jdhmnovel Chapter 506: Postponement of Return to the Palace
Chapter 506: Postponement of Return to the Palace
Ma Qi, who was too angry, fell straight backward in the emperor's surprised eyes. The emperor was afraid that he would be hurt, so he spoke quickly.
"Master Ma Qi has fainted! Those behind him, hurry up and support him!"
Su Peisheng also hurriedly asked the eunuch beside him to call the imperial physician.
Seeing that Ma Qi, who was about to enter old age, had his eyes closed, the censors headed by E Min did not dare to move and just stood where they were.
The morning court session had not yet officially begun and ended abruptly with Ma Qi fainting.
The emperor, considering Ma Qi's old age, ordered someone to help him to the back hall and wait for the imperial physician to come and take his pulse.
Ma Qili noticed out of the corner of his eye that only the emperor and his servant Su Peisheng were left in the room. He quickly jumped off the couch and knelt on the ground, kowtowed and apologized with a look of panic on his face.
"This old minister is guilty of deceiving the emperor. I beg the emperor to punish me!"
Su Peisheng didn't expect that the elderly Lord Ma Qi was so agile, and he exclaimed in surprise.
"Master Ma Qi, what are you doing?"
The emperor had dealt with ministers of the previous dynasty many times, and he immediately realized that Ma Qi was pretending to be unconscious in order to help him out.
He pointed to the door and motioned Su Peisheng to stand guard there.
"You have always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic. What crime have you committed?"
The emperor spoke calmly, giving him a slight support, "My dear, please stand up and answer."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
Ma Qi lowered his head but stood straight, without any trace of the weakness he had shown at the morning court.
The emperor chuckled in his heart. This old fellow was highly valued during the reign of the previous emperor. Later, he felt that this man was sensible and always entrusted him with important tasks.
If he hadn't done that this morning, there would probably have been another big argument at court.
"Old sir, although you are still strong, you are old after all. It is a good opportunity for the imperial physician to take your pulse and take care of your body."
The emperor looked at him with concern.
"Nowadays, talents like you who serve the country and the people are all the backbone of the court. If something goes wrong with you, how can I feel at ease?"
"I, your Majesty, thank you for your kindness. I will take good care of myself!"
Ma Qi patted his chest loudly to show that he was in good health and could continue to serve the emperor.
At his age, he should have been thinking about retiring, but the emperor had sent a royal concubine with two princes into the family.
After pretending to be deaf and dumb for several years, he had no choice but to come out and fight for the emperor.
Although Ma Qi has always adhered to the principle of not causing trouble, he must seize this rare opportunity for the prosperity of his family from generation to generation.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for my nagging. Historical records show that lightning strikes in the palace occurred frequently, but we cannot resist the censors and those with ulterior motives who fan the flames and slander the emperor's virtue. Recently, no matter what major move Your Majesty is about to make, I implore you to think twice to avoid malicious slander."
"I understand."
He had already made up his mind. Once the lightning strike in Fengxian Palace happened, the matter of Concubine Wan returning to the palace had to be put on hold for the time being.
The emperor had thought about whether what Ma Qi said had a hidden meaning, but he had also made up his mind yesterday to bring him back to the palace.
He revealed this idea to Concubine Shu only after the palace gates were locked. How did Ma Qi know what he was thinking at the time?
Furthermore, even the Imperial Observatory could not predict which palace would be struck by lightning, and the emperor was very sure that the Fucha family did not have this ability.
I can only say that all this is a coincidence!
The emperor had important matters to attend to, so he asked Su Peisheng to help take Ma Qi's pulse.
He had been dealing with memorials in the Yangxin Palace for about an hour when Xia Qi appeared out of nowhere and knelt on the ground to report.
"Your Majesty, our subordinates have carefully inspected Fengxian Hall. While the roof of the hall was indeed struck by lightning, the fire inside the hall shows signs of human intervention. Five suspects have been apprehended and all have been taken to the Ministry of Punishment. They are currently under interrogation."
"Okay, we must interrogate the mastermind behind this."
The emperor ordered sternly.
If it is discovered that someone committed the crime in Fengxian Hall, our ancestors will be enraged and send down thunder to punish the culprit.
In this way, we can also shut up those censors!
If they still insisted, a dark light flashed in the emperor's eyes, and he had his own way to deal with those people.
