Chapter 11
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The report not only changed the Emperor’s expression but also stunned the little prince in his arms, who, after a few seconds, started to tear up in fear.
“I need to see Niang Niang!”
Ling Rui no longer clung to the Emperor. He struggled to get down from the Emperor’s arms. “Put me down!”
Now he wanted to get down!
The Emperor’s large hand firmly held the little one, preventing him from falling. “Little Seven, don’t move. Royal Father will take you there.”
With these words from the Emperor, Ling Rui stopped struggling. He hugged the Emperor’s neck again, tears welling up in his eyes. “Let’s go.”
The Emperor, completely ignoring his own discomfort, hurried out, walking quickly and urgently.
Lu Guang followed the Emperor at a trot, calling over the messenger eunuch and quietly asking a few questions.
Soon, the Emperor arrived at Zaochun Palace with Ling Rui in his arms.
The main hall of Zaochun Palace was in chaos. As soon as the Emperor stepped in, shards of porcelain flew up in front of him. Noble Consort Yi’s angry voice echoed along with the sound of falling porcelain shards—
“Consort Li, how dare you! How dare you try to feed me this filthy stuff!”
The Emperor was startled by the commotion caused by Noble Consort Yi. He instinctively looked down at the little one in his arms, who showed no fear, only an anxious face looking ahead.
Calming himself, the Emperor walked inside.
The floor was covered with broken pieces. Consort Li was kneeling on the ground, holding her face. Her delicate cheeks were now swollen and red.
Seeing the Emperor enter, Consort Li froze for a moment before crawling towards him, crying, “Your Majesty, please save me! Noble Consort Yi wants to kill me!”
She cried pitifully, but the Emperor’s attention only stayed on her for a moment before shifting away.
“Yi Er.”
The Emperor sidestepped the approaching Consort Li and moved closer to Noble Consort Yi. He studied her flushed face, noticing something was off. “What’s wrong?”
“Consort Li’s palace had something unclean. I accidentally drank soup from her kitchen and now feel hot all over. Your Majesty, there is something wrong with her soup.”
Hearing it was about soup again, the Emperor felt a sinking feeling.
He had just drunk the soup Consort Ru sent, and now felt hot and uncomfortable. Noble Consort Yi drank soup from Consort Li’s kitchen and had the same reaction.
It was hard not to link the two bowls of soup together.
“Lu Guang, search Consort Li’s residence and bring the imperial physician to examine the soup Noble Consort Yi drank.” After giving these instructions, the Emperor’s expression darkened, and he added, “Also, bring the soup from the Chengming Hall that Consort Ru sent for examination!”
Lu Guang bowed and complied.
Ignoring the tearful Consort Li, whose face was now swollen from slaps, the Emperor was not moved by pity. Noble Consort Yi, with her angry, flushed face, made the Emperor’s throat tighten.
“Yi Er, leave this to Lu Guang. I’ll take you back to your palace.”
The Emperor, holding Ling Rui with one hand, extended the other to Noble Consort Yi.
Seeing this, Consort Li felt a mix of jealousy and bitterness, but she couldn’t show it. She raised her face, looking pitifully at the Emperor. “Your Majesty, Noble Consort Yi hit me like this. Won’t you stand up for me?”
The Emperor: “…”
The Emperor knew Noble Consort Yi’s domineering personality well. He glanced at Consort Li, then at Noble Consort Yi, blatantly showing his bias. “We’ll see once this matter is investigated. If Noble Consort Yi wronged you, I will give you justice.”
With that, the Emperor left Zaochun Palace, holding the Seventh Prince and leading Noble Consort Yi.
The implications of having both people affected by drugs were clear.
Consort Li, watching the Emperor leave, tried to protest, “Your Majesty, I’m in pain. Please stay—”
Before she could finish, Lu Guang stepped in front of her.
Lu Guang, ever polite, spoke calmly to the kneeling Consort Li. “Niang Niang, a package of medicine was found in your palace. Do you recognize it?”
Consort Li’s expression turned cold, her earlier pitiful look vanishing. “What medicine? There has never been such a thing in my palace!”
Lu Guang was unfazed by her change in demeanor. “The imperial physician is already examining it.”
At Zaochun Palace, under Lu Guang’s supervision, the imperial physician quickly determined that the medicine found was an aphrodisiac, which was also present in the soup Consort Ru sent to the Chengming Hall.
After uncovering this, Lu Guang detained everyone at Zaochun Palace.
