Chapter 96: Troubles for the World
After the eldest princess fainted, the room was in chaos. Yunniang sent someone to invite the second prince in a hurry. Yu Rou knelt there in a daze, feeling uneasy all the way. She didn't get the punishment, but she made her master vomit blood in anger.
The second prince came very quickly, accompanied by the imperial physician. As soon as he entered the room, he asked, "I heard that the royal aunt vomited blood. What happened?"
Yunniang seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, and she went up to him with tears in her eyes: "Second Prince, the master suddenly vomited blood and fainted." Fortunately, she had not lost her mind, and did not dare to tell the imperial physician the news that Huan Yanbo was beaten to death in Changzi City.
The imperial physician examined the princess and gave her first aid with a silver needle. The princess slowly woke up and held onto Yuan Lang's hand tightly.
"Does the Royal Aunt have anything to say to my nephew?"
The eldest princess nodded.
The imperial physician and the people who served her all retreated, except for Yu Rou, who was kneeling on the ground stupidly, and Yun Niang, who was taking care of her.
The eldest princess burst into tears and choked up, "Yan'er... Yan'er is dead."
The second prince was surprised and said, "How could cousin Huan be dead when he was fine? The yamen runners who escorted him were also arranged, and they should have taken good care of cousin Huan along the way. Auntie, please don't cry too quickly, could it be that the news is wrong? I was worried that my cousin would suffer on the way, so I specifically told the yamen runners to send a message back at every post station. Yesterday, I received news that cousin Huan is doing well."
The Grand Princess choked. At this point there was nothing to hide.
Yunniang guessed her master's intention and knelt down at the feet of the Second Prince. She explained how she had concealed the truth and bribed the yamen runners to replace someone else halfway. The real Huan Yanbo stayed in Changzi, but was unexpectedly beaten to death in a gambling house.
Yuan Lang frowned for a while, and sighed for a while. After listening to this, he said, "What should I do?" He was in a dilemma: "If cousin Huan had not been exiled, who would dare to attack him? Even if someone really attacked him, I could get justice for my cousin. But now he died in a gambling house in Changzi during his exile. There is no need to investigate others. My cousin's identity cannot withstand investigation."
The eldest princess beat her chest and cried: "It's all my fault. I was afraid that he would suffer, so I did something to hide the truth. If it weren't for me, he would still be safe on the road to exile..."
She had been trying to be strong for most of her life , and in the end, she took it all out on her son.
The second prince also looked sad, as if he felt the same as the eldest princess: "I know that the royal aunt loves my cousin. But what should I do now?"
The eldest princess held Yuan Lang's hand tightly, as if he was her last resort: "I can't let Yan'er die in vain! Yuan Lang, you are the most filial aunt, can you send someone to Changzi to investigate for me and find out who killed my Yan'er..." She said this for a while, and couldn't help feeling sad again: "My poor Yan'er..."
The Emperor of Southern Qi will celebrate his birthday in a few days, and the Second Prince cannot leave the capital at will. However, he is very good at taking advantage of the situation. He held the eldest princess' hand and said sincerely, "Aunt, I don't feel comfortable if someone else goes. I'd better go there myself and find out everything about my cousin." He also showed some embarrassment, "It's just that it's my father's birthday, and I'll need you to cover it up for me. Otherwise, it will be bad if my father knows that I've found someone to replace my cousin Huan who was exiled."
To put it in a bigger way, it is deceiving the emperor and disregarding the laws of the country. If the imperial censors get wind of this, they will chew the Grand Princess till there is nothing left.
The eldest princess covered her face with her handkerchief and sobbed again. Her tears flowed down her cheeks and she looked so miserable. All the etiquette she had practiced in the palace all her life had been thrown to waste. The way she cried was no different from a mother in the common people who had lost her beloved son.
Yunniang held the Grand Princess's hand and cried with her: "My Lord, it's good for the Second Prince to investigate, but if we investigate in a big way, what if the news leaks out?"
The eldest princess's son had all died, and all her life's hopes had gone to waste. She was completely devastated: "Yan'er is already dead, what do I have to be afraid of?" She struggled to get up: "I'm going to pack up and go to the palace to ask His Majesty to make a decision for Yan'er!"
Yuan Lang hurriedly stopped her and said, "Aunt, you must not do this! Father cannot just send people to Changzi to investigate the death of cousin Huan. Otherwise, how will the censors and the important officials in the court think?"
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Tang Ying received a message from Baozi saying that Huan Yanbo was beaten to death in the casino in Changzi after the Grand Princess caused a commotion in the Golden Palace.
Fu Chen happened to be on duty in the palace that day. He happened to see the Grand Princess throwing a tantrum in front of the palace. He did not even care about his dignity as a princess and begged the Emperor of Southern Qi to avenge Huan Yanbo.
The Emperor of Southern Qi originally thought that Huan Yanbo had an accident during his exile, and he felt a little sympathy for the eldest princess. Later, when he heard that the accident happened in Changzi, he immediately became confused.
"I remember that the place where Huan Yanbo was exiled was not in the same direction as Changzi. May I ask the Grand Princess why he died in Changzi? Could it be that the yamen runners who were escorting the prisoner actually took him to Changzi to make trouble?"
The eldest princess was like a madman, she no longer had even one tenth of her former cleverness. The tragic death of her son completely destroyed her sanity.
She knelt before the emperor and kowtowed continuously, for which the Emperor of Southern Qi also listened to the story of stealing the dragon and switching the phoenix.
