A few days later, in the imperial palace.
Princess Anle, worried about her imperial brother, hadn't eaten or slept well for days. She looked gaunt and unwell.
Her complexion had turned sallow, and her once beautifully arched eyebrows, unkempt for days, were now knitted together.
"Princess, you haven't eaten properly for days. Please have something to fill your stomach," her attending maidservant persuaded Anle.
Her throat had become hoarse from trying to convince her mistress to eat these past few days.
"Get out! All of you, get out! Don't bother this princess."
Anle, upon hearing the maidservant's voice, became impatient and immediately yelled at them.
The maidservants, hearing Anle's words, could only obediently retreat.
After all the maidservants had left, Princess Anle leaned back against the head of her bed and quietly pondered, trying to devise a foolproof plan to rescue Prince Ning. However, the more she thought, the more muddled her mind became.
After a long while, Princess Anle summoned her two junior maidservants again.
"You two, go and find out where His Majesty and Empress Dowager are currently located," Princess Anle instructed the two junior maidservants.
"Yes, Princess!" The two junior maidservants quickly responded after receiving the order.
Subsequently, these two junior maidservants hurried out. One went to inquire about the Emperor's whereabouts, and the other about the Empress Dowager's. They worked together, and before long, they had gathered the information for Princess Anle.
"Princess, His Majesty is currently drinking tea with Consort Ping."
"Princess, Empress Dowager is in her private garden tending to the plants."
"Good, quickly help me change. This Princess is going to see His Majesty and Empress Dowager." Anle said with a hint of excitement.
"Yes, Princess!"
The two junior maidservants replied obediently and then quickly attended to Princess Anle, helping her dress and prepare her appearance.
Not long after, Anle, accompanied by her two maidservants, went to see the Emperor.
...
Today, the Emperor had made a rare visit to Consort Ping's palace for tea and conversation. However, shortly after the Emperor had sat down, Princess Anle arrived.
"Your Majesty, Consort Ping, Princess Anle requests an audience!" At this moment, the head maidservant of Consort Ping's palace reported to the Emperor and Consort Ping.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor's imperial brows immediately furrowed. This Anle truly could not stay still for a moment. He had been plagued by her for the past two days.
"I will not see her. Tell her to go back." The Emperor decisively refused Princess Anle's request.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The head maidservant replied and then rushed out to inform Princess Anle.
However, this head maidservant soon returned.
"Your Majesty, Princess Anle is kneeling outside the hall. She refuses to leave," the head maidservant said with a helpless expression.
"Then let her kneel there!"
The Emperor spoke with a displeased tone, his expression gradually deepening.
At this moment, Consort Ping, seeing the Emperor's displeased expression, tried to persuade him, "Your Majesty, Princess Anle and Prince Ning are siblings. It is understandable that she pleads for Prince Ning. If even she does not come to intercede for Prince Ning, then Prince Ning would be too pathetic."
Consort Ping said these words not to defend Princess Anle, but rather to convey that siblings share familial affection, and it was natural for Princess Anle to plead for Prince Ning.
"Then, do you think I should see her?" The Emperor immediately turned to Consort Ping and asked.
"Your Majesty, this concubine believes you should still meet with Princess Anle once, to let her give up hope."
Consort Ping boldly advised him.
The Emperor, looking at Consort Ping's eyebrows, which resembled those of Yi Yun, instantly softened.
This was also why he had taken Consort Ping as his concubine years ago. Consort Ping's eyebrows were strikingly similar to those of his beloved Zi Yi Yun.
"Very well, then I shall see her today." With that, he instructed the head maidservant of Consort Ping to summon Princess Anle.
However, after Princess Anle entered, she knelt before the Emperor, her eyes teary.
"Father Emperor, I beg you to spare my third imperial brother!" Princess Anle pleaded for Prince Ning as soon as she knelt.
"Anle, do you know what crime Prince Ning has committed?" The Emperor asked, suppressing his anger.
"Father Emperor, the matter of the 'Beauty Gu' has nothing to do with my third imperial brother. I secretly cultivated it."
Princess Anle insisted that the Beauty Gu was cultivated by herself.
"Anle, are you truly treating me as a fool? If I did not have sufficient evidence, would I have imprisoned him?"
Seeing Princess Anle's foolishness, the Emperor did not know whom this child had inherited traits from.
Even Consort Jing was not this foolish.
"But, Father Emperor... this concubine..."
At this moment, Princess Anle did not know what else to say to the Emperor.
"You may withdraw!"
"If you remain in the palace and be a proper princess, I will not mistreat you. If you meddle in affairs, I will imprison you along with him." The Emperor's words were filled with warning.
"No, Father Emperor, you cannot treat third imperial brother this way. He was also being used..." Princess Anle exclaimed loudly.
This greatly annoyed the Emperor.
"Guards, drag Princess Anle out."
As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, guards entered and dragged Princess Anle away. Princess Anle continued to struggle and shout.
This gave the Emperor a terrible headache.
After Princess Anle was dragged away, the Emperor also departed from Consort Ping's palace.
"Your Ladyship, you should not have persuaded His Majesty to see Princess Anle just now. Otherwise, His Majesty could have stayed with you a little longer," Consort Ping's head maidservant said, confused.
"I know, but no matter how long His Majesty stays with me, he only sees me as a substitute for Zi Yi Yun. It is better to find a way to make him leave quickly so I can have some peace. Moreover, I am repaying a favor to Princess Anle. If she could not seize this opportunity, she should not blame me," Consort Ping explained to her maidservant calmly.
"Your Ladyship, when did you owe Princess Anle a favor?" the maidservant asked, puzzled.
"When Yun'er was young, Prince Qing once pushed him into the lake. It was Princess Anle who found someone to rescue him. I will always remember this matter," Consort Ping explained faintly.
"Alas, actually, this Princess Anle was very well-behaved and likable when she was young. Later, for some unknown reason, Consort Jing insisted on sending Princess Anle out of the capital to be raised."
The maidservant sighed and said.
"These matters do not concern us. Do not discuss them again," Consort Ping immediately reminded her after hearing the maidservant's words.
"Yes, Your Ladyship!" The maidservant nodded repeatedly in response.
Meanwhile.
After being expelled from Consort Ping's palace by the Emperor, Princess Anle led her two maidservants to the Palace of Longevity.
The Empress Dowager also initially did not wish to see Princess Anle, but Princess Anle knelt at the entrance of the Palace of Longevity. She knelt for two hours, and it was the hottest part of the day.
The Empress Dowager could not bear to see her suffer in the heat, and finally, the Empress Dowager had her head maidservant summon her into the Empress Dowager's Palace of Longevity.