Chapter 318: Grandfather Is Truly Wicked
The Empress's face instantly turned ashen.
Prince Gong Xi slowly revealed a smile: "For now, I've only shared this matter with you, Mother."
The Empress clenched her fingers, crumpling the letter into a ball, and spoke word by word: "How did you come to know this?"
Prince Gong Xi replied: "Your son has never been good at keeping major secrets. As soon as I found out, I came straight to tell you, Mother. I'm worried I might not be able to stop myself from telling Father..."
The Empress's expression darkened.
"If Mother could grant me thirty thousand taels of silver, I would bury this matter deep within me," Prince Gong Xi said, curling his lips. "I'll await Mother's delivery of the silver."
Having said this, he strode away.
The Empress had just left the Eastern Palace but turned back to enter again. She was about to summon the Crown Prince but reconsidered and decided against it.
It was likely the Crown Prince didn't know that Consort Wu was the former Princess Anjing.
"Granny Yin, take my palace token and leave the palace to investigate where the former Princess Anjing's maternal family resides now. Find them as quickly as possible and bring them to the palace, directly before me."
Granny Yin, the Empress's most trusted attendant, understood the gravity of the situation and immediately took the Empress's palace token to leave the palace.
Meanwhile, Yun Chu supported Chu Yi as they left the palace with their two children.
Twenty strokes of the cane were commonplace for Chu Yi, and since Yun Chu had bribed the guards administering the punishment, they had shown considerable leniency.
"Father..." Chu Changsheng's eyes welled with tears. "Does it hurt? Let me blow on it for you."
Chu Hongyu's eyes also reddened: "Grandfather is truly wicked, so wicked. All he knows is to punish Father..."
Chu Changsheng wiped her tears and said: "It's that Side Princess Consort and Madam of the Duke who are wicked. Grandfather was deceived by them and wanted to punish Mother."
Chu Yi, lying face down on the soft cushion in the carriage, spoke: "Both of you, stop crying. I'm fine. This incident serves as a good lesson for you both. There's a saying in books: 'One should not enter a temple alone; two should not peer into a well.' Do you know what it means?"
Both children shook their heads in confusion.
"The meaning of 'one should not enter a temple alone' is that if valuable items go missing in the temple, you could be suspected of theft," Yun Chu explained. "'Two should not peer into a well' means that if the other person accidentally falls into the well, you could be suspected, or you might even be pushed into the well by them. In this matter, I tried my best to avoid trouble, but still ended up entangled. It just shows that human hearts are unpredictable."
She couldn't fathom why Madam of the Duke would frame her.
Nor could she understand why the Emperor would so readily believe Madam of the Duke's false testimony.
The carriage soon arrived at the prince's residence. Granny Zheng took the two children to wash up, while Yun Chu fetched a bottle of medicine to apply to Chu Yi's wounds.
Seeing the fresh wounds layered over old scars on the man's buttocks, she couldn't help but sigh: "It's all my fault."
Before they were married, he had received two canings, also because of her.
Chu Yi turned his head to look at her: "It should be my fault. Side Consort Fang framed you because of me."
"Side Consort Fang is not worth fearing," Yun Chu said while applying the medicine. "Have you ever offended anyone from the Duke's household before?"
Chu Yi shook his head. He hadn't had much contact with the Duke's household.He paused before speaking: "I heard from my mother that twenty or thirty years ago, Father Emperor requested the late emperor to issue an edict allowing him to marry the eldest daughter of the Li family, who is now the Guogong Furen. However, at that time the former Crown Prince had just died, and Father Emperor, as the second prince, was about to be appointed Crown Prince. The late emperor believed the Li family's eldest daughter wasn't worthy of being the principal consort, so he issued an edict ordering Father Emperor to marry the legitimate eldest daughter of the Gongsun family, who is now the Empress."
Yun Chu found this hard to believe.
In her impression, the current Emperor was someone fond of beautiful women - today he favored this beauty, tomorrow he favored that talented lady, with new faces constantly appearing in the harem.
Could such an Emperor have actively sought to marry his beloved?
Was it because Guogong Furen was once the Emperor's beloved that even when she blatantly lied, the Emperor was willing to believe her?
After finishing dressing Chu Yi's wounds and helping him put on his clothes, Yun Chu said: "Guogong Furen openly giving false testimony means she has positioned herself against Prince of Pacifying the West Manor. I'm afraid similar incidents will happen in the future."
She instructed Qiutong standing by the door: "Go to the intelligence bureau and bring all information about Guogong Furen."
The intelligence bureau was currently managed by Yun Ze. Having been established for over half a year, it had collected almost all available intelligence.
By evening, Qiutong brought the materials - two thick volumes placed on the desk.
Yun Chu opened them and began reading carefully.
She read until midnight, her expression growing increasingly grave.
Guogong Furen had lost a child in her youth and could no longer bear children. However, the Duke had many women in his residence, so there were numerous descendants.
But after the Duke's death, those illegitimate sons either died or went mad one by one. Later, Guogong Furen adopted a child from a collateral branch to inherit the title.
The internal affairs of the Duke's residence need not be mentioned.
With all the information about Guogong Furen compiled together, Yun Chu could roughly guess why Guogong Furen had framed her.
Almost every woman in the capital who had a loving marriage would encounter misfortune after attending a banquet with Guogong Furen - either falling ill, having their husband take a concubine, or experiencing family changes...
"I suspect Guogong Furen has always carried a knot in her heart for failing to marry the Emperor back then," Yun Chu closed the files. "She can't bear to see others loving and happy - she destroys every such relationship she encounters."
Chu Yi's expression was dark: "Without Father Emperor's indulgence, Guogong Furen wouldn't have been able to extend her influence so far. How could Father Emperor have fancied such a malicious woman?"
"With the Emperor protecting her, there's really no way to deal with her," Yun Chu nestled in the man's embrace. "Let's not think about this tonight. Sleep."
Chu Yi kissed her hair and said softly: "My duties at the Ministry of Works are temporarily suspended. With nothing urgent coming up, why don't the four of us go out of the city to relax?"
Yun Chu massaged her forehead: "You're injured. You should focus on recovering."
"I can't rest peacefully recovering in the capital," Chu Yi held her. "It's summer now, and the scenery in the suburbs is beautiful. Let's go enjoy the view."
Yun Chu gazed at the moonlight outside the window.
It had been over a year since she was reborn, and she had been dealing with various matters constantly, never truly calming her heart to appreciate the scenery around her.
She needed to relax, the children deserved a break too, and most importantly, in a picturesque place, this man's wounds would heal faster.
Yun Chu gradually fell asleep.
But Chu Yi remained awake.With the emperor as her backing, the Guogong Furen acted without any restraint. If she were to scheme against Chu'er again when he wasn't present, Chu'er would surely suffer.
They say that what one cannot obtain is always the best. The Guogong Furen was precisely the emperor's white moonlight, the cinnabar mole in his heart. Dealing with her was indeed somewhat challenging.
However, everyone has their weaknesses.
Once her weaknesses were found and exploited, the Guogong Furen would be nothing formidable.
Early the next morning, Chu Yi instructed Cheng Xu, "Investigate the specific reasons behind all the misfortunes of the illegitimate sons in the Duke's residence. It would be best to find both witnesses and material evidence."
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