"Okay, son, I'll go right away."
Ji Shaocheng immediately went out to pack his things and took several men to the Great Zhou Dynasty to find Hai Ling's whereabouts. He was determined to find Ling'er and protect her.
The imperial palace of Beilu.
As soon as Ye Lingfeng returned to the palace, he went to the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace. When Ying Mama heard that the Emperor had returned, she was overjoyed and immediately led people out to greet him.
"We, your servants, greet Your Majesty."
"Get up, where is your mother?"
Ye Lingfeng's handsome face was not pleasant, and his tone was icy as he spoke in a deep voice. Granny Ying knew that he must be angry because the Empress had disappeared. In fact, she was also very confused about this matter and did not know what was wrong with the Empress Dowager. However, the Empress Dowager was not in good health at the moment and was always sleeping. Even the imperial physicians could not find out what disease she had.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has been sleeping a lot lately, and I suspect she is ill. I summoned the imperial physicians to examine her, but they couldn't find anything wrong."
Are you sick?
Ye Lingfeng simply did not believe that the Empress Dowager was sick; he was certain that she was faking illness because she did not want to see him.
Ye Lingfeng became even angrier when he thought of this. He never expected his mother to be so scheming. In the past, she always ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures, and he always thought she was kind-hearted. But since he left the palace in Beilu, he could tell that her scheming was quite deep. What exactly did she want to do?
Ye Lingfeng's eyes were unfathomable. He ignored Ying Mama and the others and led them directly to the imperial bedchamber. Ying Mama quickly got up and, with several other nannies, followed the emperor into the bedchamber.
Inside the palace, the Empress Dowager was indeed sleeping soundly, her complexion was not bad, but she did not wake up at all because of his arrival, and remained fast asleep.
What's going on?
If she's faking it, this much is unacceptable. At least she should open her eyes when he comes in. So, is she really sick?
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has been like this lately. She sleeps for a whole day at a time, wakes up, eats a little something when she's hungry, and then goes back to sleep. I suspect she's ill, but even after the imperial physicians came to examine her, they couldn't find anything wrong with her."
Ye Lingfeng frowned. He had originally wanted to ask her why she did such a thing to Ling'er, but now it seemed impossible. Thinking this, Ye Lingfeng looked at Granny Ying and gave her instructions.
"Summon the imperial physician immediately?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Granny Ying sent someone to summon the imperial physician. Inside the palace, Ye Lingfeng walked to the side and sat down, then squinted at Granny Ying and spoke in a cold voice.
"I am not in the palace, but I know everything that has happened there. Why is the Empress Dowager targeting the Empress at every turn?"
This was something he couldn't understand. Why was his mother targeting Ling'er at every turn, especially since she was pregnant with his child, which was of royal blood? The thought that he had been completely unaware that Ling'er was pregnant with his child and had caused her so much suffering filled Ye Lingfeng with intense pain. He couldn't help but press his hand tightly against his chest, his brows furrowed, and his beautiful face was filled with anguish.
Granny Ying had watched Ye Lingfeng grow up since he was a child and had feelings for him. Seeing his expression now, she knew he was heartbroken for the Empress.
Actually, she also felt sorry for the Empress, but she didn't understand why the Empress Dowager was so determined to target her. Sometimes she seemed to treat the Empress quite well, but other times she did things that were unkind to the Empress. She didn't know why.
"Your Majesty, this servant does not know."
As soon as Ying Mama spoke, a palace maid entered and respectfully reported, "Your Majesty, Fuyue, a palace maid from Liuyue Palace, requests an audience."
Fuyue was still the Empress's personal maid. When Ye Lingfeng heard it was her, he knew that Ling'er must have left something behind, so he quickly waved for Fuyue to come in.
The palace maid went out and led Fuyue out, then withdrew herself. As soon as Fuyue saw the Emperor, she began to cry.
The Emperor returned, but the Empress did not, and she was naturally heartbroken.
Fu Yue handed over a letter with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is a letter left by the Empress when she left the palace. She said that if Your Majesty returned first, she would give this letter to you."
Shizhu immediately stepped forward, took the letter from Fuyue's hand, and handed it to her master.
Ye Lingfeng opened the letter anxiously. In it, Hai Ling explained that she had given the Empress Dowager a sedative, and the antidote was inside. Once the Empress Dowager took the antidote, she would be fine. She explained that she did this because the Empress Dowager's recent actions had made her uneasy. She had left the palace in Bei Lu because she was worried about the Empress Dowager, so she gave her this drug. In addition, she mentioned in the letter that she had been poisoned by the Soft Love Silk and that the two of them were destined to be apart. The letter ended with the words, "If this love is meant to last, why should we care about being together every day?"
Seeing her words, and recalling his last words, "If this love is meant to last, why should we care about being together day and night?", Ye Lingfeng could no longer bear it. He felt his blood rushing to his chest, and his mouth tasted sweet and metallic. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips, highlighting his handsome face and his bewitching beauty.
Shi Zhu and the others were shocked and cried out in fear.
"emperor."
The Emperor, overwhelmed by the recent stimulation, finally succumbed to his injuries and could no longer withstand the blow.
"Your Majesty, please take care of your health. The Empress will surely return."
Granny Ying also cried out in distress.
Ye Lingfeng shook his head. Just thinking about how Ling'er was pregnant and had suffered so much made him feel guilty and heartbroken. He felt like he couldn't breathe and wanted to fight his mother. When he left Beilu, he had told her beforehand to make sure she got along well with Ling'er and that they would stand together against outsiders. But instead, she turned her attention to Ling'er.
"Give this to the Empress Dowager."
Ye Lingfeng took out the antidote and handed it to Granny Ying, indicating that she should give it to the Empress Dowager.
The old woman, Ying, obeyed the order, fetched the antidote, and went over to give it to the Empress Dowager.
Outside the palace gates, the imperial physicians had arrived, walking in tremblingly and carefully paying their respects to the Emperor. They then planned to examine the Empress Dowager again. Although they had examined her several times without finding anything, the Emperor had issued an edict, and there was no disobedience to it.
However, Ye Lingfeng already knew why his mother had fallen into a deep sleep. It turned out that Ling'er had given her the medicine. In fact, he didn't blame Ling'er at all. On the contrary, he was very touched. Ling'er had done so much for him. If his mother hadn't done something wrong, she wouldn't have done such a thing.
"No need to check anymore, you can leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The imperial physicians didn't understand why the emperor wouldn't let them investigate, but since the emperor had given the order, they naturally dared not disobey and withdrew.
On the bed, Granny Ying had already given the Empress Dowager the antidote, so the Empress Dowager woke up quickly. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Ye Lingfeng in the palace. The Empress Dowager sat up and excitedly exclaimed, "Feng'er, so you're alright."
Ye Lingfeng remained silent, his beautiful, deep eyes fixed on his mother as he pondered why she would agree to the fake emperor abdicating in favor of Prince Zhaoyang. Logically, she should never have agreed. She had longed for years to return to the palace in Beilu, and now she was agreeing to his abdication? Did she not want to be Empress Dowager but instead choose to be a concubine? And after recent events, she should be a cunning woman, so why didn't she notice when the fake emperor asked her for Ling'er's birth date?
Everything about this seemed unusual, but Ye Lingfeng couldn't quite put his finger on what was so unusual, so he could only look at his mother.