Chapter 203: Chapter 202: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager 19
Empress Dowager’s heart was full of anxiety.
She was scared.
"Tingzhang, are you going back on your word?"
Prince Kang also felt somewhat awkward.
He had been beaten twice by Anning for allowing He Zhenyu and Helan Zhi to enter the palace to accompany the little Emperor, and to this day, the marital relationship was still at a freezing point, as were the father-son and father-daughter relationships.
He had endured a lot for the Empress Dowager.
But now the Empress Dowager was actually suspecting him.
Prince Kang felt a bit aggrieved.
"You misunderstood my intention."
He forcefully suppressed the rage in his heart, and patiently explained to the Empress Dowager: "I am not reneging, it’s just that Anning is a bit irritable right now, my intention is to wait a little longer, wait until I persuade her, then let Lanzhi enter the palace."
The Empress Dowager simply couldn’t listen.
The moment Prince Kang uttered Anning’s name, her heart soured.
And just then, the scent of incense reached the noses of both people.
The somewhat sweet and cloying fragrance made the Empress Dowager even more irritable, while Prince Kang felt somewhat dizzy.
....
Xiao Yu quietly entered the room, she extinguished the incense, also cleaned up the incense ash, and then lit a different type of incense.
Holding the cloth bag containing the incense ash, ready to destroy the evidence, she was taken aback when someone patted her from behind.
Turning around to look, she saw Nanny Qin standing there with a dark face.
"Nanny."
Xiao Yu called out.
Nanny Qin, with a stern face, asked: "What’s going on?"
Xiao Yu replied softly: "This is the Emperor’s will, I am just following orders."
Nanny Qin glanced at the Empress Dowager’s bedroom, her expression softened a bit: "Indeed, the Emperor always gets what he desires."
Xiao Yu took out a packet of medicine from her sleeve and handed it to Nanny Qin: "This is contraceptive medicine, it won’t have any effects on the body, the Emperor wants you to give it to the Empress Dowager secretly."
Nanny Qin nodded, taking the packet of medicine: "I understand."
Xiao Yu took another look at Nanny Qin, a smile on her face as she swiftly left.
After she disposed of the incense ash, she went to the place arranged with Mr. Liu.
With no one around, the moment the two met, Xiao Yu quickly told Mr. Liu: "In a few days, Empress Dowager will leave the palace to avoid disaster, you must speak well with His Majesty, and also, encourage His Majesty to leave the palace more to see Yun Que."
Mr. Liu nodded in agreement.
Xiao Yu leaned closer and whispered to Mr. Liu: "Tell His Majesty about Prince Kang staying overnight at the Empress Dowager Palace today."
Mr. Liu was startled, a flash of light in his eyes.
He understood what Xiao Yu meant and smiled: "Don’t worry, miss, I’m very reliable in handling matters."
Shoukang Palace
When the Empress Dowager woke up and saw she was lying next to Prince Kang, she was almost scared enough to jump up.
Her relationship with Prince Kang had always been ambiguous, but it was only to keep Prince Kang on the hook; she had never thought of having any actual relations with him.
And now the two of them ended up sleeping together.
The Empress Dowager had a very bad premonition.
Seeing that Prince Kang was about to wake up, she quickly tousled her hair and pinched herself hard, then started crying with her hands covering her face.
Prince Kang woke up, saw the Empress Dowager quietly sobbing, and upon seeing the state of the two of them, he knew what had happened.
His heart initially felt a burst of joy, then a bit of guilt, afterwards, it was a sense of guilt.
He rubbed his forehead and propped himself up to gently coax the Empress Dowager: "Yiqiu, today’s incident was my fault, in a moment of confusion, I didn’t control myself, we..."
"How am I to face the Emperor, I..."
Prince Kang’s face went taut in an instant: "Yiqiu, between a man and a woman, there’s delight, what wrong have I done to the Emperor? Sooner or later, you will be with me, it’s merely that the time has been moved forward."
The Empress Dowager was stunned, forgetting even to cry.
