readytorunbook Chapter 266 Weakness
Chapter 266 Weakness
Concubine Ye leaned on the large welcoming pillow. Seeing the princess, she forced a smile on her face and said, "Why did you come to the palace? Aren't you afraid that I will pass on my illness to you?"
This sounds like the love between cousins, but Shen Xian, the Princess of Qi, whom Concubine Ye values so much, is pregnant and lying by her sickbed. Concubine Ye is not afraid of passing her illness to Shen Xian, so how could she be afraid of passing her illness to the princess?
The princess asked, "You suddenly fell ill. How could I not come to the palace to see you?"
Concubine Ye said, "The imperial physician is here, I'm fine."
The princess said, "I was originally going to bring the Crown Prince's wife to the palace to see you."
Shen Tang stepped forward and bowed to greet Concubine Ye.
Concubine Ye still had a smile on her face, but her eyes had obviously turned colder. She ordered the maid, "Bring me the gold bracelet with rubies that the emperor gave me from my dressing box..."
Concubine Ye was weak and had no strength to speak.
Soon the nanny brought the bracelet. Concubine Ye looked at Shen Tang and said, "Although you had some unpleasantness with Cheng'an before, you are now married to Mo'er, and you are also the sister of Princess Qi. I will love you as much as I love her."
Love her and love her too?
Goodbye.
Concubine Ye waved her hand, and the nanny handed the bracelet to Shen Tang with both hands. Shen Tang didn't want it. She looked at the princess eagerly. The princess said, "This bracelet was given to you by the emperor. It's too precious..."
Concubine Ye said, "We are a family. It's too strange to talk about whether it is valuable or not."
The princess said to Shen Tang, "Your Highness, please accept this kind gesture from your Majesty."
Shen Tang reached out to take the bracelet, bowed and thanked her, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Concubine Ye leaned on the large welcoming pillow and said, "At the beginning, Miss Shen didn't want to hurt the sisterly relationship and would rather hurt herself than get on the sedan chair at Prince Jingyang's mansion. I didn't expect that she would get married in the end."
Shen Xian stood aside and said dejectedly, "My second sister is no longer willing to acknowledge me as her eldest sister..."
Concubine Ye's eyes fell on Shen Tang. "I've heard about what happened in the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion. Even if Xian'er is the daughter of the second wife, she grew up in the first wife's house and has been a twin for so many years. Can the sisterhood of more than ten years be erased just because of the grudges of the previous generation?"
Shen Tang was mentally prepared to be disgusted when he entered the palace to see Concubine Ye, but it was not this disgusting.
Shen Xian could harm her secretly, and the Pingyuan Marquisate expelled the entire second branch from the family, and still wanted her and Shen Xian to maintain a sisterly relationship. She got goosebumps all over her arms.
Shen Tang kept silent. Normally, one shouldn't contradict Concubine Ye, especially now that Concubine Ye was ill.
The princess helped Shen Tang and said, "You are not feeling well and need to rest. Don't worry about the affairs of Pingyuan Marquis Mansion."
Concubine Ye couldn't help but worry. She said, "They are sisters. One married Mo'er and the other married Huang'er. Mo'er and Shen'er are as close as siblings. I'm afraid they will affect the relationship between Mo'er and Shen'er."
King of Qi, Xiao Shen.
Shen Tang rolled her eyes when she heard this. Why beat around the bush? She could just say that she and Shen Xian didn't get along. In order to prevent Shen Xian from taking advantage and becoming the mother of the country, she whispered in Xie Guimo's ear, asking him to support Prince Yu and cut off Prince Qi's position as the crown prince.
The power of pillow talk is so great, why didn't Concubine Ye persuade the emperor to directly issue an order to appoint Prince Qi as the crown prince?
Shen Tang heard it, and the princess naturally heard it, "Mo'er is not that kind of person."
Concubine Ye said, "I heard from Shen'er that Mo'er had dinner with Prince Yu at Deyue Tower earlier. This time, the Fourth Master of Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion was recommended by Prince Yu and promoted to the position of Doctor of the Ministry of War..."
