The Scheming of the Heaven 015 Mother and Son Reunite

  The side door of the palace slowly opened, and Wei Zhong led Fu Gonggong and others to come out to greet Prince Hui, standing on the palace steps looking down, and the four gonggongs who lifted the sedan chair for Prince Hui were from the Inner Affairs Palace.

  The sedan chair stopped at the foot of the stairs, and Xiaoli Zi, King Hui's personal eunuch, respectfully came forward to lift the curtain and help down a young man who stood tall but looked frail and weak, none other than King Hui himself.

  King Huai wore a purple gold-embroidered robe, with a matching golden silk waistband. He had on black satin boots with gold trim and no hat or hairpin, only using a golden ribbon to tie up his hair.

  Although his slender figure was not straight, although his face was pale and weak, although he was sickly, yet he had a refined and elegant complexion, with every frown, every raised eyebrow, captivating the gaze of all who beheld him.

  A gust of cold wind blew, blowing up his clothes, and the black shiny hair was also blown up by the wind. Facing this biting cold wind, he covered his mouth and coughed lightly several times.

  Although it's not very severe, the cough has never stopped.

  Wei Zhong led a group of people hastily down the stairs and bowed to the man who was coming up the stairs with Xiao Lizi's support.

  "Wei Zhong pays his respects to His Highness Prince Huai."

  "......cough......cough...Lord Wei, please get up." King Hui's slender white fingers lightly grasped a silk handkerchief to cover his mouth, as if trying to suppress an uncontrollable cough.

  Duke Wei turned around and respectfully said to Prince Huai: "Empress Dowager Guo requests that Your Highness enter the palace and proceed to the Return to Buddha Hall to meet with her."

  The pale face of King Huai flashed a hint of surprise, wanting to speak but bursting into a fit of violent coughing, as if he was about to cough up his lungs.

  "Prince..." Little Li stopped worriedly and patted his back gently, helping him to calm down the cough.

  Wei Zhong shook his head secretly, the emperor's body was getting weaker by the year. The dozens of steps leading to the Cold Palace were a trivial matter for anyone, but for the emperor, it was an arduous task. He had to exert all his strength just to climb up, no wonder Empress Gu always stood far away, not daring to approach, fearing that once she did, she wouldn't be able to let go.

  The coughing subsided slightly, and King Huai looked at Duke Wei with excitement: "Duke Wei, did the Queen Mother really agree to let me enter the palace to meet her?"

  Wei Gong smiled slightly and nodded: "I dare not deceive Your Majesty, please come in!"

  Xiao Lizi's face also couldn't hide the color of surprise: "Wang Ye, Niang Niang finally agreed to let you enter the palace, I congratulate Wang Ye."

  Gui Fudi Temple, accompanied by eunuchs from the two palaces of Yuangleng and Neiwu, Prince Huai arrived at Gui Fudi Temple where Empress Dowager Guo lived.

  The sound of the wooden fish drum from the Buddha Hall came over, and everyone stopped in their tracks.

  The king pushed away the supporting hands of his attendants and walked step by step towards the courtyard with Little Li.

  The old woman knelt under the eaves and kowtowed: "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

  The king personally came forward to help Lan up, and her pale face was filled with gratitude: "Lan aunt is too polite, Huang Tian has not yet thanked you for accompanying the queen mother and taking care of the queen mother all these years."

  The old lady's eyes were filled with tears, and she respectfully kowtowed to him before getting up and retreating to the side: "Your Highness, please!"

  ……

  Yu Worry sat in front of the window looking at the book scroll in her hand, listening to Xiaohua Zi's inquiry about the movement in the palace, from time to time flipping through the pages of the book in her hand.

  These days, she has been sitting in this cold palace, yet she is familiar with the affairs of the harem, and even slowly understands things outside the palace, all thanks to having two good helpers.

  Xiao Huazi is still working in the Yuelong Palace, doing odd jobs and patrolling. He is an inconspicuous little eunuch in the Yuelong Palace, but these days he has been gathering information about all the people in the palace for her.

  Xiao Gaizi successfully fawned on Fu Gonggong and became one of the eunuchs who ran errands between the Huanglong Palace and the Neiwu Palace, frequently going back and forth to the Neiwu Palace.

  The inner palace is the most inconspicuous yet indispensable part of the entire imperial palace, and all the daily necessities of the emperor and his concubines are uniformly procured and arranged by the inner palace.

  The eunuchs in charge of the inner palace could not avoid contact with the Imperial Household Department, which was outside the palace.

  Because of the frequent comings and goings, the eunuchs in the inner palace found it easier to enter and exit the palace gates than anyone else. With more entries and exits, they naturally knew more gossip and rumors. Xiaogaozi, after her training, had a smooth temperament and was generous in her dealings with others, so she quickly became familiar with those eunuchs in the inner palace.

  He passed on all the rumors he heard to Xiaohuazi according to Yuan Wuyou's request, and then Xiaohuaizi would pass them on to her.

  For nearly two months, Yuan Wuyou has been listening to these rumors and gossip inside and outside the palace, carefully sorting them out, repeatedly thinking about them, knowing more and more, many people and things, she has a clear understanding and positioning in her heart.

  Yu Zhu walked in with a cup of boiled water, Yuan Wu You waved her hand and Yu Zhu stood aside without moving forward. Xiao Hua Zi also stopped making any noise and just waited quietly on the side.

  These days, facing the princess more often, he naturally calmed down, the princess had a magical power that could calm his heart.