When Prince Kang saw her face streaked with tears, that fragile and helpless appearance, for some reason, the joy that had surged in his heart vanished.
He suddenly felt it all tasteless and uninspiring.
Then he thought of Anning.
Anning’s bright and beautiful face appeared before him, making him feel quite sorry for Anning.
He put on his clothes to get out of bed, and with a bit of anxious frustration, said to the Empress Dowager: "Take care, I will get you out as soon as I can."
The Empress Dowager shook her head: "Don’t."
"Why?"
Prince Kang raised an eyebrow.
"His Majesty may not withstand it. Moreover, given the current situation, how can you and I be together? Tingzhang, give me some more time, wait for me a few more years, alright?"
Prince Kang did not agree or refuse, and quickly left after dressing.
He looked somewhat disheveled as he departed.
At that moment, Nanny Qin came over with a bowl of water.
She gently comforted the Empress Dowager: "Your Highness, take a sip of water to calm down first. Actually, this is also good. Having this connection, the Prince can hardly abandon you and His Majesty now."
The Empress Dowager forced herself to think so, but the more she thought about it, the more something felt amiss.
Feeling agitated, she took the bowl and drank a few sips of water hastily: "Nanny, take the incense from the incense burner, find an Imperial Physician to take a good look, I suspect there’s something wrong with that scent."
The Empress Dowager was a very meticulous person.
She might not have noticed it at first, but recalling now, she suspected something.
She and Prince Kang always interacted with propriety, logically they should not have done such a thing.
But now the two of them seemed to have lost their heads in confusion, there had to be something in between.
Thinking of that sweet, cloying fragrance, she deeply suspected there was a problem with the incense.
Nanny Qin responded: "This servant will go immediately."
She took the bowl the Empress Dowager had drunk from, and once outside, she smashed and threw it away.
Then, Nanny Qin took the collected incense ash to find the Imperial Physician.
Anning at this moment was at her dowry Manor.
She had already instructed the farmers to plant winter wheat according to her methods and was standing in the fields, talking to the workers, instructing them on how to farm, how to fertilize, how to nurture the soil, how to practice crop rotation, and so on.
Just when she was engrossed in conversation, Xiao Lu came over quietly: "Princess, sister has succeeded."
Anning smiled.
She knew that the greatest conflict between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager was about to erupt.
And soon, the Empress Dowager would be leaving the palace to avoid disaster.
After liaising, Mr. Liu and Xiao Yu returned to Jiyuan Palace.
Emperor Jianwu was reading when he saw Mr. Liu, he tossed his book aside: "How did it go? Did you find out anything?"
Mr. Liu nodded: "I found out. Miss Yun is indeed a pitiable person, her background... alas, back in the day, Mr. Yun deceived a decent lady in Shu and fathered Miss Yun. When Mr. Yun returned to the Capital, he left the mother and daughter behind. Miss Yun’s mother came to the Capital only to learn that Mr. Yun had long married and had children. Outraged, she abandoned Miss Yun and left. Later, when Mr. Yun passed away, the Yun Family believed Miss Yun brought misfortune and treated her poorly."
Hearing Mr. Liu’s words and thinking of Miss Yun’s decisive and straightforward nature, Emperor Jianwu couldn’t help but admire her.
She was quite strong, to grow up well in such circumstances without self-pity, it was truly not easy.
Thinking now of her being orphaned and alone, he found her very pitiable.
Emperor Jianwu, moved by compassion, said: "Truly pitiable. In that case, find a time to visit Miss Yun... and bring her some things, also see that she is well looked after."
Mr. Liu agreed and then began to look around hesitantly.
Emperor Jianwu immediately sensed there was more: "What is it, some difficulty you can’t voice?"
Mr. Liu was in a dilemma, but he spoke nonetheless: "Your Majesty, please don’t be angry when I say this, but... this servant heard that today Prince Kang stayed in Shoukang Palace, with the Empress Dowager..."
Emperor Jianwu slammed the table and stood up: "Scoundrel, audacious to the extreme... I must go to Shoukang Palace."