The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

The emperor finally took the eldest prince back, and the large clans of the Lin'an were present to see him off. Li Ran, who had been treated coldly for many days, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thought to himself: fortunately, his majesty didn't take Empress Du back. Fortunately, Lis has done a good job in dealing with those things in the past. Otherwise, we will be in trouble now.

But even so, the emperor might have already doubted Concubine Li and the Lis. The future of the ninth prince was still uncertain, which was the most worrying thing for Li Ran. As for Empress Du, who had restored her relationship with the emperor and cleared her name, he didn't take her seriously. A woman whose face had been ruined, even if she had been loved by the emperor, what could she do? Could she return to the capital city and ascend the throne again? There was no such thing as abolishing the late empress of the state of Zhou, let alone the tradition of being Empress Duwith disfigured.

When the emperor came, he asked Empress Du to accompany him every day, just because he felt guilty. Otherwise, how could he not take her with him when he left? As the saying goes, the emperor's words cannot be changed. Empress Du will never be able to turn over in her life. Thinking of this, the official who went to see off immediately dispelled the idea of making friends with Du Ruyan and Du Rusong.

Time was almost up. The emperor turned around and tried to search in the crowd, but he couldn't find the figure he had been looking forward to. The pain and reluctance in his heart were indescribable.

"Why didn't Rusong and Ruyan come?" he asked in a low voice.

The eldest prince knew who he really wanted to ask, so he hurried forward and replied, "Father, Miss Du is sick. They are accompanying Miss Du in the Taoist temple now, so they can't come."

"What Miss Du?" the emperor said in a cold tone, "That's your mother! She has just left the Imperial City, but you have forgotten her? You were brought up by her herself. When you were a child, the cold air in your body caused a high fever, and it was always impossible to bring it down. She stayed by your bed all night to apply the cold compress for you. Don't you remember at all?"

"I remember everything, but she is not Empress Du after all. As the saying goes, the master and the servant are different, how can I call her mother?" the eldest prince bowed his head and cupped his hands. "

Father, it's almost time to go. Let's go. Qiwu Palace has a new master, and there is no position for Miss Du in the palace anymore. You can keep her here and let her live the rest of her life in peace. Haven't you heard what she said? The current life is what she wants most."

"That's against her will, not true!" the emperor lowered his voice and said angrily.

The father and son quarreled immediately. The ministers were too far away to hear what they were talking about, but they had a lot of guesses about the relationship between the two of them.

Li Ran stared at the emperor's seat with dark eyes. Although he was the governor of the Zhejiang Province, he couldn't even get close to the emperor. His position was arranged behind the officials like the Fantai and Nietai(藩台、臬台). It could be seen that the emperor's trust in him had been greatly reduced. Before he could gain a firm foothold in the province, he was facing the danger of being sidelined. All this was attributed to the remaining people of the Dus, and also to Li Jiarong.

Thinking of this, Li Ran lowered his head with a malicious look.

The emperor's heart sank when he heard what the first prince said. He waved his hand and said, "Wait a little longer. Postpone the trip for half an hour." These days, Fange had been taking good care of him. He didn't believe that she had any feelings for him at all. When she heard that he was about to leave, she would come to see him if she was a little reluctant. As long as she came, he would never let her go!

With such thoughts in his mind, the emperor stood at the dock for a long time, one hour, two hours, until the sunset and the night fell, and Empress Du did not appear. The emperor kept looking in the direction of the Taoist temple. His wide robe was rustling with the cold wind, which made people feel that they were about to fall.

The eldest prince summoned up his courage and urged, "Father, let's go. Don't wait any longer. You should have known it when you gave the decree of abolishment that year that she would never go back. You should know her better than us what kind of person she is."

What kind of person was Empress Du? Even if she was slandered to such an extent, even if she crashed into the pillar, and went to the cold palace, she gritted her teeth and did not reveal her secret of infertility. She wanted to hear from him personally that he still loved her, and he absolutely trusted her. Only by getting this promise would she reverse the case for herself. Otherwise, she would rather leave with those fabricated charges and leave the magnificent palace.

She didn't care about power and status. She only cared about whether their relationship was as pure as before. But he let her down, so she left dejectedly. She would rather die when life is a disgrace.

Thinking of this, the emperor's eyes finally turned red, and he almost choked with sobs. "Let's go." he finally looked at the mountain where the Taoist temple was located, and his eyes were faintly filled with tears.

The officials, who had been shivering with cold wind for a few hours, breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't know what his Majesty was waiting for. Maybe it was because the wind was too strong on the river, so he was waiting for the weather was getting better. His Majesty was standing alone at the edge of the dock and no one was allowed to approach him. Since they couldn't get any information, they could only say to themselves, "Your Majesty's heart is unpredictable.".

