青春期撞上更年期第1部

“What did Princess Chen say to my master? Why did she even invite over the Emperor?”

“Is there anything that I don’t know happened? What is going on?” In the past, the Empress Dowager would ask me to serve her. What went wrong? Was it about Wei Dahai?”

When Nanny Wei thought about this, her heart fluttered more and more wildly, and she felt very guilty about lying about the contract. Of course, the story about the contract was cooked up by Wei Dahai and her. It was her nephew who told someone to bring the contract to the Palace and dropped it there. Then she accompanied the Empress Dowager to take a walk nearby, and they saw it.

If the Empress Dowager learned the truth about this matter, she would be in a towering rage.

Nanny Wei’s face turned livid. She gulped for air, repeatedly telling herself not to panic and trying to calm down. Maybe it was not what she had guessed. No matter how furious the Empress Dowager was about this, she didn’t have to look for the Emperor, let alone let him take action.

Over and over again, she told herself not to scare herself. It couldn’t be that thing. It couldn’t have happened.

The heavy gate opened wild, and the Emperor, wearing a bright yellow brocade robe, stepped outside. Hands behind his back, he looked at the people standing by there. Finally, his eyes fell on Nanny Wei. “Nanny Wei, Imperial Mother is inside. Go and serve her!”

After that, he strode out with his servants waiting at the gate.

Nanny Wei answered respectfully. After the Emperor left, she straightened up, trying to calm her flustered mind, and walked into the main hall.

The Empress Dowager was sitting in the main hall, still with a sullen face. Hearing her voice, she looked up at Nanny Wei solemnly. Again, Nanny Wei’s heart began racing.

“Your… Your Majesty!”

“Deliver my imperial order: tell Consort of Virtue to come over.” The Empress Dowager said coldly.

“Your Majesty, did anything happen? She has always been filial to you!” Nanny Wei asked tentatively.

Consort of Virtue had been accompanying the Empress Dowager for many years. Nanny Wei knew her master liked her, though she was not the Empress.

“Did I ever say she was unfilial?” The Empress Dowager’s cold, icelike, and distant eyes landed on Nanny Wei as she said, “We have been standing together through thick and thin for so many years in the Palace. One kind of person can’t live long here. You should know that, right?”

“What, what kind of…” Nanny Wei asked. Fear made her teeth chatter.

“Those who betray their masters and talk too much.” The Empress Dowager said flatly.

Nanny Wei’s back was covered with cold sweat, and she lowered her head in a panic. She gritted her teeth and composed herself before replying, “I understand. I’m going to invite Consort of Virtue over.”

No matter what, what happened to Consort of Virtue had nothing to do with her.

“You can leave now. Be cautious with your words!” The Empress Dowager waved her hand and said.

She was in no mood to deal with Nanny Wei’s matter. Compared with the trouble started by Duke Cheng’en’s painting, Nanny Wei’s thing was just a small matter.

After their discussion, she and the Emperor agreed that the Consort of Virtue and the Empress were the most likely suspects.

Yet, they couldn’t investigate the two of them together, for it might expose their purpose. Thus, to find out who was the most likely to be behind this plot, the Empress Dowager would ask the Consort of Virtue while the Emperor would go to see the Empress.

Consort of Virtue came quickly. Upon seeing the Empress Dowager, she bowed with great respect and began asking about the Empress Dowager’s health condition. She was a favorite with the Empress Dowager and was in the leading place among the four consorts. It was only right and proper that she gave birth to the eldest son of the Emperor.

After chatting with Consort of Virtue for a while, the Empress Dowager asked her to go back and sit in the main hall alone, pondering deeply.

She was very reluctant to recollect what had happened that day: she helplessly watched her son die before her. There had always been a doubt lingering in her mind — she wondered if her eldest son really died of illness.

Otherwise, why would he suddenly pass away halfway through the treatment?

The imperial physician had always said that his illness was worsening and that there was no hope. But, never had he mentioned that her eldest son would die in a few days. Besides, he died abruptly without leaving his last words. Could he no longer endure his long illness? Or was there something unexpected?

The Empress Dowager had secretly sent people to investigate it but found nothing.

The past event was brought up again, implying that she had something to do with it. Who did it? This person knew the Palace inside out…

Pieces of news secretly spread out from the Palace, and those who got the information were silently terrified.

First, the Empress Dowager harshly scolded Duke Cheng’en and smashed a cup against him. Later, the Emperor met the Empress while the Empress Dowager called in Consort of Virtue. It was heard that the Emperor was severely scolding the Empress loudly in his Imperial Study. When Consort of Virtue came out of the Empress Dowager’s palace, she was preoccupied with anxiety and nearly fell over on her way back.

How could one painting from Duke Cheng’en cause all of this?

A painting couldn’t be powerful enough to lead to these grave consequences. Duke Cheng’en was useless, but the Empress Dowager had always respected him. So, even if she was displeased, she couldn’t throw a teacup at him. When Duke Cheng’en was walking out of the Palace, he hadn’t yet wiped off all the blood stains on his forehead. Some people who saw him said he looked pathetically embarrassed.

