Chapter 2178: Chapter 2178: Then Enter the Palace

“Go and inquire if there has been any significant news from outside the palace recently.”

Having been locked up in the dungeon, would his brother the Emperor remember Minister of State Official Liu in just a few days? Without being ill or in pain? It seemed impossible to even contemplate.

And yet, Emperor Zhong truly did think of Official Liu and even summoned the Prime Minister.

There must have been some issues that he couldn’t resolve by himself and needed to seek advice from these two officials.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The guard responded and swiftly stepped into the palace.

“Your Highness, perhaps His Majesty suddenly remembered Official Liu’s merits?” Another guard whispered to the Ninth Prince as his companion left.

Hearing this, the Ninth Prince glanced at him.

“You also realize it was ‘sudden’?” he asked.

“Uh.”

The guard was momentarily speechless.

Yes, if nothing had happened, how could the Central Emperor possibly think of Official Liu, who was locked in the dungeon?

“Your Highness, shall we proceed into the palace?”

“Enter…”

“Ninth Prince, you’re here? What a relief.”

Just as the Ninth Prince was about to order his guard to enter the palace at once, he saw an elderly eunuch hurrying out from the palace gate.

“Eunuch Chai, are you coming out at this time because Mother wants to see me?” the Ninth Prince asked him.

“Indeed, it is so.”

Eunuch Chai nodded emphatically.

“Your Highness, please quickly follow this old servant into the palace. The Empress Dowager is anxious and has instructed me to bring you over swiftly; she almost wished I could have flown to find you.”

He had been continuously by the side of the Empress Dowager; he knew what was occurring.

However, there were too many people here now; he could not discuss it openly with the Ninth Prince and could only invite him into the palace to see the Empress Dowager, allowing her to seek the Ninth Prince’s counsel.

“Then, let us enter the palace.”

The Ninth Prince waved his hand at the guard, who immediately ordered the Sedan Chair Bearers to lift the sedan chair and head towards the palace.

…

In the Ci’an Palace, where the Empress Dowager resided, a woman in a brocade robe with a head of lustrous black hair, showing no signs of gray, was pacing back and forth anxiously, and from time to time, she looked outside.

“How come Jin’er hasn’t arrived yet? How much time has passed already?”

“Your Majesty, you are too anxious. Eunuch Chai hasn’t been gone for long; he probably hasn’t even reached the Ninth Prince’s residence yet,” her nanny reminded her quietly.

“Don’t worry, please sit and wait patiently,” she advised.

“How can I not be anxious?”

The Empress Dowager glared at the nanny, her anger rising swiftly.

“As the moment of reckoning approaches, should I not be anxious? Should I just wait for the Central Imperial Country to be destroyed? That unfilial son, I had already warned him not to pursue this course of action, yet he wouldn’t listen to a word I said.

Now he has finally brought disaster upon himself, hasn’t he? After the Emperor of Beikun has been killed and the Emperor’s throne has changed hands, does he think that by ordering to cover up the news, nobody will know and there will be no trouble?”

She muttered under her breath, yet she paced back and forth, an action that helped manage her anxiety.

“Had I known of his character, I would have persistently advised the Late Emperor against leaving the imperial throne to that unfilial son! Wouldn’t it have been better to give it to Jin’er?”

Nanny: “…”

It’s useless to say anything now; the position of the Central Emperor has already been decided.

And as for the Ninth Prince, if he were to be a leisurely prince, perhaps he could be used to counterbalance the Central Emperor.