  Yu Wuyou flipped through it until the last page before casually putting it down and said in a low voice, "Hua Wang entered the Cold Palace today."

  Xiao Huazi nodded: "Yes."

  Yu Wuyou smiled slightly: "Xiao Huazi, ask Xiao Gaozi to pay attention and find out if the time when Emperor Hua waited for the edict outside the palace gate today was longer than usual?"

  "Yes." Xiaohua retreated respectfully.

  Yu Worry took the water handed over by Yu Zhu and drank it in small mouthfuls, then smiled slightly: "Yu Zhu, let's go for a walk." She wanted to see with her own eyes how much difference there was between Prince Huai and the Prince Huai she had imagined.

  The atmosphere in the Buddha Hall seemed to have solidified at this moment. The king's gaze at Empress Dowager Gu was shocked, angry and painful. His voice was suppressed and low: "Mother, I disagree."

  The Empress Dowager stopped the sound of the wooden fish in her hand, slowly got up, walked to the front of Prince Huai, stretched out her hand and gently stroked his pale face, with tears welling up in her eyes: "However, Mother's mind is made up, this is good for you, and good for the Gu family."

  "Mother, Yuan Wuyou is just a twelve-year-old child, don't forget that she entered the Cold Palace at the age of seven and has been locked in this desolate place for five years. Even if she had great talent, it would be buried by time, let alone I don't believe she can help me."

  "But Mother firmly believed that one day she would be able to help you leave the capital and live a free and easy life." The Empress Dowager said with tears in her eyes.

  The king, overcome with emotion, began to cough violently. Empress Dowager Yu stepped forward, her heart aching as she patted his back, watching him frown in pain. Her heart was like a knife being twisted, and this only strengthened her resolve.

  As soon as the coughing stopped, Prince Huai tightly grasped Empress Dowager Gu's hand and said in a low voice: "But that is the imperial edict left by Father Emperor to pardon you and take you out of this cold palace. How can it be used for Yuan Wuyou? I do not agree, I have been waiting for you to leave this cold palace for too long, if I have to sacrifice you to gain freedom from my current life, then I would rather stay in Prince Huai's mansion forever."

  The Empress Dowager's face was ashen: "Huang'er, you and I are both clear in our hearts, the pardon your father left for me will never be used."

  "Mother..."

  "Your father, the emperor, had ten sons. Why are you and Seventh Prince the only ones still alive today, along with your long-lost Third Prince? Apart from the fact that you fell into the lake at the age of three and hurt your heart and lungs, leaving you with a chronic cough and unable to leave medicine behind. Another reason is that the current emperor knows that as long as I am confined in the Cold Palace, you will not be able to escape his control. Your father, the emperor, tried his best but could not protect your other brothers; he could only try his best to protect you."

  "But as an emperor, he couldn't even protect his own son and had to sacrifice you in order to save the child. How can the child live with a clear conscience?" King Huai closed his eyes in agony.

  "No, Huang'er, I have always been grateful to the late Emperor. Not only did he let me live in the Cold Palace for a lifetime, but even if he wanted my life, I would be willing."

  The current emperor is too ruthless, people only know that the third prince was demoted to a commoner and expelled from the capital by the previous emperor because of his rage, but who knows that it was the previous emperor's intention to protect him?

  The former emperor removed the Seventh Prince from office and drove him out of court, but wasn't he also trying to protect the Seventh Prince?

  The struggle that year was too tragic, the crown prince was murdered, the former emperor was ill with anger, and the third king found out the truth about the crown prince's case. Just as he was about to reveal the true face of King Qing, he didn't expect that King Qing, who had married Liu's daughter, would be one step ahead, turning his spear around and shooting two birds with one arrow, not even sparing their mother and son.

  The struggle in the imperial court has reached an irreversible point, and the previous emperor had already been heartless and powerless. In order to protect Sanwang Qi Wang and Huan'er, he had no choice but to compromise and pass the throne to King Qing.

  "Before your father the Emperor passed away, he handed down that pardon plaque to your mother. He himself knew that the chance of it being used was almost none, but still left it behind, just to give you a glimmer of hope."

  "Since your ninth brother ascended the throne, the imperial court has been dominated by the Liu family, and the court is unstable. Later, the incident of the Liu family being executed also occurred, which shows the cruelty of this emperor. Faced with such a ruthless and cold-blooded monarch, how can you, mother, have the opportunity to leave this Cold Palace? As long as you, mother, leave this Cold Palace, none of your relatives will be at peace."

  "But... but the child is willing to wait, one day the child will find an opportunity to ask him to release you from this cold palace." King Huai tried his best to persuade her, the pardon gold card left by Father Emperor was his only hope in these years, how could he... how could he lose it just like that?

  The Empress Dowager smiled bitterly and shook her head: "A person who can ruthlessly kill his own wife and children, how could he spare us mother and son? If we were just ordinary people without power or influence, perhaps I would have dared to take a gamble." Her father had already held a high position when she entered the palace, and after giving birth to Huan'er, the previous emperor was overjoyed, which was also a compensation for his pity towards her. He broke the rules and conferred her father as the Marquis of Far West.

  She had three elder brothers who were enfeoffed and promoted to nobility, two younger brothers whose wives came from renowned families, and several sisters who married into official families. Although the Gu family was not in the capital, they had already become a prominent clan in the western border region at that time. Later, when she entered the Cold Palace, the previous emperor did not demote the Gu family. The Gu family may not have received further promotion, but it also did not decline. How could the current emperor dare to release her from the palace?