Chapter 1665: Then go die

Imperial Consort Xiao did not like her son, Prince Shuncheng; he had not been good-looking when he was born. Logically speaking, after generations of genetic improvement, there should be no ugly children in the Imperial family.

She herself was a peerless beauty.

Yet the Prince Shuncheng she bore with Emperor Emperor Jian Shi was a boorish fellow.

It was not to say he was ugly.

It was just that he did not reach the average standard of appearance for Imperial descendants.

Every time Imperial Consort Xiao saw Prince Shuncheng's face, she felt all sorts of disdain.

Furthermore, besides his face, his brain was not good either; he frequently caused trouble, and trouble came from his mouth.

She could not help but suspect that the reason her eldest son, Prince Ning, missed out on the throne was because there were villains by his side. That villain was Prince Shuncheng.

She looked at Prince Shuncheng, who was lying on the bed; he had a guilty and cautious expression, not daring to even breathe loudly. He appeared honest and obedient, but in reality, it was because he had no other choice and could only pretend to be obedient to win sympathy.

She was extremely annoyed.

Her gaze also carried a hint of disdain.

"Mother Consort, you don't need to watch over your son. From now on, your son will definitely heal his injuries honestly and never dare to act recklessly again." Prince Shuncheng pretended to be obedient and sensible, stopping just short of swearing an oath.

Imperial Consort Xiao looked at him with a probing gaze. "You have provoked the Emperor again and again; are you not afraid of death?"

"Your son did not. It was clearly him deliberately finding fault."

"Why does he not find fault with others, but only with you? It is because your words and actions are improper; he doesn't even need to try hard, he can grab your handle at any time."

Imperial Consort Xiao's tone was light; there was no concern for her son's injuries, only disgust for his trouble-making. If he were not her own flesh and blood, she would really want to strangle him to death with her own hands.

"I have already said, I did nothing. Mother Consort, do you not believe me?"

"How do you expect this Palace to believe you?" Imperial Consort Xiao had a gloomy face that could drip water. "This is not the first time. When your Imperial Father was alive, he reprimanded you several times. Now, with that little brat, the Third, as Emperor, you still dare to act recklessly. You even implicated your eldest brother; you are courting death!"

With an angry shout, Imperial Consort Xiao smashed the teacup at her side against the bedpost.

The scattered shards hit Prince Shuncheng's face and body.

The splashed tea landed in his eyes.

For a long time, he could not recover his senses; his expression was dazed, but his tightly clenched fists exposed the anger in his heart.

"I was wondering why Mother Consort was so angry; so it turns out Mother Consort is blaming your son for implicating Eldest Brother, your big treasure. Heh..."

"Without your eldest brother, you would have already been beaten to death with thirty boards by now. And you still dare to be sarcastic! It is all this Palace's fault; when you were young, this Palace failed to discipline you well, so that now that you are grown, you have your own ideas but completely refuse to listen to advice, completely disregarding the big picture."

Imperial Consort Xiao found it inconvenient to lay a hand on her own son, so she pointed her spearhead at the servants.

"Your reckless behavior in daily life is all because of a lack of discipline, plus the instigation and indulgence of those around you. Someone, drag all the servants around the Prince out and give them one hundred heavy boards, life or death notwithstanding!"

She was truly furious and wanted to use the people around Prince Shuncheng as an example to warn others. Since her son was useless and her daughter-in-law was ineffective, she, the mother-in-law, would work a little harder to clean up the household for her son herself.

Kill those who should be killed, beat those who should be beaten.

Leave the Prince's Mansion?

Absolutely impossible!

What if they were utilized by others after leaving and did something to harm the Prince's Mansion? That would be terrible.

The servants of the Prince's Mansion had only two ends: either die, or continue to be slaves and maids until they died.

"Your Highness, spare us!"

"Your Highness, spare us!"

"This servant knows nothing..."

A group of fierce guards rushed into the room and grabbed whoever they saw. These people were all brought by Imperial Consort Xiao. From the very beginning, Imperial Consort Xiao had planned that she must see blood today.

