The palanquin waited at the far end of the Imperial Garden.
The Emperor carried Ye Jingchen all the way until they boarded the palanquin.
Along the way, Ye Jingchen probably also figured out why the Emperor treated the other children so differently.
He himself had once been an Imperial Prince, so probably no one understood the meaning of the saying, “In the royal family, there are no brothers, only rivals,” better than he did. That was why he doted on the Crown Prince and, by his attitude, gave the other Imperial Princes no chance at all, wanting the maternal clans behind those Imperial Princes to understand that there was no point in doing anything meaningless.
He probably had such thoughts because the Emperor was still young. Even if the Crown Prince turned out to be useless, he still had room to make mistakes. If another twenty years passed, he probably would not think that way anymore.
Of course, the biggest reason of all was that the Emperor loved the Empress, and because of that, he also loved everything connected to her.
In the novel, Consort De once said that the Empress died at the very moment the Emperor loved her most, and the living could never beat the dead. Since she could not win the Emperor’s heart, she could only seize the authority to stand above all under heaven.
The palanquin stopped at the gate of Weiyang Palace.
The Noble Consort knew he would come, yet still kept the gate tightly shut, clearly not wanting to see him. Fortunately, he had the foresight to bring the Emperor along.
“Fangfei, go knock on the door,” Ye Jingchen deliberately ordered a palace attendant from the Eastern Palace to go call.
Fangfei knocked for a while, and only then did a eunuch open the gate a crack to peek outside. Seeing only Fangfei, he assumed only people from the Eastern Palace had come. Thinking of the Noble Consort’s words, he shut the gate again without another word.
Just as expected!
The little figure inside Ye Jingchen’s heart was rolling on the ground laughing.
But the Emperor was furious.
To neglect people from the Eastern Palace was to neglect the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was his treasured darling; how could he be treated with such disregard?
How could a lowly gatekeeping eunuch dare to neglect the Eastern Palace? It could only mean that the master of Weiyang Palace had given the order.
Ji Wushuang, relying on being a daughter of the Ji family, was simply too arrogant!
“Zhang Shunde, you go!” he ordered in a deep voice.
Zhang Shunde smiled on the surface but felt bitter inside as he stepped forward to knock on the door.
He knocked several times, but there was no response from inside.
The Emperor ran out of patience. “Haven’t you eaten? Hit it harder!”
“Bang, bang, bang…” Zhang Shunde used all the strength of his life to pound the palace gate until it clanged and rattled.
This time, the people inside could no longer pretend not to hear. He pulled the door open, ready to drive them away in irritation, and then suddenly came face to face with the chief eunuch… the wrinkled old face of his own direct superior.
Zhang Shunde was the Emperor’s favorite in the palace; in this palace, that meant he represented the Emperor. Usually, wherever he was, it meant the Emperor was there too, and even if the Emperor was not there, there had to be an imperial decree.
He dared to obey the Noble Consort’s order and block the Eastern Palace’s servants, but he absolutely did not dare block the Emperor’s people.
He only hoped that what had come was some imperial decree from the Emperor, and not the Emperor himself.
The eunuch hurriedly opened the door. As the great gate swung open and the view widened, he saw the imperial carriage and that bright yellow figure. His legs shook, and he fell flat on the ground in fear.
“Weiyang Palace really has quite the airs, daring even to stop the imperial carriage outside!” Zhang Shunde shouted angrily in his sharp, thin voice.
The Noble Consort liked His Majesty and had always been generous to the people around him. Having received favors in ordinary times, he could only repay them in this way.
Inside Weiyang Palace, in the Noble Consort’s bedchamber, Ji Wushuang was teaching Ye Jingyu to read.
Ye Jingyu should have gone to the Imperial Academy today, but Ji Wushuang, using the excuse that he had been frightened the day before, also asked for three days off for him and personally taught him to read.
In the morning, the Eastern Palace had sent over two palace attendants on the verge of death, saying they were the ones who had instigated the Crown Prince’s fall into the water, and that their master behind them was Consort De. They also said that the Crown Prince would later come to visit the Third Imperial Prince.
