Chapter Seventy-Three: Swinging Back and Forth

  The King of Guangping had just recovered from a long illness and was exhausted after half a day's work, soon he couldn't hold on any longer. Gao Zhen settled his father in, watching him fall into a deep sleep before leaving the room, instructing the attendants to be careful, then turned around to look for his mother.

  When he arrived at the courtyard where his mother, Lady Zheng, lived, he heard her sobbing pitifully in her room. Both Yunyan, the senior maid, and Cao Mama, a trusted servant, were trying to comfort her:

  "Don't be sad, Princess. The prince will recover soon and the Emperor will reinstate him as the Crown Prince. Which of the other princes can compare to our prince? Even the Fourth Prince is not his match."

  "The princess should take care of her body, all the things in the palace rely on you. If you also fall ill, when the prince recovers and re-enters the East Palace, who can be expected to deal with those complicated matters?"

  Gao Zhen's eyebrows furrowed as he listened, and even his own heart was clear: his father's blindness was a foregone conclusion. If he insisted on staying in the position of Crown Prince, even if he did nothing wrong, he would eventually be pushed down. Now, by proactively resigning, he could gain the sympathy of the Emperor, and his future situation would be better. He could also help the Fourth Imperial Uncle ascend to the throne earlier and stabilize the imperial court. At this time, still hoping that his father's condition would improve and he could return to normal and re-enter the Eastern Palace was only asking for trouble. If he accidentally revealed his thoughts in front of the Fourth Imperial Uncle, it would be even easier to drive a wedge between his father and the Fourth Imperial Uncle. The big maid by his mother's side shouldn't be so foolish, why did she keep saying such things to his mother?

  He walked into the house, and Yan Xia, who had been standing silently at the side, saw him and hurriedly saluted: "Young Master." Yan Yun and Cao's mother both looked up. Qi Qi's face showed joy: "The Young Master has arrived, quickly come to persuade the Princess."

  Zhong Shi lifted her head from the table, not looking at her son who was paying his respects. Instead, she turned her back, lowered her head and gently wiped away her tears. When she turned around again, the tear stains on her face had been erased, except for her red and swollen eyes and slightly reddened nose tip, there was nothing to prove that she had just cried a lot.

  She looked at her son with a very gentle gaze: "Are you back? Did you have fun playing with Wei from the Zhao family today?"

  Gao Zhen nodded. Under her gaze, he sat down on the round stool opposite the table: "Zhao Wei is kind to people and has interesting things to say. He also has an old relationship with the child, but it's been five years, and the child has almost forgotten, some things need him to remind them to remember."

  Zhong smiled and said, "No wonder. He fell into the water that year and was always sick. Afraid of passing on his illness to you, he didn't let you see him. On the contrary, his sister Xiu, lived with you in the same room for over a dozen days, got along like siblings, and you even taught her how to write by hand, that serious little face, really looked like a young scholar."

  Gao Zhen's face turned slightly red. His father had also mentioned this matter just now, but he didn't remember it deeply. He only vaguely remembered that there seemed to be such a thing, and it was Zhao Xiu's small appearance that he had just recalled what it looked like.

  Yanxia brought a basin and towel to help Zhongshi wash her hands, and also chimed in with a smile: "The young master not only taught Zhao Niang reading and writing, but also secretly took Zhao Niang to see Zhao Gongzi when the slaves were not around. When I came back and didn't see the young master, my face turned white with fear. Later, it was because Zhao Niang cried that we found them."

  Zhong's family servant helped her clean her face and wash her hands, and upon hearing the words, she also recalled the situation from back then. She puckered up her lips and smiled lightly, and a few parts of the worry between her eyebrows dissipated. Seeing this, Cao's mother put down her guard and smiled as she retreated and ordered someone to re-pour the tea.

