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The Fifth Prince said angrily, "What a big talker. Somebody, slap her mouth for this prince!"
Two powerful eunuchs around the Fifth Prince stepped forward and reached for Gu Jiao, but before they could even touch Gu Jiao"s clothes, they were thrown down the gra.s.s.
The Fifth Prince jumped in anger, "How dare you commit an a.s.sault in the palace!" He raised his hands to seize Gu Jiao.
So noisy!
Her temper had always been short
There happened to be some water jars where water lilies were being raised nearby. Gu Jiao grabbed the Fifth Prince by the collar and threw him into the water jar!
"Ahk——"
The Fifth Prince screamed.
He fell sitting into the water jar, soaked to his skin. He grabbed the edge of the water jar with both hands and struggled out of it with a large water lily on top of his head.
The great noise shocked Empress Xiao who was pa.s.sing nearby.
Today was a sunny weather. Empress Xiao was supposed to accompany Qin Chuyu to play in the imperial garden, but Qin Chuyu soon ran away and disappeared.
At the moment, she was strolling in leisure when she heard the nearby commotion. When she got there, she saw the Fifth Prince sitting inside the water jar, cutting a sorry figure. He was trying to climb out of it but was unable to.
The Fifth Prince’s appearance was somewhat miserable, but it was also really funny.
The Fifth Prince, who was born charming, currently had a pink water lily on his head, a sight that really evoked laughter from people.
"Cough!" Empress Xiao cleared her throat, took a handkerchief to cover her mouth, and told the palace servants, "What are you all waiting for? Go and help the Fifth Prince!"
"Yes!" Eunuch Su personally took people there and fished the wet Fifth Prince out of the water jar.
It was summer, so being soaked in the water wouldn’t make one feel cold. It was just that, it made one unsightly.
The Fifth Prince’s expression was even uglier than before.
The palace servants dared not laugh at him and did their best to hold back their laughter.
Empress Xiao came up slowly, glanced around and asked, "What"s going on?"
"Greetings to imperial mother." The Fifth Prince saluted sullenly.
Gu Jinyu also bowed in salute and said, "Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress, may the Empress be blessed with prosperity and peace."
Empress Xiao"s eyes fell on Gu Jiao beside Gu Jinyu, "From which house is this one?"
Gu Jinyu responded quickly, "Responding to the Empress, she is this female subject’s older sister."
"Your sister?" Although Empress Xiao had never seen Gu Jiao, she had heard of her before. However, there were times that people"s brains short-circuited. For the time being, she failed to remember this older sister of Gu Jinyu.
Besides, Gu Jiao"s appearance was really unappealing.
Empress Xiao furrowed her brows and withdrew her gaze from Gu Jiao.
"What happened here?" Empress Xiao asked the Fifth Prince.
The Fifth Prince cast a glance at Gu Jiao, but he didn"t intend to complain. However, he could not hold back the talkative mouth of the eunuch under him.
One of the eunuchs got up from the ground and plopped down on his knees in front of Empress Xiao, saying, "Reporting to the Empress, this girl has the nerve to attack His Fifth Highness in the palace! If we didn"t arrive in time, his highness would have been murdered by her!"
Empress Xiao"s gaze grew cold.
How dare she a.s.sa.s.sinate an imperial prince within the palace grounds no less?
"Reporting to the Empress!" Gu Jinyu also knelt down and pleaded at the risk of death, "There was just a misunderstanding between His Fifth Highness and my sister. My sister didn"t want to kill His Fifth Highness! May the Empress be clear with this matter!"
"Oh, the imperial garden is so lively today."
At the entrance of the imperial garden suddenly came the beaming voice of Imperial Consort Zhuang.
She was accompanied by Imperial Concubine Yu.
Imperial Concubine Yu was Rui w.a.n.g"s biological mother, and the two of them had always been close.
This was the first time that Imperial Consort Zhuang came out to visit the imperial garden after Ning w.a.n.gfei had a miscarriage. Who would expect she would stumble upon such a wonderful scene?
Imperial Consort Zhuang bowed slightly towards the Empress.
Imperial Concubine Yu greeted her with a salute, "Greetings to the Empress."
The Fifth Prince saluted them in embarra.s.sment, "Imperial Consort Zhuang, Imperial Concubine Yu."
