Chapter 2009
The Prodigal Son 3
Lu Zhiyuan was very tough; he went on a hunger strike when he said he would.
But having been pampered since childhood, he couldn't stand the hunger after only two days.
Lady Chengguo had someone hold down Lu Zhiyuan's hands and feet and force-feed him rice gruel.
Rice porridge can only ensure that Lu Zhiyuan won't starve to death, but it can't guarantee anything else.
In just half a month, Lu Zhiyuan lost more than ten pounds and lay weakly on the bed, too weak to escape from the Duke's mansion to save his beloved.
Lady Chengguo entered the room and brought Lu Zhiyuan a message: his beloved Wen Xinyi's reputation was ruined because of their secret affair, and no one was willing to marry her. In the end, the Wen family had no choice but to find a merchant to marry Wen Xinyi as their second wife.
Lu Zhiyuan was greatly shocked and no longer had the will to fight against the Duchess of Cheng. He obediently ate his food and became the Duchess of Cheng's good son again.
Lady Chengguo began to look for a wife for her son.
Although the affair between Lu Zhiyuan and Wen Xinyi became common knowledge throughout the city, it had a much smaller impact on Lu Zhiyuan than on Wen Xinyi.
This world is very tolerant of men.
Therefore, although Lu Zhiyuan has some influence in the marriage market, it is not significant.
There were still quite a few noble ladies willing to marry Lu Zhiyuan.
Sure enough, as soon as people heard that the Duchess of Cheng was choosing a daughter-in-law, some families with daughters began to contact her.
Lady Liu also came into contact with the Duchess of Cheng, but it wasn't Lady Liu who took the initiative; rather, it was the Duchess of Cheng who took the initiative to contact Lady Liu.
Although the Liu family was only a middle-class family, they had a virtuous concubine who was favored in the palace, two outstanding and promising older brothers, and her maternal family was well-connected... These were Liu Yu'er's advantages.
However, she was not the best choice for the Duchess of Cheng, but only one of the backup options.
Madam Liu told Liu Yu'er about this matter, but did not analyze the possibility of Liu Yu'er marrying Lu Zhiyuan.
Madam Liu: "Don't have too high hopes. You are not the daughter-in-law that the Duchess of Chengguo favors the most."
Madam Liu knew her youngest daughter's feelings; she had a good impression of Lu Zhiyuan.
Liu Yuer: "I don't want to be her daughter-in-law."
Liu Yuer did have feelings for Lu Zhiyuan back then.
Lu Zhiyuan is outstanding among all the young gentlemen. He is good-looking, academically gifted, and has a promising future. What young girl in love wouldn't like him?!
But upon learning that the man already had someone he liked, Liu Yu'er withdrew her feelings.
She hoped that her husband would have her in his heart, not someone else.
Moreover, the fierceness of the Duchess of Cheng also frightened Liu Yu'er.
Lady Liu was relieved and put the matter of the Duchess of Cheng choosing a daughter-in-law out of her mind.
Her biggest concern right now is her eldest daughter.
Consort Xian is pregnant!
The current emperor is over forty years old, but has no son.
He had several sons when he was young, but none of them grew up and all died before the age of three. Only his three daughters grew up to adulthood.
After the age of thirty-five, no one in the harem became pregnant again.
The court officials urged the emperor to adopt a son, but the emperor was unwilling to pass his throne to an unrelated person; he still wanted a biological son.
Over the past ten years, the emperor has favored many women, but none of them have become pregnant.
Just when the emperor was in despair and about to comply with the court officials' demands to adopt a member of the imperial clan, a eunuch came excitedly to deliver the news: "Your Majesty, Consort Xian is pregnant!"
The emperor was taken aback at first, then overjoyed, for he was pregnant again!
I hope it's a son!
The emperor immediately expelled his courtiers from the palace.
Adoption? We'll talk about that after the child is born.
If it's a girl, then she should be adopted.
If it was a son, he would immediately appoint that child as the crown prince.
The emperor happily went to visit Consort Xian, unaware that the empress, upon hearing the news, had smashed all the ornaments in her palace. The empress was a wife arranged for the emperor by the empress dowager, and was not favored by the emperor.
The empress gave birth to a princess, but she almost lost her life because of a scheme during childbirth.
Although she survived, she was unable to have children again.
The empress was already extreme in nature, and this incident caused her to turn completely wicked.
Empress: I have no son, and you should not expect to have one either.
The Empress was even more ruthless than Yixiu, the captain of the abortion squad.
Yixiu only performed abortions on the concubines; she did not touch the princes born from their pregnancies.
But the empress didn't even spare children. Why did the emperor's sons die young?
It was naturally the Empress's doing. She later gave every concubine a drug to prevent pregnancy, which is why there were no babies crying in the palace for ten years.
When Liu Tong accompanied Madam Liu and Liu Yu'er to visit Consort Xian last time, she discovered Consort Xian's health problems.
Liu Tong secretly gave Consort Xian a pill to counteract the effects of the infertility drug and to make Consort Xian's body stronger.
Liu Tong also fed her brother-in-law, the emperor, a pill.
The emperor's brother-in-law is in very poor health and doesn't have many years left to live.
But after Liu Dong took one pill, his body recovered considerably, and he had at least another ten years to live.
When the body is healthy, the quality of sperm will naturally be better, which will naturally enable a woman to get pregnant.
However, all the other women in the palace had been sterilized by the Empress, so naturally only Consort Xian was able to conceive.
Liu Tong, along with Madam Liu and Liu Yu'er, went to the inner palace to visit Consort Xian, and secretly fed her another pill to prevent miscarriage.
Just then, someone from the Imperial Household Department delivered something to Consort Xian.
Liu Dong's lips twitched slightly when he saw the items mixed with other materials.
He only knew that his sister had been infected, but he didn't know who was responsible.
After all, it was normal for concubines in the palace to fight each other, so he couldn't be bothered to investigate.
But now, for the safety of his sister and future nephew, he has no choice but to find out who is behind this.
With Liu Dong's light-footed skills, he moved freely in and out of the palace. Before long, he uncovered the mastermind behind it all, the Empress, and her connections within the palace.
Liu Dong placed the evidence on the emperor's desk.
The emperor was furious when he saw the evidence.
He never liked the Empress, but after decades of living together, he developed a sense of kinship and respect for her.
But all of that vanished after he saw that the Empress had actually harmed so many of his children.
In order to harm his unborn child, the emperor decided to eliminate the empress as a potential threat.
The emperor eliminated all of the empress's people and presented evidence at court that the empress had plotted to harm the imperial heir, declaring his intention to depose her.
The ministers who were on the Empress's side did not dare to step forward to plead for her, because the evidence was simply too overwhelming.
The ministers were all horrified by the empress's ruthlessness; just because she couldn't produce a son, she wanted the emperor to have no heir.
Just imagine, if they had a wife like that...
All the ministers shuddered.
The court officials immediately felt sympathy for the emperor and no longer opposed his decision to depose the empress.
The emperor deposed the empress, reduced her to a commoner, and banished her to the cold palace.
Unable to bear her fate, the Empress set fire to the Cold Palace.
The emperor was furious and did not allow the empress to be buried in the royal garden. Instead, he found a place and gave her a hasty burial.
Turning his head, the emperor then bestowed upon the virtuous concubine the title of Imperial Noble Consort. (End of Chapter)