manynovel Chapter 402 Each generation has its own battlefield
Chapter 402 Each generation has its own battlefield
Marquis Changning knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly. He truly regretted turning against Shen San for the sake of two concubines. If it weren't for that day, he wouldn't be where he is today.
"Your Majesty and Empress Dowager humbly request that I grant you permission to divorce Princess Shengping. I am willing to go to the frontier to guard the border and will never return to the capital unless summoned. I was foolish and regret it too late. I beg Your Majesty to grant my request."
The old lady was struck dumb. She only had this one son. If he didn't return to the capital, who would take care of her in her old age?
Consort Xu was also in tears. Her family had come to this point because they had made one wrong step after another, and they couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.
Ignoring Shen Shixi, the Emperor fed Wang Shu the last spoonful of minced meat porridge and said, "Granted! Shengping has committed numerous evils; strip him of his title and imprison him in the Imperial Prison. The Imperial Household Department will lead the investigation, with the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate handling the case. There must be no leniency! Uncle Kang!"
"Your subject is here!" King Kang trembled as he approached, kneeling on the ground, inwardly cursing his wife and Shengping to the point of utter depravity.
"This matter concerns the face of the royal family. Who instigated it and who helped it? I hope Uncle Kang will give me a result," the emperor said.
The implication was that Prince Kang should punish Princess Kang.
Princess Consort Kang provoked the Empress at the New Year's Eve banquet today. How could the Emperor tolerate this?
Although King Kang was furious, he dared not disobey the imperial decree, saying, "Your subject obeys!"
Li Yuanke stayed up all night with his four children and his ministers, while Shen Shixi returned to Qianyuan Palace. She was too lazy to stay up all night, so she took a bath and went to sleep.
That evening, news came from outside the palace that Princess Kang had hanged herself. The Kang Prince's residence said that dying in the first month of the lunar calendar was unlucky, and the funeral should be kept simple.
Whether it was voluntary or involuntary, outsiders may not know, but those on the inside certainly do.
The eldest princess has been brought back to the palace and is being held in a side hall of Yichun Palace. Upon learning that she is pregnant, she is shocked, frightened, and regretful.
She shouldn't have been fooled by that handsome foreign man and lost her virginity.
She originally only wanted to win over those men to use for her own purposes, so that she could secure the position of crown prince for her younger brother in the future.
She wanted to use magic to abort the child, but she was afraid of losing her life.
Du Cai Ren was now barely breathing and thought she wouldn't make it through the winter, but unexpectedly she made it to New Year's Day.
A commotion arose ahead, and Consort Du woke up, asking, "What day is it?"
Jin Tao said impatiently, "It's the Crown Prince and Princess Xihe's birthdays, they're both turning five."
Time flies! It's already the fifteenth year of Yongxi.
"I heard that Consort Jing has come again," Consort Du said weakly. "What is she here for?"
Consort Jing's voice was slightly stronger than hers, "I've come to see you off in your final moments!"
Consort Jing was carried in, followed by the eldest princess. Upon seeing her daughter, Consort Du was overjoyed. "Nian Jiao'er, you're back! Has your father pardoned you?"
The eldest princess dared not utter a sound and kept her head down.
Consort Jing laughed, "You're really something, Princess. Your father sent you to a Taoist temple to reflect on your actions, but you, without saying a word, not only found him a son-in-law, but you even have a grandson now. Hahaha, your father is thirty-five years old this year, and he's reached the age where he can be a grandfather."
Du Cai Ren's vision went black, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Upon seeing this, the eldest princess cried out and rushed over, "Mother! Mother!"
With her last ounce of strength, Du Cai Ren grabbed her collar, "Is this true? Is what she said true?"
Du Cai Ren was so agitated that she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The eldest princess was terrified and struggled desperately to back away. When she saw her mother up close just now, she was so frightening. She looked like a demon crawling out of hell, with a face full of wrinkles and a ferocious expression that made people feel terrified.
Du Cairen wouldn't let go. "Tell me, is it true?"
How could her daughter do such a wrong thing?
A woman's life cannot be ruined by even the slightest mistake!
