HCB Chapter 625: Estrangement
Chapter 625: Estrangement
One's true feelings are often revealed inadvertently. The Seventh Prince never took him seriously and only treated him as a chess piece.
While sneering in his heart, Shen Yuming still pretended to be loyal: "I understand your Highness's worries. Shen Siyan is becoming more and more powerful. How can your Highness not worry?"
"That's right." Baili Yan clenched his fists, his heart trembling slightly when he thought of Shen Siyan.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will do my best!" Shen Yuming said firmly and bowed to show his loyalty.
Seeing Shen Yuming's performance, Baili Yan was very satisfied and nodded in approval: "Shen Yuming, you still understand me the best. With you by my side to help me, I feel much more at ease."
However, Baili Yan did not notice the change in Shen Yuming's heart, and he didn't know that he had already developed a rift in his heart.
"Your Highness." Shen Yuming raised his eyes and said with difficulty: "I would like to ask for a few days' leave."
"Why? What are you going to do?" Baili Yan asked.
"My father's death anniversary is coming up in a few days, and I want to go back to my hometown to pay my respects. I have never been back since I came to the capital.
Now I am an official in the court, and I hope to go home to pay my respects to my father, so that his soul in heaven can be comforted."
Shen Yuming's words were full of sincerity and filial piety.
Baili Yan's heart sank. Without Shen Yuming, how would he deal with the possible threat from Shen Siyan?
But when it comes to filial piety, how could he refuse Shen Yuming's request?
In the end, he could only nod and agree: "You should go early and come back early. The situation in the palace changes rapidly. Who knows what will happen next."
"I understand. I will leave tomorrow and will be back as soon as I have dealt with the matter."
Shen Yuming bowed respectfully and left the Seventh Prince's Mansion.
When he walked out of the mansion, there was a flash of determination in his eyes and his fists were clenched in his sleeves.
This time he returns home, he has a bigger plan, an opportunity to change his fate. As for the Seventh Prince...
Shen Yuming turned around and glanced indifferently at the Seventh Prince's Mansion, then turned around and left resolutely.
Inside the palace, a beautiful woman knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. She was Concubine Zhuang, the mother of the Eighth Princess.
"Your Majesty, please have mercy..."
Concubine Zhuang burst into tears: "Qin'er has been sent to Zhuangzi for four years. Now she is eighteen years old and still unmarried. If she is delayed any further, I am afraid she will end up living alone."
"Qin'er has repented in the past four years. Your Majesty, please let her come back!" Concubine Zhuang continued to beg.
The emperor sat on a high place, brows furrowed, looking at Concubine Zhuang with tears streaming down her face.
"Your Majesty!" Concubine Zhuang wanted to continue crying.
The emperor said coldly: "You are the one who taught me this daughter! If she hadn't made a serious mistake, why would I send her to the manor?"
"Qin'er is a poor child!" Concubine Zhuang raised her head, her face still pretty and charming.
“When she was six, she broke her leg and was left with a lifelong disability.
Even if no one mentioned her legs, it was hard to ignore the eyes of others. She was sensitive, and she developed that kind of personality to hide her inferiority complex. "
Concubine Zhuang thought of her daughter with heartache and felt helpless.
Her children were different from other princesses. They could not ride horses and play happily. They could only sit quietly by the side, their eyes full of envy for the freedom of others.
In order to make up for her daughter's misfortune, Concubine Zhuang always responded to her daughter's requests.
However, when the emperor learned about the eighth princess, his brows furrowed, feeling distressed for her injured leg and angry at her behavior at the banquet.
"Even so, she shouldn't have whipped Madam Mu at the banquet and even caused a death."
It was a palace banquet, and Mrs. Mu accidentally mentioned a wounded bird, which touched the sensitive heartstrings of the Eighth Princess.
The Eighth Princess thought that someone was mocking her leg disease and became furious. She asked someone to bring a whip and beat Madam Mu severely on the spot.
Everyone was terrified and no one dared to step forward to stop it.
In the end, the Eighth Princess beat Madam Mu to the point of being on the verge of death. Despite the imperial physician's best efforts to save her, her life could not be saved.
This incident made the emperor furious, and he ordered the eighth princess to be exiled to a remote mountain villa to reflect on her actions.
Four years later, the eighth princess has reached marriageable age, but because of previous events, marriage has become an unattainable dream.
Concubine Zhuang couldn't bear to see her daughter die alone, so she knelt before the emperor and pleaded, "Qin'er was young and ignorant, and now she has repented. Your Majesty, do you really want to watch her live alone for the rest of her life?"
The emperor was silent for a moment, his heart full of contradictions. Finally, he sighed and said, "Okay."
When Concubine Zhuang heard this, her heart trembled. She didn't know whether the emperor really agreed to take his daughter back or had other plans.
But she was determined to get through this with her daughter no matter what the outcome.
The emperor said slowly: "Let the Eighth Princess come back, but she must personally go to the Mu family to apologize after she comes back."
After hearing this, Concubine Zhuang was delighted and quickly responded, "I thank the emperor for his grace. When Qin'er comes back, I will ask her to kneel down and apologize to the Mu family, begging for forgiveness!"
As long as Qin'er can be brought back, he is willing to accept any conditions. The most worrying thing is the emperor's firm opposition. Once he gives in, all problems will be solved.
Concubine Zhuang quickly wiped away her tears and turned from sadness to joy: "I will send someone to welcome the Eighth Princess back immediately!"
"You go and do it." The emperor agreed.
Concubine Zhuang stood up hurriedly. She almost fell down due to numbness in her legs and feet after kneeling for a long time. Even so, her heart was still filled with joy, and she quickly left the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.
"Madam Zhao, hurry up and prepare for the reception!"
Zhao Ma, who was waiting outside the palace, saw Concubine Zhuang's smiling face and asked hurriedly, "Madam, has the emperor agreed?"
"Yes, the emperor has allowed Qin'er to return to the palace." Concubine Zhuang nodded and smiled, full of joy.
"That's great! The eighth princess can finally go home!" The old nanny was also happy.
"Don't delay, bring Qin'er back as soon as possible!"
Concubine Zhuang was worried that the emperor would change his mind, so she decided to take immediate action and sent someone to prepare for the Eighth Princess's return journey. The old nanny agreed and immediately began to make arrangements.
At the same time, in Pei Mansion, Shen Yuming was packing his luggage and planning to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors.
The servant asked as he sorted out his clothes, "Master, are you going to bring your wife with you when you return home this time?"
Shen Yuming's face suddenly darkened. The servant realized that he had said something wrong and shrank back unconsciously.
After a moment, Shen Yuming said coldly: "No need to take her." The servant responded in a low voice.
Ever since the accident, Ye Qianyao almost suffered a mental breakdown, and her voice was damaged, so her voice was hoarse and unpleasant when she spoke.
Gradually, she became silent and stayed indoors all day.
Shen Yuming had never visited her. The two had no feelings for each other. She was forced into marriage. Shen Yuming hated her and even hoped that she would disappear.
Sometimes he secretly regretted why the stab was not deep enough. If it were true, perhaps everything would be different.
Shen Yuming stood in front of the yard, looking at the courtyard not far away, his eyes revealed a cold and ruthless look, as if he was looking at a person who was about to die.