  But unexpectedly, Yan Yun listened to Yan Xia's words and didn't feel quite right in her heart. She interrupted, "I also remember that the young master used to teach Zhao Niang to write and fight, saying that Zhong Jia's cousin was more learned than him but didn't like fighting, so he taught Zhao Niang to be more interesting. I even laughed at the young master then, saying that Zhong Jia's cousin was already a big girl, of course she couldn't fight like boys."

  Gao Zhen's face revealed a look of doubt: "Is that so? I didn't say it that way at the time, did I?"

  Yan Yun felt a little guilty, but relying on Gao Zhen having forgotten many things from his childhood, he forced himself to say: "Isn't that what was said? The young master must have forgotten."

  Yanxia looked at Yunyun with one eye and didn't make a sound.

  It was Zhong who, due to Yun's words, thought of his niece: "Yazhi hasn't come for quite some time, I miss her. In the past, she often went to the East Palace to play with Zhen'er, but now that the prince is ill, she has become a young lady and it's not easy for her to get around, even my sister-in-law only occasionally comes to sit."

  Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives. Mrs. Cao comes to report that Zhong's sister-in-law, Madame Zhong, has arrived. Zhong thought she had brought her niece with her, but upon meeting, she found that her niece was not with her, and couldn't help feeling a little disappointed: "Why didn't you bring Yazi? I was just thinking of her."

  Madam Zhong's face stiffened for a moment, and she forced a smile: "She caught a cold a few days ago and hasn't recovered yet. How could I dare bring her out? I'm afraid it would be bad for her health."

  Gao Zhen just finished paying respects to his aunt and heard her words, looked up at her with a glance, then silently lowered his eyes again.

  Zhong Shi didn't think much of it: "How can she be so careless? In this hot weather, she's still catching a cold. She must have used too much ice. Tell her to be more careful, don't just go for coolness because of the heat. Girls are not like others, if they catch too much cold air, they'll suffer later on."

  Mrs. Zhong's face stiffened again: "It was just an accident, not because I used too much ice, I still know this taboo." She somewhat impatiently changed the subject: "Ge'er has grown even taller, looking like a young adult, and what's rare is that he's steady! But how did the princess get thinner again? Even if it's for the sake of...for Prince Guangping, one should take care of their body."

  Zhong's expression turned gloomy, and he sighed: "Sister knows me, the prince is like this now, how can I not worry? I'm looking forward to a divine doctor arriving every day, or someone coming up with a good prescription that can cure the prince's eyes as well as before. Even if it costs me ten years of my life, I'd be willing."

  Mrs. Zhong sighed along with her. Not only Mrs. Zhong, but everyone in the Zhong family felt heartbroken and frustrated. Their aunt was just one step away from being a mother-in-law, yet she would never take that step, forever stuck in this state. Was there anything more infuriating than this?

  Gao Zhen didn't want to hear his mother and aunt talk about this anymore. He made an excuse that he wanted to go back to his room to study, stood up and bid farewell. Zhong Shi knew that her husband attached great importance to their son's studies, so she wouldn't stop him. If it were any other day, Mrs. Zhong would have definitely pulled Gao Zhen aside to chat with him for half a day before letting him go. But today, because of another important matter, she didn't detain him, so Gao Zhen was able to slip away smoothly.

  Mrs. Zhong hinted that Mr. Zhong had dismissed his attendants and then lowered her voice to reveal the purpose of today's visit: "I really don't know how to tell you this, but I couldn't not tell you either, for fear that you might hear some rumors outside and misunderstand the family's intentions."

  Zhong Shi was extremely surprised: "What's going on with sister-in-law? Why so serious?"

  Madam Zhong lowered her voice again: "This was originally a mistake made by the second uncle and aunt's family. Recently, they have been planning to bring their eldest daughter to pay respects to Imperial Concubine Zhu during the Mid-Autumn Festival when the imperial edict is issued."

  Zhong's family was confused: "Why is this? Zhu Li Fei... she is not the highest-ranking person in the harem, why should we go to pay our respects to her? If we must go, shouldn't it be to Empress Jiang Shu Fei?" The mother of Guangping King, Empress Jiang Shu Fei, was currently the highest-ranking concubine in the harem. She oversaw all six palaces. All imperial edicts that entered the palace to pay their respects had to go through her.

