Elder Lady Duanmu doesn’t hope to let the Jinxiu Hall have a bad name, so she can help us do anything else regardless of gains and losses, yet when it’s related to the crime of killing the emperor, she will never agree, even though she begged me to do something for her. Moreover, you know that even if she doesn’t ask me to do that thing, will I not do it?”

She sighed. “Because she fears nothing except that she doesn’t want the Jinxiu Hall to have a bad name, I can’t force her. After all, my family are the descendants of the Fufeng Hall, so I had to hold back many words when she mentioned the Jinxiu Hall’s fame.”

Her hidden meaning was that Grand Princess Daiguo had to figure out a way herself if she insisted on asking a trustworthy doctor to enter the Palace of Xuanming in secret to confirm Emperor Xianjia’s illness.

Or she had to put pressure on Elder Lady Duanmu herself or find another person. Anyway, the empress expressed that she was willing to help yet unable to do so. It was no joking matter. It would be fine if she didn’t know Emperor Xianjia’s scheme. Wouldn’t she be too stupid if she played such a trick after she knew it?