The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1052 - 1131: Harmonious Joy

Chapter 1052: Chapter 1131: Harmonious Joy

Manbao thought for a moment and nodded her head in agreement.

Bai Shan glanced at her and continued talking to Mr. Zhuang, "There are always discussions among classmates that the crown prince’s temper grows worse with each year. Looking at him today, he seems quite fearless and defiant. Mr. Zhuang, I fear the emperor might not be too fond of the crown prince acting this way. Can we really meet the emperor through him?"

In Bai Shan’s view, he didn’t care whether the crown prince and the Third Prince fought; they could have their battles. All he wanted to know was if meeting the emperor through the crown prince would ensure that the emperor would listen to him and if he could get justice for the wrongs done twelve years ago.

Mr. Zhuang fell into deep thought and after a moment said, "The emperor is not one to let personal feelings interfere with public affairs."

Bai Shan understood right away. He turned to Manbao and said, "There’s still no work tomorrow; I’ll go with you."

Manbao nodded, "Let’s stop by Jishi Hall on the way, I wonder how Imperial Doctor Ji is doing, whether he’s been revived or not."

"The medicinal remedies at Jishi Hall are effective. Imperial Doctor Ji lost less blood than Su Jian, so he should be alright, shouldn’t he?"

"Not necessarily," Manbao replied. "Imperial Doctor Ji’s beard has already turned grey."

Bai Shan: ...

He felt that Manbao always had an unusual concern with age.

Mr. Zhuang also smiled and shook his head. He checked the time, saw that their hair was nearly dry now, and said, "You’ve both been running around all day and must be tired. Go back to your rooms and rest. Visit State Duke Pi’s residence tomorrow, listen more and speak less. While we need to maintain a relationship with the crown prince, we mustn’t act too hastily to avoid backfiring."

Bai Shan and Manbao agreed, exchanged a glance, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

Manbao immediately entered the system to discuss the day’s medical conditions with Teacher Mo. She recorded the prescriptions and explanations given by the physicians and shared them with Teacher Mo for further analysis. Only after working late into the night did she exit the system, yawn, and cuddle into her blankets to sleep.

The mid-autumn climate of the capital had turned slightly chilly, especially at night. Even on the sixteenth of August, people in Changqing Alley had already gone to bed, and the streets were silent.

Manbao and Bai Shan were having pleasant dreams, sprawled out in a deep sleep. However, some inhabitants of the inner city and those within the imperial city were not so lucky.

On a rare day off, and feeling in high spirits, the emperor managed to sneak out of the palace to have fun with a few trusted ministers, bypassing Wei Zhi and his friends calling out to one another.

As a result, they completely missed the censors and servants repeatedly heading toward the palace.

The censors’ petitions impeaching the crown prince and Du Yu were piled on the emperor’s desk. The Su Family’s servants had made trip after trip with their messages, but Lord State Duke did not come out.

It was not until nighttime, when the emperor, who missed watching the lanterns on the fifteenth, finally saw them on the sixteenth and joyfully returned home with several close ministers; oh no, back to the palace, and then he received three very distressing pieces of news.

First, the youngest son of the Su Family and the youngest Du son had a fight during polo, leaving one fatally injured.

Second, the crown prince had attacked Imperial Doctor Ji.

Third, the crown prince had captured the two Du brothers and taken them to the Su Family, raising suspicions of whether he intended to make them pay with their lives.

While others were still stunned and without reaction, State Duke Pi collapsed onto the ground.

The emperor was initially furious, wishing he could draw his sword right then to deal with the troublemaking crown prince, but seeing State Duke Pi like this, his anger paused. He then reached out to help and comfort him, saying, "Su Qing, don’t worry, Sanlang will be fine."

State Duke Pi’s concerns were not only for his youngest son but also for his son-in-law.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth and bowed to take his leave from the emperor.

The emperor, however, said, "I will accompany you to see what happened."

State Duke Pi hurriedly declined, "I wouldn’t dare accept. Besides, it’s already late at night. If the emperor does not return to the palace now, they will become anxious."

"But the Emperor insisted on going, who could stop him?"

State Duke Zhao was also worried about his nephew and thought that the only one who could probably stop the prince now was the Emperor himself, so he refrained from persuading strongly.

Everyone then rode their horses towards State Duke Pi’s mansion.

Upon reaching State Duke Pi’s mansion, the group didn’t need to announce their arrival and went straight to the inner courtyard.

At that time, the prince’s wife, though ill, had also managed to come. She had hurried over in the evening after hearing that the imperial guards had taken the Du brothers into her maternal home.

She didn’t dare let the Empress Dowager know about this and only found the opportunity to leave the palace in the evening, heading straight to her family’s home upon departure.

As the Emperor burst in grandly with his retinue, Old Madam Su and the prince were sitting at the head of the table having their meal, and the Du brothers were also holding their bowls.

The Emperor paused for a good while when he saw this scene of "harmony," somewhat astonished.

The three of them looked pale, thinking it was the result of their bloodletting in the afternoon, but Manbao wouldn’t admit it; she insisted it was all self-induced fear since such a small amount of bloodletting shouldn’t have such a big impact.

Nevertheless, the three were now drinking blood-nourishing soup. Hearing the commotion, they all looked up towards the door with shared discontent.

Upon seeing who had entered, everyone hastily set down their utensils and kneeled uniformly on the ground.

The Emperor circled the Du brothers with surprise, noting that they kneeled properly, showing no sign of injury.

The prince lifted his head and looked up at him, still kneeling but directly asked, "Father, what brings you here?"

Only then did the Emperor come back to his senses, clearing his throat and waving his hand, "Rise."

Everyone then stood up.

The Emperor then looked to Old Madam Su with a gentle tone, softly asking, "Sister-in-law, how is Sanlang?"

Old Madam Su sighed, "He’s still unconscious. The doctor said if he can wake up by tomorrow, he might yet cling to life."

The Emperor hadn’t expected the situation to be so serious and frowned as he turned to the prince, "What’s going on? During this festive time, what caused this commotion?"

The prince lowered his eyes, "It was Du Yu who hit him, not me."

Immediately, Du Shu kneeled down with Du Yu to confess their guilt.

Having just drawn blood from the two brothers, Old Madam Su hesitated but then said, "Your Majesty, the children were playing polo, a bit too boisterously. They are not to blame. It’s just that, somehow, a nail ended up lodged in Sanlang’s boot. Had it not been for that nail piercing the horse’s flank, with Sanlang’s skill, he surely wouldn’t have fallen off the horse."

The Emperor slightly knitted his brows.

He turned to the prince, "Have you found out anything?"

"The boots he wore to the match today got splashed by a puddle by the roadside. He changed them on the spot to a pair he brought with him. We’ve taken in custody everyone in charge of the wardrobe and those attending him today, but so far we haven’t gotten anything out of them."

The Emperor then slammed his palm on the table in anger, "Investigate! Tell the Prefect of the Capital to..."

He stopped, remembering that Yin Li was not in the capital, before clearing his throat and continuing, "Let the Ministry of Justice investigate."

Once he had given these instructions, the Emperor frowned at the kneeling Du Shu and Du Yu. Thinking of their father, who had followed him through life and death, and who had died early leaving behind these two sons, he sighed and waved his hand, "Rise. You and Su Jian grew up together, playing and jesting is one thing, but such brawling must not happen again. The fraternity your fathers built up so painstakingly, do you young ones intend to squander it all?"

Du Shu, face flushed with shame, pulled Du Yu back to their knees and humbly agreed.