Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 792: Can't Sleep Tonight
The damn son sneezed.
That's right, although he successfully climbed over the wall and entered Yonghe Palace and met Concubine Yu, the emperor was not able to stay overnight in Yonghe Palace. It was not because the pregnant woman was not as gentle as before, nor because Concubine Yu was hypocritical and did not let him stay overnight, but because... Concubine Yu, who pointed out that there was no need for them to argue, also blamed the emperor for another thing.
"The emperor said such outrageous words and left the prince in Qingning Palace. He even wandered around the palace and even stayed in the palace of the imperial concubine. So for the queen mother, isn't it that decades of raising a son wasted? If I had gone through ten months of pregnancy and worked hard to give birth to a son like this, then I would only hate myself for not strangling him to death when I gave birth to him!"
Scolded! The emperor touched his nose and thought of the past. When the couple was loving and harmonious at first, the queen's face showed her joy, sadness and anger, so she was particularly lively and attractive. But when she became irritable and suspicious, she often said something sarcastic and didn't say it in a nice way, but had to ridicule in a roundabout way, so he became more and more distant from her.
The other concubines were either cautious or fearful in front of him, but Concubine Yu...she dared to scold him! Compared to the harsh rebuke today, when people pointed at him and scolded him, it was much more intense than this time. At that time, people seemed to scold him...a lustful and cowardly tyrant?
It was at that time that he learned that the queen had beaten to death a palace maid who had answered him in the West Garden for no reason. God knows he had never had any lustful thoughts, and he didn't even remember what the palace maid looked like, but he ended up killing a person. Even though he was the emperor, many people fell to the ground because of his red pen, but that time was different.
That was something he could never tolerate! It was after that incident that he and the queen had a big fight and truly broke up.
Hua Qi, who was not far behind the emperor, put his hands in his sleeves, wrapped in a black cloak that covered him tightly, as if to hide him in the night. However, he hoped that the emperor would forget about him blending into the night, but he didn't expect that the emperor didn't forget at all, and instead asked without turning his head: "Do you think I should go to Qingning Palace to apologize to the Queen Mother?"
I can't live like this. You're asking me about such a life-threatening matter. I might as well stay in the Duke of Zhao's mansion and be an idler! Hua Qi exhaled angrily, but said indifferently, "Your Majesty, if you want to go, go. If you don't want to go, don't go."
This was the same as saying nothing. However, the emperor did not get angry after hearing this, because it was the truth. But he did not want to go... but he knew he should go. He heard the sound of night watchmen and bells in the distance, but these people seemed to have clairvoyance and super hearing, and tacitly avoided his route.
At least, he didn't see a single person on his way from the Qianqing Palace to the Yonghe Palace, and then from the Yonghe Palace to the Qingning Palace. If the guards in the palace were really so lax... then the grand palace would become an ordinary residential building where thieves could run rampant. So, he couldn't help but tilt his head slightly and asked, "How did you do it?"
Hua Qi had no problem understanding such a nonsensical statement. He didn't even blink, and said calmly: "I used the sound of footsteps to send a message to the imperial attendants, asking them to tell people to avoid the place where the emperor was going. As for what kind of footsteps, you can't tell the emperor."
The emperor was silent. Although the imperial attendant was the sharpest and last knife in the palace, as an emperor, he only cared about using him but not training him. It was really unnecessary to ask so many questions. However, after experiencing the strange death of the mother and her two children, he felt that as an emperor, there were too many things he didn't know. Not to mention the world, even the palace couldn't know everything.
Therefore, he suddenly stopped and turned around: "You go to Qingning Palace and ask Yuquan to tell the Queen Mother that I know I was wrong and I will go to Fengxian Palace to apologize to the late emperor!"
Seeing the emperor leave after saying this, Hua Qi wanted to chase him, but after just two steps, he remembered that this emperor was always decisive and could not change his mind even if seven cows were used to pull him back. So, he could only cough heavily helplessly, and when someone flashed out from the shadows not far away and hurried forward, he gave an unpleasant order.
"Escort the emperor to Fengxian Palace. No, not escort, follow him from a distance. Don't go up there and seek death!"
