Chapter 875: Chapter 694: The Whole City in Uproar
Zhou Hao’s wounded, questioning gaze, along with his disdainful actions, brought Madam Zheng back to her senses from her shocked state, as if she had been struck by lightning.
Madam Zheng staggered to stand firm in the gaze of the crowd, hurriedly explaining, "No! I didn’t!"
What disturbance of fetal energy? What fetus-preserving medicine? Such an obvious hint...
"What do you mean no? You disloyal woman!" Emperor Zhoulin was so angry he nearly fainted. Seeing this, Han Shan quickly supported him, looking at Madam Zheng with a sharp gaze and speaking in a deep voice, "His Majesty the Southern Emperor Changsheng, when he laid low in Liuzhou City, was already renowned across the land, known for his exceptional medical skills. Who would doubt his diagnosis?"
Pregnancy in itself is nothing, but the key is, twelve years have passed since the great fire in the Eastern Palace, and the Former Crown Prince perished in that fire. Now, twelve years after the Former Crown Princess Consort Madam Zheng’s widowhood, she is pregnant. This...
This is simply a great disgrace to the Great Zhou Imperial Family!
Moreover, it was brought up so publicly by the Southern Emperor during his visit to our Great Zhou...
A daughter-in-law who has not even entered the family bluntly accuses her mother-in-law of being unchaste and pregnant with a bastard child. This...
What can they say? What should they say?
"No! No! I didn’t! It’s that wench who slandered me!" The desperate Madam Zheng explained like a madwoman, flailing wildly, "That wench never even came near me. She is slandering me. I’ve never been pregnant, nor have I been disloyal..."
"Shut up!" Just as Madam Zheng wanted to speak further, an old man with graying hair standing behind Emperor Zhoulin spoke coldly, interrupting. This person was the ancestral elder whom Zhou Mu mentioned, the protector of the Great Zhou Imperial Family, who had reached the Transformative Realm and was regarded as a god-like presence in the Zhou Family’s ancestral temple. He stared blankly at Madam Zheng, his aged eyes filled with gloom, "Southern Emperor Changsheng not only has peerless medical skills but excels in martial arts and internal breath, a paragon among the younger generation. To feel a person’s pulse, why would she need to come near you? Wretched woman, I ask myself, has the Zhou Family ever treated you poorly in your widowhood? All supplies were given as in the days when you managed the Eastern Palace, yet to think you would be so unfaithful! The Former Crown Prince has been gone for twelve years, and yet you are pregnant! You have disgraced our Zhou Imperial Clan!"
"No! I did not! No!" Madam Zheng, knowing the elder’s identity, immediately collapsed to the ground, wailing in explanation.
"Someone, take this unfaithful woman to the ancestral temple for severe questioning. Once verified, exterminate the nine familial relations as a warning to others!" The elder protector of the Zhou Family was a decisive character, and his voice was chill, carrying a great distance.
Immediately, the Imperial Forest Army stepped forward to drag away the tantrum-throwing Madam Zheng.
Zhou Hao simply watched, his face filled with shock, not uttering a single word from beginning to end...
No one expected that amidst the crisis in Capital City combined with national affairs and diplomacy, the tale would conclude with the Former Crown Princess Consort’s infidelity and pregnancy...
Emperor Zhoulin was assisted back to the palace, while a crowd of civil and military officials, along with royal kin and courtiers, followed in departure.
Once the dignitaries left, the onlookers exploded in excitement. A scandalous affair involving the royal family! Such rare sights in a lifetime encountered!
"The Former Crown Princess Consort... she’s pregnant? Whose child?"
"Who knows? This is indeed a court secret outrageously spoken by the Southern Emperor in broad daylight. This time, our Great Zhou is thoroughly disgraced! The Imperial Clan ended up with a Former Crown Princess Consort who acted without propriety, engaging in illicit affairs, haha..."
"The Southern Emperor is here to marry His Royal Highness the Prince Mu, and Madam Zheng is Prince Mu’s biological mother..."
"So, this whole drama is quite a spectacle!"
"Oh, truly there’s nothing unusual under the heavens!"
"Who doesn’t have some dirty secrets? Especially among the elite, it’s not uncommon for such things to be discreetly handled and not publicly revealed. But to be blatantly brought up like this is really unprecedented..."
"From that tone, clearly there’s a hidden tale in the Eastern Palace incident years ago. We only knew Prince Mu was demoted, but who knew..."
"Shh! We dare not speculate on such matters. Let’s focus on whose child the Former Crown Princess Consort is carrying..."
"The deep confines of the palace, the loneliness of the bridal chamber..."
The people were all captivated by the royal scandal that erupted unexpectedly; everywhere in the streets and alleys, teahouses, and wine establishments, everyone discussed this matter. Of course, they were also awed by the accompanying dowry of thousands of carts brought to the Capital City by the Southern Emperor’s entourage, a spectacle to behold.
With this comparison, the Former Crown Princess Consort’s scandal became all the more known to everyone!
"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine items of dowry! My Heavenly Father, this truly makes it impossible for others to marry off their daughters!"
"After this wedding, no dowry can compare! Truly unprecedented and never to be seen again!"
"The Southern Emperor and His Royal Highness Prince Mu are indeed a perfect match, and to think, Prince Mu’s biological mother would be so disgraceful and unbearable. In retrospect, Prince Mu’s demotion to Liuzhou, away from the Capital City, might not have been a bad thing, lest he be dragged down by such a mother."
