This illness turned out to be quite serious.
The Crown Prince kept recalling the look in Xiao Yunting’s eyes when he had suddenly stepped forward toward him.
And also the horrifying feeling he had experienced when Emperor Yongchang appeared.
That little b*stard, that little b*stard truly no longer cared about anything. Completely disregarding the future of the Eastern Palace, he had actually framed him like that in front of Emperor Yongchang!
In fury, he slapped over the medicine bowl in Xiao Jingzhao’s hands.
Xiao Jingzhao immediately dropped to his knees. “Royal Father!”
The Crown Prince closed his eyes, suddenly startled awake from his thoughts. Only then did he cough weakly, his face pale. “Get up. I’m not angry at you.”
Xiao Jingzhao stood up according to his words and sat at the bedside looking at him. “Royal Father, no matter how angry or upset you are, you must not joke with your own health. You absolutely must take good care of your body.”
The Crown Prince’s complexion was pale. Seeing palace servants bring over another bowl of bird’s nest porridge, he waved them away.
After the servants withdrew, he said, “I’m fine. After recuperating for a while, I’ll recover. From now on, you must stand up for yourself!”
Xiao Jingzhao seemed to realize something. “Royal Father?”
“This time, that little b*stard has completely torn apart all pretense with me.” The Crown Prince sneered, his expression vicious. “He is ruthless and merciless, he deliberately rammed himself onto the sword point to frame me…”
The Crown Prince frowned and breathed heavily. “Since he is this vicious, if he gains power in the future, he absolutely will not tolerate you either. Therefore, you must also establish yourself.”
Xiao Jingzhao listened with a pounding heart.
He vaguely knew that something major had happened in the Eastern Palace this time, but he did not know the specific details.
Now that the Crown Prince had explained it like this, he finally pieced together most of the situation.
Unable to help himself, he lowered his voice. “Royal Father, Imperial Grandfather favors him.”
Yes. This incident had already made Xiao Yunting’s position in Emperor Yongchang’s heart crystal clear.
And the more obvious it became, the more determined the Crown Prince became to eliminate this son as quickly as possible.
Things had already reached this point, Xiao Yunting absolutely had to die!
His face darkened. “You do not need to worry about this matter. You are old enough now. It is time for you to begin learning official duties. I will find a way to place you into the Ministry of Works.”
The Ministry of Works?
Xiao Jingzhao was instantly caught off guard. “Royal Father, this son… this son fears he may not be capable of such responsibility…”
“What are you afraid of?” The Crown Prince covered his mouth and coughed twice before continuing. “Xiao Yunting started handling official business just two months after returning from Longhu Mountain. In less than a year, he solved several major cases in succession. By this year, he even personally dealt with the Jiangxi disaster relief. That is how he built up his prestige.”
He stared at Xiao Jingzhao and said word by word, “If he can do it, then so can you! And you can certainly do even better than him. What is there to fear?!”
Xiao Jingzhao immediately lifted his robes and knelt down. “Royal Father, rest assured. Your son will certainly give it his all!”
After speaking so much in one breath, the Crown Prince was already exhausted. Hearing Xiao Jingzhao say this, he finally nodded wearily. “Now that looks more proper. Get up…”
Before he could finish speaking, the eunuch Sun Dehai outside carefully reported, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Eldest Princess has gone to the Crown Princess’s palace.”
The Eldest Princess?
The Crown Prince frowned. The Eldest Princess had always been close to Xiao Yunting. Her visit to see the Crown Princess this time probably would not lead to anything good.
He lowered his eyes. Before he could say anything else, the voices of eunuchs greeting someone sounded from outside: “Greetings to Your Highness the Eldest Princess!”
The Eldest Princess had actually come here afterward.
The Crown Prince was somewhat surprised, because the Eldest Princess had never paid much attention to him before.
He raised his brows just as the Eldest Princess walked in.
Xiao Jingzhao immediately stood and bowed.
Toward Xiao Jingzhao, the Eldest Princess at least did not give him an ugly expression. She merely nodded slightly and said, “Rise. Jingzhao is quite filial.”
A palace maid brought tea. Xiao Jingzhao hurriedly took it personally and delivered it to the Eldest Princess.
The Eldest Princess did not accept it. Instead, she coldly stared at the Crown Prince. “I heard that ever since the Crown Princess fell ill, you have not gone to visit her even once?”
Disgust and irritation immediately surged up within the Crown Prince.
In truth, even in the past, the Eldest Princess had always treated him coldly.
Before Xiao Yunting returned, he had gone several times to Baiyun Temple to invite her down the mountain in order to win Emperor Yongchang’s favor, yet he had never even managed to see her face.
Back then, these things had not mattered much.
After all, the Eldest Princess had been equally cold to everyone else.
But now, right after he had been schemed against by Xiao Yunting, the Eldest Princess still dared to put on such airs before him and speak down to him from above. That was something he found difficult to endure.
His right eyelid twitched violently.
If not for his fear of Emperor Yongchang, he would never have given the Eldest Princess any face at all.
Yet now, he still said mildly, “The Eldest Princess certainly shows concern for the affairs of our Eastern Palace. However, the Crown Princess is my wife. Her health naturally has the imperial physicians to care for it. There is no need for the Eldest Princess to be so concerned.”
The Eldest Princess sneered. “What use are imperial physicians? Wasn’t her illness caused entirely by you?! You truly become more pathetic the older you grow. A grown man making life difficult for his own wife and children, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?!”
The Crown Prince’s right eyelid twitched violently several more times, and the anger in his heart surged uncontrollably upward.
These past few days, Emperor Yongchang had scolded him, Xiao Yunting had framed and defied him, and even Empress Feng had treated him coldly.
And now even the Eldest Princess, a princess already married out of the family, dared to come before him and put on the airs of an elder?
He knew the Eldest Princess was deeply favored by Emperor Yongchang. Because of the matter of Princess Consort Lu’s disappearance in the past, Emperor Yongchang had always treated the Eldest Princess with exceptional favor.
But even so, he did not want to endure this humiliation in the slightest.
He immediately lifted his head sharply. “Eldest Princess, this is my family matter! It is also the Emperor’s family matter. Even if you are a princess, you have no right to teach me how to behave!”
Xiao Jingzhao’s heart jolted in alarm.
Before he could react, the teacup in the Eldest Princess’s hand smashed onto the ground with a bang.
Immediately afterward, the Eldest Princess rose furiously and shouted, “Good! Good! Good! This Ben Gong is merely a princess married out of the family. What qualifications would I have to interfere in the Crown Prince’s affairs? It is this Ben Gong who has overstepped. This Ben Gong is guilty and has offended Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
As she spoke, she sneered. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, if we are speaking according to ruler and subject, then this Ben Gong should even kneel and kowtow to you! It is this Ben Gong who has been disrespectful!”
Xiao Jingzhao instantly understood what was happening. Before the Crown Prince could react, he dropped to his knees with a thud and loudly tried to stop her. “Great-Aunt, please calm your anger! Royal Father has been ill these past few days, and he has also had misunderstandings with Elder Brother, so naturally he has become more irritable…”
Without pausing, he continued explaining, “Great-Aunt, how would Royal Father dare disrespect you?!”
But the Eldest Princess had come precisely intending to cause trouble. Now that she had caught a flaw in his words, how could she possibly let the matter rest? She immediately turned around and walked out the door.
The Crown Prince was practically furious to death!
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