Princess and the General

Fall Ill and Never Recover (Part Four)

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In QingHua Palace, the gates were tightly shut.

The eunuch who had come to deliver something from the Imperial Household Department was too scared to make a sound upon seeing that all of the palace maids were waiting outside the hall.

The chief palace maid, Mu Jin, walked over from the middle of the hall and gave him a look.
The two then backed up a distance to speak.

“The eldest prince came, so I fear that Her Highness will not have a chance to meet with you.
Eunuch, you should go back for now.”

The eunuch who came for the delivery was Eunuch Huang, the head of the Imperial Household Department.
In response, he said: “We only came today to deliver the monthly allowance.
This is the silver that QingHua Palace will receive for the month.
Miss Mu Jin, please take a look, and we will be on our way.”

Mu Jin received the bundle of silver and bowed to him.
Eunuch Huang then left QingHua Palace on his own.

After he left, Mu Jin felt the weight of the bundle and suddenly noticed that something seemed off…

“This time, it’s not just His Majesty getting suddenly excited.
This One’s informant from the Western Palace came and reported that the second prince was happily telling Princess DanYang about it.
I fear that the imperial decree ordering preparations for the Eastern Palace will come.”

Dressed in plain but elegant clothes, Imperial Consort Xian leaned sideways on her sofa and put her forehead in her hands.
She looked extremely tired.

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Recently, Emperor Ning’s illness has continued to linger, and she had remained at his side to take care of him.
She no longer had the energy that the younger concubines did, but for the sake of preventing anyone from taking away his favor, she continued to take care of everything on her own.

It was fortunate that she was the one managing the inner palace, so there were no concubines who would dare to try and compete with her.
She took care of Emperor Ning on her own and only now found some time to come back and see the eldest prince.

The eldest prince said: “Imperial consort mother, you’re still worried about taking care of father Emperor? Are you not at all worried?”

During the past few days, he had been trying to discuss this matter with Imperial Consort Xian, yet Imperial Consort Xian had gone to take care of Emperor Ning, which left him waiting for a number of days.

Imperial Consort Xian lifted her head, “Naturally, this one was worried, but what good does that do? After all of these years, this one has worked hard in managing the inner palace and taking care of His Majesty; however, His Majesty never thought about it.
Since this is the case, would I not need to work even harder in taking care of him in hopes of finally being able to make him feel something and show some concern for the two of us?”

The eldest prince looked at Imperial Consort Xian with a frown.
She had grown accustomed to the virtuous act that she had been putting on after all of these years, and she continued with it even after a critical moment like this.

“Imperial consort mother, have you never considered that if father Emperor never recovers from this illness, he won’t be able to appoint Ning ChengZhi as the crown prince.
You are currently working tirelessly to take care of father Emperor, and that is only helping them!”

Imperial Consort Xian shuddered and looked at the eldest prince in a daze, “But, but His Majesty’s illness is just a cold.
Sooner or later, it will get better.
When he does get better, he will appoint whomever he was planning to appoint.
Even if I didn’t take care of him, what good would that do?”

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The eldest prince looked at her profoundly.
The understanding between mother and son eventually allowed Imperial Consort Xian to understand what he was thinking.

Her hand trembled, as she nearly knocked over a cup of tea on the table.

Imperial Consort Xian pointed at him, “Imperial son, what, what do you mean by this?”

She clearly understood what the eldest prince meant, but the idea was too horrific.
She had to hear it directly from the eldest prince to confirm her suspicions.

The eldest prince moved closer and lowered his voice, “If father Emperor appoints a crown prince while he is alive, the position of emperor will definitely go to the crown prince after he passes away.
If son wishes to contend for the throne, it would be by stealing it! But if father Emperor never recovers from his illness, the court would not have a crown prince, while Ning ChengZhi and I both have half of the court’s approval, which gives me some room to contend.”

“You… You really intend to act against your father Emperor?”

Although Imperial Consort Xian might be dissatisfied with how Emperor Ning handled things, as a member of the inner palace, she could only think of ways to try and move Emperor Ning through his emotions.

As a result, she spent the past few days taking care of feeding him his medicine, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.

But this usually calm and filial eldest prince, whom she viewed as her pride and joy, actually told her to let Emperor Ning fall ill and never recover…

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“Then what would you do?”

The eldest prince said: “Hasn’t imperial consort mother been at father Emperor’s side and taken care of feeding him his medicine? As long as you add a little something to his medicine, father Emperor’s illness will gradually get worse, and nobody would suspect Imperial Consort mother.”

“Who said that nobody would?”

Imperial Consort Xian never thought that he would actually suggest that she should do it, “His Majesty has so many people at his side.
Even if there aren’t any concubines from the inner palace, there are still eunuchs and palace maids.
How do you want Imperial Consort mother to avoid being seen? If I am seen, plotting to harm His Majesty is a crime that will see nine generations of my family executed!”

The eldest prince said: “Imperial Consort mother, what else do you think we can do aside from take this step? Once Ning ChengZhi is appointed to the position of crown prince, it will be hard for both of us to avoid death! Rather than waiting to die, son would rather take the initiative.
There might even be a chance of victory!”

Imperial Consort Xian sat on the sofa, and the eldest prince’s words struck her like lightning and echoed in her head like thunder.

The head palace maid, Mu Jin, suddenly walked into the hall.

“What is it?”

Imperial Consort Xian had not yet recovered from her shock when she saw Mu Jin walk in with a look of displeasure.

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She saluted Imperial Consort Xian and the eldest prince, “Your Highness, please take a look.
This is the monthly allowance that Eunuch Huang just delivered, and it’s significantly less than the usual amount.
This servant weighed it and noticed that it felt off.
I sent someone to go and ask, and he actually said that it had always been this much!”

Imperial Consort Xian furrowed her brow and looked at the bundle in her hand.
Indeed, it was not as plentiful as usual.

She scolded: “The people at the Imperial Household Department really have become muddled, even forgetting how much monthly allowance is to be given to this one’s palace.
What a bunch of fools!”

Mu Jin bit her lip and glanced at the eldest prince.
It seemed that she had something that was hard to say.

Imperial Consort Xian said: “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Mu Jin kneeled on the ground and said: “The person who was sent to ask heard Eunuch Huang say to his subordinate eunuch that the second prince is the future crown prince, and there is no need to get too close with QingHua Palace!”

Crash.

The teacup next to Imperial Consort Xian’s hand shattered on the ground.