Chapter 1259

Chapter 1259 Who Would Be the Eventual Winner?

“Consort Ming went to the Emperor’s place, then the Empress’s. She didn’t see either of them but left the suit at the Empress’s place.” The guard knelt and reported.

It was tranquil in the study. Apart from Chu Liuyue and his personal eunuch Xiao Qizi, only Mr. Liu, the assistant, was there.

“You can leave now!” Chu Liuyue waved his hand, and the guard left with respect.

“Mr. Liu, what do you think?” Chu Liuyue said with a frown. This matter was different from what he had thought. It would be difficult for them to take the next step without completing this one.

His assistant Mr. Liu also frowned tightly. This was their plan at the start. However, it unexpectedly failed, which was not a good thing.

“But this suit was delivered to Consort Ming according to your instruction. There was not supposed to be any mistake. Maybe, we were exposed when you talked to Prince Xin?”

They had prepared this for a long time, and every step was well-planned.

First, the red suit was sent to Consort Ming. Then, they led Chu Liuxin to the Buddha hall. A secret guard was watching that place because someone had reported something unusual there. As for the two nuns, the master and the disciple, in the Buddha hall, it was not a problem at all. They were asked to say something ambiguous, which triggered the whole thing.

After that, no matter what bad things happened to the Empress or Prince Zhou, Consort Ming and her son would be the prime suspects. Even if any unexpected accident occurred, no one would blame Chu Liuyue.

This was an inessential scheme. They were not sure if anything sensational would happen. But Chu Liuxin would have to shoulder the responsibility if something went wrong. No one could trace up to Chu Liuyue.

“I just went to visit Consort Ming with my Fourth Brother. Consort Ming asked my Fourth Brother to go to the Buddha hall. Whatever Pushan Nun had said or done had nothing to do with me. I seldom went to the Buddha hall.” Chu Liuyue carefully recalled what had happened today. He didn’t think he had ruined the whole plan. After all, he didn’t make any mistakes.

“Then, which part was wrong?” Mr. Liu said, “This matter was not right. Considering Consort Ming’s character, how could she give Infanta Yuan’an the wedding dress she had worked so hard to get?”

“What about now?” Chu Liuyue got a headache. He reached out to press his head and asked impatiently.

“Your Highness, let’s wait for a while. Don’t act rashly. We should wait and see.” Mr. Liu felt it was better not to act rashly. Someone might have targeted Prince Yue. Or, it was just a coincidence. Anyway, he couldn’t figure out the truth at this moment.

Chu Liuyue got up irritably, walked around in circles, and complained, “Wait, wait, wait. I’ve been waiting too long but hardly benefited from it. Instead, my sick brother has the upper hand. My father is ill… How long must I wait?”

There was something he didn’t say: he couldn’t wait any longer.

The Emperor was in such a feeble condition. How could he not be tempted by such a good opportunity?

If his father passed away at this time… As his eldest son with a group of supporters, he was much superior to the reckless Chu Liuzhou. He did not care much about Chu Liuchen. When his father died, and the Empress Dowager was in poor health, Chu Liuchen’s two mighty backers could no longer protect him. At that time, how could Chu Liuchen compete with him?

Chu Liuchen appeared to have ridden on the crest of success. The Emperor greatly valued him, and the Empress Dowager in the Palace protected him. But all his advantages were very brittle. Chu Liuchen had always been in poor health for so many years and struggled between life and death. He had recovered and rebuilt his force. But no matter what, Chu Liuchen couldn’t recruit so many people and be as fully prepared as him.

Whether in terms of time or other aspects, Chu Liuyue felt he would beat Chu Liuchen.

But things ran counter to his desires. Although Chu Liuchen had been on the verge of death, he left life and death out of consideration. He had built his power early to enjoy the fun even more when he was still alive. It would be more convenient for him to mess up the affairs between him, Chu Liuyue, and Chu Liuzhou.

When Chu Liuchen established his power, Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou were still making tentative steps under the guidance of their mothers.

Who was the most influential person in the imperial court? Prince Chen, the most paranoid and gloomy, would be the final winner.

Of course, Chu Liuyue didn’t know all this. He was still complacent about his strength. In his mind, only Chu Liuzhou could be his close rival. At this time, when anything was wrong with either the Empress or Chu Liuzhou, he could stand out and become the final winner.

But now, Chu Liuxin, who was supposed to be the scapegoat, deviated from the route Chu Liuyue had designed. This change made Chu Liuyue feel very uneasy.

“Don’t worry. The most important thing is the Emperor’s health,” Mr. Liu said implicitly.

“You can leave now!” Chu Liuyue waved his hand impatiently.

Mr. Liu had wanted to say something, but now he could only stand up and leave. Standing outside, he looked back at the study door. Mr. Liu knew Prince Yue was really anxious. The Emperor suddenly fell ill, which strongly stimulated Prince Yue. Yet, Mr. Liu still felt it was better to wait for some time. At this time, they should take a wait-and-see attitude.

“Your Excellency, please!” Not far away, a young servant led the way. The road was lit by flashing lights.

Mr. Liu stepped aside and saw a person in a heavy cloak coming from the opposite side. Judging from the tall figure, Mr. Liu knew it was a man. A servant from this mansion led the way ahead, while a servant he didn’t know followed behind. Seeing this, he couldn’t help frowning. “Does my master get another assistant?”

