Divine Doctor: Daughter of the First Wife (Yang Shi Liu) 801

957

Must Not Hate, Just Plan

Filled with anger, Noble Lady Yuan rushed toward Jing Ci Palace with Yue Xiu; however, Jing Ci Palace’s gates were tightly shut, and she was told that Her Highness the Empress was not feeling well. An imperial physician was presently watching over her, and she would not be seeing anyone. The palace servant also said: “For some reason, Her Highness’ complexion was poor after returning from a trip to Heavenly Hall. It seems as though there was some conflict between her and His Majesty. Not long after returning, she collapsed.”

Noble Lady Yuan was unable to get in and could only return to her own palace. Seeing that her anger was not dissipating, Yue Xiu could only console her: “I fear that this matter might be a one-sided decision by His Majesty. If it was said that Her Highness the Empress had a conflict with His Majesty, it should be over this matter. Master should not be too angry. This servant thinks that Her Highness the Empress should have brought it up, but His Majesty did not accept it. In the very end, it all depends on His Majesty’s thoughts. This servant feels that Her Highness does not have much of an effect.”

Yue Xiu’s analysis was reasonable, and Noble Lady Yuan understood that. The reason that she went to look for the Empress was that there was nothing she could do. In this Imperial Palace, aside from the Empress, there was nobody that could help her. But now that the Empress had fallen in battle, it would have been fine if the Emperor had refused, yet there also happened to be the promotion of Noble Lady Li back to the position of imperial concubine, and it had been done in Zhu Kongshan’s name. What sort of situation was this? Could it be that the Sheng Palace providing money for her good deeds and contributions were attributed to Imperial Concubine Li? She was completely unable to understand it, but she also did not dare to go and demand a fair explanation from the Emperor. Everyone knew that there was no such thing as fairness with the Emperor. Everything just happened depending on his thoughts, desires, and mood. On this matter, the only conclusion that she could reach after much thought was: The Emperor’s feelings for Imperial Concubine Li were greater than his feelings for her.

“Send someone to pass the message along to the eighth prince. Have him come into the palace tomorrow to see me.” Noble Lady Yuan forcefully suppressed her anger and gave this order. The eunuch received this order and quickly went to handle it. She then went back inside the hall to pace around, unwilling to remain idle for even a single moment.

The next day, Xuan Tianmo immediately headed to Cun Shan Palace after court was dismissed. He had received news of Imperial Concubine Li’s matter and immediately knew that his mother would not be able to handle this sort of offense. He thought of coming in to console her, but it was too late in the day, and the palace’s gates had already closed, thus he could not get in.

Today, he saw Noble Lady Yuan. Although she had a night to recover, and she was no longer in much of a rash mood, she still appeared to be quite angry and resentful.

“Imperial Concubine Mother.” He was still accustomed to calling her this, “Things have already happened like this. Even if you continue to feel angry, there’s not much point. It would be better to think of a way to turn this bad thing into a good thing.”

“Don’t call me imperial concubine mother!” Noble Lady Yuan angrily said: “I am nothing more than a lowly noble lady and don’t have the right to have my own son call me imperial concubine mother! As for your aunt, she’s enjoying quite a great deal of glory now. Old sixth prince can come back and call her imperial concubine mother. Just thinking about it makes me angry!” She asked Xuan Tianmo in confusion: “Say, why exactly is this? It’s clear that the money spent was yours. Even if His Majesty was to reward someone, it should have been you. Why is it that there hasn’t been any movement on my side, yet her side is quite cheery in returning to her position as imperial concubine, and she was given Zhang Ning Palace? Do you know what sort of place Zhang Ning Palace is? That’s the one closest to the central palace. Thinking back, His Majesty had wanted to give it to Imperial Concubine Yun!”