Chapter 1095 Be a Substitute and Behave Properly

In the large hall, wisps of light fragrance wafted out of the incense burner decorated with a phoenix head, which was refreshing and relaxing.

The Empress, however, tensed up and felt cold as if her heart had fallen into a freezing cave. The center of her back was sweat-stained. Her hands placed on both sides of her skirt were also wet with sweat.

“Your Majesty…” The Empress wailed, her eyes bloodshot. Then she choked out, “Your Majesty, it has been many years since I married you. I know what I can’t do and have never overstepped. I didn’t intervene, and your people handled this matter later. Why do you suspect me now? What happened that year, that year…”

The Empress looked very painful. Slowly, she pressed her bosom and continued, “If, if I had wanted to deal with Prince Chen, why would I have made efforts to harm Princess Chen instead…”

Speaking of this, the Empress smiled wanly. “There are other things, aren’t there? That was what you told me personally and what only I know about!”

Her voice sank. She spoke in a low mumble as if to herself. However, the Emperor heard it clearly, and his gloomy face changed slightly.

“Your Majesty, you were just a prince when I married you. When the deceased emperor was on the throne, I was drawn into the fight in the imperial harem and almost lost my life. Back then, you proved my innocence. After that, I followed you wholeheartedly. Even though…even though you didn’t care much about me in your heart, I still performed my duty with devotion. But you accused me of plotting behind the scene. I can’t be responsible for what I haven’t done.”

“I was not on the spot when the thing happened in the Palace. Only those present could know about it, right? Your Majesty, you didn’t go to ask about these witnesses but came to blame me. I feel so wronged. If you think those who weren’t present could do it, then Consort of Virtue, Consort Ming, and Prince Cheng are also suspects!”

When the deceased emperor died, only the Emperor entered the Palace. After he ascended to the throne, his principal wife and consorts also went into the Palace with him. In such a mess, anyone could do it.

In merely a few days, the old dynasty was replaced with a new one, and it was not the deceased emperor’s son who succeeded the throne. Officials held different opinions about it. Many affairs of the imperial court hadn’t been settled yet, let alone things of the imperial harem.

At that time, the imperial harem was in a mess. It was not difficult for someone to get a few palace maids who had seen what happened. Besides the Empress, those imperial consorts entering the imperial harem could also do it. Since everything was in turmoil, no one knew who did it.

The Emperor fell silent. Of course, he understood what the Empress said. When he thought about the whole thing carefully, he thought her words made sense.

He had just thought that it was most likely to be the Empress. But on second thought, he found that many others could also do it. Some consorts went to the Palace with the Empress. Many others, like Consort of Virtue and Consort Ming, moved to the Palace with him from his previous mansion. As for Prince Cheng, he especially came to the Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager, who had just lost her eldest son. It was also possible for him to do that.

“Your Majesty, if it weren’t for the chaos at that time, how could we not find that Commandery Prince Qing’s mother was pregnant? How could we let her move into the Yuhui Nunnery with a prince in her belly?”

Looking at the Emperor’s face, the Empress knew that her words worked and appeared more and more pitiful.

After the former emperor passed away, only his consorts without any children would be sent to live in the Yuhui Nunnery. Those who had given birth to a child would be left behind. When they were taken to the Yuhui Nunnery, the imperial physicians would check their pulse first. They would go to the Yuhui Nunnery if everything was okay.

However, the previous emperor suddenly died, and the entire Palace became a mess. As a result, the pregnant consort held back the information that she had been pregnant and entered the Yuhui Nunnery with a baby in her belly.

Two lines of tears fell from the Empress’s eyes, but she did not reach out to wipe them away. She allowed the tears to slide down her cheeks slowly. “Your Majesty, if you don’t believe me, you should deprive me of my position. I am willing to take all the blame. But you won’t suspect Prince Zhou, will you? He was just a newborn baby back then!”

Her words sounded pathetic to the extreme, and large teardrops rolled down her cheeks. After saying this, she sobbed too bitterly to speak.

When the Emperor heard her pitiful words, his expression softened a little, but he was still angry. “You were the Empress and had been in charge of the imperial harem. After so many things had happened, you couldn’t be absolutely ignorant of them all, could you?”

“Your Majesty, I…I also wanted to learn about many more things and manage the imperial harem well. Then, you could focus on the affairs of the imperial court, but…but how could I have a hand in everything? That day, something happened in the Empress Dowager’s place. Before I invited Princess Chen to ask her about this matter, I had to find another reason in case others would misunderstand her.”

The Empress explained with grievances. Without reservation, she mentioned why she had asked Shao Wanru to meet her in the Palace that day and didn’t use any other excuses to cover her real purpose up. Those excuses might fool others but not the Emperor. Given the Emperor’s character, it was best for her to be honest about it.

