After returning, the Tianyou Emperor remained silent for quite some time. Feng Zongguan brought over memorials and placed them before him, softly reminding, "Your Majesty, these are the memorials you requested."
The Tianyou Emperor carefully stored the clay figurine before speaking, "Assign more guards to escort the Seventh Prince. Ensure everything at the Tianquan Palace is well-prepared—he must not lack for food, clothing, or daily necessities."
Feng Zongguan nodded in acknowledgment and added quietly, "Your Majesty, Li Meiren has been kneeling at the Empress's palace all this time…"
The Tianyou Emperor frowned. Since he had already issued the imperial decree, why was she still pleading with the Empress? This Li Meiren truly lacked sense—wasn't she just causing trouble for Xiao Qi?
He instructed, "Let her kneel. Assign a clever young eunuch to keep watch. If she faints, have her carried back. Just make sure she doesn't die before Xiao Qi returns."
Feng Zongguan withdrew.
Soon, a young eunuch headed toward Fengqi Palace. A light rain began to fall outside the palace, quickly forming puddles on the ground that soaked Li Meiren's skirts.
She knelt rigidly, remaining in that position throughout the night, but the gates of Fengqi Palace never opened.
By 5:45 the next morning, palace consorts began arriving one after another to pay their respects to the Empress.
When they saw Li Meiren kneeling there—drenched, trembling, and on the verge of collapse—they all deliberately detoured around her.
Only after the gates of Fengqi Palace closed again did Chen Xiang, who had accompanied her all night under an umbrella, finally persuade, "Meiren, please return. The Seventh Prince is departing at 7:00 AM. If you don't go back now, you'll miss him."
Li Meiren finally snapped out of her daze, wiped her face, and stood up to hurry back. She stumbled several times along the way, each time barely caught by Chen Xiang.
By the time she returned, Feng Zongguan had already arrived at Jingfu Pavilion with his attendants.
Seeing her return, Feng Zongguan stepped forward and bowed, "Li Meiren, the Seventh Prince's belongings have been packed. His Majesty has ordered me to personally escort the Seventh Prince out of the palace gates."
Li Meiren suddenly knelt before him, kowtowing as she pleaded, "Feng Zongguan, I beg you, let me go with Xiao Qi."
Feng Zongguan hurriedly reached out to help her up, his expression troubled. "Meiren, this is not something I have the authority to decide."
Li Meiren immediately added, "Then could you plead with His Majesty on my behalf? Xiao Qi is still so young, and Tianquan Temple is so far away. Since he must go, let me, his mother, accompany him!"
Feng Zongguan replied, "His Majesty has assigned guards to care for the Seventh Prince. There is no need for Li Meiren to worry."
Growing desperate, Li Meiren tried to kowtow again.
Zhao Yan came running out and pulled at her, "Mother, don't go. Xiao Qi will return soon."
Feng Zongguan also said, "Li Meiren, do not make things difficult for me! And do not make things difficult for the Seventh Prince." He signaled to a eunuch beside him, who immediately stepped forward, picked up Zhao Yan, and carried him out.
Gritting her teeth, Li Meiren had no choice but to stand and quickly follow them.
Feng Zongguan waved his hand, and the remaining eunuchs carrying Zhao Yan's belongings followed as well.
As the group approached the palace gates, they spotted the Sixth Prince and the Crown Prince's attendants in the distance.
Zhao Yan quickly patted the eunuch's hand, and the young eunuch set him down. The Sixth Prince came running over, tearfully stuffing a box of pastries into his hands, "Xiao Qi, these are osmanthus cakes my mother made. Remember to eat them."
Zhao Yan accepted the pastries, his own nose tingling with emotion, "Thank you, Sixth Brother." Though he was happy to leave the palace, he would miss his Sixth Brother and Jiu Jiu dearly.
The palace maid beside the Crown Prince stepped forward, handing the bundle in her hands to the eunuch behind Zhao Yan, then curtsied and said, "Seventh Prince, these are clothes and some silver sent by His Highness the Crown Prince. May Your Highness have a smooth journey."
