The two carriages stopped in front of the Wude Hall, and since the Emperor fell ill, Yuan Mengdie had used the excuse of recuperation to send him here, effectively putting him under house arrest.

  Seeing Yuan Mengdie and the Empress Dowager arriving together, Li Gonggong hastily welcomed them with a series of yeses.

  He bowed and walked a few steps forward to Empress Dowager's presence, made a deep bow, "Greetings to Your Imperial Majesty, Empress Dowager, and Her Majesty the Empress."

  The empress dowager did not glance sideways, her face set in a stern expression that commanded dignity and authority, as she raised her foot to enter the palace. "How is Your Majesty today?"

  Li Gonggong looked up and glanced at Yuan Mengdie, who was also looking at him. Since Yuan Mengdie's people had been there before, he naturally knew what to do. With a sorrowful and helpless expression on his face: "The emperor's body is not seriously ill, but he is weak and in poor spirits. He has taken medicine and fallen asleep now. If the empress dowager wants to see the emperor at this time, I'm afraid it's not a good timing."

  The empress dowager's face turned cold as soon as she heard this, and she stopped in her tracks, scolding: "How dare you, a lowly servant! Does the Empress need your permission to see the Emperor whenever she wants?"

  Li Gonggong was also wronged in his heart, but he had no choice but to kneel down in front of the empress dowager and beg for mercy: "Your humble servant has spoken too much, deserving a million deaths!"

  Yu Mengdie was indeed satisfied with Li Gonggong's performance, but Liu Mei frowned and stared at Li Gonggong: "Slap him!"

  Li Gonggong had no choice but to lower his head, and with a swooshing sound, he slapped himself in the face, first on one side and then on the other. He was inwardly seething with resentment, and his dislike for Yuan Mengdie grew even more intense.

  Upon hearing the loud slapping sounds from behind, Yuan Mengdie finally curled up the corners of her mouth and walked to the empress dowager's side, supporting her as they headed into the palace.

  Nowadays in the imperial palace, she is respected by all, and she is extremely proud of herself.

  The Empress Dowager knew that Li Gonggong was the Emperor's confidant, although she didn't take these servants too seriously. However, since there was only one person by the Emperor's side who could be used, she couldn't help but feel a little reluctant. Just as they were about to enter the grand hall, she suddenly spoke up, her face showing impatience: "Don't disturb the Emperor's rest. If you truly regret your actions, take good care of the Emperor's sacred body. Summon the imperial physician. Today, I want to get to the bottom of what's wrong with the Emperor's health."

  Yuán Méng Dié grasped the Empress Dowager's hands tightly. Normally, the Empress Dowager wouldn't bother with such matters, but this time she was somewhat out of character.

  However, Nianxiang is after all her own son. Now that the imperial palace is under her control, she felt a little more at ease and gave Li Gonggong a signal with her eyes.

  Li Gonggong received the order and stopped clapping his hands, then got up and instructed the small eunuch beside him to summon the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital.

  Previously, Xi Rong was irritable and had beheaded most of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital, leaving only Zhu Jingxuan. However, the vast palace could not have only one imperial physician, and he also had to serve the emperor at all times. During this period, several people were added to the Imperial Hospital.

  The Empress Dowager and Yuan Mengdie entered the grand hall and saw the Emperor lying on his bed behind the curtains.

  Thinking of her son's recent troubles, the Empress Dowager was also heartbroken and desolate. Who would have thought that the Yuan family, which should have been her son's greatest support, had been framed by their own people?

  The Empress's heart was somewhat displeased at this thought, and she shook off Yu Mengdie's hand, hastily walking a few steps towards the Emperor's bed.

  Just as he walked in front of the emperor, Chu Lianruo's figure emerged from the inner palace.

  During this time, Chu Lian Ruo had been serving the Emperor here, but she didn't expect that Empress Dowager and Yuan Meng Die would both come.

  The astonishment in his eyes was fleeting, and he immediately understood that Xiurong had already begun to take action.

  Chu Lian walked up to Empress Dowager and saluted her and Yuan Mengdie with a bow.

  "I pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and Her Majesty the Empress."

  Yuan Mengdie looked at Chu Lianruo's appearance, and her anger couldn't be suppressed. This Chu Lianruo wasn't as good-looking as her, but she had a seductive aura about her. In the past, she had infatuated Xurong to the point of madness. If it weren't for these women by Xurong's side, making her life difficult, how would she have ended up on this path?

  She glanced at Chu Lianruo with a slanted gaze, but Yuan Mengdie didn't intend to bother with her. Instead, she looked at the emperor in front of the bed, his eyes tightly closed, and put on a worried expression: "These people are really useless, all white-fed, serving by the emperor's side for so long, yet not seeing the emperor having even half a bit of energy."

  The empress dowager, although unaware of Chulianruo's stance, seeing her serving by Xurong's side, and since Xurong didn't seem to be on guard against her either, naturally had a few more good feelings towards her as well. She ignored Yuandream Butterfly, but instead showed even more enthusiasm towards Chulianruo: "This is the evening concubine, right? You've been working hard these days."

  "The Empress Dowager's praise is misplaced, it's my good fortune to be able to serve the Emperor, why mention hardship? Chu Lian paused for a moment, her eyes sparkling with tears, and her gaze fell on Xiurong: "Unfortunately, Her Majesty the Empress taught that I am useless, and the Emperor still hasn't shown any improvement until now."

  Yu Mengdie couldn't help but see that Chu Lian was being overly flattering in front of the Empress Dowager, but when she herself was in front of the Empress Dowager, she had to be more reserved and could only hum a cold response, ignoring her.

