Chapter 695 The Same Traces, the Emperor’s Doubt!
“How is Prince Zhou?” The Empress looked at the head of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine with a gloomy face and asked.
“There’s nothing serious. His Highness will be fine after resting for a period!” The head of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine wiped the sweat off his head and answered cautiously.
In fact, in terms of broken bones, Prince Zhou was not seriously injured, because he didn’t break his thigh bone. However, no matter how minor his injury was, they had to take it seriously, because he was a prince anyway.
“There’s nothing serious? In this case, what can be considered serious?” The Empress, who was furious, slammed the teacup in her hand on the table and shouted harshly.
“Okay… okay, we will do all we could to treat His Highness!” The head of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine knelt down with fear and said hurriedly.
“How long will it take to cure him?” The Empress almost gnashed her teeth to ask.
“Uh, His Highness should stay in bed for a good rest for a few months before moving slowly. But His Highness should avoid intense exercise, in case he gets hurt again.”
The head of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine said with his head down and secretly wiped his cold sweat. It was indeed very difficult to do his job, because it seemed that these princes came to the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine from time to time.
Besides Chu Liuchen who had always been in poor health, the other princes came to the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine from time to time. Speaking of which, the head of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine felt aggrieved.
“It will take several months, and it seems that he will recover with lingering effects!” the Empress said furiously. It was a critical moment. If Chu Liuzhou really had to lie in bed for several months, it would be a piece of terrible news.
“But… but His Highness should have a good rest after breaking his bones. Otherwise, the crooked bones will have an influence on the rest of his life!”
The head of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine reminded her.
With her face darkening, the Empress clenched the handkerchief in her hand tightly. She understood that it couldn’t be rushed. However, Chu Liuzhou broke his leg at this time. Thinking of the person who was most likely to benefit from it, the Empress was so furious that her face turned livid.
The person was either Chu Liuyue or Chu Liucheng. The Empress decided that she would never spare the person who dared to hurt her son at the gate of the imperial palace.
“Empress, how is he?” As the door was pushed open, the Emperor strode in and looked towards the bed in the room coldly. Seeing Chu Liuzhou lying on the bed, he came over in a hurry and asked.
“Your Majesty, please uphold justice for Zhou’er!” Seeing the Emperor come in, the Empress stood up and walked up to Chu Liuzhou’s bed as well. However, instead of looking at Chu Liuzhou, she bent down to kneel down in front of the Emperor and said tearfully with a handkerchief in her hand.
Seeing that Chu Liuzhou, who was lying on the bed, was still in a coma with a splint on his leg, the Emperor also felt sad. It really broke his heart to see his son, who had always been his strongest son, lying here in a coma at the moment.
“Get up. What did the imperial physicians say?” The Emperor reached out to help the Empress up and asked gently.
The Empress stopped pretending and stood up at the proper time. She wiped the tears off her face with a handkerchief and said with red eyes, “Your Majesty, they said that Zhou’er broke his leg. How could he happen to break his leg at this time? Selecting his princess is of vital importance to him. If we select a Miss with whom Zhou’er is dissatisfied to be his princess, I wonder if she can manage Prince Zhou’s Mansion properly in the future. Your Majesty, I’m wondering who intended to hurt Zhou’er. Please uphold justice for me and Zhou’er…”
The Empress could not finish her words and tilted her head to wipe her tears.
The Emperor fell silent for a moment before he comforted her in a low voice, “Empress, rest a.s.sured. I will definitely find out it’s an accident or a trap!”
Just now he came late because he went to look into the cause of the accident before coming. Until now, it seemed to be an accident caused by Chu Liuzhou’s carelessness. Chu Liuchen got involved in it. However, Chu Liuchen acted as usual.
Moreover, when the accident happened, he was far away from Chu Liuzhou. It was Chu Liuzhou who turned back and talked to Chu Liuchen after getting on the carriage. Chu Liuchen did not induce Chu Liuzhou to continue the conversation. So it seemed to be an accident anyway.
However, as a member of the royal family, he considered such an accident the most unconvincing.
The Emperor actually didn’t believe it. In particular, why did the horse of Prince Zhou’s Mansion suddenly go crazy? The coachman should be questioned. However, the coachman broke his neck unluckily when he fell off the carriage. No one noticed it before. It was too late to save the coachman after carrying Chu Liuzhou to the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine.
The coachman was dead, so no one knew what made the horse suddenly go mad, which aroused the Emperor’s suspicion.
The same points reminded the Emperor of what had happened before. A thought came into his mind, and he figured out a suspect. However, he could not come to a final conclusion at the moment, so he could not say anything in front of the Empress.
“Thanks, Your Majesty. I thank you on behalf of Zhou’er!” The Empress, who knew that she should stop at the proper time, had wiped her tears off her face and said. Although she still looked sad, she had no objection to the Emperor’s decision, which comforted the Emperor a lot.
Although he was not completely pleased with the Empress, at least she wouldn’t hara.s.s him with unreasonable demands. This was the reason why the Empress could hold her position firmly for so many years.
“Where is Prince Chen? I heard that he was also there at that time. Did anything happen to him?” After comforting the Empress, the Emperor looked around and asked.
The Empress clenched her fists so hard that she almost pressed her long fingernails into her palms. The sharp pain made her face turn pale, but it also made her relax slowly.
“The Empress Dowager is taking care of Prince Chen over there. I heard that he kept coughing after being exposed to the wind, but he has stopped now. I don’t know how he is going at the moment! I concentrated on Zhou’er just now, so I didn’t check on Prince Chen’s condition. I don’t know how he is now. When Zhou’er fell off the carriage, Prince Chen was also there and must have been scared!”
