Emperor Longqing rolled his hands and coughed a few times, then quickly told Empress Fang not to worry: "It's not a big deal, I just got mad recently and didn't get enough rest, don't worry."
Empress Fang was half-believing and half-doubting, but she did not insist on asking Xiao Gu to come in again. She just sat back in her seat and asked hesitantly, "Is it really not necessary to ask Kong Gongsheng to come and take a closer look?"
For some reason, Emperor Longqing has become more and more superstitious about alchemists recently.
The people he trusted most recently were not the former Prime Minister Xia Song, nor Qian Shiyun and Lin Sanshao who had always been favored by him, but a few Taoists.
In the past, she was very concerned about these things. After all, she had to consider her son and had thought about pleasing him.
But later on, I gradually stopped having any hope.
Because Emperor Longqing was very protective of these Taoists, not everyone had the opportunity to meet them.
He even specially set up a place in the imperial palace for them to make elixirs. These Taoists were only at his service and all of them looked down on him.
Now Queen Fang couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Emperor Longqing waved his hand disapprovingly. Seeing that Empress Fang was still embroidering her purse, he sighed and asked her, "Are you blaming me?"
Queen Fang paused while embroidering, and then continued to embroider quickly, denying it lightly: "You worry too much, why should I blame you?"
They had now unconsciously returned to the way they used to get along with each other, without too many scruples. They even no longer referred to themselves as "I" or "Your Majesty", but just called each other "I" as before.
But this did not ease their relationship any further.
Emperor Longqing noticed Empress Fang's coldness and alienation, so he sighed deeply, put his hands on his knees, and said heavily: "You should understand my situation."
He called Queen Fang by her maiden name, feeling somewhat helpless but more angry: "I know you feel bad. Ah Man is dead, and I feel as bad as you do..."
Are you feeling uncomfortable
Empress Fang stopped moving, looked up at him coldly and mockingly, repeated his words, and said to herself, "Does it hurt? Is Your Majesty really hurt?"
With a strange smile on her lips, she said disapprovingly: "I thought you would be happy and relieved. After all, A-Man is sick and a burden."
Of course, I wouldn’t have dared to say such things in the past.
But now when people die, we are not afraid anymore and there is no taboo anymore.
Emperor Longqing was not angry. He was silent for a moment before he asked, "How could you think so?"
His expression was relatively calm, but he could not help coughing a few times before he said, "I know you are holding a grudge against me, thinking that I favor Xiao Wu and treat Ah Man coldly. Xiao Wu was also present when the incident happened, but I did not touch Xiao Wu's people..."
Queen Fang looked away.
These are scars, and it hurts when you open them.
It took Emperor Longqing a while to calm down his cough, and he explained gently: "The palms and backs of the hands are made of flesh, but the five fingers are of different lengths. I did not treat them equally... Although I did not achieve equality, which father does not love his son? It's not that I have too many sons. Even if I don't intend to give him the throne, he is still one of my only two sons. Would I treat him badly? How could I want him to die?!"
He held Empress Fang's hand, his chest felt suffocated, but he still shook his head and said, "The reason why I didn't do anything to Xiao Wu is that I believe this matter has nothing to do with Concubine De."
Queen Fang sneered.
Emperor Longqing remained patient and said, "Don't you think the timing of these events is too coincidental? Concubine De is not stupid, why would she do such a thankless task? At this critical moment, if A-Man died, it would only bring harm to her. What are the rumors about her now? Couldn't she have anticipated this?"
Queen Fang remained silent and did not respond.
In her opinion, no matter what, Concubine Peng De was still the beneficiary of this incident.
Anyway, as long as the Fourth Prince dies, the Fifth Prince will naturally be the only heir.
How could Emperor Longqing be willing to let Concubine Peng De and the Fifth Prince pay the price? Of course, he couldn't even cover up for them.
Emperor Longqing glanced at her, somewhat helplessly: "The Imperial Guards have been investigating for such a long time. Except for a close wet nurse, all the other eunuchs and palace maids around Xiaowu have been detained and interrogated. If there really is something, how could the Imperial Guards not find out? It's not that I want to protect them, but there really is another murderer in this matter."
Empress Fang could no longer hold back and asked him emotionally, "A-Man didn't want to go to the West Garden that day. I asked around and it was Xiao Wu's people who kept instigating them to go to the West Garden. And after they went to the West Garden, it was Xiao Wu who took the initiative to provoke the leopard! It was Xiao Wu's people who asked the people in the Colosseum to open the cage in order to please him! How could it be such a coincidence? My son had to die! And it had to be A-Man!"
She was already hysterical, and Emperor Longqing looked at her quietly, waiting for her to vent her emotions, and then shook his head: "I know you feel bad... But the past is the past..."
He held Queen Fang's hand and assured her: "No matter what, you are the Queen of the Central Palace, and Xiaowu is also your son. Even if he ascends the throne in the future, he will still call you Mother Queen Mother, and you are ranked ahead of Concubine De..."
Now that she was told this, Queen Fang instinctively wanted to laugh, but after trying for a long time, she couldn't laugh. She sat dejectedly in the chair, sobbing quietly.
Emperor Longqing patted her on the shoulder and said, "This matter involves many things, but I promise you that I will seek justice for Aman and avenge her."
He came and said so much, but in the final analysis, he just wanted her to believe that it was not Concubine Peng De's doing and asked her not to make things difficult for Concubine Peng De.
Queen Fang felt more and more heartbroken, and her hands holding the purse were shaking violently.
Emperor Longqing felt that he had done his best to comfort Empress Fang, and when he saw that she remained silent, he sighed.
Empress Fang, however, did not make a single sound and silently sent Emperor Longqing away. In the evening, she only went to burn a stick of incense in front of the spirit of the Fourth Prince, and then handed over the task of presiding over the sacrifice to Princess Chang'an.
Seeing that she was not in good condition, Princess Chang'an took care to ask about her health and comforted her carefully for a while. She then instructed Xiao Gu to ask the imperial kitchen to prepare some delicious snacks and stews for Queen Fang to nourish her body.
Seeing that Xiao Gu agreed, he turned back and looked at Xianrong County Master and gave her a wink.
The right eyelid of Princess Xianrong twitched, and she nodded quickly to her mother. After a while, she took advantage of the break to go to the front to find Chu Jingxing.