Pampered Consort Of The Fragrant Orchard Chapter 111.1: A Family Outside the City (1)

Du Xiaoli picked up a branch and tossed it into the fire, sending a few sparks flying through the air before they dissipated. “Leng Yi, aren't the Emperor and Prince Ren both the Empress Dowager's own sons? Why is she having Prince Ren usurp the throne?”

Leng Yi put down the pastry in his hand and said, “Actually, the Emperor is not the Empress Dowager's real son.”

The Emperor was not the Empress Dowager's real son? But wasn’t it common knowledge that they were biological mother and son?

“Qiaozhu said that the Emperor and Prince Ren were biological brothers, how come now they're biological brothers?” Ying Ge was quick to follow, and spoke on the same doubts Du Xiaoli had in her heart.

“In the eyes of outsiders, they are biological brothers because the Emperor was taken care of by the Empress Dowager after he was born, and that's how it's been told to the outside world, too.” Leng Yi replied. Hmm? What was the story here?

Seeing the doubt and curiosity in everyone's eyes, Leng Yi elaborated, “Back then, the late Emperor was in love with the Empress, and it's fairly accurate to say that he favored her and only her at that time. However, the first Empress had a difficult labor when she gave birth to the Emperor, so she died just after giving birth to him. Later on, the late Emperor pa.s.sed the current Emperor to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager, knowing that the Emperor loved this son of his, said that she would take him in as her own son, and tell this to the outside world too. The late Emperor did not want others to look down on the current Emperor, so he also agreed with the Empress Dowager. From then on, the current Emperor visited the Empress Dowager more often, and later even gave her her t.i.tle as Empress. That's why all the commoners a.s.sumed that the Emperor was the Empress Dowager's biological son.”

“The Empress Dowager is so shrewd.” Ying Ge sighed.

“She's definitely a strong woman.”

“She doesn't really like the Emperor, does she?” Xia Yuan said.

Leng Er nodded and said, “In the beginning, the late Emperor also thought that she truly liked the Emperor, but after some time, he naturally picked up on some clues. He didn't decide on who would be the Crown Prince very early on, and treated all the princes more or less the same, even treating Prince Ren a little bit better, but it wasn't particularly obvious, so people couldn't figure out what he was thinking. But he was secretly cultivating the current Emperor for power, even secretly teaching him the book of the Emperors. When he grew up and was capable of protecting himself, only then did the late Emperor suddenly declare him the crown prince. Although the Empress Dowager didn't say anything publicly, she still secretly made some moves against him, but they were all blocked.”

“If the late Emperor was aware of those things the Empress Dowager did, why didn't he dispose of her?” Ying Ge asked.

“No, although the late Emperor suspected her, he didn't have any evidence. Every time it wasn't her who did something bad, it was another consort.”

“It was probably that those consorts were controlled by her Gu insects.” Du Xiaoli said.

“I don't know, but the Emperor dealt her a hard blow before he died and struck down a lot of her power, so she didn't do anything for many years. Now I think she must be unable to sit still,” Leng Er said.

“If the Empress Dowager is like this, what about the Zhong family? How have they reacted?” Du Xiaoli asked.

“The Zhong family has been very lowkey. Ever since old Prime Minister Zhong went home to recuperate from his illness, very few people have seen him come out. Although there are quite a few Zhong family members who are officials, none of them are very high in power. The Emperor has occasionally mentioned wanting to raise their official positions, but he was stopped by the Empress Dowager. She said to avoid allowing the Zhong family to become too powerful.”

“Then are there many officials taking part in the palace revolt?” Du Xiaoli asked again.

“One third.” Leng Er replies, “And several of them are high officials with significant power in their hands.”

“I think that although Elder Prime Minister Zhong went home, he didn't stop making moves. He merely switched from acting in the open to acting in the dark, working on those things in secret.” Du Xiaoli guessed and said.

“That's what Master thinks as well.” Leng Er replied, “But that old Prime Minister Zhong is indeed an old fox. Furthermore, Master is always out fighting, so he hasn’t been able to find much evidence of his actions.”

“This means...” Now knowing the true circ.u.mstances of the matter, Du Xiaoli felt that Han Mingze was actually a bit pitiful. Having grown up without the shelter of his mother, coupled with insincerity of the Empress Dowager who had raised him was not sincere to him– the environment he had grown up in had basically been frightening every step of the way. Fortunately, he had been supported by the biggest possible backer.

“Everyone should rest early. We have to continue traveling tomorrow.” Leng Yi waited for Leng Er to finish before speaking.

“Mm, everyone should rest.” Du Xiaoli also said.

“Leave two people to keep watch, one for the first half of the night and one for the second half.” Luo Qi said. “I'll do the first half of the night, Mu Shui, you can keep watch for the second half of the night.”

“Yes, Young Master.” Mu Shui nodded.

They were away from home, and no one could care less. They were truly tired this night, and so they fell asleep, leaning against the wall and against the horses.

Luo Qi, on the other hand, stood guard in front of the fire, adding some firewood on top from time to time.

Du Xiaoli rested against the wall beside him. As he looked at her small face illuminated by the firelight, his eyes narrowed slightly. He reached out to touch her face, but then saw her tightly frowning. His hand stopped in mid-air, he laughed at himself, and withdrew his hand.

Seeing that she wasn’t sleeping soundly at all, she was probably worried about Prime Minister Du and that man.

Toward the latter part of the night, Mu Shui woke up and replaced Luo Qi, who leaned against Du Xiaoli. Smelling her scent, he fell asleep.

The fire didn't go out for the whole night, keeping the house warm. Early the next morning, everyone woke up, and seeing the horses that were still alive, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. In weather like this, it was better to have horses than travel on foot.

“Let's continue on the road.” Leng Yi said as he extinguished the fire and any remnant sparks.

There was no river or anything here, so n.o.body bothered to wash up. They only took out their horses and began to travel hurriedly again.

Luckily today, there were no more heavy winds and thick snow. Although there was snow on the ground, the horses still ran relatively fast, leaving the mountain range after an hour or so. Once they entered the plains, their speed was also much faster, so n.o.body rested at night, and they continued to hurry onwards.

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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