Xu Zifan lowered his eyes, and no one could tell what his attitude was. He said without any expression of joy or anger, "I have found a divine physician and sent him to the imperial palace to treat the Empress Dowager. It was my oversight to trespass on the imperial palace. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
The emperor wanted to reprimand him further, but since Xu Zifan had already pleaded guilty, he couldn't press the matter any longer. However, sitting on the dragon throne and watching Xu Zifan bow his head in submission filled him with immense satisfaction. He casually waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Considering this is your first offense, I will not pursue the matter this time. But if there is a next time, I will punish you severely!"
"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty." Xu Zifan responded indifferently, returned to his seat, and kept his eyes downcast, revealing no emotion.
The emperor glanced at Xu Zifan, then looked at the assembled officials. Some inadvertently revealed expressions of surprise, indicating their shock at the Regent's submission. The emperor slightly curled the corners of his lips. With the Regent bowing his head, everyone else could only follow suit, all having to obey him. He had done the right thing by using the Regent as a scapegoat to establish his authority!
After several tests, he was certain that Xu Zifan was loyal to the emperor and patriotic. As long as he was emperor, Xu Zifan would not harm him. Therefore, he had become bolder. This reprimand was another test, and seeing Xu Zifan's compromise only confirmed his suspicions. It seemed that as long as he became assertive, even the regent would have no choice but to submit!
The emperor's open attack caught everyone off guard. Only Xu Zifan deliberately cooperated, making the emperor appear even more arrogant and conceited—something he did every day during this period. The emperor was not yet sixteen years old and lacked composure. His recent string of victories had made him complacent, and with no one to advise him, he probably didn't even realize that many of his actions were inappropriate.
At least a third of the court officials wanted Xu Zifan to step down, fearing that the regent would seize power and turn the emperor into a puppet. However, in the past few months, the regent had been patient and showed no intention of taking control of the court. On the contrary, the emperor had become increasingly foolish and tyrannical since his wedding, as if he was finally basking in the glory of ruling, or as if he had been suppressing his anger for six years and was now finally exploding.
The emperor's decisions were absolute. Xu Zifan objected several times, only to be publicly reprimanded each time, ultimately ending with Xu Zifan giving in. Others were even more helpless. One elderly official, kneeling to remonstrate, fainted from the emotional turmoil. The emperor promptly sent him home, stripping him of his official rank for "disrespect before the emperor!"
His wrong decisions caused a lot of trouble for the ministers. Although there was no major chaos and no impact on people's livelihood or the army, their originally good jobs were all turned upside down. Everyone was extremely busy, but they still had to do what the emperor ordered, and often they were doing useless work.
This was also intentional on Xu Zifan's part. The emperor's shoulder injury hadn't fully healed, and he couldn't use his right hand, so all the memorials were still sent directly to the Prince's residence. Xu Zifan would filter them before showing them to the emperor, so what the emperor perceived as important court affairs were only what Xu Zifan had shown him. After all, he only wanted the emperor to appear incompetent, not to affect the country or the realm, keeping the matter within the ministers' purview. This kept the ministers busy, making it easier for him to conduct his own business behind the scenes.
In short, after Xu Zifan withdrew from politics, the officials felt very uneasy. Their expectations for the emperor to rule personally plummeted, and they even hoped that the regent could still keep the emperor in check as before. At least then the country was stable and no trouble would arise. But how could that be possible? As the emperor grew older, the regent would inevitably have to step down. Now, the officials are all worried, wondering if the emperor can hold onto the country once the regent completely steps down.
Another month has passed. With Xu Zifan's tireless cooperation, the emperor has become quite arrogant and unwilling to listen to any dissenting opinions. He is stubborn and even thinks that Xu Zifan is a fool for actually wholeheartedly assisting him for the sake of that hypocritical empress dowager.
Xu Zifan's plan was more than half successful; not a single official in the court had any complaints about the emperor. However, the emperor was the emperor, and the ministers were the ministers. They didn't want to be dismissed like the censors, so they could only watch as the emperor became more and more arrogant, rapidly heading down the path of a tyrannical and incompetent ruler.
At this time, Xu Zifan received several messages. One was from Xiao Shunzi, saying that Fu Qiuwen was pregnant and had kept it a secret from the Emperor. However, Furong had planted a spy by Fu Qiuwen's side and already knew about it, and was planning to deal with Fu Qiuwen.
When the Empress Dowager was sent to the temporary palace, the Emperor, impatient to see Fu Qiuwen, placed her under house arrest in the Empress's palace. However, it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, and a banquet was held in the palace. As the Empress, Fu Qiuwen couldn't possibly be absent, so the Emperor released her. On that very day, Fu Qiuwen managed to get the Emperor drunk and consummate their marriage. Coincidentally, she became pregnant and is now almost two months along.
The Emperor was furious and ashamed of Fu Qiuwen's coercion, and hated her to the core. It was unclear whether he would still like the child. Xu Zifan, knowing Furong's methods, felt this matter didn't need his intervention and left it alone. Another piece of news came from the divine physician, saying that the Empress Dowager's health had been restored. She was now full of energy, able to curse and hit people as she pleased; no one would suspect she was unwell.
The divine physician also delivered a letter to Xu Zifan on behalf of the Empress Dowager; it was written to him personally by the Empress Dowager.
