20demayo Chapter 456
Chapter 456
the carriage raced through the shenwu gate, speeding straight into the palace.
with jiang xinyue's token hanging at the front of the eldest princess's carriage and jiang chuan, the chief eunuch of kunning palace, at the reins, who would dare to stop them?
master yu cowered in the corner, muttering, "could empress dowager jiang be holding a grudge against me for hunting down her uncle all those years ago? is she luring me into the palace to kill me? my daughter is perfectly fine—how could she possibly need a blood transfusion?"
back when he had nowhere to stay in the capital, his daughter had even begged the emperor to let her leave the palace to settle him and his wife. she had been full of energy then!
the eldest princess, anxiously caressing her belly, thought to herself, "if empress dowager jiang wanted to kill you, she wouldn’t need to trick you into coming to the palace. she could have simply erased your name during the general amnesty, and you would have died quietly in prison."
empress dowager jiang could have kept her hands clean, free from any sin. why go through all this trouble?
what jiang chuan said must be true because she had seen her mother, consort liang, poisoned, and it had been truly life-threatening.
she had also heard a few words from yan the imperial physician about her mother's condition, though at the time, her mother was no longer in critical danger, so she thought it might not be as serious as it seemed.
moreover, every time she visited her mother in the palace, consort liang appeared perfectly normal, just as she always had. this made the eldest princess think that yan the imperial physician might simply be overly cautious, as was his duty.
everything had been complicated by her recent marriage. the jiang family and the princess mansion had kept her busy, leaving her with little time to spare.
then she became pregnant, and her morning sickness was particularly severe, causing her to neglect her mother's health.
"your highness, we've arrived at dongzhimen. please disembark and switch to the palanquin."
to save time, jiang chuan had driven the carriage directly to dongzhimen. beyond this point, carriages were not permitted, a rule established in ancient times to protect the emperor and empress from potential assassins hiding in carriages.
the footstool was already in place, and with jiang chuan's assistance, the eldest princess stepped down from the carriage and into the waiting palanquin.
master yu and madam yu were not so fortunate. they had to follow the palanquin on foot, panting and running all the way to shunan palace.
all non-essential personnel were asked to wait outside the chambers, leaving only yan the imperial physician and a few medical maids to assist.
once outside, the eldest princess attempted to kneel before jiang xinyue, but xi que and shuang jiang quickly stopped her. "your highness!"
the eldest princess leaned weakly against xi que. "empress dowager jiang, it’s all thanks to you. truly... thank you so much!"
jiang xinyue smiled gently and guided her to a chair. "it’s been a long time since anyone called me empress dowager jiang. for the sake of that sentiment, it’s only right that i look after consort liang."
regardless of whether consort liang's past kindness had been genuine or not, when jiang xinyue had been framed and sent to the cold palace, the princes and princesses had protected her servants, ensuring that shuang jiang and jiang chuan were unharmed.
the younger ones had always been sincerely good to her.
"this isn’t solely my doing," jiang xinyue said, gesturing to noble consort ye. "if it weren’t for noble consort ye's sharp eyes and keen sense of smell, reporting to me in time, i wouldn’t have arrived so quickly."
the eldest princess nodded slightly to noble consort ye in gratitude. "it’s my mother’s good fortune to have a friend like you in the palace."
"no, no... your highness flatters me too much. it’s my honor to be friends with empress dowager jiang, consort liang, and consort shu. otherwise, this cutthroat palace would have devoured my conscience, turning me into a heartless monster like consort de."
the emperor, having finished reviewing memorials in his study, noticed that the main members of kunning palace were absent. he found nanny xiang in the twins' room, wiping the seventh prince's bottom.
the third princess slept soundly in nanny lü's arms.
truly, the boy was a handful, while the girl was a delight.
"your majesty, are you here to see empress dowager jiang?"
he couldn’t very well admit he was here to see the seventh prince’s backside, could he?
the emperor cleared his throat. "yes. why is the main hall empty?"
"i believe noble consort ye mentioned that consort liang has caught a cold and is unwell. her majesty rushed over in a hurry."