Zhao Yan was somewhat surprised: His elder brother the Crown Prince had actually sent him gifts as well.
The group escorted Zhao Yan all the way to the palace gate. Li Meiren held Zhao Yan in her arms, wiping her tears as she said, "Xiao Qi, go ahead first. Your mother will definitely come to accompany you."
Zhao Yan wore a horrified expression: Please don’t!
Although he was somewhat reluctant to part with Li Meiren, the idea of leaving the palace together was out of the question.
After speaking, Li Meiren turned to Feng Zongguan and said, "Could Xiao Qi take my palace maid Chen Xiang with him? She has been caring for Xiao Qi since he was young."
Feng Zongguan nodded.
Chen Xiang immediately stepped forward, lifted Zhao Yan into the carriage, and then climbed in herself. As the carriage slowly began to move, Zhao Yan leaned against the window to bid farewell to Li Meiren. Chen Xiang called out loudly, "Do not worry, Meiren. This servant will take good care of the Seventh Prince."
Once the carriage had completely left the palace, Li Meiren immediately turned and headed toward the Imperial Bedchamber of the Tianyou Emperor. However, before she could get close, she was stopped.
She fell to her knees with a thud, pleading sorrowfully, "This humble consort cannot bear to be separated from the Seventh Prince. I beg His Majesty to allow me to go to Tianquan Temple to pray for His Majesty’s blessings!"
She knelt for an entire day. As dusk approached, the Tianyou Emperor did not appear, but Jiang Huanghou arrived instead.
Frowning, she looked at Li Meiren and admonished her sternly, "Li Meiren, if you truly care for the Seventh Prince, you should return to Jingfu Pavilion and stay there quietly!"
Jiang Huanghou was exasperated: How had she failed to see back then that Li Meiren’s beautiful head was filled with nothing but mud?
Even mud cannot be propped up against a wall.
If she seized this opportunity to climb higher by leveraging the Seventh Prince’s circumstances, regain the Emperor’s favor, there might still be a chance to bring the Seventh Prince back.
But if she continued to make a scene like this, she would only bring trouble upon herself.
Just as she was about to have someone escort Li Meiren away, the door to the Imperial Bedchamber in Sweet Spring Palace suddenly opened.
Feng Zongguan hurried out and announced, "By His Majesty’s verbal decree, Li Meiren, you may go to the Seventh Prince on your own."
Overjoyed, Li Meiren expressed her gratitude and struggled to her feet. Supported by Ban Xia, she limped away.
After she had gone some distance, Feng Zongguan bowed to Jiang Huanghou and said with a smile, "Empress, His Majesty has official duties to attend to today and requests that you return at this time tomorrow."
Jiang Huanghou smiled and nodded, taking the tonic soup from the matron behind her and handing it to him. "Then I shall trouble you to deliver this tonic to His Majesty. This Empress will take her leave now." The fact that His Majesty was willing to see her indicated that all was well.
Feng Zongguan accepted the item and bowed. "Farewell, Empress."
Feng Zongguan brought the tonic soup to the Tianyou Emperor, who was reviewing memorials without looking up. He instructed, "The gates of Yujing should be closed by now. Have the city gate captain open them and let Li Meiren out. Send two guards to escort her to the Seventh Prince."
Feng Zongguan nodded and remarked with emotion, "Your Majesty, you are truly considerate of the Seventh Prince. If he knew, he would surely be deeply moved."
Tianyou Emperor: I hope so.
He had already failed that child; how could he bear to separate him from his mother again?
At a quarter past 7 p.m., the palace gates opened once more. A carriage departed Yujing through the night, rushing without rest to the next town. By the end of 7 p.m. the following day, it finally caught up with the Seventh Prince’s procession in Xuancheng, over two hundred li away from Yujing.
At that time, Zhao Yan was sound asleep in the Celestial Suite of the Eight Directions Inn, dreaming of the delicacies and scenery along his journey, where even the air tasted of freedom.
In his dream, someone was calling him. He groggily opened his eyes and seemed to see his mother.
