Chapter 111: Chapter 111

Yes, it’s about money!

The matter of losing the bet with Jun Ning has almost been settled by now.

Emperor Yongning lost!

Regarding his own loss, Emperor Yongning did not outwardly show blame, disappointment, or helplessness toward the Empress. After all, it was his own wager; he chose to place the bet, and losing it was no one’s fault but his own.

However, under the pretense of treating Jun Yu’s injuries, caring for Jun Yu, and later finding a teacher to enlighten Jun Yu with studies, he managed to obtain a thousand taels of gold from the Empress!

It shows that he still blames the Empress in his heart.

The Empress could no longer leave Jiaofang Palace, and she had essentially lost control over the harem. Calling her an Empress in name only wasn’t an exaggeration.

But, nominally, the seventeenth prince was still her Empress’s son.

As long as the political conflict between Dongchu and the Northern Barbarians remained unresolved, this fact couldn’t change.

Even if Emperor Yongning would not allow her to personally raise the seventeenth prince due to this incident, she could not avoid her duties as the royal mother.

It’s not too much to ask her to give a little money to the seventeenth prince, is it?

It was indeed reasonable to give money.

But for the seventeenth prince, who only suffered a minor injury, to take a thousand taels of gold from her for such a small injury?

A thousand taels of gold, this was essentially the total of what the Empress had scrupulously accumulated over the years in the harem, plus the generous dowry given by Marquis Zhongyong when she married Emperor Yongning!

And now, it was gone just like that?

"Your Majesty, even if I made a mistake, you cannot push me to death !" The Empress was anxious, "If I lose this money, I have nothing left." The monthly stipend was far from enough for her to live on.

To the Empress, this wasn’t just about being punished in disguise for doing wrong, it was cutting off her path!

The Empress was scared.

If Emperor Yongning wanted the Empress to be scared, only when the Empress feared would she restrain herself. Otherwise, she would always rely on her powerful maternal family to do some outrageous things.

This time was merely a lesson; if she dared to repeat it next time, it wouldn’t be as simple as taking away her money.

"Empress, you should reflect on yourself!"

After saying this, Emperor Yongning took the siblings and left, heading to the Cold Palace.

As for the thousand taels of gold, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for transporting it to his personal treasury, temporarily storing it together with the five hundred taels of gold he had previously given to Jun Ning, for safekeeping.

Once the mother and sons moved to the Weiyang Palace, he would return it to them.

And those things belonging to Jun Yu in Jiaofang Palace, he no longer needed to personally move them. This task was assigned to Xiao Lizi by Emperor Yongning.

He also instructed Xiao Lizi to take whatever belongings of the seventeenth prince could be taken, and discard those that couldn’t, to avoid being manipulated by the Empress again.

Xiao Lizi did very well, finishing everything in one afternoon.

Once Jun Yu’s injury recovered, he could move to the Prince’s residence immediately.

But before he recovered, he temporarily stayed with Jun Ning and Qiong Hua in the Cold Palace.

Right now, because of his injury, Jun Yu had taken some medicine and was very drowsy, so he slept. Qiong Hua and Jun Ning sat beside him. Jun Ning managed to control her emotions, but Qiong Hua couldn’t.

Qiong Hua already felt that her son had suffered a lot over the years not being by her side, and seeing him tormented by the Empress, her heart ached even more, and tears flowed like a spring.

"Ah Yu, it’s my fault. I didn’t protect you well."

"It’s my fault for letting you suffer."

Qiong Hua’s tears fell continuously.

From the moment Jun Yu returned, she had been crying, and now her eyes were swollen like peaches. Get full chapters from 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

But Jun Ning beside her did not persuade or stop her.

Sometimes crying is a way to vent emotions; after crying, everything would be okay. But if bad emotions are kept bottled up inside, especially for women, it will eventually lead to health problems.

She quietly stayed by Qiong Hua’s side, holding her hand, giving her support in this simple way.

After a bout of crying, Qiong Hua indeed felt much more relieved, not as suffocated.

Qiong Hua wiped her tears and smiled, then urged Jun Ning to also lie down and sleep for a while, and wake up later for a meal.

Jun Ning obediently lay down beside Jun Yu.

Watching her children in front of her, Qiong Hua felt pained and joyful inside.

Over at Jiaofang Palace, the Empress smashed everything that could be smashed inside, but it didn’t help alleviate her anger.

She made a ruckus all day, until she was exhausted, and night fell, only then did she spare the innocent surroundings and fell asleep.

When she woke up the next day, everything in the hall was cleaned up by Nanny Li and her people. The Empress cast a glance at the empty room and didn’t lose her temper again. After this night, her mood seemed to have calmed down a lot.

She asked Nanny Li to send a message to Jiang Li, asking him to come and see her.

Jiang Li received the message and quickly arrived at Jiaofang Palace.

The Empress sat in front of the dressing mirror without tidying herself up, her hair down and heavy dark circles under her eyes, looking very haggard. She asked, "Jiang Li, did you deliver the last letter to my father?"

"Empress, what has become of you?"

Seeing the Empress in this state, vastly different from her usual spirited self, Jiang Li felt very concerned.

The Empress did not respond, clearly uninterested in this matter, and her focus was elsewhere.

Understanding the Empress’s thoughts, Jiang Li didn’t waste further words and replied, "Reporting to the Empress, the letter has been shown to the Marquis, and after reading it, the Marquis has already arranged for people to go to Jiangnan to search for suitable candidates. News should be coming soon."

"How soon?" The Empress couldn’t wait any longer.

Jiang Li earnestly reported, "Judging from the Marquis’s words, at least half a month is needed."

Although the Empress was somewhat dissatisfied, she didn’t press further.

"Alright, I’ll wait another half month."

But in this half month, the Empress had no intention of letting Jun Ning have an easy time.

"Jiang Li, find a way to let the Empress Dowager know about the ridiculous thing done by the Emperor, disguising the eighteenth princess—no, eighteenth prince—as a princess."

"The Empress Dowager is inflexible by nature; I don’t believe she can tolerate such absurdity happening."

"The Empress has a clever scheme," Jiang Li praised, "The Emperor is already the Emperor, even if he did something wrong, the Empress Dowager can’t do much to him. But for the eighteenth princess—no, the eighteenth prince, it’s not so certain!"

If the Empress Dowager realized he was pretending to be obedient and flattering, without a bit of backbone, she would surely not tolerate it and wouldn’t let him off easily.

The Empress impatiently glared at Jiang Li, "Since you understand, stop rambling and get to work immediately."

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

Jiang Li’s enthusiasm wasn’t acknowledged, dampening her spirits a bit, but she carried out the task without fail.

Soon, the news that the eighteenth prince Jun Ning, who didn’t die in the Cold Palace years ago but disguised himself to win the Emperor’s favor after leaving the Cold Palace, reached the Empress Dowager’s ears.