C86

"Fair?" Empress Chen raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at his with a disdainful look, "When Noble Consort Kang passed away, why didn't you manage this matter of justice?"

Noble Consort Kang was startled, then said with hatred: "When Mrs. Heyi was poisoned, you held the authority of the imperial harem, whoever dared to come had justice."

Empress Chen snorted, "Noble Consort Kang does have a bit of a good character. In front of Noble Consort, I am completely a vicious and wicked woman." She narrowed his eyes, "It's not because Noble Consort doesn't dare to demand justice, but because she doesn't want justice, right?"

Noble Consort Kang clenched her fists slowly. "You planned to poison Mrs. Heyi. If the Emperor finds out, she'll definitely kill everyone in your family."

The Empress Chen shrugged indifferently, "Back then, you clearly knew that I tried to poison you, but you didn't tell the emperor and let me succeed. If the emperor knew, you would have died for my entire family."

"You are delusional," Noble Consort Kang revealed a sinister look, "I am only an innocent palace concubine threatened by the empress. Mrs. Heyi was poisoned by you, it has nothing to do with me."

"Liu Chengyun's death, we are both taking part," A trace of ruthlessness flashed past the eyes of the Empress Chen, "If you were to tell the emperor, I would definitely take you and the Prince Jin to die together. If you were to encounter something related to Liu Chengyun, do you think the emperor would believe that you are an innocent palace concubine?"

"Alright," the Noble Consort Kang laughed coldly, "Since the Queen has broken off all decorum, let's wait and see. I want to see whether the Queen will go onto the Yellow Springs Road by herself, or if Prince Jin and I will accompany you."

"Noble Consort," the Empress Chen said gently, "Rather than tearing a fish out of a net and letting the Prince Duan enjoy the benefits, why don't you shut your mouth tightly and let everyone think that Liu Chengyun died from sickness."

"What, the Queen is scared?"

The Prince Duan sighed, "Right now, the battle for the throne in the palace is becoming more and more intense, and the Prince Duan and the Emperor are getting closer and closer. If we don't work together, in the future, the Prince Duan will replace the crown prince and enter the Eastern Palace.

What Empress Chen said was not without reason. If she were to inform the emperor that the Queen had poisoned Liu Chengyun, the crown prince would definitely be crippled, but the emperor might not help the current crown prince of Prince Jin. The Prince Duan was more likely to be the one who helped the emperor, as it would be difficult for her and the Prince Jin to fight the Prince Duan.

"Actually, Noble Consort had wanted to submit to me and the crown prince since a long time ago. It's just that Prince Jin was determined to form an alliance with Prince Duan, that's why he came to this place and had a falling out with me."

The Noble Consort Kang paused, "How do you know that the Prince Jin is determined to ally with the Prince Duan?"

"Prince Jin is an infatuated child," Empress Chen gave her a sideways glance, "Previously, I liked that dancer Yu Zhu, but now, I like the quasi wangfei Xue Ronghua of Prince Duan. I really don't like the river or the mountains or the beauties, this is somewhat similar to Noble Consort."

Noble Consort Kang looked at her blankly. "Why did you mention me …"

"Could it be that when the Noble Consort Kang poisoned Big Sister Shu in place of her and made her into his concubine, and also coldly watched as I poisoned Liu Chengyun and did not stop me, wasn't it all because she deeply loved Your Majesty?" The Empress Chen smiled, "It's a pity that this concubine has Jun Wu Yi's intentions."

"..." "Then doesn't the empress love your majesty?"

Empress Chen squinted his eyes dangerously, a sorrowful smile on his lips. "From the moment I knew that Your Majesty only treated me as a substitute for Liu Chengyun when you allowed me to sit on the Phoenix Position, all my feelings for Your Majesty disappeared."

The Noble Consort Kang was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Because you are somewhat similar to Liu Chengyun, you managed to sit still on your Phoenix Position, whereas we, as concubines who can't even touch the slightest bit of light, can only do our best to please the Emperor."

"Rather than being treated like a substitute, I might as well enjoy myself," Empress Chen calmed his agitated heart, and said. "The harem has three thousand people, and they are all doted on by three thousand. We are just pale-faced imperial concubines."

"Liu Chengyun is really amazing, the people in the imperial harem changed wave after wave, she is still one of the Emperor's top disciples."

"It doesn't matter if she's dead, it's not worth putting her in your eyes," A trace of maliciousness appeared on the Empress Chen's lips. "In the future, we will be the empress dowager's concubine. This Noble Consort doesn't need to think so much about it."

Noble Consort Kang looked at her ice-cold face and didn't know what to say.

"Noble Consort," the Empress Chen laughed softly. "You better think this through carefully. If Prince Duan were to become the new emperor, you better not dream that he would respect us as the empress dowager's concubines. I'm afraid that our old bones will be imprisoned in Changchun Palace and Changchun Palace forever."

Noble Consort Kang could not help but shiver, "Then what about my brother?"

"If the Noble Consort understands, I can naturally let go. Kang Zhiming's wealth is comparable to a nation, and I believe the Noble Consort knows a bit of the reason too. If the Emperor were to really make a move and chase after him, the Prince Jin will be in trouble."

Noble Consort Kang muttered to herself for a bit and finally put down his words, "The empress give me and Prince Jin some time, let us think about it carefully."

Empress Chen nodded as if he was determined to get it, and said with a smile that was like flowers: "I await your good news."