This idea upset Mr. Liu. After the person entered the study, the door was closed. The servant leading the way was guarding the door, watching around vigilantly. It looked as if he feared that others might hear the conversation inside.

Mr. Liu stood quietly in a dark corner on one side of the pillar, waiting for the person inside to come out.

He had been waiting outside for as long as ten minutes. Only then did the person wearing the cloak come out. This person didn’t look like Wen Xichi, Third Young Master Wen that he had met.

Mr. Liu breathed a sigh of relief. If there was anyone who could put great pressure on him, it must be Third Young Master Wen. In the past, he often gave Prince Yue advice and suggestions, which drew the admiration of Mr. Liu.

However, whenever Third Young Master Wen came over, he would come open and aboveboard. He would never come here at this time and dress up like this.

“Third Young Master Wen hasn’t been here for a long time for some unknown reason.” Mr. Liu wanted to suggest Chu Liuyue invite Wen Xichi over and discuss this issue with him.

Mr. Liu was arrogant because of his ability. But even so, he had to admit Wen Xichi had outstanding talent.

“But who is this person? Why hasn’t my master mentioned him to me? Does he think I’m of no great use?” Mr. Liu smacked his lips and felt very bad. Because Mr. Liu always played safe and asked Prince Yue to wait, Prince Yue was displeased. However, what else could they do except for waiting patiently?

“Wait? How long must we wait?” Like Chu Liuyue, Chu Liuzhou was also very annoyed. When receiving the red wedding suit from the Palace, Chu Liuzhou lost his composure and threw the red clothes onto the ground. “What did Consort Ming mean? Why would she send this red wedding suit? Did she think Infanta Yuan’an had nothing to wear?”

His mother had been locked up for so long, but there was no news about her. Chu Liuzhou felt he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“My father has fallen ill all of a sudden. My mother has been in charge of the affairs in the imperial harem, but no one has ever asked her to handle any matters. Instead, such a set of clothes is sent to him. Who asked Consort Ming to send the clothes? What did my mother mean? Consort Ming sent the gift to her place, so she simply passed it on to me?”

“Your highness, my master told you to take it easy. She said the suit was not bad.” The Nanny from the Palace who delivered the clothes for the Empress said with a smile.

“Seriously? Is Infanta Yuan’an short of clothes? A wedding suit? It looks strange.” Chu Liuzhou went furious. Because of Infanta Yuan’an, he was full of anger. He was annoyed at the thought of the disgraceful thing she had done.

He had thought Infanta Yuan’an was good, but now he didn’t. Except for her status, Infanta Yuan’an couldn’t compare with anyone else.

Prime Minister Zhang’s daughter was much more intelligent and valuable than her.

“Your highness, the Empress wanted you to send the wedding dress to the Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion. If anything goes wrong, they will deal with it. You only need to send the suit there, and the other things will have nothing to do with you.” The Nanny from the Palace hinted.

Chu Liuzhou was silent for a moment and nodded. “When will my mother come out?”

He didn’t care about the wedding dress or other things like what clothes or jewelry Infanta Yuan’an would wear on the wedding day. Now, he only cared about his mother.

As long as his mother was free, she would regain control over the imperial harem. After all, the Empress Dowager was in such a feeble state. Then, he would be the first to know about his father’s physical condition.

“The Empress told you not to be anxious. When the time comes, she will inform you.” The Nanny said more and more implicitly. But then, she took a token from her sleeve pocket and handed it to Chu Liuzhou. It was not big and made of jade, which Chu Liuzhou had seen before.

“This… Did my mother ask you to bring it to me?” Stunned for a while, Chu Liuzhou became excited and reached out to take it.

“Yes. She wanted you to keep it. If anything is wrong, she thinks it will be easier for you to handle the changes than her.” The Nanny lowered her voice to say.

Sending the wedding dress was just an excuse; the most important thing was this token. Of course, the Empress also wanted her to check up on Prince Zhou.

Since the Empress had been grounded, she wouldn’t meet Prince Zhou even if he came to see her. The mother and son hadn’t exchanged messages for a long time.

At this time, Consort Ming sent over the wedding suit. It happened that the Empress could use it as an excuse to get in touch with her son.

“Okay, tell my mother. I will wait for her news and won’t get flustered.” Chu Liuzhou excitedly touched the token kept by her mother. He had always wanted it, but his mother never gave it to him. Now that she had sent it to him, he felt much more at ease.

Initially, it was a commander’s tally held by the previous empress, but it disappeared later. Prince Zhou and the Empress had searched the entire imperial Palace for it. They implicitly asked the Emperor about it, only to find that it was missing. The Empress had seen the Emperor investigating and searching for the tiger tally but didn’t find out the details.

The Emperor had sent her a token when she became the Empress. With it, she could mobilize some secret guards. But since the Emperor also had a token, the Empress did not dare to act rashly. But during these years, the Empress had secretly replaced some secret guards with her people.

In this case, this token was of utmost importance.

No matter how much the Emperor liked Consort Lan, she would never get this token. For this reason, the Empress no longer targeted Consort Lan after she failed to give her a hard time. After all, this token was the most important. But the Empress did not know that Consort Lan held half of the missing tiger tally.