Chapter 101

Soon after, Duke Wei Zhong and Feng Liwu were summoned to the Emperor’s study.

After hearing Emperor Duanqing’s intentions, Feng Liwu’s expression remained unchanged. Before coming, he had already guessed that his father intended to bring his second brother back into the royal family.

However, he remained silent. After all, with so many old ministers present, and his father determined to recognize his son, it wasn’t his place to object to the return of a member of the Feng family.

Duke Wei Zhong also found it difficult to speak up. While he could cause a scene in the grand hall, he knew, as did the heavens, the earth, the Emperor, and himself, that his daughter Wei Mingzhen had indeed committed a disgraceful act.

Now that the Emperor had proposed bringing the second prince, Feng Wu, back to the palace as a condition to end the Empress’s scandal, Duke Wei had no room to negotiate.

The other old ministers were also well aware of the underlying dynamics. However, instability in the royal family was detrimental to the court. Recognizing a prince who had been in seclusion for years was a small price to pay to appease the Emperor’s anger and ease the tension between the Emperor and Empress.

Thus, under the guidance of these muddling old ministers, the bizarre event was settled, and the ancestral worship ceremony was scheduled. The Emperor then publicly declared that the Empress’s pregnancy was indeed a royal bloodline, and the whole matter had been a misunderstanding.

Throughout the entire process, Feng Liwu kept his head bowed, appearing humble and allowing the old ministers to mediate.

However, once he entered his carriage after leaving the palace, he crushed a water cup in his hand.

After venting slightly, he quickly regained his composure.

The humiliation he felt now was nothing compared to the misery of eating scraps in the cold palace.

The old ministers’ willingness to support the return of the second prince was ostensibly to maintain harmony within the royal family, but in reality, it was about propping up another puppet to keep him, the slightly more independent prince, in check.

The implied message was clear: don’t think you, Feng Liwu, are firmly seated on the throne. The old ministers had once elevated a prince from the cold palace to the position of Crown Prince, and they could just as easily install a supposedly dead prince as the new Emperor.

Feng Liwu silently reminded himself that the time was not yet ripe. He needed to maintain an appearance of humility and deference. When the time came, he would uproot these rotten old families and ensure that imperial power was no longer a mere decoration manipulated by the powerful families.

Although the farce had come to an end, the illegitimate child in the Empress’s womb could not be allowed to remain.

The Emperor wouldn’t intervene. With the royal family’s methods, they could easily determine whether the child was of Feng blood. If the child were born, Emperor Duanqing would have another ready-made weapon to use against them.

However, the Wei family could not allow the Empress to give birth.

In the end, with Emperor Duanqing’s tacit approval, Duke Wei Zhong personally went to deliver the abortifacient to the Empress.

But the Empress adamantly refused to drink the medicine Duke Wei offered, insisting on giving birth to the child to preserve the legacy of her beloved Mao Lang.

Duke Wei had always doted on his children. His daughter had grown up in luxury, never experiencing hardship. Seeing her cry so bitterly, kneeling on the ground and begging him to spare the child in her womb, saying, “This is my flesh and blood! Father, are you made of stone?”

Duke Wei’s heart ached as he watched his daughter’s pitiful state. He couldn’t bring himself to force her and, overwhelmed by her tears, left the Empress’s chambers.

But as soon as he stepped out, he saw a tall figure standing in the courtyard.

It was none other than his grandson, Feng Liwu, gazing at the sky with an expressionless face.

Hearing footsteps, Feng Liwu turned his head and looked coldly at Duke Wei. Seeing the reluctance on his grandfather’s face, he knew the doting old man had softened.

However, he pretended not to notice and asked, “Has the Empress taken the medicine and recovered?”

Duke Wei hesitated, then said, “Your Highness, the Empress has just been humiliated in court and is deeply distressed. Forcing her to abort the child now might be too much for her to bear. She is, after all, your mother. Could we perhaps delay this for a while?”

Feng Liwu remained silent for a moment, his cold gaze fixed on his grandfather.

He said icily, “Fortune and misfortune have no doors; they are summoned by people’s actions. When she was enjoying herself in the palace, did she ever think about what would happen to the Wei family or to me, her son, if this were exposed? As long as the child remains in her womb, this threat persists. The Emperor can always reverse his decision and use this to strike at the Wei family and me. Right now, it’s a small problem, and a little suffering will resolve it. But if we show weakness now and let it grow into a bigger problem, who knows how many lives will be lost to fix it…”

Duke Wei’s face turned pale as he understood the Crown Prince’s implication.

He immediately thought of his illegitimate son, Wei Xun.

A few days ago, Wei Xun had finally been released by Feng Wu and returned to Luo’an, only to be locked up by an enraged Duke Wei.

However, the next day, his so-called friends kept coming to the residence, inviting him out to play. When he refused, they mocked him for being cowardly. Unable to resist the taunts, Wei Xun went out drinking with them and didn’t return for a day and a night. When the Wei family found him, he had been floating in the moat for an hour. The magistrate of Luo’an investigated and informed Duke Wei that his son had died from falling into the river while drunk.

Duke Wei knew that while he had intended to protect his son, his grandson was not one to tolerate such behavior.

Although he knew his son’s death was suspicious, he couldn’t investigate further. He also understood that his leniency had displeased the Crown Prince.

