"How is it?"
"Alright... alright!" Under Xue Xingyue's oppressive power, Fengyun had to compromise. As if still unsure, he added, "Then... you have to agree to me and Ruofeng's matter."
Xue Xingyue smiled, which Fengyun found particularly sly. "That depends on Ruofeng's own wishes. What do you say?" Bafeng Novel
Hearing this, Fengyun knew he had been tricked again. However, thinking of his equally pitiful master, who had not yet secured his wife's favor, he decided to endure it.
Inside the Tai'an Hall, amidst song and dance, the Empress Dowager instructed the palace maids, and moments later, Song Xiuyuan arrived before her.
"Empress Dowager, you summoned this subject?" Song Xiuyuan asked respectfully.
The Empress Dowager nodded, "Don't you like my little Jiu?"
Song Xiuyuan replied, "This subject only respects Princess Jiu; I have no other thoughts about her."
"Then why did you agree to the Emperor's arranged marriage?"
"This subject cannot disobey the imperial decree. This subject believes the Empress Dowager knows this," Song Xiuyuan said, looking up.
The Empress Dowager was taken aback, her gaze somewhat dazed. "Empress Dowager," Song Xiuyuan prompted.
The Empress Dowager came back to herself, looking at Song Xiuyuan with a slightly vacant expression.
Suddenly, a palace maid approached the Empress Dowager. Song Xiuyuan subtly glanced at the maid, knowing she was the one who had taken Xue Xingyue away.
The Empress Dowager's expression improved slightly. She looked at Song Xiuyuan and said, "Prime Minister, I fear you will be heartbroken. Your wife..."
"What happened to my wife?" he asked, concerned.
The Empress Dowager shook her head. "You and I will know when we go and see."
"Very well, this subject obeys your command!" Song Xiuyuan replied.
The Empress Dowager ordered someone to inform the Emperor, whose expression also turned grim. "I shall go with the Empress Dowager." He then looked at Song Xiuyuan, "Prime Minister, if she has truly committed such an act, I will by no means spare her lightly."
"Your Majesty, please allow me to see my fiancée before you make a decision, if that is possible?"
The Emperor nodded.
The banquet could no longer continue. Soon, the matter spread throughout the Tai'an Hall, with various officials looking on with schadenfreude as Song Xiuyuan followed the Emperor to the Eastern Palace.
Someone at the entrance of the Eastern Palace saw the Emperor and became flustered. "Your... Your Majesty, Empress Dowager!"
"Where is the Crown Prince?" the Emperor asked angrily.
"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince would never do such a thing. It must be that woman who seduced His Highness the Crown Prince. Your Majesty, please investigate clearly!"
Consort Min was feeling unwell and had returned to the Shu Ming Palace after wishing the Empress Dowager a happy birthday. No one dared to speak ill of her, as the imperial physicians had diagnosed her as being one month pregnant.
However, upon hearing that the Crown Prince was in trouble, she hurried over. Her face was unadorned, but even so, it could not conceal her inherent beauty.
The Emperor's anger had already subsided considerably upon seeing Consort Min. He quickly helped her up and raged, "Why didn't you stop Consort Min? If something were to happen to my royal son, I would kill you all."
Consort Min's attendants, terrified, immediately knelt and begged for mercy.
"Your Majesty, it is not their fault. It is this concubine who is worried about His Highness the Crown Prince," Consort Min said tearfully to the Emperor.
The Emperor said, "Consort Min, you go back first. I will handle this."
Consort Min shook her head. "No, this concubine wants to see His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Consort Min, you are carrying the imperial son. What position does this put the Emperor in? If the imperial son suffers any harm, what will you do?" the Empress Dowager said coldly, looking at Consort Min.
Consort Min was startled, then quickly regained her usual composure. "Yes, it was this concubine's oversight. But please, Your Majesty and Empress Dowager, allow this concubine to remain here. This concubine guarantees that it will not affect the imperial son."
The Empress Dowager said coldly, "As you wish!"
Saying this, she addressed the guards beside her, "Why are you not opening the door?"
"Mother, please remain calm!" The Emperor approached the Empress Dowager and said in a low voice, "Mother, this way might be..."
The Empress Dowager interrupted him, "If this is indeed the case, then he is not fit to be the Emperor's Crown Prince. Let someone else be the Crown Prince!"
Upon hearing this, Consort Min clutched her handkerchief tightly. She knew this old hag disliked His Highness the Crown Prince and was trying to ruin him by any means necessary.
The Emperor looked at the Empress Dowager and said, "Mother, this..."
"Why are you not opening the door?" the Empress Dowager said coldly, looking at the Emperor.
Several guards stepped forward to try and force open the door to the Eastern Palace's sleeping quarters. Just then, the main gate suddenly opened. The Crown Prince, clad in a bright yellow robe, immaculately dressed, and with a handsome face, looked at the commotion before him with slight surprise. Upon seeing the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, he stepped forward and bowed, "Father Emperor, Imperial Grandmother!"
"His Highness the Crown Prince... You... It's good that you are unharmed," Consort Min said, her heart finally at ease.
"Mother Consort, what is this?"
"Did someone say the Prime Minister's fiancée is here with you?" the Empress Dowager asked coldly, but the disheveled handkerchief in her hand betrayed her current agitation.
The Crown Prince bowed his head. "Indeed."
The Emperor exclaimed in anger, "Absurd! How could you forcibly take a subject's wife?"
The Crown Prince looked genuinely surprised. "Father Emperor, why do you say that?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince, my fiancée is indeed with you?" Song Xiuyuan stepped forward and asked.
The Crown Prince glanced at Song Xiuyuan and nodded, "Of course."
"May I ask His Highness the Crown Prince to let my fiancée out?" Song Xiuyuan inquired.
The Crown Prince nodded. "Of course. However, Miss Feng and Ninth Sister are currently playing a game of Go, and it is quite an intense match. Perhaps you could wait a little longer."
Everyone was astonished. The Emperor exclaimed in surprise, "You mean Little Jiu is also here?"
The Crown Prince nodded. "Your son felt a bit unwell after drinking, so I went out for some fresh air and saw Ninth Sister and Miss Xue arguing. When I approached, I realized Ninth Sister and Miss Xue were debating whose chess skills were better. So, your son took the liberty of inviting them to the Eastern Palace."
"His Highness the Crown Prince, you have truly frightened this Empress. Someone said you..."