mesbooks Chapter 159 The Princess Consort of Qi Has Passed Away
Chapter 159 The Princess Consort of Qi Has Passed Away
Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the end of July. The sun was blazing and the heat was unbearable, but the Caiwei Palace was filled with joy.
"Your Majesty, news has come from the summer palace that Princess Qi has passed away." Li Quan rushed in, looking flustered, and said urgently.
When Yaoqin saw Li Quan rushing in so hastily, she couldn't help but frown slightly, but a faint smile still lingered on her lips. She said softly, "Eunuch Li, when are you going to get rid of this impatient habit? You're always so impulsive."
After hearing this, Li Quan scratched his head, revealed a simple and honest smile, and said to Su Nuannuan, "Hehe, Your Majesty, I'm afraid I can't change this nature of mine. When something urgent happens, I can't help but rush to report to Your Majesty."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "Alright, alright, Li Quan is just being loyal. Granny Jin, Granny Ru, you two take these two little ones down to play." As she spoke, she winked at the two nannies standing to the side.
Jin and Ru understood immediately and quickly stepped forward, each taking one child's hand and coaxing them softly, "Little Princess, shall we go to the garden to catch butterflies?" Upon hearing this, the two children cheered and jumped for joy, skipping and hopping out of the room with the nannies.
After the children left, the room became much quieter. Su Nuannuan's smile faded, and her expression turned serious. She looked at Li Quan and slowly asked, "How could someone who was perfectly healthy suddenly disappear? Have you found out the specific circumstances?"
Li Quan quickly bowed and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, according to the news from the summer palace, Princess Qi suffered a sudden and serious illness. Although the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital did their best to treat her, they were ultimately unable to save her."
Su Nuannuan narrowed her eyes slightly, and asked thoughtfully, "Then what did the people we placed in the summer palace say? Did they make any special discoveries?"
“Although our people have been secretly monitoring Prince Qi’s side, they have never dared to get too close to his living quarters. However, just last night, we seemed to vaguely hear Prince Qi shouting something inside the room, one of which was ‘It’s all fake.’ Who would have thought that just one night later, we would receive news this morning that Princess Qi has passed away!” Li Quan stepped forward with a solemn expression and reported the situation to Su Nuannuan in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, Su Nuannuan instantly understood why the Prince Qi had said those words. It turned out that three years ago, on their wedding night, the Princess Qi had mysteriously handed the Prince something. Since then, Su Nuannuan's people had investigated this item for a long time, but had been unable to determine its true nature.
It wasn't that they couldn't find out, but Su Nuannuan knew the matter was extremely risky and didn't want her people to take unnecessary risks. Until last year, when Tingyu went out to carry out a mission assigned by Su Nuannuan, she inadvertently noticed some unusual and extremely secretive behavior from the Prince of Qi. Tingyu, being both bold and meticulous, secretly began investigating on her own initiative, without Su Nuannuan's knowledge.
Not long after, Tingyu returned excitedly, bringing back a treasure map. Naturally, with Tingyu's quick wit, he wouldn't forget to prepare a nearly identical fake treasure map for the Prince of Qi as well. Presumably, when the Prince of Qi said "it's all fake," he meant he had followed that map to search for the treasure, only to find nothing. As for the real treasure map, it was in Su Nuannuan's hands.
"Go and inform our people that at this time, they must keep their distance from Prince Qi, especially those who are his concubines. They should all keep quiet for now! Otherwise, if they really lose their lives at Prince Qi's hands, don't blame me for not giving them a heads-up beforehand," Su Nuannuan said coldly, her eyes revealing a sense of authority.
"Yes, Your Majesty, this servant will certainly convey your decree. I believe they are all intelligent people and will understand the implications," Li Quan hurriedly bowed and replied.
Su Nuannuan nodded slightly in satisfaction, then continued to instruct, "Now that the Princess Consort of Qi has passed away, the Qi Prince's Mansion will inevitably fall into chaos. After the mourning period ends, a new Princess Consort will surely take over the mansion. Before you have a good understanding of this new Princess Consort's temperament, you must not act rashly or recklessly."
At this point, Su Nuannuan couldn't help but sigh softly. There was a deeper reason why she was explaining these things so solemnly.
The late Princess Qi had been married into the royal household for three years, but had never borne any children. Since the King of Qi had no legitimate son, according to custom, his concubines and numerous maids were forbidden from having offspring. Therefore, to this day, the King of Qi remained childless, without a single son or daughter to bring him joy.
The person responsible for Princess Qi's inability to conceive for three years must be Consort Jiang in the palace...
When Consort Jiang first entered the palace, she was just a noble lady, but because of her outstanding appearance and charming personality, she quickly won the emperor's favor and affection.
During that period, the Emperor showed her great favor, and she became increasingly arrogant and spoiled, taking advantage of this imperial favor.
On ordinary days, Consort Jiang would often summon Princess Qi to the palace for gatherings, ostensibly to "reminisce." However, Princess Qi knew that her half-sister's summons had no good intentions, so she could only find excuses to politely decline Consort Jiang's invitations.
But who would have thought that because Princess Qi failed to come when summoned several times, Consort Jiang repeatedly complained to the Emperor, saying things like "Princess Qi has no sisterly affection" and "Princess Qi looks down on concubines" and so on.
At first, the Emperor didn't pay too much attention to it, but as Consort Jiang kept nagging about it every few days, the Emperor's impression of Prince Qi gradually became worse.
Once this impression turned sour, the Emperor naturally began to make trouble for Prince Qi every now and then. The poor Prince Qi was constantly being blamed by the Emperor for no reason, and he was truly annoyed.
After some investigation, he was shocked to discover that it was his own princess who had brought all this trouble upon him! Enraged, the Prince of Qi immediately issued an order: from now on, whenever Consort Jiang summons the princess, she must enter the palace immediately without the slightest delay!
In this way, once Princess Qi steps into the palace gate, it will be the perfect opportunity for Consort Jiang to control Princess Qi.
For example, today Princess Qi accidentally dropped and shattered the precious vase bestowed upon her by the Emperor; tomorrow, she carelessly bumped into and broke the beautiful flowers personally given to her by the Emperor. In short, there are countless bizarre excuses, and each one is so convincing that you simply cannot refute them.