Chapter 994

The Strange Occurrences in the Imperial Palace

They quickly arrived at the palace’s gates, and Zhang Yuan asked the guards at the gate. They said that Xu Jingyuan had already entered while escorting the eighth prince inside. Not long after Zhang Yuan had left the Imperial Palace, the Emperor made another decree, returning Talented Lady Liu to the position of imperial concubine. She was now Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu once more.

Everyone was extremely shocked. This included Feng Yuheng. Everyone had their mouths hanging open in shock. If the Emperor had released the eighth prince, there would at least be some reasoning available. After all, that was his son. It would be understandable for the Emperor to be unable to make that move at the very end. But why would he return Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu to her position?

Something is off about this! This was the first thing that Feng Yuheng thought when hearing this. Without waiting any longer, she entered the palace.

There were already many people in Zhao He Hall’s yard. There were many princes, and even the Empress was there with the members of the imperial harem. Even Feng Zhaolian stood next to the Empress to watch the liveliness.

Feng Yuheng’s group could be considered as having arrived late. Just as she arrived, the Empress moved to receive her. With a look of worry, she grabbed ahold of her and quietly said: “Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, who had just been promoted once more, is currently taking care of him instead. His Majesty already said that nobody is allowed to enter.”

Feng Yuheng frowned but did not bother with being courteous toward the Empress, directly asking: “What do you mean by nobody is allowed to enter? Have His Highness the ninth prince and His Highness the seventh prince arrived yet?”

The Empress pointed behind herself: “Look, aren’t they standing there?”

Feng Yuheng looked in that direction. Sure enough, Xuan Tianming and Xuan Tianhua were standing at a short distance from the hall. The two were discussing something with their heads down. It might be that they felt someone looking at them, thus they turned their heads and met Feng Yuheng’s gaze.

“Aside from Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, who else is inside?” She asked the Empress, “Wasn’t it said that Father Emperor is ill? How is his current condition?”

The Empress was a bit helpless, “This One never heard about his condition. Aside from Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, there are imperial physicians and the eighth prince, who had just been carried back.”

Feng Yuheng did not continue asking, as she turned her head and told Zhang Yuan: “Quickly go in. You are Father Emperor’s personal servant. No matter who else is barred from entering, you can still enter.”

Zhang Yuan nodded and hastily walked toward the entrance. The Empress looked at Zhang Yuan with a bit of concern. It was only after seeing Zhang Yuan successfully enter that she let out a sigh of relief and said: “If even Zhang Yuan was not allowed to enter, this One could only abandon my shame and try to invite Imperial Concubine Yun.”

While they spoke, the sound of crying came from inside the hall. The crying belonged to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu and the eighth prince. The people waiting outside became alert, and the Empress even let go of Feng Yuheng’s hand, as she practically trotted over to the entrance of the hall.

The Emperor was ill, and he had his son and an imperial concubine inside to take care of him. For crying sounds to come out now, what did this imply?

Both princes and members of the imperial harem were crowded around the entrance to the hall to try and squeeze inside; however, none of the imperial guards allowed them in. The Empress angrily cursed at those palace servants: “This One is the Empress! Regardless of how His Majesty is, there is no logic behind hiding things from this One! To keep the mother of all under heaven out here while letting Imperial Concubine Shu inside to take care of him, what sort of logic is this? Who has ever heard of such logic?”

“That’s right! Even if we are not allowed in, Her Highness the Empress should be allowed in.” The one to speak was Imperial Concubine Li. Her voice was quiet but filled with doubts, “What exactly happened to His Majesty? Where are there people crying inside?”

Someone heard Imperial Concubine Li speak and could not help but chime in: “The one inside is your elder sister. How about Your Highness Imperial Concubine Li, you try and go in! What if Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu lets you in?”

Imperial Concubine Li was not a skilled talker and did not know how to argue with others; however, she was still able to get her point across. She fought back by saying: “What’s important is that the one to issue the order was not Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. It was His Majesty!”

These words rendered the other party speechless, and nobody was able to muster anything for quite some time. The crying inside Zhao He Hall, however, was growing louder and louder, and they were bordering on becoming wails. They could even hear the eighth prince cry while shouting: “Father Emperor, son knows I was wrong! Father Emperor!”

The Empress was getting even more worried, and Feng Yuheng had even begun contemplating whether or not she should use her space to go inside. She said a few words to Xuan Tiange then headed toward Xuan Tianming’s side. When she arrived, Xuan Tianming guessed what she was thinking before she even had a chance to say a word. He simply waved his hand and said: “There’s no need to panic for now. As this prince sees it, the two inside are most likely putting on a performance!”

Xuan Tianhua also said: “As a survivor of a disaster, of course, he must express his true thoughts in front of Father Emperor!”

Just as they were speaking, an imperial physician finally came out from the hall with an exhausted look on his face. The Empress rushed to ask: “Speak! What exactly is going on inside?”

The imperial physician froze and saw that it was the Empress. He quickly saluted while saying: “Replying to Your Highness the Empress, it’s nothing much. It’s Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu and His Highness the eighth prince who have become rather emotional. It’s especially true for His Highness the eighth prince, as he is hugging His Majesty and crying to no end.”

When the imperial physician said this, everyone let out a sigh of relief. The eldest prince, Xuan Tianqi then followed up: “How is Father Emperor’s condition?”

The imperial physician said: “As this subject sees it, His Majesty’s illness is not a big problem. It’s just that anger consumed his heart, and he will return to normal within a few days.”

When the Empress heard this, the anger in her heart burned even brighter, as she stood at the door and angrily shouted inside: “His Majesty has not yet died! What are you crying for? Shut your mouths for this One! Otherwise, regardless of whether you’re an imperial concubine or a prince, you will be dealt with for the crime of cursing His Majesty!”