Imperial Consort Zhuang seemed to be in a good mood today. She spoke with a hint of a smile between her brows, "What happened to Little Five? Is it too hot so you went for a dip? But why is there a flower on your head?"
Flower?!
The Fifth Prince"s expression changed. He immediately raised his hand to pick the water lily off his head.
He felt ashamed and resentful when thinking that an imperial prince like him had a flower decorating his head in front of so many people. He couldn"t wait to find a crack in the ground to crawl into!
Empress Xiao looked at Gu Jiao and sighed, "Little Five had a little disagreement with this girl. This Empress is also asking about it."
Imperial Consort Zhuang smiled and looked at Gu Jinyu and Gu Jiao beside her, "So, Little Five was pushed into the water jar by her? Since such a big accident happened, we"d better call Imperial Concubine Shu over. After all, Little Five is also his own son."
Empress Xiao nodded in agreement, "Go and call Imperial Concubine Shu over."
"Yes!" Eunuch Su went to Changchun Palace to report to Imperial Concubine Shu.
Learning that her son was actually pushed into the water jar, Imperial Concubine Shu forgot that she was still ill and hurried to the imperial garden under the scorching sun.
Empress Xiao couldn’t remember who Gu Jinyu"s sister was at once, but how could Imperial Concubine Shu not?
The red birthmark on her face was simply too ugly to look at. Who was it if not her niece who grew up in the countryside?!
She held the hand of the Fifth Prince with distress and turned to glare at Gu Jiao, "Did you push Little Five into the water jar? You’re going against the sky!"
Empress Xiao said, "Imperial Concubine Shu, things haven"t been cleared yet. Young Miss Gu and this eunuch have their own explanations, so let"s hear what Little Five and this girl have to say."
Imperial Concubine Shu gritted her teeth and said, "I only want the Empress to confirm whether she pushed Little Five into the water jar."
The eunuch under the Fifth Prince cried out, "Empress! It’s her! She beat this servant and then threw His Fifth Highness into the water jar!"
Imperial Concubine Shu trembled with anger. She clenched her fists and said to Empress Xiao with the last trace of reason, "Empress, this person is my niece, please allow me to deal with her myself."
Empress Xiao asked, "What are you intending to do?"
Imperial Concubine Shu looked at Gu Jiao coldly and said, "She was born to her parents but not raised by them. Naturally, this imperial concubine subject will discipline her in my brother and sister-in-law’s stead! Somebody! Take her down for me!"
As soon as her voice fell, Eunuch Qin"s voice rang from a distance neither too far nor too near, "Empress Dowager has arrived——"
Empress Xiao and other imperial consorts and concubines hurriedly turned around and respectfully bowed their bodies in salute.
Empress Dowager Zhuang"s phoenix palanquin resembled a phoenix fluttering its wings as it came to the imperial garden, stunning the whole audience with its momentum.
The imperial garden suddenly turned so quiet that even the drop of a needle could be heard.
Being the highest ranking among the imperial wives and concubines, Empress Xiao had to embolden herself to speak, "How come imperial mother is here?"
"If Aijia didn’t come, how could Aijia know that the lot of you want to give Aijia trouble? Aijia hired a physician from outside the palace, but you blocked her path halfway... even yelling about dealing with her. Aijia just returned to the palace, but what is this? All of you don’t want Aijia to be well, is that it?"
Such a tall hat was put on them! She was basically saying that they prevented the Empress Dowager from being treated and tried to kill the Empress Dowager.
"Asking for imperial mother’s forgiveness!"
Empress Xiao knelt down with the help of her palace maids.
Seeing the Empress knelt down, Imperial Consort Zhuang and others could only follow suit, kneeling on the ground with thuds.
"Come here." Empress Dowager Zhuang said with an indifferent tone.
These words were for Gu Jiao.
Empress Dowager Zhuang still wanted to put on airs in front of outsiders.
Hence, what she actually meant was for Gu Jiao to come to the side of the phoenix palanquin while she continued to be the aloof and terrifying Empress Dowager who wreck the country and ruin the people.
Who knew Gu Jiao would have the wrong idea. Grabbing onto the palanquin with one hand, she got on the palanquin and sat next to Grandaunt.
Empress Dowager Zhuang：“…”
Everyone: "..."
Empress Dowager Zhuang: Oh, she’s been spoiled. But she has to spoil her even if her image collapses!Raz P."s Thoughts
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