"How's the investigation going at Jingren Palace?"
"Your Majesty, your servants have interrogated the Empress Li's close attendants, and they all insisted that it was her who was talking nonsense. I personally staked out Jingren Palace and found nothing unusual."
Xia Qi privately speculated that the deposed queen must have injured her head due to excessive stimulation, which was why she was talking nonsense, and she just happened to say something.
The emperor waved his hand irritably and told him to go away.
Over the next two days, no matter where the emperor was handling government affairs, he could see the gray-haired Ma Qi sitting on a chair not far away, leisurely sipping tea.
Whenever someone dared to mention the emperor issuing a self-criticism edict, Ma Qi would stand up tremblingly, holding on to his chair, and refute them.
After this happened several times, no one mentioned the lightning strike on Fengxian Hall in front of the emperor again.
E Min and his daughter were so angry that they wanted to throw dirty water on Zhen Huan, but they privately called him an old immortal.
When An Lingrong heard about this, she couldn't help but laugh.
The Emperor was incredibly stubborn, and he never failed to succeed in anything he set his mind to. Sometimes, the more persistent the opposition, the more determined he became.
When An Lingrong asked Fu Cha's family whether to stop Zhen Huan from returning to the palace, she gave a negative answer and let everything develop naturally.
In summer, people wear light palace clothes, and it is difficult to hide Zhen Huan's belly. She probably won't return to the palace at this time.
She was drinking tea when Bao Ge came in to report.
"Master, the food box is ready."
"Okay, I will go and pay my respects to the Emperor."
An Lingrong got up and went out.
As soon as she stepped into Yangxin Gate, Su Peisheng spotted her with his sharp eyes and hurried in to report.
A moment later, he came out again with a smile.
"Empress Shu, the Emperor invites you in."
"Thank you, Eunuch Su."
An Lingrong took the food box from Baoque and slowly stepped into the Yangxin Palace.
"Rong'er, how come you have time to come here today?"
The emperor put down his pen and spoke in a not very friendly tone.
"Your Majesty, I heard that you are so diligent in your official duties that you don't even have time to rest. I specially made black chicken and ginseng soup to nourish you."
An Lingrong filled a bowl of ginseng soup and handed it over, explaining in a gentle voice.
"Your Majesty, I will return as soon as you finish drinking. I will never delay you from handling important matters."
"You are always so thoughtful."
The emperor had not eaten much for lunch, but now he felt a little hungry after smelling the rich chicken soup.
"Did Hongzhan send some soup? He has started practicing martial arts and needs to build a good foundation."
He himself suffered from the fact that he was not well taken care of in his childhood, and his body was not as strong as his other brothers. He was once disliked by the late emperor.
"Your Majesty, the three children will also have a share. Don't worry about them. Drink it while it's hot."
After An Lingrong finished speaking, she laughed again.
"Hongyao has never been able to sit still. He always feels that the palace is too quiet and he has no playmates. Once Huipin and the others give birth to their children, the palace will become lively again."
She saw the emperor pause holding the bowl and asked openly.
"The Emperor said earlier that Wanpin is pregnant. When does His Majesty plan to bring her back to the palace? I can also order the palace to be cleaned early."
The emperor took a sip of soup and spoke calmly.
"Wanpin is pregnant and has to postpone her return to the palace. As for the palace, you can make arrangements for it later."
"Sister Wanpin's pregnancy doesn't look good? Has the Emperor sent a royal physician to check on her pregnancy?"
An Lingrong looked at the emperor anxiously.
"I will immediately order the Imperial Household Department to pack up some items that a pregnant woman might need and send them to Ganlu Temple."
"Whatever Huipin, He Guiren, and Xi Yingying have, Wanpin must also have, to prevent people from accusing me of being unfair."
The emperor looked at her with sincerity and couldn't help but feel moved.
"Rong'er, don't worry. I've already ordered Gao Changjin to secretly take care of Ganlu Temple, and Wen Shichu from the Imperial Hospital also goes there from time to time to check pulses."
An Lingrong heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this.
"Your Majesty is wise. Wanpin has been out of the palace for three years, so it's inevitable that she feels unfamiliar with the people here. You sent Doctor Wen, whom she is familiar with, to help her with her pregnancy. This is very considerate."