novelraw Chapter 601 - 13: Empress Dowager, Peace Be Upon You (13)
Chapter 601 - 13: Empress Dowager, Peace Be Upon You (13)
When Li Shuning arrived, the Imperial Physician had already come out. After paying his respects, he shook his head at the Empress, indicating that Cairen could not be saved.
Li Shuning still went in to take a look at Qi Cairen.
At this moment, Qi Cairen was clearly conscious, with no trace of the previous madness.
She stared straight ahead.
Li Shuning’s arrival caused her eyes to move slightly.
"Hehe, Your Majesty, it is you who have come. Only now do I understand what heart-wrenching pain feels like. Am I very foolish?"
Afterward, Qi Cairen said nothing more.
She regretted it. It turned out that she was wrong, everything was wrong.
She did not last much longer before she passed away.
The Imperial Physician had already explained Qi Cairen’s situation to Jie Geng.
After Jie Geng reported it to Li Shuning, Li Shuning’s expression turned somewhat unsightly.
Li Shuning ordered a thorough investigation, then prepared to report the matter to the Emperor.
Before she could step out of the side hall, she saw a thin boy standing there with his head down, looking pitiful and helpless.
Li Shuning paused, not knowing what to say, when she heard the Fifth Prince speak with a sob, "Mother, does Consort Mother not want me anymore?"
Li Shuning was taken aback, unsure of what to say, so she reached out and stroked the Fifth Prince’s head: "Don’t be afraid, you still have your Father and Mother."
At this moment, Li Shuning did not know how to comfort this child, so she could only utter this sentence.
Li Shuning had someone accompany the Fifth Prince as she hurriedly left with her entourage.
She frowned slightly, with a sense of foreboding in her heart.
She still remembered what Qi Cairen had said earlier.
Heart-wrenching pain?
What kind of event would cause such heart-wrenching pain?
Qi Cairen had been mad for a while, but suddenly regained clarity. What had triggered her?
Li Shuning had no particular feelings towards the Fifth Prince, so when Qi Cairen wanted him back, she did not mind.
To speak of it, after Qi Cairen took the Fifth Prince back, life was difficult, but she truly cared for the Fifth Prince and was genuinely good to him.
She gave the best she had to the Fifth Prince, and even in madness, she was only gentle towards him.
But moments ago, her face was clearly one of despair and coldness.
Was it as she thought?
Li Shuning hurried off to the Emperor to report the poisoning death of Qi Cairen.
The Emperor was also stunned for a moment.
Over the years, he had ignored Qi Cairen, but privately, he still paid attention to the Fifth Prince.
He hoped to see if the Fifth Prince could grow up in such an environment.
The Eldest Prince, Second Prince, and Third Prince all grew up in luxury. Qi Cairen’s actions indeed angered him, but he also thought that enduring hardships might make one exceptional.
But for his own child, he was not so harsh as to let him be unable to survive; he kept an eye on him to prevent things from going too far.
Unexpectedly, Qi Cairen was no more.
"Ning, you go investigate who did this. At this time, people’s hearts in the harem are unsettled. I’m afraid someone’s hand has stretched too far."
"Understood."
Li Shuning sent people to investigate, and soon many clues were in her hands.
Upon seeing those things, Li Shuning couldn’t help but gasp.
Speaking of which, she originally did not intend to let those princes and concubines who had harmed the original host have a good end, and not even the Emperor did she intend to let off easily.
But as for the Fifth and Sixth Princes, she did not plan to do anything to them.
Was the Imperial Palace truly this terrifying? A six-year-old, almost seven, child could do such a thing.
Once Li Shuning informed the Emperor of the matter.
A flush appeared on the Emperor’s face, and then he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Rebel! At such a young age, he learned to harm others. Go ask him why he did it."
When Li Shuning and her entourage arrived at the Pianxian Palace, the Fifth Prince was still looking at her softly, with a hint of longing in his eyes.
Li Shuning felt a chill in her heart.
Taking the Fifth Prince into the side hall, she sat in the seat that Qi Cairen often occupied, looking at the Fifth Prince, who also looked back at her.
After a while, Li Shuning suddenly asked, "Fifth Prince, do you know how your Consort Mother died?"
The Fifth Prince looked a bit confused, staring at Li Shuning as if he knew nothing.
Li Shuning only felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
This child’s scheming was truly terrifying, now feigning innocence like this.
Li Shuning’s expression turned cold: "I heard the Fifth Prince liked to visit the Imperial Garden and played there for a long time the day before yesterday. Before dinner, you gave Cairen a candy, which she ate wrapped in a handkerchief, and there were some residues on the handkerchief."
"The toxicity of Blue Star Grass, I suppose the Fifth Prince knows it well."
The once-confused expression on the Fifth Prince’s face now showed signs of wavering, and fear crept in.
"Why? Your Consort Mother never showed you any false emotions. For you, she was willing to do many things. Before she died, she only said ’heart-wrenching pain.’ I suppose she knew you did it. Are you an animal to even harm your own Consort Mother?"
As Li Shuning angrily asked these questions, her spiritual power flowed out, affecting the Fifth Prince opposite her.
The entire body of the Fifth Prince trembled: "It’s her fault; it’s her fault. I could have become the Crown Prince. I could have been the son of the Empress, but she insisted on angering Father, causing me to become like this. Every day, I don’t have enough to eat or wear. No other prince is like me, are they?"
"As long as she died, maybe the Empress would adopt me. So, she deserved to die. Didn’t she love me? She would be happy if I lived well."
Unbeknownst to anyone, the Emperor had come over, and now his face was filled with disbelief.
Is this his imperial son?
When did he become so heartless and ungrateful?
If even the seemingly obedient and honest Fifth Prince was like this, what about the other princes?
At this moment, the Emperor’s heart was also chilled.
He felt difficulty breathing.
What are his sons like?
Are they all unscrupulous in pursuit of their goals?
The Emperor issued a gag order regarding Qi Cairen’s matter.
The Fifth Prince was also secretly detained.
Such a young yet already deranged son, even the Emperor was frightened.
He did not dare keep him under his watch, for who knew when this boy might attempt something against him?
So the Emperor had him locked up, whether he could endure it depended on himself.
And from that day on, the Emperor became even more paranoid and began to deploy people extensively to investigate what his sons had been doing behind his back.