Chapter 661 - 664: A Warning

Chapter 661: Chapter 664: A Warning

The more the Empress Dowager thought about it, the angrier she became. She simply couldn’t let it go.

"Relay my verbal command. Say that I have not seen the Fifth Prince in a long time and miss him dearly. Have Lady Shu bring the Fifth Prince to Biquan Palace to keep me company."

The Fifth Prince, Li Yi, was originally the son of Yichongyuan. After Yichongyuan’s suicide, Li Yi was placed in the care of Lady Shu to be raised.

Upon hearing this, the nanny was quite surprised. "Why have you suddenly thought of the Fifth Prince?"

The Empress Dowager said coldly,

"Isn’t Princess Consort Zhen acting so arrogantly just because her son is the Crown Prince? I must make her understand that the Emperor has more than one son. If she truly pushes me too far, I don’t mind seeing the Crown Prince replaced."

The nanny’s heart trembled upon hearing this. Daring not to reply, she hastily bowed her head. "I will see to it at once."

After all these years together, Lady Shu had long come to see Li Yi as her own son. After all, people’s hearts aren’t made of stone, and Li Yi was no exception.

Even though he still missed his birth mother, he would still call Lady Shu "Mother" with genuine feeling.

They were becoming more and more like a true mother and son.

Lady Shu was very surprised to suddenly hear that the Empress Dowager wished to summon Li Yi.

Unaware of the Empress Dowager’s intentions, she was secretly on guard. However, she could not disobey the Empress Dowager’s wishes, so she had no choice but to personally take Li Yi to Biquan Palace.

The Empress Dowager was extremely affectionate when she saw Li Yi.

She called her grandson to her side, held his hand, and lavished him with questions about his well-being.

Judging by appearances, one would think they were a grandmother and grandson who shared a deep, loving bond.

But Lady Shu knew perfectly well that this was all an act. The Empress Dowager usually kept to herself, rarely interfering in her grandchildren’s affairs. She never showed excessive affection toward any of them; her feelings had always been lukewarm.

For the Empress Dowager to be acting so out of character today, something was definitely amiss.

Lady Shu grew even more vigilant.

Sure enough.

Soon, the Empress Dowager turned the conversation to the Crown Prince.

She didn’t criticize the Crown Prince. She only said that as an important figure, he was very busy and rarely had time to visit her in Biquan Palace. She hoped Li Yi could visit more often in the future, so that an old woman like her wouldn’t be left all alone in the palace with no one to talk to.

Lady Shu, of course, hastily agreed.

"As long as the Empress Dowager doesn’t find us a nuisance, I will be sure to bring Yi’er to visit you often."

The moment they left Biquan Palace, the smile vanished from Lady Shu’s face.

She led Li Yi by the hand into the palanquin.

Li Yi asked cautiously, "Mother, are we really going to visit the Grand Empress Dowager often from now on?"

Lady Shu stroked his head. "Do you want to?"

After much hesitation, Li Yi told the truth.

"No."

Lady Shu asked, "Why not?"

Li Yi didn’t know how to answer. After a long, awkward silence, he finally managed to say,

"We don’t know each other well."

He knew the Empress Dowager was his biological grandmother, but since they rarely interacted, their bond was weak.

He respected his grandmother, but he didn’t feel close to her in the slightest.

Lady Shu said gently, "Since you don’t want to, we’ll visit less often in the future."

’The Empress Dowager deliberately mentioned the Crown Prince in front of me and Li Yi. She was likely hinting at her dissatisfaction with him. If Li Yi seizes this opportunity to foster a relationship with her, he might be able to replace the Crown Prince.’

’To put it nicely, the Empress Dowager was showing us goodwill.’

’To put it bluntly, she’s using Li Yi, trying to turn him into a weapon against the Crown Prince and Princess Consort Zhen.’

Lady Shu was well aware of Li Yi’s capabilities. He was neither particularly intelligent nor did he possess any extraordinary talents.

He was just an ordinary child.