Chu Zongge lazily stretched out under the warm spring light of the morning. His cool and refreshing eyes were still stained with the beautiful spring colors of the peach blossoms from the day before yesterday.

That day, after he said everything, Xue Ronghua, who was unable to stop Jue Chen from leaving, truly misunderstood. He lowered his head and smiled, his lips full of gentleness. He did not know how Xue Ronghua tossed and turned after returning home. In any case, after returning from the Peach Blossom Forest, he slept soundly that night, as if he had removed a huge burden, and as if he had completed an extremely difficult mission.

Xue Ronghua finally put his heart of vengeance behind him. Chu Zongge raised his eyebrows happily. Initially, he was still concerned that she harbored too much resentment towards Meng Qianzhong and harbored old feelings for him, but that day when she accidentally said "Consort Wang", it made his heart rejoice. She was still interested in him, so her gentle feelings didn't go to waste.

"Master Duanwang," a palace maid came into the courtyard to pay his respects. "The Emperor wants you to go to the Luan Feng Palace."

"Hmm?" The Prince Duan asked doubtfully, "Why did the Emperor call me to go so far away so early in the morning?"

"This servant doesn't know that the emperor is already waiting at the Luan Feng Palace."

Chu Zongge anxiously went back to his room, "Since that's the case, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

The palace maid said innocently: "This servant did not know that Prince Duan had just woken up."

When Chu Zongge rushed to Luan Feng Palace, he indeed saw the emperor standing next to a willow tree.

"You've come," the emperor smiled as he rolled up a strand of the willow branch. "This emperor had seen the would-be wangfei a few days ago, but I didn't expect that the willow branch would turn even greener."

Xue Ronghua? Chu Zongge raised an eyebrow. "Princess has entered the palace?"

"That's right, Imperial Concubine Hua misses his little sister and wants us to pass down the order for the future wangfei to enter the palace, so as to resolve the pain of being in love with her."

Chu Zongge pursed his lips helplessly. He saw that Xue Liuhua had not seen her for a few days, so he was afraid that she would be living a good life outside the palace.

"We think that Xue Ronghua is not bad. That Liluan pendant is a good match for her," the Emperor said with a smile as he lowered his head. "If we don't meet a better woman in the future, we can forget about marrying her in order to avoid hurting her."

Chu Zongge chuckled: "On the surface, Rong Hua looks gentle and harmless, but in reality, he's just a tigress. I don't dare to take a concubine, for fear that the wangfei might eat me."

The Emperor was amused by him and chuckled, "This temper of yours is similar to your mother's. I remember the first time I saw your mother, she was standing under a willow tree, and she turned her head and smiled at me. She actually had a hint of a Hibiscus hibiscus [1], and her gentle and beautiful appearance made me infatuated.

Chu Zongge asked curiously: "Royal Father, I heard that you and mother had a feud later on, what is going on?"

"Your mother thinks that I instigated a war and caused her to die a miserable death, so …"

"So that's how it is," Chu Zongge muttered to himself for a moment, then said seriously, "Then did the reason why Royal Father didn't want me to get the Crown Prince's bed, was it because of a grudge with mother?"

"How could that be?" "I don't want you to be the Crown Prince because your mother doesn't want you to get involved in the strife over the throne. I hope that it can be as your mother wishes, but looking at how you've been doing for the past few years, you seem to be very interested in the position of emperor."

Chu Zongge was startled, hurriedly knelt down, "Royal Father, this son is afraid."

"What are you afraid of?" "The Crown Prince is mediocre and incompetent, the Prince Jin loves to play tricks, only you are suitable to be the emperor. Although I am old, I can still see this point, and the reason why I have chosen you as my son is because I feel ashamed of the empress."

"Empress Chen has lived in the Phoenix Position for twenty years. Isn't it because Royal Father respected her?"

"You're right, we do respect the Empress," the emperor said faintly. "But we don't love her, we only love one woman, and that is your mother, Liu Chengyun."

Chu Zongge opened his eyes wide in shock, "That empress …"

"People in the palace always say that you and the empress are the same as the crown prince, but I didn't know that you are the most similar to the Yun Niang," the emperor said with a sad smile. "After we had a feud with the Yun Niang, we made her empress, precisely because she resembles the Yun Niang the most.

"Because of these two things, Royal Father did not wish to have me as the ruler?"

The emperor looked at his injured expression and sighed helplessly. "Although the crown prince is a bit stupid, he's also pure and kind. With an expert assisting him, it's still possible to become a good emperor. This expert can only invite you to be his successor."

"Your son …" Chu Zongge suppressed the anger in his heart and said solemnly, "This son might not be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility."

The emperor was surprised for a moment, then said with a tone of doubt: "You are already able to be the ruler, so what if you become an assistant minister? Are you not thinking for the Great Qin, and instead must sit on the Dragon Throne s? "

Chu Zongge's heart stilled, and he forced out a smile. "Everything this son has done is for the sake of the mountain and rivers of the Royal Father, I do not dare to have second thoughts."

Oh yes, we have already sent Xue Longhu to investigate the matter of Prince Jin's uncle Kang Zhiming's embezzlement of military salaries. Kang Zhiming's wealth, which is comparable to that of a nation, has always made us suspicious that he would be able to catch a big fish this time around.

Chu Zongge was puzzled. "Empress?"

"It's the empress," the emperor said with a smile. "She was meticulous and meticulous with her thoughts. When her palace maids left the palace, she overheard gossip and told me about it."