This matter must have been of great importance and caused by Duke Cheng’en.

With his character, Duke Cheng’en must have been deceived by someone and said something improper to the Empress Dowager, which annoyed her and got him into trouble. After that, Duke Cheng’en was dismissed from his post with little work in the Imperial Household Department. It could be seen that he had incensed the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.

Then the Empress and Consort of Virtue also got involved in that.

Such a matter caused these reactions. Many people guessed that this matter must be related to the succession of the throne.

When discussing the establishment of the crown prince in the imperial court, many officials argued that the vacancy of an heir was very bad for a nation. So, these officials asked the Emperor to make the decision early and not to leave them on tenterhooks.

On this premise, what happened made some sense. There were so many imperial consorts in the Palace. Why didn’t they question others but only the Empress and Consort of Virtue? It must be because of Prince Yue and Prince Zhou.

As for Prince Xin, he was young and had been too much ignored by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. He was said to be in poor physical condition recently and had not appeared in public for a long time. Even if Consort Ming in the Palace had some ambitious ideas, so what? Prince Xin was much less competitive than Prince Yue and Prince Zhou.

Were they going to choose the crown prince? Everyone was anxious and worried about who would be chosen, always regarding the answer as something of a great enigma. Anyway, they had to deal with it cautiously and wait for the final decision from the Palace. Which prince would the Emperor and the Empress Dowager choose to become the heir to the throne?

This was something big that would affect everyone in the next few decades.

Changes in the imperial court might cause awful disasters…

In the Empress‘s Phoenix Palace, the Empress slammed her hand on the table, gnashing her teeth in anger.

“Your Majesty, don’t be angry.” Her trusted Nanny soothed her in a soft voice.

“How can I not be angry? How do I know what happened that year? I’m suspected of taking advantage of some things to stir up trouble in the Palace! But I was not there back then. I know nothing about the matter.” The Empress said rather fretfully.

For some inexplicable reason, the Emperor rebuked her and even ordered her to kneel as a punishment. For the Empress, it was a disgrace to her. She had been respected as a motherly model of the nation. After this, how could she manage the imperial harem in the future?

She was living in peace in the Phoenix Palace. Then there came the unforeseen misfortune. She was in a peeve over it, like having a fishbone stuck in the throat.

She had been sitting up high in a leading position for so long and had only suffered one setback because of someone. Most importantly, she didn’t have the slightest idea of what was going on and why the Emperor would blame her without rhyme or reason.

“Your Majesty, you didn’t do this, then it could be Consort of Virtue. Prince Yue has always been resourceful, and Consort of Virtue is used to progressing with preconceived plans. Both you and she were asked to answer questions, but only you were reprimanded. It’s thus clear that Consort of Virtue came well prepared.”

Her personal Nanny helped her analyze.

While listening to her, the Empress nodded vigorously. She fell prey to the dark scheme because she was ill-informed. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager invited her and Consort of Virtue, so Consort of Virtue was also a suspect. For her, since she didn’t do it, it must be Consort of Virtue.

“That bitch!” The Empress was very anxious to visit Consort of Virtue’s place and give her a few tight slaps to make her see her inferior position.

“At this time, you shouldn’t lose your temper. It is best to calm down, think about this matter, and investigate it carefully. You can’t go to see Consort of Virtue on impulse.”

The personal Nanny knew the Empress’ temper. Seeing her master clench her teeth in bitter hatred, she knew things might go wrong. Thus, she hurriedly tried her best to soothe her anger.

“Your Majesty, your words and deeds will affect Prince Zhou, so you can’t implicate him!” The Empress got so furious that she gasped for breath. The Nanny feared she would mention Prince Zhou again in a moment of impulse.

Hearing that, the Empress looked a little less irritated. At this time, she mustn’t make any move without thinking carefully. The Emperor had just severely rebuked her so that she couldn’t provoke any more dispute. Since she was the Empress and had a legitimate son, she would never allow Consort of Virtue’s son to override her and her son.

“I can bear it,” the Empress said through gritted teeth.

“I’ve asked around. After Duke Cheng’en brought trouble to himself, the Empress Dowager met Princess Chen first and asked her to leave. Nothing serious happened. After that, she sent for the Emperor. As soon as His Majesty returned his Imperial Study from the Palace of Benevolent Peace, he asked you to come over!”

The Nanny got enough information from the outside and figured out the whole thing. In fact, it was not exactly a secret at all. In just a while, many people had secretly learned about some things. In the Palace, many people were keen on collecting this kind of message.

“I’ll see Princess Chen tomorrow!” The Empress gritted her teeth, suppressed her anger for the time being, and said. It was already late, so it was inappropriate to order Shao Wanru to enter the Palace. Otherwise, she would meet Princess Chen now and make everything clear.

“But such a thing happened today. You should find a really good reason to summon her tomorrow. Do you think so?” The personal Nanny suggested helpfully.

“There is a reason, a justifiable one. She can’t refuse to come!” The Empress said with hatred. At this moment, she even had a grudge against Shao Wanru. She resented the Shao sisters for a long time and hated them even more at this time.