met free Chapter 355 Undercurrent
Chapter 355 Undercurrent
In the imperial palace, in the imperial study, Emperor Qiyuan was frowning as he looked at the memorial sent by King Xiaoyao from his fiefdom.
The content of the memorial roughly said that his daughter Zhao Xing'er was about to get married, and he begged the emperor to allow him to return to Beijing to preside over his daughter's wedding.
When Emperor Qiyuan thought of the relationship between Prince Xiaoyao and Concubine Dong, he held his breath. He held the memorial tightly in his hand, and his thoughts drifted back to their youth.
At that time, the late emperor led Emperor Qiyuan and King Xiaoyao to fight on the battlefield. They went through life and death together and had a good relationship. In one battle, King Xiaoyao even saved Emperor Qiyuan's life.
Later, Emperor Qiyuan ascended the throne, and King Xiaoyao returned to his fiefdom soon after.
A few years later, King Xiaoyao returned to the capital. It seemed that since that time, King Xiaoyao often made some small moves behind the scenes, mostly targeting the prince.
Emperor Qiyuan, out of consideration for their brotherly love, only gave a warning and did not impose excessive punishment.
But King Xiaoyao not only did not restrain himself, but became more and more outrageous.
During a hunting trip a few years ago, King Xiaoyao actually shot and injured the prince with his own hands!
That incident completely touched the bottom line of Emperor Qiyuan. Emperor Qiyuan was very angry, but still thinking of the life-saving grace he had received, he did not kill King Xiaoyao, but drove him back to his fiefdom.
But now, Emperor Qiyuan has discovered the relationship between Prince Xiaoyao and Concubine Dong, which has completely eliminated the little affection he had for Prince Xiaoyao!
Just when Emperor Qiyuan was lost in thought, Eunuch Xia walked in from outside the door.
"Your Majesty, the Empress requests an audience."
Emperor Qiyuan came back to his senses and said, "Let the queen come in!"
After Eunuch Xia left, the Queen came in carrying a food box.
"I, my concubine, see you, Your Majesty."
Emperor Qiyuan raised his hand and said, "No need to be polite! Why is the Queen here?"
The queen stepped forward, opened the food box, took out a porcelain bowl and placed it in front of Emperor Qiyuan.
"I heard that Your Majesty has not had a good appetite these past two days. I have asked the kitchen to make some ginseng chicken soup. Your Majesty, please drink it while it's hot!"
"The Queen has a heart!"
Emperor Qiyuan picked up the bowl and took a sip. The temperature was just right and the taste was very good. Emperor Qiyuan drank it all out of respect.
The Queen stood behind Emperor Qiyuan and rubbed his shoulders.
"I've noticed that Your Majesty has lost some weight in the past two days. Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!"
"Ah."
Emperor Qiyuan seemed very tired. He just hummed and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair, enjoying the queen's moderate strength.
The Queen stopped talking and just focused on massaging Emperor Qiyuan.
"Has the Queen heard the rumors?"
Just when the Queen thought that Emperor Qiyuan had fallen asleep, Emperor Qiyuan suddenly asked.
The Queen paused and asked cautiously, "What rumors are you talking about, Your Majesty?"
Emperor Qi Yuan still closed his eyes and said slowly, "Isn't the hottest rumor recently about Prince Rui's personal affairs?"
"Your Majesty, have you heard...heard those rumors?"
The Queen looked at the back of the Emperor's head and asked in surprise. Emperor Tianqi Yuan did not show any abnormality, and the Queen thought he had not heard the rumors!
"I heard it. It seems the Queen heard it too?"
There was no emotion in Emperor Qiyuan's voice.
The Queen thought for a moment and said, "It's just a rumor, Your Majesty, don't take it to heart.
Or I can ask the prince to check who is spreading rumors behind the scenes! The person who spread the rumors must be arrested. I believe that in a few days, no one will dare to mention this matter. "
"Well, let the prince do it!"
Emperor Qiyuan agreed to the Queen's proposal, and after a moment he said, "Prince Xiaoyao has submitted a memorial asking me to allow him to return to the capital to marry his daughter. What do you think, Queen?"
After pondering for a moment, the Queen said, "I dare not speak rashly, but now rumors are spreading everywhere. If King Xiaoyao comes back at this time, I am afraid that something will happen again!
I don't know what's going on with Zhao Xing'er. How come she suddenly chose a man to marry? "
The Queen hated Prince Xiaoyao from the bottom of her heart and had been attacking the Prince overtly and covertly over the years.
This time when the prince was poisoned, the queen also suspected that it was related to Prince Xiaoyao, but she had not found evidence yet and could not say it out loud.
Emperor Qiyuan did not speak again. After the empress left, Emperor Qiyuan sat up straight again. He stared at the memorial with sharp eyes, and after a moment, he wrote the word "approved" on it.
The queen walked out of the imperial study and curled the corners of her mouth slightly. Although the emperor did not say anything in the end, she knew that no matter whether the rumors were true or false, the emperor of a country could not allow his dignity to be challenged like this!
Regardless of whether Prince Rui is the emperor's biological son or not, he has already been blacklisted by the emperor! And Prince Xiaoyao, even if the emperor cares about family affection, I'm afraid he won't be able to tolerate him this time!
Concubine Dong and Prince Rui were not as indifferent as Shen Qingqian thought. As soon as they heard the rumor, they contacted Prince Xiaoyao.
They had no time to care about the source of the rumor or the instigator behind it. They had to make all preparations and go all out before the rumor reached the emperor's ears!
Because they knew that once the emperor found out the truth, they and their son would surely die!
Therefore, during these seemingly peaceful days, Concubine Dong and Prince Rui were actually plotting something big!
Shen Qingqian would never have thought that the rumors she fabricated to deal with Concubine Dong and her son were actually the truth of the matter!
Prince Rui is really the son of Prince Xiaoyao.
Before, Madam Zheng told Shen Qingqian that Concubine Dong asked her to deliver a letter to King Xiaoyao. By the time she had the chance to deliver the letter, King Xiaoyao had already gone to his fiefdom.
But that was just what she thought!
In fact, just two days after Dong Yurou handed the letter to Madam Zheng, Prince Xiaoyao happened to secretly go to see Concubine Dong.
Concubine Dong thought that it was Madam Zheng who delivered the letter to Prince Xiaoyao, and that Prince Xiaoyao took the risk to come and see her after reading her letter.
When the two met, they couldn't help but get entangled with each other and had physical contact after just a few words. Afterwards, they didn't mention the letter. Therefore, the letter remained in Mrs. Zheng's hands.
It was also during that meeting between Concubine Dong and Prince Xiaoyao before their separation that Concubine Dong became pregnant with Prince Rui.
King Xiaoyao knew very early on that King Rui was his child.
Therefore, over the years, whether in the capital or in his own fiefdom, King Xiaoyao has been secretly making small moves, with the purpose of helping King Rui, eliminating the prince, and then supporting King Rui to ascend to the throne.
But the prince was not easy to deal with. He had the support of the Queen's family and the assistance of Zhao Yichen who held military power. King Xiaoyao failed several times and also angered the Emperor, so he was driven back to his fiefdom.