sbdcsierra Chapter 421 I Will Not Agree
Chapter 421 I Will Not Agree
Having found a way out, the Duke of Zuo immediately accepted, nodded in agreement, and went to find the Wise King.
The Prince Xian did agree to see him, but he remained indifferent, and his tone was still sarcastic: "What brings you, Duke, to visit this disgraced prince?"
Suppressing his anger, the Duke of Zuo said, "Seeing that Your Highness is doing well, I am relieved. Your Highness, we are connected by blood and cannot be separated. You know that I have a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and I did not really mean to harm you."
The Prince Xian raised an eyebrow: "Your Excellency, that's too serious. I dare not accept such praise. Now that my father is about to have a new heir, I might not even be able to save my own life. Why would Your Excellency want to try to control me again?"
"You..." The Duke of Zuo choked on his words, but forced himself to swallow them back. "Your Highness, I am your uncle!"
The wise prince smiled faintly, not arguing with him, and simply asked, "What business does the Duke have with me?"
The Duke of Zuo said, “Your Highness, we are family. Lord Hu is a man who can please everyone, and his daughter is just like him. You should not dote on her too much.”
The wise prince's face darkened: "Uncle is now even controlling my own backyard. Does that mean I need to let you approve of whomever I want to favor?"
The Duke of Zuo said, "Your Highness knows that's not what I meant! But the path Your Highness desires is truly difficult. Rather than trusting someone who might betray Your Highness, you should look to your uncle. I would never harm you."
"Really? Then, Uncle, if you're willing to help me, what do you want me to do?"
Duke Zuo was overjoyed and quickly said, "You don't need to do anything. However, once Your Highness succeeds, the position of Empress can only belong to a daughter of the Zuo family."
"You want Zuo He to be my legal wife?"
Duke Zuo chuckled: "It doesn't necessarily have to be Zuo He, but it must be a daughter of the Zuo family. Your uncle has another young daughter who is already fourteen and will be of marriageable age next year, at which point she can be sent to the Prince Xian's residence."
"I disagree," the wise king refused without hesitation.
Duke Zuo was taken aback by the straightforward answer and was momentarily stunned, but more than that, he was furious: "What did you say?"
The wise king said, "I say, I disagree!"
"Aren't you...aren't you afraid of me...?"
The wise prince stood up and walked to him, his gaze provocative and sharp: "What can your uncle do? Uncle, don't forget, your surname is Zuo, and you are my mother's own brother. We share the same fate, and we share the same fate. You have no choice but to stand behind me and support me."
"How can you be so shameless?" Duke Zuo was shocked.
"Shameless?" The wise prince spread his hands. "No, I just don't want to be threatened like my father. Uncle, if you hadn't formed cliques and pressured my father, do you think my mother would be alive today?"
"What did you say?"
The wise king did not answer him, but continued speaking.
"In fact, my uncle knows better than anyone that verbal promises are useless. Didn't Father Emperor make the same promise to my uncle and grandfather back then? He promised my mother a high position and me the position of crown prince."
"It's a pity that my maternal grandfather and uncle's pressure made my father look down on my mother and me. My mother wasn't killed by you, but she died because of your power struggles! As for me, how much my father wanted to give up on me back then, how did I survive for the past twenty years?"
Duke Zuo staggered backward and remained silent for a long time.
The wise prince continued, "Father is ruthless and heartless, but am I not much better than him? I have no intention of deceiving my uncle. I will tell you now that I cannot and do not intend to fulfill your requests! Whether it is Zuo He or any of the other women in the Zuo family, even if they enter the palace, I will never give them high positions, much less... let them bear my children!"
Duke Zuo was shocked. He had no idea that the Wise King was so ruthless towards the Zuo family. At the same time, he realized that the Wise King could not preserve the Zuo family's wealth and glory after ascending the throne.
He returned to his residence, muttering to himself, "Our Zuo family... has truly come to an end..."
Several of the Duke of Zuo's sons came forward and asked him what he meant, but he just shook his head, as if all his energy had been drained.
After that, the Duke of Zuo claimed to be ill and needed to recuperate. Since the Zuo family no longer held official positions in the court and only held a title, they simply followed the example of Si Xingzhi and moved the whole family to live on the estate.
When Si Muyan, who lived on the estate, learned that her younger sister was pregnant, she was stunned for a moment and asked the servant who came to deliver the message.
"Consort Wan? She's pregnant?"
The servant smiled and said, "Yes, Miss, and Miss... By the way, Miss, Miss, is now a princess. However, the princess asked me to tell Miss that His Majesty will surely bestow honors upon Miss once Consort Wan gives birth to a son."
Si Muyan didn't care about the rewards or anything else. She knew her younger sister was pregnant, and while she was happy about it, she was also worried.
When Lai Qianniang received the news, she was overjoyed and quickly had the head of the estate pack things up, saying she wanted to send them to her younger sister.
“A pregnant woman’s tastes change. The young lady has prepared so many vegetables, they are so fresh, tender and plump, much better than what we buy in the palace. We should prepare more for the Imperial Concubine. She likes to eat them, and if she eats more, the baby will grow well.”
She kept talking, which made people laugh.
Turning around, she saw Si Muyan staring blankly, and Lai Qianniang looked puzzled.
"Young Miss, the Imperial Concubine is pregnant. Aren't you happy, Young Miss?"
"I'm happy, but I'm worried."
Lai Qianniang thought that Si Muyan was worried about things in the palace, so she comforted her: "Every time the second young lady comes, she says that the Imperial Concubine is very well. The emperor dotes on the Imperial Concubine and will definitely take good care of her. The eldest young lady doesn't need to worry."
Si Muyan shook her head: "I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about... His Majesty is middle-aged. Even if he can get pregnant, the quality of the pregnancy might not be good. My sister is pregnant, and I'm afraid she will have a hard time."
Lai Qianniang didn't quite understand these things: "What does this have to do with the Emperor?"
Si Muyan wanted to say that sperm quality directly affects a woman's condition during pregnancy and the quality of the fetus, but knowing that Si Muyan didn't understand, she didn't explain much and only said...
"Prepare more vegetables. Lotus root is not in season now, but the tips are crisp and delicious. Also, get some water chestnuts. These are probably not available in the palace, so I will bring them with me."
Lai Qian Niang asked, "Does the young lady wish to enter the palace?"
Si Muyan smiled and said, "My sister is pregnant, so I'll take Xiaoxia to see her. Our Xiaoxia is almost four years old now, and she hasn't seen her aunt in a long time, has she?"
Xia'er is healthy and lively, very sturdy, with big, bright eyes. She nodded and said, "I miss my aunt."
"Alright, Aunt will take you to see your aunt." Si Muyan said with a beaming smile, and continued to instruct, "By the way, my little sister likes hibiscus flowers. Fearing that there weren't any in the palace, I dug up the few cuttings I had propagated, soil and all, and transported them to the palace to plant. My little sister will be happy to see them."