Astute Princess: Married to be the Empress Novel - Chapter 30

Chapter 30 The Sun Clan’s Fate
The Empress Dowager took the brocade box and handed it to the Emperor. The Emperor opened it and saw that there were two bottles inside. One was incense, and the other was probably the seasoning placed in the food. She couldn’t help but be furious and said, “Imperial Concubine Shu, the evidence and evidence are all here. What else do you have to say?” The emperor closed his eyes and said coldly, “In these two years, I have asked myself that I have not treated you wrongly. Now, I will give you a chance to hand over the antidote. I will protect you from death. If you do not hand it over, the Sun Clan will annihilate the nine clans, and the prince Fu Zitao will be demoted to commoner.”

‘”Your Majesty, this concubine is guilty. I dare not argue. I am willing to hand over the antidote. I only ask Your Majesty to protect our Sun Clan’s bloodline and not to vent her anger on Tao’er,” Shu Fei said to the Emperor.

Shu Fei thought to herself, as long as Tao’er was still a prince, as long as the Sun Family did not die, she would find an opportunity to turn around in the future.

“Alright, I promise you.” The Emperor agreed straightforwardly. After all, Fu Zitao was also his son, and he did not want to do anything too extreme.

Hearing the Emperor’s agreement, Concubine Shu removed a brocade pouch from his waist and took out a small bottle. He handed it to the Emperor and said, “This is the antidote. After the Emperor consumes it, nothing will happen to him.”

The Emperor took the bottle and received the imperial physician to examine it before taking it. This antidote was also very miraculous. The moment he took it, he suddenly felt his heart clear. Looking at Shu Fei, he was no longer as good-looking as before.

Thus, the Emperor said his final decision with great sorrow, “Imperial concubine Shu, you have a bad moral character. You have a malicious heart. Abolish your position as imperial concubine, demote yourself to the common people. Settle down in the cold palace. The Sun clan has been a slave for generations, exiled to the Southern Mountains, and cannot return to the capital for life. Prince Fu Zitao, adoptive Ling Palace, imperial concubine Princess Jing, Sun Shuyuan, you have a malicious heart. You intend to murder your husband. From today onwards, you will be demoted to concubine forever as a slave. Eunuch Li, go down and prepare a decree.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Eunuch Li answered and left.

The Emperor looked at the Empress Dowager and asked, “Mother, is it good for your son to be treated like this?”

“You can do it yourself.” It was obvious that the Empress Dowager was dissatisfied with such a punishment. After all, there were many incidents of tigers being injured instead of dying. However, she did not intend to say anything further. Imperial Concubine Shu’s son had already been adopted to the side and had no fate with the throne. This was considered to be the end of the Sun Clan’s path of retreat.

“Then let’s do it this way. As for this palace maid, she’s poisonous and dumb. Let her go out of the palace.” The Emperor also knew that the Empress Dowager was not satisfied, but after all, she was her own woman and child, so let them live.

“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, since everything has been settled, if there is nothing else, we will leave.” Seeing that the matter was over, Fu Tianyang stood up and said goodbye. After all, the royal joke was not good-looking.

“En, go. Two days from now, when the Crown Prince of Ye Lan enters the capital, we will host a banquet in Chengde Hall. Just remember to attend on time.” The Emperor warned worriedly.

When Ying Ran heard the Emperor’s words, he glanced at the Emperor and rolled his eyes. He left. He was like a token that I personally came here with. He had the ability to be willful. After Fu Ying Ran and the others left the palace, several eunuchs rushed around to announce the decree.

Imperial concubine Shu was already in a mess in Shuyi Palace. Imperial concubine Shu sat weakly on a chair. Eunuch Li personally came to announce the decree. He only heard him read, “Fengtian Chengyun, the emperor decreed that Imperial concubine Shu’s Sun family be crippled as commoners and moved to the cold palace. Prince Fu Zitao adopts the Ling Palace and immediately executes the decree.”

After Eunuch Li finished reading, he instructed the eunuch behind him, “What are you still waiting for? Hurry up and send Madam Sun to the Cold Palace. Send Young Master to Prince Ling’s Mansion and take him away.”

At this moment, in the Left Prime Minister’s Mansion, Sun Maoxiang still didn’t know anything, Suddenly, he heard the servant report. The imperial edict arrived. He hurried to the front hall to receive the edict. Sun Maoxiang hurriedly walked to the front yard and knelt down to receive the edict. However, the eunuch read, “Fengtian Chengyun, the emperor’s edict. Left Prime Minister Sun Maoxiang is scheming against the country. From today onwards, Sun Maoxiang’s bloodline will be exiled to Nanling. He will not be allowed to enter the capital for the rest of his life.”

After listening to the imperial edict, Sun Maoxiang’s entire body went limp, and he couldn’t stand up anymore. However, the eunuch didn’t make any preparations for the Sun Clan. He directly asked the Imperial Guards behind him to stand up and said politely, “Please, Lord Sun.”

