mtl008 Chapter 533: Inspecting the Military Camp
Chapter 533: Inspecting the Military Camp
Before leaving, Emperor Shenwu hugged Lan Qingwu tightly, almost melting their blood. Lan Qingwu couldn't bear it and frowned. Feeling the pain, he had to bite his lips and endure it.
All she could hear was the Emperor Shenwu whispering in her ear, something like a promise, something like a prophecy: "Lan Qingwu, you and I met when we were young, and our fates have long been intertwined. Don't resist, we will be together through life and death!"
Li Xiang, who was guarding outside, was still fantasizing that the Empress could coax the Emperor Shenwu and rest in Fengqi Palace. Thinking back to the whole day, the palace servants and eunuchs in the Qianzheng Hall were trembling with fear, not even daring to speak or breathe, and walking in silence. His Majesty had even broken several cups. Li Xiang touched the non-existent cold sweat on his head. Now it was good, he could finally relax...
Li Xiang, who was daydreaming, saw the even colder Emperor Shenwu coming out the next moment. Li Xiang shuddered instantly and hurried to meet him.
The even more depressed expression on Emperor Shenwu's face made the entire Qianzheng Hall tremble as if walking on thin ice.
Late at night, the Emperor summoned the Phantom Guards. Two dark figures were seen kneeling on the ground. The Emperor's eyes were dark. "Go check where this rice paper came from! I don't believe a word the Queen Mother says!"
However, the next morning, Emperor Shenwu ordered a visit to the military camp outside the city to inspect the military exercises and to comfort and reward the soldiers. The Crown Prince and several adult princes all accompanied him.
The palace became somewhat quieter without the emperor, but Empress Dowager Li felt that Emperor Shenwu was deliberately avoiding her, so that she would not disturb him any further.
Empress Dowager Li was upset, remembering that the prince had come to the Cining Palace yesterday to pay his respects specifically for his mother, and had thrown Yuanxiao, who was beaten unconscious and half dead, into the Cining Palace.
That wasn't all. He also said to Empress Dowager Li, "Grandmother, the Queen Mother has only recovered a few days ago and can't stand your torment. If you are angry, your grandson will bear the brunt of it. Moreover, if the Queen Mother is uneasy, then the harem will be uneasy, and the whole world will be uneasy! Grandmother, you also have to be more considerate of Xiaoqi and Yueyue. If you insist on doing this, what will Xiaoqi and Yueyue do?"
I'm afraid that the two grandchildren will never again be close to the royal grandmother who made things difficult for their mother.
After a series of attacks and counterattacks, Empress Dowager Li was instantly rendered speechless.
However, after Emperor Shenwu left with the crown prince and several princes, Empress Dowager Li started to think again. She summoned all the concubines in the harem to the Cining Palace, and the whole hall of the Cining Palace was almost filled with beautiful women.
However, Empress Dowager Li, who sat on the throne, had a gloomy expression. She looked at His Highness's concubines. Several of the high-ranking ones had already become grandmothers, and those who hadn't would soon be too. Those without an heir to the throne weren't even one-tenth as beautiful as the Empress. No wonder...
Empress Dowager Li quickly dismissed all the concubines. When Concubine Jiang was leaving, she glanced at Empress Dowager Li who was taking the throne, but still said nothing.
The eldest princess hurried into the palace and looked worried when she entered the Cining Palace. Empress Dowager Li felt sorry for her. After all, she was her granddaughter who she had raised and had the blood of the Li family flowing in her body.
"If there are no beautiful women in the palace, then look for one outside the palace!"
Empress Dowager Li had made up her mind, and naturally there were many people who wanted to curry favor with the emperor. In any case, Empress Dowager Li could no longer allow the Empress to be the only one favored by Emperor Shenwu, as that had gradually made the Empress more and more important in the emperor's heart.
The Crown Prince arrived at the military camp outside the city and found time to summon the officials of the Eastern Palace. "Is everything alright with the Fourth Prince?"
"Your Highness, there seems to be nothing unusual on the surface."
The Crown Prince snorted coldly, "Send the secret guards to the imperial mausoleum to investigate again! Fourth Brother is uneasy again! Don't forget where this piece of rice paper came from!"
