Chapter 246: Sudden Illness

Deng wiped her tears, then choked out: "It was your Father Emperor who drove me out of the palace gates..."

"What?!" Pei Shangling exclaimed in disbelief: "Why?!"

Deng, tears streaming, said: "Pei Yunxi is a murderer, you and Nian'er have fallen into enemy territory with no news, Xiao Yichen has defected—do you think your Father Emperor, such a person, could still tolerate me? Not killing me is already a great fortune."

Before being driven out of the palace gates, she was still full of hope.

She felt that one night as husband and wife deserved a hundred nights of gratitude; he surely wouldn't take out his anger on her.

Who would have known, he was just so heartless!

Once the noble Consort De, she now lives worse than a beggar.

Pei Shangling still couldn't digest this fact.

How could his Father Emperor be so ruthless?

The mother consort bore him children, supported her husband and educated the children, managing the rear palace impeccably for all these years—even if she had no merit, she certainly had hardship, right?

No matter how you say it, these matters have nothing to do with the mother consort at all!

Is twenty years of marital affection really worth nothing?!

"Your Father Emperor was originally a heartless person; I just couldn't see through him." Deng gave a self-mocking laugh.

Anyway, this is all her own doing; she, as a pitiful person, inevitably has hateful aspects—if she hadn't listened to Pei Yunxi's sowing of discord, she wouldn't have ended up like this.

"Ling'er, don't think so much; you have no way out." Deng gathered her worries and firmly told Pei Shangling.

"Mother consort..."

How could Pei Shangling not understand the meaning in his mother's words?

But... but...

Pei Shangling still harbored feelings for his Father Emperor that were hard to let go of, even though he treated his mother so cruelly.

Seeing Pei Shangling still hesitating, Deng looked around, lowered her voice, and said to her son: "Your Father Emperor has already issued a secret edict; it likely concerns you and Nian'er, but the mother consort doesn't know what the edict is—only the crown prince knows."

She didn't say it out loud, but she also guessed what it was.

But if she didn't speak it out, it seemed nonexistent; she could still deceive herself into thinking he wouldn't inexplicably exterminate his own son.

"Mother consort, son doesn't understand your meaning..."

Pei Shangling stepped back, his heart feeling as if it were being clenched and choked, painful to the point of being unable to breathe.

What does it mean for the Father Emperor to issue a secret edict against him, what secret edict?

Why does only the elder brother crown prince know?

Does the Father Emperor want to kill him?

Impossible!

What did he do wrong? He didn't rebel!

"Want to know? I can let you go meet with your elder brother crown prince for a reunion."

Gu Rongjin's voice came from behind.

He approached soundlessly; only then did the immersed Pei Shangling and Deng, caught in the mingled joy and sorrow of reunion, notice him.

"You let me go? Aren't you afraid I'll defect to the crown prince?" Pei Shangling didn't quite believe it.

Gu Rongjin shrugged indifferently: "Obviously, whether you're here or not makes no difference to us; you don't know our military secrets, and even if you're cowardly and stupidly helping the court, at most you'll just lose your head—nothing else."

Might as well watch some drama for real.

Pei Shangling wasn't angry; he remained silent for a long time, then resolutely said: "Fine, you promise me, don't go back on your word, and also, my mother consort hasn't done anything wrong—I beg you to let her go."

This was the first time he had spoken so humbly to Gu Rongjin.

"That won't do; your mother consort came in of her own accord." Gu Rongjin's expression showed helplessness.

Pei Shangling didn't believe it; he looked at Deng, who nodded at him: "Otherwise, the mother consort would have nowhere to go; here, she could see you and Nian'er, and maybe even see Zhi'er."

Only then did Pei Shangling realize that his mother consort addressed Pei Yunxi by name, and called Azhi back to Zhi'er.

What on earth is happening?! Isn't the mother consort supposed to have a deep misunderstanding of Azhi?

Perhaps noticing Pei Shangling's confusion, Deng briefly recounted her encounter with Pei Yunxi.

After hearing this, Pei Shangling clenched his palms in fury: "This lunatic woman dares to treat even her own biological mother this way!"

Just how blind had he been before?!

"Never mind her; people like her will meet their end by heavenly decree. Mother now only wishes you and Nian'er safe—Ling'er, you going alone to find the crown prince, wouldn't that be too dangerous?"

"Mother consort, rest assured; I have my own ways."

"By the way, where's Nian'er?" Deng asked, not seeing Pei Shang Nian, and feeling a bit anxious.

Pei Shangling: "Mother consort, Brother Nian isn't here; he's recuperating at Azhi's residence."

"Illness? What illness? What happened to him!" Deng asked anxiously.

"... All things considered, he's mostly recovered; please don't worry." Pei Shangling evaded the point, not wanting to tell the mother consort that Brother Nian had forcefully entered the city, been mistaken for a spy, and shot full of holes like a porcupine, barely surviving.

In wartime, some things truly can't be explained; why add to the mother consort's worries, possibly re-tensing the hard-won easing of relations between her and Azhi—although this easing was on the mother consort's part.

Deng nodded: "As long as it's fine, as long as it's fine..."

Ling'er would never deceive her.

"Senior sister, I think we shouldn't keep that woman locked up; it's wasting our rice and manpower." Qilin sincerely advised Mu Yuanzhi, "Let her live or die wherever she is, just don't bother us."

"I wasn't planning to lock her up either; I just wanted Consort De to experience what it's like to be in a big prison." Mu Yuanzhi, taking a break from busy work, said.

Qilin: "I knew it; senior sister, we still haven't found Pei Yunxi—I always feel uneasy, that hateful woman must be up to something behind the scenes!"

Mu Yuanzhi furrowed her brow: "All we can do is stay on guard normally; we can't be thinking about her all day, can we?"

"And then there's Azi..."

"Miss Mu!"

Qilin's words were cut off by a guard, who knocked on the door and said from outside: "Miss Mu, someone from the prison reports that Azi has died!"

What?!

Mu Yuanzhi and the Qilin exchanged a look, utterly shocked.

Dead? How did she die?

Mu Yuanzhi got up to open the door: "What's going on?"

The warden clasped his hands: "I don't know; when I went to deliver food this morning, I found she had already stopped breathing. Young Master Jin just received the news and went over, and he sent me to inform you."

"Understood, you may leave." Mu Yuanzhi said.

"Yes!"

Qilin: "Let's go, senior sister, let's go take a look."

"Mm." Mu Yuanzhi nodded.

How did she die for no reason? The prison guards are strict; it's impossible for anyone to get in and commit murder.

By the time Mu Yuanzhi and the Qilin arrived at the prison, Gu Rongjin and the coroner were already there.

"Little Yuanzhi, you came too?" Gu Rongjin, having finished checking and confirming that A Zi had truly stopped breathing, got up and went over.

Mu Yuanzhi: "I came to check because I was worried."

She walked over, squatted down, and personally checked A Zi's breath and pulse.