Chapter 189: Chapter 189
"Jun Ning did not get the plague." Emperor Yongning replied with a complex expression.
"Did not get it?" The Eldest Prince didn’t believe it and said resolutely: "How could she not have gotten it? Everyone said she had the plague, and the guards at the palace gate wouldn’t let her in because of it. She must have gotten the plague."
As his words settled, the Eldest Prince realized something and hurriedly shut his mouth, not daring to continue.
If he kept speaking, the Emperor would surely suspect that he had ulterior motives in bringing Jun Ning back to the palace.
What kind of person is Emperor Yongning? He had already thought of it by now.
The joy of seeing his eldest son again after many years was instantly replaced by suspicion and disappointment.
Emperor Yongning looked at the Eldest Prince, coldly asking: "Since you are so certain Jun Ning had the plague, why did you bring her into the palace?"
Could it be some kind of scheme?
Wanting to take the opportunity to harm Jun Ning?
Hmph, no one can harm his treasured one.
Emperor Yongning thought.
"... I had no intentions." The Eldest Prince stammered in explanation, "When... upon learning that the Eighteenth Princess was infected with the plague, even though she pleaded with me to bring her to the palace, I... I was unwilling. But... but if I was unwilling, the Eighteenth Princess threatened to kill herself."
The Eldest Prince clearly appeared flustered and panicked, and while speaking, he began to babble nonsensically.
Threatening to kill herself even came out in his words.
Yet he spoke without blushing or hesitating and continued, "After all, she... she is my only sister, and I really couldn’t bear to watch her put herself in peril because of it. So... I brought her into the palace."
Emperor Yongning snorted, "So, you were threatened with Jun Ning’s life?"
"Heh heh... heh heh..."
Both Emperor Yongning and Jun Ning laughed.
Given Jun Ning’s temperament, she rarely compromises with anyone. When not a princess, she dared to offend even Emperor Yongning; how could she possibly plead with her life for the Eldest Prince to bring her into the palace?
Isn’t this just a joke?
Emperor Yongning didn’t believe it.
The Eldest Prince noticed Emperor Yongning’s disbelief and began explaining again.
But after explaining a lot, no one believed him.
Because when he spoke, he dared not look at anyone.
He seemed respectfully to reply with clasped fists, but in reality, he kept looking at his toes with a guilty conscience. Upon closer observation, he even had a thin layer of cold sweat on his forehead due to his guilty conscience.
It was almost late autumn, nearing winter, yet he was sweating?
If he himself doubted his words, who could be expected to believe him?
Emperor Yongning, the old fox, had already seen through everything.
Realizing this, his heart was extraordinarily disappointed.
Just now he asked casually due to a moment of suspicion, not truly linking him to framing Jun Ning.
Unexpected, so unexpected!
Emperor Yongning trembled in anger.
"Jun Wu, so many years have passed, and you haven’t grown a bit."
"Before, you harmed your other brothers. After the Emperor found out, you were sent to the frontier. After so many years, you finally made achievements and returned; the Emperor thought you would grow up, change your ways, and take care of younger siblings."
"But, but look at what you’ve done?"
"You actually want to harm the Emperor’s only princess again? The Emperor wants to know why you’re doing this?"
"Why are you so cruel, unable to tolerate your own family?"
Emperor, don’t you know?
The Eldest Prince didn’t reply, clenched his fists tightly, lowered his brow and eyes, staring blankly at his own toes. After a while, he looked up stubbornly at Emperor Yongning, wanting the Emperor to understand why he did it.
"Why are you looking at the Emperor? Speak! Are you mute?" Emperor Yongning questioned.
The Eldest Prince still didn’t speak.
But Emperor Yongning didn’t have the patience to wait for him. Seeing him not speaking for a long time, Emperor Yongning assumed he was plotting something nefarious, having nothing to say internally.
In anger, he expelled the Eldest Prince from the palace, temporarily transferring the military power in the Eldest Prince’s hands to the National Guardian General, who would also manage the troops stationed outside the city.
Just having had a son, wanting to stay at home to accompany wife and child, the National Guardian General: Your Majesty, I thank you!
The National Guardian General ended his vacation in misery and went to work.
After being expelled from the palace, the Eldest Prince shouted toward the sky.
Why did his well-planned arrangement, as long as he brought Jun Ning into the palace, the Emperor and those ministers who wouldn’t allow Jun Ning into the palace would definitely not spare her, even demand the execution of such a wanton princess, fail to materialize?
Instead, he himself was found by the Emperor to have ulterior motives, displeasing the Emperor, losing military power, and being expelled from the palace?
Which part went wrong?
What mistake led to such a result?
The Eldest Prince couldn’t figure it out.
But he would not give up just because of this; he decided to find those ministers. Follow current novels on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝕟𝕖𝕥
The Emperor did not pursue Jun Ning coming to the palace while infected with the plague, even saying to cover it up with some talk that she did not have the plague!
But how about those loyal ministers who always blocked Jun Ning from entering the palace?
What if they knew about this? Would they remain indifferent?
The Eldest Prince didn’t believe they would.
He immediately went to find those ministers who had always opposed Jun Ning entering the palace.
In the Imperial Study Room.
Emperor Yongning suddenly noticed blood on Jun Ning’s palm.
Just now, Jun Ning’s hand was always covered by wide sleeves, and since it was late autumn, wearing more clothes made it not easy to discover the wound on her palm. Moreover, if she wrapped something around the wound, it would be even harder to find.
At this moment, as the Empress Dowager pulled Jun Ning to try on clothes, Emperor Yongning noticed when Jun Ning went to pick up the clothes.
Emperor Yongning hurriedly grabbed Jun Ning’s uninjured hand, pulling her into his embrace, then looked at her injured hand with pained eyes, asking, "What’s happened?"
"What happened?" Jun Ning was confused.
Since entering the palace, a long time had passed; her palm wound had long stopped bleeding and was not very painful anymore. She naturally forgot about the injury on her palm.
At this moment, as Emperor Yongning grabbed her hand and asked, looking at her like that, she finally reacted.
"This injury? I fell!" Jun Ning replied truthfully.
"Fell and got injured ?" Emperor Yongning questioned, "Jun Ning, don’t treat the Emperor as a fool. You are so agile, simply falling wouldn’t cause your palm to bleed. Tell it honestly, what exactly happened? Was it your Eldest Brother bullying you?"
Jun Ning was silent for a while, then confessed honestly: "I did indeed fall and break my palm. However, this fall wasn’t by myself, but because my Eldest Brother pushed me down."