After saying so many words in one breath, Concubine Ye was panting heavily.
Shen Xian looked at Shen Tang with a frown on her face, "It was you who instigated Prince Jingyang to distance himself from Prince Qi and get closer to Prince Yu, wasn't it?"
Shen Tang was just struggling to find a way to speak when Shen Ying bumped into him. Shen Tang said, "Don't slander me. A few days ago, someone drugged me to prevent me from having children. I'm still angry about this and the Fourth Madam asked me to ask my husband to recommend the Fourth Master to the Emperor. I used my Fourth Uncle as an excuse to refuse, but Mother believed her and wanted to ask Father for help. I knew the chances were slim and I didn't want to put Mother in the middle. I didn't even mention this to my husband, so how could he ask Prince Yu for help?"
Shen Tang said this in front of the princess, so it must be true. Shen Ying didn't say anything else.
Concubine Ye looked at the princess, "I always hoped that you could persuade Prince Jingyang to help Shen'er. For so many years, Prince Jingyang remained unmoved. Now that Mo'er and Prince Yu are so close, Prince Jingyang is going to support Prince Yu, right?"
What the princess feared most was that Concubine Ye would ask her to ask the prince to help Prince Qi. The princess said, "The prince said that he would not participate in the fight for the throne, and the Jingyang Palace would not support Prince Yu."
"Prince Jingyang doesn't know how to do that, but what about Mo'er?" Concubine Ye said in an aggressive tone.
The princess said, "I wouldn't have known about Mo'er's private dealings with Prince Yu if you hadn't told me. I'll ask him about this later. It's more important for you to take care of yourself."
Concubine Ye gave a bitter laugh, looking hopeless and disheartened. "I shouldn't have been so ambitious. I thought that with the support of the Zhenguogong Mansion and the Jingyang Prince's Mansion, Shen'er could sit in that position. I didn't expect the Zhenguogong Mansion to disappear, and the Jingyang Prince would stand by and watch. In the end, we can only rely on the Changping Marquis. Shen'er and the Yu Prince have been fighting each other to the death for so many years. Shen'er and I have no way out."
Is it because the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion and the Prince Jingyang's Mansion nurtured her ambitions but did not provide any support?
No one from the Zhenguo Mansion and the Jingyang Palace had ever said that they would support the Prince of Qi as the Crown Prince. Concubine Ye took it for granted and ended up blaming the Zhenguo Mansion and the Jingyang Palace, using her own life and the Prince of Qi's life to put pressure on the princess.
The King of Qi and the King of Yu were fighting to the death. No matter which one came to power in the future, they would settle accounts with the other.
If Concubine Ye and Prince Qi want to survive, they can only win, not lose.
The Prince of Qi is not yet at the point of defeat, but he has already shown signs of decline. Because the princess and Concubine Ye are cousins, everyone tacitly assumes that the Jingyang Palace is the Prince of Qi's party, even though the prince has never participated in the fight for the throne.
If Xie Guimo openly supports Prince Yu, there is no guarantee that the civil and military officials will not think that Prince Jingyang is more optimistic about Prince Yu.
Concubine Ye did not allow anyone in the Jingyang Palace to side with Prince Yu, especially Xie Guimo.
Shen Tang felt sorry for the princess. In these matters, the princess could neither persuade the prince nor order Xie Guimo around. But Concubine Ye only put pressure on her, or rather, she could only put pressure on the princess. The princess was caught in the middle and was useless except for being in a dilemma.
The princess wanted to leave, but couldn't bring herself to speak. Fortunately, her savior arrived at this moment. A palace maid came in and announced, "The queen is here..."
Concubine Ye sent the maid away and said, "Just say that I have a headache and need to rest, and let the Queen go back."
Shen Tang seized the opportunity and said to the princess, "Mother, the imperial concubine needs to rest. Let's go back first and come back another day."
The princess stood up and said to Concubine Ye, "Then I will go back today. You should rest well."
After bowing, the princess turned and left.
Behind him, Concubine Ye leaned on the big pillow, her face green with anger.
Because of anger, his pale face had some color.