“Your Majesty, there were so many things in the imperial harem. You didn’t allow me to get involved in many of them, so I ignored these matters, whether they were about the Empress Dowager or Consort Lan…I listened to and attended to your every order. But sometimes, I had to inquire about something to maintain the peace of the imperial harem. Wasn’t it part of my duty? Your Majesty, what exactly should I do to earn your trust?”

Speaking of this, the Empress was all tears.

The Emperor fell silent and looked at the Empress deeply, trying to perceive something from her face. Although she felt wronged, she forced herself to hold back her grievance feeling. For a moment, he heaved a deep sigh in his heart. “Do you really have no idea about it?”

“Your Majesty, if you don’t believe me, you can call Princess Chen over and ask her if she revealed anything to me that day. What I have done is to maintain the peace of the imperial harem. I don’t know anything else. As for the previous thing you blamed me for, I was busy taking in the people of the imperial harem and cleaning up those belonging to the former dynasty. At that time, I had just entered the Palace. How could I get so many people to do the investigation?”

“Then, who do you think is the most likely one?” The Emperor’s manner relaxed.

“Your Majesty, I don’t know. I have been in the imperial harem and only paid attention to the trifles there. You have always been in charge of those significant matters related to our fate. If you don’t know about it, how could I know?” the Empress said, wiping her tears.

The Emperor lapsed into silence as the Empress sobbed out her grievances with strategies. First of all, she said she felt wronged. Then, she strategically mentioned the matter related to Consort Lan, hinting that she had endured a great grievance. Then, how could she not accept other things? All of this proved she was kindhearted and generous and would not harm others.

Consort Lan lived alone in the imperial harem. Though she was said to be “locked up,” it was just a way to protect her. In this way, she didn’t need to greet others day and night, including the Empress Dowager and the Empress. Measures were taken mainly to protect her. The Emperor granted her many privileges merely because she was the deceased empress’s younger sister.

Every time the Empress thought of this, she felt her heart was in great pain as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at it. How wouldn’t she wish Consort Lan could die as soon as possible.

However, she did not dare to do anything to Consort Lan. After staying with the Emperor for so many years, she had long ago learned that Consort Lan was the woman that the Emperor loved sincerely. But because she was the deceased empress’s younger sister, Consort Lan couldn’t get a high position and might be hated by other jealous women in the imperial harem, so she was “grounded.”

The Empress knew Consort Lan sneaked out sometimes, but she pretended not to know it. She even knew that Consort Lan had always wanted to get in touch with Chu Liuchen but was rejected by him.

She thought that she was generous enough to deal with the matters of Consort Lan, who was safe and sound at the moment. Not only did the Emperor protect her, but she also indulged her. At this point, the Emperor must be grateful to her.

This was also an important reason why she tolerated Consort Lan for so many years and kept things about her strictly confidential.

Although she and Consort Lan also had secret conflicts, at least on the surface, she was a fair and kind Empress. With this, the Emperor would doubt her less.

“Get up. Have a good rest these days. I have something else to do!” The Emperor stood up and said with an ambiguous attitude. He did not blame the Empress, which meant that he sort of believed what the Empress said.

“Yes, I understood!” The Empress nodded and said softly with tears in her eyes.

The Emperor strode away. The Empress stood up with her hand on the chair. Her eyes turned cold, and her back was soaked in a cold sweat.

At that moment, she clearly sensed the Emperor’s intention. If she gave a wrong answer just now, she might lose her high position as the Empress.

How could he care so much about the insignificant Princess Chen? Long ago, she knew that the Emperor treated the former empress differently. But why did he even have to protect her son?

The son of that unchaste woman was sick and would die at any time. Did he want to pass the throne to this bastard?

How could she accept it? She was the Empress and the master of the imperial harem.

The former empress had died long ago, and even her bones were rotten. How could she compete with her? Consort Lan, even if she was the younger sister of the former empress, so what? Consort Lan was just a substitute for her sister.

As a shadow, she had her duties and limitations. Did she want to rely on Prince Chen to make her the Empress Dowager?

“Your Highness, Prince Zhou secretly sent someone in!” A Nanny came in and reported carefully.

“Tell him not to act rashly. Do what we should do, and make no more careless moves.” The Empress ordered.

“Prince Zhou was worried about your health, so he specially sent a miracle-working doctor here,” added the Nanny.

“Who? A miracle-working doctor? Stop messing around! Aren’t there any imperial physicians in the Palace?” The Empress was stunned for a moment and reproached.

“But this person…has already come in!” The Nanny’s face twitched. It was not that she didn’t want to stop the doctor but that Prince Zhou had sent him together with the message.

“Nonsense. Who needs a miracle-working doctor at this time? Send this person out of the Palace,” the Empress growled in a towering rage.

“Yes, I’ll arrange it right away.” The Nanny nodded and was about to withdraw, but the Empress stopped her. “Let him wait in the side hall with the imperial physicians!”

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