The Empress said with a gentle expression. Although her eyes were still red, she said with obvious concern.
The Emperor fell silent for a moment, and said with a gentler look, “It’s rare that you can think of Prince Chen when Zhou’er is in such a miserable situation. You stay here to take care of Prince Zhou, and I’ll go to check on Prince Chen. Coincidentally, I intend to ask him about what happened at the gate of the imperial palace just now. I heard that it was he who sent Zhou’er to the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine.”
“In this case, I really should thank Prince Chen. This child is so filial that he came to the imperial palace on such a cold day and almost got sick after chatting with Zhou’er for a long while at the gate of the imperial palace!” the Empress said.
She had asked Prince Zhou’s servants just now and learned that Prince Zhou had an accident when talking with Chu Liuchen. She wished she could slice Chu Liuchen into little bits, but she still showed a gentle and tolerant look, as if she really cared about Chu Liuchen. However, she pointed out something fishy about Chu Liuchen while showing her concern for him.
Why did Chu Liuchen appear at the gate of the imperial palace at this moment?
If Chu Liuchen did not appear at the gate of the imperial palace, would Zhou’er be fine? In this case, there was something fishy about Chu Liuchen. Although this invalid was incompetent, it did not mean that it was impossible for Chu Liuchen to hurt Zhou’er.
Of course, the Emperor understood what she meant. He looked at the Empress with an unclear look and said slowly, “Well, I got it. I will find out the truth. Would you like to stay here with Zhou’er or go back?”
“I will stay here with Zhou’er. Anyway I can’t fall asleep even if I go back at this time.” The Empress shook her head and said. Her tears fell again, and she hurriedly lowered her head and wiped them off her face with a handkerchief.
“Well, instruct someone to prepare a room here for you. You can take care of Zhou’er here and go to sleep later. Otherwise, you will be out of spirits tomorrow. Zhou’er’s health is important, and so is yours!”
The Emperor said softly.
“Thanks, Your Majesty!” The Empress bowed sideways and said, watching the Emperor leave with a trace of hatred and anger across her eyes.
“Your Grace, please sit for a while. His Highness will be fine. His Majesty said that he would definitely find out the truth.” A palace maid comforted the Empress softly. Seeing that she stood by the bed and was reluctant to leave, the palace maid went to fetch a chair and helped the Empress to sit down.
“Find out the truth?” the Empress said with a sneer, because all the people in the room were her trusted servants, “There are only a few suspects. There’s no need to find out the truth. If His Majesty really means it, he should directly arrest the two people and interrogate them!”
“Your Grace, please choose your words cautiously!” The palace maid looked out of the window in a panic and said. Although the people in the room were all the Empress’s trusted servants, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were outside.
“I know!” The Empress gritted her teeth, suppressed the jealousy and hatred in her heart and said. She had gritted her teeth to endure it for so many years. What else was she unable to endure at this time?
In order to make her son inherit the throne in the future, she could endure anything.
She could endure the woman and the invalid…
The Empress Dowager stayed in front of Chu Liuchen’s bed. At this moment, Chu Liuchen had fallen into a deep sleep, but even so, his face was still pale.
Hearing the sounds from the door, the Empress Dowager looked back at the Emperor, who came in, and sighed softly.
Noticing the quiet atmosphere inside, the Emperor walked softly to the bed and had a look at Chu Liuchen, who was lying on the bed.
The Empress Dowager sighed again and said helplessly, “The imperial physicians said that Chen’er probably got sick again after being exposed to the wind at the palace gate for too long.”
“Why did Chen’er come to the imperial palace today?” The Emperor frowned and asked with deep eyes.
“In fact, he had planned to enter the imperial palace. I asked him to come over this afternoon, but he was not in the mansion at that time. The servants in his mansion said that they would tell him to come over when seeing him. Later, when I saw that it began to snow, I specially sent someone to tell him not to enter the imperial palace today! I didn’t expect that the person, who went to pa.s.s on the message, would miss him on the way!”
The Empress Dowager said with guilt. It was she who asked Chu Liuchen to enter the imperial palace in the afternoon. But Chu Liuchen was not in the mansion coincidently at that time. The servants in his mansion said that they would tell him to enter the imperial palace when they saw him. Later, seeing that the sky was getting darker and it began to snow, the Empress Dowager sent someone to tell him not to come over.
She had asked about it just now, only to find that the person missed Chu Liuchen on the way and Chu Liuchen didn’t know that he was not supposed to come over.
“Mother, rest a.s.sured. I will find out the truth!” The Emperor comforted the Empress Dowager in a low voice, in case she felt worried.
It seemed to have nothing to do with Chu Liuchen, so was it really done by the two people he suspected? The Emperor felt distressed and got angry. He was still the Emperor. Couldn’t they wait any longer?
A thought came to his mind, and he figured out another doubtful point.
Chu Liuchen got hurt that day at the gate of the imperial palace because of the Changxing Gra.s.s. This time the horse somehow went crazy again. Was it also because of the Changxing Gra.s.s? Besides, last time the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion almost got killed in a carriage crash on her way down the mountain, and it was also because of the Changxing Gra.s.s!
If it was true that all of these accidents had something to do with the Changxing Gra.s.s, Prince Zhou’s Mansion would be involved in two of these accidents. Why was Prince Zhou’s Mansion related to the Changxing Gra.s.s from the Xu State again and again?