At the same time, Empress Du was standing on the edge of the cliff and looking in the direction of the dock. Different from the emperor's despair and sadness, she actually had a pleasant smile on her face.

Staring at her side face for a long time, Ruyan asked cautiously, "Auntie, why didn't you go back with him when his majesty proposed?"

"I'll leave as he says. Will I go back as he says?" Empress Du waved her hand and said, "Don't pry into these things. I have my own considerations."

"Well, then I won't ask anymore." Empress Du chuckled as Du Ruyan covered her mouth obediently. She looked at her nephew and asked softly, "Do you have any plans for the future? Do you want to leave or stay?"

Without hesitation, Du Rusong said, "Now that Lin Dan doesn't want to leave, I'll stay. After she makes the embroidery manor bigger in the future, I'll go to the capital city with her."

Empress Du said in a playful tone, "That is to say, where is Miss Lin and where are you?"

Du Rusong nodded with a red face, "Yes, I will be wherever she is."

"Me too. I'll be there as long as she is. I'll always feel a little uneasy if I leave her. Auntie, although she is four or five years younger than me, she is very powerful."Du Ruyan said too.

Empress Du smiled, "I see. Miss Lin is the best woman in the world. Don't you feel tired of saying that every day? Well, since you don't want to go back, you can stay here. But you have to be careful of the Lis." Then she left the cliff and walked towards the quiet room.

Looking at her straight back, Ruyan asked in a low voice, "brother, what does auntie think? Will she go back or not?"

"Of course we have to go back, but not now. If we want to go back, we have to ask that man to come in person. You don't have to worry about these things," Du Rusong looked at the sky and sped up. "Let's go down the mountain quickly. Before going out, Dan asked me to buy a few perch fish back. It's dark now, and the fishermen should go home. If we don't go, we won't be able to buy it."

"Well, does Dan want to cook the perch herself?" said Ruyan. She immediately put her worries aside, quickly climbed into the carriage, and urged, "Uncle sun, hurry up. Dan is cooking by herself today!"

"Okay, miss, sit tight. I'll leave now!" Uncle sun waved his whip and said in a loud voice.

After the emperor left, the Dus and the Lins lived a common life, but the Lis was a little restless. First, Li Jiarong was punished by Li Ran and locked in the room. Then, Li Xiudian quarreled with his parents for his marriage with Meng Si.

Empress Du was once again forgotten. She always wore a thick hat outside. Curious ladies and debutantes ran to see her, but they couldn't see her true face, so they gave up. On the day Empress Du came to Lin'an, many people had seen the scar on her forehead. They didn't expect that she could recover as before, or even more beautiful.

However, seven days later, on a stormy and windy day, the imperial carriage that was supposed to leave the city came back. The emperor got off the ship in a hurry and took a carriage to the Taoist temple.

After receiving the news, the officials of the Lin'an quickly followed them. The servants they brought with them held torches, illuminating the dark mountain forest as if it was daytime. Seven days were enough for them to drive half the way, and he would arrive at the capital city in seven days. However, the emperor turned back in the middle of the way, which had always been paid attention to safety. What did it mean?

What was in the Lin'an that the emperor couldn't let go of? What was it that he was worried about and couldn't give up? When he was about to turn around and look for it in a hurry?

Empress Du, the answer appeared almost at the same time in everyone's mind but was immediately denied by them. Since Empress Du had been disfigured, how could she fight against those coquettish concubines? Wouldn't his majesty feel sick to see her ferocious face?

Li Ran rode a fast horse to the Taoist temple. His face was as dark as ink. If one wanted to ask who didn't want Empress Du to be pampered the most in the world, Li Ran would be the only one who didn't want her to be pampered again, except for Concubine Min. Not only had a beautiful face, but Empress Du was also clever. If she wasn't brainwashed by the so-called love, she wouldn't have been plotted by them.

Perhaps others couldn't see the truth in the mist, and even the emperor would be deceived, but she didn't. Empress Du always knew who caused her to this situation.

Li Ran would never underestimate Empress Du because the spies that he sent to monitor Empress Du were finally pulled out mercilessly. That Taoist temple was now under the control of Empress Du, and no one else had the chance to interfere. Why has she entangled with the emperor again? How far had their relationship been repaired? What did the emperor return to do this time? Li Ran didn't know at all.

He could only use the stupidest way to watch in person in the name of escort. Obviously, the officials of Lin'an also arrived at the door one after another.