Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 938 - 940: King Qin Returns to the Capital (7)

Chapter 938: Chapter 940: King Qin Returns to the Capital (7)

Cai Wei, seeing his resolute attitude, let him go, but ultimately she was still not very reassured. After much thought, she brought Brother Ying back from the General’s Mansion to follow the man from afar, so that if anything happened, she would be the first to know.

...*...*...

In the past few days, General Li was very troubled.

It must be said, the conditions proposed by Nangong Shi were tempting, as making his daughter the mother of the nation had always been his dream. However, he did not trust Nangong Shi’s promises.

Currently, Nangong Shi’s main consort was a princess of the Xianbei, and if he achieved great success, he could not possibly set aside a princess to marry his daughter as Empress. Thus, for his daughter to become the Empress, only the death of the Xianbei princess would suffice.

If he really killed the Xianbei princess, his character would be too cruel. Such a person couldn’t be trusted by Li Kaifeng; but if he did not kill the Xianbei princess, how could he possibly make his daughter the Empress? Unless he was deceiving him.

In his dilemma, he shared Nangong Shi’s words with his daughter to know her opinion, which was met with strong opposition from Li Ruizhu.

"Dad, the Prince has always been hypocritical and of poor character. Originally, he was crippled because of his fondness for keeping an opera actor, can you really trust such a person?"

General Li said, "Dad doesn’t fully trust him, either. However, there are no more options with King Qin. If we miss out on the Prince, you will never have the chance to rule the Middle Palace in this lifetime."

Rui Zhu didn’t know that Cai Wei was still alive. She had thought that Cai Wei had been eaten by a tiger long ago. So when General Li mentioned King Qin, she confidently said, "Didn’t King Qin return from a victorious battle? Daughter believes that as long as Dad helps him overthrow the Prince, he will definitely be grateful to Dad, and daughter will surely have her opportunity!"

"Ah, Rui Zhu —"

General Li sighed.

"You don’t know yet, but Princess An Le is not dead. You know well how King Qin feels about An Le. Even if Dad helps him, I’m afraid he would not compromise!"

"Wasn’t she carried off by a tiger? How could she have escaped death? Dad, could you have heard wrong?"

Li Ruizhu, nearly crying, said urgently. When she heard that Princess An Le had been carried away by a tiger, she was so happy that she stayed awake all night, thinking that with that slut dead, King Qin would inevitably change his mind and marry her sooner or later. But now that she had not died, how could King Qin possibly marry her?

General Li said, "She really isn’t dead. Not only is she not dead, but she is also perfectly well. Just two days ago, she took over our Zhenbao Pavilion."

"How can this be? How did the tiger not eat her? How did she not die?"

Li Ruizhu, tears streaming down her face, clenched the handkerchief in her hand and pulled fiercely at it, nearly tearing the fine brocade handkerchief apart.

General Li, who always loved his daughter dearly, seeing her distraught, couldn’t help but comfort her, "Zhu’er, you don’t need to be sad, Dad will definitely find a way to fulfill your desires!"

Upon hearing these words, Li Ruizhu instantly smiled through her tears and said coquettishly, "Dad is so good, only Dad loves me..."

...*...*...

At dawn, light filtered into Empress Mo’s sleeping chamber in the Jade Palace, and she opened her eyes, her gaze as calm and cold as water.

At that moment, only one palace maid remained to serve her, and there were not many Imperial Guards left outside. The recent death of the Emperor had left all the palace servants in turmoil, worrying about who would succeed to the throne.

If the Prince ascended to the throne, all would be well, but if King Qin took the throne, they would not be spared for their mistreatment of Empress Mo. Therefore, the palace maids and eunuchs had been trying every day to gather information about the imperial court.

Empress Mo sat up, and the little palace maid quickly approached to help her, but was stopped by Empress Mo’s raised hand.

"Go and pour a cup of flower tea for me, use the green bamboo tube, and only boiling water will do!"

The little palace maid hesitated for a moment, Empress Mo sharply looked up and barked, "Go now!"

"Uh... yes..."

The majesty of the Empress is not easily borne, and under Empress Mo’s sharp command, the little palace maid scurried away.

Finally alone, she had feigned sleep for a day and a night, finally waiting for a moment when no one was around. Empress Mo then sat up, revealing the lavish backrest of the Golden Couch embellished with a cluster of peonies inlaid with East Sea Coral Carvings. Peonies were in full bloom, butterflies flitting about. Empress Mo pressed one of the flower centers, hearing a click as the flower sunk and a secret drawer slid out from under the couch pillow.

The couch pillow, ingeniously crafted to include a painting scroll, unexpectedly, also concealed a secret drawer.

Inside the secret drawer was a letter. Empress Mo quickly opened it to see several lines of closely written characters. After reading the letter, she flipped it over, bit open her finger, and quickly wrote several lines of her own blood on the back before placing the letter back into the secret drawer.

Just as she closed it, the little palace maid returned with the flower tea, speaking softly and delicately, "Empress, your tea is ready!"

Empress Mo took the tea, expressionless and cool as usual. She played with the lid of the cup, stirring the flower tea, the clinking sound masking the noise from the secret guards retrieving the message below the floor.

Once everything was quiet, Empress Mo ceased stirring the tea leaves and unhurriedly took a sip from the cup, saying, "Today’s tea is brewed perfectly; I really like it!"