Chapter 386
CHAPTER 386 (1): SEVERANCE LETTER
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Yuchi Mo felt if there was a frosty gaze killing him by the death of a thousand cuts . He didn’t dare to raise his head, and simply bowed . “Prince Hao, the Empress Dowager has suddenly vanished from the Compassionate Peace Palace . ”
Suddenly going missing in broad daylight . . . Su Xi-er was pensive for a moment before she looked at Pei Qianhao, only to see his indifferent expression . It was as if he had long seen this coming .
“Keep this matter under wraps . This Prince will make a trip to the Compassionate Peace Palace later . ” He waved his hand for Yuchi Mo to leave .
Yuchi Mo was taken aback . Does Prince Hao plan to proceed with the wedding with the Empress Dowager missing? We can conceal this matter for the time being, but there’s no way that we can keep it a secret for long . Out priority should be to seek out the Empress Dowager .
“Why are you still not leaving? Do you need this Prince to personally see you off?” Pei Qianhao’s cold voice sounded .
Looking at Pei Qianhao’s dark expression, Yuchi Mo felt his heart tremble for a moment . It’s best not to accept this ‘polite gesture’ . He immediately bowed and saw himself out .
Pei Qianhao turned towards Su Xi-er, taking her hand in his own as they departed . “Come to the Compassionate Peace Palace with this Prince . ” .
The sight of the two of them walking away hand-in-hand left Wu Ling stunned . Since Prince Hao is by Su Xi-er’s side, he won’t need me to continue following her . Do I stay here and look after Tan Ge instead?
Upon realising that he would once again be taking care of a frail woman, Wu Ling felt a headache coming on . He pondered for a moment . We still don’t know whether Tan Ge is good or bad . I can monitor her under the pretence of looking after her .
~~~
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The row of palace maids and eunuchs bowed with their heads lowered, not even daring to breathe . Wu Ling came with Su Xi-er this morning, and now she is walking side-by-side with Prince Hao while holding his hand .
Beimin and Nanzhao were similar in terms of their misogynistic society . Although Beimin was a step down, a man’s status was still much greater than a woman’s . To say nothing of Prince Hao, even the women of commoner families couldn’t walk shoulder to shoulder with their husbands .
Soon, some palace maids began to envy Su Xi-er, while others remembered He Xiangyu . He Xiangyu was favoured back then, even going as far as to strut around and flaunt how impressive she was . She is now dead, but the one she left behind scrubbing chamber pots is about to ascend to the heavens like a phoenix!
Su Xi-er briefly swept her gaze across the palace maids before walking off together with Pei Qianhao .
As the pair rounded the corner, Situ Li happened to catch sight of their retreating figures .
A palace maid was planning to get up when she suddenly caught sight of Situ Li, thus prompting her to bow again . “This servant pays her respects to the Third Imperial Prince . ”
Situ Li raised his hand . “You may rise . ” He then continued walking forward while deep in thought .
He had come from Consort Dowager Guo’s palace, where he had heard that the Empress Dowager was missing, and was currently heading towards the Compassionate Peace Palace himself .
Situ Lin was currently standing in the main hall of the Compassionate Peace Palace, facing a trembling palace maid who was kneeling on the ground with a solemn expression . The imposing demeanour of an emperor was displayed in full as he reprimanded her . “You can’t even guard over the Empress Dowager well! What use does this Emperor have for you? Where did you last see the Empress Dowager?”
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The palace maid had never witnessed the Emperor’s fury, and her voice quivered . “The Empress Dowager instructed this servant to brew some chrysanthemum tea to alleviate her internal heat, but when this servant came back, the Empress Dowager was already gone . I couldn’t find her no matter how I searched . ”
Situ Lin furrowed his brows . Where could the Empress Dowager have gone? Could she have been abducted by someone? Why is Imperial Uncle not here yet?
CHAPTER 386 (2): SEVERANCE LETTER
The cold voice of a man sounded . “This matter has nothing to do with the palace maid . Withdraw . ”
After being exonerated, the palace maid immediately left the main hall .