“The Emperor will deal with this matter once he’s done,” he said calmly, ignoring Consort Li’s angry outbursts.
Unlike the commotion at Zaochun Palace, the atmosphere at Fenghua Palace was quite different.
Ling Rui, who was sitting in the little garden, looked towards the sleeping quarters for the thirty-eighth time, his small face puzzled. “Daddy and Niang Niang are napping during the day.”
Ji Yan, who had brought him to the garden, held his little toys, trying to distract him. “They are tired, so they need a nap. Seventh Prince, how about we build a little tiger this time?”
Ling Rui looked at the pile of small wooden blocks on the ground, frowning. He didn’t want to build a tiger; he just wanted to find Daddy and Niang Niang.
But at this critical moment, Ji Yan certainly couldn’t let him go.
“Little Seven!”
Fortunately, Ling Fu, who had finished his lessons, walked in from the entrance, led by a little palace maid all the way to the garden. “I came to find you!”
Seeing his sixth brother arrive, Ling Rui stood up and greeted him.
Even though the garden had grass, Ji Yan had thoughtfully laid a thick carpet over it to make it more comfortable for Ling Rui to sit down.
Ling Fu plopped down on the carpet.
He didn’t come just to play with Ling Rui but to gather some information. “Is Noble Consort Yi in the palace? Someone came to my mother’s palace earlier, searched around for a while, and left without finding anything.”
The incident with Noble Consort Yi at Zaochun Palace and the issue with the soup hadn’t been spread around yet.
People from Zaochun Palace couldn’t leave, so the news naturally didn’t get out.
When Consort Ru was dismissed from Chengming Hall, she hadn’t heard anything either, so she was still clueless at Lan Pavillion.
“Sixth Prince, Noble Consort is resting right now. Please be patient. Once she wakes up and is free, I’ll take you to see her.”
“Alright!”
Ling Fu didn’t know what had happened, but thinking that Noble Consort Yi could still sleep, he figured it wasn’t anything serious.
“Sixth Prince, would you like to build a little tiger with the Seventh Prince or play with something else?” Ji Yan asked them with a smile.
Ling Fu thought for a moment. He didn’t want to play with anything.
Sitting on the mat, he asked worriedly, “Little Seven, it’s Fifth Sister’s birthday in a few days, and I don’t know what gift to give her. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Gift?” Ling Rui tilted his head, asking.
“Yes.”
Ling Fu was genuinely troubled. “Last year, I gave her my favorite pastries as a gift, but she wasn’t happy at all. This year, I don’t know what to give her.”
He was genuinely distressed, while Ling Rui turned to Ji Yan and said, “Little Seven wants too.”
He didn’t want a gift; he wanted to give a gift.
Having taken care of him for a while, Ji Yan was well-versed in his toddler speech. Unlike other children their age, who spoke in such a garbled manner that it was hard to understand, their little prince was much better. Though his speech was still a bit unclear, it wasn’t a jumble of words that left people bewildered.
He spoke a few words at a time, making it easy to understand with a bit of attention.
“Seventh Prince, you want to give a gift to the Fifth Princess, and that’s certainly possible.”
Ji Yan hadn’t had much interaction with the Fifth Princess. Her mother, Consort Shu, had been with the Emperor for many years. Despite her title, she wasn’t favored and didn’t have a strong presence in the palace.
Considering Consort Shu’s situation, Ji Yan offered some advice to the two princes—
“Girls like pretty things. Sixth Prince, Seventh Prince, you can choose some beautiful gifts for the Fifth Princess.”
Ji Yan was hinting that they could give jewelry or elegant clothes that girls would like.
But the two young princes, with no experience in gift-giving or life, might not understand this hint.
From noon to late afternoon, as the sun began to set.
Ling Rui had taken a full nap on the little bed set up temporarily in the East Courtyard before he saw Noble Consort Yi, who had come to find him after waking up.
Noble Consort Yi’s complexion was rosy, and her eyes were filled with charm.
She had always been beautiful, but now she was even more stunning.
Ling Rui, sitting on the little bed, rubbed his eyes and opened his arms for a hug. After not seeing her all afternoon, he was now very clingy to Noble Consort Yi.
Noble Consort Yi hugged him, looking down and asking, “Were you scared at noon? Are you afraid?”
She still remembered that during the incident at Zaochun Palace, the Emperor had carried the clingy little one over as well.
At that time, she hadn’t felt well and couldn’t properly comfort the clingy little one.
“Not scared.”
