Chapter 593   Everyone Bears Their Schemes About Lord Peace’s Manor’s Trouble

The Emperor arrived shortly after Ao Chenyi. Lord Peace’s Madam had lost all right to discuss her family’s fate; all she could do was kneel on the side and await punishment.

Ning Xueyan was in much better spirits after drinking a cup of rejuvenating tea. Although she still looked drowsy, she didn’t look like she would fall asleep at a moment’s notice like before.

The Empress spoke very little and maintained a gentle expression. From time to time, she would get the maids to fill the teacups for the Emperor and Prince Yi while she listened to their discussion quietly. Ning Xueyan was even quieter. Her head was lowered, looking docile and polite.

The men’s discussion had almost reached a conclusion in the study, but Ao Chenyi suggested to visit the Empress’ palace out of the blue, saying that he heard that Lord Peace’s Madam was there. He had something to tell her, so he came.

With the Emperor and Prince Yi here, Lord Peace’s Madam dared not to make any ruckus anymore. She could only tremble and weep after hearing the Emperor’s decree.

Yun Luoluo was destined to die after causing such an incident. She was given a cup of poisoned wine at the Empress’ palace. Her demise was covered up as a case of sudden death.

Commandery Princess Xianyun was demoted from her position as the princess to consort.

With all the punishments set, the situation was as good as over. Ao Chenyi stood up, bade the Emperor farewell, and led Ning Xueyan out of the palace.

The Empress sighed in relief after seeing Ao Chenyi leave. She looked at the Emperor, who occupied the central seat, and couldn’t help but ask, “Your Majesty, Xianyun’s marriage was granted through imperial decree. Is it really fine to demote her to the consort position?”

Wary about Ning Xueyan, the Empress didn’t dare to speak for Commandery Princess Xianyun. She was worried that Ning Xueyan would say something and draw Ao Chenyi’s ire toward herself. She had stopped seeing Ning Xueyan as an ignorant and weak woman. The fact that Ning Xueyan could hold her and Lord Peace’s Madam off before Ao Chenyi’s arrival showed that Ning Xueyan wasn’t an easy opponent.

The Emperor’s smile vanished the moment Ao Chenyi left. He slapped the railing of the chair with force and opened his eyes wide. “When Yun Luoluo got into trouble, I heard that she said Xianyun was the one provoking the situation. Outsiders would definitely suspect this to be true.”

The Empress’ expression turned ugly as she digested the Emperor’s words. After Yun Luoluo caused such an incident out of nowhere, not only did Commandery Princess Xianyun not suppress the matter in her capacity as Princess Yi, but she even turned out to be the main instigator. What would people think? And in such sensitive times, too! People would surely think that it was the Emperor instigating Xianyun to do so.

That would explain why Yun Luoluo would be so fearless as to give Prince Yi a cuckolded reputation. Whether or not it was Prince Yi’s doing, this matter would be a great disgrace to him if it couldn’t be explained. And in the entire country, who was the one who wanted to strip Prince Yi’s influence the most?

It was an easy guess: the current Emperor!

The Emperor did it because he didn’t want to give Ao Chenyi the throne, but to his own son.

That was why the Emperor couldn’t speak up for Xianyun excessively. The more he tried to speak up for her, the more suspicion he would provoke. Although Ao Chenyi was ruthless, he commanded tough soldiers and nearly half of the imperial army was in his hands. Even if the court officials were on the Emperor’s side, the Emperor couldn’t target Ao Chenyi as he pleased out of fear for the latter’s troops.

Moreover, there were several old ministers loyal to the former Emperor who commanded quite a significant influence in court. If they were to notice something off about the incident in the Prince Yi’s inner courtyard and cause a bloody feud in the court, the Emperor believed that Ao Chenyi would surely act viciously and he might lose many of his loyal court officials at Ao Chenyi’s hands.

Therefore, he had no choice but to placate Ao Chenyi in this matter. Even though demoting Commandery Princess Xianyun as a consort was akin to slapping himself in the face, he had no choice but to endure it.

“What about... Xianyun?” The Empress looked at the Emperor with a worried expression.

“Let her be. She’s just a woman!” A look of malice appeared on the Emperor’s face. He didn’t have the mood to pay attention to a woman who had given him so much trouble. He thought that Xianyun would be his secret weapon after she married Ao Chenyi. Who knew that she would cause such an incident shortly after entering Prince Yi’s Manor?

He hadn’t even asked her to do anything before she started despairing on her own. Had he known earlier, he would have never chosen her as Ao Chenyi’s marriage partner. He would have picked someone more useful.

The Empress could tell that the Emperor was unhappy, but after a moment of silence, she still asked, “Then... what about Lord Peace’s Manor?”

Lord Peace’s Madam screamed and fainted after hearing that Yun Luoluo was ordered to die by suicide. The eunuchs had carried her out.

The Emperor stood up and flung his wide sleeves. A cold glint flashed in his eyes and he said coldly, “What, am I supposed to give them some sort of guarantee?”

Not bothering to speak to the Empress anymore, he stood up and walked out. He had to summon his two sons to the palace. Compared to him, his sons had a better right to fight with Ao Chenyi. It was more convenient for them to take action compared to him...

The Empress followed after him as if she didn’t notice the sharp look in his eyes. After sending him to the door and watching him leave in the imperial chariot, she stopped smiling and a gloomy expression appeared on her face.

