tallest building

Chapter 364 Setting the Grand Plan

The Queen's headache flared up again.

This time, they came on strong.

Wen Mingqian left the Imperial Hospital and went to the Empress's palace. Consort Jing knelt outside, weeping and wailing.

"Why is Your Highness kneeling here?" Wen Mingqian stepped forward and asked.

Consort Jing cried and said, "Such a thing happened at the palace banquet, and I am to blame. I have caused Her Majesty the Empress to worry about this, and I really do not know how to atone for my sins."

Yu Lu kept urging Consort Jing to get up: "Consort Jing, please get up! Her Majesty the Empress has no intention of punishing you."

As she spoke, she winked at Wen Mingqian, asking him to help dissuade her.

“Your Majesty, please rise. The Empress is in a bad mood right now. Although you want to atone for your sins, doing so will only add to her troubles. Why not go and help out at the Imperial Hospital? That would be doing your duty for the Empress,” Wen Mingqian said.

Consort Jing came here because she wanted to see the Empress, apologize in person, and hear the Empress say that she was not blamed so that she could feel at ease.

But the Empress refused to see her. She couldn't tell whether the Empress was not seeing her because she was feeling unwell, or because she was angry with her.

Finally, after much persuasion from Wen Mingqian and Yu Lu, they managed to convince her to leave.

"How is Her Majesty the Empress now?" Wen Mingqian asked Yu Lu.

"My head is throbbing terribly, even though I lit your handmade incense." Yu Lu sighed. "What a terrible day! How could something like this happen? Where did this important person come from?"

"I came from the Imperial Hospital, and Duke Feng's hair has turned completely white from worry," Wen Mingqian sighed.

"That's right! This is his only son, born in his old age. Anyone would be worried in his situation." Yu Lu couldn't help but sigh several more times. "What do you think of this situation? It doesn't look good!"

"The imperial physician said her pulse has stabilized a bit, but the key is tonight. Chang'an is staying there, but I was worried about Her Majesty the Empress, so I came here."

“Your Majesty, even if you don’t see others, you must see a noble person like yourself. Why don’t you go in and take a look first?” Yu Lu said. “Your Majesty originally sent me to the Imperial Hospital to see her, but Consort Jing has been kneeling here, which is quite unsightly. I must persuade her to get up first.”

"Steward Yu, you go ahead! I'll take care of Her Majesty the Empress," Wen Mingqian said.

When she came in, she found that only Chunying was by the Empress's side. When the Empress had a headache, she was particularly irritable. Even the slightest noise, such as a person's breathing, could make her furious.

Chunying was also very nervous and didn't dare to breathe loudly. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Wen Mingqian arrive.

"Your Highness, I've made a new incense these days. Let me light it for you to try." Wen Mingqian said in a low voice, replacing the previous incense. "This incense can't be burned often; it can only be used in emergencies."

"How is the Feng family's child?" the Empress asked with her eyes closed, feeling extremely dizzy as soon as she opened them.

"Things seem fine for now. If we can get through tonight, we'll be 70% confident," Wen Mingqian reassured the Empress.

"Alas! How could such a thing happen?" the Empress wondered. "Could it be that someone is plotting something again?"

"Your Majesty, please don't overthink it. What you need most right now is to calm your mind and clear your head. It's not good to worry about these things anymore," Wen Mingqian said as he massaged the Empress. "Get some sleep!"

The Empress wanted to say something more, but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she unconsciously fell asleep. At dinner time, the Emperor arrived at Mingjing Palace, where Wen Mingqian greeted him.

"Where is Chang'an?" the Emperor asked.

“Chang’an is at the Imperial Hospital with the young master of the Feng family,” Wen Mingqian had already sent everyone away. “Your Majesty, there’s something fishy about what happened today.”

"Do you know the inside story?" the Emperor asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Wen Mingqian said, “but I can be certain that someone did it on purpose, and the real target was Chang’an, not the young master of the Feng family.”

"Tell me in detail." The Emperor's face tightened. If someone had harmed Gong Chang'an, that person must not be allowed to live.

"Today, the young master of the Feng family and his companions came to the palace to play with Chang'an. Before taking their seats, the young master took a liking to the clothes Chang'an was wearing, so the two of them swapped clothes. Afterwards, the troupe leader invited the young master of the Feng family to the stage, and the accident happened as soon as he entered the box."

If this is a coincidence, it's not entirely impossible. But a few days ago, Grand Tutor Dong entered the palace, saying he wanted to see Chang'an, and in front of the Empress, he asked her to recognize Chang'an as her adopted son.

At the time, both Chang'an and I politely declined, since he could not acknowledge the Empress as his mother. I was worried that Grand Tutor Dong was testing me, but I couldn't be sure.

At the time, the Empress mentioned that the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet should be lively, and the Grand Tutor suggested that they could invite theatrical troupes from outside the palace to come in…

"Grand Tutor Dong would never speak nonsense without a reason. He hadn't been very attentive to Chang'an before, but now he's suddenly being so solicitous. He must know something." The Emperor's understanding of Grand Tutor Dong was naturally deeper than that of Wen Mingqian.

“If he finds out about Chang’an’s background, he’ll definitely try to harm him.” Wen Mingqian couldn’t help but feel anxious. “This…”

"Dong Shou is plotting against Chang'an. Why don't we turn the tables on him?" the Emperor said. "If the Dong family and their faction are not eliminated, their poison will be endless."

"Your Majesty means..." Wen Mingqian unconsciously clenched his hands.

"Lure the snake out of its hole, then kill it according to the law..." The emperor knew that Grand Tutor Dong's prestige was too high, and such a minister had to commit a serious crime before he could be executed, so as not to make those who did not know the truth think that he had been wronged and suffered a terrible fate.

"Then what should we do in Chang'an?" Wen Mingqian asked.

"From now on, I will visit your palace often, making people think that I rely on you more and more. I will also become closer to Chang'an. This will surely displease the Empress, and the Dong family will also harbor resentment. Dong Shou and others will not be able to restrain themselves and will plot a change..." The Emperor's voice was deep and majestic, pointing out the path to the Dong family's downfall.

In the Grand Tutor's mansion, the Dong family's steward knelt on the ground, while Grand Tutor Dong's face was ashen.

"Fool! You can't even handle something this simple." Grand Tutor Dong looked at the steward kneeling on the ground, wishing he could burn him to death with the flames of hell.

"Grand Tutor, everything was arranged perfectly, but I don't know where things went wrong." The steward also felt wronged. "How could he have mistaken him for the young master of the Feng family?"

"I don't know if His Majesty will investigate this matter thoroughly. We should find a way to get rid of this obstacle first, so as not to implicate the Dong family." Grand Tutor Dong could only try to salvage the situation after the fact.

"Don't worry, Your Excellency, I know what I'm doing and will take care of it in a moment," the steward hurriedly said. "I just don't know if the troupe leader will confess."

“That troupe leader won’t confess, unless he’s an idiot,” Grand Tutor Dong sneered. “As long as he insists it was an accident, he’ll get the lightest punishment.”

"Won't they use torture in the palace?" the steward asked worriedly. "As long as they don't use severe torture, I think he can endure it."