When Hua Qi, who had to leave the emperor behind, finally met Yuquan and relayed that message, he saw that the chief female official of Qingning Palace had a face as gloomy as the eve of a storm. He took a step back without thinking, then coughed dryly and said, "You can scold him if you want. Anyway, the emperor is not here, you can scold him as much as you want! He has already gone to Fengtian Hall to cry for the late emperor, what else can you do?"
"Bah, what's with crying for the late emperor? He is too ashamed to come to see the empress dowager!" Yuquan had a stern face, and was really furious. "When the empress dowager wanted to see the eldest lady, he stopped her and said such excessive words to her, leaving the prince alone and walking away. Now he wants to go to Fengxian Palace... What is he trying to do? To cry to the late emperor about the empress dowager's unreasonableness?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?"
Hua Qiyi spread his hands and never mentioned that it was Concubine Yu who scolded the emperor. After the emperor came out in a bad mood, he chose to go to Fengtian Hall. Even if the empress dowager was angry . But when she learned about this, she would definitely not think that Concubine Yu was reasonable, but might even think that the emperor valued beauty over filial piety.
So, after saying these six irresponsible words, Hua Qi ran away: "As for the eldest lady, I will send a letter right away. You tell the Queen Mother not to worry about her." In fact, with Zhang Shou around, there was no need to worry about Zhu Ying. But he was unwilling to stay in the palace tonight. It was too dangerous and would shorten his life!
Not to mention how Hua Qi escaped from the palace as quickly as possible, Yuquan looked at this guy expressionlessly as he climbed over the wall instead of taking the right path. He could not help but stare at the tall Qingning Gate and could not help but curse in his heart this guy who behaved exactly like the emperor, but in the end he turned around and left.
Although she was very reluctant to report the news to the Queen Mother, and even hoped that the grandparents and grandchildren who were chatting happily in the good atmosphere had already gone to bed, unfortunately, when she came to the door of the bedroom again, she could still hear the Queen Mother's rare peaceful and joyful voice, as well as the Third Prince's questioning, agreement and exclamation without any sleepiness.
Why didn't she realize before that this little Third Prince was actually a very sensible child? If she had known, she would definitely treat this little guy better...
Thinking about these irrelevant things, she finally took a step forward and coughed lightly. Noticing a slight pause in the conversation, she said, "Empress Dowager, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Emperor has gone to Fengxian Palace."
Beside the Queen Mother, the Third Prince, who had already crawled into bed without realizing it, was stunned for a moment, and then he got up in shock. Fengxian Hall was a place to worship ancestors, of course he knew it, and what his father was doing there, how could he be so slow to guess?
He subconsciously opened the quilt and rushed out without even bothering to put on his shoes, but the Queen Mother quickly grabbed him by the collar. He struggled for a few times, and the Queen Mother behind him smiled and said, "Why, are you worried about your father? How old is he? Why does a little guy like you need to worry about him?"
"He used to be like this. He would often go to Fengxian Palace and sit there all night when he had nothing to do. I told the ministers that he was going there to reflect on himself to the late emperor, so I coaxed them away. But I know that he was not reflecting at all. He simply felt that he had been wronged, so he went to complain to the late emperor! No wonder, the late emperor loved him the most as the prince, and doted on him more than me."
The Third Prince was so shocked that he could not say anything more. So, his father, who was so strong and powerful, would also complain to others? And to the dead Emperor Ruizong? At that moment, he felt that the image of his father, who had always been as majestic and godly as a god, seemed to have collapsed a little bit...
If the emperor knew that his action of sitting in Fengxian Hall for a night had inadvertently produced some counter-effect, then... he would definitely continue to sit in Fengxian Hall. After all, it was really difficult for him to go to Qingning Palace to apologize to the empress dowager immediately. Instead, it was a problem of his son's image, which was nothing.
What he didn't expect was that Hua Qi would sneak out of the palace without caring about anything and visit Zhang Garden again in the middle of the night.
This time, the man walked through the main gate in a very open and aboveboard manner. So after the concierge informed him, Ah Liu, who didn't often keep watch at night, had to get out of his warm bed immediately. When he appeared in front of the man, his face wasn't exactly stern, but at least it was n't a good one: "What are you doing here?"