Xu Zifan opened the letter and scoffed inwardly. The Empress Dowager's letter was completely devoid of her previous feigned distance; the language was as intimate as if it were written to her husband. She explicitly stated her hope that they could grow old together and spend the rest of their lives together. She also said she wanted to go on a southern tour with him, choose a beautiful place to build a villa, and go there to live in seclusion when they grew old, living a life of blissful companionship.
For the past month, the Empress Dowager had been trying to see him, but Xu Zifan had refused each time, citing the Emperor's prohibition. It seems the Empress Dowager had run out of options, which is why she wrote these words in the letter. She was eager to win Xu Zifan over, fearing that if she delayed any longer, he would become increasingly obedient.
The Emperor's words.
Xu Zifan stroked his chin, feeling that the timing of the Empress Dowager's recovery was perfect. Returning to the palace now would be ideal for protecting her isolated and helpless niece, the Empress. If the Emperor and Furong clashed with the Empress Dowager and Empress, they would still have no chance to resolve their past misunderstandings, and an even greater conflict would erupt. As for the pregnancy, the Emperor probably wouldn't be too saddened by losing Fu Qiuwen's unborn child, but what about losing the child of his beloved? Wouldn't he feel excruciating pain?
Xu Zifan personally concocted a fake pregnancy pill. Its effect was to make a woman appear pregnant, even altering her pulse to resemble a pregnancy pulse. Then, if the woman took a calming soup, the effects of the pill would counteract, causing her to show signs of miscarriage. Xu Zifan gave the fake pregnancy pill to Xiao Shunzi, instructing him to find a way to deliver it to Furong.
Qi Hong now enjoys considerable favor with Fu Rong. It was she who delivered the fake pregnancy pill; she found a very good excuse. Fu Rong conducted a simple investigation and found nothing unusual. Xiao Shunzi had already made all the arrangements. This delighted Fu Rong and allowed her to further refine her plan.
That very night, Furong began vomiting uncontrollably in front of the Emperor. The Emperor immediately summoned the imperial physician, who diagnosed her as pregnant. The Emperor immediately embraced Furong and laughed heartily, "I'm going to have a son! Furong, our son!"
Furong snapped out of her surprise and looked at him tenderly, saying, "We've finally welcomed him, Your Majesty. Once he's born, you must cherish him and teach him well."
"Of course, once he is born, I will make him the Crown Prince, second only to the Emperor, and we will raise him together." The Emperor was overjoyed and personally helped Furong sit down, his eyes full of love.
The imperial physicians and the palace servants around them all bowed their heads. The Empress was still alive, and the Imperial Noble Consort had just become pregnant, yet the Emperor said he would make her son the Crown Prince. The Imperial Noble Consort's favor was truly unmatched, and she didn't even refuse, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. She really didn't take the Empress seriously.
The Emperor was even more pleased to see that Furong hadn't refuted him or mentioned the disliked Empress. He hated honest advice being hard to swallow. He wasn't stupid; surely he understood reason. Did he need others to offer honest advice? If those ministers were as sensible and perceptive as Furong, he wouldn't have insisted on his own opinions and refused to change his decisions. But those ministers always looked at him with exasperation, speaking to him as if he, the Emperor, knew nothing and that all his decisions were wrong.
And what was the result? He gave them a single word, and they had to obey obediently. There wasn't any chaos in the court. Who said he wasn't doing a good job ruling? In his view, their constant attempts to find fault with him were simply attempts to highlight their own importance and gain his favor. Like Xu Zifan before, who always liked to argue with him. Now even Xu Zifan agrees with his decisions, which proves his decisions are sound. Who are the others then?
The emperor had become accustomed to the regent's control over the overall situation. Since the regent did not object, he naturally dared to proceed boldly, because he subconsciously felt that anything the regent did not object to was fine. However, he himself did not realize this trust and reliance. This can be considered as Xu Zifan unknowingly setting him up by exploiting his psychological loopholes.
The news of the Imperial Noble Consort's pregnancy spread throughout the entire palace in the blink of an eye. The Emperor bestowed a year's worth of monthly allowances upon everyone and ordered everyone to pray for the Imperial Noble Consort and the little prince, truly elevating them to the highest status.
Fu Qiuwen waited in her palace for her meal, but all she received was plain porridge and side dishes. Enraged, she demanded an explanation. The palace maid who brought the food, tears streaming down her face, said, "Your Majesty, the imperial kitchen staff are celebrating. They said they didn't have time to cook, so this was already prepared there. They just told me to bring it..."
"Outrageous! Who gave them the audacity? What are they celebrating?"
"To celebrate...to celebrate the Imperial Noble Consort's pregnancy..."
"What?" Fu Qiuwen sat up abruptly, her eyes widening in disbelief. Her right hand instinctively went to her abdomen. "She's pregnant? How could she be pregnant? Didn't the imperial physician say that her body was not conducive to pregnancy? Did you ask her carefully? Is it really that slut who's pregnant?"
"Your Majesty, there's no mistake. Everyone in the palace has received an extra year's salary. It was a gift from the Emperor, who instructed the palace maids to pray for the Imperial Noble Consort and the young prince." The maid replied timidly, not daring to hide anything, and her face turned pale after she finished speaking.
The next moment, all the congee and side dishes were thrown at the palace maid. Fu Qiuwen, enraged, smashed everything in her path, yelling, "This is outrageous! You bitch! You'll die a horrible death!"