met free Chapter 273 Play hard to get
Chapter 273 Play hard to get
The Empress knew this, of course, and that was not all; she was still furious at the moment.
When the emperor deposed Wei Jianning from his position as crown prince, she was very happy. She thought that her son finally had a chance to become crown prince. She had already won over the ministers in the court and was preparing to find an opportunity to petition the emperor to appoint her son as crown prince.
But to her utter surprise, the Emperor appointed Wei Jianxun as Crown Prince without consulting anyone. This was truly unexpected and impossible to guard against!
However, she was, after all, the Empress, and could not be like those other women who lost their composure and made a fool of themselves in front of Consort Liang.
She nodded, feigning composure, "I've heard..."
"You've heard? Then how can you still sit here so calmly?"
"What can anyone do to change the Emperor's decree?"
“Sister, if Ning’er becomes the Crown Prince and then the Emperor, you can become the Empress Dowager and I can become a Consort Dowager. But if Wei Jianxun really becomes the Emperor, how can we sisters still have a good life?”
The Queen knew perfectly well that he was dangling a huge carrot in her mouth, but she didn't call him out on it directly. Instead, she calmly replied:
"I'm not afraid of whoever becomes emperor. With Ye'er here, I'll always have food to eat."
Consort Liang, exasperated, reminded her impatiently:
"Sister is so magnanimous. Logically speaking, with Ning'er's position as crown prince abolished, the person most qualified to take that position is Ye'er. Although he is young, he is, after all, the legitimate son. Now, Wei Jianxun has become the crown prince. Anyway, there is no one in the harem he can worry about. When he really ascends the throne and becomes emperor, I'm afraid he will be the first to see Ye'er as a thorn in his side!"
Her words were exactly what the Empress was worried about, so her heart felt as if it had been clenched tightly at that moment.
However, she calmly let out a soft sigh and looked up at Consort Liang.
"What exactly did my sister want to say today?"
Consort Liang leaned forward and said impatiently:
"We should go together and plead with the Emperor to rescind his decree."
"hehe!"
The Empress gave a disdainful smile.
"Sister Liangfei's idea is terrible. You think the Emperor will take back his decree? Do you think that's possible? I advise you not to waste your time and just do what you're supposed to do!"
"But……"
"Alright, I have other matters to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer."
Seeing that the Empress didn't want to get involved in this matter, Consort Liang could only leave dejectedly.
Standing in the vast, deep palace, she didn't know who to turn to for help for her son, nor did she know what her future held.
She thought of Lan Zhi. It was all her fault. If it weren't for Lan Zhi, Ning'er would have married Lin Yuwei long ago. With the Lin family as his backing, none of this would have happened.
Thinking of this, she angrily flung her sleeves, took off running, and wandered through the deep, dark palace...
Prince's Mansion
Ah Qi and Xiang Xiu stood in front of Lan Zhi, urging her on and on.
"My lord, let's go to the palace to see the Emperor. Didn't he say before that he temporarily abolished the position of Crown Prince in order to quell public anger? Why is he suddenly appointing Wei Jianxun as Crown Prince now? This is not fair!"
Lan Zhi's brows furrowed with caution, then she nodded.
"You're right, we should go see the Emperor, otherwise, won't we give someone a handle to use against us?"
Ah Qi and Xiang Xiu looked at her with puzzled expressions.
"Master, what do you mean by that?"
Lan Zhi's lips curled slightly, and she raised her voice disdainfully:
"The Emperor is so eager to issue an edict to appoint Wei Jianxun as Crown Prince. There must be a reason. Moreover, we already know that Wei Jianxun's people are spreading rumors that Wei Jianning is gathering troops and intends to rebel. Perhaps he wants to use this trick to frame him. If we sit here and do nothing, it would be abnormal."
At this point, she put one hand on her waist and stood up from the chair.
"Change your clothes and enter the palace."
Since the other party had set a trap for her, she decided to do the opposite.
When she knelt before the Emperor, tears streaming down her face, the Emperor looked at Consort Jin with great pleasure and said smugly:
"See! You all guessed wrong. Ning'er is still the same Ning'er as before."
Consort Jin's eyes narrowed slightly, and she gave an awkward smile without responding.
However, from the Emperor's words, Lan Zhi seemed to realize that her previous guess was correct, and that it was not wrong for her to come to the palace to plead for mercy.
Thinking of this, she took the handkerchief in her hand, wiping away the tears that kept streaming down her face, and sobbed:
“Father, Ning’er is not in the capital, and the matter of the Wu family has not been investigated. You deposed him as crown prince and then appointed Prince Xun as crown prince. This is unreasonable and illogical. I beg you to withdraw your decree and wait for Ning’er to return so that we can investigate the matter of the Wu family before making a decision.”
The appointment of Wei Jianxun as crown prince was originally intended to test her. Now that she has actually come to plead for him, the emperor is quite pleased. However, the imperial decree was issued too hastily. Even as the emperor, he cannot simply take it back!
So at this moment, the emperor didn't know what to do either.
Just as the Emperor was about to speak, Lin Yuwei rushed over.
The baby in her womb was two months smaller than Lan Zhi's, but her belly didn't look any smaller than Lan Zhi's.
She stood before the Emperor, glanced sideways at Lan Zhi, and then bowed respectfully, saying:
"Father, the imperial edict appointing the Crown Prince has been posted at the entrance of the government office, and the people of the city are all praising your wisdom."
Her first words were a reminder to the Emperor that the imperial edict of investiture was already known to the people and could not be revoked.
The Emperor frowned slightly and asked with difficulty:
"Do the people of the city know?"
"I understand. My grandfather and father are both at the Ministry of Rites, discussing the investiture ceremony together. I just saw my fourth sister-in-law entering the palace crying, so I thought I'd come and comfort her."
At this point, she turned to look at Lan Zhi.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, things have come to this, so don't be too sad. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, just tell me."
Lan Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly, snorted disdainfully at her, and then looked up at the Emperor.
“Father, if Wei Jianning’s position as Crown Prince is so easily abolished before the truth is found out, I will not accept it, and Wei Jianning will also be dissatisfied. However, we will not disobey Father’s wishes. Therefore, I ask Father to handle this matter accordingly. Your son takes his leave.”
She was only here to go through the motions, so she didn't want to linger or even glance at Lin Yuwei.
Seeing her leave, Lin Yuwei added fuel to the fire again.
“Father, you see, her attitude is so arrogant. It’s clear she doesn’t respect you at all. She’s always been like this, putting on an air of superiority all the time.”
Consort Jin, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up in agreement:
“Princess Consort Xun is right. I also think this woman is far too arrogant. I am, after all, a concubine personally appointed by Your Majesty, but she hasn’t even glanced at me properly since she entered the hall, let alone bowed. If she were to truly regain her position as Crown Princess, wouldn’t she hold her head high in the sky? I feel wronged, Your Majesty…”
Upon seeing this, the Emperor hurriedly comforted his beloved concubine.
"My beloved consort, please don't be angry. I also can't stand her arrogant attitude. I didn't hold it against her before because she saved Ning'er, but I didn't expect her to become even more rude now..."
"Your Majesty, I believe that the matter of appointing Prince Xun as Crown Prince should not be changed. Otherwise, she will think that you are obedient to her and may not respect you in the future."