The subordinate pondered, "On the surface, there are no flaws. I will make arrangements right away!"
The Fourth Prince's ambition has never changed, and the Crown Prince has never relaxed his stance on him. If the Fourth Prince still interferes this time, don't blame yourself for being ruthless.
Emperor Shenwu brought several of his sons to inspect the martial arts performance. Among them, the crown prince's outstanding talent in arranging troops and controlling the overall situation won the respect of the generals and also attracted the attention of several princes.
The third prince, who had been silent for a long time, felt sour and bitter in his heart as he looked at his younger brother's dazzling brilliance that overshadowed all his brothers.
The eldest prince was once exiled to the palace, which made him no longer eligible to compete for the position of crown prince, and he himself now admires the crown prince very much. The second prince has obviously become a supporter of the crown prince. The fourth prince was exiled to the imperial mausoleum, and it is likely that he will never come back in this lifetime without special circumstances. The fifth prince is an incompetent person who eats, drinks and has fun, and only knows how to show off his strength with words. Not to mention the seventh prince who is of the same mother as the crown prince. He is a natural crown prince.
The more the Third Prince thought about it, the colder he felt. In the court, apart from a few marginal officials from his mother's family, few people took him seriously, except for that family, of course.
Years ago, the Third Prince was released from the Clan House by Emperor Shenwu. When he returned to the Third Prince's House, he got angry at the Third Prince's Wife. The reason was that the Third Prince's Wife, as the mistress, did not take good care of Concubine Qiao, causing Concubine Qiao to be bedridden and haggard. She looked like she had aged several years.
The Third Prince's wife smiled coldly and told the Third Prince to go directly to the palace to find Emperor Shenwu and Lan Qingwu, and made it clear that for the incident caused by Concubine Qiao, it would not be too much to be sentenced to death. That is, the Emperor and Empress were kind enough not to involve women in the affairs done by men. Otherwise, what the Third Prince saw was Concubine Qiao's corpse!
The third prince was so angry that he was speechless and left in anger.
The fourth prince lived in a very ordinary house two miles away from the imperial mausoleum. After arriving at the mausoleum, he ordered people to build a thatched hut next to the mausoleum. Regardless of the cold or heat, the fourth prince would stay in the thatched hut for six or seven days every month to show his respect for the ancestors of the Zhou Dynasty.
The fourth prince's ruthlessness and endurance made the crown prince dare not relax, because if such a person with strong willpower retaliated, the price he would pay would be unbearable.
Lan Qingwu was trapped in Fengqi Palace, temporarily unaware of what was happening there. The Seventh Prince followed Emperor Shenwu to the military camp in the suburbs, and the Seventh Princess was inevitably left behind. She listened to her brother, the Crown Prince, and stopped wandering around for the past few days, waiting wholeheartedly for her mother to come out.
In Fengqi Palace, Ruping gently combed Lan Qingwu's black hair. She couldn't help but admire, "Your hair is so beautiful! The black hair is like a waterfall, and the black hair is like clouds."
Lan Qingwu was only wearing a snow-white casual outfit without any accessories on her body, which made her snow-white skin and beautiful face look even more like a lotus emerging from water!
Lan Qingwu gently tucked her hair behind her ears: "No news, right?"
Ru Ping nodded helplessly: "The guards at the door refuse to say anything. Your Majesty and His Majesty... I'm afraid the Queen Mother will come to embarrass you!"
Lan Qingwu looked at himself in the glass mirror. "I'm the one who's easy to bully! Queen Mother has never been able to persuade His Majesty, so she can only take it out on me! You and Ruhan are curious about what has made His Majesty so angry, right?"
Ru Ping said, "Your Majesty, if you don't say it, there must be a reason."
Lan Qingwu said: "I don't know how to say it."
At this time, Ruhan walked in gently holding the Fengwuqin: "My lady, this servant has brought it over."
Lan Qingwu stretched out her bare hand and gently stroked the body of the zither: "I'm sorry for your hardship. You won't be able to leave the palace these few days."
Ruhan shook her head: "Lan Hao will take good care of the two children at home. Don't worry too much, my lady. Ruhan will stay with you no matter how long it takes."