On this day, Prince Nan Huai rarely stayed in Ci'an Palace.
"I didn't expect that you still want to leave Beijing. When will our plan succeed?" The noble concubine was already very impatient. She had been waiting for too long. Since the day she entered the palace, she had been thinking about becoming the mother of the country. Now, the Empress Dowager was dead, and she still saw no hope.
"Mother, don't worry. The country is in crisis now and your son cannot move at this time. If you move, you will be considered a traitor to the country. With such a bad reputation, it will be difficult for you to ascend the throne legitimately. We have waited for so many years. What's the harm in waiting a little longer?" Prince Nan Huai comforted.
The noble concubine was indeed impatient. "It's not that mother can't wait, but now the palace is completely controlled by Xia Zian and Murong Zhuangzhuang. The old woman from the Chen family always comes to keep an eye on us. I really wanted to kill her several times."
Nan Huai Wang's eyebrows moved, "Kill her?"
"Isn't it? She's been here all day. It would be easy for me to poison her." The noble concubine snorted coldly, "If it weren't for the fact that the Chen family is difficult to deal with, and if it weren't for the fact that she died in Ci'an Palace, I couldn't escape responsibility, I would have killed her long ago."
Prince Nan Huai took out a pill from his bosom and said, "This is what my son asked Fang'er for today. Keep it with you in case of emergency. Mother, put poison in the soup. You and she drink it together, but you must take the antidote beforehand. In five days, she will die suddenly."
"Is this poison?" The noble concubine took it, poured it out and looked at it. "Isn't Fang'er good at using poison? What kind of poison is this?"
"This is a poisonous insect, which contains insect eggs. If you take it without an antidote, the eggs will grow and kill you in five days."
The noble concubine was overjoyed. "Okay, go ask Fang'er for the antidote right away. I will take the antidote first and get rid of that old lady Chen."
Prince Nan Huai raised his glass, his eyes deep, "Mother, the Chen family follows the old lady's lead. If she dies, the Chen family will fall apart. From now on, we will have one less enemy."
"You are right," the noble concubine smiled, "Ahfu, come on, bring me some good old wine. It's a rare opportunity for the prince to have some free time today, so mother and I should have a good drink."
"Mother, are you still hiding good wine?" Prince Nan Huai was angry, "You should have taken it out long ago."
The noble concubine sighed, "I hid this in my early years, and originally prepared it for your brother. At that time, I and the late emperor thought he had great potential, but we didn't expect him to be so rebellious. Well, now all my hopes are placed on you, so I will drink this wine with you."
Ah Fu brought out some aged Bamboo Leaf Green Tea, opened the yellow mud seal, and then he could smell the aroma of wine. The fragrance was so strong that one would be intoxicated at the first sniff.
"Good wine, good wine!" King Nan Huai was delighted. He also liked good wine and would not drink anything other than good wine.
Like Murong Jie, although he also likes to drink, he will swallow any kind of crap, and just for this reason, he has always looked down on him.
The noble concubine poured wine for him personally and asked, "Have you figured out a way to stay in the capital?"
Prince Nan Huai said, "Although the emperor has not issued an official decree for his son to return to the Southern Kingdom, he has such an intention. Moreover, the ninth prince also said in the palace that his son must go for a while. He has stayed in the capital under the pretext of mourning, and he has also won over many people during this period of time. Therefore, this mission has been accomplished, and it is not a big deal for him to go back."
"Well, you can go back for the time being. After you go back, you should recruit troops and make preparations properly."
"My son knows." Prince Nan Huai replied.
"Come, let your mother offer you a toast and wish that our great cause can be accomplished soon." The noble concubine raised her glass again, and Prince Nan Huai clinked glasses with her and drank it all in one gulp.
He put down the cup and said, "Mother, you have to give this five-day poison to Lady Chen quickly. She is very smart, so you should be especially careful when giving her the medicine. If she is wary, don't take any risks."
"Don't worry. She is no match for me." The noble concubine said confidently, "Are you sure there is an antidote for the five-day poison you gave me?"
"Of course there is. If you don't believe me, just summon Fang'er to the palace and ask her." Prince Nan Huai said firmly.
"That's not necessary. Just give me the antidote and I'll wait for the right opportunity to take action."
"Okay, my son will come to the palace and hand him over to you tomorrow," said King Nan Huai.
The next day, he brought the antidote to the palace and gave it to the noble concubine. "Mother, you must remember that you must take the antidote first and then drink the poison wine. The order cannot be mixed up, otherwise the antidote will be ineffective."
"Okay, I'll remember it." The noble concubine held the antidote in her hand, her hands were shaking a little and her face looked unnatural.
"Mother, what's wrong with you?" King Nan Huai noticed that something was wrong with her and asked.
The noble concubine sniffed and said, "I don't know what happened. I felt dizzy when I woke up today. I'll have to ask the imperial physician to come and take a look later."
"Are you cold? Your son will not be by your side in the future, so you must take care of yourself."
The noble concubine looked at him and sighed softly, "I have a miserable life. I gave birth to two sons, but it's as if I had no sons at all."
"Don't talk nonsense, mother. My son is only away temporarily and will come back eventually."
"Yes," the noble concubine looked at him, "you will come back."
"My son will leave the capital tomorrow, mother, please take good care of yourself." Prince Nan Huai stood up, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed three times. "Mother, your health is not good, and your son cannot accompany you. Your son feels guilty."
The noble concubine sat upright on the chair and calmly accepted his three kowtows before reaching out to pull him up. "I always feel that you can't leave this time."
"Why does my mother feel this way?" Prince Nan Huai was secretly surprised, but his face remained calm.
"I don't know why, but I just have this intuition that you can't leave this time." The noble concubine smiled, and her smile was very cold.
Nan Huai Wang looked at her and felt uneasy. Could she know something? Fang Er would not say anything nonsense.
However, for the sake of caution, when he left Ci'an Palace, he still asked the palace guards, "Did Sun Fang'er enter the palace last night and today?"
"Your Highness, I have never seen him." said the palace guard.
King Nan Huai was relieved then. Sun Fang'er had not entered the palace, and her mother had not left the palace. The two of them had never met each other. He thought the matter was a sure thing.
Before leaving the palace the next day, he came to pay his respects to the noble concubine.
Coincidentally, Lady Chen also arrived early in the morning.
"Lady Chen is here too?" Prince Nan Huai smiled.
"I heard that the prince was leaving the capital, and I was afraid that your concubine would be sad, so I came here to accompany you."
"Your Excellency is thoughtful." said Prince Nan Huai.
"Your Highness is too polite. The journey to the South is long. Please take care on your journey, Your Highness."
"It's a long journey, but I've gotten used to it. I feel like I'm traveling when I go back and forth."
Chen Taijun chuckled, "Your Majesty, this mentality is rare and precious. I admire it."
She stood up and said, "I'll leave first, so as not to disturb the noble concubine and the prince and his mother from saying goodbye."
Having said that, he walked out.
(End of this chapter)