The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 1915 - 1890: Undercurrents

Prince Gong’s broken leg was treated with the best healing paste, personally administered by Director Xiao. Even the bruises on his body were treated by Imperial Doctor Zheng himself, leaving no need for Manbao’s intervention.

These past few days, his food, clothing, and other necessities had been excellent. The fifty pounds he had painstakingly lost were quickly regained in just four or five days, gaining four or five pounds back.

Perhaps it was because he gained too much at once, all accumulating on his stomach and face.

Even the Princess Consort Gong, who usually didn’t care much about such matters, couldn’t help but gently urge him to eat less meat.

But Prince Gong was unwilling. He had been dieting for so long, and now that he was finally free from dietary restrictions, how could he resist?

As a result, today, just as he was slowly savoring a bowl of meat soup, Gu Zhong arrived with an imperial decree to announce.

His leg was broken, kneeling was out of the question, but even while sitting on the bed to listen, Prince Gong was so shocked that he almost fell off. His first reaction was: "I don’t believe it! Is this really Father Emperor’s decree?"

Gu Zhong looked at him with sympathy and responded with a "Yes."

Yesterday, the emperor hadn’t been in a good mood after leaving the empress’s palace. He had even secretly drunk alcohol that night and hardly slept. Yet, when attending court this morning, he didn’t lose his temper...

Gu Zhong didn’t know what the emperor and empress had discussed, but he knew it had a lot to do with today’s decree. He handed the decree to the bewildered Prince Gong and routinely comforted him, "Your Highness, don’t worry, His Majesty still cares for you."

Prince Gong, hands trembling, opened the decree and, indeed, his father’s imperial seal was there.

But how could this be?

He had been beaten, and his leg was broken, yet it had somehow become his fault. Not only was a county taken from his fiefdom, but he was also demoted to a Regional Prince?

Prince Gong, eyes red, looked at the reasons stated: disrespect towards the Crown Prince, speaking ill of the Crown Prince, harboring ill intentions...

"This can’t be true, how could Father Emperor suddenly..."

Why suddenly treat him this way?

Prince Gong grabbed Gu Zhong and asked, "What happened in the Front Hall?"

Gu Zhong respectfully removed his hand, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, nothing happened in the Front Hall. His Majesty is still discussing matters with the officials. I must return to serve His Majesty."

After saying this, he bowed and left.

Director Xiao, who was there to examine Prince Gong, also took the opportunity to slip away. Sure enough, he hadn’t gone far when he heard things being smashed inside the room.

Director Xiao couldn’t help but glance at Gu Zhong, who happened to look back. Their eyes met, and Gu Zhong smiled and said, "Director Xiao, are you returning to the Imperial Medical Office?"

Director Xiao responded with a yes, and Gu Zhong quietly advised, "It seems Imperial Doctor Zhou needs to prepare a letter of apology."

Director Xiao then realized that Zhou Man hadn’t escaped punishment, so he went back to tell Zhou Man.

These few days, everything seemed calm, and Manbao even went to play with Mingda. Seeing that the emperor hadn’t troubled them since they knelt, she thought the matter had blown over.

Unexpectedly, events took a sudden turn, and in the end, she couldn’t escape punishment.

Upon finding out, Manbao looked up and said to Bai Shan, "Sure enough, when you make a mistake, you should accept the punishment. Any attempt to avoid it is unjustified."

Bai Shan glanced at her and said, "Today’s punishment is much lighter than we initially expected." So how could it be useless?

By now, several days had passed. Not to mention that the emperor now had no time to deal with these insignificant minor officials; even if he had the time, after these few days, his anger had subsided considerably.

The punishment given now was naturally not the same as it would have been in the heat of the moment.

Even the officials who handled things according to protocol in the court were no longer concerned with Zhou Man’s possible mistakes in this matter. After her submission of the letter of repentance, they symbolically reprimanded her, recorded it in her personnel review at the Ministry of Personnel, and let it pass.

There was no demotion or salary reduction.

Manbao quietly submitted her letter and received a warning notice from the Ministry of Personnel, and the matter quietly blew over, leaving her uninvolved.

The officials also had no time to monitor her; they all found the emperor’s behavior strange and were quietly observing him.

After all, when Prince Gong was brought back to the capital last year, he was suspected of plotting against the Crown Prince, and some evidence was even found. Despite that, the emperor only reprimanded him, placed him under house arrest, and took one county from his fiefdom, without demoting his rank.

This time, he was actually demoted?

They found the emperor’s behavior strange, unsettling them a bit.

Upon further investigation, it turned out the emperor had been staying in the study in front of Taiji Hall recently, not returning to the main hall.

Thus, the officials were as quiet as chickens, even speaking more softly during court so as not to upset the emperor.

Manbao heard from Mingda that the emperor and empress seemed to have had a quarrel, though what it was about was unclear. In any case, Prince Gong was punished quite severely, and the Crown Prince, who had been out of the ancestral hall for a few days, was sent back to kneel for half a day and received a reprimand as well.

However, this time, the Crown Prince felt no resentment and calmly accepted the reprimand. He then watched as the officials from the Ministry of Rites and Ministry of Public Works went to Luozhou to dismantle or transport back items in Prince Gong’s mansion that violated regulations, and as the Ministry of Revenue reclaimed the county that was taken from Prince Gong. Now, Prince Gong was left with only one fief, Guo County in Luozhou.

The Crown Prince remained calm for two days, and seeing his father still residing in the study and not returning to the main hall, he frowned and irritably said to the Crown Princess, "What exactly does he want? If he’s unhappy, he doesn’t have to punish them. How does it make sense to ignore Mother Empress?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Crown Princess could only console him, "Letting Father Emperor calm down would be good. Mother Empress isn’t worried, so why are you?"

The Crown Prince snorted in frustration and rose, "I’m going to visit Mother Empress."

Mingda appeared much calmer, as if it wasn’t her parents having a cold war. She said to Manbao, "Mother Empress said our intention was good, but we used the wrong method."

Manbao was filled with questions.

Mingda explained, "We thought talking to Third Brother about the Crown Prince’s concern was wrong, or at least not appropriate. Mother Empress said the main issue between the Crown Prince and Third Brother wasn’t Third Brother’s issue with the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince’s issue with Third Brother. This matter can’t be resolved unless Third Brother personally attempts to address it. Otherwise, any resolution would only be superficial, and the two brothers might just be pretending for appearances or the future."

Manbao: "...Why didn’t the Empress tell His Majesty that day?"

Mingda chuckled, "For what reason could it be, naturally it’s because of us."

She continued, "Mother Empress didn’t want to spoil our good intentions. Also, you were indeed innocent. If I hadn’t invited you to Baiyun Temple, or if I hadn’t let you treat Third Brother’s injury, it would have been fine."

Manbao felt quite embarrassed and said quietly, "I am also at fault. I had good medicine but deliberately used the medicinal wine from Baiyun Temple for Prince Gong."

This was also a reason for her and Bai Shan’s anxiety, as this could easily be investigated and interpreted as having ulterior motives, which was one of the main reasons for her punishment.

Mingda, of course, was aware. She lowered her voice, "I know, and Mother Empress knows too. Third Brother must have said very unpleasant things for you to take such action. The two eunuchs have confessed."

She paused and added, "I sent them to Third Sister. Third Sister is upright, and even if Third Brother has a bad temper, he wouldn’t dare demand them from her."