Free Web NovelChapter 1304: Chapter 1293: Illegitimate Son
"Has cousin become the Crown Prince? Does that make me the Crown Princess Consort?" The news of Prince Kang being appointed Crown Prince was a great joy, and the Prince Kang Mansion was abuzz with discussions. Despite being confined, Princess Kang inevitably heard of the news.
"Haha..." She laughed heartily, her once dull eyes due to confinement now shining with extraordinary brightness, her face also flushed with excitement.
"Someone, I want to see the Crown Prince, I want to go out!" she shouted loudly.
"Princess Consort, please forgive us, without the Crown Prince’s orders, we cannot let you out," the people outside said cautiously.
"How dare you! Who taught you your manners? I am now the Crown Princess Consort, who allowed you to call me Princess Consort?" She corrected them with extreme dissatisfaction.
The servant guarding outside also looked displeased: "But the Crown Prince did not..."
"Did not what? I am cousin’s officially wed wife, he is appointed as Crown Prince, naturally I should be the Crown Princess Consort! Where is cousin? I want to see him!"
"Please forgive us, Princess Consort, the Crown Prince has now moved to the Eastern Palace, we will send your request over."
"Eastern Palace? You say cousin has moved to the Eastern Palace? When did this happen? Why was I not informed to move too?" Princess Kang faintly sensed something amiss, her emotions growing more intense.
"The Crown Prince said for Princess Consort to properly reflect within the Mansion."
"Then what about others? That slut Ye Jing?"
"Lady Rong and the young heir have already moved to the Eastern Palace with the Crown Prince."
"Everybody moved to the Eastern Palace, and I am left here alone? I am the official wife, why does cousin treat me like this? He must have been bewitched by that fox Ye Jing, let me out, I want to remind cousin to deal with that woman, quickly let me out, if something goes wrong, can you afford it?"
She screamed forcefully, but no one opened the door, only kept saying "Pardon us."
"Slut, fox, heartless man, how dare you wrong me? Aunt, you promised my mother to take good care of me, where is your promise?..." Knowing she couldn’t get out and realizing she might be stripped of her title as Crown Princess Consort, Liang family cursed more vehemently, blaming almost everyone as if all had wronged her.
Meanwhile, Zhong Yi also worriedly said, "It’s been over two months since the Crown Prince was appointed, but the position of Crown Princess Consort has yet to be settled, logically it should have been former Princess Kang, but she has been under house arrest in the Mansion, what does the Crown Prince mean by this?"
"Don’t worry." Ye Qiu comforted casually.
"How can I not worry? Although I did not like to go out while in the boudoir, I heard that back then the Crown Prince put in a lot of effort to marry Princess Kang, although she did many foolish things, might the Crown Prince still have old feelings,..."
"No." Ye Qiu replied confidently, "The Crown Prince is no longer the same as he was, he knows how to weigh pros and cons, making former Princess Kang the Crown Princess Consort is not wise, the future Mother of the Country cannot be petty or unstable, moreover, before deciding, he has to take me and Ruirui into account."
"You have a point, but I am still worried that like the saying ’when the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden,’ might the Crown Prince after ascending the throne act against us? After all, it was your idea for him to request to go to Nanyue, and you suggested a lot about its development, plus the medicine the Emperor takes..." With all these matters, the more Zhong Yi said, the more heart trembled, unable to stop the fear in her eyes.
"No worries, though there’s fear, precisely because of it, he wouldn’t dare act rashly, now the border is under my control, furthermore, there are Jing’er and Ruirui, he must take them into account, the old Emperor showed such favoritism towards Ruirui, surely the courtiers speculate that Ruirui’s regained favor might be due to him, and he has no other son capable of heavy use, him ascending the throne and appointing Ruirui as Crown Prince is inevitable."
"And what if he, like the Emperor, delays in appointing a Crown Prince?"
"He won’t; first, he suffered from not having been appointed Crown Prince himself, second, the courtiers also suffered from the anxiety of not having a Crown Prince, to avoid the situation where there’s no Crown Prince and suddenly find the Emperor incapable of handling state affairs, once he ascends the throne, the first thing ministers will urge is appointing a Crown Prince, since appointing a Crown Prince is inevitable, Jing’er, Ruirui’s mother, cannot remain in the status of an ordinary concubine."
"So the Crown Prince temporarily holding off on appointing a Crown Princess Consort is to wait, once he ascends, he will appoint Ruirui as Crown Prince, Jing as empress?"
"Not necessarily empress, perhaps Imperial Concubine or something, after all, he won’t appoint Princess Kang as empress, but hasn’t deposed her either, perhaps as you said, there’s still a shred of old feelings, appointing her as empress is inappropriate, yet making her a simple concubine would invite ridicule."
"But still she’s labeled as Princess Kang, under house arrest in the Mansion, it’s quite awkward." Zhong Yi wasn’t sympathizing with Liang, just feeling wistful, but it was all due to Princess Kang’s actions, no one else could be blamed.
Ye Qiu’s guess was correct, although he moved to the Eastern Palace with concubines, none was officially appointed, he promised Ye Jing that once he ascended the throne, he would officially appoint her and Xiao Rui.
His ability to say such things proves he’s not as ruthless as his Father Emperor, but he intended to immediately appoint Ye Jing as Crown Princess Consort only that his Empress Mother blocked and disagreed.
The Empress, after all, felt pity for her niece, and didn’t trust Ye Jing and Ye Qiu like the Crown Prince does, but for her grandson, who’s loved, she had no choice but to use the reason that only after Ruirui is appointed, his mother can be appointed to temporarily suppress Ye Jing.
However, she knew Ye Jing’s appointment was inevitable, while her niece indeed lacked the qualifications to be Mother of the Country, yet didn’t want to break past promises to her sister, so thought as long as Ye Jing wasn’t empress, she could consider herself honorable, after all, her niece always remained Princess Kang.
But she didn’t consider that her son is already Crown Prince, far beyond Prince Kang, what does Liang as Princess Kang even mean?
This messy account, counted over, is ridiculous, but it’s not Ye Jing who is laughed at, she refused to care, she and her older brother schemed for Crown Prince for so many years, certainly not to let another woman reap the benefits, her sole criterion was Liang must never be empress, fortunately, she and the Crown Prince agreed on this.
Next, she had to think about matters between the Crown Prince and her brother, whether the Crown Prince ascends, or her son in the future, she doesn’t want her brother suspected.