  The empress beckoned with her hand, indicating that Chu Lian should calm down. Without saying a word, she sat down beside Xiurong. As soon as she pulled Xiurong's hand into hers, her eyebrows furrowed involuntarily and silently tucked the object in her hand into her sleeve.

  Yuán Méng Dié didn't see this scene, but Chǔ Lián Ruò had taken in the Empress Dowager's expression, and couldn't help but curl up the corner of her mouth.

  The imperial physician's re-examination of Xiurong still showed no change, and although the Empress Dowager was anxious, there was nothing she could do. In the end, she accompanied Xiurong for a while in the Wude Hall before leaving with Yu Mengdie.

  After they all left, Chulian walked to Xurong's side and tucked in his quilt. Xurong grasped her hand with a burning gaze: "Thank you for your hard work. Once this matter is settled, I will definitely share the glory of the world with you."

  Chu Lian paused for a moment, smiled slightly, but didn't say much more. However, in her heart, a wave of nausea rose up.

  She had heard such familiar words countless times, Qin Zhaixin believed it, but she wouldn't.

  Besides, someone as heartless as Xun Rong will hardly remember what he said to whom in the future.

  The beauties in the palace change with each generation. If she hadn't been well-prepared beforehand, how would Xun Rong have remembered who she was?

  Xu Rong's body was indeed unwell and he fell asleep. Chu Lian also got some free time after his rest.

  That night, Yuan Mengdie issued an edict, summoning Chu Lianruo to her palace.

  Chu Lian took the opportunity to return to Xiyuan Palace, telling Qingqing about Xu Rong and the Empress Dowager's movements, letting Qingqing think of a way to spread the news outside the palace.

  Upon arriving at Yuan Mengdie's palace, she was found reclining on a noble chair, indulging in leisurely rest. Several palace maids were fanning and massaging her, serving her with utmost care, making her feel extremely comfortable, far surpassing the grandeur of Xī Róng's arrangements.

  Chu Lian knew that if Yuan Mengdie had come looking for her, it wouldn't be anything good, but she also knew better than to provoke Yuan Mengdie at this time, so she obediently kowtowed and paid respects in front of her.

  Yuán Méng Dié, however, seemed to be asleep, without making a single sound or movement.

  It wasn't until nearly half a watch had passed that Chu Lian's body began to feel somewhat sore and weak, her knees even feeling a bit painful. Only then did Yuan Mengdie slowly open her eyes and sit up with the support of the palace maidens.

  "I see that you and the people in the palace are different, no wonder the Emperor is so fond of you, afraid that there won't be a second person like you in the palace. The Emperor's body is not well now, but most of the time he is in a daze, when Yufei has free time, she often comes to my palace to sit and accompany me, except for you, others can't enter my eyes." Yuan Mengdie was arrogant and proud, nowadays no one in the palace dared to be disrespectful to her, especially when facing Chu Lianruo, she was even more overbearing.

  Chu Lian didn't know that she was actually not thinking of letting herself have a good time, outwardly saying it was to let her come here and sit for a while, but in reality still wanting to find ways to torment her. Presumably today's Empress Dowager had treated her differently, which made this woman harbor resentment.

  Chu Lian seemed to be secretly laughing in her heart. Your arrogant days are probably coming to an end soon. The sky is about to change.

  But when facing Yuan Mengdie, she was still gentle and didn't need to offend her and suffer.

  Yu Mengdie had been tormenting her, treating her like a palace maid, and by the time she left Yu Mengdie's palace, Chu Lian's originally weak body was exhausted to the extreme, and even standing was somewhat unstable.

  Si Wei watched as her master suffered, feeling heartbroken but unable to help. She could only support Chu Lianruo back to the Xiyuan Palace to rest and feign illness to avoid attending the emperor's court.

  As Chu Lian had expected, on the second day, as soon as she got out of bed, she heard news coming from the palace that the Empress Dowager was going to hold court behind a curtain.

  Because the emperor's body has been ill for a long time and cannot be cured, he is deeply worried. Although the prime minister is in charge of the country, he also cannot take charge of everything. The emperor fell ill, and the empress dowager, as the highest-ranking person in the palace, naturally had to come out and preside over the overall situation.

  Of course, women in the harem cannot interfere with politics, this is also the law since ancient times. Moreover, the Empress Dowager had long been uninvolved in state affairs for many years, which naturally caused a stir in the court.

  However, Xiurong is quite capable, and some people in the court also came out to support the Empress Dowager's decision. The country cannot be without a ruler for a day, although there is a regent in the court, after all, there must be someone in charge. Moreover, the Empress Dowager took strong measures and issued an edict, and with the help of the Emperor's sacred decree, she finally took control of the power.

  After the Empress Dowager took power, she immediately handed over the affairs of the court to Xū Yáng and the Prime Minister for joint discussion and handling. Xū Yáng and the Prime Minister were at odds with each other, and Xū Yáng was also seen by everyone as the most useless prince. Although this decision was made hastily, it effectively used Xū Yáng to restrain the Prime Minister.

  The prime minister cannot just watch as Xū Yáng divides his power, but he also has to consider that with Xū Yáng's participation in everything, he can no longer be so unscrupulously overbearing.

  The emperor is wise, although this younger brother cannot have an heir and cannot become the emperor, but after all, he has some skills. Otherwise, in those years, it would not have been possible to lead the army to pacify the rebellion and return triumphantly. This is also why, even if he looks down on Xuyang, he has not discovered Xuyang's hidden power, and he still has something to worry about.

  (

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