Killing a chicken to scare the monkey

  The 100th day banquet of the Seventh Prince of Liangjing Palace was struck by a thunderbolt in the hearts of those present with the careless words of the Fourth Princess.

  Everyone was curious about the emperor's expression at this time, but no one dared to raise their head to peek at his face.

  In the Liangjing Palace, it was dead silent, and everyone present wished they could bury their heads in their feet.

  Li Fei's whole body trembled, wanting to go forward and plead, but Emperor Qing just kept a cold face and didn't make a sound. Seeing the emperor's expression like this, she didn't even dare to go forward and beg for mercy, fearing that it would only further infuriate the emperor.

  Qing Di narrowed his eyes and stared at the four women kneeling at his feet, their faces filled with confusion and ignorance. Through her face, he somehow thought of his second daughter who was being confined in the cold palace.

  Wuyou was his second daughter. After her birth, the Liu family regretted that she was a princess rather than a prince, but Mr. Liu was overjoyed and excitedly thought of a name for her all night long. He said he wanted to let her live a life without worries or troubles, enjoying all kinds of pampering, so he named her Wuyou.

  The next day, he conferred the title of Princess Wuyou on Wuyou and bestowed upon her the Palace of Wuyou, as Liu had said, giving her boundless favor and supreme honor.

  Worry-free called him "Father Emperor" for the first time, Worry-free took his first steps and rushed into his arms, Worry-free liked to rely on his arms and hug his neck to be coquettish...

  The emperor suddenly stood up, and everyone knelt down on the ground with a thud, not even daring to breathe.

  "Empress Liang is incompetent and lacks virtue, making it difficult for her to assume the position of empress. She will be demoted to Imperial Noble Consort. From today on, the Seventh Imperial Son will be raised by Single Imperial Consort. The Fourth Imperial Princess is disobedient and unmanageable, she will be forbidden from leaving her quarters for a year and will be taught by the Governess. She will never be granted an imperial title."

  The emperor didn't even glance at the people present, finished issuing his orders, and strode away with a flick of his sleeve.

  "I bid farewell to Your Majesty." The first one to react was Consort Mei, who knelt down on the ground and trembled as she shouted.

  Others also came back to their senses and knelt down on the ground, shouting: "See off Your Majesty."

  The good wife fainted and fell over with a flip of her eyes.

  "Niang niang......" Gui Zhi exclaimed and hurriedly came forward to support her.

  Xu Ren's pale face was no less than that of the fainting Empress, he had finally managed to secure the position of General Manager of Liangjing Palace, only to find that Liangjing Palace had lost its power.

  "Mother... " Yu Zhenzhen muttered to herself, staring at the unconscious Liang Fei. The people around her looked at her with sympathetic eyes, recalling the emperor's previous decree. No matter how ignorant she was, she knew she had made a big mistake. But... She just wanted to find her little white rabbit back, why did the emperor get so angry?

  Mei Fei, Yu Fei and Ning Fei also felt a lingering fear in their hearts when they thought of the scene just now.

  The kings and nobles in the court looked at each other, since the death of Empress Shengyuan, not only did the various palaces in the harem hear that the Shengyuan Palace was worried about the change in color, but also no one on the imperial court would be foolish enough to mention it in front of the emperor.

  Liáng Fēi cannot be so brainless and not anticipate her own daughter's moral character, how did the Fourth Princess break in? Who used Liáng Fēi as a stepping stone? Was it Méi Fēi? Yù Fēi? Or Níng Fēi?

  What a pity for Consort Liang! After all the hard work to climb up in the harem and give birth to seven princes, she was still relying on the seventh prince to stand firm.

  Who would have thought that as soon as she climbed up, she was trampled down again. Judging from the emperor's anger, the seventh prince has been handed over to Concubine Shan for upbringing, and Consort Liang has been demoted to a noblewoman. She will not be able to climb back up again.

  As he walked out of Liang Jing Palace, Emperor Qing's mind was still turbulent. Shi Zhi followed closely behind him, glancing at the direction his master was heading in. He wasn't sure whether to remind his master that they were approaching Wuyou Palace. However, looking at his master's cold and suspicious figure, he swallowed back the words that had almost left his lips. Having been by his master's side for so many years, Shi Zhi knew very well that even when his master was furious, he would never completely lose his composure.

  His master's intention in demoting Consort Liang was naturally understood by him. His master was killing a chicken to scare the monkeys!

  As the emperor's later years were marked by emptiness and all his sons had grown up, both the harem and the imperial court began to have restless hearts, with subtle signs of a struggle for the throne and the position of crown prince.

  No wonder, now the eldest prince is 14 years old, the second prince is 12 years old, and the third prince and fourth prince are also 10 years old. Even the fifth prince is already eight years old.

  In his view, these people have forgotten too quickly. It's only been five years, how could they have forgotten the lessons of Liu Shi and Liu Hou?

  The master is less than forty years old, and with the master's strong physique, he does not suspect that the master will surpass the record of his ancestor, Emperor Zhīxiān, who ruled for forty-seven years in the history of Dayuan.

  Who is the most familiar with Emperor Qing? It's Shi Ji, but today Shi Ji only guessed half of it. Although Emperor Qing was angry and had a mind to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, on the other hand, he also had some ripples in his heart.