"Of course I'm here to tip off the young lady!"
Hua Qi was unable to sleep late at night and came to disturb others' sleep. He looked very confident and said, "You can go and tell them for me. I am almost dying of sleep. I will go back to sleep after you finish talking!"
Regardless of whether Ah Liu agreed or not, Hua Qi explained the whole story of the palace as quickly as possible. He didn't care whether Ah Liu understood or not. He yawned and waved his hand, saying, "Okay, I've got your message. My mission is done. I'll leave it to you. See you later!"
People came quickly and left even faster. Although Liu was angry and wanted to stop them, he hesitated again and again and finally did not take action rashly.
It was not because of what Zhang Shou said, that Hua Qi was still a little bit stronger than he was now, but because he knew how despicable and shameless this man was. If he turned around to stop him, and the man started yelling some nonsense, it would simply cause endless trouble for Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying... Of course, it might also cause him countless troubles.
So, although he was very reluctant to disturb Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, he still quietly came to the door of their room, but he did not knock on the door, nor did he prick up his ears to listen for any movement inside. Instead, he coughed intentionally first, thinking that if there was no movement, he would not disturb them.
However, his cough, which was clearly suppressed, was answered by Zhu Ying's exclamation: "Hey, is it Ah Liu outside the door? Is there any news from the palace? Wait a minute, I'll be out soon... Ah Shou, why are you stopping me!"
Realizing that Zhu Ying was still awake in the middle of the night, Ah Liu hesitated for a moment, and then he heard Zhang Shou's voice: "Ah Liu, if you have something to say, come in and say it. Yingying is a person who can't keep things to herself. If there is no more news, she will probably rush to the palace regardless of anything, even if I comfort her."
Hearing Zhu Ying's coquettish voice and Zhang Shou's soothing voice, Ah Liu finally pushed the door gently and found that it was not locked at all. Knowing that this was so that he could come in and report any news at any time, he finally stepped over the threshold and closed the door with his backhand, but only took a few steps forward and stopped far away from the screen in front of the bed.
Then, of course, he told him word for word what Hua Qi had just told him. Although he heard Zhu Ying's surprise several times during the conversation, it was obvious that Zhang Shou, who was standing beside him, had used some method to prevent her from interrupting him, so he simply finished speaking in one breath.
"I see. He must have worked really hard in the middle of the night." Zhang Shou sighed softly from behind the screen, and then laughed, "Although the emperor did not go to Qingning Palace, he went to Fengxian Palace, which showed his attitude. Besides, with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in Qingning Palace, you don't have to worry, Yingying."
Hearing Zhu Ying's soft "hmm" from behind the screen, Ah Liu knew that his mission had been completed. Of course, he would not stay any longer. He coughed again and said, "The madman left after saying that. I'll take my leave too."
"Go to bed early. You are such a busy person and you still have a lot of things to do tomorrow."
Zhang Shou smiled and gave the order. Hearing Ah Liu's deliberately heavy footsteps gradually fade away, and even the sound of the door bolt being lowered as the door closed, he knew that the wise young man had deliberately used a trick. It was not until this moment that he let go of his wife in his arms, and as expected, he was scolded.
"A Shou, do you want to suffocate me? I don't plan to say anything, I just want to ask if Uncle Hua is still here..."
"If he is here, why not call him in and ask him clearly? He knew your temper, so he asked Ah Liu to pass the message and hid away. He probably sneaked out of the palace to avoid trouble, not just to give you the news." Although Zhang Shou did not know Hua Qi as well as Zhu Ying, as a bystander he saw today's incident more clearly.
“Whether or not the investigation into the eldest prince’s death will continue, the matter will probably end here on the surface. Even if it is Grand Secretary Kong, after he finds out, he would probably hope that the eldest prince committed suicide by taking poison rather than being poisoned. Otherwise, it would not be an oversight on his part but a crime.” Having said this, Zhang Shou rubbed Zhu Ying’s frowned brows with a smile.
"He will do his best to ensure that the eldest prince's death is concluded as soon as possible. Of course, I am more curious about another thing."