It was said that the Emperor was a filial son to the Empress Dowager, but the reality was that Empress Dowager was desperately trying to control her son while the Emperor was desperately breaking away from his fate as a puppet monarch. Even a biological pair of mother and son would become nemeses in such a situation, never mind a non-related pair. For them, it was a case whether one could only live if the other died.

So what if the Empress Dowager helped the Emperor rob the throne from the young Prince Yi? The Empress Dowager died just a few years after getting her new position. And the Empress, who was relatives with Lord Peace’s Manor, would always be insignificant to the Emperor.

So what if she could get as strong as the late Empress Dowager? She was still unloved by the Emperor and without a child. Even the late Empress Dowager was killed by the heir that she adopted. And with her death, her family immediately dwindled until they were just a second-class aristocratic family. Who would remember how much Lord Peace’s Manor had contributed to the Emperor’s rise to the throne?

So many people in Lord Peace’s Manor died in the fight for the throne, nearly all of them the most remarkable members. That was why the only remaining descendants were some madams and useless members. Even so, the Emperor never considered their contributions enough to lend them a hand.

She didn’t want to follow in the late Empress Dowager’s footsteps, so she didn’t need an heir!

Compared to the other concubines in the palace, she was merely a woman with the title of the Empress. She had nothing else. Remembering her current situation, the malice in her eyes deepened. She turned around and walked back into the palace. “Is Lord Peace’s Madam awake yet?”

“She woke up a little while ago. She’s still crying now,” the Empress’ personal maid said in a low voice. She had checked on Lord Peace’s Madam earlier.

“Tell her to stop crying! She just lost two daughters. It’s not like she doesn’t have any other children. She can keep crying if she wants to see everyone in Lord Peace’s Manor die one by one, but if that’s the case, she might as well go home now and have everyone hang themselves,” the Empress said coldly.

“Yes. I’ll relay the message to Lord Peace’s Madam now,” the maid said, nodding.

“Go. Once she stops crying, send her home safely. Tell her that I’m tired and don’t have the mood to see her anymore,” the Empress said calmly. Her family was true of no help to her; her father was just a minor government official. That was also why the Emperor agreed to make her the Empress. Without a powerful family nor children, she was an Empress in name only.

The Emperor didn’t like her because she came from the Empress Dowager’s family and was even wary about her. The Empress, the mother of a nation? What a joke. A malevolent expression appeared on her face.

There was no one she could rely on her, so she relied on Lord Peace’s Manor. And Lord Peace’s Manor didn’t have anyone in the palace, so they could only rely on her...

The first thing Ao Chenyi did after bringing Ning Xueyan home was getting the imperial physician to examine her.

Prince Yi’s physician was a trusted aide that the late Emperor had bestowed him. And that wasn’t the only imperial physician that he had. The Emperor chose to turn a blind eye to this violation of the norm for no one would care about such trifle things.

“I’m fine, I promise. It’s just a drug that makes me sleepy. The Empress wouldn’t dare let anything happen to me in her palace.” Ning Xueyan didn’t want to waste the physician’s time because she truly thought that it was no big deal. Most people wouldn’t be able to detect the scent of the drug but a specialist like her could easily recognize it. Even so, Ao Chenyi insisted on summoning the physician over.

“It’s better to get you examined. We don’t want you to be fine now, only to fall ill later,” Ao Chenyi said with a gloomy expression. He had been in a poor mood ever since he heard that Ning Xueyan felt dizzy after drinking the tea in the Empress’ palace. Ning Xueyan believed that if she was even the slightest bit unwell, he would definitely storm the palace again.

His groundless nervousness made her rather helpless but happy at the same time. So, she allowed him to do as he pleased. She watched him from the side, taking in the languid way he leaned against the arm of the chair. Even so, the brief flicker of nervousness in his eyes didn’t escape her attention.

The second the physician retrieved his hand, Ao Chenyi immediately opened his eyes wide.

The physician stood up and said deferentially, “Your Highness, the Princess is fine. She’s just frail since young but with proper treatment, she has become more or less as healthy as the ordinary person. She’ll be completely fine after nursing her health for a while longer.”

“Then why do her complexion and lips still look paler than most people?” Ao Chenyi frowned, his gaze falling on Ning Xueyan’s face.

“Your Highness, the Princess looks pale because her complexion is lighter than most people. Look at her complexion. Isn’t it much brighter than before? As for the color of her lips, she has been frail since young and it’s a direct result of that. It’s not because she has a disease.”

The imperial physician said deferentially.

“Then... When can the thing between husband and wife... happen?” Ao Chenyi was being very vague with his words as an enchanting smile appeared on his face. Ning Xueyan didn’t get it at first. Several seconds of stunned silence later, her pale face turned red and she glared at him angrily. She lifted the curtain and walked in without him.

“That guy! He’ll say whatever he wants to say!” Ning Xueyan believed that he would question the physician more openly if she wasn’t around. Even with such a vague question, the physician was able to understand him tacitly. It was obvious that Ao Chenyi often asked such questions.

“It hasn’t been that long since the Princess started her recovery and she’s still young. Just wait a little longer, Your Highness.” The physician’s reply coming from behind her still sounded as deferential as ever, but for some reason, she could hear a trace of mirth in it.

“How long more do I have to wait?” replied a rather vexed, worried voice. Then came the sound of something hitting the arm of the chair. Ning Xueyan would rather she didn’t hear anything at all!

“Can’t this guy be a little less shameless...”