  Madam Zhong saw that her sister-in-law didn't understand, so she had to make it clearer: "They've set their sights on the Sixth Prince and think that our daughter might have a chance at becoming the Sixth Princess..."

  Zhong Shi suddenly stood up, his face pale with rage, and Zhong Shao's wife hurried to calm him down: "Princess Wang, don't be angry, this is their foolishness. With Second Uncle's official position, could Zhu Li and the Sixth Prince look down on our family's daughter? Father and Eldest Brother have advised them against it. They refused to listen, and Father was afraid that if things got out of hand and people outside found out, they would gossip about us. So he had no choice but to let them be. All we can hope for is that Princess Wang will think of a way to prevent them from losing too much face in the palace, which would be a blessing for our Zhong family."

  Zhong's anger gradually dissipated, and if she were still living in the palace, this small matter would be a mere trifle. However, now that she had moved out of the East Palace and was no longer the Crown Prince's consort, getting involved in palace affairs could only mean asking her mother-in-law, Jiang Shufei, to intervene. But how could she let Jiang Shufei know that someone from the Zhong family had harbored evil intentions? This foolish thing she absolutely couldn't do!

  She looked at Mrs. Zhong Shao with a serious face: "Since Uncle and Aunt have this intention, let them go! Just remind them when you return, the Sixth Prince is only six or seven years old, and their daughter is only nine years old, do they need to think about marriage so early? Don't end up losing both wife and soldier, and become a laughing stock!"

  Madam Zhong's heart sank, and she forced a smile on her face: "The princess is right, everyone in the family thinks they are foolish, but it's not good to scold people."

  Zhong Shi stared at Zhong Shao's wife for a moment: "As long as Father and Brother know that Second Uncle is muddled, it's fine. Second Uncle thinks that we, the Prince, have lost our position, so he wants to climb up another branch, but doesn't think about how, being close relatives, we still want to curry favor with others in the palace. It looks like what? The scholars will also look down on Second Uncle's character. We must know that our Prince was not deposed because of a crime, the Emperor is very sympathetic towards our Prince, if he finds out that the Prince suffered humiliation at his in-laws' house, who knows how angry he'll be? At that time, even I, this daughter-in-law, won't have it easy. Father and Brother must be careful."

  Mrs. Zhong wiped the sweat from her back and didn't bother to think carefully about whether her sister-in-law had seen anything, she just kept saying yes and chatted with her for a while before taking her leave in a state of unease. As she walked out of the Guangping King's mansion, she was still thinking that maybe her sister-in-law's words were right, now wasn't the time to consider befriending other princes, who knew if the sixth prince could succeed? If not, then marrying her daughter off to him would be no different from her sister-in-law, and it would only offend the Guangping King, so she'd better wait and see for now.

  She didn't know that Zhong Shi also became vigilant after she left. Why did the second uncle suddenly come up with this idea? It's been less than a month since the crown prince abdicated, and the emperor still hasn't decided on the next heir, it's too early to take sides. However, the second uncle served as a Hanlin lecturer in front of the emperor, although his official position was not high, he was a close minister of the emperor, perhaps he sensed something from the emperor's daily words and deeds?

  But... how is that possible? The sixth prince is still a little kid! If the emperor's body was healthy, he could cultivate a satisfactory crown prince from a young age. But now his body is more fragile than before, although on the surface he rarely gets seriously ill, but the people in the palace are clear about what's going on, how many more years can he hold on? To put aside several grown-up princes and establish the youngest kid as the crown prince? The emperor would not be foolish to this extent!

  However... Empress Zhu Li is currently in great favor, perhaps the Emperor was influenced by pillow talk and made a mistake, it's also possible...

  Zhong's mind was in a mess for a moment, and she didn't know whether or not to tell her husband about this matter.