Forcing him to contend for the position of Crown Prince would likely be his undoing.

Lady Shu smoothed the wrinkles on Li Yi’s collar and said slowly,

"The path of fighting for the throne is too dangerous. I don’t want you to be dragged into it."

"I only hope that you can grow up safe and sound. In the future, you can leave the palace to establish your own residence and be a carefree, idle Prince. That would be more than enough."

Li Yi said earnestly, "When I leave the palace and establish my own residence, I’ll bring you out with me, Mother. I will honor you for the rest of my life."

Lady Shu smiled, gratified.

"Good boy. Your thought is enough."

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there was no precedent for Concubines to leave the palace and live with a Prince. Even upon an Emperor’s death, the remaining Concubines would be sent to a nunnery, destined to spend the rest of their lives with nothing but a flickering lamp and a statue of Buddha for company.

Thus, Li Yi’s wish could only ever remain a wish.

...

When Hua Manman woke up, she found herself lying on a bed, covered by a soft duvet.

A candle by the bed was burning quietly.

She instinctively covered her mouth and held her breath, afraid of being drugged again.

"Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with this candle."

Hua Manman looked toward the voice and saw Princess Consort Zhen sitting at a table.

Princess Consort Zhen had removed the pearl hairpin from her hair. She wore a soft, comfortable, loose-fitting ruqun, and her long, jet-black hair cascaded to her chest. Her skin was as white as jade, and her limpid eyes held a gentle smile.

"You’ve been asleep for half the day. You must be hungry by now, right? I had the Imperial Kitchen prepare some food. You should eat it while it’s hot."

The table beside her was already laden with delicious delicacies.

Hua Manman uncovered her nose and cautiously took a sniff.

She could only smell the aroma of food, nothing else.

But she didn’t let her guard down completely.

"I’m not hungry."

The words had barely left her lips when her stomach let out a loud GROWL.

Hua Manman: "..."

’That was embarrassing.’

Princess Consort Zhen’s smile deepened. "Rest assured, I haven’t drugged the food."

To prove she was telling the truth, she picked up a pair of ivory chopsticks and tasted a bite from every dish on the table.

Hua Manman watched her without blinking.

Once certain that the consort was unharmed, Hua Manman could no longer restrain herself. She lunged forward, grabbed the chopsticks, and began to eat ravenously.

After all, an army marches on its stomach. Miss one meal, and you’ll be starving!

’I have to eat my fill first,’ she thought. ’Only then will I have the strength to escape.’

Princess Consort Zhen knew her tastes well, so of course all the dishes were her favorites.

Seeing how quickly she was eating, Princess Consort Zhen advised her gently,

"Slow down, be careful not to choke. It’s all for you. No one’s going to take it."

When most of the food on the table was gone, Hua Manman finally slowed her pace and asked,

"Why did you imprison me here? And why did you drug me?"

Princess Consort Zhen looked at her with a helpless expression. "I just didn’t want you to go out and take any risks. The drug was only to help you get a good night’s sleep. I never intended to imprison you."

Hua Manman didn’t want to argue about it. She said directly,

"I don’t want to stay here. Let me go."

Princess Consort Zhen replied, "I promised you that I would let you see Li Ji. You just need to wait here obediently for a little while."

Hua Manman was completely baffled. "What on earth are you planning?"

But Princess Consort Zhen gave an answer that was completely off-topic.

"Today, the Empress Dowager summoned Lady Shu and the Fifth Prince."

Hua Manman was confused. "What does that have to do with me?"

"The Empress Dowager is sending me a warning. She wants me to fall in line and be an obedient pawn in her hand."

"I could afford to be patient and play along with her before because Qiong’er is still young. There was no need to rush."

"But now that you’re in danger, I can’t wait any longer. I must take a risk."

"She loves to manipulate the game, doesn’t she? Well, I’m going to flip the entire board. Let’s see how she plays then."

As she finished, Princess Consort Zhen gave a faint smile, but a murderous intent glinted in her beautiful eyes.