bayedsolid Chapter 658 The Inner Courtyard of the Eastern Palace!
Chapter 658 The Inner Courtyard of the Eastern Palace!
The Crown Princess soon learned of Duanmu Chen's murder.
The Crown Princess herself is now feeling unprecedented pressure.
The Emperor is currently displeased with the Xie family, especially after the last time he dealt with them, which almost made the Crown Princess think that the Emperor wanted to depose her as Crown Princess as well.
Fortunately, the Emperor did not actually punish her. However, the Empress found a pretext to order her to reflect on her mistakes within the palace.
As the Crown Princess, being punished in such a way naturally made her feel uncomfortable.
Of course, many more people were unconvinced and dismissive of the situation!
It wasn't until the Crown Prince arrived and gave her a dressing down that she realized that her position in the Eastern Palace, and in the Crown Prince's heart, had undergone a very subtle change.
The Crown Prince currently has four concubines, each of whom has given birth to a son for him. If she makes any further mistakes, it might really affect her status as the Crown Princess.
In fact, after calming down, the Crown Princess realized one thing: because the Emperor loved Duanmu Chen, he did not want Duanmu Chen's future position to be threatened. Therefore, the position of Crown Princess would still belong to her.
However, thinking of the Crown Prince's coldness and impatience towards her in recent days, the Crown Princess felt a deep sense of fear.
The Xie family has now become a laughing stock in Beijing!
Fortunately, the Xie family's direct descendants suffered few losses. At the very least, his elder brother's official position remained unaffected, which could be considered a sign that the Emperor was showing consideration for Duanmu Chen and sparing him some face.
Therefore, when the Crown Princess learned that the Crown Prince had actually committed the murder in the villa, she felt uneasy.
How could the Prince of An be so presumptuous in his residence?
If the order had been given to a servant to carry it out, that would have been one thing, but in this situation, Prince An himself had killed the man. This makes the nature of the matter quite different.
If it were an ordinary family, perhaps not so much trouble would have arisen.
But he happened to be the eldest son of the Crown Prince and the emperor's eldest grandson.
To kill someone with one's own hands—was this rage reaching its extreme?
So here comes the question: what terrible mistake did these servants commit that made Prince An personally kill them?
Without a suitable reason, his image in the eyes of the Emperor and the Crown Prince will likely be greatly diminished.
The Crown Princess summoned Duanmu Chen and questioned him carefully before she felt somewhat relieved.
Duanmu Chen explained that the two lowly maids had dared to seduce him while he was drunk. Even worse, they had slipped aphrodisiacs into his drink, which finally enraged him, leading him to kill them both with a single sword stroke.
Duanmu Chen had already made up his mind as soon as the rumors started circulating.
This statement was come to me after much deliberation.
He said this not only to the Crown Princess, but also to the Emperor after coming out of the Imperial Study.
The Emperor ultimately said nothing more, only that he was still too young and that such matters should never be handled in this way again.
With just one sentence, the matter was considered closed.
Duanmu Chen left the Crown Princess's place and hadn't even left the courtyard when he saw several palace servants huddled together, seemingly whispering something.
Duanmu Chen was a martial artist, so he naturally heard the gist of it.
His face immediately darkened.
"How dare you speak ill of the mistress?"
Upon seeing that it was Prince An, everyone was so frightened that they immediately knelt down, saying, "This servant knows her mistake and begs Your Highness for mercy."
Duanmu Chen sneered, "Guards, bring all these people to Father. I will go after them."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Duanmu Chen watched as the servants trembled with fear as they were escorted to the front by the guards. He himself went to the back garden first to vent his anger before heading to the Crown Prince's study.
"Greetings to my father."
The Crown Prince was looking at the servants kneeling in the courtyard when, for some reason, they immediately turned cold when he entered. "What's going on? Why were these servants brought to Father's study? Chen'er, you've really become bolder and bolder lately."
Duanmu Chen didn't take it to heart, and instead chuckled twice, "Father, why don't you ask these servants what they've been doing?"
The crown prince frowned and casually pointed to a palace maid, "You tell me, what exactly happened?"
"Your Highness, we did not mean it. We will never do it again. Please have mercy."
As she spoke, she lay down on the ground and began to sob.
Duanmu Chen sneered, "You dare not? If I hadn't overheard you today, who knows what you might have done! In the Crown Princess's courtyard, you actually dared to gather together and gossip about her. It seems that Mother was too lenient with you when she was in charge of the inner palace."
Now the crown prince understood why.
Since the Crown Princess was confined to her quarters, the person in charge of managing the inner palace has always been one of his favored concubines. Although she is a secondary concubine, she comes from a prestigious family.
The Crown Prince's expression was inevitably somewhat unpleasant. Although the Crown Princess had made a grave mistake before, she had been managing the Eastern Palace for many years without any mishaps. Now...
"what happened?"
Duanmu Chen's face also turned cold. "This is exactly what Father heard. Father, if you intend to depose Mother, then you might as well do it quickly. If you don't intend to, then don't let the rules of the Eastern Palace be broken. After all, Mother is now the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace. Not only are her supplies several grades lower, but even a lowly palace maid dares to disrespect her. Father, we have been married for many years, are you trying to force Mother to her death?"
How could Duanmu Chen not know that the Crown Prince's favorite concubine was now in charge of managing the inner palace?
However, he insisted that the Crown Prince was forcing the Crown Princess, for one reason being that the Crown Prince was always soft-hearted, a fact he, as the son, knew very well.
On the other hand, he also wanted to remind his father that no matter how bad the Crown Princess was, she was still the Crown Princess.
Is the family in charge really in a new position now?
Of course not!
However, the concubine managed the inner palace of the Eastern Palace in such a sorry state that it was clearly done on purpose.
This is a roundabout way of making things difficult for that favored concubine.
Duanmu Chen knew that he was now living in a separate residence and could no longer come to the Eastern Palace every day. Moreover, his mother had just made a grave mistake. Therefore, he naturally needed to find a way to resolve the trouble once and for all.
At least for the time being, this will deter that favored concubine from causing any more trouble.
After a few more days, the confinement order for her mother will be lifted, and given her long-standing relationship with her father, it will naturally not be difficult for them to have a harmonious marriage.