Ling Rui leaned against Noble Consort Yi, reaching out his small hand to touch her face, his round black eyes full of joy. “Niang Niang, pretty!”
Noble Consort Yi: “…”
Noble Consort Yi, amused, pinched his little face. “I’ve always been pretty.”
If she weren’t beautiful enough, the Emperor wouldn’t have favored her for so long.
“Little Seven has good taste.”
The Emperor, standing at the doorway, it was unclear how much he had overheard. Now, free of his earlier discomfort, he looked at Noble Consort Yi with full tenderness. “Yi Er, you’re getting prettier and prettier.”
Noble Consort Yi didn’t take his compliment to heart.
She just snorted softly, bringing up the unfinished matter. “Your Majesty, the incident at Zaochun Palace should be fully investigated by now, right? I’d like to know why I was affected today.”
In front of the Emperor, when no outsiders were present, Noble Consort Yi didn’t refer to herself in a deferential manner. She had known the Emperor from outside the palace long ago, back when he didn’t address her with such formal titles.
“Lu Guang should have figured it out by now.”
Having just been intimate with Noble Consort Yi, the Emperor was full of affection for her. His deep and pleasant voice, meant to coax, could even move someone as proud as Noble Consort Yi. “Yi Er, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to avenge the grievances you suffered at Zaochun Palace.”
At Noble Consort Yi’s request, the Emperor took her to Zaochun Palace together.
On the way.
The Emperor looked at Ling Rui, who was being carried by Noble Consort Yi, and offered, “Little Seven, come let Royal Father hold you. Don’t let the Noble Consort get tired.”
In the past, Ling Rui would have let him carry him.
But now, he wanted to stay close to Noble Consort Yi.
Seeing him nestle his face closer, Noble Consort Yi smiled slightly. “Alright, Little Seven is like a fluffy cotton ball, not heavy at all. Holding him doesn’t tire me.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Rui’s little ears twitched.
The next second, he revealed his hidden little face, looking at the Emperor with justified eyes. “Little Seven is slim!”
Niang Niang can carry me!
Though Noble Consort Yi said he wasn’t heavy, she didn’t say he wasn’t chubby either.
She pinched the soft, chubby flesh of the little one in her arms, not letting him get too proud. “Look, what am I pinching here?”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui blushed, not admitting that what she pinched was flesh.
He grabbed Noble Consort Yi’s clothing with his little hands and softly replied, “It’s cuteness.”
Ji Yan had said that he wasn’t chubby, but cute.
Noble Consort Yi: “…”
Noble Consort Yi was genuinely charmed by his cuteness.
The interaction between the big and the little one made the Emperor smile at first, but then his smile faded as he seemed to think of something.
Soon after, the Emperor and Noble Consort Yi arrived at Zaochun Palace, where Lu Guang reported everything he had found in detail.
Some solid evidence, like the aphrodisiac found in Zaochun Palace and confirmation that it was brought in by palace personnel from Zaochun Palace, was presented with certainty.
Other points, such as not finding any drugs in Consort Ru’s palace and the fact that the soup delivered by Consort Ru was not under her watch the entire time, were delivered more slowly and suggestively by Lu Guang.
After hearing the full report, the Emperor had made up his mind.
The drug belonged to Consort Li.
Consort Ru was not only innocent but clearly framed.
The person who framed her was undoubtedly Consort Li.
“Why did Consort Li go through such lengths? What was she aiming for?” the Emperor asked with a frown.
Lu Guang, bowing, also sounded puzzled. “This servant doesn’t understand why Consort Li would do this. Logically, Consort Ru has been staying in her palace with the Sixth Prince for years and rarely goes out. She shouldn’t have offended Consort Li.”
Though Lu Guang’s tone was puzzled, mentioning the Sixth Prince made the Emperor narrow his eyes.
He sat in his high seat for a moment, then spoke slowly—
“Consort Li’s behavior is improper and unbecoming of her status. From today onwards, she is demoted to Concubine Li and confined for six months. During this time, let her reflect in solitude and stay away from me.”
When this punishment reached Consort Li, she went mad on the spot.
Six months without seeing the Emperor would be enough to make him lose all interest in her!
When this news reached Ling Rui, a different scene from the last time appeared in his little head.
This time, the scene showed Consort Ru and the chubby Sixth Prince happily together in Lan Pavillion.
After seeing these images, Ling Rui clenched his little fists, his mind filled with one thought—
It turns out that by changing the events in the visions, his foresight ability could reappear!
So, could he call Ah Wu again this time?
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Obrigada pela tradução!????????