Chapter 1110 - Chapter 1110 The Imperial Court Was Also Affected and Slid into Chaos
Chapter 1110 The Imperial Court Was Also Affected and Slid into Chaos
At dusk, the servants found that the Empress Dowager fell ill.
In a great fl.u.s.ter, Nanny Wei hurriedly went to get the imperial physician and reported it to the Phoenix Palace.
However, the general steward of the Phoenix Palace said that the Empress had gone to the Emperor’s Imperial Study. After sizing up the situation, Nanny Wei could only go to the Imperial Study.
As soon as she arrived at the door of the Imperial Study, she heard the Emperor’s angry rebuke. Several eunuchs stood at the door with bowed heads, trembling with fear. When they saw her coming, they immediately winked at her.
Nanny Wei didn’t dare to go in, so she stood aside with the eunuchs.
The Emperor scolded loudly. It was evident that he was in a towering rage.
“You should be a motherly model for the whole nation! You are the Empress in charge of the imperial harem! What’s the point of making you the Empress? Great… Well done…”
“Do you think that… you alone can decide everything in the imperial harem… the imperial kitchen… intervened… Prince Chen…”
Nanny Wei couldn’t hear the Emperor’s voice clearly. From time to time, s.n.a.t.c.hes of their conversation would come over. However, Nanny Wei kept stepping back cautiously, her face dreadfully pale. She had no guts to listen to such words, so she had to stay away as far as possible.
The voices inside dropped. Perhaps, it was because she had retreated far enough. Now, she could only vaguely hear the Emperor’s furious reproach, followed by the Empress’s low sobs. Nanny Wei took a few more steps back and almost retreated to a corner this time.
After a long time, Nanny Wei’s feet almost went numb. Then she saw the Empress leave with the support of several imperial servants. The Empress was crying and kept wiping her tears, staggering forward. Without the servants’ help, she couldn’t stand steadily. The Empress had been managing the imperial harem and was respected and esteemed by people all over the country. But at this time, she left the Imperial Study, weeping and wailing like an ordinary woman.
Nanny Wei, even more scared, didn’t dare to move forward and discreetly hid on one side. She was so afraid that someone would see her. In her heart, she regretted coming over at this time. She should have arrived here later.
After waiting for a while, she saw Derong, the Emperor’s servant, go to the imperial harem with the imperial edict in his hands. A few little eunuchs went after him. “Is he going to announce the imperial edict?”
Nanny Wei felt increasingly uneasy. After waiting for a while, she walked up to the door of the Imperial Study with fear and trepidation and said to several young eunuchs standing there, “Could you help me inform His Majesty that the Empress Dowager is sick?”
Hearing that the Empress Dowager was ill, the young eunuch did not dare to delay and hurried in to report. After a while, she was called in.
It was not the first time Nanny Wei had come to the Imperial Study. Its atmosphere was peaceful in the past, and the Emperor was kind to her. In fact, the Emperor treated her very well because she was the Empress Dowager’s trusted servant. But now, she was overwhelmed with anxiety.
Hearing that the Empress Dowager was in poor health, the Emperor asked Nanny Wei to take good care of her and return first, saying he would come over later.
Nanny Wei walked back to the Palace of Benevolent Peace. Before long, the Emperor came. According to the imperial physician, the Empress Dowager was old and had been bothered by worries in her heart. When she couldn’t stand the pressure, she fell ill. In the end, he said that the Empress Dowager should rest well.
The Emperor and the Empress Dowager ordered all the others to leave. After talking with the Empress Dowager for a while, the Emperor left the Palace of Benevolent Peace. Nanny Wei didn’t hear their conversation, but she felt anxious and distracted, thinking that something big was going to happen.
The news that Prince Chen had returned soon got around. At the imperial court the next day, Chu Liuchen appeared in public, and everyone couldn’t help looking narrowly at Prince Chen.
Surprisingly, Prince Chen looked vigorous. Although his face was paler than that of ordinary people, he looked okay overall. Many officials whispered to themselves in their hearts. “But why did I hear Prince Chen was in poor health and could barely walk a few steps? “He had to rely on a wheelchair to move around the Palace.
“What’s going on right now?”
Some observant people thought it was quite a coincidence that Prince Chen appeared at this time. “Why would Prince Chen be here? What does the Emperor mean?”
Everyone guessed in their hearts and inexplicably had a bad feeling. But the next moment, the Emperor dropped the bombsh.e.l.l, and all the officials were no longer in the mood to think about Prince Chen.
The Emperor was going to depose the Empress. He announced this idea in the imperial court and asked the officials for their opinions!
Such a big thing happened without warning. Because of the incident that happened to Princess Chen, everyone was secretly guessing this thing. However, no matter how they thought in private, none of them had expected that this matter would suddenly be made public before the officials.
How could the Empress of a country be deposed so easily? This change would cause turmoil in the imperial court.
The Emperor declared that the murder targeting Princess Chen in the imperial harem was closely related to the Empress. All the people who had contact with Princess Chen were more or less related to the Empress. Yesterday, Princess Chen almost died in the Imperial Palace. Lucky for her, she didn’t eat the rice. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been alive at this time.
After listening to the Emperor’s order, many officials stood up and begged the Emperor to show mercy. They said it seemed to be the Empress, but it might not be her. There must be someone scheming against the Empress in the dark. They hinted that the Consort of Virtue might also do this, except for the Empress.
