mtl008 Chapter 583 Demoted to Common People
Chapter 583 Demoted to Common People
Emperor Shenwu rarely dreamed. He was naturally determined and decisive in his actions, but tonight he fell into a nightmare. In his dream, Lan Qingwu stood under a peach tree with her back to him. He called her, "Weiwei!"
Lan Qingwu didn't turn around, but said calmly: "You do this for your people, and I do this for mine. From now on, we will never see each other again!"
No, no! I don’t want to give up on you! Emperor Shenwu shouted in his dream. He wanted to chase Lan Qingwu, but he only saw Lan Qingwu under the peach tree. His figure gradually blurred until it disappeared!
The Shenwu Emperor suddenly opened his eyes. The fear in his heart had not yet completely dissipated. Lan Qingwu's slowly disappearing figure made him feel a lingering fear. He turned his head and found Lan Qingwu sleeping peacefully in his arms. The Shenwu Emperor slowly let out a sigh of relief and silently hugged her tightly.
At the door, Li Xiang was calling softly, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Emperor Shenwu half sat up and was about to lift the quilt and get out of bed, but suddenly he paused. He looked down and saw Lan Qingwu's white fingers hooked around his bony fingers. Emperor Shenwu looked at her for a long while, gently kissed her forehead, and then got out of bed.
Emperor Shenwu did not believe everything Shi Qingluan said. These days, he asked several imperial doctors to take turns to check Lan Qingwu's pulse, but his pulse was still slippery.
Today, Emperor Shenwu received a letter of resignation from Wang Shuren, requesting to retire and return home. Emperor Shenwu read the contents of the letter in silence for a long time, and finally kept it without sending it out.
When the third princess saw her mother's tragic death at her maternal grandparents' home, one can imagine how grief-stricken she was. The entire Shi family was plunged into misery.
And his own mother, who should have been born noble, had dried blood all over her head and face. She didn't even have a decent dress! Not to mention jewelry or a coffin! She just lay there in silence, miserable and motionless.
"Mother!" The third princess called softly. The huge grief occupied her heart, making her lose all her reason.
The Third Princess listened expressionlessly as the steward of her maternal grandfather's household relayed, "Noble Master has been demoted to a commoner. His Majesty has decreed that she may not be buried in the imperial concubine's mausoleum. Let our family handle this on their own!"
The Third Princess thought angrily, what can the Shi family do? Since ancient times, married daughters are not allowed to be buried in their ancestral tombs! Let alone a concubine who has been abandoned by the emperor!
The Third Princess's brain was filled with blood, and she lost all her rationality. Why? Why did you treat my mother like this? When the housekeeper of the Master's Mansion looked up again, she found that the Third Princess had already rushed out the door.
"Three princesses!"
The Third Princess headed straight for the palace. When she was stopped at the palace gate, she drew her dagger, pressed it against her neck, and shouted, "Who dares to stop me? I am the Third Princess! I am of royal blood!"
Li Zhong hurried over and said coldly, "Everyone, get out of the way! His Majesty has ordered—let the Third Princess in!"
He pronounced the three words "Third Princess" particularly clearly, revealing a sense of irony.
The third princess didn't care about anything else and she went straight into the Qianzheng Hall.
In the main hall of Qianzheng Palace, Emperor Shenwu was sitting at the top. He watched calmly as the third princess rushed in front of him.
The third princess stood upright, grief-stricken, and demanded, "You forced my mother to death! You even brought her body back to our family! You forbade her to be buried in the imperial mausoleum!"
"Your mother committed suicide! You and your mother know exactly what you did. I am powerless to do anything about it, and I don't want someone like this to be buried in my mausoleum a hundred years later, disturbing my peace!"
The Third Princess was trembling with anger. Emperor Shenwu looked at his always arrogant and domineering daughter with a hint of doubt: "I have treated you princesses well. The fiefdoms and estates are enough for you to live a life of wealth and comfort. Why are you so ambitious as a daughter? Why do you have to interfere in the affairs of the court and among the princes?"
The Third Princess said, "Father, the Crown Prince and heir you chose have been at odds with me since childhood. If I want to live a life of wealth and peace forever, then he must not be the Crown Prince! Will he still treat me, your sister, with favor after he ascends the throne?"
"We are just making choices and taking gambles! And the reason you treated my mother so ruthlessly this time was because your beloved Queen was hurt!"
Emperor Shenwu's expression was filled with gloom. "Now that I know, I have nothing more to say to you! From today on, I will remove your name from the imperial register. Since you don't desire what I have bestowed upon you, and still ambitiously stretch your hands so far, then you will be a commoner from now on!"
"Since you are my blood, I do not want your life! The Third Princess is stripped of her title. From now on, there will be no more Heshun Princesses. The Third Princess is demoted to a commoner! All her fiefs and estates will be taken back, and all the palace servants and eunuchs assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be returned!"
"From today on, you are just the second daughter-in-law of the Lu family! Whether you can take root and survive in the Lu family mansion, and how long you can live, has nothing to do with me anymore! On your way to the palace, I sent an imperial decree to the Lu Mansion. They should have received the imperial decree by now! This should be your last time entering the palace!"
