They had just finished discussing that when Song Chuyi came to her maternal uncle’s house to present festival gifts the next day, they would properly explain these principles to her. Who could have anticipated that early the next morning, they would first receive a visit from Nanny Zeng, who served under Princess Rongcheng?

Princess Duanhui had been raised alongside Princess Rongcheng since childhood, so she naturally knew that this Nanny Zeng by Princess Rongcheng’s side was her trusted confidante. Upon hearing this, she quickly had someone invite her in from the flower hall. Before she could even speak, she heard Nanny Zeng say that the Empress had summoned the imperial physicians again last night, and Princess Rongcheng had already rushed to the palace at the crack of dawn to attend to her illness. She felt somewhat dazed, recalling what Zhou Weizhao had said yesterday. Her heart grew anxious, and after pondering for a long time, she asked, “When we went to see her the day before yesterday, she seemed perfectly fine. How did she develop new symptoms?”

Nanny Zeng lowered her head. Princess Rongcheng had sent her specifically to relay this message. “After the Grand Prince went in and spoke with her for a while, Her Majesty suffered from chest pain that evening. Right now, Imperial Physician Sun is consulting with the physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau about the prescription. The Princess’s intention is to ask you to advise Miss Song Six to let her—”

Out of nowhere, why advise Xiaoyi about anything? Princess Duanhui glanced at Nanny Zeng, already forming some speculations in her heart, and asked her, “Is it related to the Grand Prince?”

Nanny Zeng was silent for a moment before nodding. “The Princess says that Judicial Secretary Xie mentioned that Her Majesty the Empress was truly angered severely this time.”

Last night, after Zhou Weizhao entered the palace and first paid his respects to Emperor Jianzhang, he went straight to Qingning Hall. When Empress Lu saw him, she had been quite delighted—after Song Chuyi insisted on exposing the Crown Prince and Prince Gong’s schemes to Emperor Jianzhang, Empress Lu’s situation had become somewhat awkward. In Emperor Jianzhang’s eyes, she was an inadequate wife and an inadequate mother. In Zhou Weizhao’s eyes, she had schemed to protect her two sons while appearing too heartless toward him. She had been quite agitated for some time over these matters. Now seeing Zhou Weizhao willing to take the initiative to draw close, the stone in her heart finally settled.

But when Zhou Weizhao sat beside her, what he said brought her no joy. He called out “Imperial Grandmother” and without delaying a moment, completely unlike his usual manner, asked her with a somber expression, “Grandmother, I heard that since Princess Consort Gong came, these past two days you’ve not only excused my mother from morning greetings but also rarely see my two aunts?”

This distant and cold address of “Princess Consort Gong” startled Empress Lu’s heart. She glanced at Judicial Secretary Xie, thought for a moment, nodded, then shook her head. “My health has never been good. I’m disinclined to see people.”

Zhou Weizhao took the medicine from Judicial Secretary Xie’s hands and personally picked up the spoon to feed her the medicine.

Empress Lu’s heart relaxed, and a smile returned to her face. “How could this require you to do such a thing?” Though she spoke thus, she was truly delighted, and the gloom that had accumulated over recent days was swept clean away.

“This is what your grandson should do.” Zhou Weizhao patiently fed her spoonful by spoonful. After the medicine was finished, he handed the bowl to Judicial Secretary Xie to receive, then turned to look at her. “Grandmother, Uncle Wang guarding the imperial mausoleum alone is truly rather lonely. When I saw him earlier, he departed alone, all by himself.”

The smile on Empress Lu’s face vanished in an instant. Her heart thumped, her gaze fixed on Zhou Weizhao, and she felt her temples beginning to throb pulse by pulse.

Even Judicial Secretary Xie was startled, turning to look at Zhou Weizhao, his heart jumping with alarm. This Highness never spoke useless words. Previously, regarding how Prince Gong should be dealt with, he hadn’t uttered a single word before Empress Lu. Yet now he suddenly brought up Princess Consort Gong and spoke of Prince Gong guarding the imperial mausoleum alone and being lonely—

Zhou Weizhao had already begun speaking in an unhurried manner. “Though Imperial Grandfather doesn’t say so, his heart isn’t without affection for Uncle Gong. His illness hasn’t completely healed yet. Why doesn’t Mother Empress speak with Imperial Grandfather about having Princess Consort Gong also leave the capital together? Wouldn’t that be very good?”

The medicine Empress Lu had just swallowed surged in her throat, nearly coming back up. Looking at Zhou Weizhao’s stern face, she said, “Who has been saying things to you? Don’t believe such groundless nonsense—”

Zhou Weizhao lowered his head and laughed once. This laugh was completely different from his usual warm smile—it actually carried some gloom. “No one has said anything to me. Princess Consort Gong has caused such a commotion, without anyone telling me, I know of it myself. I should actually thank her—when spreading slander before you, she didn’t forget to find me several more wives.”

Only now did Empress Lu truly panic somewhat. Zhou Weizhao was truly an exceedingly gentle person who had never spoken in such a tone before. She didn’t know what Lady Yang had done besides speaking to her about how Song Chuyi and the Song family harbored enormous ambitions that had angered Zhou Weizhao so much, but she instinctively opened her mouth wanting to persuade. “She—”

Upon opening her mouth, she found herself speechless. Zhou Weizhao had already lifted his head, his gaze meeting Empress Lu’s eyes. Seeing her avert her head, he looked expressionlessly at the thick plush carpet spread on the floor, speaking a passage of words fluently and smoothly, as if he had already drafted them in his mind. “She went to Aunt Duanhui to persuade the Cui family to marry their daughter to me. The deep implications in this—does Imperial Grandmother truly not know? The day before yesterday when she came and spoke before you, what she said and what those words truly meant—we all understand clearly.”

Empress Lu was speechless, her mind in chaos. The doubts coiled in her heart finally emerged as words. “She so mercilessly exposed your father and uncle—”

Judicial Secretary Xie closed his eyes—the Empress was truly too muddled. Such words should not have been spoken before, and now that matters had already settled into dust, they even more should not be spoken. Never mind whether things were truly as Princess Consort Gong claimed—even if they were as Princess Consort Gong claimed, so what? The Crown Prince had already been deposed, and Prince Gong had also been thoroughly trampled down by Emperor Jianzhang. What meaning was there in speaking of these matters now? It would only create resentment between the Grand Prince and the Crown Princess.

Zhou Weizhao indeed mercilessly cut off Empress Lu’s words. “Imperial Grandmother! They also never treated me as son or nephew. I can say with a clear conscience that I’ve already done all that duty requires. Imperial Grandmother knows full well what intentions Princess Consort Gong harbors—are you still going to help Princess Consort Gong stab me in the back?!”

He was rarely so aggressive. Empress Lu suddenly coughed several times, actually somewhat at a loss—Prince Gong and the Crown Prince, one after another, had both fallen out with her. Regarding how to get along with the younger generation, she truly felt bewildered and had already become overly cautious.

Zhou Weizhao thus stopped beating around the bush. “Keeping this person who sows discord by your side, sooner or later you’ll push Mother and me farther and farther away. Previously, I could endure anything, but in the end, Father and Prince Gong only treated me as a blade to stab at each other. Not one of them treated me as family, and I don’t feel sad about it. I know you’re their mother. You care about your two sons. But the hearts with which my mother and Xiaoyi treat me are the same as the heart with which you treat them.”