  If it weren't for these five years of surveillance, Jing Emperor would have known that he might really forget the existence of this daughter.

  In the first year, he knew that Wu You had not left the Taihua Temple for a whole year, and he was not surprised.

  In the second year, he began to suspect that this daughter was either mad or dead, but the secret guard's message to him was that there was none.

  The third year was no exception, he remained silent.

  By the fourth year, he was astonished.

  By the fifth year, he had some feelings in his heart.

  No one knows Liu's family better than him, and the way they raised Wu You, he understands it clearly. Wu You is as carefree as Liu had expected, just a seven-year-old child, how could she have deep thoughts?

  Worryless took that box of jewels into the Cold Palace, and in five years, he hadn't seen her use those things to stir up trouble in the Cold Palace. He began to believe it was just a coincidence.

  As it happened, he had the Dark Guards keep an eye on Wu You for five years. Five years of surveillance allowed him to know everything about this daughter of his, and while it reassured him, it also stirred up a hint of guilt in his heart.

  When Empress Li gave birth to the seventh imperial son, he looked at the seven imperial sons wrapped in swaddling clothes in her arms and suddenly thought of the scene when Wuyou was born. Among so many children, only Wuyou was held in his arms as soon as she was born, with a small life supported by his arm, which felt soft and weak at that time. At that time, there were not too many feelings, but after many years, he thought back and found that the feeling was still so clear, as if it had happened yesterday.

  He withdrew from the Dark Guard, he didn't want to hear anything about that girl's movements anymore, he didn't like being forced to recall the past, and even less liked that fleeting and inexplicable feeling.

  But he still let Shi Zhi go to the Cold Palace, he couldn't change this daughter's fate, but he could make her life a little better, and that was all he could do!

  Emperor Qing stood at the foot of the palace steps, his hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the palace plaque on the steps above. The Worry-Free Palace had been sealed off five years ago, and for the past five years, it had become a taboo place, just like the Shengyuan Palace. Everyone deliberately avoided this place, even the eunuchs and palace maids were no exception.

  Memories automatically emerge, writing these three words was at Shengyuan Palace, Liu's third day after giving birth, the weak Liu held Wuyou and leaned against him, smiling with satisfaction and happiness...

  He secretly glanced at the master who was staring blankly at the three characters "Wu You Palace", his heart filled with surprise and doubt. Could it be... could it be that the last time the master had him go to the Cold Palace, it was because after five years, the master's anger towards the Liu family had truly begun to fade? If the master's hatred for the Liu family had indeed dissipated, then was he now angry only because he remembered Empress Liu and Princess Wu You being imprisoned in the Cold Palace?

  Qingdi ultimately did not step into Wuyou Palace, but only looked far away from the palace steps for a moment before turning around and leaving, Shi Ji hurriedly followed up.

  As soon as he returned to the Shengyang Palace, Shi Ji heard a report that Huai Wang was waiting outside the East Gate to ask for an imperial edict, requesting His Majesty's permission to go to the Yuangleng Palace to meet with Empress Dowager Gu and her son.

  Shi Ze suddenly remembered that today was exactly the day when Emperor Huai and Empress Dowager Gu met once a year.

  He cautiously glanced around the hall, and Shi Ji secretly lamented in his heart, why did today's events all have a connection with Yuan Leng Palace?

  The master was just out of sorts because of the Princess Worry-free, and now the Emperor's edict has arrived. How did all these things happen at once?

  "Your Majesty?" The imperial guard who had come to report saw Shi Zhi dazed and walking slowly, and hastily reminded him in a low voice.

  The eunuchs crowded together in a heap, but still sighed and said: "Wait here, I'll go to report to the Emperor."

  Shi Ji walked into the inner hall and saw that Emperor Qing was writing large characters. He hesitated for a moment and did not dare to move forward again.

  The king and Empress Dowager Cui had been granted by the late emperor to meet once a year, and for the past fifteen years since the current emperor ascended to the throne, this had never been disallowed. By convention, the king and Empress Dowager Cui meeting once a year had become a fixed practice. The king's memorial was merely a formality, and in previous years, a few days beforehand, the little eunuch Xiaodouzi would remind him to request an audience with the emperor. After the king submitted his memorial, he would be granted permission. However, today he did not dare to take matters into his own hands, but the king was waiting outside for a response.

  "Your Majesty." Shi Zhi stepped forward, his head bowed stiffly.

  The emperor's pen paused, a drop of ink spreading on the paper, a large character almost complete, but with a flawed ending.

  Shi Ji saw this and with a thud knelt down on the ground to plead guilty: "I deserve to die."

  Taking over a handkerchief handed over by a eunuch beside him, Emperor Qing wiped his hands expressionlessly: "Speak."

  Shi Ji drummed up the courage to say: "I beg to report to Your Majesty, Prince Huai is at the East Gate and humbly requests that you grant him permission to go...to the Cold Palace to meet with Empress Dowager Gu and her son."

  The Emperor's hand movement of wiping his hands stopped.

  Shi Zhi lowered his head, silently cursing himself for forgetting that today was the day when Emperor Huai and Empress Dowager Gu met once a year. That damned little bean sprout, how could he have forgotten to remind him this year? Just wait and see how he'll be dealt with!