Consort Shu

CH 27: Counterattack (part 2)

27. Counterattack (part 2)

　　Shen Moyun couldn't help but freeze. She didn't expect the Empress to be so angry as to directly order the Second Prince to be punished with planks thirty times at that. She asked in disbelief, "The Empress Niangniang wants to hit the Second Prince with thirty heavy planks? Jian Rong, are you sure you heard it right?"

Jian Rong affirmed, "This matter has spread throughout the palace. Moral Consort Niangniang has already rushed there. It's definitely true."

Shen Moyun still felt somewhat surprised. What exactly did the Second Prince do to infuriate Empress Xiao so much? This couldn't be just a trivial matter.

Jian Rong composed herself and recounted what she had heard.

This afternoon, the Second Prince continued to take a group of eunuchs to the usual place to play. Because the Second Prince has been obsessed with playing ball recently, he also had someone accompany him to play ball. He loved the embroidered ball Consort Shu sent him last time, but unfortunately, it broke after a few days. The Second Prince kept making a fuss about it, and Moral Consort had no choice but to order the Shanggong Bureau to make several identical balls again. After receiving these balls, the Second Prince played with them happily every day.

In fact, the Second Prince's play area has always been limited. It's remote, and very few people pass by usually. Last time Shen Moyun encountered him in the Imperial Garden was purely because the Second Prince kicked the embroidered ball off course and stumbled upon Shen Moyun and Jiang Chongyi. That's how everything started.

However, incidents of kicking embroidered ball flying happen more often than not. This time, the embroidered ball flew near the Zhaoming Palace. It wouldn't have been a big deal; they could have just picked it up and returned. But there was a eunuch who said, "Second Prince, this is Empress Niangniang's Zhaoming Palace. Let's leave quickly. If Empress Niangniang sees, she might lecture you again."

Who is the Second Prince? Since birth, he has been pampered by everyone. Even if not, aside from his Emperor father, no one has ever laid a finger on him. In his impression, Empress Xiao is very good because every time he gets into trouble and his Emperor Father wants to punish him, Empress Xiao is there to plead for him to his father, causing him to have no fear of this legitimate mother. So when he heard this, he raised his head and said, "What's there to fear outside Zhaoming Palace? Even if it's inside Zhaoming Palace, I still dare to play and have fun."

　　As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed in through the side door, instantly causing a series of screams. Many palace maids and eunuchs rushed forward to stop him, but the Second Prince agilely dodged them, not to mention there were several little eunuchs there to help or cause trouble behind him. The people in Zhaoming Palace didn't dare to really catch him, fearing they might accidentally hurt this little ancestor. Therefore, before they knew it, the Second Prince broke into the rear main hall of Zhaoming Palace, where several palace maids were standing under the corridor, wiping some antique jade objects, and... the Empress Niangniang's court crown.

At this moment, the Second Prince was very displeased with the people relentlessly chasing after him. Without paying attention, the embroidered ball in his hand fell to the ground. Furious, he kicked it with force... His posture was standard, and the direction of the ball was amazing.

The embroidered ball flew directly towards one of the palace maids, hitting her face heavily. She screamed in pain, dropping what she was holding with a loud crash, accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, which made her heart skip a beat.

When the maid, Ru'er, finally regained her senses and looked down at her empty hands. Her heart skipped a beat. What she had just been holding seemed, seemed, seemed to be Empress Xiao's court crown—the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes coronet. Her neck twisted stiffly, and she glanced down at the ground. Her pupils contracted sharply. Several flower branches on the coronet had broken, and beside the broken branches, there was a cracked dragon *jade annulus. Further away, some valuable antiques lay shattered on the ground.
(A round flat piece of jade with a hole in its center. It's a ceremonial object)