After taking the two men in, she questioned them personally and indeed learned quite a bit. Their statements also matched those of the few servants in her own palace who had eaten from her bowl while betraying her. But just these two servants could not calm the anger in Ji Wushuang’s heart.
The fact that the Crown Prince had tried to push her child into the water was undeniable. When she went to the Emperor to argue the matter, he instead punished her without another word or any regard for right and wrong. She resented the Emperor, but hated the Crown Prince even more.
So she had the palace gates closed, preparing to give the Crown Prince a shut-door snub.
She did not know when that little troublemaker would come, or what he wanted to do once he got here.
While she was thinking that, a palace maid rushed into the inner hall. “Your Highness, he’s here! He’s here!”
“If he’s here, then keep him outside. Why are you shouting about it?” the Noble Consort said unhappily.
“Your Highness, it’s not the Crown Prince… it’s the imperial carriage! The imperial carriage has arrived at Weiyang Palace!”
Ji Wushuang shot to her feet. The Emperor was coming?
Ever since she had gone to argue with him the day before yesterday and angered him into punishing her, the Emperor had not come to Weiyang Palace again.
“Quickly, come with me to receive His Majesty!” She straightened her clothes and ornaments, took Ye Jingyu by the hand, and hurried outside.
Outside Weiyang Palace, the Emperor also took Ye Jingchen by the hand and stepped down from the palanquin, but he did not go inside. Instead, he waited for the mistress of Weiyang Palace to come out and receive him.
Ji Wushuang was somewhat pleased to see the Emperor from afar, but when she saw the Crown Prince beside him, her face immediately darkened.
That black-hearted little troublemaker, knowing she did not want to see him, had actually used the Emperor as a tiger skin.
The fox borrows the tiger’s might!
“This consort pays respects to Your Majesty!”
“Your son pays respects to Imperial Father!”
The mother and son stepped forward, one performing a curtsy, the other making a hand salute.
The Noble Consort wore a goose-yellow palace gown, her hair adorned with jade beads and ornaments. Her skin was snow-white, her features delicate and charming; she did not look at all like the mother of a six-year-old child, but rather like a maiden of sixteen.
And Ye Jingyu had clearly inherited the Noble Consort’s fair skin… red lips, white teeth, big bright eyes. He was a very pretty little child.
The Ye Jinghe he had seen earlier also had very big eyes.
Ye Jingchen secretly glanced at the Emperor…
Mm. The Emperor had big eyes and double eyelids, with strong features and sharp lines, but what stood out most was the aura of someone in power, commonly called kingly aura.
Because his aura was so strong, people would subconsciously ignore his looks instead.
No wonder Ji Wushuang had fallen in love with the Emperor at first sight.
One could tell from the way she looked at him: tender and affectionate, yet with obvious restraint.
“Do your eyes see only me, and not the Crown Prince?” The Emperor did not tell them to rise, instead looking down at the mother and son from above.
“Imperial Father, I came to visit Third Imperial Brother, not to settle accounts. Don’t scare him,” Ye Jingchen said coquettishly, shaking the Emperor’s hand.
He was here today to make peace, not to make enemies.
Before the Emperor could keep scolding, Ye Jingchen spoke again: “Fangfei, quickly present the gift this prince is giving Third Imperial Brother.”
Fangfei hurriedly handed over the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone that had been prepared long ago and carried from the Eastern Palace to Chengqian Palace, and then from Chengqian Palace to Weiyang Palace.
Ye Jingchen took them and personally handed them to Ji Wushuang.
Ji Wushuang did not want to take them, but with the Emperor watching, she had no choice. So she accepted them unwillingly, her expression as if she had swallowed a fly.
“Imperial Father, you misunderstood the Noble Consort the day before yesterday. Shouldn’t you spend some time with her? I also want to play with Third Imperial Brother for a while.” Ye Jingchen used a bit of force to pull the Emperor a few steps. Of course, that mainly depended on the Emperor’s cooperation. Then he put the Emperor’s hand onto the Noble Consort’s hand. While they were still stunned, he ran over and took Ye Jingyu’s hand.