"Mother Consort, what are you doing? They are all useful people around your son; Mother Consort, tell them to stop."

Prince Shuncheng was extremely agitated and wanted to get up to stop them, but he pulled his wounds and immediately gasped.

"Mother Consort!"

"Shut your mouth for this Palace! Since you cannot restrain yourself, this Palace will do it personally to teach you a lesson. Someone, go and call all the Prince's concubines here, not one can be missing. As long as they aren't dead, carry them if you have to."

"What else does Mother Consort want to do? Is punishing my servants not enough? You want to punish my women, my inner residence? Mother Consort, your hand reaches too far."

Slap!

Imperial Consort Xiao slapped Prince Shuncheng across the face and patted his wound again.

Prince Shuncheng was in pain, angry, annoyed, anxious, and aggrieved.

But he still insisted: "Mother Consort, if you have anything, come directly at me; why make things difficult for them? They were only following orders."

Imperial Consort Xiao held her head high, her face cold, looking down at her useless son. "They did not know to advise you and let you act recklessly; that is a mistake! And a grave mistake at that. This Palace leaving them a whole corpse and not implicating their families is already an act of extraordinary grace. You had best not try to provoke this Palace; this Palace's patience is limited."

"What exactly does Mother Consort want your son to do? Your son has no ability; I only know how to eat, drink, and play. Now you want to take all of this away; then what is the meaning of me living? I might as well be dead."

"Then go die!"

Prince Shuncheng was shocked and couldn't believe it.

He had thought that after crying and complaining a few times, no matter what, he was her own son, and Mother Consort would surely not have the heart to force him like this. He never expected that Mother Consort would actually tell him to go die.

It seemed...

In her tone, she was impatiently waiting for him to die.

Was he overthinking it?

Was he misunderstanding it?

He looked up at Mother Consort, his heart trembling. "Does Mother Consort hope for this Prince to die?"

Imperial Consort Xiao's eyes were devoid of any emotion. "Just you? Do you dare to die?"

It was full of mockery and contempt.

It was disdain!

Prince Shuncheng gritted his teeth. "Has your son committed a heavenly crime, that Mother Consort is so impatiently waiting for me to die?"

"Are you accusing this Palace?" Imperial Consort Xiao stared at him suspiciously. "Are you dissatisfied with this Palace?"

Prince Shuncheng gritted his teeth, his expression ferocious. "Your son dares not!"

"I trust you dare not! Someone, watch the Prince well; do not allow him to move around until his injuries are fully healed. Arrange two people to read to the Prince, to cleanse his soul and strive to learn how to be a decent person!"

After arranging everything, Imperial Consort Xiao left gracefully.

She was going to deal with that group of seductive concubines in the Prince's Mansion, as well as that weak daughter-in-law who couldn't stand up for herself.

She had dominated the inner palace for decades; how could she be defeated by a mere useless son? If the son is useless, then use methods. If it doesn't work once, then twice, three times...

Anyway, she had plenty of time.

After Imperial Consort Xiao's ruthless destruction, the inner residence of Prince Shuncheng's Mansion was more than half empty. Except for a few concubines who had given birth to children, all other concubines were sent to the nunnery outside the city, with people assigned to guard them.

She also arranged for a few capable nannies to teach the daughter-in-law hand-in-hand how to manage the inner residence.

And taking the opportunity, she gathered the Prince's Mansion's assets into her own hands, calling it helping her son manage them, so as to avoid her son squandering the family fortune.

Prince Ning thought this was inappropriate.

Those were his brother's private assets; how could they be mixed with the Prince Ning Mansion's assets? Outsiders would only think he was blinded by greed and was encroaching on his brother's family property.

Imperial Consort Xiao, however, told him to put his heart at ease. "Having a bit more bad reputation on you won't do you any harm. Brothers killing each other, the Emperor will be overjoyed when he finds out; he will only think you are short-sighted and not worth worrying about. Besides, this Palace is only managing them on his behalf; sooner or later, I will return them to him." ===== CHAPTER 1666 =====