After hearing this, he slammed the desk in anger, pointed at the eldest princess and panted for a long time before cursing: "Stupid! It is said that loving mothers often spoil their children. You protected him in the past, and I did not punish him severely because he was young. But my sister treats the laws of the country as nothing and tramples on them as she pleases! Please go back, I am afraid I cannot send anyone to investigate, otherwise how will the important officials in the court look at me?"
The eldest princess was disheartened. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying. She wore no makeup and dressed very perfunctorily. She actually looked ten years older than usual. She stared at the Southern Qi emperor who was sitting high on the throne, and her voice seemed to come out from underground: "You really won't help me? You won't help your own nephew? He is your dear nephew. You loved him so much before, was it all fake?"
——Is he coming to the palace to make trouble?
The Emperor of Southern Qi just felt a headache.
"It's not that I don't want to help, but you are too reckless . I can't help you!"
Lord Fu was standing in a corner of the hall installing a pillar, and he felt in his heart that all the stupid things the Grand Princess had done in her life had ended up happening today.
After he arrived in Beijing, his housekeeper urged him to see a doctor who was good at orthopedics. The doctor said that he might have injured his ribs. Fortunately, they were not broken and there was no serious problem for the time being. He needed to stay in bed and rest. As a result, the next day he went to work at the Forbidden Cavalry Department despite the housekeeper's disapproving look.
Fu Chen was unable to put aside the matters at hand, and he did not want his injury to affect his work, so he took his shift with the injury. The subordinates in the department were very considerate, and when he was dealing with some chores, some of them even prepared hot tea for him. The only thing missing was to feed him water and food. However, once he entered the palace, he could only be a wooden stake, standing beside the Emperor of Southern Qi for a day.
After Tang Ying came back, she went straight into bed and slept soundly. Zhang Qing woke her up and gave her a lecture. She accepted it with a smile, but she didn't seem to have any signs of repentance. She even showed off to him: "I can fight twenty people alone. Isn't that awesome?"
Zhang Qing was lucky enough to have managed to resist hitting her hard on the head.
When Fu Chen came back from his shift, he told Tang Ying the anecdote about the eldest princess's stupid behavior in the Golden Palace, and only then did he rescue her temporarily from Zhang Qing's clutches, saving her from being forced by him to feed her bowl after bowl of medicine.
Tang Ying had many wounds of varying sizes on her body, and the scars had been itching for the past few days. Listening to Fu Chen talking about Huan Yanbo being beaten to death in the casino, she felt itchy and fidgety, and at the same time she was thinking about the Fourth Prince Yuan Jian: "When the funeral is held at the Grand Princess's mansion, the Fourth Prince should go to Huan Yanbo's coffin and burn a stick of incense to celebrate the end of all these years of oppression and suffering."
She blinked her eyes, revealing a bit of dullness: "But... can the funeral be held in the Grand Princess's mansion?"
Everyone knows that Huan Yanbo is still in exile.
This is also the question in the second prince's mind.
Huan Yanbo's body was still in Changzi City . The eldest princess forced herself to go to the emperor's court despite her illness, but was met with resentment. She leaned against the wall of the carriage on her way back, feeling resentful. "Yunniang, what do you say we should do?"
Yunniang: "..." She was the one with the least ideas. She always listened to the orders of the Grand Princess and occasionally listened to Xinniang's instructions.
When the carriage arrived at the Grand Princess's residence, Yuan Lang had been waiting at the gate for a full three quarters of an hour. He was so cold that his face turned pale. When he saw the princess' carriage, he immediately went to meet her and carefully helped her up: "Aunt, be careful."
The aunt and nephew entered the main hall, and Yuan Lang asked, "Aunt, how are cousin Huan's funeral going?"
The body had not been brought back yet, and this period of time happened to avoid the birthday celebration of the Emperor of Southern Qi.
The eldest princess leaned half of her body weight on Yuan Lang. She felt that her nephew was truly filial and considerate, and was willing to stand by her side at this moment. She felt sad and moved, and wished that this was her own son.
"He is still in exile, and we can't have a grand celebration..." The eldest princess felt pain and distress at the thought of sending off a loved one. She managed to prevaricate with other ideas, but accidentally brought up her son again, and there was no way to avoid it.
The Second Prince: "When my cousin's body is brought back, my father's birthday will be almost over. Even if my father is unhappy, I will definitely get this done for my aunt."
The eldest princess said: "Good boy, the royal aunt finally did not make a mistake."
According to her thoughts, sending her son off in the end must be a grand ceremony, but the idea of switching the dragon with the phoenix might not be concealed. If the people from the Censorate were called in, they would be a bunch of mad dogs that would bite people without knowing how to count, and it would be bad to disturb her son's peace.
She patted Yuan Lang's hand gently, tears flowing like a stream: "Good boy, it's hard for you. Don't worry, your aunt will never treat you unfairly!" Now her capable men have been killed one after another, Xin Niang has been taken to the inner prison for interrogation, and Wang Xian has been missing for many days. It seems that he is in great danger.
Yuan Lang had been craning his neck to wait for her to say this, and immediately said, "We are blood relatives, so what can you say about treating me unfairly? I just think that you have worked hard for my father over the years, and I should be more filial to you. If you need anything, I will get it for you even if I have to run my legs off."
The Grand Princess's mansion was secretly preparing the things needed for the funeral. While Tang Ying was recuperating from her injuries, she was also secretly preparing to attend the funeral. By the way, she would bring the Fourth Prince with her to light three candles and incense for Huan Yanbo in front of the coffin, so that he would not do evil and bring harm to the world in his next life.