The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 206: Chapter 205: Slapping the Green Tea Empress Dowager 22

The Empress Dowager’s current state of health is not very good, and with the severity of her morning sickness, she dares not to exert herself too much.

Moreover, if she now returns to the palace, Emperor Jianwu will inevitably notice something amiss.

The Empress Dowager truly dare not take this risk.

After much consideration, she decides not to return.

She thinks it acceptable to lose some support; what is most crucial now, is to nourish her womb.

Once she has given birth, she can return to the palace to regroup and rally her forces.

The Empress Dowager withdraws, yet Emperor Jianwu becomes even more ambitious, swiftly eliminating nearly all of the Empress Dowager’s painstakingly cultivated support within the palace.

Anning sits in a rocking chair, basking in the sun.

She hears from Xiao Lu about this affair and cannot help but laugh in praise: ”Well done, little Emperor.”

Prince Kang has also not been feeling well lately.

He has consulted several Imperial Physicians, all telling him it’s due to fatigue, and that rest should suffice for recovery.

However, the more Prince Kang rests, the more he feels something is amiss.

Even if it was due to exhaustion, he should have recovered after so many days; not to mention, Prince Kang has ingested many medicinal pills made from precious ingredients like ginseng and Lingzhi, yet, the more he takes them, the weaker he feels, which should not be the case.

As it happens, a Divine Doctor arrives in the capital, and Prince Kang promptly arranges for him to come and diagnose his condition.

After checking his pulse and reviewing the medicines Prince Kang has been taking lately, the Divine Doctor deliberates for a while before saying: ”Prince, you are not ill, you’ve been poisoned.”

”What?”

Prince Kang is startled and instantly sits up.

The Divine Doctor strokes his beard: ”This is a secret medicine from the previous dynasty; consuming it will sap one’s strength, mimicking exhaustion. The more one consumes tonic materials, the more enervated one becomes.”

Hearing this, Prince Kang immediately concludes that he has been drugged, as his symptoms match exactly.

”Is this medicine easy to find?”

The Divine Doctor thinks for a moment: ”No, it is not something you can find among the common people, only within the palace.”

Prince Kang’s expression momentarily stiffens.

He thinks of one person.

That is the Empress Dowager.

Having been in the palace for many years, she might possess numerous secret medicines.

Yet, Prince Kang still finds it somewhat unbelievable that the Empress Dowager would drug him.

If not the Empress Dowager, then who?

No one else could possibly get their hands on such a secret medicine from the previous dynasty.

Prince Kang would never imagine that the poison came from Anning.

Then he thinks of Emperor Jianwu but soon dismisses the idea.

Emperor Jianwu is still so young, he not only lacks the means to obtain secret medicine from the previous dynasties, he likely has never even heard of them.

Thus, Prince Kang can only believe the poisoner to be the Empress Dowager.

He does not understand why she would do such a thing to him.

”Is there an antidote?”

Prince Kang asks the Divine Doctor.

The Divine Doctor shakes his head: ”There is no effective antidote; the drug merely weakens the body for a period, after which it naturally resolves itself.”

Prince Kang immediately realizes that the Empress Dowager probably finds him in the way, wishing to control the court in secret while he is incapacitated.

After sending away the Divine Doctor, Prince Kang calls for Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan pulls up a chair and sits by the bedside: ”For what matter does the Prince summon me?”

Prince Kang’s gaze is heavy, as if brewing with something: ”Have there been any unusual movements at court recently?”

As expected...

Xiao Yuan and Anning had forecasted Prince Kang’s state of mind.

Anning had said that Prince Kang would pay close attention to the court affairs, and indeed, now he asks.

”There are no significant changes, however...”

Xiao Yuan wears a concerned expression: ”His Majesty has recently taken a liking to mingling with the younger officials, elevating many Advanced Scholars who were recently examined, and also, there has been some disturbance in the palace.”

”What’s happening in the palace?”

Xiao Yuan bows his head: ”His Majesty has released quite a number of Palace Attendants, punished some, and has also selected new Palace Attendants to enter the palace. We have lost many of our own people.”

”Cough, cough...”

Prince Kang coughs vigorously, his face turning red.

He closes his eyes and wearily gestures: ”I understand, you may go now.”

Xiao Yuan stands up: ”Prince, His Majesty is wary of you; I hope you make a decision soon.”

Prince Kang, filled with sorrow, said, ”This prince understands. You may leave now.”

Xiao Yuan bowed before leaving.

