readsfreenovel Chapter 367: Pleading for mercy and making excuses
Chapter 367: Pleading for mercy and making excuses
Emperor Shenwu took a deep breath and said, "I understand how you feel. Let's leave it at that for now. We'll discuss this after we return to the palace in a few days."
Lan Qingwu wanted to say something else, but the Emperor Shenwu had already avoided the topic. "Alright, you've only recovered a few days ago, don't bother with these things anymore. I've been busy these days and haven't been able to spend enough time with you. Let me see your wrist."
Emperor Shenwu took Lan Qingwu's right hand and looked at it.
Lan Qingwu couldn't help but relax slowly.
At this moment, Ru Ping walked in quietly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince is asking to see you outside the palace!"
Lan Qingwu's smile suddenly disappeared, and Emperor Shenwu frowned and said, "Let him return to his own palace."
Ru Ping bowed her head and replied, "Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince is kneeling at the entrance of the palace and refuses to leave. He insists on seeing Your Majesty and the Empress!"
Lan Qingwu looked at the Shenwu Emperor and said, "Forget it, let the Fourth Prince come in! I also want to hear what he wants to say."
Emperor Shenwu's expression turned even uglier: "Go and let the Fourth Prince in!"
In fact, the Emperor Shenwu knew in his heart that the Fourth Prince could not be unaware of what his mother had done. And once this incident happened, the Emperor Shenwu saw another side of his son: a scheming, taciturn, and vicious person!
Even so, the Fourth Prince is still his son. In the heart of Emperor Shenwu, those palace servants cannot be compared with the Fourth Prince. However, if he lets him off so easily, Emperor Shenwu is afraid that this son will become cruel and tyrannical in the future like Prince Shen.
If the Fourth Prince were to take power in the future, the rest of Emperor Shenwu's bloodline would most likely be cut off.
The Fourth Prince knelt on the floor as soon as he entered the bedroom and said, "Your Highness greets Father and Mother."
Emperor Shenwu gently twirled the ring on his finger. "It's so late, what are you doing here? If it's about your mother, then there's no need to say more. Go back!"
The Fourth Prince didn't even look up. "Father, Mother, I don't know what you did wrong, but no matter what you did wrong, I am willing to take the full responsibility. Please forgive me, Father and Mother!"
The Fourth Prince started pleading for his mother as soon as he opened his mouth, and his words implied that this was done by Concubine Bai herself and had nothing to do with him at all. Lan Qingwu's eyes narrowed slightly. The Fourth Prince was indeed outstanding and scheming.
How could the Shenwu Emperor not have heard this? His phoenix eyes shot towards the Fourth Prince like cold lightning: "Now, I have only confined your mother's feet, which is already letting her go. Those palace maids are all from good families and have done nothing wrong. Even though your mother is a palace concubine, you can't take human life so lightly. The court has laws and the palace has rules. If you knew this would happen now, why did you do it in the first place?"
The Fourth Prince finally raised his head slightly. As the prince of the humblest origin in the palace, he had always been cautious and low-key, not daring to do anything over the top or inappropriate. Even so, could he not protect his own mother?
"Father, it's my fault as well as my fault. Please punish me as well!"
The Emperor Shenwu's expression became even colder. "Are you threatening me? If so, then go back to your palace and stay under house arrest!"
The Fourth Prince was stiff all over, his body erect, his fists clenched tightly.
Just as the Fourth Prince was about to express his gratitude, another palace attendant arrived to report, "Shancha, who serves as the attendant to Lady Bai, wants to see you. She says her master was wrongly accused."
Shancha knelt in the main hall and cried out, "It was the eunuch in the noble lady's palace who committed this crime. It has nothing to do with us, the noble lady!"
Lan Qingwu's face looked even uglier now. Emperor Shenwu glanced at Lan Qingwu, then looked at Shan Cha who was kneeling in the hall, and he felt even more disgusted and resentful towards Concubine Bai.
The Fourth Prince was also shocked, thinking to himself, it's over, it's all over. If he could gain a little sympathy from Emperor Shenwu, and make him consider the relationship between father and son, he might be able to make this matter smaller or even nothing. But his mother just kept shirking the blame without discussing it with him, and even pushed it onto the eunuch in his palace. Does this mean that both his father and mother are incompetent and unjust?
Shancha, who was kneeling on the ground, clearly felt that the atmosphere in the hall was extremely cold and hard to breathe. She felt uneasy and knelt even lower. Shancha smiled bitterly. She didn't know if she could leave the hall alive after doing this job.
Lan Qingwu stared at Shancha and the Fourth Prince, and after a moment, he finally spoke: "Since Noble Lady Bai said she was wrongly accused, then it means that I have misjudged a good person."
Lan Qingwu's tone was devoid of sarcasm. "Come here, bring Lady Bai here. I will allow her to defend herself!"
Lan Qingwu had a blank expression on her face. "Go and invite all the concubines above the rank of concubine to come and clear Lady Bai's name! Otherwise, they will accuse me of suppressing the concubines and excluding those who are dissidents!"
Emperor Shenwu's mind raced, knowing Lan Qingwu was truly furious. If he remained muddled and didn't clarify things, the people in the palace wouldn't know what to say, and he was afraid it would implicate the Empress and the Sixth Prince. That was all! Concubine Bai had courted death, so he couldn't blame him for not giving her face and a way out.
The Fourth Prince broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this. If it had just been house arrest before, there might have been room for a tactful way to salvage the situation, but now that the Emperor and Empress were serious, there was no way his mother could escape this time.
When Noble Lady Bai arrived at the Qingliang Palace, Concubine Jiang, Concubine Wan, Concubine Yang, Concubine Liang and other concubines of higher rank arrived one after another. Noble Lady Bai felt indifferent because her rank was low and she was naturally farther away from the Qingliang Palace where the emperor lived.
Although Concubine Bai looked a little pale, she still bowed politely: "Your Majesty, your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesties!"
The Fourth Prince felt very upset. Among all the concubines, his mother was of the lowest rank, and she had to bow to everyone she met.
Lan Qingwu said without further ado, "You say you are wronged, then produce the evidence. How are you wronged?"
She wanted to hear how Concubine Bai would argue about this matter!