The Empress Dowager suddenly announced that Princess Consort Zhen had been cleared of any suspicion of plotting against the Emperor. The Moon Viewing Pavilion was unsealed.
Immediately after, the Empress Dowager began to frequently interfere in court politics.
Some officials in the court submitted memorials to impeach her, arguing that the inner palace should not meddle in state affairs and that not even the Empress Dowager could arbitrarily interfere in politics.
However, before the Empress Dowager could even respond, the old ministers of the Central Secretariat stepped forward one after another to speak in her defense.
They stated that as the Emperor’s birth mother, with the Emperor unconscious and Prince Wu Zhang still young, it was difficult to make certain decisions. Therefore, there was nothing wrong with allowing the Empress Dowager to participate in governance.
That very night, those same old ministers were taken away by the Night Owl Guard on fabricated charges.
Hua Qingqing had anticipated that the Night Owl Guard would do this. She immediately had someone take the Empress Dowager’s edict to the guard station and forcibly rescued the old ministers.
Things having escalated to this point, the faction of old ministers led by the Empress Dowager and the faction of new elites led by Prince Wu Zhang had completely dropped the facade.
The two sides clashed relentlessly in the imperial court.
With the Empress Dowager watching over his shoulder, Prince Wu Zhang could no longer act as freely as before.
Every memorial that passed through his hands had to be reviewed by the Empress Dowager. Only after she confirmed there were no issues could it be sent to the Three Departments and Six Ministries.
If the Empress Dowager was dissatisfied, the memorial would be sent back to be reviewed again.
The Empress Dowager held the status of an elder, naturally giving her an upper hand over Prince Wu Zhang. No matter how fiercely the two factions fought, he always had to maintain a respectful and submissive posture in her presence.
Li Ying was run off his feet every day with court matters, leaving him mentally and physically exhausted. But every night, he would still force himself to visit Chaoyang Palace to see with his own eyes how Hua Manman was doing.
Hua Manman always looked sickly and frail. She appeared very unwell, but she refused to take any medicine and wouldn’t even let the Imperial Physician near her.
She was dead set on prioritizing the baby in her womb.
Seeing her like this, Li Ying couldn’t help but think of his own birth mother, Tang Bitong.
Back then, Tang Bitong had deliberately gotten close to the Emperor and schemed to have relations with him.
Afterward, the Emperor had someone send Tang Bitong a contraceptive soup.
She feigned obedience to their face, but as soon as the person left, she poured the soup out.
By the time the Emperor learned she was pregnant, her belly was already quite large.
The Emperor felt sick just thinking about how she had schemed against him. He would not allow such a treacherous woman to give birth to a child with Royal Family blood. He sent people to give her an abortion potion, intending to get rid of the child in her womb.
She had struggled and resisted with all her might. Most of the potion was spilled, with only a small amount entering her mouth.
As a result, not only was the child in her womb not aborted, but it triggered a premature birth.
And so, Li Ying was born early.
Now that his son was born, no matter how much the Emperor disliked him, he wouldn’t go so far as to have his own flesh and blood killed.
He had no choice but to hold his nose and accept it.
But for all these years, he never cared for Li Ying. Whether Li Ying was sick or injured, the Emperor paid him no mind, leaving him to his fate.
The Hua Manman of today was somewhat similar to the Tang Bitong of the past, yet not entirely the same.
Tang Bitong had been filled with hatred, which was why she had schemed so meticulously to give birth to her child.
But Hua Manman was filled with love, which was why she desperately wanted to protect her child, no matter the cost.
’They are both mothers, so why is there such a vast difference in how they feel about their children?’
Li Ying stood at the doorway, looking at Hua Manman’s swollen belly, and a faint sense of envy crept into his heart.
He envied the child that would be born from Hua Manman’s womb.
’A child born from so much love will surely be very happy.’
’That was something he could never obtain in his entire life.’
When Hua Manman noticed Li Ying’s arrival, she immediately became guarded.
Her small face was pale as she said through gritted teeth.
"I won’t take the medicine."
Li Ying walked over, lifted the hem of his robe, and sat down on the edge of the daybed. "I’m telling you to take the medicine for your own good," he said.
Hua Manman pursed her lips. "What you think is good for me isn’t necessarily what I want."
Li Ying thought about it carefully and realized her words actually made some sense.
’In his eyes, Manman’s health was far more important than her unborn child’s.’
’But to Manman, nothing was more important than the safe birth of her child.’
They valued different things, so naturally, their attitudes and responses were different.
Li Ying didn’t want to continue this cold war with her.
He decided to have a proper talk with her.
"I don’t want anything to happen to you."
His gaze was earnest and focused.
Hua Manman gave a weak smile. "Thank you for your concern. I know my own limits. As long as I can hold on, I won’t take the medicine."
Li Ying looked at her deeply. "If you can’t hold on any longer, you must tell me."
Hua Manman nodded and agreed.
The cold war between them seemed to melt away with these few words, and their relationship eased.
Li Ying suddenly brought up another matter.
"Today, the Empress Dowager said she wants to grant Prince Zhao a fiefdom. Guess why she would do that?"
Hua Manman feigned surprise. "Out of the blue? Why would she grant Prince Zhao a fiefdom?"
Li Ying stared at her, as if trying to read some sign on her face.
But even after watching her for a long time, he couldn’t see through her act.
She truly looked as if she had no idea.
Li Ying’s expression relaxed slightly.
"The Empress Dowager probably thinks that a mere fiefdom is enough to make Prince Zhao willingly work for her.
Little does she know, she’s raising a tiger that will come back to bite her.
With Prince Zhao’s temperament and methods, giving him a fiefdom is tantamount to giving him an opportunity to establish his own power base.
Sooner or later, he will do something that harms the interests of the court and the Royal Family."
Hua Manman pursed her lips, unable to resist defending Li Ji.
"That’s a bit absolute, don’t you think? You’re not Prince Zhao, how can you be so sure he’ll be detrimental to the court?"
Li Ying said, "The main reason Duke Zhen died on the battlefield back then was that he was betrayed and fell into an enemy ambush.
Another reason was the Saint’s refusal to intervene.
If the Saint had sent reinforcements in time, Duke Zhen and his one hundred thousand soldiers might not have perished.
In a sense, the Saint was an accomplice in Duke Zhen’s death.
Do you think a man as vengeful as Prince Zhao would let the Saint and the court go?
Give him a chance, and he’ll definitely turn the entire court upside down."
Hua Manman gently caressed her belly and said no more.
She knew that Li Ji harbored resentment in his heart.
’In the original novel, after Li Ji became the Regent King, he deliberately plunged the court into chaos. Wasn’t that just to vent the resentment that had built up for so many years?’
’But things were different now.’
’Li Ji had something to care about now.’
He had promised her that once everything settled down, he would take her and their child to a fiefdom to live a peaceful life.
’He wouldn’t lie to her.’