Palace.
Emperor Ming Yuan was furious all day long, his chest aching with anger.
The arrogance of the Chu family had already exceeded his imagination.
The power of the Chu family was now encroaching on his imperial authority. Premier Chu, who used to be respectful, said something today that made him realize that the Chu family posed a grave threat to the Macun imperial court.
Premier Chu admonished Marquis of Huiding in distress, saying that although he was of high rank and enjoyed deep imperial favor, he had instigated his subordinates to stir up this universally outraged incident that damaged the reputation of the Chu family.
The reputation of the Chu family? What about the reputation of the imperial family?
He could tell that the old man had just blurted it out. With an incident like this, he could not afford to think too much. This showed that to him, the reputation of the Chu family was much more important than the reputation of the imperial family.
The middle-aged generation of the Chu family now held important positions at court, and the younger generation had also started military training, climbing up the ladder of military officials.
And his sons? They probably only thought about competing for the crown prince's position. Who cared about the threat of the Chu family?
Only the Fifth Prince did.
The Fifth Prince didn't care about his own reputation or the queen's this time, and was determined to bring down Marquis of Huiding. This showed that the Fifth Prince had a clear mind.
His refusal to marry Chu Mingyang was probably because he saw this too. Once his interests were tied to the Chu family, he would easily be assimilated. Even if not assimilated, he would be fettered.
He had wanted to deal with Marquis of Huiding for a long time, but with his great military achievements, ordinary charges could not touch him at all. Today he brought this on himself by openly kidnapping the Fifth Prince’s wife in broad daylight...
Emperor Ming Yuan suddenly narrowed his eyes. The Fifth Prince’s wife was the queen. She should not have been dressed as a man alone if she went out on business.
He remembered Lady Jing’s words. If it weren’t for the queen's wit this time, the prince would probably have fallen deeply into Marquis of Huiding’s trap.
"Go to Qian Kun Hall!" Emperor Ming Yuan's eyes flashed as he ordered.
The old man must also know about this. He had many eyes and ears, and there was little he did not know about the palace and the court.
And the person who knew the Fifth Prince best was the Retired Emperor.
The old man was in good spirits today. After walking around the yard twice, he sat quietly in a reclining chair in the yard, basking in the sun.
Seeing Emperor Ming Yuan come, he was not surprised at all, just blinked his eyelids slightly, "You've come!"
"Father!" Emperor Ming Yuan stepped forward and saluted.
Eunuch Chang brought over a stool, "Your Majesty, please sit."
Emperor Ming Yuan sat down, and said impatiently, "Does Father know about what happened with Marquis of Huiding?"
"I know!" The Retired Emperor tapped his thin, slender fingers on his knees a few times, looking very leisurely, "The Fifth Prince won a good fight this time. Marquis of Huiding looked down on him in the past, and today he was defeated by the Fifth Prince, which serves him right for his poor judgement back then."
Emperor Ming Yuan said, "It was a good fight, but not so glorious after all, at least the Fifth Prince has implicated his wife’s reputation in this."
The Retired Emperor looked at him, "Maybe she was willing?"
Emperor Ming Yuan tentatively asked, "What does Father think?"
The Retired Emperor smiled. "The emperor wants to ask if this was a coincidence or the Fifth Prince's scheme?"
Having his intention seen through, Emperor Ming Yuan was immediately embarrassed, "Well, the son doesn't think the Fifth Prince is capable of this."
"A couple with one heart and mind can shatter gold." The Retired Emperor shook his head and hummed a tune.
Emperor Ming Yuan was lost in thought.
The Retired Emperor glanced sideways at him, "Why come and sound me out instead of talking directly to your son? Whatever I know is what you know, and whatever I don't know, you may know. He is your son, you birthed him, shouldn't you know his weight and measure? You don't know?"
Emperor Ming Yuan said, "The Fifth Prince is indeed remarkably accomplished at a young age, with my vigor back then."
"You were far worse than him back then!" The old man ruthlessly tore down his stage.
"Father, which father looks at his son like that?" Emperor Ming Yuan waved his hand in protest.
"How do you look at your sons then? No matter how capable you and your brothers were back then, you were never enough in my eyes, there was always room for improvement. Your feelings now should be just like mine back then."
Emperor Ming Yuan looked at the Retired Emperor very warily, "Does Father still think so now?"
A question had never occurred to him before - was Father still satisfied with him as emperor?
The Retired Emperor looked at him and suddenly burst out laughing, laughing so hard that Emperor Ming Yuan's hair stood on end.
The Retired Emperor slowly stood up and patted him on the shoulder, "Your uneasiness now is the same uneasiness your sons feel."
Emperor Ming Yuan stood up, "Father, so this matter is really..."
The Retired Emperor turned and left. "Who knows? But I heard that Marquis Jing originally intended to marry his second daughter to Marquis of Huiding. This Marquis Jing is also an interesting man. If you sometimes can't see clearly the situation at court, just look at which way people like him wag their tails, and whoever they wag for must be a formidable figure."
Emperor Ming Yuan cursed Marquis Jing bitterly in his heart for making him an in-law and disgracing him.
Since Emperor Ming Yuan rewarded Princess Chu, naturally her palace gates were flooded with visitors.
Group after group came to greet, comfort, give gifts, and at the same time condemn Marquis of Huiding’s arrogance and maliciousness.
Yuan Qingling had been smiling to prove she was fine. After smiling for half a day, her face muscles were stiff.
She could only pant with her mouth open like a Multi-pocket, just short of sticking out her tongue.
With great difficulty, at sunset, she finally got through it.
She plopped down in a chair and took a big gulp of tea, about to rest her eyes for a bit,
when Lv Ya hurried over, "Princess, Prince Sun is here."
Yuan Qingling slumped in her chair, weakly waving her little hand, "Can I not see him?"
"He has already gone directly to Feng Yi Pavilion."
"Here? No, no," Yuan Qingling stood up, "then let's go to the side hall. Did the Princess Sun come with the Prince?"
"Just Prince Sun himself."
Yuan Qingling froze for a moment. Visits like this were usually with wives, so why did he rush over alone?
Were she and Prince Sun that close?
She hurried out and had Prince Sun taken to the side hall. Prince Sun clasped his hands and walked in like a little old man, first poking his head around to look, then frowning slightly at the table.
"Is my sister recovering well?" he asked flatly.
"Thanks to second brother's concern, she is much better now." Yuan Qingling bowed.
Prince Sun sat down. "Oh, good then."
Yuan Qingling didn't know what to say, and could only awkwardly ask, "Why didn't the second sister-in-law come with second brother?"
"She doesn't know I'm here."
"Oh!"
Lv Ya brought tea, "Your Highness, have some tea."
Prince Sun sighed, "This tea hurts the stomach on an empty stomach. Any snacks to go with the tea?"
"Snacks?" Lv Ya was momentarily confused.
"Pastries and the like." Prince Sun was displeased.
"Yes, yes!" Lv Ya quickly bowed, "Please give this servant a moment, will bring some right away."
"Made by the imperial kitchen?" Prince Sun's hands came out of his sleeves, and his plump hands were like two short fat bananas, glowing with ripeness.
"Well...yes, yes." Lv Ya said.
"Then bring a couple dishes too. I haven't even had breakfast yet."
"Second brother hasn't even had breakfast yet?" It was almost dinnertime!
"Dieting, can't eat too much." Prince Sun said lightly.
