Chapter 219: Chapter 218: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager 35 (Extra for 100 Monthly Tickets)
Empress Dowager was criticized and scolded by Yun Que every day, and it didn’t take many days for her to become unbearable.
Fortunately, she still had a few loyal servants who managed to find Prince Kang avoiding Yun Que.
When Prince Kang heard from the servants how miserable Empress Dowager was now living, and how Foolish Marquis also seemed like a living dead every day, empathy rose within him.
He had many years of affection for Empress Dowager, and helping her had become a habit; knowing she was suffering, his first thought was to help her.
Prince Kang secretly visited Empress Dowager at Duke You’s Mansion.
He went there without the knowledge of Anning and He Zhenyu.
When Prince Kang saw Empress Dowager lying in the bed unable to move, aging as if she had become a decade older, he was greatly shocked.
"How have you come to this?"
He thought that Empress Dowager had become like this entirely because of He Zhenyu’s rebellion, and felt somewhat guilty towards her.
Empress Dowager, seeing Prince Kang, burst into tears uncontrollably: "Tingzhang, save me, please. I can’t cope anymore, I can’t go on living..."
Prince Kang quickly stepped forward, wrapping his hands around hers: "Don’t worry, I will find a doctor to save you, I’ll bring the Divine Doctor to cure you."
Empress Dowager cried even harder: "Tingzhang, Mrs. Yun, Mrs. Yun hits me, now... I can only rely on you."
Prince Kang nodded: "Rest assured, I will help you."
As Prince Kang and Empress Dowager were pouring out their feelings to each other, they heard Yun Que’s voice: "Please come in."
Prince Kang was startled and turned around, only to see Anning entering in pale turquoise clothes with a dark blue cape.
"How have you come?"
Prince Kang hurriedly let go of Empress Dowager’s hand and awkwardly stood up.
Anning smiled amiably: "Can’t I come? I came to see if there’s anything needed here at Duke You’s Mansion, so that I can arrange it. After all, with three masters in this house, two can hardly move, and it’s not easy for Yun Que alone to take care of everything. Helping out wherever possible is a must."
Anning glanced at Prince Kang: "What brings you here?"
Prince Kang embarrassedly touched his nose: "I came to see how things were..."
Before he could finish speaking, Anning nodded with a smile: "I see, you came to visit an old flame."
She looked at Empress Dowager, tsking: "You really are sentimental, to see how the He family is now and yet your heart still lingers on. Indeed, as I said before, Heaven is blind, for it didn’t match you two together, instead causing sorrow and separation which is unfortunate."
Anning’s words angered Empress Dowager so much that she rolled her eyes.
Prince Kang looked at Empress Dowager and then at Anning, truly at a loss for words.
Seeing Empress Dowager like this, so pitiful, Prince Kang could only feel compassion, unable to turn his back on her.
But Anning was his lawfully wedded wife, the mother of his child; he couldn’t scold Anning.
In the end, Prince Kang chose to remain silent.
Anning scoffed coldly, her regard for Prince Kang diminishing.
If Prince Kang had been especially good to Empress Dowager from the beginning, wholly devoted to her, Anning might have respected him as a true man. Yet, his indecisiveness and evasion in times of trouble made him appear weak.
Anning, looking sharply at Prince Kang, said: "Our Yu’er is a kind and filial child. As a father, you can’t forget about the He family. Yu’er doesn’t want to put you in a difficult position, and I don’t want to make it hard for our son either. I think this should do it; you and I should divorce, and you can be with the He family."
"What?"
Prince Kang startled and jumped up: "Anning, don’t talk nonsense... How could this be possible? After over a decade of marriage, how could I divorce you?"
Anning sneered: "Now I want to divorce you. My husband must not have another in his heart. Sharing a bed while dreaming different dreams for over a decade, I don’t want to live the second half of my life so miserably. Now that my son is the Emperor, the ruler of all people, shall I still tolerate you? That would be too suffocating."
She coldly glanced at Prince Kang: "Just wait for my divorce papers."
Anning turned around and left, not looking back, she threw out a line: "I was thinking of abandoning you as a husband, but out of concern to not overly upset Yu’er, I will only send you the divorce papers."
Prince Kang watched as Anning floated off into the distance, unable to care for Empress Dowager, and hurriedly chased after Anning.
"Tingzhang, Tingzhang..."
Empress Dowager stretched out her hand calling for Prince Kang, but he never turned back.
One of the most curious events in the new dynasty wasn’t how the Emperor obtained the throne, nor the discord between Emperor Jianwu and Empress Dowager of the previous dynasty, but the divorce between the Emperor and Empress Dowager.
Empress Dowager Xu actually wrote the divorce papers not long after the Emperor’s ascension, determined to divorce the Emperor.
