Chapter 499: Chapter 499

Three days later, the imperial decree was directly issued to the farm, and they were to return to Beijing.

"So, this spring year, can you spend it in Beijing?"

At present, it is already November, and in another month, it will be December. The winter in Nanling Country is only about ten degrees Celsius, not very cold, which is good.

"To think about returning to Beijing when not allowed, and now, when I do not want to return, I received the decree to enter Beijing, ha, Heaven really treats me generously!"

"Why don’t you want to return to Beijing? That’s your home, isn’t it? From that New Year’s in Dongru Country, you haven’t returned to Beijing for two whole years,"

"If it were you, having hardly earned your achievements, and then to simply let someone else take them over, would you be willing?"

The key issue was that these achievements were handed over to the sons of Consort Xian, the archrival of Consort De. Rong Heng felt incredibly stifled and also felt he couldn’t face his mother after returning to Beijing.

Naturally, he was not willing. However, things here had already become a complete mess, and the plague they were supposed to manage was also in disarray. She knew that Rong Heng was delaying action just to find the right opportunity to turn things around. But now, before the opportunity had even arrived, he was urgently summoned back, no wonder he was reluctant.

Imperial orders couldn’t be defied; even if reluctantly, they had to return to Beijing. From here to Beijing would take at least a month; they needed to rush back before the spring year.

First by land, then by water, and then by land again, the journey of over twenty days exhausted everyone.

This time, however, Rong Heng chose to travel by horse carriage instead of riding a horse, because in the carriage, Tangyuan wouldn’t have to suffer the harsh cold winds. After all, women need more care. Since he was riding in the carriage, she could naturally join him, and this also provided an opportunity for them to be alone.

The most uncomfortable part for him was probably the ten days on the boat, watching her vomit terribly, and he could do nothing about it. Latest content published on n0velfire.net

"You get seasick so severely, can’t you treat it with medication?"

"It’s useless, I can’t resist it, don’t worry, I can endure it."

She casually waved her hand, rejecting Rong Heng’s suggestion, little did she know that Rong Heng had already secretly vowed never to let her take a boat again.

These days, apart from fruits and spiritual spring water, she didn’t consume a single grain of rice, for whatever she ate, she would vomit; even fruits were vomited out messily. But she couldn’t just not eat, so in the end, she decided not to eat at all, and solely relied on water to maintain her strength. She essentially treated these ten days as a fasting period, which turned out to be very effective. When she left from Prefecture City, she weighed 132 pounds, but upon arriving in Beijing, she had slimmed down to 125 pounds, losing a total of seven pounds.

It was evident how much she had suffered during this time.

After returning to Beijing, she was sent directly back to Prince Heng Mansion by Ming Yue because Rong Heng had various meetings to attend in Beijing, and seeing her so exhausted, he didn’t want her to continue running about with him, so he let Ming Yue take her back to the mansion.

After Rong Heng met with the Emperor, he went directly to Consort De’s palace. Unlike the Emperor, who primarily inquired about his political achievements, Consort De immediately touched on a critical subject as soon as she spoke.

"I heard that in these two years, you’ve taken a maid by your side? How come you haven’t brought her over for me to see?"

Consort De was an elegantly lonely and cold beauty, usually not very talkative, but as soon as she spoke, she would go straight to the point.

Rong Heng was taken aback that she would be interested in a mere maid by his side.

"Mother, she’s just a maid; how could she merit your attention?"

"Does Heng’er really treat her just as a maid?"

While making tea, Consort De casually glanced at her son, her gaze seemingly piercing through Rong Heng instantly.