boyutpedia Chapter 169: Pressure to Consummate the Marriage
Chapter 169: Pressure to Consummate the Marriage
The last time they came to the Imperial Garden was in late autumn. They walked side by side on the withered and yellow sycamore leaves, which rustled. They were still strangers then, and who could have imagined that now, walking under the sycamore tree again, she would have become his wife.
"Yangyang!"
After an unknown amount of time, Chu Mingzheng called her softly.
Lu Mingyang glanced sideways.
Chu Mingzheng shook her hand, his eyes filled with desolation, yet within that desolation was a sense of satisfaction: "I am content to have you in my life."
Thinking of Qin Miao and his beauties, Lu Mingyang wanted to scold him, but when he saw such a sincere look, he was stunned and uncontrollably clenched the warmth of his palms.
"Your Highness!" Pei Mian came on horseback, interrupting the two people's pleasant time.
"What's the matter?" Chu Mingzheng asked.
Pei Mian handed the reins to Chu Mingzheng and said with a stifling laugh, "Your Highness, please go over quickly. His Majesty has fallen off the horse."
The emperor's horses are all very docile, and he is protected by the Imperial Guards, so it is rare for him to fall off a horse.
Watching Chu Mingzheng ride away on horseback, Lu Mingyang asked Pei Mian, "Will His Majesty blame Your Highness?"
"Yes!"
In order to show off his skills to King Guangcheng, the emperor personally drew his bow and shot a bird. Unexpectedly, the horse was frightened and he plunged into a puddle, looking extremely embarrassed.
Pei Mian was so busy laughing at the time that he forgot about this. Since the Qiwu Banquet was organized by Your Highness, how could His Majesty not vent his anger on Your Highness? Otherwise, why would He summon Your Highness?
The two hurried over.
From a distance, one could see the emperor whipping Chu Mingzheng. Chu Mingzheng knelt upright on the ground, while the emperor, half limping, stood before him, his face filled with anger.
His head and body were covered in mud, and only his face had been briefly wiped. The imperial physician knelt beside the emperor's legs and continued to wrap the gauze.
At this time, Chu Yueling also rushed over, rolled up her sleeves and was about to argue with the emperor.
"Uncle Huang fell down by himself, what does it have to do with my eldest brother?"
Lu Mingyang hurriedly grabbed her.
When the emperor fell into a puddle, who could he blame? Should he blame God for the rain, or blame Chu Mingzheng for not filling up the puddles in the tens of thousands of acres of imperial gardens?
The emperor knew it, and was just letting off steam. If she went up to him and argued, she would be the one in trouble.
As if realizing how humiliating it was, the emperor cracked his whip a few times, threw it aside, and rode away on his dragon sedan chair, heading towards their exact location.
The ministers and guards who followed the emperor left, and only Chu Mingzheng of the Guangcheng Dynasty bowed respectfully.
Lu Mingyang pulled Chu Yueling to hide, and only walked towards Chu Mingzheng after everyone had gone far away.
Chu Yueling helped her brother up. For the first time, she had a concrete understanding of his situation and cried bitterly, "Father would never be so unreasonable."
The imperial horse lay in a pool of blood, its neck broken, clearly tortured to death. A horse that had injured the emperor had no right to live.
Chu Mingzheng gently rubbed his sister's head and walked towards the emperor's horse.
The emperor's horses are carefully selected from thousands of people, so why would they be frightened for no reason?
Sure enough, there was a small bump on the imperial horse's buttocks. It was obvious that it had been struck by a stone. The emperor was surrounded by imperial guards, so the attacker had to be very far away to avoid being discovered.
The only person who could have such skills now was the mysterious man who helped him on the cliff yesterday.
Chu Mingzheng went to check the spot where the emperor had fallen. He saw several holes as thick as tree branches. If poisoned nails or arrows were placed inside, the emperor would surely die.
Who is it?
Seeing that there was no one around, Chu Mingzheng asked, "Ling'er, where is Zhou Yuan who is following you?"
He was the only stranger in the Imperial Garden.
"We got separated. I hope he doesn't get lost?" Chu Yueling was worried.
Her mother had forbidden her from attending the banquet, so she and Brother Zhou stayed in the Lakeside Garden. When they heard the Qiwu Banquet was over, they went out to play. Unexpectedly, Brother Zhou disappeared before they knew it.
Chu Mingzheng looked at Kong Dong again, wondering if he had guessed wrong. Was he not trying to join him, but to assassinate the emperor?
But such a simple trap seemed to have been set up on a whim, and it was not completed. I don't know if it was too late or if they decided to stop at the last minute.
"Zizhao, bury the horse yourself!" Chu Mingzheng raised his foot to cover the hole.
……
The Crown Prince of Jin could not remain in the capital for long, and upon receiving the title, he departed for Jinyang the same day. On this final evening, the Queen Mother sent for the Prince of Ningyuan, who was in the Qinzheng Palace, to have dinner at the Shoukang Palace.
At the banquet, besides the Empress Dowager, Concubine Jin, and Qin Miao were also present. Seeing Chu Mingzheng come in, the Empress Dowager asked Xu Pei to take the palace maids away and said, "Concubine Jin will be leaving tomorrow. You two should have a good chat today."
Although the Queen Mother said this, she soon turned her attention to Qin Miao.
"Zheng'er, I heard from Concubine Jin that you are going to observe mourning for your uncle, the Prince of Jin?"
I haven't told my mother at all, how could she know? Chu Mingzheng turned his head to look at Qin Miao, his eyes calm, but it frightened Qin Miao.
"Brother Zheng, I just talked to the Empress Dowager alone, wanting her to understand your feelings. I didn't expect the Empress Dowager would hear it." Qin Miao pulled his sleeve and explained in a low voice.
She knew that this would cause Brother Zheng's dissatisfaction, but when she heard Brother Zheng subconsciously calling out Lu Mingyang's name, she was really a little panicked.
Chu Mingzheng looked at the Queen Mother and said calmly, "Grandmother, please don't worry about my grandson's family affairs."
"Zheng'er, your filial piety is a good thing, but the most important thing is the royal heir. The previous emperor had only six sons, and your father's generation was even smaller. When Emperor Taizu founded the country, he benevolently announced to the world that couples without children could have children during the period of mourning. Moreover..."
"Besides, I'm no longer the son of the former King of Jin, so I'm not eligible to observe mourning. Is that what the Empress Dowager meant?"
After his father was injured, he knew he would die soon and had told him that if he could see him get married and have children before he died, he would die without regrets. So Chu Mingzheng did not intend to use this as a way to observe mourning for his father.
When he was in Shuofang, he heard the elders say that only after the three-year mourning period was over would the deceased relatives truly leave the world. Therefore, he even wanted to have a child as soon as possible so that his father's heroic spirit could see him before he left.
But being urged to do something between a man and a woman like this, Chu Mingzheng couldn't help but get angry, and he even confronted the queen mother in person.
"Zheng'er!" Concubine Jin shouted, warning her unruly son. In this capital, if she even offended the Empress Dowager, she really couldn't think of anyone else who would protect her son.
She placed a lotus root slice in her son's bowl and smiled at the empress dowager, "My daughter-in-law is already forty-four years old this year. Two years ago, I went to the temple to ask for a fortune. The monk Hongyi there said that if I still don't have a grandson by the time I'm fifty-nine, I'm afraid my time will come."
"Mom!" Chu Mingzheng shouted subconsciously. Even though he could guess it was a lie, who would dare to gamble with his mother's life?
The Queen Mother had not expected her daughter-in-law to persuade her in this way. She said, "Let's eat," and said nothing more.