At the same time, another eunuch in Prince Jing’s mansion also issued a decree: “Fengtian Chengyun, the emperor decreed that Prince Jing’s imperial concubine, the Sun family, had sinister thoughts and murdered her husband. It would be disgraceful to her. From today onwards, she will be reduced to a lowly concubine and will forever be a slave. I admire this.” Looking at Sun Shuyuan’s tottering appearance, the eunuch felt nothing. He had seen this kind of thing many times.

The eunuch shouted again, “Prince Jing Duanmu Jing accepts the decree.” King Jing hurriedly knelt down to receive the decree. The eunuch read, “Fengtian Chengyun, the emperor decreed that Duanmu Jing, who already has a wife and concubine in his family, can no longer serve as a county horse. Therefore, the engagement between King Jing and Princess Jingxian is cancelled. From now on, the male and female marriages are undesirable. I admire this.”

After the eunuch finished reading, he turned around and left the Jing Palace, returning to the palace to make a decree.

Leaving behind Sun Shuyuan, who was on the verge of collapse, and Prince Jing Duanmu Jing, who was filled with regret, it turned out that what his father said was true. You can’t have both fish and bear paws. Those who truly cared about you would not be willing to share it with others. It was because he was too self-righteous.

Speaking of which, when Fu Yingran came out of the imperial palace, he pulled his brother back to the imperial daughter’s mansion. He said that he wanted to personally cook and reward everyone. Fortunately, when everyone arrived at the imperial daughter’s mansion, Nanny Yang and the others had already tidied up, and the rules were neat like a family.

Thus, Ying Ran asked Nanny Yang to bring Jin’er to the market to buy good wine, dishes, and meat. She immediately arranged for her two brothers to rest while she went to the kitchen to see if there was anything to be done.

In modern times, she was a real foodie, and she liked to mess around with food when she was free.

Just as Ying Ran instructed Chun Tao and the others to cook, Nanny Yang came back and said helplessly, “Imperial Daughter, there is no fresh meat in the afternoon. This old servant bought a few fish back. The fish is alive, and the meat is fresher now.” In the afternoon, there weren’t many people selling vegetables at the market, and the meat stalls were all closed. There were only a few that weren’t sold out, and they weren’t fresh anymore. Comparatively speaking, it was better to have live fish.

“Well, this imperial daughter is in a good mood tonight. I’ll make a boiled fish slice for you to taste.” Ying Ran looked at the vegetable basket. Other than vegetables and radishes, it was also cabbage and tofu. He was also drunk. He looked at the kitchen with garlic, ginger, and chili peppers. So he decided to make boiled fish.

As a result, the kitchen immediately became busy. Killing fish, washing vegetables, and Ying Ran sliced fish skills were not bad. As a foodie, this saber technique shouldn’t be too bad.

Very quickly, everyone was ready, so they hurriedly took the pot and finished the boiled fish in half and half. This was one of Fu Yingran’s favorite dishes. He had cooked it many times, so it was very easy to handle. The only bad thing was that Ying Ran could not burn firewood. Fortunately, Chun Tao and the others could.

After everything was done, Ying Ran had people take three big soup basins, put them in three basins, and even got an iron plate to put on a carbon fire. He cooked the fish fillets in the water and ate them while cooking them. He was afraid that the iron plate would burn the table, so he put a basin of water under the iron plate. No one had seen this kind of eating method before, so they were curious. In fact, Ying Ran was following the Chongqing roasted fish eating method.

Thus, in the imperial daughter’s mansion, there was a table for maids, a table for servants, and a table for Ying Ran and the other siblings. Just as they were about to start eating, they heard the servants report, “Report to the imperial daughter, the emperor, and the empress dowager.”

The Ying siblings quickly put down their bowls and chopsticks and greeted them. They stood at the door and saluted, “I, Fu Tianyang, lead my siblings to welcome the Emperor and Empress Dowager.”

“Stand up. I and Mother Empress came at Princess Jingxian’s invitation. There’s no need for you to be too courteous. We’re all family today, so there’s no need to be so restrained.” The Emperor said politely.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Fu Tianyang and the other siblings got up and gave way to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. Naturally, they were sitting at the main table. Ying Ran and the other siblings sat at the bottom of the table and asked the maids to add bowls and chopsticks. They greeted the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager and explained how to eat and what ingredients they used.

‘”Auntie Huang, the fish on this side is fillet. The fresh fish was just killed. Under the fish is tofu. Under the tofu are vegetables and radishes. This way of eating, vegetables, radishes and tofu. Because they are cooked with fish, the fish tastes better. And the fish fillet is eaten with the vegetables, so it won’t be very greasy.”

The Emperor and Empress Dowager glanced at the pot of stew. Hearing what she said, they took the courage to take a piece and put it in their mouths to taste. Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager said with a complimentary expression, “Yes, it’s smooth and not greasy. It’s really good. Everyone, don’t stand there and eat it quickly.” The Emperor and the Empress Dowager had never eaten such a thing before. They felt that it was very fresh, so they ate it to their heart’s content.

Seeing that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were eating, everyone became impolite. They sat down and began to eat. The maids and servants had already moved to the side hall. After all, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were present, so there was a difference in respect and inferiority.