Chapter 271: Cannot Be Made Up
Winter days were short, and with matters in the palace, it was already dark before they knew it.
This night was extremely restless in the palace; the busiest place was undoubtedly the Imperial Hospital, with imperial physicians constantly going back and forth to Ying Bai’s palace.
Imperial physicians also came to see Ying Tong from time to time.
The next morning at the imperial court, Prince Shou Shan presented the account books from Dai Shan’s gambling house and impeached Prince Zhao for factionalism.
Zhu Hui then reported on Prince Zhao’s Heir Apparent shooting Prince Chu’s Heir Apparent yesterday, requesting the Emperor’s severe punishment.
In addition, Prince Chu also reported that someone had poisoned Ying Bai’s food, causing several palace servants around him to be poisoned and on the verge of death.
If Prince Chu had any reservations before, Ying Bai’s injury had pushed him to a dead end. He was now completely desperate, willing to risk everything.
With the front court in such chaos, the Empress naturally knew about it in the Imperial Harem.
She had not slept well last night and could not eat breakfast.
“Empress, Princess Consort Zhao has arrived at the palace,” Yu Lu reported as he entered.
The Empress sighed deeply and raised her hand.
Princess Consort Zhao’s complexion was also very poor; she had no desire to dress up, her face sallow.
Upon entering, she knelt before the Empress: “Your Ladyship, what can be done now? I truly never imagined Tong’er would cause such a great disaster.”
The Empress was naturally angry as well, saying, “He caused trouble? Did you not cause trouble before him?! What about those palace servants in Ying Bai’s palace? This matter occurred in the Imperial Harem, and I didn’t know, only hearing news from the front court!”
“It was me, I was foolish for a moment, truly anxious,” Princess Consort Zhao knew she could not deny it. “I originally wanted to discuss it with Your Ladyship, but Your Ladyship never believed me… You don’t know how excessive Prince Chu and the others are. If they hadn’t pressed us step by step, we wouldn’t have…”
“Cry, cry, cry! All you know is to cry! You didn’t discuss it with me before causing trouble, and now you want me to clean it up after the fact!” The Empress looked at Princess Consort Zhao with disappointment. “No matter how much trouble he causes, what extent can it reach?! As long as I am the Empress, would I mistreat Tong’er?!”
“No, Your Ladyship, now even people from San Jing Academy are helping Prince Chu. They… they have also seized a great leverage against us,” Princess Consort Zhao quickly explained. “And Princess Duanmin also…”
The reasons she didn’t discuss it with the Empress were, firstly, the urgency of the situation, and secondly, the Empress’s stubbornness; once she made up her mind, no persuasion would work. Therefore, Princess Consort Zhao did not waste any more words.
“Prince Chu is now determined to risk everything. Minister Zhu Hui and those officials have been looking for an opportunity to attack for years! Now it’s perfect,” the Empress felt a headache. “Mingqian, come here and press my head!”
Wen Mingqian quickly stepped forward and massaged the acupoints on the Empress’s head.
“You just said that people from San Jing Academy are helping Prince Chu. Is that true?” The Empress was very concerned about this.
“It’s true. It was said by people from Prince Chu’s Mansion. Mister Hua Ying has been living in Prince Chu’s Mansion,” Princess Consort Zhao said, glancing at Wen Mingqian specifically.
“Then order someone to summon him to the palace,” the Empress said.
“Why does Your Ladyship want to summon him to the palace?” Princess Consort Zhao was confused.
“Now that you and Prince Chu are in such a deadlock, shouldn’t it be made known that Prince Chu had malicious intentions beforehand, thus forcing you to make mistakes?” The Empress looked at Princess Consort Zhao. “Why are you so stupid?”
However, Prince Chu’s Mansion did not have a Mister Hua Ying, only someone named Hua Yong. If one didn’t look closely, his appearance did indeed bear some resemblance to Hua Ying.
The Empress asked Gong Changan to confirm. Gong Changan took one look and laughed: “This is not my Senior Brother; his beard is just glued on.”
Indeed, the man’s beard was fake, and he was actually much younger than Hua Ying.
“I have never claimed to be Mister Hua Ying; I suppose someone misheard,” Hua Yong said. “I did come to Prince Chu’s Mansion as a strategist, and I attached a beard to appear older.”
“Empress, this person intentionally deceived us; he should be punished,” Princess Consort Zhao was exasperated.
“Let him go! With things having escalated to this point, are we going to make a fool out of him?!” The Empress said irritably. “Prince Chu is just a mediocre person; why would people from San Jing Academy assist him?”
Let alone a mere Prince Chu, even the Emperor could not easily invite people from San Jing Academy.
She knew what kind of person Prince Chu was.
“Sister, Sister, you must save us!” Princess Consort Zhao then simply hugged the Empress’s leg and pleaded, “Only you can help us now.”
“Stop crying, your crying irritates me! Go and see Tong’er; he has a fever and needs care,” the Empress pushed Princess Consort Zhao away irritably. “As for those palace servants in Ying Tong’s palace, I have already instructed the Imperial Hospital to say they contracted a seasonal epidemic, not poisoning.”
In the Imperial Harem, the Empress naturally had the final say; Prince Chu and the others could not change this, no matter how unwilling they were.
“The front court will surely be in a dispute for a few more days. I expect Father and Brother will also be coming to the capital,” the Empress said. “You have caused such a great disaster; I cannot fix it all by myself. However, I must tell you that it is impossible to emerge unscathed from this.”
Even with the Dong Family’s influence, they could not completely erase this matter. The Empress knew that this time, Prince Zhao’s branch would inevitably suffer losses.
“Your Ladyship…” Princess Consort Zhao wanted to say more.
The Empress interrupted her: “Stop talking and go take care of Tong’er. I also need to go and see Bai’er, especially since he is so badly injured.”
Princess Duanmin had been taking care of Ying Bai in his palace. Princess Consort Chu had also come to the palace, her eyes red and swollen from crying, her voice hoarse.
Upon seeing the Empress, she could only pay her respects, but did not say a word asking the Empress to preside over the matter.
She knew the Empress would not help her, so she did not want to waste her breath.
“How is Bai’er now? Has he woken up?” The Empress naturally had to adopt a gentle attitude now; superficial courtesies had to be maintained.
“He woke up groggily once in the morning, only crying out in pain. After feeding him some food and medicine, he fell asleep again,” Princess Duanmin said. “I heard Tong’er is also ill; is he less serious?”
The Empress thought to herself that she was bringing up a sore subject, but outwardly she said, “He also has a persistent high fever and is talking nonsense. After all, he is just a child; how could he not be afraid after accidentally injuring someone?”
Hearing the Empress say this, Princess Consort Chu could not help but let out a cold laugh; she knew it would be like this.
The Empress walked forward to examine Ying Bai’s injuries. She had already visited once last night.
Ying Bai lay there, his head wrapped in bandages, but blood had already seeped through.
“Alas, poor child, let him sleep more! If you need anything, just come to my palace to get it,” the Empress said. “Don’t worry, I will not abandon him.”