After all, only Prince Yue, Consort of Virtue’s son, was Prince Zhou’s most compet.i.tive rival.
Some stood on Prince Zhou’s side, claiming that Prince Zhou was the legitimate son of the Empress, who had always been steady and reliable. This time, they must have been framed and suffered an injustice. Maybe some people had deliberately planned all of this. Anyway, whoever benefited from it would be the real culprit.
Others chose to speak for Prince Yue. They praised Prince Yue, who was steady and fair-minded. Besides, the Consort of Virtue had been well-behaved in the imperial harem. Now that the Empress would be punished, the Consort of Virtue would feel uneasy. So, this decision needed further consideration.
Of course, there were officials remaining silent. They just stood aside quietly and listened to the arguments of the other officials with a frown.
Chu Liuzhou looked gloomy and cold, with a murderous aura all over his body. Upon hearing that his mother would lose her power, he was trying his best to restrain himself. Otherwise, he would have given a few stinging slaps to those officials who suggested more time should be taken to consider this matter. They meant that his mother should take the blame.
After this incident happened yesterday, Prince Zhou also heard about what had happened to Princess Chen. He wanted to sneak into the Palace to meet his mother. However, he hadn’t yet found any chance to see her. At this time, he was at a loss, feeling restless and irritable. He clenched his teeth, swallowing his anger.
In contrast, Chu Liuyue looked much more composed but turned a blind eye to their arguments. Quietly, he stood aside and listened as the officials were arguing heatedly.
Chu Liuchen was also very calm but didn’t lower his head. He looked at the officials talking about this matter with a stern look.
Part of them requested to deprive the Empress of her position, while some only suggested deferring making the final decision. The imperial court was in an uproar in the heat of the argument. There was even an overly excited imperial censor who even risked his life in pressing the Emperor to adopt his advice. On an impulse, he almost b.u.mped his head into the rosewood pillar carved with dragons in the hall.
The Emperor was so furious that he threw away all the memorials in his hand. Instantly, the hall fell silent, and even the sound of breathing could be heard.
“Let’s call it a day and discuss it tomorrow!” The Emperor said coldly and swerved to leave the court.
When the Emperor had left, everyone in the hall finally calmed down. They looked at each other and didn’t know how to respond to this situation for a while. Since the Emperor had proposed this matter, it would be discussed again in the imperial court in the future. How could things come to this?
How was Princess Chen?
Some people wanted to ask about Princess Chen, but Prince Chen cast a cold glance at them. Upon meeting his ruthless and beautiful eyes, they couldn’t help s.h.i.+vering with fear and zipped their mouths at once. Prince Chen seemed to be in a bad mood. If they annoyed him, they would suffer a lot.
Most of the high-ranking officials had witnessed in the Imperial Study how much the Emperor cared about Prince Chen, so they didn’t dare to walk up to him at this time. Since even these important officials hesitated to come forward, other ordinary officials gave up the idea of asking him for information.
They could only watch him walk away without a backward glance.
When they turned to look at Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, they were surprised to find that the two princes had also left.
The imperial court was in such a mess that everyone was arguing, but the imperial harem appeared calm. The Empress’s Phoenix Palace had few visitors as if it had been closed. All the imperial consorts were not allowed to disturb the Empress Dowager and the Empress, who were said to be sick.
Both of them were ill, so no one dared to make any trouble for a while. The atmosphere in the entire imperial harem was inexplicably tense. Everyone thought that the Empress was going to lose her power this time. After that, Prince Zhou would no longer be the Empress’s legitimate son and become one of the ordinary princes.
At that time, these princes would enjoy the same status, and Prince Yue was the eldest son. In any case, Prince Yue would be the most likely to inherit the throne.
Many imperial consorts, who couldn’t pay their respects to the Empress, turned to visit the Consort of Virtue. It would benefit them much to b.u.t.ter up and strengthen the relations.h.i.+p with Consort of Virtue at this time.
They had determined to win the favor of the Consort of Virtue before she became the Empress. Otherwise, once she became the Empress or the Empress Dowager in the future, they could hardly get any good chance to get close to her.
The palace where the Consort of Virtue lived was instantly crowded with visitors.
But at this time, Chu Liuchen secretly met Consort Lan in the attic where he usually rested. This place close to Prince Chen’s Mansion was not far from the back door of his mansion.
When Chu Liuchen came over, Consort Lan had been waiting for him upstairs for a long time. Seeing him coming over, Consort Lan looked at him excitedly, and tears immediately rolled down her delicate face. However, Chu Liuchen only stood far away, looking at Consort Lan coldly in silence.
Consort Lan looked him up and down, ensuring that he was in good health and didn’t force himself to be tough. She breathed a sigh of relief, pointed to the chair aside, and said, “You… sit down before we talk!”
Chu Liuchen glanced at her indifferently and walked over slowly. He pulled the chair further away before sitting down, his eyes cold. He looked at Consort Lan as if watching a stranger. There was no trace of warmth on his pretty face.
“You… Couldn’t you…” Consort Lan begged with a pleading look.
“No!” Chu Liuchen refused without any hesitation.
Consort Lan suddenly became agitated and said with tears in her eyes, “Chen’er, you… Are you still blaming me? Like before? But what could I do? I… I had no choice.”