Wei Xun’s death was a warning. If the head of the Wei family refused to clean house, his grandson would do it for him.

Duke Wei understood the Crown Prince’s resolve and knew that showing weakness now would only bring greater disaster to his daughter. He bowed and said hoarsely, “Your Highness, rest assured. I will go… ‘persuade’ the Empress.”

With that, Duke Wei clenched his teeth, his white beard trembling slightly, and re-entered the Empress’s chambers.

Feng Liwu didn’t leave. He continued to gaze at the sky above the palace’s sloping rooftops.

Before long, he heard the Empress’s voice, shrill and filled with curses, echoing from her chambers. It was a sound he had often heard during his time in the cold palace, but now it carried an added edge of bitterness and venom…

After a while, a female official hurried out and whispered, “Your Highness, the medicine has been administered. It’s taking effect now, and soon there will be bleeding…”

Feng Liwu waved his hand, dismissing the female official he had planted, and then strode out of the palace.

As he approached the palace gates, he saw eunuchs carrying boxes and filing in…

These were the ceremonial robes and utensils prepared for the second prince, Feng Wu, for his ancestral worship ceremony. The Emperor had taken great care in their preparation, even ensuring that the gems on the ceremonial crown were larger than those on the Crown Prince’s coronation crown.

Feng Liwu quickened his pace, leaving the noise at the palace gates behind him.

The ancestral worship ceremony for the second prince proceeded smoothly.

The return of this long-secluded prince, who had supposedly died years ago, became the talk of the noblewomen in the capital.

After all, the second prince was deeply favored by Emperor Duanqing. He was allowed to reside in the palace, quickly appointed to a position in the Ministry of Personnel, and rumors spread that he would soon marry a noblewoman to solidify his standing.

Jiang Xiurun heard all this during tea gatherings with the other concubines in the residence.

Due to Feng Liwu’s ban on her attending the academy, she hadn’t left the residence in a long time.

However, Jiang Xiurun didn’t protest. After all, Feng Wu knew her true identity, and if she were to appear in public as Jiang Xiurun now, she feared he might cause trouble for her.

But the daily life in the residence, with the women sitting around drinking tea, was utterly boring.

Jiang Xiurun pessimistically felt that she would be confined to the residence for a long time and needed to repair her strained relationships with the other concubines.

Thus, she forced herself to sit in the pavilion and listen to their veiled remarks and subtle exchanges.

Cao Xi, feeling that she had preemptively warned the Crown Prince and averted a crisis, was in high spirits.

She looked down on the other concubines, thinking them shallow and only interested in discussing cosmetics, unworthy of sharing the Crown Prince’s burdens.

After this incident, she believed the Crown Prince would view her in a new light.

The thought of sharing a secret with the Crown Prince made Cao Xi glow with pride.

However, Tian Ying couldn’t be bothered to decipher Cao Xi’s inexplicable enthusiasm. She had always been puzzled as to why concubine Yao had been hiding in her courtyard and refusing to show herself while the Crown Prince was away.

When she subtly asked concubine Yao about it, Cao Xi sneered, “When the Crown Prince was away, you were too ill to see anyone. Now that he’s back, your illness has miraculously healed. Tell me, Yao Ji, what kind of illness is this?”

Cao Xi’s maid chimed in with a quiet laugh, “Could it be the strange illness of missing a man?”

Jiang Xiurun sighed deeply, realizing that she truly wasn’t cut out for the petty rivalries and competition for a man’s attention among these women.

Forcing herself to sit through half a day of this felt like torture. Arguing with these women, big and small, was far less appealing than seeking a way out through the Crown Prince.

She decided then and there to stop pretending. Let them think what they wanted! With that, she picked up a teacup and hurled it at Cao Xi’s maid.

The tea was still hot, and the maid screamed in pain as the scalding liquid hit her. Even Cao Xi, who was sitting nearby, was splashed and stood up, demanding, “What’s wrong with you? How dare you throw tea at someone?”

Jiang Xiurun put on concubine Yao’s usual haughty expression and said, “Sisters, you asked what illness I have? It’s a condition of irritability and anxiety. Normally, I’m fine, but when someone disrespects me or speaks out of turn in my presence, I can’t help but want to slap them.”

With that, she glared fiercely at the scalded maid, as if she were about to slap her.

Chaos erupted as everyone tried to mediate between the two.

Seeing that she had successfully disrupted the tea gathering, Jiang Xiurun lifted her chin and strutted back to her courtyard.

Cao Xi, furious, stormed off with her scalded maid to complain to the Crown Prince.

No matter how favored she was, there had to be some semblance of propriety.

But concubine Yao had none of the grace expected of a royal concubine. Even a village woman had more sense than her.

Coincidentally, a palace maid arrived with a message from the Empress, saying that the Empress was unwell and required the Crown Prince’s concubines to attend to her in the palace.

When Cao Xi tearfully complained about concubine Yao’s unreasonable behavior, the Crown Prince calmly said to the palace maid, “As you can see, concubine Yao seems to be suffering from a nervous condition and has been behaving inappropriately. Until she recovers, she might disturb the Empress. Since we need someone to attend to her, let concubine Cao and concubine Tian fulfill their filial duties.”

Cao Xi was stunned.

She had a feeling that her aunt’s recovery from this “illness” was not going to be easy.