She did not see it, but when she said the words “cursing His Majesty,” Imperial Concubine Li suddenly shuddered inside the crowd. But she quickly regained her composure and calmly watched the Empress vent at the front. She also quietly let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Emperor was fine. If something suddenly happened to the Emperor at a time like this, her Feng’er was not even in the capital. Would that not mean that there would not be the slightest bit of hope? When she thought of this, she immediately ordered Zuo’er: “After we get back, remind this One to send a letter to His Highness the sixth prince to have him immediately return to the capital.”

After the Empress vented her anger, there was no reaction from inside. The sound of the crying also lowered in volume. The imperial physician stood outside for a while before departing. Not long later, Zhang Yuan, who had gone inside earlier, came back out. With a complicated look on his face, everyone became worried.

“His Majesty had a verbal instruction.” Zhang Yuan said this expressionlessly, attracting everyone’s attention to himself. He cleared his throat then said: “His Majesty said that the case of the northern part of the city will be blamed entirely on Zhu Kongshan, who smashed her head in court, alone. The eighth prince is to be found innocent and let go. Command of the imperial guards will be returned to the eighth prince, and the entirety of the Zhu family in Peng Zhou will be executed. At the same time, the 30 thousand troops from the Northeast stationed outside the capital will be placed under the eighth prince’s command. The sixth prince is ordered to return to the capital for the new year to hand over the tiger tally.”

This imperial decree left everyone that heard it in a complete daze, including Feng Yuheng, Xuan Tianming and Xuan Tianhua. They looked at each other. None of them could understand. Why had this happened? The Emperor’s sudden change left them with a bad feeling. It should not be that the eighth prince and Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu had threatened the Emperor, right?

Feng Yuheng’s gaze revealed this thought; however, Xuan Tianhua said: “It should be impossible. Father Emperor has so many hidden guards at his side. Even if the two wanted to do something, it would be impossible. This matter… should be Father Emperor’s own idea.”

Feng Yuheng did not say anything further. She just quietly turned around and did not even bring along Huang Quan, walking toward an isolated area. Huang Quan wanted to follow her but was stopped by Xuan Tianming, who said: “Your princess has her own matters to take care of. You just need to follow this prince.” He understood quite well that Feng Yuheng wanted to go inside to take a look. This was also good. Feng Yuheng would be the only person to be able to get inside the main hall at a time like this. Letting her get a clear understanding would let them develop an understanding. This situation had come quite strangely, and they needed to figure out what was happening.

The atmosphere inside Zhao He Hall was very different from the atmosphere outside. When Feng Yuheng stood in a corner and looked at the three people around the imperial bed, she suddenly felt her heart warm. The Emperor leaned back in the bed, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu sat at his side, and the eighth prince was partially leaning against it from the ground. One of the Emperor’s hands was repeatedly caressing the eighth prince’s head, as a look of affection rested on his face. Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu stopped her crying to quietly say: “Mo’er has always wanted to be like Your Majesty when you were young, charging onto the battlefield to make a contribution. He has always hoped to be able to learn from Your Majesty and do these things well, but in the end, he is still young. There are still some things that do not go as intended. For Your Majesty to give him this chance to change, Mo’er will definitely use it to change. He will definitely do a good job and learn from Your Majesty on how to handle matters and how to govern a country. He definitely will not let Your Majesty down.”

The eighth prince also said: “Imperial concubine mother is right! Son had been too eager to see results and profits in the past, thus I made many mistakes. But I ask Father Emperor to be at ease. Son is of good birth and son’s original intent was to share Father Emperor’s burdens!”

The Emperor was very moved from hearing this and also said: “Father Emperor understands. We understand all of your intentions. We are also unwilling to let Mo’er die, thus We had to save Mo’er. Dear child, is there anything wrong with your legs? I heard that the condemned cell was extremely cold. What would happen if you hurt your legs? How would you have your Father Emperor live from here on!” As he said this, the Emperor wiped away some tears and looked toward Xuan Tianmo’s legs, anxious adding: “Quickly tell Father Emperor. How are your legs?”

Xuan Tianmo quickly comforted the Emperor, saying: “Father Emperor, don’t worry. They are just a bit stiff. They will get better after resting for a while. Father Emperor, son is not worried about myself. Son is only worried about your health. You must not hurt yourself worrying about son! Son is not worried about hurting my legs. At worst, I will just sit in a wheelchair. Son does not wish to fight for the throne and only wishes to take good care of Father Emperor and imperial concubine mother. To be able to stay at your side and take care of you in your later years is son’s greatest desire.”

The Emperor nodded his head while listening to this. Not only did he pull Xuan Tianmo closer, he also grabbed Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s hand, saying emotionally: “Over the years, I have let you suffer. Imperial Concubine Shu gave me a good son, yet We were unable to dote on you properly. Mo’er, don’t worry. Father Emperor will definitely take care of treating your leg. We must stabilize this throne for Mo’er to sit in!” As he said this, he said to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu: “Dear imperial concubine has waited for Us in hardship for so many years. This was Our mistake. From this day forward, We will definitely take good care of the two of you. I will no longer allow anyone to bully you two. Imperial Concubine Shu… that’s no good. We will wait until the new year. When the new year arrives, We will grant you the position of noble imperial concubine. Also, you will be allowed to help manage the palaces. Dear imperial concubine, is this good?”

A look of joy radiated from Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s eyes. She quickly kneeled and gave her thanks. Thank eighth prince gave his thanks for the grace. This family of three then hugged, cried and laughed some more. This sight caused Feng Yuheng to sweat.

This situation… was off!