The Third Princess looked at the Emperor Shenwu in disbelief: "Father! You don't want your daughter anymore! I am your biological daughter! I am of royal blood! Why are you so cruel to me? You even want to deprive me of my bloodline. You want to take back everything I have! Is it just because of that girl who is pregnant with someone else's child..."
Emperor Shenwu showed no mercy this time. The palm wind came in an instant, and the third princess was slapped to the ground. Her cheeks immediately became red and swollen, and blood flowed from the corners of her mouth.
Emperor Shenwu said coldly, "From today on, there is no longer any father-daughter relationship between you and me! You have touched my reverse scale! From now on, your life and death are your own responsibility, which is the greatest mercy I can show you! If you say anything you shouldn't, first, whether others believe it or not, and second, I will not look for anyone else, but only your husband to settle the score! Let's see how many lives he has left!"
The Third Princess was demoted to a commoner and mercilessly expelled from the palace by the Emperor Shenwu. The Imperial City was filled with astonishment and outcry. This Third Princess, no! Now it should be called the commoner Zhou Chengyao. She had set a precedent for the first princess in this dynasty to be demoted to a commoner! Even the imprisoned Fourth Prince had not been removed from the imperial family tree by the Emperor. It was unknown what Zhou Chengyao had done wrong!
Oh, Zhou Chengyao's mother, Consort Shi Qingluan, poisoned the Empress and then committed suicide. The evidence is irrefutable, and the Emperor has returned her body to the Shi family. Could it be that Zhou Chengyao's demotion to a commoner was related to the Empress' poisoning? Another rumor is that the Empress had been recuperating at the Hot Springs Imperial Manor due to poisoning, but her condition had recently worsened, which was why the Emperor was furious.
The common people have no idea whether the rumors are true or false, and how many people can see through the secrets in the palace?
Emperor Shenwu summoned Nie Wushuang again. Nie Wushuang knelt down and saluted, still thinking about how to deal with the emperor's questions this time.
Unexpectedly, after waiting for a while, Emperor Shenwu did not ask any questions.
Nie Wushuang waited tremblingly for a moment before the Emperor Shenwu asked, "How has the Empress's pulse been these past two days? Have you discovered any other new clues?"
Nie Wushuang looked up in surprise.
Emperor Shenwu held up the memorial in his hand. "Actually, after meeting Shi Qingluan, I've had some more doubts. I'm half-believing and half-doubting what she said. This is a memorial Wang Shuren recently submitted to me, requesting to retire and return to his hometown, resigning from his position and leaving the country! His wife is pregnant again and in good health, so he wants to focus on taking care of her at home!"
Emperor Shenwu finished his words with a somewhat expressionless face, "It is also mentioned above that I am like the turbid wind and the beautiful woman is like the bright moon. The turbid wind and the bright moon are unrelated!"
"My anger has subsided a bit these days, but Wang Shuren's confession has made me suspicious again. If what Wang Shuren said is true, then where did the Queen's pregnancy come from?"
Shi Qingluan was intent on provoking herself, while Emperor Shenwu slightly put aside his crazy jealousy and anger, and finally had some other thoughts. There was another point, which Wang Shuren flatly denied, and he still had some understanding of Wang Shuren's character.
Earlier, Lan Qingwu's sudden pregnancy made her lose her composure and she was immersed in jealousy, suspicion, grief and anger.
Nie Wushuang broke out in a cold sweat again. He hadn't discovered anything else. "Your Majesty, apart from the unusually strong fetus, I haven't found any other clues yet, and..."
Emperor Shenwu said coldly, "And the fetus is still growing in the Queen's womb, right?"
Nie Wushuang lowered his head and said nothing. He had read all the medical books in the past few days. As he took the Queen's pulse again, he almost doubted himself. When people around him hold different opinions from him, no matter who they are, they will fall into self-doubt and hesitation.
Emperor Shenwu opened the memorial and examined it. Was Wang Shuren lying, or was there something else going on? Shi Qingluan had died in grief and rage; how likely were her words to be true?
In the secret room, Lan Qingwu carved another mark, and Emperor Shenwu watched silently behind her.
Lan Qingwu asked softly, "Another day has passed. Your Majesty, do you still remember what you promised me?"
Emperor Shenwu pulled Lan Qingwu to sit beside the bed. He was silent for a while and said, "Ruoruo, I will let Nie Wushuang come to check your pulse. If you have any questions, you can ask him!"
Lan Qingwu turned sideways and looked at the Shenwu Emperor, "Brother Heng, you still think Ruo Ruo is pregnant, right?"
She took the Shenwu Emperor's hand and placed it on her belly, saying seriously, "Brother Heng, do you remember? We once had three children, each of whom was in my belly. I could feel my blood connection to the child and their heartbeat. But this time, they all said I was pregnant, but I felt nothing. No heartbeat, no blood connection, not even morning sickness!"
"I don't believe it, I just don't believe it! Brother Heng..."
The Shenwu Emperor embraced Lan Qingwu: "I know, but have you ever thought, weak, that it is precisely because of your disbelief that you subconsciously ignore these feelings...you..."
Lan Qingwu looked at the Shenwu Emperor helplessly with his watery eyes: "So, Brother Heng, are you going to lock Ruo Ruo up here forever?"