The eldest princess was already aggrieved and scared, and cried, "So what? I am the eldest daughter of the Emperor. It is all because of the Du family that you were demoted, that the Emperor does not love me, and that I was banished from the palace. Am I supposed to spend my whole life in a Taoist temple?"
Furthermore, you want me to help my younger brother? How can I help him? I need to find a capable son-in-law to help him.
Consort Jing said, "So, that's why you found a man from another race? And he's the adopted son of Xu Yu, the Wolf King of the Northern Sands? He gave you a thousand taels of gold, and you gave yourself to him? Du Shi, you are also a noble lady, look at the daughter you raised, she has completely disgraced the royal family."
With her last breath, Du Cairen looked at her daughter with red eyes, "How could you do such a thing? Are you really pregnant with an illegitimate child?"
She shook the eldest princess desperately, crying uncontrollably.
The eldest princess was furious. She shoved her away and yelled, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault! You made me help my brother, you made me fight for it! You couldn't win, so you made me fight! And when I did, you blamed me! I hate you! I hate you!"
Consort Du immediately fainted, and the imperial physicians tried to revive her.
She woke up when it got dark and sent someone to fetch the Empress, saying, "I'm dying and want to see the Empress one last time."
The imperial physician's report to Shen Shixi was also something that Consort Du estimated would happen in the next day or two.
When Shen Shixi arrived, Consort Du felt a sense of disorientation upon seeing her enter, as if she had returned to the time when Shen Shixi had just entered the palace and they had met in Fengyi Palace.
When Shen Shixi walked in with her head held high, her first thought was, "Shen Shixi is really beautiful!"
She was like the rising sun, radiant and dazzling. No wonder the emperor couldn't forget her and went to great lengths to bring her into the palace.
"You're still the same as before. Ten years have passed, and you've had two pregnancies and four children, but you haven't changed at all." Du Cairen was in good spirits at the moment, leaning against the large bolster, her mindset becoming very peaceful.
Shen Shixi sat down and said, "I thought you would scold me for coming here."
Du Cairen said, "I would like to, but I don't have the strength."
"Say what you have to say, I'm listening."
Consort Du was immediately saddened and said, "I often think that the Emperor is really unfair. I haven't even had a chance to compete with you yet, and the Emperor has already slapped me off the stage."
Look, since you entered the palace, everyone speaks highly of you. They all say you've never intentionally harmed anyone. It's not that you're so good; it's that the Emperor has always protected you and never given you a chance to act.
Shen Shixi said, "Looking at it from another angle, isn't it also the Emperor protecting you concubines? Everyone says I'm ruthless; if I really took action, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it!"
Madam Du smiled, two tears welling in her eyes. "Yes! The Emperor is protecting us. Whether it was true or not, it's all in the past. Chenyuan, I beg you for one thing. For the sake of us all being women, please leave a way out for the eldest princess."
Life is too hard for women like this. She's still so young. I owe you this. In the next life, I hope we'll have the chance to be true sisters, and I will definitely protect you!
"good!"
Shen Shixi had no intention of attacking the eldest princess; each generation has its own battlefield.
After Shen Shixi left, Madam Du passed the throne to the eldest princess, telling her daughter to listen to Shen Shixi from now on. The eldest princess was incredulous, "Are you crazy? You were the one who said Shen Shixi was a bad woman, and now you're telling me to listen to her?"
"Your mother is dying, I beg you..."
"No!" The eldest princess covered her ears and shouted, "I am a princess, I am Father's eldest daughter, I am not your puppet. You can't defeat her, but do you think I can't defeat her either?"
You said that if my brother succeeded, everything would be alright. Did you abandon him? We're both Father's sons, so why can't my brother be the crown prince...?
Before the eldest princess could finish speaking, she watched helplessly as her mother rolled her eyes and then collapsed to the ground.
Jin Tao was terrified. After a moment of stunned silence, she stepped forward and felt under Madam Du's nose. She exclaimed in shock, "Your Highness, please stop! The concubine... is dead!"
The eldest princess panicked immediately. "I angered my mother to death? I angered my mother to death, didn't I? You all tell me, didn't you?"