"Isn’t that right? Didn’t you see the Former Crown Princess Consort’s young son? He came out shouting and fighting, even daring to criticize the Southern Emperor’s dignity—it’s truly laughably arrogant!"
"A man should be like Prince Mu, and a wife should be like the Southern Emperor!"
"..."
All sorts of discussions quickly spread across the Capital City, with the populace engaging in a high-level gossip spree, from all the events during Gu Changsheng’s past struggles to the present, repeatedly being mentioned, while Madam Zheng’s scandal became a blatant backdrop to highlight the splendor.
"Oh my! When His Majesty the Southern Emperor hadn’t left the Capital City yet, he even bought vegetables from my stall!"
"When His Majesty the Southern Emperor left the Li Mansion, he once rented a small courtyard in my alley."
"I even gave the Southern Emperor a bunch of chives; I wonder if he still remembers..."
"Times have changed, indeed. Leaping over the Dragon Gate to become the Southern Emperor, who would remember you giving away a bunch of chives? Hahaha..."
"Thinking about the Southern Emperor’s dignity and the dowry, it’s really something to drool over! So envious!"
"Who wouldn’t be?"
"..."
Gu Changsheng’s residence was located within the Imperial City, originally an Imperial Family garden, magnificently large. As Emperor Zhoulin had made prior preparations, the garden was renamed the Heavenly Palace Traveling Palace, after a slight adjustment. Gu Changsheng, with a few people, disguised themselves as ordinary folks and ventured out of the palace, heading for the streets.
As they reached this part of the street, they happened to hear that old woman’s conversation with the nearby vendors, and Gu Changsheng glanced sideways.
"Madam, it’s truly that old lady. Back then, she really gave us a bunch of chives!" Reminiscing the past in the present, Xiao Cui was very emotional.
"Mom, it’s that old lady; she gave us chives that we made into dumplings!" The little bun, finally waking up and out with his mother, shouted excitedly.
Gu Changsheng chuckled lowly at these words and tapped her little forehead, "You little sleepyhead, lower your voice a bit, lest everyone knows who we are!"
"Hehe..." The little bun beamed, his chubby little face full of joy.
"Xiao Cui, give some silver to that old woman, let’s go." Gu Changsheng turned to leave the spot.
Xiao Cui immediately walked over to the old woman at the stall, eventually returning with a bunch of chives.
Gu Changsheng saw the chives and smiled knowingly.
"Back at the palace, let’s have Xiao Leizi make dumplings for us!" Xiao Cui smiled contentedly. Of all people, she understood her lady’s past struggles the most, and returning gloriously to the Capital City indeed marked the completion of a full circle...
"Back then, when leaving the Capital City impoverished, the Li Mansion was so grand; I still remember those two majestic stone lions at the mansion’s gate!" Looking across at the street where the Li Mansion stood, Gu Changsheng murmured softly, full of emotion.
Xiao Cui was startled at these words and instantly remembered the scene of their lady drooling over the stone lions at the Li Mansion’s gate back then. She then waved boldly to the attending female officials, "Go, move the stone lions from the Li Mansion’s old residence to the entrance of our palace!"
Gu Changsheng twitched at the corners of her mouth upon hearing this.
"Wasn’t it you, madam, who said, ’Three decades on the east of the river, thirty years on the west’? Now, not even thirty years later, but the river clearly flows towards our home!" Xiao Cui replied confidently. The once-thriving Li Mansion was now deserted and dilapidated, but her lady had risen to the rank of the Southern Emperor, incomparable across the world.
"However, placing those stone lions in front of my palace gate might not conform to standards, right?" Gu Changsheng was embarrassed. The statues in front of her palace were of dragons, after all! Lions seemed a bit inferior.
"Then put them by the side door for the maids and women!" Xiao Cui waved her small hand briskly.
Gu Changsheng was speechless with Xiao Cui’s vengeful and domineering demeanor, a far cry from the timid girl she once was.
The past is indeed hard to revisit!
The group continued to wander aimlessly on the streets. The ripple effects caused by their presence in the Capital Region made gossip rampant, and Gu Changsheng listened to the rumors with relish.
Not far behind Gu Changsheng, Hongyan Jiaojiao and Dowager Empress Xiao, dressed as ordinary old women, followed at a near distance.
"Empress Xiao, do you think the Former Crown Princess is really pregnant?" Hongyan Jiaojiao was doubtful about this matter.
"I don’t know." Dowager Empress Xiao answered straightforwardly, her old eyes curiously taking in the unfamiliar sights of the Great Zhou Capital Region while encouragingly suggesting, "If you’re curious, Hongyan, you might as well go ask that Gu Girl. I reckon she might have indeed slandered a respectable woman’s reputation."
Hongyan Jiaojiao glared at these words. She was loyal to her Sovereign Your Royal Highness, couldn’t stand to hear any criticism, but upon reflection, it seemed plausible. Her master was indeed someone who never let herself suffer any loss!
Hard to say about this matter!
However, who was Hongyan Jiaojiao? Even though she was curious, she didn’t really go and ask, managing to restrain the curiosity that killed the cat.
She managed to hold back, given her age, but Xiao Cui couldn’t stop herself. The voices of common folk condemning the Former Crown Princess Consort Zheng for her unfaithfulness filled the air, and Xiao Cui finally moved a bit closer to her lady, asking in a low voice...