Chapter 622: Berated
“Royal Father, watch over your consort properly! Don’t let her take half a misstep out of line.” After saying this coldly, Mo Lian promptly leaped up next to the little fellow and pulled her into his embrace, patting her back to placate her.
Qingluan released a long cry before immediately beating its huge wings, carrying the crown prince and crown prince consort to the Eastern Palace.
Only after seeing the two people going off into the distance did Noble Consort Zheng finally exhale a long sigh of relief. She feebly lay against the old king’s chest and wept, “My king! Look at that crown prince! Even the consort he’s marrying is so insufferably arrogant! Completely disrespecting your wife! They heckle me, their concubine mother, precisely like this! Wuwuwu, my king, you have to do me justice! My king!”
However, her tantrum only gave the old king a headache, and a hint of fury surfaced in his eyes. He abruptly flung away Courtesan Zheng’s hand and pushed her to the floor at once. “Don’t think that We don’t know what fine deeds you did!”
“We were giving you face in front of the crown prince consort earlier!” The old king admonished furiously. “That Handsome Fairness Huang was clearly one of your people! You’re still not admitting it? Look at what stupid thing you’ve accomplished! Hah? Why did you go kidnap the crown prince consort’s mother and sister without rhyme or reason? Ah? You’re just asking for trouble! If not because of Little Fifteenth, We wouldn’t have bothered to save you just now! We just didn’t want Little Fifteenth to lose her mother’s care at such a tender age!”
“My king!! This wife has been accused wrongly! My king…” Noble Consort Zheng’s delicate body quivered as she wept charmingly. She shuffled forward on her knees and groveled in front of the king as she wailed, “My king. No matter what, this wife is also the crown prince and crown prince consort’s concubine mother! How could they treat me like this? Disrespecting their concubine mother makes them unfilial! As paragons for the common people, how could the crown prince and crown prince consort, the future king and queen, disregard propriety, justice, integrity, and honor like this and treat their concubine mother like this! Ahhh, my king, this wife’s dignity has completely been swept away by the crown prince consort’s tantrum. How can this wife assist Her Majesty the Queen in managing the six palaces.”
“Then you don’t need to assist in managing!” The king swung his arm forcefully as he shouted.
Noble Consort Zheng’s voice instantly hushed. She raised her tearful eyes and gazed numbly at the old king, seemingly unable to understand the old king’s intent.
“Someone, draft up Our decree! Née Zheng has been disrespectful to the heir apparent with her unruliness and discourtesy. As there are deficiencies in her moral conduct, she will be demoted to a consort as of today. She will be stripped of the authority to assist in managing the six palaces, which We will temporarily hand over to Zhaoyi He! We expect Consort Zheng to repent inside her palace and not take half a step outside for the next month without Our permission.” After finishing his speech, the old king furiously turned around to leave.
On the other end, Consort Zheng almost fainted, but she was promptly supported by Nanny Su, who had quickly run over.
Consort Zheng bawled her eyes out as she latched onto the king’s leg, crying repeatedly, “My king, my king!! Please take back your order, my king! This wife knows her mistake, my king! My king! Although this wife is at fault, is the crown prince consort not to blame either? She disregarded the palace rules and barged straight into this wife’s Sophora Flower Palace, smashing the bedchamber into smithereens! How can such a crown prince consort shoulder the heavy responsibility of being the future mother of the kingdom! My king, my king.”
The old king flared up and kicked aside Consort Zheng as he hollered, “If you want to resent someone, resent yourself! You clearly knew that those two aren’t to be trifled with, yet why did you have to lose your mind and just have to oppose them? Everything’s great now! It’s blown up into such a big racket that both the imperial court and the common people have seen a spectacle! Properly reflect on yourself inside Sophora Flower Palace! Don’t come out if you haven’t realized where you went wrong!”