Situ Lin glanced at Su Xi-er . Why did Imperial Uncle bring Imperial Aunt when the Empress Dowager is missing?
“Your Majesty, in this Prince’s opinion, the Empress Dowager left willingly . There is almost nobody in this world who can successfully abduct the Empress Dowager . ”
Situ Lin was shocked . “Why would she willingly leave? She’s the Empress Dowager!”
“Since the Empress Dowager has her own ideas, this Prince shall go along with her wishes . ” He turned to Su Xi-er . “You know how to imitate handwriting?”
Su Xi-er didn’t understand how he knew, but nodded anyway . Indeed, even an expert will have a hard time distinguishing my imitation from the original .
“You should be able to see the Empress Dowager’s handwriting from those . ” Pei Qianhao pointed at scrolls of words hung in the main hall . “Write a severance letter in her stead . ”
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Situ Lin didn’t understand what Pei Qianhao was planning . Why is he having Imperial Aunt imitate the Empress Dowager’s handwriting and write a severance letter instead of searching for her?
Su Xi-er contemplated for a moment before understanding Pei Qianhao’s intention, smiling at him . With his usual overbearing disposition, I didn’t expect for him to also have a knack for playing small tricks .
“There’s no problem . Bring the writing materials . ”
Situ Lin forgot everything about displaying the deportment of an emperor . “Ah? Imperial Aunt, what severance letter are you writing?”
“Your Majesty, secretly get some writing materials for your Imperial Aunt . ” Pei Qianhao said in his deep voice .
“Imperial Uncle, please wait just a minute!” Situ Lin immediately walked out of the Compassionate Peace Palace to personally fetch the supplies .
With only herself and Pei Qianhao left in the main hall, Su Xi-er told him, “Not only should we write a severance letter today, we should also ask His Majesty to write a letter of gratitude . ”
“Letter of gratitude?” Pei Qianhao didn’t understand Su Xi-er’s idea .
“The wedding invitations have already been sent to the monarchs of each country . Since the scale of the wedding is on par with that of an emperor’s, we should have His Majesty write a letter of gratitude thanking his Imperial Uncle for acting like his father . In that case, nobody will be able to spread malicious rumours about you trying to take the throne . ”
Pei Qianhao’s status is that of an official working for His Majesty, but once the letter is made public, his status will be akin to that of a ‘father’ instead of purely an official . If Situ Lin himself says that the wedding arrangements are to thank his Imperial Uncle, the court officials wouldn’t dare to object, regardless of how the wedding is carried out .
Rules need to be followed, but emotions can make what are simply inanimate words come alive .
Pei Qianhao embraced her . “That is very clever of you, but…” His arrogant aura exuded from him as he declared in an unyielding manner, “There’s no need for such a thing . So what if the court officials object? Does this Prince have to care about them when it comes to my own wedding? This Prince doesn’t deign to do so . ”
Su Xi-er experienced his overbearing character and confidence again . He doesn’t care about others objecting to his actions when it’s something he wants to do .
“Pei Qianhao, you are really unbridled . ” She raised his head to look at him, enunciating her words .
He laughed . “It’s a once-in-lifetime marriage . How can this Prince not be more unbridled?”
Su Xi-er almost felt her breathing hitch . Once-in-lifetime marriage . His arrogant words almost caused her tears to fall .
Only one person in this lifetime . There’s only one wedding, of course he has to be more unbridled!
In the end, Su Xi-er cast a sidelong glance at him . “You said that you didn’t know how to say sweet words in the past, but look at you now; it’s as if your mouth has been coated with honey . ”
At this moment, they heard a light cough . There was a mischievous look in Situ Lin’s eyes when they turned around to look at him . “Imperial Uncle, Imperial Aunt, you should pay more attention . I am still a child . ”
Situ Lin had brought the writing materials with him, and was now laying them on the table . “Imperial Aunt, you can write now . I have already instructed the imperial guards outside to stop anyone trying to enter the Compassionate Peace Palace . ”