Prince Kang felt a heavy weight on his heart, and thoughts of the Empress Dowager brought a surge of anger.

”He Yiqiu, He Yiqiu ah...”

He sighed heavily with the weight of rebirth.

Someone had told him before that the Empress Dowager was not sincere with him and was only using him.

He had not believed it then.

But now it seemed that person was speaking the truth.

Perhaps He Yiqiu never had him in her heart at all.

She was just placating him, so her son could ascend to the throne and become Emperor. Now that the little Emperor was growing up day by day, and the court was stable, she didn’t need him anymore. So, she wanted to kick him aside like a stumbling block.

The more Prince Kang thought about it, the more furious and resentful he became.

Struggling to sit up, he called out, ”Someone come, prepare the carriage, this prince is going to the palace.”

Quickly, the servants went to consult Anning, ”Princess, the Prince is causing a fuss to go out.”

Anning smiled and waved dismissively, ”Let him be. Choose a few careful Attendants to follow and attend to him cautiously.”

The carriage was ready, and two Attendants supported Prince Kang onto the carriage; the journey was a true suffering for him.

There was a stretch of road to the palace that was not very smooth, and the carriage, lacking any sort of suspension, jolted terribly. Prince Kang was already unwell, and with the jolting, he actually got motion sickness.

By the time Prince Kang arrived at the palace, his face was as white as a sheet of paper.

At the palace, the eunuchs had already reported to the Empress Dowager that Prince Kang had arrived.

The Empress Dowager composed herself before going to see Prince Kang, whom upon seeing, she was truly frightened.

”Tingzhang?”

The Empress Dowager hesitated as she approached, ”What has happened to you?”

Her face was filled with concern, leaving Prince Kang feeling somewhat stifled.

Prince Kang ordered all the servants out, leaving only him and the Empress Dowager in the room.

He sneered, ”What happened to me? Isn’t it thanks to you that I am like this?”

The Empress Dowager was taken aback, ”What are you saying? What have I done? I have been in the palace these past days, how could I...”

Prince Kang’s expression grew colder, ”I’ve been poisoned with a secret drug from the previous dynasty. Now my body is weak and powerless. Isn’t this what you wanted? You don’t want me to be in the way, to have me bedridden, so your son can reorganize the court, tell me, isn’t it?”

The Empress Dowager shook her head repeatedly, ”No, it’s not that, you are mistaken, it’s not me...”

Prince Kang asked coldly, ”If not you, then who could it be? Could it be your son?”

The Empress Dowager instinctively defended the little Emperor, ”It couldn’t have been him, it couldn’t.”

Prince Kang felt sudden disgust.

Now more than ever, he saw the Empress Dowager’s affections as feigned.

”If it wasn’t you, nor him, then who could it be? Surely, you don’t suggest that I lost my will and poisoned myself?”

The Empress Dowager didn’t know what to say.

She was clueless about the matter.

”Could it be your Princess?”

Now the Empress Dowager wanted to find someone to blame and subconsciously turned to Anning.

Prince Kang nearly wanted to hit someone, ”My Princess? You... how dare you push this onto her? Do you take me for a fool? Of all the people in the world, she would be the least likely.”

The Empress Dowager collapsed onto a seat.

Her heart felt heavy and unbearable.

Prince Kang had been poisoned and thought it was her doing, yet he so firmly believed that it couldn’t have been the Princess. This contrast was too much for the Empress Dowager to bear.

”Do you... really trust her that much?”

The Empress Dowager asked.

Prince Kang spoke with a heavy tone, ”She is my Princess, my wife of over a decade. She served my parents, bore and raised my children for me. We are one in marriage. How could she possibly harm me? Even if she were angry and quarreled with me, had a fight, she would never secretly harm me.”

The Empress Dowager lay helplessly on the couch, ”So this is how little I am regarded in your heart... ’we are one in marriage,’ indeed, you and she truly are one.”

Prince Kang was stunned at that moment.

He suddenly realized that while he had been following the Empress Dowager, he had subconsciously neglected the woman who had devoted herself fully to him, whom he should respect and cherish.

He believed the Princess to be unimportant and disposable.

But now, in a moment of crisis, he trusted the Princess implicitly.

It turned out, without him realizing, he had placed the Princess deep in his heart, yet he had been blind to it, believing that the Empress Dowager was his true love.

Prince Kang stared blankly at the Empress Dowager.

The face he once adored, he now found repulsive.