Zhao Yan waved his little hand, turned over, and continued sleeping. When a familiar voice sounded in his ear, he jolted upright. Seeing Li Meiren sitting at the bedside gazing at him tenderly, Zhao Yan felt as if the sky had collapsed.
He blinked several times, confirmed the figure before him was real, and stammered: "M-Mother… when did you arrive?"
Li Meiren smiled: "I arrived a quarter-hour ago."
Zhao Yan felt as if struck by lightning.
Li Meiren: "Your Father Emperor specially permitted me to come care for you. From now on, I'll be staying with you."
"F-Father Emperor?" Zhao Yan nearly choked on his rage, itching to unleash a stream of curses.
After drawing the red lot, he had explicitly begged that cheap old man to let his mother remain in the palace. The cheap old man had promised to treat his mother well.
Yet in the blink of an eye, he'd sent her here.
This was a betrayal!
Li Meiren then pulled his small bookbag from her luggage, cheerfully announcing: "Look, Xiao Qi, I brought all your books! Your Father Emperor also gifted you a large chest of books waiting in the carriage outside. Even if our Xiao Qi goes to Tianquan Temple, there's no need to worry. Study hard in secret, and in ten years you'll surely amaze your Father Emperor when you return!"
"A chest of books?" Zhao Yan felt as if five thunderbolts had struck him!
His small hands nearly tore holes in the bookbag straps.
"Mm, a full chest of books." Li Meiren, completely oblivious to his resistance, continued: "I've checked – there are poetry collections and policy essays. Since Xiao Qi no longer has imperial tutors, you must study even harder than in the palace." She reached to pull Zhao Yan up, urging: "Quick, get up! It's still early – you can read for a while. There's much to learn on the journey to Tianquan Temple too!"
Just let me die!
This is relentless persecution!
He'd escaped the palace, yet they still wouldn't let him be.
Zhao Yan collapsed back onto the bed: This must be a dream, must be a dream!
Revert to a previous save, revert! When I wake up again, mother will surely be gone.
That same day, far away in the Yujing palace, the Tianyou Emperor smoothly rose from the Dragon Bed, donned his dragon robes, and efficiently processed the pile of memorials and secret reports from various regions on the imperial desk.
Then, as had been his daily routine, he received ministers before continuing to review petitions… until late in the You hour, when Jiang Huanghou entered bearing ginseng soup. Only then did he set down his brush, gently saying: "The Empress has worked hard."
Jiang Huanghou shook her head: "Not at all, Your Majesty bears the greater burden. Feng Zongguan mentioned you've been working since yesterday with only two hours of rest. Your Majesty, while state affairs are important, your health matters equally."
Jiang Huanghou moved behind the Tianyou Emperor, massaging his temples.
As lamps were lit in the Imperial Bedchamber, the Tianyou Emperor felt unprecedented ease.
From Chen hour yesterday when Xiao Qi departed until now – two full days – time had not rewound itself.
Indeed, distance could neutralize that child's influence.
It had been so long since he'd experienced such satisfying, uninterrupted work time.
After massaging for a while, Jiang Huanghou advised: "Your Majesty, you should retire early tonight. Don't you have Morning court session tomorrow?"
Over these two days, the Tianyou Emperor's complexion had almost completely recovered.
He nodded, and Empress Jiang personally attended to his washing. The Emperor and Empress lay together on the same bed, with Empress Jiang reaching out to tease Tianyou Emperor.
Having not visited the inner palace for many days, Tianyou Emperor was stirred by her provocations and took the Empress to bed.
But as soon as they rested, the candles in the Imperial Bedchamber were lit again. Empress Jiang gazed at him tenderly and called out seductively, "Your Majesty…"
The Dragon Vein remained vigorous, forcing Tianyou Emperor to go another round.
Then the next moment, Empress Jiang continued gazing at him with lovestruck eyes…
Tianyou Emperor hesitated for a second, making Empress Jiang cast a doubtful glance toward his lower abdomen.
Gritting his teeth, Tianyou Emperor went at it again.
Then the next moment, Empress Jiang persisted in gazing at him with tender affection…
Having worked continuously for two days, Tianyou Emperor thought: This woman is going to be the death of me!