The Emperor did not like it and found many ministers to petition the Emperor to ask the Empress Dowager to settle down a bit.
But the Emperor said in the early morning court in front of all the civil and military officials: "As the parents divorce, as their child I can only agree. Although I am the Emperor, I am also the son of the Empress Dowager, as a son, I should be filial to my parents. The Emperor is my father, whom I should respect. The Empress Dowager is my mother; she bore me for ten months and nurtured me with hardships—how could I not be filial? If the parents are discordant, what should I do?"
The ministers looked at each other and did not know how to respond.
The new Emperor bitterly smiled and said: "The Empress Dowager and the Emperor may appear harmonious, but the heart does not match. After decades as husband and wife, having separate dreams in the same bed, the Emperor keeps longing for the He Family and even goes to the Duke You’s Mansion now. These are things everyone is unaware of, and I am not afraid of airing dirty laundry. Seeing my mother sad every day pains my heart, if divorce could make my mother a little happier, I would be willing for my parents to divorce."
And Helan Zhi, as the Great Princess, also wholeheartedly supported Anning when others spoke to her about this matter.
She would naively say to others: "Even if they divorce, the Emperor is still my father, and the Empress Dowager is still my mother. That will not change, it’s just that the two of them won’t live together anymore. Over the years, they haven’t been living together anyway, what difference does it make?"
With both the new Emperor and the Great Princess, as children, supporting the Empress Dowager’s divorce, what else could others say?
A few days later, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor divorced.
The Empress Dowager moved out of the Imperial Palace and went to live in a separate residence of the royal family.
And the Emperor was packed off by the Emperor to Duke You’s Mansion.
The intention of the new Emperor was to satisfy both parents.
When the Emperor was sent to Duke You’s Mansion, he hadn’t yet reacted. When he saw Mrs. He, he realized that he was being disliked by his wife and children; this was a hint to drive him out of the house.
For a moment, the Emperor felt extremely ashamed and aggrieved.
But since he was already here, what could he do?
Now he was just a lonely old man, without power or money. If the Emperor would not receive him back in the palace, he could only live at Duke You’s Mansion.
After living there for a few days, the Emperor and Mrs. He grew to dislike each other.
Sometimes, merely relying on memories and one’s imagination to see someone, one would think she is perfect everywhere.
Without living together, it is really unclear whether that person is good or bad.
But no matter how good the imagination is, it can be shattered by reality.
After living with Mrs. He for a few days, the Emperor found that Mrs. He was not as he thought. Mrs. He was not lofty at all; on the contrary, she was very vulgar, loving all sorts of luxuries, wanting only the best food and clothes, fond of glittering splendor.
Not only were Mrs. He’s aesthetics somewhat jarring to the eyes, but her words and actions were also displeasing to the Emperor.
Whether it was Xu Anning or Anning, their conduct and manners were very elegant and noble, but Mrs. He, due to her background, did not observe good etiquette, and many of her habits also annoyed the Emperor.
At that time, the Emperor would intensely miss Anning.
Being with Mrs. He, sleeping in the same bed was impossible, though having separate dreams was indeed true.
Every day hearing Mrs. He scolding Yun Que, then listening to Yun Que scolding back, he felt nothing but disgust and helplessness.
And then there was Duke You, who lay in his sickbed but was aware of the Emperor’s arrival. He would curse after being well-fed to vent his inner anger.
However, Mrs. He, who considered especially unpleasant, actually treated Duke You very well.
Though she scolded Mrs. He, she never scolded Duke You.
According to Yun Que, although she had utilized Duke You in the past, she did have some feelings for him; furthermore, Duke You had been good to her over the years, taking care of her food and clothing; she felt gratitude towards him and could not be ungrateful or indifferent in Duke You’s difficult times.
Yun Que was a very righteous person.
Even the Emperor, after observing for some days, could not help but admire this woman’s upstanding character.
He couldn’t help thinking, if he were in such a situation, could Mrs. He do what Yun Que did? The answer was no.
The Emperor felt an intense regret.
Why had he been blind; why had he chosen Mrs. He initially, and liked this worthless woman for so many years, causing his own wife and children to thoroughly lose heart.
Why did he torture himself like this?
Then, when the Emperor heard the news of Anning marrying Xiao Yuan, he felt regret, anger, and jealousy all at once, and actually spewed several mouthfuls of blood.
At that moment, he realized, compared to Mrs. He, whom did he truly love?
While Mrs. He was in the palace, he knew she bore children with the late Emperor; he only felt unwilling, not as heartbroken and intensely upset as when Anning married someone else.
Towards Mrs. He, it was only because of his reluctance and his stubbornness about his own feelings.
Indeed, it was his stubbornness about feelings, not true love for Mrs. He; what he loved was merely the feeling of being in love with someone else.