"Alas—"
The palace maid sighed again. "Even so, His Majesty shouldn't have disgraced you in public! You are the Empress, yet His Majesty has been staying with other consorts these past few days!"
At this, the Empress's eyes also reddened. "If it weren't for Prince Chang and his Princess back then, we wouldn't have today."
At this moment, it seemed the Empress finally remembered the past. "When I was the Crown Princess, if it weren't for the help of the yet-to-be-married Princess Chang, I might have been pushed into the pond that day and lost my reputation!"
She clenched her fists, tears falling uncontrollably. "The first time we met, she treated me with such sincerity. And I, today... It's no wonder His Majesty is disheartened. He probably never imagined that the person by his side, the one in his bed, would be such a person!"
"Alas!"
All the palace maid could do now was sigh.
She looked down at the Empress's swollen belly. "I hope that after this child is born, His Majesty will slowly cease his indifference towards you."
Yes, the Empress now... only had this child.
—
For the first few days after Mu Changxi and Song Chaoyu left, everything in the capital was peaceful, as if nothing had changed because of their departure.
But after a month, things were quite different.
Everyone realized that it seemed... the capital couldn't do without Prince Chang and his Princess.
First, it was the court officials who had taken over Mu Changxi's affairs. These seemingly minor matters had given these officials headaches, making them difficult to resolve!
Especially some tasks that Mu Changxi was accustomed to, when suddenly handed to others, felt awkward no matter how they approached them.
The officials sighed in unison, "How is it that Prince Chang could handle these matters so well, yet we cannot?"
The noble ladies also began to miss Song Chaoyu at this time.
Song Chaoyu was known in the capital for being reasonable and gentle.
In the past, when disputes arose between families, it was most effective to have Song Chaoyu mediate.
Firstly, Song Chaoyu had a gentle disposition, and secondly, her status was high.
Most importantly, Song Chaoyu never showed prejudice towards anyone based on their status.
Therefore, when she intervened, people would usually give her some face, and even unreasonable people would listen to her reasoning.
Now that she had left the capital, the noble ladies of the capital were causing small disturbances every three days and major ones every five days, and there was no one to mediate.
Not to mention Song Chaoyu's maternal family, the Song family. Song Chaoyu didn't visit them very often, so it didn't feel like much.
Now that Song Chaoyu was gone, everyone felt uneasy.
Especially the old matriarch of the Song family, who often sighed and mentioned missing Song Chaoyu.
Although Song Chaoyu wrote to the old matriarch often, the old matriarch still felt it was best to see Song Chaoyu with her own eyes.
With all this, because of the departure of Prince Chang and his wife, more and more people in the capital felt unsettled.
It wasn't until three full months after Song Chaoyu and Mu Changxi left that someone in the court could no longer bear it.
On this day, during the morning court, the new Minister of War, Lin Li, knelt before the Emperor with a distressed expression. "Your Majesty, this humble minister requests that Prince Chang be allowed to return to the capital. This humble minister has been overwhelmed these past few days and is truly unable to cope!"
The reason was the capital's city defense army, which had been newly entrusted to Lin Li.
Ordinarily, the capital's city defense army should be commanded by the Grand General of the Capital Prefecture.
However, during the rebellion of Mu Hansu, the Grand General had sided with Mu Hansu.
Therefore, after the new Emperor ascended the throne, the position of Grand General of the Capital Prefecture was abolished, and the several defense army corps of the capital were merged together, to be uniformly handed over to the command of the Ministry of War.
But before this, these troops had all followed Mu Changxi's orders.
When Mu Changxi left the capital, Lin Li had been pleased for a while.
He thought that with all the capital's defense forces integrated, totaling over sixty thousand men, and handed over to the Ministry of War, the ministry's standing would surely improve.
Soon, Lin Li discovered that something was wrong!
The several defense armies of the capital had previously been managed by different institutions.
Therefore, the deputy generals with some rank in these armies did not obey each other.
Lin Li, newly appointed and formerly recommended by Mu Hansu,
found himself unable to immediately subdue these over sixty thousand integrated defense troops!
These sixty thousand men were as noisy as sparrows in his hands, and they were sparrows who did not obey each other.
Let alone making them obey orders, Lin Li would offer a prayer of thanks if they didn't fight each other for even a single day.
No one ever listened when Lin Li spoke to them politely.
Lin Li had also considered being tougher with them.
But the problem was precisely here.
Since these men could be generals of the capital's defense army, who in the capital did not have some influence?
With Lin Li's background, he was completely unable to suppress them.
Before, Mu Changxi was at least a prince, so they dared not go too far.
Now, they treated Lin Li as if he were invisible, causing trouble for him every day.
Lin Li had suffered immensely from their disturbances for the past three months and could only implore the Emperor: "I beg Your Majesty to let His Highness Prince Chang return! This humble minister does not know about others, but I truly cannot bear it anymore. If this continues, the entire defense of the capital will be in chaos. Please, Your Majesty, show mercy and save this humble minister!"
Lin Li's words showed that he truly had no other recourse.
The Emperor frowned and surveyed everyone in the hall. "Then what about you all? Does anyone else object to Prince Chang's return?"
Everyone exchanged glances, recalling their experiences of the past three months, and silently lowered their heads.
"Good!"
The Emperor had been waiting for this moment. Instantly, his face lit up with joy. "Since no one objects, I shall send someone to deliver a message to Prince Chang! However, there is one condition: after Prince Chang returns, if anyone dares to speak ill of him, do not blame me for not showing them respect!"
"This humble minister dares not!"
It was rare for the ministers to be so united. The Emperor, satisfied, waved his hand at Lin Li, who was kneeling on the ground. "Alright, my dear minister, rise. I know it has been difficult for you. These defense troops will eventually be handed over to the Ministry of War. I will have Prince Chang return to help you transition. With his backing, you will have nothing to fear."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Lin Li was deeply grateful to the Emperor.
During this morning court, everyone implicitly accepted the fact that Mu Changxi would return.
However, after the court adjourned, Hua Niantou discovered a very serious matter—
He could not contact Mu Changxi!
He only had a few letters that Mu Changxi had sent back over the past three months, which indicated that their family of four was having a very happy time traveling outside.