Fengyi Palace.
The Second Prince took a small sip of fragrant tea and said with a smile:
"Mother, the deserter has returned to the Capital."
"Qi'er!" The noble, elegant Empress Yin glared at him and snapped:
"He is the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Pacification Commissioner. Stop talking nonsense!"
The Second Prince smiled without answering.
The whole Capital is stabbing that bastard in the back with their gossip. He's laid his cowardly, incompetent nature bare. What does he think he can prove by returning on the very last day?
Empress Yin said softly:
"Qi'er, concentrate on marrying your three Ladies of Virtue and their Dowry Concubines. I will attend tomorrow's banquet."
"You have already repaid the humiliation of the Jiaofang Office's collapse tenfold. From now on, stop making things difficult for Pacification Commissioner Jia!"
The Second Prince's eyes brimmed with amusement:
"I shall obey your teachings, Mother!"
He agreed outwardly, but inwardly he resisted.
Could the dignity of an imperial hound possibly equal the honor of an empress-born prince?
Humiliating that bastard's beloved women is nowhere near enough!
Give me an opening, and even that second-rank titled lady born a lowly concubine will have to bow and scrape before me. The mother will pay the son's debts!
"Your Majesty."
A Python-Robe Eunuch hurried into the hall and glanced at His Highness the Second Prince.
"Speak," Empress Yin said softly.
The Python-Robe Eunuch reported:
"Jia Huan, Pacification Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, has taken Prince Zhongshun hostage and is heading toward the Imperial City Yamen!"
Shock flashed in Empress Yin's eyes. In disbelief, she asked:
"Has he gone mad?"
The Second Prince's lips twitched. He struggled not to laugh aloud and lose his composure.
What does Uncle have to do with this?!
*It seems I've driven that vicious dog into a corner.