Chapter 224 - A Golden Opportunity 3
Chapter 224 – A Golden Opportunity 3
Just as Emperor Zhong predicted by the time he had regained consciousness the news of his blackout had spread. Speculation was ripe among the citizens, more so in the camps of the four princes. The Crown Prince tried to get information about the Emperor's current condition but in the end, got no results as Chief Eunuch Caihong cut out all information as per the Emperor's order.
Zhongshan Ling felt a lot more uneasy as his spies returned with no information, he was left with no other choice than to brave the public scrutiny and entered the palace. Unlike his three Imperial brothers, Zhongshan Ling had certain special privileges that they lacked. One of these privileges enabled him to make such a daring visit without any heavy repercussion. Apart from fueling certain rumours about his morality, he wasn't affected as much since he could claim to enter the palace for official purposes.
This is because according to the ancient rules most senior princes must leave the palace and decide in their mansion after their coming of age ceremony. Only the Crown Prince had an official residence and office within the palace due to the nature of his job. This was a rule made to prevent strife among the princes that would cause unrest and destabilise the country.
The fifth and seventh princes were senior members of the royal family, hence they were stuck in their residence and could enter without the Emperor's permission. However, since the ninth prince was still very young and lived with his mother imperial consort Ning within the palace. He was not affected by that rule but since he was only 6 years old apart from requesting to visit the Emperor with his mother, there wasn't much that could be done.
Zhongshan Ling ran into his youngest brother Zhongshan Jun at the entrance to his father's palace. The young prince stood at the gate in his cream coloured little official tunics with his mother Imperial Consort Ning holding his hands steadily. The Young Imperial Consort Ning was the youngest daughter of the Ning's from the south that was in charge of a section of the trade route located at the south.
They were a merchant family and apart from sharing the same name as the Ning family located at the capital. They had nothing in common and were one of the major merchant families. Imperial consort Ning was a level headed woman who was smart enough to understand the importance of knowing one's place in the royal family. She never overstepped her bounds and was a rational thinker. Unlike the other royal concubines that flocked to the Emperor's palace as soon as they held the news.
She has stopped by at the Empress's palace and arrived with the Empress. The Ning family in the south were not as established as most of the families backing the other royal concubines. She had gotten into the palace by luck and understood the importance of having good allies. Unlike the other concubines, she tried to maintain a good relationship with the Empress since she entered the palace. It was her good relationship with the Empress that kept her son alive in the palace.
It was no secret that the reason only five princes out of the nine princes born by the royal concubines survived was because they had favoured concubines as mothers. When even the Empress lost her son, the Imperial haram was a blood bath. Imperial Consort Ning stood behind the other concubines who were left at the gate. Apart from the Empress, Emperor Zhong refused to see anyone else.
They could only stand at the gate and wait for the Empress to return with any instruction from the Emperor. Imperial Consort Ning and her son bowed low as the Crown Prince got closer. "Your highness", she said softly.
Zhongshan Ling glanced at the quiet child standing next to her, he frowned as his eyes fell on the silver crown on Zhongshan Jun's head. It was as exquisite as he remembered, as expected of a crown from the Emperor's collection. The Crown Prince's pro-longed silence kept her bowing and had Imperial consort Ning worried, she looked up discretely. Imperial consort Ning belched and her grip on her son's hands tighten as she took a step back, legs shaking. Only one word could describe the look in the Crown Prince's eyes as he looked down at her son.
The undisguised Hate scared her, she suddenly felt the need to run far away with her son. With how bloodthirsty the Crown Prince was these says she feared for the safety of her son. The hand holding her son shook as she prayed silently that the Crown Prince won't set his gaze on her son. She had instructed her brother not to accept any promotion to the capital with hopes that it would keep the other princes from attacking her son.
The sudden emergence of Chief Eunuch Caihong from within the Emperor's rooms drew Zhongshan Ling's attention away from his somewhat well favoured younger brother. Zhongshan Ling approached the Chief Eunuch and asked, " Eunuch Caihong, how is my father? May I go in for a visit?"
Eunuch Caihong gazed from the small crowd of royal concubines surrounding the entrance to the Crown Prince and ninth prince and sighed. Dealing with an uncomfortable situation was nothing new for Eunuch Caihong but that didn't mean that he enjoyed the process. Maintaining a friendly smile he replied, "His Majesty understands how filial his highness, however after taking his medicine. His Majesty has turned in for the night." He glanced at the royal concubines standing around and continued, "it is getting late, his majesty has dismissed everyone for the night".
This statement left them with no road to take, everyone began to withdrew and return to their palaces. Zhongshan Ling stayed for only a few minutes before leaving the palace
******
Meanwhile at the main courtyard of Prince Wu's mansion.
Lu Yaozhu held the deer fur brush steady over the spread-out white calligraphy paper holding back his wide sleeve, he gently brought down the brush. He held back his sleeves to prevent staining the light coloured silk wide sleeves with black ink as he wrote a few auspicious words in board handwriting. Beside him, kneeling silently was Su Liya grinding and mixing the ink.
The news of the Emperor fainting put everyone on edge, Lu Yaozhu and Su Liya included. Lu Yaozhu was suddenly faced with the thought of the future. He had never thought of what would happen if Emperor Zhong was no more. After spending over a decade and a half hating his estranged father, he had grown comfortable with the feeling that he never thought of the End. It was easier to hate a person than to forgive, not that he ever considered forgiving the Emperor until today.
Su Liya on the other hand felt like a stop watched gas began running, as she was suddenly plagued by the events that occurred at the end of the Crown Prince's cunning consort. She had begun grinding the ink to centre her mind and keep her thoughts from running wild. After spending nearly 3 years in this strange world, she had more questions than answers. She has assumed that all the questions she had concerning the Crown Prince and the Lu family would be answered by now but it was like every answer lead to bigger questions.
Su Liya pushed the inkstone aside and sat straighter. Her little actions made Lu Yaozhu stop his calligraphy and set down the brush. He was curious what she had to say, "what is it Yaya?"
Su Liya gazed down at the white jade ring on her finger and rolled the jade ring gently, she bit her like gently. "What is your plan, what do you have planned? Look at me repeating my question, way to ask the same question in two different ways."
She raised her gazed and looked him straight in the eye as she asked "what happens to us when his Majesty dies?"